In the strategy game Crusader Kings 3, many people ask: What is the best start in 2023? And how can I play as a Viking, preferably one like in the series “Vikings” or Euron Greyjoy from Game of Thrones? We have the answer: but be warned, the play style is a bit brutal.
Many in Crusader Kings 3 ask themselves these questions: The most well-known questions about Crusader Kings 3 are:
- How do I start?
- What is the best and strongest character to start with?
- How can I best play as a Viking?
We can answer all these questions on MeinMMO. While we have already had a starter guide for surviving as a count in Ireland, in 2023 we aim higher and want to become the greatest Viking of all time.
The best character to start is a hidden descendant of Ragnar Lodbrok
This is the best character to start with: The best, in terms of “strongest,” character to start with is one of the descendants of Ragnar Lodbrok, the hero from the series Vikings.
But it is none of his 4 sons that are offered to you in the selection menu to start.
The “ultimate” Viking hides a bit on the map: It is the “disinherited bastard son” of Halfdan Whitecoat: Jarl Dyre “The Stranger,” who must be selected separately via the “Play any ruler” feature.
If you’re keen on “Achievements” on Steam, you can also activate “Iron Man” right away; then the playthrough becomes worthwhile.
Are there any other strong starting characters who are Vikings? There are several strong starting figures in Crusader Kings 3:
- Jarl Hasting starts with a huge army in Northwestern France but is in his mid-50s – Dyre is over 30 years younger
- “Harald Fairhair,” known from Vikings, is a young count in Crusader Kings 3 – but he is only clever, Dyre is a genius.
- Also, of course, the 4 sons of Ragnar – a beginner guide to Halfdan Whitecoat can be found on GameStar
A 22-year-old genius Viking living far from the action
What makes the character so strong? Dyre is extremely strong at the beginning:
- He is 22 years old – still young
- He is a “genius” – the best trait in the game, and even hereditary, especially if you find a woman who is also a genius. This is the path to “strengthening the bloodline,” the ultimate thing you can achieve in Crusader Kings 3.
- He is a Gray Eminence – a “Rank 4 Diplomat.” That keeps an empire together securely.
- He starts with 3,000 men and 560 gold. So it starts right off with the action, no warm-up phase needed.
A genius man defeated with a pale son and a wife without traits
What are his disadvantages? To balance out how abominably strong Dyre is, Paradox has saddled him with a multitude of problems that we can, however, solve:
- Dyre has a relatively silly son who isn’t even clever. You’re supposed to continue playing with this guy when the genius dies? Never!
- He has a wife without special traits. She needs to go.
- He is stuck in today’s Kyiv – far from typical hot spots that interest many players, like the British Isles, Scandinavia, or Spain.
- He follows the Norse faith – it is notoriously difficult to reform the faith because you need 3 “holy sites” for that, and they are firmly in enemy hands.
- He is “Norse” but has little chance of becoming the head of culture – first, he would have to get past the Swede from Björn Ironside.
- With his bastard line, he has little prospects of becoming the head of his own dynasty – and that is actually what you want to do, to steer the fate of your dynasty.
Normally, Dyre is doomed to spend his next 50 years far from the action, somewhere in the wilderness. While his relatives rampage, plunder, and burn all over England, he is stuck in the east.
In “normal games,” he is usually overrun by cavalry hordes from the east and has little impact on the course of the game – but that is supposed to change under our rule.
Was the character real? Yes, at least a similar character existed at that time in Kyiv. Historically, Dyre didn’t even live to be 40 years old. He governed Kyiv for a few years but was killed in 882 by Oleg the Wise.
Whether the historical figure was really the son of Halfdan and thus a grandson of Ragnar is not really clear. After all, that was 1150 years ago – the boundaries between history and myth have become severely blurred over such a long time.
This is how I become a man-eating Viking in 50 years
These are our goals:
- The goal is to reform the faith – because only then is the Norse faith truly powerful and can be spread.
- To have a “genius son” with whom we can continue playing.
- To establish a strong power base in Britain.
- Ideally, we want to create the “Kingdom of Mann and the Isles” – a kind of fantasy Viking kingdom, for that we must become a “Living Legend” and be a Viking. We achieve that through plundering, plundering, and plundering. This is also a constant source of resources: because prisoners can either be sold (for gold) or burned (for faith).
Let’s build a pirate kingdom
This is the special power fantasy behind the character:
Usually, Paradox aims to be “historically plausible.” However, with the “Kingdom of Mann and the Isles,” they allowed themselves an exception: It’s a kind of “Viking power fantasy” – like “The Pirates of the Caribbean,” but not with the pirate heaven Port Royale, but the Isle of Man.
What if there had been a famous Viking pirate in the 9th century, who had turned the Isle of Man into a magnificent home port?
If you succeed, you become a kind of “Over-Viking” and the Isle of Man will become the power center in Britain instead of London. You receive 7500 Vikings as a bonus, the island gets 8 building slots, and becomes one of the most advanced provinces in the world, plus you can plunder better for 100 years.
