In the past, I came across obligations while playing Victoria III in its diplomatic game. These can help you achieve your goals even if your opponent disagrees. But how? Well, in case you tie it up, your opponent can’t back down at all.
In addition to this obligation guide, you can find more about the game features with the following links: how GDP works, how to increase your prestige, how to improve the standard of living of your pops and 💰 how to make money in Victoria 3
How to get an obligation in Victoria III?
When I want to get an obligation on a state, I need to bribe it. Especially for that case, there are 2 choices on how to do it.
- Take on Debt < so you pay your debt for the target nation and they owe you
- Bankroll < so you give part of your budget to a foreign country
However, it is not as simple as it can seem. You can’t bribe states that are bigger and cost more money to bankroll; the same is the case with taking on debt. It’s hard to find a state that is in debt in general, but if you can get an obligation at some point in time, it will be truly beneficial to you.
You can also issue an obligation to some other state, and in case another state plays “take on debt” on you, the obligation will be a counter-charge. Or in case you want to convince a given state to support you in a war, you will have to promise them something in return. A bond is one of the possibilities. If someone asks you to join a war, always ask for obligation – you never know when it might come in handy.
Where to find states to “take on debt”?
I recommend looking at countries where you see a long-term decline in GDP and a decline in the standard of living. I would also try to focus on countries that have lost a war or have some other visible issues.
At this point, it will be seriously dependent on whom and where you come across. If you decide to buy someone else’s debt, make sure you don’t go significantly into debt. Even if you have a positive income, the moment when you get into debt means you will have to pay interest. This can reduce your profits.
Where to find states to bankroll?
If you are looking for countries to bankroll, I recommend looking at Africa, Central America or South Asia. I would expect there to be some smaller countries to invest in and so obligations in many places. I haven’t quite figured out how to effectively become a state owner from obligations. However, I believe that somehow it will be done through them.
As you can see in the picture above, the primary goal of bankroll is not the obligation itself but rather improving relationships. The chance of getting an obligation is 1%. On the other hand, it is relatively cheap.
If you need to improve the economy through bankrolling, we recommend a guide on how to build efficiently and how to solve infrastructure problems. Everything is based on experience from the game and how I personally play it.
Where to use obligations?
You can use obligations anywhere your opponent/another country does not want to agree. In case you get obligations you will see it in the “diplomacy” overview at the bottom of the diplomacy statuses.
You can use an obligation to create your own union. This union will then link your markets into one or sign a trade agreement that will make it cheaper and more profitable for you to trade that market. In the picture presented below, you can see how to use obligations.
What is custom union? Custom union is great way how to expand your markets and get more goods. Powerful country must extends their markets and weaker countries can gain access to more resources. – read more about custom unions.
The original acceptance score is only +8, but after using the obligation it makes +58. As you can see, an obligation can be a deciding factor that can play for you.
My own experience with obligations is that I went very much into the red for Chile while France came in and paid off my debts. I thought how lucky I was. However, I didn’t realize how much the obligation was a big advantage for them. A couple of years later, France came in and said they wanted me in a custom union and I couldn’t refuse…
…for my economy, which was just recovering, it was a blow. I didn’t want to accept it, and it led to a reduction in prestige – influence – possible interests. My country was finished.
