Crusader Kings II ran from 2012 to 2020 and went free to play in 2019, which is why it still holds a live player base alongside its sequel. You play a dynasty rather than a country, starting anywhere from 769 with the Charlemagne expansion or 867 with The Old Gods through to 1337, and the game ends the moment no landed member of your dynasty is left to inherit. Everything else, the wars, the marriages, the murders, exists to stop that from happening.
These tips go beyond the basics. They're the strategies experienced players use to play more efficiently, the hidden mechanics most people miss, and the optimizations that compound over a full playthrough. If you're just starting, check our beginner's guide first.
Essential Tips
1. Fix succession before anything else
Fix succession before anything else. Gavelkind splitting a kingdom between three sons undoes fifty years of work in one death screen, and changing the law requires crown authority you have to raise years in advance.
2. Retinues beat levies because they ignore opinion
Retinues beat levies because they ignore opinion. A vassal at minus 40 opinion sends a fraction of his troops, while a retinue paid from your demesne turns up in full every single time.
3. Compose a retinue with two melee types and two skirmisher types, not five of everything
Compose a retinue with two melee types and two skirmisher types, not five of everything. Combat tactics buff a pair of unit types and penalise the others, so a mixed stack cancels its own bonuses.
4. Marriage is a claim delivery system
Marriage is a claim delivery system. Marrying your heir to the only daughter of a childless duke is worth more than marrying him to a genius with high stewardship.
5. Fabricating claims through the chancellor is slow and cheap, papal claims are fast and expensive
Fabricating claims through the chancellor is slow and cheap, papal claims are fast and expensive. Keep the chancellor working on the next target while you fight the current war.
6. The council is not decoration
The council is not decoration. Councillors with high relevant stats add real numbers to research, taxes and levies, and an unhappy council is the seed of the next faction.
7. Educate your own heir when your ruler has good stats and a matching trait, because the guardian's traits and education directly shape what the heir becomes
Educate your own heir when your ruler has good stats and a matching trait, because the guardian's traits and education directly shape what the heir becomes. A drunkard guardian produces exactly what you expect.
8. A title held for 100 years drifts de jure to its holder
A title held for 100 years drifts de jure to its holder. That means a slow game can absorb a neighbour's counties into your kingdom's legal borders without a single extra war.
9. The free-to-play version covers the base 1066 to 1337 range only
The free-to-play version covers the base 1066 to 1337 range only. The 867 and 769 starts, the Norse and nomadic governments and the society systems all live behind The Old Gods, Charlemagne, Horse Lords and Monks and Mystics.
10. Prestige and piety are currencies, not scores
Prestige and piety are currencies, not scores. Piety buys the Pope's help with claims and divorces, prestige buys mercenary contracts and better marriages, and both are spent rather than admired.
Advanced Strategies
Build Optimization
The difference between an average build and an optimized one is massive. See our builds guide for full breakdowns.
For Feudal (A-Tier):
- Focus on Succession laws and gavelkind combinations for maximum output.
- Core gear: Heavy Infantry
- Stat priority: Offensive stats first
For Tribal (A-Tier):
- Versatile approach that handles any situation.
- Core gear: Pikemen
- Stat priority: Balanced stats
Mechanic Interactions
Understanding how Crusader Kings II's systems interact is where the real optimization lives. Our combat guide covers this in detail.
Succession laws and gavelkind + Levies and retinues: Gavelkind splits your titles between every living son, and it is the single most common reason a carefully built kingdom collapses one generation after it was assembled. Combined with Levies and retinues, vassal levies scale with the vassal's opinion of you, so an angry duke sends a fraction of what his holdings could raise.
Plots and factions + De jure drift and claims: Every plot has a plot power figure that rises as backers join, and it has to clear a threshold before it can fire. When paired with De jure drift and claims, a title held continuously for 100 years drifts to become de jure part of its holder's realm, which is how borders quietly redraw without a war.
Societies and lifestyle focuses scaling: Monks and Mystics added societies you join for a rank track and society-only actions, the Hermetic Society, the Monastic Orders, the Assassins and the devil worshippers. Lifestyle focuses from Way of Life run alongside them, and picking Theology, Scholarship, Intrigue or Seduction early shapes which lifestyle traits your ruler ends his life carrying.
