Victoria 3 is a grand strategy game that places less emphasis on map painting, but still gives you opportunities to demonstrate your power. One way to do this is by forming formable nations.
Several playable countries have access to the nation formation tool. To view your options, go to the Cultures button on the left side of the screen or press F8. The available formable nations will be displayed in the Nation Formation tab of the newly opened menu.
Victoria 3 Formable Nations
There, you'll find your list of available Victoria 3 formable nations. The numbers on the right side of the button for each of them quickly display how many of the required state regions you own, but you can click any nation to see a more detailed breakdown of what's required.
Note that the number of formable nation choices you see may vary based on your chosen country. If you hover your mouse over the button, it will display the potential borders of your selected nation.
Clicking on any of the available options opens up a new menu with buttons that allow you to kickstart the process of nation formation in Victoria 3, alongside a detailed list of all potential state regions that can be formed.
The more widespread approach to nation formation in Victoria 3 is Minor Unification. In every case, this involves exerting control over a set number of potential state regions. Whether conquered or subjugated, their territory becomes part of the new formable nation once the process is complete. Depending on who you're playing as you may also need to unlock specific technologies and/or have a particular culture as primary.
The tooltips you can bring up by hovering the mouse over the Form Country button always show precisely what you need to do. Once all the objectives are met, clicking the button automatically sees you playing as the new formable nation, which is always of a higher tier.
The other approach, of Major Unifications, is only available in specific cases, such as the formable nations of Germany or Italy. Once you unlock the Nationalism technology, you become eligible for the role of an Unification Candidate.
Eligibility is locked behind reaching at least the rank of Major Power. Since there can only be up to 3 Unification Candidates at any time, this list can change as the game progresses. Non-candidate countries can show their support for a candidate by contributing their land towards their state region requirement.
You'll also have access to the National Leadership and Unification diplomatic plays. The former sees one candidate challenging the others in an effort to force them to give up their candidacy.
The losing side can then no longer become a Unification Candidate again while lowering their maximum potential number by 1. The Unification play becomes available when only one Unification Candidate remains, starting the process of creating the new Victoria 3 formable nation.
Supporting countries join the Candidate who is opposed by the other countries involved. In addition, you may see other forces with interests in the region joining in.
That's it for this look at how Victoria 3's nation formation works and how its formable nations can get you more prestige.
For more help with the game, check out when it starts and ends alongside its console commands.
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