Updated:
22 Feb 2024
What are the best cultures in Crusader Kings 3?
The culture you pick at the beginning of your game can help you achieve your end goals. Some cultures help you in an aggressive game, while others help you achieve your diplomatic goals. While you can create your own culture, some starting cultures stand out above the rest.
Top 5 Starting Cultures in Crusader Kings 3
1. Norse
- Gives you many traditions, so it’s very flexible
- Easy to create your own culture from it
- Bonuses to armies and knights
- Can raise runestones for additional bonuses
- Can gain Shieldmaiden / Shieldswain traits
- Higher chance of getting the Poet trait
- Allows for the Scandinavian Elective Succession Law
2. Basque
- Increased marriage acceptance
- Troops that excel in rough terrain
- Hire a Mountaineer expert decision
- Can enact equal gender law
- Can pass High Partition law
3. Greek
- Enables Born in Purple trait
- Lower Men-at-Arms recruitment cost
- Lower Men-at-Arms maintenance cost
- Larger Heavy Cavalry Regiments
- Larger Heavy Infantry Regiments
- Increased Men-at-Arms efficiency
- Increased damage for archers and spearman
- Increased toughness for archers and spearmen
- Lower penalty for realm size
- Increased Vassal Acceptance of Rightful Punishments
- Great strategic war options with this culture
4. Mongol
- Horse archers recruitable
- Can recruit a Plains Specialist
- No supply limit penalty in Steppe
- Increased supply duration
- Increased movement speed
- Reduced hybrid culture creation cost
- Reduced local conversion cost
- Reduced faith conversion cost
- Lower different faith penalty
- Shorter cooldown to on calling for a Hunt
- Additional prestige per hunting trait
- Increased chance to gain a hunting trait
- Increased different faith opinion
- Increased different faith popular opinion
- Decreased faith conversion cost
- Decreased faith creation cost
- Convert faith speed increased
- AI less likely to ask for faith conversion
- If you’re looking for general conquest, this is an excellent culture for that.
5. Dutch
- Increased development growth in farmlands and floodplains
- Additional increased development in farmlands and floodplains if the character is Athletic
- Increased levy size in farmlands and floodplains
- Decreased building construction cost
- Increased taxes in farmlands and floodplains
- Increased taxes on maritime holdings
- Increased republic vassal opinion
- Tradeports buildings can be built one era early
- Reduced city holding and building cost
- Increased taxes per city holding level
- Increased levy size per city holding level
- Increased monthly development per city holding level
- Enables Adaptive Malitial innovation
- Increased building bonuses for coastal baronies
- Decreased construction time for coastal baronies
- Increased Scirmisher damage
- Money. Want money? Dutch culture is your answer.
What are your favorite cultures to play? What makes them great?