Equipment Efficiency
| Equipment | Best Use Case | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Heavy Infantry | The centre of a retinue, paired with pikemen rather than doubled up. | The anchor of most melee lines and one of the units that came out of the Horse Lords rebalance near the top. |
| Pikemen | Any army expecting to meet knights or horse archers on open ground. | The consistent answer to cavalry and the one heavy unit that was reliable across every patch, provided your commanders have the traits that trigger the pike tactics. |
| Light Cavalry | Turning a won battle into a destroyed army rather than a retreating one. | Cheap, fast, and devastating in pursuit. |
| Archers | One or two skirmisher slots in a mixed retinue, never as the bulk of an army. | Skirmishers that soften the enemy before the melee phase. |
| Retinues | Any ruler whose vassals dislike him, which after fifty years is every ruler. | Standing troops maintained from your demesne income that ignore vassal opinion entirely. |
Location Efficiency
Duchy of Munster, 1066 (Beginner, one duchy and a few counties): Murchad ua Briain in southern Ireland, the classic first campaign. A handful of small neighbours, no great power within reach, and enough room to make every beginner mistake without losing the save.
Byzantine Empire, 1066 (Advanced, an empire tier title from turn one): Konstantinos X Doukas ruling from Constantinople with the largest army on the map and a court full of people who want him dead. The Seljuks press from the east while the internal politics do more damage than any invader.
Scandinavia, 867 (Intermediate, tribal government with raiding unlocked): The Old Gods start, where the sons of Ragnar Lodbrok and Rurik in the east are all on the map at once. Norse pagans can raid for prestige and loot, and reforming the faith is a long-term project worth planning around.
Francia, 769 (Advanced, requires the Charlemagne expansion): The Charlemagne start, the earliest date the game allows. Karl and his brother hold the Frankish inheritance between them, with the Umayyads in Iberia and the Saxons unconquered to the east.
Kingdom of England, 1337 (Intermediate, a short game ending in 1453): The Hundred Years War bookmark and the latest start in the game. Borders are settled, succession laws are mature, and the interesting problems are diplomatic rather than expansionist.
Mistakes Even Veterans Make
- Building a kingdom under gavelkind and losing it entirely on the first succession, then restarting rather than fixing the law.
- Calling every vassal levy for a war without checking opinion, then fielding a third of the army the screen promised.
- Ignoring plot power on incoming factions until the demand arrives with half the realm behind it.
- Declaring war without a claim, which costs enormous prestige and turns your own vassals against you.
- Spending the whole treasury on holdings and having nothing left for a mercenary contract when a neighbour smells weakness.
Pro Quick Tips
- Fix succession before anything else. Gavelkind splitting a kingdom between three sons undoes fifty years of work in one death screen, and changing the law requires crown authority you have to raise years in advance.
- Retinues beat levies because they ignore opinion. A vassal at minus 40 opinion sends a fraction of his troops, while a retinue paid from your demesne turns up in full every single time.
- Compose a retinue with two melee types and two skirmisher types, not five of everything. Combat tactics buff a pair of unit types and penalise the others, so a mixed stack cancels its own bonuses.
- Start with Tribal, switch to Feudal when ready
- Invest in Heavy Infantry above everything else
- Clear areas in order: Duchy of Munster, 1066 → Byzantine Empire, 1066 → Scandinavia, 867 → Francia, 769 → Kingdom of England, 1337. See our maps guide
- Succession laws and gavelkind + Levies and retinues together are stronger than either alone
More Crusader Kings II Guides
- Crusader Kings II Crusader Kings II Overview
- Crusader Kings II Best Builds
- Crusader Kings II Tier List
- Crusader Kings II Walkthrough
- Crusader Kings II Beginner's Guide
- Crusader Kings II Weapons Guide
- Crusader Kings II Combat Guide
- Crusader Kings II Boss Guide
- Crusader Kings II Maps & Locations
- Crusader Kings II Crafting Guide
- Crusader Kings II Classes & Characters
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