Your ruler’s personality dictates your gameplay decisions in Crusader Kings 3. While some traits can let you make bad decisions and increase your tyranny, others can limit you from being a just ruler. To help you choose the right traits, here is a detailed list for each personality trait in CK3.
List of Best Features – CK3 (Crusader Kings 3)
It is more than 30 different personality traits in Crusader Kings 3, each of them having their advantages and disadvantages. Knowing who to choose is essential to creating a strong ruler. But learning the specifics of each trait can be quite annoying, so I’ve compiled this comprehensive level list for each trait in CK3 below:
| Tier | Features |
|---|---|
| S | Diligent, Moderate, Ambitious, Sadistic, Gregarious |
| A | Stubborn, Brave, Vengeful, Wrathful, Lustful, Patient, Fair |
| B | Fickle, Humble, Generous, Eccentric, Keen, Calm, Satisfied, Arrogant |
| C | Greedy, Chaste, Cynical, Forgiving, Honest, Deceitful, Arbitrary, Impatient |
| D | Shy, Paranoid, Trusting, Compassionate, Lazy, Lazy, Gluttony |
S-Tier Features in Crusader Kings 3
These traits are the best for your character. Not only do they provide great attributes increasebut 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-level features, and why they’re great choices:
| feature | Reason |
|---|---|
| dedicated | Provides a total of +10 additional stats, along with the Develop Capital a decision that is very good for your economy. Also, allows you to lose tension through Hunts. |
| Temperate | Has almost no downside. Provides a health boost, along with +2 Stewardship and +10 Opinion on same traits. |
| Ambitious | Provides a total of +5 stats, additional vassal opinion and especially +0.35 influence every month. The only downside is earning stress if you try to be too generous. |
| sadistic | Provides +6 stats, with +35 Natural Fear, making it ideal for tyrants. Additionally, you can use hostile schemes against anyone, even your children. You also lose stress by making decisions like Execution and Murder. |
| gregarious | One of the best features with almost no downside. You gain +2 diplomacya ton of Opinion, and even +0.1 Monthly Influence. You can also lose a lot of stress by being present feasts. |
A-Tier Features in Crusader Kings 3
These are some of the more balanced features in Crusader Kings 3. Depending on what kind of gameplay you prefer, choosing these features will be very beneficial or harmful if you’re not careful. For example, if you are trying to reach Pure Blood offspring with strong genes, then having the Lustful feature can be very useful. Whereas, if you are not careful, you will have too many offspring and lose most of your kingdom when your character dies.
Here’s a breakdown of all the A-level traits in Crusader Kings 3, and why they’re useful in certain situations:
| feature | Reason |
|---|---|
| Stubborn | Although it might sound like a negative trait, it provides +3 Stewardship to your character, which is important to your economy. It also provides resistance to disease. The only downside is the negative opinion, which can be removed by swinging. |
| brave | Lots of positives, including +5 Stats, tons of positive opinions and a tight loss of Hunts. The downside is the increased risk of dying in battles. As long as you’re not leading armies, you’re good. |
| vengeful | A strong feature for plot characters Provides +4 stats, along with a boost to enemy scheme success. I prefer to combine it with the sadistic trait and rule with fear. The only downside is -2 diplomacywhich doesn’t matter. |
| Enraged | If you plan to rule with an iron fist, this feature is a must. Provides +3 Martial along with Natural Dread and the Punish a Criminal a decision that is very often useful. |
| Lustful | Great for having many heirs. Provides +2 plotalong with a significant boost to Fertility. Also improves the to seduce scheme length. The only downside is chaste characters have a lower opinion of you. |
| patient | Provides +2 Learning together with an improved Liège opinion. Each enemy scheme also has a longer duration, making it somewhat useful. Almost no downside, so overall, it’s worth having your character. |
| Only | Improves your starting Legitimacy, provides +3 stats and lots of positive opinions. The disadvantage is -3 plot and you will gain tension from enemy schemes like Blackmail. |
B-Tier Features in Crusader Kings 3
These features are more niche and are not useful in most cases. If you’re planning a certain build that revolves around some stats, only then are these features worth considering. For example, the generous trait is better for diplomacy runs but can be quite detrimental to your economy. If given a choice, choose these traits only if there is no better trait.
