Hearts of Iron 4 (HOI4) – Best Focus Tree

In Hearts of Iron 4, players will do their best to bring their country to glory in the Second World War. One of the main mechanics that you can use to advance through history with some buffs is the focus tree.

In the focus tree, you will get to complete various “focuses”, which give you bonuses, factories, claims, and, sometimes, even countries to annex peacefully.

Recommended Read: How to Change Ideology in Hearts of Iron 4

When it comes to deciding the “best focus tree” in Hearts of Iron 4, we need to consider not only one path on the tree but all the available branches. You can’t just give someone a good rating for their tree just because they have an impressive monarchy path.

Though you can’t really give just one country in Hearts of Iron 4 the “best focus tree” award, these are the countries with some of the best focus trees available right now: United Kingdom, Soviet Union, Lithuania, and Finland.

Table of Contents

• Best Focus Tree in HOI4 Tier List
• United Kingdom Focus Tree (Man the Guns)
• Soviet Union Focus Tree (No Step Back)
• Lithuania Focus Tree (No Step Back)
• Finland Focus Tree (Arms Against Tyranny)

Best Focus Tree in HOI4 Tier List

Here is a tier list of all the countries with special focus trees in HOI4.

After that, we will go on to explain why we place the 4 countries that are in the S tier there:

When it comes to deciding the best focus tree in HOI4, we need to consider all the political and industrial branches, the effort put into the military paths, if the tree is not too overly complicated or too simple, and if it is overall fun.

There are also many players online that would give the best focus tree title to countries that are just in fun locations that create fun scenarios, not taking in the fact that the focus tree of that country is actually really bad (Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia, for example).

If you take all of these things into consideration, there are only 4 candidates for the title of “best focus tree” in HOI4:

• United Kingdom
• Soviet Union
• Lithuania
• Finland

When it comes to the quality of the focus trees, the newer DLCs are much better than the old ones.

For example, all of the focus trees that came with the Together for Victory DLC, one of the first ones that came out, are absolutely horrible.

However, almost all of the focus trees that came with No Step Back are some of the best HOI4 has to offer and you can’t really find a lot of them that are better.

Also, vanilla HOI4 doesn’t have some of the best focus trees available. There aren’t really a lot of choices, and most of them are very limited.

United Kingdom Focus Tree (Man the Guns)

The Man the Guns DLC for HOI4 brought along the evolution of the focus tree for the United Kingdom, making it one of the top contenders for the best focus trees in the game.

One of the best parts of the tree is that it has three separate branches that you can follow for industry, colonial matters, and political matters.

This allows for different choices in each playthrough, as you can focus on different state matters each time you play the UK.

Industrial/Technological Branch

The industrial branch of the focus tree offers a huge amount of Military Factories while also quickly giving you an extra research slot. It only takes 280 days straight through the branch to get that slot.

You also get a lot of upgrades to your naval capabilities, which will be very useful in the upcoming war.

Most focus trees just have a very lackluster and unimaginative branch for naval industry and warfare (like Czechoslovakia), but the UK receives the love it deserves.

The main bonuses you will get from this branch will be huge speed buffs for naval and air technology, with more than one 100% research bonuses in just a single focus.

Though it is usually a better idea to focus on the political focuses first, it’s good to know that you have some decent investments here for multiplayer games and for moments where you have to wait to fulfill various requirements for the political branch.

Colonial Branch

This branch is the reason why the United Kingdom managed to be deemed one of the best focus trees in HOI4.

Both the Imperial Federation and the Decolonization path for the UK are incredibly overpowered and will make your game a million times easier.

The Imperial Federation path of the colonial branch of UK’s focus tree allows you to annex all of the colonies of the Commonwealth and gain their territories as cores.

If you play your cards right as Fascist UK, you can also get cores on the US down this path, becoming the most overpowered country in HOI4.

The Imperial Federation is probably one of the most powerful branches of a focus tree in all of HOI4, making the UK have one of the best focus trees in the game.

However, the Decolonization path isn’t as horrible as it might sound since you can get a lot of bonuses by releasing all of the colonies from under the power of the imperialist UK.

By going down the Decolonization branch of the colonial path, players will slowly release all of the colonies as Dominions.

