Industry | National focus Hearts of Iron IV Guide
Last update: 01 February 2017
The industry tree is a very important one from the point of view of every scenario. By starting the campaign in the earlier scenario you will be able to get more from it, but in any case you should fine something for yourself. The ideology tree has several separate departments, but none of them excludes the other meaning that you can make use of the full potential of the focuses if you want to. Note that by completing industrial focuses you will increase the amount of civilian and military factories a lot quicker than by simply constructing them. This is especially important when taking the amount of construction slots available for every region into consideration.
In the further part of this chapter you will find information about every tree in the industry segment. Note that for the purpose of this guide they were grouped thematically - you can develop them on the tree in any order you want.
Introduction
If you want to focus on building the economic base of your country then this is the first step that you should take. The bonus you receive with this focus can be used to develop a technology that will decrease the construction time of buildings, or for other management. Remember that without a highly developed economy you will be having enormous problems with deploying armies.
Icon | Name | Benefits |
 | Industrial Effort | Industry 1x 50% |
Commentary: with the help of the introduction you will be given a bonus reducing the time needed to complete an industrial research by half. This is useful because of the fact that you can select the area in which you want to apply the bonus on your own. Individual issues in this topic will be discussed in a separate chapter, but those kind of bonuses should be accumulated, whether or not you're interested in developing technologies associated with industry.
Civilian
In this case every moment is a good one to complete this focus. During the war you will have a lot more important goals to accomplish, which is why you should complete the above focuses before it starts. You should consider completing is as quickly as possible - civilian factories can be converted into military ones later on if the situation requires it.
Icon | Name | Benefits |
 | Construction Effort | Building slots +1 Civilian factory +1 |
 | Construction Effort II | Building slots +1 Civilian factory +1 |
 | Construction Effort III | Building slots +2 Civilian factory +2 |
Commentary: very useful benefits. Thanks to them you will be given four additional factories without consuming the production capacity of the existing ones. Note that thanks to that you won't be using the available construction slots in a region - after completing the focus the factories will "appear" without using the space. You must remember that the consumerism of the population will deprive you of one of the factories, but three additional buildings are still a big advantage. Additionally, the existing factories of the region can be used for processing of raw materials, or to construct other buildings.
Military
You should take an interest into this tree at the beginning of the game, so that you will be granted additional factories and you will be able to manufacture military equipment on a larger scale. The quicker you supply your soldiers with equipment, the earlier you will be able to deploy them. This has a tremendous impact on the gained experience and the points allowing you to modify and create new templates. During the war you will have a sufficient amount of factories that when converted to civilian ones will supply your country with resources.
Icon | Name | Benefits |
 | Armament Effort | Building slots +1 Military factory +1 |
 | Armament Effort II | Building slots +1 Military factory +1 |
 | Armament Effort III | Building slots +1 Military factory +1 |
Commentary: similar to the civilian industry, but this time you will be able to get up to three additional factories. The impact on the game is the same, as you can have all of them without having to worry about the needs of the citizens of your country. Each factory appears on an additional slot, which is why you don't have to worry about blocking development of the region.
Infrastructure
As with other similar focuses, you should complete it early in the game to gain the biggest benefits as the game progressed and to not block the processing power of your factories on defensive and military buildings. Note that the above focuses are required to gain access to other ones - even if you don't really need them you still should complete those two as quickly as possible.
Icon | Name | Benefits |
 | Infrastructure Effort | Infrastructure +1 Infrastructure +1 |
 | Infrastructure Effort II | Infrastructure +1 Infrastructure +1 |
Commentary: four additional slots, coupled with the infrastructure. Thanks to them you will be able to significantly reduce the time needed to transfer troops and supplies between sectors. Similarly to the other buildings, by completing the above focuses you won't be wasting the processing power of the factories on the things associated with infrastructure.
Research
One of the most important benefits coming from the industrial tree. You should aim to complete it as quickly as possible, as gaining an additional research slot will give you a significant advantage over your enemies. Starting the game as one of the neutral nations will give you access to two research slots only, which will limit your actions.
Icon | Name | Benefits |
 | Extra Research Slot | Research Slot +1 |
 | Extra Research Slot II | Research Slot +1 |
Commentary: note that completing the second element from the above table is associated with the requirement to have 50 factories. You may find that after gaining access to this focus you still won't be able to get any benefits from it because of the requirement, but your priority should still be getting at least 1 more research slot. By doing so you will significantly increase the research speed of your technologies.
Industrial superiority
There are two different objectives located on a single tree. If you are developing the industrial tree you won't be able to ignore those two issues. Note that researching nuclear technology comes with a huge time penalty for premature work, but by completing the Nuclear Effort focus you can decrease the penalty by half. The case with the Secret Weapons looks similar. Focus on developing those two goals and remember that the nuclear bomb will be a lot more effective than any airstrike available in the game.
Icon | Name | Benefits |
 | Nuclear Effort | Decrease in penalty for premature work. Nuclear Technology 1x50% |
Commentary: reducing the penalty imposed on the premature work is a huge benefit. Thanks to that you can start the research without worrying whether you will be able to complete it before the end of the game. You should "waste" 70 days on this focus, as it will allow you to reduce the research of the nuclear technology by up to 500 days.
Icon | Name | Benefits |
 | Secret Weapons | Electronics, Nuclear Technology, Rocketry Technology 4x50% |
Commentary: even more reduction, but this time you won't be getting a reduction to the penalty. You should use this opportunity. 4 technologies from the above mentioned groups will be given a bonus - you can select them personally whenever you want to. You should think carefully before starting the development of this focus, instead of doing so as soon as you are able to. You should wait before completing this focus until the moment you can use the benefits to start the research of the nuclear bomb, or the long-range rockets.