All important info about prestige in Victoria III

In two games which I played in last 24 hours I had problems with Prestige. So I decided to write this article in which I will analyze and present how to quickly gain prestige so that you do not lose the benefits that come from your position.

I tried to try something when I was saving my last country, and I also looked at a lot of forums because I felt like this game didn’t explain this well at all. So hopefully you can find everything you need here!

If you need quick help on how to get more prestige click on the ⚔️ icon below and it will take you to the correct section of the article.

If you need more help I have also written a detailed article on how to increase GDP or how improve the standard of living of your pops and article about obligations.

Over-focus on economy

Over-focus was my problem, which in both cases caused my prestige to start to sink. Or rather, I was so busy worrying about building one factory or another that I forgot about what was important, and that was the units.

In the scenario for Belgium, it cost me all my sovereignty when I practically surrendered to France, and in the scenario for Chile, I was so preoccupied with Argentina’s expansion plans that I couldn’t react to them, and during the change from “Major Power” to “Insignificant Power” everything fell apart as well.

This guide should help you ( and me ) better evaluate just prestige and how to play well with it in Victoria III, because this game is not just about having the biggest GDP.

Where to find information about prestige and what influences it?

The first thing you need to know is where to find the prestige. It is hidden in the “rank” number which you can always find under your flag. In the picture below you can see the specific level of your prestige and you can also see what level you must have to become more important or how much you must fall to become a weaker nation.

I’ve come across a total of 4 nation levels so far.

• Great power
• Major Power
• Minor Power
• Insignificant Power

And in the case that you play for smaller countries so you can come across and:

• Unrecognized major / regional power
• Unrecognized power

If you click on the number highlighted above, you can see how your prestige is specifically composed and this can help you better understand what you need to optimize. As you can see, prestige is made up of different ingredients.

You have to combine these ingredients and think about them. The first thing you should always do in a new game is to check where you stand with prestige – what affects it in your case, and if you happen to have any penalties you want to get rid of. See below for specific tips on how to improve your prestige.

⚔️ How get more prestige in Victoria III?

For generals who are in combat and don’t have much time I have prepared a basic prestige distribution. Below you will see what affects it and also how to increase it quickly. But beware that you should work on prestige from the beginning of the game otherwise you will have a problem.

What is prestige in Victoria III made up?

• The state title is the same for all states and adds a fixed prestige
  • Empire = +25 prestige
  • Kingdom = +15 prestige
  • Principality = +5 prestige
• The strength of your army (land and naval) and what it looks like is effective
  • Stronger, tougher army with strong economy => more prestige
  • Weak army you don’t care about => big problem
• Size of your GDP compared to other countries
  • If you play for a small country and have a small GDP, the growth is not reflected in the prestige
  • So don’t fixate too much on this part – GDP can evolve over time.
  • We recommend our article on how to increase your GDP in Victoria III.
• The best producers of goods gain extra prestige.
  • It is always a TOP3 manufacturer of the goods in question.
  • Specialization can pay off – but be careful not to be too specialized.
• Large multinational projects can increase your prestige
  • In the game it is possible to make an expedition to explore unexplored territories.
  • Or to build a canal (Panama, Suez) and thus gain prestige forever.
• Add more countries to your sphere of influence
  • Thanks to the fact that you will have more people under you…
  • … and more countries so you get more prestige from them.

Beware as time goes on the necessary level of prestige you need to have to be considered a still powerful nation increases. Therefore, you need to work on prestige all the time – not just when the problem icon is lit up.

How to quickly increase prestige using the army [quick guide]?

In case you have not built the army and the military industry from scratch, you need to start acting immediately. I recommend that you first build “arms industries” for the reason that you produce the goods you need to recruit troops…

… and as soon as you have enough weapons to arm yourself, start building barracks where you can immediately start building a professional army. But be warned this hit to the economy can be devastating so think about this from the start.

You will receive the information that your prestige is dropping about 365 days in advance, so there is plenty of time to prepare for this. In short, as soon as the notification pops up, start working immediately.