At the end of the branch, they will all become free and will have a choice to remain in the Allies or not, with a 75% chance that the large Commonwealth countries will leave and 50% that the newly released Dominions will remain.

By completing all of these focuses and giving all the colonies independence, the UK will get a total of 660.000 Manpower and 850 Political Power.

Considering that the UK starts with around 300k Manpower, this will be a huge boost that will help a lot in the coming war.

Freeing all of the colonies also allows you to completely ignore the African front while also keeping the Suez safe from the Axis.

The beauty of the Decolonization path is that you can get a huge amount of Manpower and just not complete the final focus to give the dominions independence.

This will allow you to keep them all as Dominions and allow them to use the Manpower of the territories since they are cores.

They will also use their basic focus trees to build factories and actually be useful for your cause.

You can then attempt to annex them and then maybe free them for some extra Manpower after they’ve been dragged into the war.

Political Branch

Most focus trees in HOI4 have 4 paths: Democratic, Communist, Fascist, and Non-Aligned.

The same goes for this focus tree, but the Democratic historical path also has an ahistorical path where you get Churchill in power faster and go on to be a more aggressive participant in WW2.

The A Change in Course paths are fun in their own way since you can do very interesting things, but you will lose all the Allies as Dominions.

This can be a bit annoying but can be easily solved by attacking them and getting them back.

Generally, the best branches are the Democratic ones and the Fascist one, since it will allow you to form The Empire with cores on the US and the Commonwealth.

Soviet Union Focus Tree (No Step Back)

The No Step Back DLC in HOI4 has brought over what most players consider the best focus trees and mechanics in the game.

Both the USSR and Poland received improved focus trees, with the Baltic states also receiving new ones.

The focus tree that the Soviet Union got with No Step Back is probably the best focus tree in HOI4 when it comes to choice.

You have the ability to do anything you want, and it isn’t as overwhelming as some might think.

The Soviet Union has one of the largest focus trees in HOI4. But, as opposed to some really bad focus trees, it isn’t incredibly deep. It is wide.

This means that in multiple playthroughs you might have time to mess around with different various branches of the tree.

As you progress through the political path of choice, you will only have time to do bits and pieces of the other branches or only focus on one and reach its end.

The beauty of the Soviet focus tree is that you don’t have the time to finish them all, and that is what makes it fun.

This isn’t just a button-clicking simulator. You actually have to look at them and choose which ones are the most useful to you in this playthrough.

Will you heavily invest in the navy, the air force, the land armies, or just a little bit in all of them? Will you ever finish the Five Year Plan?

Those are questions only you can answer since the Soviet Union focus tree is all about choice.

Political Branches

Though most countries in HOI4 impress with their very overpowered ahistorical paths, the Soviet Union has one of the best historical branches for a focus tree in the game.

It is extremely fun to go down the Stalinist path and deal with his Paranoia without a Civil War that will cripple the country. You can also finish everything relatively quickly and focus on the industry to prepare for the coming war.

Still, the ahistorical paths are still very entertaining. You even have 2 different branches to go down if you still want to remain Communist but just bring down Stalin from power.

The only problem with the ahistorical Communist paths, the Fascist path, and the Monarchy path is that you will have to face a Civil War.

The Romanov path can be very fun, but you will be weakened when Germany comes knocking.

Your best bet is to play with the system a bit to make the Civil War easier. However, that won’t be as satisfying as defeating Stalin properly.

You also won’t get any cores on states, as you would with some other Monarchical paths, which makes them a bit underwhelming compared to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, for example, but Russia has a huge enough Manpower pool already, so this isn’t a huge problem.

Lithuania Focus Tree (No Step Back)

Though most players will likely think of Poland when they want to create the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Lithuania is actually the better choice since they can get cores on Estonia as well, something Poland can’t.

You can also completely avoid the war with Germany, which makes your only enemy the Soviet Union, as opposed to Poland, which is in a worse situation, with or without the focus tree.

Industrial Branch

One slight problem with the Lithuanian focus tree is that the industrial branch is relatively small. The main part of the tree is the political one.

Still, you can get something amazing on the industrial side by asking for help from the UK or Germany.

Getting help from the UK will explode your economy since you can get 5 offmap Military Factories and 3 offmap Civilian Factories.

Offmap factories in HOI4 are factories that you get that will work even if you get annex or destroyed by another country. They aren’t tied to your lands in any way.

