Highlights
- Keeping vassals happy is crucial in Crusader Kings 3 to avoid factions and civil war. Sending them gold and lowering crown authority are effective methods.
- Ruling through fear can be an option if inspiring love or loyalty is not possible. Traits like Arbitrary, Wrathful, and Sadistic help amass dread and intimidate vassals.
- Arrange marriages with vassals to strengthen the realm and prevent rebellion. Sway or befriend disgruntled vassals to increase their opinion and loyalty. Hosting feasts also boosts vassal satisfaction.
Vassals are absolutely essential for ruling large realms in Crusader Kings 3. They manage domains, help out on the council, support their liege in war, and most importantly pay their taxes. However, they can also cause the player plenty of problems.
If vassals have a low opinion of their liege, they may grow resentful and form factions that could result in the player having to make concessions or fight a civil war. On the other hand, happy vassals in Crusader Kings 3 will also make other things easier. For example, they are more likely to accept ultimatums from the player, and Clan vassals will even provide more levies and tax the happier they are.
7 Keep Them Happy With Gold
One of the simplest ways to keep vassals or any character happy is to send them gold. For players who have amassed considerable wealth in Crusader Kings 3, this is no problem at all, but players with limited funds will have to be selective with whose loyalties they buy.
To make gift-giving even more effective, players can pick up the Thoughtful Perk, which is the first Perk in the Diplomat Perk Tree for any players going down the Diplomacy Lifestyle. This gives 100% Opinion Gain from the Send Gift action, allowing players to make their recipients like them even more.
6 Lower Crown Authority And Don't Go Over Any Limits
One simple way to keep vassals happy in CK3 is to not give them any reason to be resentful. By lowering the crown authority and not enforcing strict vassal contracts, players will avoid the negative opinion effects that accompany a tighter rule.
There are other things to avoid as a ruler in Crusader Kings 3, such as holding too many Duchy rank titles, or specific titles that vassals feel are rightfully theirs. By giving vassals titles and assigning them other lesser vassals of their own, the player will keep them more than content.
5 Keep Them Happy To Be Alive
Some rulers just aren't capable of inspiring love or loyalty, and instead, the only option is to rule through fear or in other words to rule via dread in Crusader Kings 3. While a tyrant's vassals might not necessarily be happy, they will be happy to still have their heads firmly attached to their necks, and they will also be grateful for the lands they pay homage for.
Having traits such as Arbitrary, Wrathful, and Sadistic will help players amass more dread and keep it, and taking certain decisions will align with this too. Naturally, vassals with traits such as Craven will be easier to intimidate and bend to the player's will.
4 Make Marriage Alliances With Vassals
While players may often look to foreign realms for marriage alliances in the hope to nullify a threat or secure a massive allied army in war, they can also strengthen their realm by arranging marriages with their vassals.
Any vassal who is allied to their liege through family ties is unable to join factions and thus cannot rise in revolt. There is even a chance to end up with dynasty members as vassals if the succession of vassal titles is managed well. For example, if the player marries a younger son to an heiress, their offspring would be of the player's dynasty as long as a matrilineal marriage wasn't used.
3 Sway And Befriend
Using a personal scheme to sway an individual is one of the easiest ways to increase their opinion, and players will want to use this on disgruntled vassals, especially those with power. Having high Diplomacy and likable traits will help with the success rate of these schemes.
Players with the Befriend Perk from the Family Hierarch can instead attempt to befriend their vassals, as this will create a permanent bond with other benefits, such as friends not being able to join factions. Players without this Perk can instead use the Befriend Intent when attending or hosting activities.
2 Go On Grand Tours
Players who own the Tours & Tournaments DLC are able to take Grand Tours around their realm, visiting vassals of their choice in an attempt to improve relations. While this can be costly, the rewards go well beyond getting a better grip on one's vassals.
There are three types of Grand Tours that players can take: Majesty, Intimidation, and Taxation. Out of these, unless players are ruling through dread, the best to take for keeping vassals happy would be the Majesty Tour as they will be more impressed. The Prestige gains will also increase the player's fame level, making people respect them more.
1 Host Feasts And Other Activities
The easiest way by far to keep vassals happy in Crusader Kings 3 is to host feasts and other activities as often as possible and invite all the disgruntled vassals. For feasts, vassals who attend will gain opinion of the host, but by spending more and serving more courses the player can make an even greater impression, particularly on Courtly Vassals, one of the new Vassal Stances.
How well the feast goes will also affect opinion gain, so while luck is a factor players should try and make the right choices when confronted with dilemmas while hosting. Players can also assign an honorary guest who they can choose to toast at the end. Hosting other activities can also boost opinion, but feasts are the most consistent for those with vassals of dubious loyalties.
Crusader Kings 3 is available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.