Here’s a breakdown of all the B-level features in Crusader Kings 3, and how they can be used:
| feature | Reason |
|---|---|
| Erratic | Provides +2 diplomacy and +1 plotwith an additional 20 days to enemy scheme lengths. The disadvantage is -2 Stewardship. You should use this feature 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 of a downside. but not very great either. |
| generous | +3 diplomacy and +15 Opinion of vassals, at the cost of -10% monthly income. Great in the late game, but can be very expensive if you pick this up in the early game. |
| eccentric | Balanced but risky feature. You get +2 Learning and lose -2 diplomacy. On the other hand, you have +50% Stress Gain, while also +50% Stress Loss. if you are lucky, you can lose a lot of stress very quickly or vice versa. |
| Eager | A good feature for religious runs where you will be involved in Holy Wars. You have +2 Martial and +20% Monthly Peity, which is quite significant. The downside is that you will be strongly disliked by other faiths. |
| Tranquility | A good feature if you don’t want to become a tyrant. You get +2 stats and +10 stress loss, but at the cost of +50% Terrible decay, making it harder for you to become a feared ruler. |
| Content | If you want to have peaceful gameplay, you should be fine with this feature. You get tons of positive opinions and +2 Learning. But any ambitious decision like Claim a Throne will result in a significant stress gain. |
| arrogant | The only plus is that you will get +1 Monthly Prestige which is good. Besides that, you will lose some views of your Liège and Vassals. Any good action like Signing White Peace will result in tension. |
C-Tier Features in Crusader Kings 3
The C-level traits in Crusader Kings 3 are some of the more undesirable to have on your character. I try my best to avoid them on my characters, like them 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 features are, and why they’re undesirable:
| feature | Reason |
|---|---|
| Greedy | You lose -2 diplomacy for +5% Monthly income, which is not a good business at all. Additionally, your vassals have a lower opinion of you, and you gain stress from basic decisions like Grant of Title. |
| chaste | You gain +2 Learning but has -25% Fertility. This can be very detrimental, especially if you have this trait in the early game. Besides, it becomes very difficult for you to seduce anyone |
| Cynical | You gain +4 stats against major opinion loss and -20% Monthly Piety. This can be good if you are not running for Holy Wars, but harmful if you are under the influence of the Priesthood. |
| apologizing | Provides +2 diplomacy and +1 Learning against -2 plot. The biggest downside is that Hooks become as useless as any enemy action, even that little Title Revocation gives you a lot of tension. |
| honest | You gain +2 diplomacy and lose -4 plotbesides you can’t Blackmail without strain gain. No benefits at all. |
| Deceitful | You gain +4 plot and lose –2 diplomacyand also to get Study the Art of Scheming a decision that is useful in Intrigo toys. |
| Arbitrary | Provides +3 plot against -2 Stewardship and -1 Learning. You also lowered stress gain, but more Natural Fear. Only useful if you want to be a plot tyrant. |
| impatient | You get +20% Monthly Prestige and +25% Travel Speed in exchange for many lowered views and increased travel hazards. Quite risky. |
D-level Features in Crusader Kings 3
By far the worst features in Crusader Kings 3 fall below this level. 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:
| feature | Reason |
|---|---|
| Inconvenient | You lose -2 diplomacy against +1 Learning. You gain Stress from almost every interaction, especially plots. Any social interaction would likely result in a mental breakdown. |
| Paranoid | You gain +3 plot against -1 diplomacywhich seems okay on the surface. But, you have +100% Stress Gain and you gain stress from any plot or even inviting people to your court. |
| Trusting | Provides +2 diplomacy and -2 plotwith positive opinions from your Liège and Vassal. But, you have increased travel hazard and huge stress gain from something remotely unethical like Blackmail. |
| Merciful | Basically takes away your chance to become a tyrant. You lower fear and +100% fear decay. Additionally, you have increased stress gain from every single enemy decision. |
| Craven | You gain +2 plot vs. -5 stats, which is a really bad trait. Moreover, you lower opinion, attraction and gain stress from torture. |
| lazy | Nothing good about this feature. You lose -1 of every stat as well as -10% Travel Speed, all for +50% Stress Loss. |
| gluttonous | You lose -2 Stewardship and -5 Attraction Opinion for a paltry +10% Stress loss. A very bad compromise. |
For more on Crusader Kings 3, check out What is Ironman Mode in Crusader Kings 3? in Professional Game Guides.
