One of the mechanics that has many veteran Hearts of Iron 4 players confused is equipment conversion. Even after hundreds of hours, many have no idea how this actually works and they don’t even use it for most playthroughs.
The mechanic seems useful. The idea of turning old, decrepit equipment into the newer versions sounds amazing, however, you likely have greater expectations than what we actually get.
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The way this works is that you can convert the same level of equipment into evolved versions of itself. For example, you cannot turn Infantry Equipment I into Infantry Equipment II.
To convert equipment in HOI4, open the Production tab and press the Convert from Stockpile button next to the image of the equipment.
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How Equipment Conversion Works
The way this mechanic works is that you can convert older versions of the same type of equipment into newer models.
For example, if you have a design for the Inter-War Armored Car in the research tree and have upgraded it by giving it extra Armor or Engine, you can convert the older Armored Cars into the newer, improved one.
However, once you discover the Basic Armored Car, you won’t be able to convert the Inter-War Armored Car into this new design.
The same goes for Infantry Equipment and Artillery. You can never convert Infantry Equipment or Artillery in HOI4.
The only pieces of equipment that are convertible are Armored Cars, Tanks, and Planes. This is because you will likely often use the same Chassis for a Tank for more designs and you might one to upgrade all the older models to the new one.
Equipment conversion allows you to upgrade your old Basic Medium Tanks into the new Basic Medium Tank designs you’ve created with your Army Experience.
But, when you discover the Improved Medium Tank Chassis, you won’t be able to upgrade the Basic Medium Tanks into this new design.
You’ll have to use them in their inferior state until you manage to replace them with the better Tanks or until they’re destroyed on the battlefield due to attrition or fights.
How to Convert Equipment in HOI4
- Open the Production tab.
- Find the equipment you want to convert.
- Press the green Convert from Stockpile button to the left of the image of the equipment, represented by a hangar with two arrows surrounding it.
If the button isn’t there, it just means that the piece of equipment cannot be converted. The button can also be grayed out, which means there’s no equipment in the stockpile that can be converted to the model you’ve selected.
Equipment Conversion Speed
In the research tree, players will find two upgrades in the Industry tab that will increase the equipment conversion speed by a total of 80%.
This means that the speed at which the equipment converts from one model to the new one is faster.
The upgrades usually aren’t worth it, since you won’t really need to use the conversion mechanic often and it would be much better to use the research slots for a more significant piece of tech.
That’s everything you need to know about how to convert equipment in Hearts of Iron 4!
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