If you want to play and win, we recommend that you check out this beginner's guide. CK3 was released in early September and is already receiving very positive feedback from the community - 92% on Steam.
Tips for newcomers to Crusader Kings 3 are endless because it's a very complex and massive game. For your convenience, we have highlighted the key gameplay features that you need to understand first of all in order to make the passage of Crusader Kings 3 comfortable.
If during the game difficulties arise or want to speed up the process, then you can use special codes - full list of cheat codes for Crusader Kings 3.
How to create a character?
It is currently not possible to create your own character in Crusader Kings 3. Rumored to be able to generate a completely unique dynasty founder will be added laterHowever, the developers have not yet officially confirmed this information.
However, you can customize your ruler. It is enough to open the character characteristics window by clicking on the portrait of your hero with the right mouse button and select the barber icon (central in the upper right corner). There you can change hair color and hairstyle, clothes, remove facial hair.
Army
An army in Crusader Kings 3 is a large group of soldiers that can be led to attack other armies or besiege holdings during times of war. Managing these paramilitaries in the game may seem very difficult at first, but in fact it is not. The main thing is to understand the basic mechanics:
- Once the army has completed half of the order to move, it will be blocked and will not be able to receive orders until it arrives at its destination.
- Armies ordered to cross the sea zone will become part of the fleet. Landing costs money. The amount depends on the size of the army. During landing on water, the upkeep of soldiers is increased by +25%.
Each soldier and character has four important characteristics:
- Damage shows how much damage one soldier can inflict on the enemy.
- Resistance shows how much damage one soldier can take before being killed or forced to flee.
- The pursuit increases the damage a single soldier can deal to a fleeing enemy.
- DEF Reduces the damage a single soldier can take when retreating.
The game has different types of troops with which the player will equip his army.
The bulk of the army is militias. These are mobilized peasants who act as a "human shield" for more elite troops.
Knights are characters whose combat power depends on their Valor skill. Each ruler can only have a small number of knights. By default, the rank of knight is issued depending on their level of the Valor skill, but characters can also be manually assigned to this role or, on the contrary, forbidden to occupy it.
Each army can one commander, a character who controls an army and uses his combat skills to improve the advantages of the units. There are many different commander skills available that either directly affect battles or give bonuses to the commander outside of battles.
Fighters - these are trained troops, which consist of several different types of regiments. Each of them has its own characteristics.
Feudal lords and clan rulers pay for the maintenance of the army in gold. Tribal rulers pay twice as much, but with prestige points.
How to declare war
Ambitious players will inevitably want to go to war with opposing leaders. There are plenty of ways to do this, although declaring war in Crusader Kings 3 isn't always the best move. Players will need Casus Belli to do this. In other words, players must have a reason for war. The most striking examples:
- A title dispute that players can use to fabricate claims.
- Land disputes.
- Protection of a religious or cultural movement.
The game warns the player when there is a valid excuse to declare war. However, before moving on to combat, there are several factors to consider. The first and most important is the strength of the enemy. Crusader Kings itself will indicate which leader has the most military potential, but this "official statistic" is a little misleading.
Both sides are likely there will be allieswho can be called to war. Although it is possible for a player to crush an opponent alone, dueling battles are extremely rare. It is important to remember who is connected with whom if you want to have any chance of winning. The situation with unions can change quickly. If an ally dies or is captured, it can lead to a dramatic outcome of the war.
culture
Culture in Crusader Kings 3 is the language, customs, and technology that a character or country uses. The development vector of the state is based on this indicator. Culture defines innovations, titles, and some other gameplay features that characters can use. Rulers can change the vector of development of their district.
Each culture belongs to a group of similar origins. Characters in the same world will have opinion about each other -5, if they belong to different cultures within the same group, and -15 if they belong to different groups.
Counties may come into conflict with their direct liege if he or she belongs to a different culture and especially to a different group. Characters can avoid this by granting the title to a vassal of the same cultural group as the county.
