Ck3 Traditions Tier List Crusader Kings 3

Best Traditions in CK3 Tier List (Crusader Kings 3)

I’ve split each tradition into one of five tiers, ranging from S-tier (the best) to D-tier (the worst).

S-Tier Traditions in Crusader Kings 3

These are the best traditions in Crusader Kings 3, and you should prioritize unlocking them before any other. Depending on the kind of tradition, these can provide a strong economic, cultural, or even militaristic boost that can help you get ahead of other realms. For example, the Eastern Roman Legacy tradition can reduce your Men-At-Arms costs by 30% while increasing your maximum Men-At-Arms regiment by +2, giving you a massive boost in military capabilities. Unless you have other specific needs in your realm, you should prioritize these traditions before any other. I usually prefer unlocking the Industrious tradition first to get a +25% Development boost in the early game, which culminates with strong economic backing in the late game.

How to unlock S-Tier Traditions

Here are all the S-tier traditions that require certain prerequisites to be unlocked:

A-Tier Traditions in Crusader Kings 3

The traditions listed in the A-tier are some of the better ones you can unlock in CK3. While most top-tier traditions are either bound by Cultures or some unique prerequisite, most here don’t have those shackles and are much easier to unlock. For example, the Culture Blending tradition can be unlocked by any Culture and reduces the Hybrid Culture Creation Cost by a staggering 75% while also boosting Cultural Acceptance. This not only saves you the hassle of gaining 40% acceptance between your desired cultures (which can take decades) but also improves acceptance with other cultures, promoting better Development and Control within your realm. Certain traditions in this tier, like Byzantine Traditions, are also quite essential since they are a prerequisite for unlocking various S-tier traditions, like Eastern Roman Legacy, as mentioned in the above table. Depending on the culture, I try to pick out the traditions that I’ll need to unlock better ones down the line.

B-Tier Traditions in Crusader Kings 3

The B-tier traditions are more niche traditions that you should unlock only in certain situations. If you don’t have any better tradition to unlock or heavily lack in a certain aspect like economy or military strength, only then are these traditions worth considering. For example, if you’re struggling with Cultural Acceptance in a large realm, getting the Culture Blending tradition won’t be enough. In such cases, adding the Xenophilic tradition on top of that would work wonders, as it provides an additional 25% Cultural Acceptance Gain.

C-Tier Traditions in Crusader Kings 3

The traditions listed in the C-tier should generally be avoided. I only get any tradition from this tier when I’ve completed unlocking every tradition in the tiers listed above, which usually takes a long time. In most cases, unlocking these traditions will not be worth the time and effort. For example, if you’re considering unlocking the Loyal Subjects tradition, it will only provide +5 Popular Opinion and +50% success towards Schemes against Liege. This perk gets completely overshadowed by any tradition listed on a higher tier.

D-Tier Traditions in Crusader Kings 3

The D-tier traditions are the worst picks in Crusader Kings 3. Unlocking them would not only be a waste of time, and you may end up with detrimental effects on your realm. I generally don’t unlock any of these traditions, and try my best to avoid them. For example, I had unlocked the Life is just a Joke tradition to gain a minuscule +5 Opinion (and only from characters with certain traits). This tradition also raised the AI Boldness by +50, which led to increased Schemes against my character and War declarations, making the playthrough much harder. For more on Crusader Kings 3, check out CK3 Traits Tier List – Crusader Kings 3 on Pro Game Guides.