Lifestyles and perks are two connected features that Crusader Kings 3 added to the franchise. The game has five lifestyles, one for each basic stat, and by spending time on a lifestyle players can unlock new perks. These powerful abilities can be literal game changers that make success easy even on Ironman Mode.
In exchange for being so valuable, getting these perks can be expensive and time-consuming. Fortunately, there are several ways players can get extra lifestyle experience and free perk points that will help them quickly find new ways to break Crusader Kings 3.
Crusader Kings 3: How Do Vassal Stances Work?
A new feature of the Lance update is vassal stances, which influence how they feel about their liege's actions in Crusader Kings 3.
How to Get Perks
Every adult character in the game, including unlanded characters, slowly gains lifestyle experience over time. The base amount is 25 per month, and characters get a perk point for every 1000 experience they get. That works out to 1 new perk every 40 months, or 3 years and 4 months.
There are five lifestyles in total, one for each of the basic stats in Crusader Kings 3: Diplomacy, Martial, Stewardship, Intrigue, and Learning. Lifestyle XP is independent for each stat, so a character with 500 XP in Diplomacy and 500 XP in Learning is halfway to a new perk in each lifestyle tree. The game warns players when a character doesn't have an active lifestyle in a popup along the top, and players can inspect their ruler's lifestyle choices using the large round button directly below the ruler's portrait in the lower-left corner of the screen. If characters have unspent perk points, this button will also have a number on it.
Each lifestyle has three focuses to choose from, and players must choose a focus before their character can start earning experience or spend perk points. Every focus comes with bonuses and no negatives, so there's absolutely no reason to avoid picking one. And while the three focuses and the three perk trees are related to each other, players can spend their perk points however they wish (at least within the same lifestyle group). The only downside to picking a focus is that players can't choose a new one until 5 years pass.
There are many ways to get experience and perk points faster than the standard 3-year waiting period. The most important (and common) bonus comes from Education Traits. Each Education Trait provides bonus XP for the lifestyle of the same stat it boosts, and this includes the bad one-star Traits. A one-star Trait gives +10 percent XP, while a four-star Trait gives +40 percent XP.
Other ways to gain extra XP and perks include:
- Random events tied to each focus can provide free perks, XP, and other bonuses.
- The intelligence Congenital Traits provide bonus XP for all five lifestyles.
- When traveling, visiting a famous site or the capital of a kingdom or empire gives lifestyle XP. Characters only get this bonus from their first visit.
- Hosting or attending a Grand Rite (available to Witches in a coven only) includes a choice that will give a character a free perk point in a random lifestyle.
- Hosting or attending a Grand Wedding (available to players with Tours and Tournaments only) includes several chances to speak with guests and gain 50 to 500 lifestyle experience based on the guest's Education Trait.
- The Tactician Accolade attribute (also exclusive to Tours and Tournaments) can boost Martial lifestyle XP by up to 35 percent.
- Several artifacts provide XP bonuses to specific lifestyles. Book artifacts are the best source of these bonuses, and several books with the same bonus will stack.
- If players don't mind cheating, the console commands for getting free perk points are add_diplomacy_lifestyle_xp, add_intrigue_lifestyle_xp, add_learning_lifestyle_xp, add_martial_lifestyle_xp, add_stewardship_lifestyle_xp, and add_lifestyle_xp_all. The default value is 1000, but players can replace this with any number they like.
Crusader Kings 3: Everything You Need To Know About Your Character
To best plan a successful playthrough in Crusader Kings 3, players should consider the traits, appearance, and opinions of their character.
Which Perks Are Worth Getting?
All five lifestyles have several perks and traits that are worth buying, but partly this depends on what players want to do with a given ruler. Still, there are some perks that are valuable for any ruler, assuming players can afford to buy all the perks along the way.
Diplomacy
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Forced Vassalage |
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Defensive Negotiations |
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Befriend |
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Forced Vassalage lets players absorb small neighbors by force regardless of de jure territory, Faith, or Culture. Defensive Negotiations is a good way to get a free alliance when every close relative is already married off (or dead). Befriend unlocks the Befriend Scheme, a good way to forge long-lasting bonds with otherwise belligerent neighbors or unhappy vassals. However, friends are also sources of Stress when they die.
Martial
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Bellum Justum |
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Organized March |
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Sappers |
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Absolute Control |
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Peacemaker |
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Bellum Justum is a quick perk to get and cuts all Casus Belli costs in half. Organized March increase both army speeds and travel speed. The bonus is only 15 percent, but that's enough to catch AI armies by surprise. Sappers is expensive (players need 7 other perks to buy it), but it allows non-siege man-at-arms regiments to contribute to Siege Progress. Absolute Control is equally expensive, but it converts 100 Control into Absolute Control. This provides a 10 percent bonus to the taxes and levies of a directly controlled county. Peacemaker is another perk deep in its tree, but it lets players win wars at 90 War Score instead of the full 100.