The ruler can adopt the culture of his capital if he pays for it with prestige, provided that the court chaplain supports him. Every close family member who shares the views of the ruler will accept the new doctrine. Vassals who share the culture of a ruler who owns counties with new attitudes may also decide to accept them.
Every culture has at least one ruler. The cultural head is always the character who owns the most counties with that culture. Culture leaders can choose an innovation that will improve discovery progress on + 20%.
Vassals
The feudal system of the Middle Ages and Crusader Kings III revolves around vassals. Each vassal can be a liege of his own set of vassals as long as there are lower title ranks.
The amount of taxes and fees provided by a vassal to his overlord depends on the type of government:
- feudal establish taxes and fees on the basis of their individual agreements.
- tribal vassals set taxes and fees based on the level of lord's fame, with minimum amounts determined by the power of the tribe.
- Vassals clan grant taxes and fees based on their opinion of their overlord, with minimum amounts determined by the crown.
- Theocracy sets taxes and fees depending on the level of devotion of the lord.
- Republican vassals always pay their overlord 20% taxes and 10% dues.
The cap is the number of direct vassals (excluding barons) a ruler can have without penalty. He is first of all based on main title rank ruler and can be increased by title laws and special characteristics.
- +20 - Earl;
- +40 - King;
- +60 - Emperor;
- +20 for ownership of a princely choice;
- +20 for The Greatest of Khans trait
Vassals in Crusader Kings 3 are an important part of the gameplay, so they should be given special attention from the first minutes of the game.
Religion
Religion in Crusader Kings 3 determines which deities and saints the character believes in.
Holy places are baronies that are considered sacred within a particular belief. If a Faith controls a Sacred Site, all characters belonging to that Faith receive a permanent bonus. Most religions have the same holy places in the amount of five pieces, but there are exceptions. All Abrahamic religions share Jerusalem as a holy place.
Every faith is negatively related to every other faith. How negative the consequences are depends only on the religious family.
The Faith Organization score describes how consistent each religion is. Faiths can be divided into organized and unreformed. Each of the groups has its own advantages, but also some disadvantages. All Pagan and some Eastern religions start out unreformed, while all Abrahamic and most Eastern religions start organized.
Organized religions can accept feudal or clan paths, and also receive the highest conversion priority. However, they do not have any prestige bonuses. While unreformed religions have this bonus - as much as 20%, but they cannot make decisions and transform as organized ones.
Virtues and Sins are qualities that religion or belief considers virtuous or sinful. Some tenets add great virtues or great sins, which have a double effect.
- Traits Considered Virtues, will give the character +10 faith and +1 piety per month.
- Character traits considered sins, will give the character -10 to faith and -1 monthly piety.
Possessions
A holding in Crusader Kings 3 is a key settlement (usually the largest) of a barony or the capital of a county. There are several types of holdings. Depending on the type, the amount of taxation is determined. An ownership group forms a domain.
There are three types of holdings:
- Locks. A respected noble family lives here. The building also protects the surrounding city and adjacent agricultural land.
- Cities. A densely populated settlement where you can find many merchants, burghers and just hardworking citizens.
- Temples. A place of worship ruled by the clergy, surrounded by a town of faithful peasants.
Each type of holding has its own in-game features, such as special buildings. Whether all three types will be available to the ruler depends on his denomination and form of government.
A domain is a collection of all possessions that are subject to one ruler. Their limit is most often fixed. You can increase the borders of the state beyond this limit at the expense of vassals.
If you need to organize a new property, you just need to select a site where their limit has not yet been reached, and click on the button "Build a New Domain".
Titles
Title in Crusader Kings 3 - This is a certificate of ownership of the land, which indicates which characters own a certain place. Each title has a rank and a unique coat of arms. Some titles may change their name depending on the culture of the character holding them. Any of them can be renamed.
The main title is the highest title of the character, which determines the color and coat of arms of the Kingdom. If a character holds multiple titles of the same rank, the player is free to choose which one is the primary title.
