There are 6 different court types in Crusader Kings 3. One is exclusive to the tribal era whereas the rest are unlocked with the feudalism. I gotta talk about the best court types in CK3 today. But you should know that the court type means nothing unless you have court grandeur. Because court type bonuses scale with the grandeur level.
Another key point is court type exclusivity. Let me expand on that, court types are tied to your culture ethos. There are 7 different culture ethos in Crusader Kings 3 and each ethos has access to two different court types. Meaning, if your culture is following Egalitarian ethos, you can never switch to a Warlike court. You gotta reform, diverge, or hybridize your culture fist.
Court events, types, and displayable artifacts all introduced with the Royal Court DLC. Some didn’t like it, the DLC still has mixed reviews on Steam. However, it’s absolutely amazing in my opinion. The only reason it got bad reviews was the DLC policy. They are expensive, content doesn’t match the price, and people expect different DLCs. Such as Bloodlines, Anatolian struggle, event variety, HRE flavor, etc. But overall, Royal Court is a must have DLC to fully enjoy Crusader King 3.
1. Warlike
The best court type in Crusader Kings 3 is the Warlike. Because it buffs your knights and men-at-arms immensely. In case you didn’t know, levy size means nothing in this game. Battles won by men-at-arms, knights, and commanders.
At top level, Warlike court boosts your knights, men-at-arms, and even the levy size. What’s more, it gives martial and prowess bonus to your courtiers. So, if you invited a top tier commander to your court, he becomes even stronger. That works for knights in your court too.
All in all, you can win all your battles with max level warlike court. To have even stronger army, check out my CK3 men-at-arms guide.
Warlike court grandeur levels:
- Knight Effectiveness: +10%
- Powerful Vassal Councillor Levy Base Contribution: +10%
- Men-At-Arms Counter Efficiency: +10%
- Size of Men-At-Arms Regiments: +1
A show of force is the only way to command awe and respect! Our knights and soldiers are famous for their prowess.
Courtiers of this court type also receives Warlike Courtier trait which is giving +1 martial and +1 prowess. That’s a great power boost for knight courtiers. If the court grandeur is over level 8 for 5 years, courtier bonus will turn into Valued Warlike Courtier, which is much better than the regular warlike courtier bonus.
Courtier traits gained after spending 5 years in your court regardless of the grandeur level.
- Bureaucratic
- Bellicose
- Stoic
2. Administrative
Crusader Kings 3 is all about your capital. You need to move your capital to a county with 2-3 castles, build buildings in them, and raise development. That’ll make your dynasty set for life regardless of the succession law. Because your capital will be a powerhouse. In order to do that, you need money and development growth bonuses. Therefore, Administrative court is the best court type to choose at the start of your game.
Overall, once you set your base, you can do whatever you want. Until then, stick with the Administrative court.
Administrative court grandeur levels:
- Building Construction Time: -10%
Building Construction Cost: -5% - Promote Cultural Acceptance Effectiveness: +30%
- Development Growth in Realm Capital: +0.20/month
- Vassal Tax Contribution: +10%
Only an efficient and well-maintained court will make our realm prosper.
Courtiers of this court type also receives Administrative Courtier trait which is giving +1 stewardship.
- Bureaucratic
- Egalitarian
- Communal
- Spiritual
3. Scholarly
This one is ranked 3 but could be easily number 1 or 2. As I have said before, administrative is good at the beginning until you develop your main capital, holdings, and duchy. Then you need to switch to a Warlike or Scholarly court to have access to more things.
In order to unlock technological innovations, you need to have high learning. That forces you to focus on learning lifestyle. But it’s not the case if you set Scholarly court. It gives some learning bonus so that you can occasionally train your heir with a different lifestyle.
Monthly lifestyle experience +10% for all lifestyles, learning per level of fame, legendary inspired characters, etc. make it so great.
Don’t get me wrong, Warlike court is OP militarily. But if you already steamroll any opponent, have huge economy, full man-at-arms regiments, you can switch to scholarly court now. It’s the end-game choice.
Scholarly court grandeur levels:
- Inspired Characters Will Arrive at Court More Frequently
- Courtier and Guest Opinion: +15
- Monthly Lifestyle Experience: +10%
- Learning per Level of Fame: +1
Courtiers and Guests learning: +1
A Court is all about attracting cultivated minds and people of exceptional skill.
Courtiers of this court type also receives Scholarly Courtier trait which is giving another +1 learning.
- Spiritual
- Ceremonious
4. Diplomatic
It’s great for vassalizing your neighbors without fighting. I remember a run in which I was the emperor of France and HRE somehow exploded. Literally I was able to vassalize all former members of HRE thanks to the diplomatic court modifiers I had. However, it’s only going to work for specific conditions. For example, you can’t vassalize neighbors with different cultures. Therefore, you should switch diplomatic court type with something more useful once you reaped its vassalization benefits.
By the way, if you max both diplomatic court and Glory dynasty perk, you can actively have 3 sway schemes at the same time. Meaning, no more revolts! Though the revolts are not going to be a problem anyway if you’ve progressed that much in the game.
Diplomatic court grandeur levels:
- Increased Offer Vassalage Acceptance scaled by Grandeur
- Tyranny Gain: -20%
- Councillor Opinion: +10
- Max Personal Schemes: +1
Diplomacy is key to garnering the respect of our peers and keeping the realm at peace. A pleased vassal is a loyal vassal.
Courtiers of this court type also receives Diplomatic Courtier trait which is giving +1 diplomacy.
- Egalitarian
- Ceremonious
- Stoic
5. Intrigue
As of right now, the state Crusader Kings 3 in makes intrigue court useless in my opinion. Because intrigue sucks the way it’s for the time being.
- You kill someone? Get spammed by blackmails from your vassals…
- Put relative on a foreign throne by intrigue? Vassals will depose your relative in no time.
- Seduce people? Get tons negative opinion modifiers, disputed heritages, and eventually get murdered!
And the absolute worst thing about murder schemes the fact that they fail a lot even with %95 chance. Even if they success, there is a chance that you get exposed as a murderer instantly. Anyways, it’s great on paper but doesn’t work very well at the moment. Maybe they’ll make some changes with new updates and DLCs to improve intrigue. Until then, I’ll stick with other lifestyles.
For role playing? Sure, it’s somewhat a good choice for role-playing runs.
Intrigue court grandeur levels:
- Scheme Secrecy: +5%
- Support Schemes Effectiveness: +20%
- Increased Agent Acceptance for Hostile Schemes
- Max Hostile Schemes: +1
To leave the people at court unchecked is dangerous, and we must ensure that no one can be up to no good without us knowing.
Courtiers of intrigue court type also receives Intrigue Courtier trait which is giving +1 intrigue.
- Communal
- Bellicose
6. Tribal Court
Well, tribal court has amazing bonuses, but it does not have any alternative anyway. You’re either tribal lord with tribal court, or a feudal one with no access to tribal court. So, there is no choice to be made about the tribal court type. Still, let me break down the bonuses of tribal court grandeur.
Tribal court grandeur levels:
- Knight Effectiveness: +5%
- Army Loot Capacity: +20%
Raid Speed: +20% - Dread Gain: +25%
- Vassal Opinion: +5
- Men-At-Arms Maintenance: -25%
At court, might makes right – and the halls shall be decked with loot and plunder!
Courtiers of the Tribal Court will gain the Warlike Courtier or Valued Warlike Courtier based on the court grandeur. Also, courtiers and guests of this court type will gain +1 Prowess for each 12 months they hang around. That bonus prowess bonus caps at +3.
Ethos of your culture will not change anything about your court as long as you’re tribal.