Stewardship
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Heregeld |
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War Profiteer |
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Centralization |
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Popular Figurehead |
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Divided Attention |
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Meritocracy |
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Large Levies |
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Heregeld gives a flat 10 percent bonus to vassal taxes, and War Profiteer boosts the ruler's total income by 10 percent during wars. Centralization increases Development growth by 0.3 in the ruler's capital, which means the capital will increase Development even when the ruler's Steward is busy with other jobs. Popular Figurehead boosts Popular Opinion by +50, which applies both to county and character Opinions. It goes a long way to negating the Opinion penalty of a long offensive war. Divided Attention comes right after Popular Figurehead and adds +2 to the ruler's Domain limit. Meritocracy lets player rulers start a scheme to claim their liege's title regardless of any familial connections. Large Levies boosts vassal levies by 20 percent.
Crusader Kings 3: 7 Tips For Gaining Land Without War
In Crusader Kings 3, war is only one way to gain territory. Players should also consider the following options.
Intrigue
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Truth is Relative |
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Digging for Dirt |
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Court of Shadows |
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Kidnapper |
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Twice Schemed |
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Dreadful |
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Dark Insights |
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Forever Infamous |
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Truth is Relative lets players scheme to create Weak or Strong Hooks with characters of their choosing. Digging for Dirt and Court of Shadows improves the effectiveness of two Spymaster tasks. Kidnapper unlocks the Abduct hostile scheme, which can let rulers imprison characters without risking Tyranny penalties (although the realm may still know what players do to their abducted prisoners). Twice Schemed, an expensive perk, allows players to run two hostile schemes at the same time. Dreadful increases Dread gain from all sources by 30 percent. Dark Insights gives rulers permanent stat boosts for torturing prisoners (though only up to +5 Intrigue and +5 Prowess). Forever Infamous stops Dread from decaying on its own.
Learning
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Carefree |
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Know Thyself |
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Healthy |
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Whole of Body |
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Scientific |
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Scholarly Circles |
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Learn on the Job |
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Apostate |
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Prophet |
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Carefree reduces Stress gain from all sources by 20 percent. Know Thyself lets players know about a year in advance when their ruler is about to die of old age, giving them time to plan ahead. Healthy offers a Medium Health Boost, which increases the ruler's lifespan. Whole of Body is a trait that reduces Stress gain by another 20 percent and provides another Medium Health Boost. It also adds choices to events that can keep characters from getting sick. Scientific boosts the monthly odds of the Cultural Fascination as if the ruler had extra Learning, though only if the player ruler is the Culture Head. Scholarly Circles increases Learning by 2 for each Devotion level, up to +10, and it stacks with Scientific. Learn on the Job gives rulers 20 percent of their councilors' skills, and that's on top of the usual spouse boost. Apostate cuts the cost of converting to a new Faith by 75 percent, and Prophet cuts the cost of creating (or reforming) a Faith by 50 percent.
Crusader Kings 3 is available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 90 /100 Critics Rec: 99%
- Released
- September 1, 2020
- ESRB
- T for Teens: Drug Reference, Language, Mild Violence, Suggestive Themes
- Developer(s)
- Paradox Interactive
- Publisher(s)
- Paradox Interactive
WHERE TO PLAY
Your legacy awaits. Choose your noble house and lead your dynasty to greatness in a Middle Ages epic that spans generations. War is but one of many tools to establish your reign, as real strategy requires expert diplomatic skill, mastery of your realm, and true cunning. Crusader Kings III continues the popular series made by Paradox Development Studio, featuring the widely acclaimed marriage of immersive grand strategy and deep, dramatic medieval roleplaying.
Take command of your house and expand your dynasty through a meticulously researched Middle Ages. Begin in 867 or 1066 and claim lands, titles, and vassals to secure a realm worthy of your royal blood. Your death is only a footnote as your lineage continues with new playable heirs, either planned… or not.
Discover a sprawling simulated world teeming with peasants and knights, courtiers, spies, knaves and jesters, and secret love affairs. An extensive cast of historical characters can be romanced, betrayed, executed, or subtly influenced.
Explore a vast medieval map stretching from the snowswept Nordic lands to the Horn of Africa, and the British Isles in the west to the exotic riches of Burma in the east. Claim, conquer, and rule thousands of unique counties, duchies, kingdoms, and empires.
- Engine
- Clausewitz Engine
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer
- Franchise
- Crusader Kings
- Platform(s)
- PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
- Genre(s)
- RPG, Grand Strategy
- How Long To Beat
- 70 Hours
- X|S Optimized
- Yes
- PS Plus Availability
- Extra & Premium
- File Size Xbox Series
- 11 GB (November 2023)
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