De jure - a term that means that the title historically had a lower rank. The character holding the title may choose one Casus Belli. Titles are created and it costs money.
If the ruler wholly controls the Duchy and owns the title of Kingdom, other than that to which the Duchy of De Jure belongs, or if the ruler wholly controls the Kingdom and holds an Imperial title other than that to which the Kingdom of De Jure belongs, then said Duchy or Kingdom will gradually become de jure part of the character's main title.
Any duke or kingdom title can be created by a character that controls at least 51% of its de jure countiesif he has either two titles of lower rank or one title of equal or higher rank. Imperial titles require at least 81% of their de jure counties. In the European region, PC characters will only create Kingdom titles if they belong to a certain culture.
The game also provides a system of usurpation of power:
- If the character owns more than 50% counties de jure title held by a Ruler of the same faith, or a faith that is not considered hostile, then the character can usurp the title.
- If the character is a vassal, he cannot usurp the titlebelonging to the seigneur.
- Character cannot usurp an NPC titlehaving the same rank or higher than the main senior title.
Claim is a declaration of one's legal right to receive a title. If the title belongs to a vassal, a claim allows a liege to revoke a claimed title without being subject to tyranny. Otherwise, the Claim provides a casus belli for obtaining the claimed title through war. Alternatively, if the title is held by a seigneur and the government is tribal, the claimant vassal can challenge the ruler.
If the character is an earl or duke, he can hold a maximum of 30 county titles without penalty. Any county above the limit reduces the character's income in gold by -10%. However, characters are further limited by their Domain, which is usually much lower.
If the character is a king or emperor, he can have a maximum of 2 duchy titles without penalty. Any duchy above the limit reduces the opinion of all vassals by -15.
Dynasties
Dynasty in Crusader Kings 3 represents an inextricable noble pedigree line from the founder himself. Each dynasty consists of several Houses, seeking to bring glory to the dynasty. The head can rename his dynasty at any time. All members have +5 opinions towards each other.
The character's family consists of his relatives. The character's grandparents, parents, siblings, children, and grandchildren are considered close relatives. Uncles, aunts, cousins, nephews and nieces are considered distant relatives.
Marriage is the legal union of two characters to create a family and a new political union. In Crusader Kings III, marriage is only possible between members of the opposite sex. Fertile spouses may have children. With the doctrine of polygamous marriage, it is possible to have several spouses. In addition, according to another special doctrine It is also allowed to have concubines.
The most powerful head of the house (depending on military power) always becomes the head of the dynasty after the death of the current one. It can take up to a year to update the head of a dynasty.
Glory is a resource accumulated by the dynasty and used to unlock the legacies of the dynasty and increase the level of splendor. Dynasty gains monthly +0,02 renown for each living member. There are also bonus points.
For each ruler who is not a vassal of one dynasty:
- +0,12 for each baron;
- +0,25 for each account;
- +0,5 for each duke;
- +1 for each king;
- +2 for each emperor.
For each family member married to a ruler of another dynasty:
- +0,1 for each family member married to a baron;
- +0,2 for each member married to an earl;
- +0,4 for each family member married to a duke;
- +0,8 for each family member married to the king;
- +1,6 for each family member married to the emperor.
Inheritance
Inheritance in Crusader Kings 3 can easily confuse the inexperienced gamer. When a playable character dies, the gamer takes control of the life of the heir to his primary title. But here the situation may become more complicated, depending on which law of inheritance is established. These laws determine who is entitled to the title, what priority and the principles of the division of power.
At the start of the game and for the first few centuries, the player will indeed only have access to gravelkind succession, which divides the lands among eligible children equally. By default this means that the eldest son is the heir to the main title along with the capital of the realm and any direct de jure titles associated with it.
If a character has multiple eligible children, the rest will receive the remaining titles. For example, if the character is the king of two countries, the second-oldest son will take the second kingdom after the death of the ruler. If there are no equal titles, they will be assigned lower titles.
