The Europa Universalis 5 Rossbach update makes German event chains "more cohesive" and adds dozens of countries to Asia

Europa Universalis 5 update 1.1 is looking increasingly stacked, and yet Paradox Tinto keeps putting more onto the pile. UI and menu improvements, the return of EU4’s army builder, overhauls to AI aggression and the economic system – you name it, the developer is taking a look at it. But what about actual, tangible additions? Fear not, because content design lead Álvaro J Sanz Martín, known best as ‘Pavia,’ is here to walk us through the new inclusions and adjustments we can expect.

In case its ‘Rossbach’ moniker didn’t give it away, a big part of the new Europa Universalis 5 update is a focus on the German region and the Holy Roman Empire, although there are also some notable overhauls to touch on in places like Manchuria and Mesoamerica. At the top of the list is a new disaster, ‘Turmoil in Brandenburg.’ This wraps in several existing chains relating to Brandenburg and the von Wittelsbach dynasty to make them play out “in a more cohesive way,” along with six all-new events.

Alongside this, there’s plenty more to watch out for among the strategy game’s German countries. The German Culture group gets two advances and two new buildings. There are unique advances for Hesse, Cologne, the Palatinate, Trier, Hanseatic countries of The Hansa, Hamburg, Lübeck, Bremen, and Rostock. Six other advances have been introduced that unlock policies leading to new German Chivalry Orders, and there are a couple of additional events for Switzerland and Trier.

More generic and unique units join the fray. In the Age of Reformation you’ll encounter the Saxon Defensioner, Hessian Jäger, and Gebirgsschützen (that’s ‘mountain gunners’ for those of you that don’t speak German). The Age of Absolutism brings the Prussian Grenadier and Bavarian Jäger, while the Age of Revolutions introduces Grenadiers (for all countries), Croatian Pandur Infantry, and the Austrian Grenzhussar and Grenzer Infantry.

That’s already quite a chunk, but the new additions don’t stop there. The Tengri religion gets eight unique gods, and Paradox Tinto has put in seven new ‘hard’ achievements “for more seasoned players who are looking for new challenges.” On top of that comes “around 200 content fixes and tweaks,” and in many cases these are more than simple adjustments.

A rework of the Manchurian setup has added “dozens of countries” in Manchuria, Mongolia, and Xinjiang, along with new character trees, dynasties, and cultures. Pops in Manchuria and harbors in China have also been adjusted based on player feedback.

Alongside the previously discussed economic overhaul, Paradox has focused on specific food and tools adjustments in the Andes and Mesoamerica, which it cites as an “important concern” among players. It’s added the Market Village to many rural capitals, Tool Guilds to towns, and the Terrace Building to Andean towns and cities specifically. There’s more stone, copper, and lumber in Mesoamerica, and two new copper-based production methods inspired by the Mesoamerican Copper Tools mod from ‘Negative Ramos.’

The last big inclusion on the list for today are overhauls for many significant situations. It includes improvements to the Hundred Years’ War, the Red Turban Rebellions, the Hussite Wars, the Nanbokucho and Sengoku Jidai, the Rise of Timur, the Western Schism, and the Council of Trent. I won’t go over the specific details in order, because there are a lot, but you can browse the full blog for a more exhaustive breakdown.

Lastly, Pavia touches on the Holy Roman Empire at large, noting that it’s “the most complex international organization we have, so we’ve put a lot of effort into making further fixes and improvements to it.” In line with some of the discussions in the previous blog post, you can expect much more severe antagonism penalties when taking land inside the HRE, and smarter AI behavior for the Holy Roman Empire, such as no longer declaring wars without a Casus Belli within its territory.

“We have some more potential tweaks for the HRE in the pipeline for the first update of the 1.1 open beta,” Pavia writes, “but they require some more time for testing, and we’re leaning towards reading your opinions after the open beta is released in order to account for your feedback.”

They conclude that the Rossbach update “gives a good idea of what to expect” for Europa Universalis 5 in 2026 as a whole. While one sub-team works on fixes for the 1.1 open beta, another is already in the setup process for what’s coming in patch 1.2. Finally, Pavia says that Paradox has “already started working on new content for the first DLC, Fate of the Phoenix,” which is included for Premium Edition owners, but notes that it’s too soon to say anything about it quite yet.