Infamy is an important mechanic in Victoria 3 that determines how your country’s aggressive actions will be perceived by other nations. Keeping your Infamy under control is crucial to maintaining good relations and avoiding major diplomatic penalties.
How does Infamy work?
In Victoria 3, each country starts with an Infamy level of 0, which can potentially go up to 1000. The main ways Infamy increases are diplomatic plays against other nations, declaring wars with Infamy-increasing war goals and certain events. Infamy will slowly decay over time at a base rate of -5 per year. If you have a surplus of Influence, this decay can increase to -6.25 per year.
There are four levels of Infamy which have different effects:
- Reputable (0-24.9 Infamy): No special effects
- Infamous (25-49.9 Infamy): Some diplomatic unease
- Notorious (50-99.9 Infamy): Major diplomatic penalties
- Pariah (100+ Infamy): The risk of playing “Cut Down to Size” against you
Where to find your Infamy level?
To get information about levels and number of your infamy, you need to look into the details of your country. Where to look for similar information is shown in the image below. You can also look at other countries there – their Infamy level is in the same place.
Effects of High Infamy
With high levels of Infamy, it is much harder to maintain good diplomatic relations. Countries will be less willing to accept alliances or join you in the diplomatic play. High Infamy also increases the influence when making diplomatic deals.
Once you reach Pariah status with more than 100 Infamy, great powers can use the “Cut Down to Size” against you to force you to return conquered territories and release nations to reduce your power. You become a global threat that faces containment.
How does country rank affect Infamy?
A country’s rank plays an important role in how much Infamy aggressive actions generate. Higher ranked nations like Great Powers and Major Powers receive substantially more Infamy for conquests and diplomatic plays than powers with lower rank such as Minor Powers or Insignificant Powers.
This reflects the greater impact that the actions of the Great Powers have on the world stage throughout history. It also depends on the rank of the target nation – moves against another Great Power result in higher numbers of Infamy than moves against a Minor Power.
Unrecognized countries generate more Infamy when they are aggressive and less when they are attacked. Overall, the rank system models how major powers were expected to act responsibly, while unrecognized nations were treated with more suspicion. Your country’s rank fundamentally shapes how much your aggression shakes up the world’s established order.
Reducing Infamy
There are not many good options to quickly reduce Infamy. It slowly decays over time, and if you have an excess of Influence, the decay is higher. It’s best to avoid aggressive actions that increase Infamy. Once Infamy reaches a high value, the only recourse is patience or using cheats.
Conclusion
Keeping a close eye on your Infamy and minimizing aggressive actions that raise it substantially is the key to success in Victoria 3. Although territorial expansion causes Infamy, uncontrolled Infamy growth reduces your diplomatic standing and can provoke the world’s wrath.
