The personality of your ruler dictates your gameplay decisions in Crusader Kings 3. While some traits can let you make nefarious decisions and expand your tyranny, others can limit you into being a just ruler. To help you choose the right traits, here's a detailed tier list for every personality trait in CK3.
Best Traits Tier List - CK3 (Crusader Kings 3)
There are over 30 different personality traits in Crusader Kings 3, each of them having their pros and cons. Knowing which ones to choose is essential for creating a strong ruler. But learning the specifics of each trait can be quite a hassle, so I've compiled this comprehensive tier list for every trait in CK3 below:
| Tier | Traits |
|---|---|
| S | Diligent, Temperate, Ambitious, Sadistic, Gregarious |
| A | Stubborn, Brave, Vengeful, Wrathful, Lustful, Patient, Just |
| B | Fickle, Humble, Generous, Eccentric, Zealous, Calm, Content, Arrogant |
| C | Greedy, Chaste, Cynical, Forgiving, Honest, Deceitful, Arbitrary, Impatient |
| D | Shy, Paranoid, Trusting, Compassionate, Craven, Lazy, Gluttonous |
S-Tier Traits in Crusader Kings 3
These traits are the best ones for your character. Not only do they provide great attribute boosts, but also allow your characters to lose Stress easily. I generally try to get at least two of these traits in my character to help deal with difficult decisions. Here's a breakdown of all the S-tier traits, and why they're great picks:
| Trait | Reason |
|---|---|
| Diligent | Provides a total of +10 additional stats, along with the Develop Capital decision which is very good for your economy. Also, allows you to lose stress through Hunts. |
| Temperate | Doesn't have any almost any downside. Provides health boost, along with +2 Stewardship and +10 Opinion of same traits characters. |
| Ambitious | Provides a total of +5 stats, additional vassal opinion, and especially +0.35 influence every month. The only downside is gaining stress if you try to be too generous. |
| Sadistic | Provides +6 stats, with +35 Natural Dread, making it ideal for tyrants. Additionally, you can use hostile schemes on anyone, even your children. You also lose stress through decisions like Execution and Murder. |
| Gregarious | One of the best traits with almost no downside. You gain +2 Diplomacy, a ton of Opinion, and even +0.1 Monthly Influence. You can also lose a lot of stress from attending Feasts. |
A-Tier Traits in Crusader Kings 3
These are some of the more balanced traits in Crusader Kings 3. Depending on which kind of gameplay you prefer, choosing these traits be very beneficial or damaging if you're not mindful. For example, if you're trying to achieve Pure Blood offspring with strong genes, then having the Lustful trait can be very useful. Whereas, if you're not careful, you'll end up having too many offspring and lose the majority of your kingdom when your character dies.
Here's a breakdown of all the A-tier traits in Crusader Kings 3, and why they're useful in certain situations:
| Trait | Reason |
|---|---|
| Stubborn | While it might sound like a negative trait, it provides +3 Stewardship to your character, which is significant for your economy. It also provides disease resistance. The only downside is the negative opinion, which can be removed by swaying. |
| Brave | A lot of positives, including +5 Stats, tons of positive opinions, and stress loss from Hunts. The downside is the increased risk of dying in battles. As long as you're not leading armies, you're good. |
| Vengeful | Strong trait for Intrigue characters. Provides +4 stats, along with a boost to hostile scheme success. I prefer to combine it with the Sadistic trait and rule with fear. The only downside is -2 Diplomacy, which won't matter. |
| Wrathful | If you're planning on ruling with an iron fist, this trait is a must. Provides +3 Martial along with Natural Dread and the Punish Criminal decision, which comes in handy very often. |
| Lustful | Great for having lots of heirs. Provides +2 Intrigue, along with a significant boost to Fertility. Also improves the Seduce scheme length. The only downside is Chaste characters have a lower opinion of you. |
| Patient | Provides +2 Learning along with improved Liege opinion. Any hostile scheme also has a longer duration, making it somewhat useful. Almost no downside, so overall, worth having on your character. |
| Just | Improves your initial Legitimacy, provides +3 stats, and lots of positive opinion boosts. The downside is -3 Intrigue and you'll gain stress from hostile schemes like Blackmail. |
B-Tier Traits in Crusader Kings 3
These traits are more niche and are not useful in most cases. If you're planning a certain build, which revolves around some stat, only then are these traits worth considering. For example, the Generous trait is better for Diplomacy runs but can be quite detrimental to your economy. If given a choice, only pick these traits if there's no better trait available.
