Highlights
- Stewardship is a desirable Lifestyle for characters with a Stewardship education, offering three focuses and three Perk trees.
- The War Profiteer Perk in the Avaricious tree provides +10% extra monthly income while at war, helping with the maintenance costs of levies and men at arms.
- The Tax Man/Woman Perk in the default task of collecting taxes increases the effectiveness of this task, bringing in significant gold over a long reign.
Stewardship is one of the five Lifestyles that players can choose from in Crusader Kings 3 and is particularly desirable for characters who received a Stewardship education. As with any Lifestyle in the game, there are three focuses and three Perk trees for Stewardship.
By gaining Stewardship Lifestyle points over time and sometimes via events, players can start unlocking the best Stewardship Perks in Crusader Kings 3. While players may have their eyes on the Lifestyle Traits at the end of the Perk trees, knowing which Perks to unlock first is vital for min-maxing. Players can also pick up a few Perks from trees they aren't fully focusing on just yet.
7 War Profiteer
War in Crusader Kings 3 is one of the best pastimes, and for players who like to get stuck in a never-ending cycle of war, the War Profiteer Perk is a no-brainer. This Perk can be picked up second in the Avaricious tree and gives the player +10% extra monthly income while at war.
As levies and men at arms both come with hefty maintenance costs while raised for war, this can help out tremendously. If players are doing well financially, they may be able to hire more men at arms or they may even be able to afford to spend coin on luxuries while at war.
6 Tax Man/Woman
Collect Taxes is the default task for the Steward, and if players have managed their council well in CK3, they hopefully have a highly competent Steward who will rake in more and more taxes. The Tax Man/Woman Perk makes this task even more effective, and as it can be picked up first, a long reign will bring in a ton of gold.
If players already have lots of gold in Crusader Kings 3, they may instead wish to head down the other path in the Architect tree and focus on buffs to building, although the next two Perks after Tax Man/Woman are also very strong.
5 Golden Obligations
Golden Obligations is the first Perk in the Avaricious tree and lets players demand payment for the hooks they hold over other characters. As only rulers usually have gold on them, players should try and get hooks on landed characters. The gold that can be gained from these rulers, however, is quite significant and will also weaken enemies and potential enemies.
Golden Obligations also works brilliantly with one the best Intrigue Perks in Crusader Kings 3, Truth is Relative, which lets players scheme to fabricate hooks on characters. These false hooks can then be turned into vast sums of gold.
4 Professional Workforce
For players who want to focus on building up their holdings, to increase defenses and revenue, and gain other benefits, the Professional Workforce Perk is a no-brainer. This Perk is second in the Architect tree, which any rulers playing tall should be going down anyway, and it lowers the construction time for buildings and holdings by 30%.
The faster buildings are constructed and upgraded, the faster players can reap the benefits and start on their next project.
3 Divided Attention
Having a higher domain limit allows players to control more land directly, gaining the full benefits of a county rather than leasing it out to a vassal and only getting a percentage. There are a few ways to increase the domain limit in Crusader Kings 3, and one of the simplest is with the Divided Attention Perk, which gives a +2 domain limit bonus.
Divided Attention is the last Perk in the Architect tree and so players will have already unlocked other Perks that help with building up lands and controlling them, meaning they will be more than capable of taking on an extra two counties. The only downside to this is that after the death, the player's heir is unlikely to have this Perk and so won't be able to control as much land.
2 Toe The Line
There are many ways to keep vassals happy in Crusader Kings 3 and avoid having them join factions. The Toe the Line Perk does exactly that by making vassals less likely to join independence factions specifically.
This Perk is great for players who have already expanded their realm and who wish to consolidate their power. Toe the Line can be chosen fourth in the Administrator tree after other Perks that align with this stage of the game.
1 Honored To Serve
The Honored to Serve Perk is arguably the best Stewardship Perk in CK3 and due to its strength is the last to be picked up before the Administrator Trait in the corresponding tree. The Perk rewards players even more for assigning powerful vassals to the council, with each individual providing an extra 20% tax and levies.
If players are able to also unlock one of the best Diplomacy Perks, Inspiring Rule, then they will also get extra monthly Prestige for each powerful vassal on the council.
Crusader Kings 3 is available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.