HOI4: How Do You Get The Trickster Trait For Generals?

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To get the Trickster trait for your general in Hearts of Iron 4, you must accrue 1000 experience for it during battles.

To get experience, the army that’s assigned to that general must flank or must be flanked when fighting.

You’ll gain more experience when the battles are longer, and when more divisions from the same general are used.

Also, avoid overstaffing the general (having divisions greater than the maximum it can handle) because this will reduce experience gain.

 
Trickster Trait in the Generals Tab in HOI4
 
 

How Do You Flank?

 
Flanking maneuver by South Americans divisions to a single American division (HOI4)
 

To successfully flank in HOI4, you must attack a single enemy tile in at least three directions.

If you want to grind experience using this method, use cheap divisions with manpower recovery (pure infantry + hospitals) when attacking. You will not push the enemy away, and you will only lose cheap equipment and some manpower.

 

How Can You Be Flanked?

 
Flanking Maneuver by American divisions to South American divisions (HOI4)
 

If you want to earn experience by being flanked, find a tile where there are at least three tiles that the enemy can attack from.

Check the above screenshot for an example.

If you want to earn experience using this method without losing too much manpower and equipment, try to find a tile with Mountainous terrain and put defensive divisions there (pure infantry + engineering).

A tile with a mountainous terrain decreases enemy attack by 60%, and decreases enemy air superiority by 10%.

It’s also important to defend the tiles behind the one you’re on, since that will be the only free tile you could move to. Make sure you defend it to avoid your troops being encircled by the enemy.

 

Can I Earn Experience Faster?

 
Inventive Leadership Screenshot in HOI4
 

If you have the No Step Back DLC, you can earn more experience quickly by opting for the Inventive Leadership spirit in the Army Spirits Tab.

This will cost 25 army experience, but will increase your trickster experience gain by 20%.

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