Tradition

From EU3 Wiki

One new feature in EU3 is military tradition. This is tracked separately for army and navy, and is an important factor in deciding the quality of the leaders you can recruit. A nation's tradition is rated between 0% and 100%, but is capped at 50% in peacetime.

Explorers you get thanks to high naval tradition are blessed by gods. They will automatically uncover all the land provinces they sail next to, so you can explore coast and islands without having to land your troops on them. Keep in mind, though, that while this is great when exploring unsettled coastlines, it can be problematic when exploring coastlines occupied by nations; if your explorer consistently discovers occupied territory, it becomes nearly impossible to land a conquistador to explore the interior without declaring war.

Another caveat to having explorers uncovering land is you don't receive naval tradition for it. When you land a conquistador to discover a province, you get +1% naval tradition per province.

[edit] Building tradition

Army tradition is earned by:

• Fighting land battles. Tradition gain is proportional to number of enemies killed

Navy tradition is earned by:

• Fighting naval battles
• Exploring Terra Incognita with land units (not only sea but also land, many claim this to be a bug)

Generally speaking, the tradition gain depends on the scale of involvement in a conflict. A vast empire with huge armies will barely earn anything from beating up on the little guy. A minor who fight tough battles with all units will gain tradition comparatively faster.

[edit] Tradition loss rate

Tradition depletes over time; with 3% per year while at peace, 2% while at war. This means that if you go for a long time without earning tradition, it will eventually go down to 0%. There are some ways you can reduce the loss rate, however:

• The Battlefield Commissions national idea gives a 1%/year bonus to army tradition
• The War College building gives a 1%/year bonus to army tradition
• The Sea Hawks national idea gives a 1%/year bonus to naval tradition
• The Admiralty building gives a 1%/year bonus to naval tradition

While War college/admiralty can only be built in capital, you can get multiples if you build one before a nation forming event, or annex enemy capitals a few years after land tech 28. requires a bit of patience however.