Highlights
- The Diplomacy Lifestyle in Crusader Kings 3 is the best option for consolidating rule and gaining respect, especially for characters with a Diplomacy education. It offers unique bonuses, and the ability to change focuses every five years.
- Defensive Negotiations is a valuable Diplomacy Perk that provides bonuses such as increased opinion from vassals and independent rulers and the ability to propose alliances without marriage. It allows players to avoid conflicts and increase their own rank.
- Groomed to Rule is a useful Perk that grants extra skill points to children based on their Childhood Traits. This is beneficial for heirs and applies to all children, making them more valuable as council members, knights, or court members with specific roles.
There are five Lifestyles to choose from in Crusader Kings 3, and Diplomacy is easily the best option for any player looking to consolidate their rule and be well respected, especially if their character received a Diplomacy education. The Diplomacy Lifestyle has three focuses which can be changed every five years, granting unique bonuses.
When players accrue enough Diplomacy Lifestyle points, they can then select Perks from any one of the three Diplomacy Perk trees, unlocking permanent buffs for the character. Focusing on one tree can be great as it grants a Diplomacy Trait at the end, but players should also be aware of the best Diplomacy Perks in Crusader Kings 3, as unlocking them in an optimal order or dipping into other trees for a few strong perks can be hugely beneficial.
7 Defensive Negotiations
Defensive Negotiations is an all-around great Diplomacy Perk in CK3, with three separate bonuses. The +15 opinion from fellow vassals can be great for players looking to avoid conflicts with their peers, but it can also be useful for staging a coup or revolting and increasing one's own rank.
The +15 opinion from independent rulers is always going to be useful, either for avoiding war or getting others to agree to certain things. The ability to propose an alliance without the need for a marriage is arguably the best aspect of Defensive Negotiations, though, particularly for players who don't have any spare family members to marry off.
6 Benevolent Intent
Swaying characters is one of the most common actions in Crusader Kings 3, and so the +30% buff to its power is going to come in very useful over a ruler's lifetime. This Perk increases the chance of successfully swaying someone, allowing players to bump up characters' opinions of them before moving on to sway more individuals.
Important characters to sway are realm priests so that they provide more taxes, powerful vassals on the verge of revolt, and generally any character that needs to be convinced of something.
5 Groomed To Rule
Crusader Kings 3 is a game all about creating the best dynasties, so players should be focused on their heirs just as much as their current ruler. With the Groomed to Rule Perk, which can be picked up first in the Family Hierarch tree, children will receive 1 to 3 extra skill points based on their Childhood Traits.
The potential to get +3 for any stat on a player's heir should not be overlooked, especially for a Perk that doesn't require a commitment to the tree it's on. As primary heirs don't always survive, the fact that this Perk is applied to all children is great. They can also be useful as council members, knights, or as members of the court with a specific role.
4 True Ruler
One of the best ways to gain land without war in CK3 is to peacefully vassalize lower rank independent rulers, and the True Ruler Perk helps out extraordinarily with this. The +20 acceptance value is rather large and can easily tip the scales in the player's favor.
As more rulers are vassalized, the player's realm will grow larger and larger, causing more lower rank rulers to seek safety in the fold rather than fearing an attack. True Ruler can help start a domino effect of vassalization.
3 Friendly Counsel
As in life, having friends is much better than having foes in Crusader Kings 3, and the Friendly Counsel Perk from the Family Hierarch tree makes friendship even more powerful. With Friendly Counsel, each friend grants the player's character 2 random skill points up to a maximum of 5.
Thus, by having just a few friends, players have the potential to gain big buffs to the stats they need the most, and this is on top of all the other benefits of friends. One of the few negatives of having friends in CK3 is that when they die, the player's character gains stress.
2 Inspiring Rule
Seeing as players will often want to assign powerful vassals to their council anyway, unlocking the Inspiring Rule Perk is a no-brainer as they can get a tonne of monthly Prestige for free. Prestige has many uses in CK3, allowing players to increase their level of fame and acting as a resource for a multitude of decisions and activities.
With four powerful vassals assigned to the positions of Chancellor, Steward, Marshal, and Spymaster, players will get an extra +20% monthly Prestige.
1 Befriend
Befriending characters has several benefits, making the Befriend Perk one of the best Diplomacy Perks in Crusader Kings 3. This is particularly true given that Befriend can be unlocked first, with follow-up Perks that lend even more strength to the power of friendship.
Friends will always have a good opinion of each other and won't take any hostile actions against each other. Befriending fellow vassals or one's own vassals can be great for staying safe and avoiding war in Crusader Kings 3​​​​​.
Crusader Kings 3 is available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