This makes the aid from the UK extremely overpowered, as you can get factories that won’t get affected by your territorial controls or other problems you might face along the way.

On the other hand, on the Germany aid branch, you can make the Germans weaker when fighting you.

The Axis-Baltic Industry focus will lower Germany’s Attack and Defense by 15% against Lithuania, making your country the best one to combat their growing expansion.

You can also get 2 extra research slots relatively fast, only needing 16 Civilian Factories and joining a faction. You can easily do this by conquering Poland or the Baltic brothers.

Political Branches

Unfortunately, the Fascist and Communist paths for Lithuania are not that amazing. The main problem with them is that you will get shut away from a huge chunk of the focus tree, making everything a bit more limited.

However, though the paths are shorter, they are fun in their own way. It’s just that they don’t provide a good path for independence from the Soviet Union or Germany, sentencing you to a path as one of their sidekicks.

Considering that, you might wonder why Lithuania is an S rank in the tier list. Well, Lithuania’s focus tree has probably one of the best Monarchist branches in all of the ones available in HOI4.

If you want to be the true underdog that becomes incredibly strong in a short time and defeats both the Axis and the Comintern, then the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth made by Lithuania is the path for you.

This focus tree will see you making Mindaugas III the king of Lithuania and will see you gain cores on Livonia, Estonia, Poland, and a large chunk of west USSR.

Also, if you know how to play it, you can annex Poland diplomatically, form the Baltic Entente with Estonia, kick Estonia to annex them, and invite the Nordic countries to your new faction, which they will very likely accept, making you one of the most powerful factions on the map.

Finland Focus Tree (Arms Against Tyranny)

The Arms Against Tyranny DLC for HOI4 has brought some of the most overpowered focus trees the game has ever seen. This might be taken as a positive by some, but most players aren’t incredibly happy with this.

All 5 northern countries have a small focus tree branch where they form the Nordic Council which just makes Scandinavia the most powerful part of the world in an instant.

If you also conquer them all, you can form the Nordic League, which gives you cores on all of the Nordic countries.

This can get a bit repetitive and boring if you want to try out all the countries since you just get to do the same thing 5 times.

However, Finland is a bit different from the other countries since they had a real role in the Second World War, where they actually had to do the unthinkable and defeat the Soviet Union by themselves.

Due to Paradox Interactive trying to simulate this, they have given Finland huge buffs in their focus tree that just make them unbeatable.

It is very likely that most experienced players will defeat the Soviet Union on their first try. And you won’t just keep them out of Finland. You will likely push all the way to Moscow.

Political Branches

The political branches of Finland’s focus tree in HOI4 are relatively interesting. If you want to form the Nordic League, you will have to go down the Communist or Fascist paths.

Both of them have their ups and downs, but they are generally fun as you try to conquer Scandinavia in different ways.

However, the best path for Finland is the historical neutrality one since you get to become the most overpowered defensive force in HOI4.

The insane thing that you can do as neutral Finland is that you can get to have more Manpower than the Soviet Union and China together.

The buffs for Manpower and Recruitable Population are not normal. First of all, the Political Unity focus will give you access to Elias Simojoki as an advisor, who will give you a flat rate of 200 Manpower per week.

Then, if you go down the Lone Wolf path, you will get an extra 15% Recruitable Population bonus. Making the president very popular will have already gotten you 10% extra Recruitable Population.

Going down the National Unity focus branch, you will also get another 20% Recruitable Population if you have at least All Adults Serve as a conscription law.

Once war starts with the Soviet Union, you can complete the A Cry for Help focus, which gives you another 600 Manpower weekly.

Now, to help you understand how powerful you are with these bonuses, you should know that you only get 100 Manpower per month at the start in 1936.

With two focuses, you can start making 1000 Manpower weekly, which will come around to 4000 per month.

Industrial/Military Branch

This part of the focus tree receives as much love as the rest, as you can get enough factories and resources to compete with some of the weaker major powers in the war.

However, the best part of this branch is all the bonuses you can get once World Tension reaches 25%. Combining all of the focuses there, you will become unstoppable in Finnish lands, as well as the Sami lands in Russia.

That’s everything you need to know about the best focus tree in Hearts of Iron 4!

Have any input or suggestions for this guide? Let us know in the comment section below.