Later in the game, the player can set the inheritance law himself:
- Birthright - the eldest child inherits all the titles, and the younger children receive nothing.
- Ultimogeniture - the youngest child inherits all the titles, and the older children receive nothing.
- House seniority - all titles go to the oldest member of the house.
- Confederate partition - titles are divided equally among the children of the deceased ruler, and new titles can be created for younger heirs. The player's heir (the one you will continue to play as) will always receive the main ruler title, the capital of the kingdom, and any de jure titles associated with it.
- Section - No new titles are created to ensure that every child receives an equal rank. The rest is as similar as possible to the confederate section.
- high section is another division that favors the oldest eligible child holding at least half of the late ruler's titles, including the main title, the capital of the kingdom, and any direct de jure titles associated with it.
- Only for men - women are deprived of the right to inherit titles and claims. Male rulers may have concubines or multiple wives if their faith allows it.
- Men Priority - men have priority over women. Male rulers may have concubines or multiple wives if their faith allows it.
- Equal gender inheritance -Women and men are on an equal footing. All rulers can have concubines, spouses, or multiple spouses if their faith allows it.
- Women's Priority -Women have priority over men. Female rulers may have concubines or multiple spouses if their faith allows it.
- Only for women - Men cannot inherit titles. Female rulers may have concubines or multiple spouses if their faith allows it.
Governments
A type Government in Crusader Kings 3 has two main effects. First, it defines How does a ruler govern his kingdom?. Second, if the ruler is also a vassal, his type of government determines how he will pay taxes and fees to his overlord.
Feudalism
Feudalism in Crusader Kings 3 is one of the most popular directions for the development of the country. Feudal governments can create new cadet branches and have access to the Crown Power Act. Level 2 Crown Authority requires the Scheduled Assemblies innovation (Tribal Age) and Levels 3 and 4 require the Royal Prerogative innovation (Early Medieval Age).
Each feudal vassal has feudal treaty, Which can be changed only by agreement with the overlord. Depending on the political situation, exhibited obligations vassal to overlord. Liabilities may be reduced if the character is not the rightful liege of the vassal. The default reduction is 50%
Law grant vassals permissions that they don't have by default. The right can be added by increasing the Commitment to avoid tyranny. The removal of a right will entail tyranny unless another right is added.
Clan
Clan governments can create cadet branches and have access to the Crown Power Act. As with feudal governments, innovation is needed here to unlock higher crown authority. They also have access to Conquest Casus Belli, which can be used once in a lifetime to invade the kingdom.
Clan vassals grant taxes and fees based on the opinion of their liege. There is always a minimum amount of taxes and fees that they can provide. Powerful vassals will also receive -20 Opinions (and other vassals will get -10 Opinions) unless they are in league with their Senior.
If the clan ruler is the head of a dynasty, his realm will be named after his dynasty, not the main title.
Tribe
Unlike feudal or clan governments, tribal governments have access to and use of the Tribal Authority Act, not exploring innovation. If the tribe's prestige is set high enough, the leader can reform his governmentto become a transition to a clan or feudal type of government.
Tribal governments have unique effects:
- Estates cannot be created in counties ruled by a tribal ruler, even by a clan or a feudal lord.
- Counties that are diminished by the tribal ruler, do not develop.
- Tribal barons provide only half of its supply limit to the armies.
- Tribal rulers can't discover innovations of the post-tribal era.
- Tribal rulers can also lose their titles in personal combat, if his right is challenged.
- Leaders pay for warriors not gold, but prestige.
- Tribal rulers can raid.
- Once in a lifetime leader can use Casus Belli for Enslavement.
- −50% the cost of creating a title.
- −20 opinion with feudal, clan and republican vassals.
Our tips for completing Crusader Kings 3 do not end there. Wait for new useful guides and interesting features. In the meantime, we encourage you to how to turn on the console in the game and what cheat codes are in CK3.
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