Original Guide by GamerBlurb.com | Published on 11/05/2025 at 1:40 AM CST
Europa Universalis V
Growing your army in Europa Universalis 5 starts with manpower, not magic. Levies make up your early forces, but how many you can raise depends on how strong and happy your population is.
How To Get More Levies
Levies come straight from your population pool. When you raise them, the game removes people from your provinces and turns them into soldiers. You can only do this during wars or when fighting rebels. Once disbanded, surviving troops return to your population, but while they’re active, those provinces lose food and production.
Expanding Your Population Base
The simplest way to get more levies is to increase population. Keep your country prosperous, build food storage, and avoid long wars that starve your people. Growth is faster in rural settlements and coastal provinces where food supply is high. More people means more manpower to draw from when war starts.
Using Control To Reach More Soldiers
Control spreads from your capital and affects how much you can collect in taxes and manpower. Building roads, improving maritime presence, and investing in nearby infrastructure extend your reach. High control lets you pull levies from more locations and gives each province’s manpower its full value.
Estate Loyalty And Levy Strength
Each social class adds to your levy pool in its own way. Nobles provide cavalry and elites, peasants make up your main forces, and other estates contribute support troops depending on your laws. If an estate’s satisfaction drops too low, they’ll give you fewer men. Keep all estates above fifty percent satisfaction for a steady supply of manpower.
Granting new privileges or passing reforms can change levy size and type. Some governments unlock stronger units as loyalty and reforms improve, so balancing estate power directly affects your military potential.
Avoiding Levy Burnout
Raising levies too often can damage your economy. Each province used for recruitment loses about twenty percent of its food and raw material production until the troops return home. Rotate recruitment across different regions to prevent shortages.
Levies also lose experience quickly, dropping around two percent each month. Use them for quick wars or defense rather than long drawn-out campaigns.
Final Blurb
More levies in Europa Universalis 5 come from healthy growth and smart management. Focus on population, control, and estate loyalty before you raise armies. A rich, stable country always fields more soldiers than one that’s starving and angry.
FAQ
How are levies different from regular armies?
Levies come from your population and return after disbanding, while regular armies are permanent units that need upkeep.
Can levies be raised in peace time?
No. Levies can only be called up during wars or active rebellions.
Do levies cost money to raise?
They use manpower instead of gold but lower the food and resource output in their home provinces.
How do I get stronger levy types?
Higher-tier levies unlock through certain laws, reforms, and privileges tied to estates.
Why are my levies shrinking over time?
They lose experience every month and reduce population while active, so long wars or repeated recruitment will weaken them.
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