Here's a breakdown of all the B-tier traits in Crusader Kings 3, and how they can be used:
| Trait | Reason |
|---|---|
| Fickle | Provides +2 Diplomacy and +1 Intrigue, with an additional 20 days to hostile scheme lengths. The downside is -2 Stewardship. You should use this trait if you plan to conquer using schemes. |
| Humble | You get +0.5 Monthly Piety with lots of Positive opinions from your Liege, Vassals, and the Clergy. Doesn't have much downside. but not very great either. |
| Generous | +3 Diplomacy and +15 Opinion from Vassals, at the cost of -10% monthly income. Great in the late game, but can be very costly if you pick this up in the early game. |
| Eccentric | A balanced yet risky trait. You get +2 Learning and lose -2 Diplomacy. On the other hand, you have +50% Stress gain, while also +50% Stress loss. if you're lucky, you can lose lots of stress very quickly or vice versa. |
| Zealous | A well-suited trait for religious runs, where you're going to be involved in Holy Wars. You have +2 Martial and +20% Monthly Peity, which is quite significant. The downside is that you'll be severely disliked by other faiths. |
| Calm | A good trait if you don't want to become a tyrant. You get +2 stats and +10 stress loss, but at the cost of +50% Dread decay, making it hard for you to become a feared ruler. |
| Content | If you want to have a peaceful playthrough, you should be fine with this trait. You get tons of positive opinions and +2 Learning. But any ambitious decision like Claim Throne will result in significant stress gain. |
| Arrogant | The only plus is that you'll get +1 Monthly Prestige, which is good. Apart from that, you'll lose some opinions from your Liege and Vassals. Any good deed like Signing White Peace will result in stress gain. |
C-Tier Traits in Crusader Kings 3
The C-tier traits in Crusader Kings 3 are some of the more undesirable ones to have on your character. I try my best to avoid getting them on my characters, as they do more harm than good. If you get them as a choice, try to choose something else, even if it causes you stress.
Here's a breakdown of what these traits are, and why they are undesirable:
| Trait | Reason |
|---|---|
| Greedy | You lose -2 Diplomacy in exchange for +5% Monthly income, which is not a good trade at all. Additionally, your vassals have a lower opinion of you, and you gain stress from basic decisions like Granting Title. |
| Chaste | You gain +2 Learning but have -25% Fertility. This can be very detrimental, especially if you have this trait in the early game. Moreover, it becomes very difficult for you to Seduce anyone. |
| Cynical | You gain +4 stats in exchange for significant opinion loss and -20% Monthly Piety. This can be good if you're not running for Holy Wars, but detrimental if you are under the influence of the Clergy. |
| Forgiving | Provides +2 Diplomacy and +1 Learning in exchange for -2 Intrigue. The biggest downside is that Hooks become as useless as any hostile action, even as little as Title Revocation gives you lots of stress gain. |
| Honest | You gain +2 Diplomacy and lose -4 Intrigue, plus you can't Blackmail without stress gain. No benefits overall. |
| Deceitful | You gain +4 Intrigue and lose -2 Diplomacy, and also get Study the Art of Scheming decision, which is useful in Intrigue playthroughs. |
| Arbitrary | Provides +3 Intrigue in exchange for -2 Stewardship and -1 Learning. You also have lowered stress gain, but more Natural Dread. Only useful if you want to be a scheming tyrant. |
| Impatient | You get +20% Monthly Prestige and +25% Travel Speed in exchange for lots of lowered opinion and increased travel dangers. Quite risky. |
D-Tier Traits in Crusader Kings 3
By far the worst traits in Crusader Kings 3 fall under this tier. Try to avoid getting them at any cost, and if your character has them, it's better to switch to another one as soon as possible.
Here's a breakdown of each of these traits, and why they're so terrible:
| Trait | Reason |
|---|---|
| Shy | You lose -2 Diplomacy in exchange for +1 Learning. You gain Stress from almost every interaction, especially plots. Any social interaction would probably result in a mental breakdown. |
| Paranoid | You gain +3 Intrigue in exchange for -1 Diplomacy, which seems okay on the surface. But, you have +100% Stress gain and you gain stress from any kind of plot or even inviting people to your court. |
| Trusting | Provides +2 Diplomacy and -2 Intrigue, with positive opinions from your Liege and Vassal. But, you have increased travel risk and immense stress gain from anything remotely unethical like Blackmail. |
| Compassionate | Essentially takes away your chance to become a tyrant. You lower dread and +100% dread decay. Additionally, you have increased stress gain from every single hostile decision. |
| Craven | You gain +2 Intrigue in exchange for -5 stats, which is a really bad trait. Moreover, you have lowered opinion, attraction and gain stress from Torture. |
| Lazy | Nothing good about this trait. You lose -1 from every stat as well as -10% Travel Speed, all for +50% Stress loss. |
| Gluttonous | You lose -2 Stewardship and -5 Attraction Opinion for a measly +10% Stress loss. A very bad tradeoff. |
For more on Crusader Kings 3, check out What is Ironman Mode in Crusader Kings 3? on Pro Game Guides.
Published: Oct 7, 2024 07:40 am