Hearts of Iron IV is one of the best ways to recreate the drama and excitement of World War II. Just like the actual war, success often comes down to the allies you’ve made.
In the game, this hinges on the factions that you can join or even lead. While there are many advantages of these factions, there are also times when you’ll want to bail from a faction altogether.
Do you know when you should leave a faction and how to do it? Our complete HOI4: How to Leave a Faction guide will show you the way.
The Benefits of Factions
We’ve put together a complete guide for how to leave a faction in Hearts of Iron IV. If you’re a new player, you may have a more basic question: why should you join a faction in the first place?
The primary advantage of factions is that it gives you allies during wartime. In some cases, this can mean the difference between victory or defeat in major battles.
Factions also offer additional protection against other countries. Even if your country is really strong, you’re not completely conquered until the entire faction is defeated. This can help you hang on that much longer when the going gets tough.
These are very strong benefits. Nonetheless, there are times when you really need to leave a faction.
Why Leave a Faction?
Now you know a bit more about why you should join a faction in HOI4. Why, then, would you potentially wish to leave a faction?
Just as your allies are obligated to help with your conflicts, you are likewise obligated to help other members of your faction. If you are not in a good position to help with a major conflict, then you may want to leave a faction before war breaks out (more on this later).
You may also wish to leave a faction for the narrative roleplay purposes. This can help you scratch the historical itch of asking things like, “What if country X abandoned Faction Y? How would this have affected the war?”
With that in mind, let’s dive into the different ways that you can leave factions within the game. The exact method you use will be different based on whether you are a faction member or a faction leader.
Leaving As a Faction Member
Leaving a faction as a member is relatively simple. All you have to do is click on the hand-shaking icon to bring up your diplomacy screen.
From here, you need to click on the flag of a specific country to pull up their unique diplomacy screen. You can manage several things from here, including leaving the faction.
You need to remember a few things. First, it is difficult to leave a faction during war (more on this later). Second, leaving a faction can negatively impact your reputation, which may interfere with some of your future plans.
Consequences Of Leaving a Faction
What happens when you bail out of a faction in this game? You are then considered a faction traitor by the faction leader that you left.
That means you suffer -75 relations with that particular country. This can greatly affect your future interactions with that country, so make sure this is what you want to do when you leave a faction.
However, if the faction is barreling towards a war that you want no part of, it’s in your own best interests to get out of the faction as quickly as possible.
Fortunately, you have a few more options for leaving factions when you are the faction leader.
Leaving As a Faction Leader
If you are the faction leader, you cannot immediately leave the faction. Instead, you must first kick out the other members of the faction.
The good news is that you can kick them out at any time. Even if you’re in the middle of a war, you can remove unwanted faction members at your leisure.
Eventually, your faction will be down to just you and your subjects. At this point, you can disband that faction altogether.
If you should end up getting wiped out before you leave the faction, then the next strongest country will take the faction over after you are gone.
The War Factor
They say that war changes everything. With Hearts of Iron IV, it certainly changes your faction options!
One of the hard rules in the game is that you cannot leave a faction while you are fighting in a war on behalf of one of the members. This is why timing is so important when you want to get out of a faction!
You can explore options to try to end the war early, such as offering peace. In all likelihood, though, you’re going to have to fight many fierce battles before the war is over and you can leave the faction.
The Power of Mods
Our guide so far assumes that you’re playing an unmodified game. If you’re willing to play with mods, though, then it opens up several options for you.
For example, the suitably-named Faction Manager Mod allows you to more easily check on factions and select faction options. With this mod, you can also leave factions at any point, even during a war.
We’ll leave it up to you to decide whether or not you think mods are cheating or just a great way to make a good game even better.
HOI4: How To Leave Faction
Now you know how to leave a faction in Hearts of Iron IV. But do you know what your next major challenge in the game will be?
If you’re going to succeed at a World War II game, that means you need to master some of its most deadly strategies. That means learning how to use nukes to take out your enemies and establish world peace (or maybe just world domination).
Once you’re ready to take your conflict to the next level, check out our guide for how to use nukes in HOI4.
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