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Lifestyles and perks are two connected features thatCrusader Kings 3added 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 breakCrusader 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 inCrusader 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:
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.
Befriend
Forced Vassalagelets players absorb small neighbors by force regardless of de jure territory, Faith, or Culture.Defensive Negotiationsis a good way to get a free alliancewhen every close relative is already married off (or dead).Befriendunlocks 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.
Peacemaker
Bellum Justumis a quick perk to get andcuts all Casus Belli costs in half.Organized Marchincrease both army speeds and travel speed. The bonus is only 15 percent, but that’s enough to catch AI armies by surprise.Sappersis expensive (players need 7 other perks to buy it), but it allows non-siege man-at-arms regiments to contribute to Siege Progress.Absolute Controlis 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.Peacemakeris another perk deep in its tree, but it lets players win wars at 90 War Score instead of the full 100.
Large Levies
Heregeldgivesa flat 10 percent bonus to vassal taxes, andWar Profiteerboosts the ruler’s total income by 10 percent during wars.Centralizationincreases 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 Figureheadboosts 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 Attentioncomes right after Popular Figurehead and adds +2 to the ruler’s Domain limit.Meritocracylets player rulers start a scheme to claim their liege’s title regardless of any familial connections.Large Leviesboosts vassal levies by 20 percent.
Forever Infamous
Truth is Relativelets players scheme to create Weak or Strong Hooks with characters of their choosing.Digging for DirtandCourt of Shadowsimproves the effectiveness of two Spymaster tasks.Kidnapperunlocks 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.Dreadfulincreases Dread gain from all sources by 30 percent.Dark Insightsgives rulers permanent stat boosts for torturing prisoners (though only up to +5 Intrigue and +5 Prowess).Forever Infamousstops Dread from decaying on its own.
Learn on the Job
Prophet
Carefreereduces Stress gain from all sources by 20 percent.Know Thyselflets players know about a year in advance when their ruler is about to die of old age, giving them time to plan ahead.Healthyoffers a Medium Health Boost, which increases the ruler’s lifespan.Whole of Bodyis 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.Scientificboosts 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 Circlesincreases Learning by 2 for each Devotion level, up to +10, and it stacks with Scientific.Learn on the Jobgives rulers 20 percent of their councilors' skills, and that’s on top of the usual spouse boost.Apostatecuts the cost ofconverting to a new Faith by 75 percent, andProphetcuts the cost of creating (or reforming) a Faith by 50 percent.
Crusader Kings 3is available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
Crusader Kings 3
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 truecunning.Crusader Kings IIIcontinues 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.
