In Hearts of Iron 4, players will need to lead their chosen country through the tumultuous Second World War and strive to emerge victorious in the end.

One of the key features of this game is the National Spirit, a special modifier that can provide incredibly potent and overpowered buffs while also inflicting country-defining debuffs at the beginning of a playthrough.

What Is a National Spirit?

In HOI4, every country can receive various buffs and debuffs known as National Spirits.

These are typically present from the 1936 start date and are based on the country’s historical context up to that point.

For example, France starts with debuffs due to their arrogance from winning the First World War, the US starts with a National Spirit representing the hardships of the Great Depression, and Japan starts with all the necessary buffs to dominate China in the impending war.

While a starting National Spirit can make a country very challenging to play, gaining extremely powerful new spirits and removing the old ones can be used to the player’s advantage.

How to Remove a National Spirit in HOI4

The standard method for removing a National Spirit in HOI4 without using cheats is to simply complete a National Focus that accomplishes that.

If you thoroughly explore the National Focus tree, you will find a focus that removes the problematic spirit.

The easiest way to find the National Focus that removes your unwanted National Spirit in HOI4 is as follows:

1. Open the Political tab (press Q on your keyboard).
2. Click the National Focus button to view the focus tree.
3. In the upper right corner of the menu, you will see a space to “Type to Search.” Type the name of the National Spirit you want to remove and press Enter.
4. All the National Focuses that include the National Spirit will be highlighted. Scroll through them to find one that removes the National Spirit.

Usually, you can’t remove positive National Spirits, so attempting to get rid of them without cheats is usually futile.

How to Remove a National Spirit with Cheats – Remove Ideas Console Command

If you want to instantly remove a National Spirit in HOI4, then you will have to use console command cheats. So, here is how to do it:

1. Open the command console (press ~ on your keyboard).
2. Type “debug” and close the console (press ~ again).
3. Open the Political tab (press Q) and hover over the National Spirit you want to remove to find the “debug key.”
4. Open the cheat console again, type “remove_ideas debug_key”, change “debug_key” with the key you found using debug mode in the Political tab, and enter to remove it.

Here is an example of the cheat you would use to remove the Victors of the Great War National Spirit for France: remove_ideas FRA_victors_of_wwi.

You can then get rid of the debug mode that can get annoying just by typing “debug” again in the console and pressing Enter.

That’s everything you need to know about how to remove a National Spirit in Hearts of Iron 4!

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