What are the first steps? So we start in 867 in Kyiv and want to get away as quickly as possible:
- We will set our lifestyle to warfare, emphasizing authority.
- We will immediately go on a pilgrimage (the most expensive).
- We will marry women at court to promising men for the positions of marshal and steward – our unmarried men will acquire a spymaster and a court physician through marriage.
- With the faith from the pilgrimage, we will divorce the current wife and seek a better match (with genetically inheritable traits – ideally a genius or at least a clever woman).
- We will constantly host hunts and feasts; we need every prestige point to build our army and become a “Living Legend.”
From exile back into action, into the Highlands of Scotland
This is how world domination begins: To reach the action in England, we need to make a jump: we declare war on the chief of Lübeck, seize one of his two provinces, and move the red flag there.
From Lübeck, we go north into Scotland with the “Varangian Adventure.” We will take the 6 provinces in Moray – and give up the previous provinces for them. They would only distract us from the action anyway.
Once we have Moray, we will occupy the northeastern province of Ireland, Ulster, and give it to our relatively useless son – with enough prestige, we can disinherit him. Relatively soon, our “good sons” from the new wife should follow.
This should take about 3 years, and we are now a duchy with 7 lands – all still tribal.
Establish a new culture and own religion
How do we proceed from here? The goal now is to become a “Living Legend” and a Viking in the next roughly 45 years, then we can create the Kingdom of Mann. Additionally, the faith needs to be reformed.
First, however, we need our own culture to explore Onagers: We will assign our steward to Ulster and let him foster “cultural acceptance”: Thanks to Norse traits, we only need 20% acceptance, then we can establish a hybrid culture, “Norse-Gaelo,” and spread it. As long as that runs, war against Irish people is taboo: Because that will only set us back.
With “Norse-Gaelo”, it is important to keep the origin as “North Germanic” – so that the special establishment of the islands remains possible.
It is also essential that we do not form a kingly title – one can open duchies but must not distribute them, otherwise, the dukes will become independent.
When in Scotland, one can persuade Papa Halfdan or Uncle Ivar to form an alliance – that gives support. When the two die, we will target their descendants.
This is a good combo for the first own culture: You can continue to utilize Viking units, create ports early, and develop women into shield-maidens: In later generations, the culture can also be further developed and adapted.
This is done on the side: You now mainly need to collect prestige and plunder to become a “Viking.” Keep in mind that Dyre himself leads his plundering army. You should also participate in every feast and hunt.
As “easy” targets, if you get bored and want to conquer something, the 3 islands north of our position and Iceland are first choices. You can leave these to your sons as counties (each son gets all the counties of a duchy).
Once authority is a bit expanded, you will acquire the “Prophet” skill with the education lifestyle to reform the faith.
The trickiest wars are for the 3 “holy cities”: I recommend “North Riding” when Halfdan is dead, and Prandheim in Scandinavia – as easy prey.
What’s next? Once you have created your new culture and faith, you can begin to conquer Ireland and further consume Scotland – but be careful not to consume so much that you create another kingly title upon your death:
- You can take 7 lands in Ireland: Ulster and Connacht are good options.
- From Scotland, you can nibble off Moray, the Isles, Strathclyde, and perhaps Lothian – as long as Scotland itself remains a kingly title with the region around Gowrie.
- Deheuenbarth in Wales is always a good target.
- You should also get the Northern Isles and Iceland in the North – including Uppland and Prandheim in Scandinavia.
- You can also start taking pieces out of England: About Cornwall or East Anglia – you definitely need York.
Showdown in Eastern Sweden over the supremacy of the faith
This is the decisive war: The decisive war is for the 3rd province, “Uppland” in Eastern Sweden – you have to take on Björn Ironshield or his descendants. It will be a duel at eye level.
For this, one should forge many alliances, demand favors, and call up mercenary armies – it will be tough.
You will become “The Great and Terrible”
This is how it looks at the end: By the mid-60s, you should become a “Living Legend” and conquer the king of the islands. The exciting part here is that the otherwise insignificant island “Mann” is being built up so powerfully, receiving a total of 8 building slots and an army of 7500 Vikings.
You will also receive the nickname “The Great and Terrible” as a man-eating Viking; you are the stuff of children’s nightmares in the Middle Ages.
Additionally, you should then have a number of good descendants ruling over parts of England.
How should the faith look? Most players in Crusader Kings 3 reform the “Christian faith”: When you reform the Norse faith, you get a really malevolent ability with “Bellicosity,” with which you will subjugate everyone for a long time.
I also recommend “Community Integration” to spread the culture more easily – and maybe “Ritual Cannibalism” – this makes eating useful against stress. And “Dread” remains consistently high when you are constantly eating prisoners.
Admittedly, the religion is “a bit brutal” even by Viking standards with ritualized cannibalism:
What can go wrong with this play style? Crusader Kings 3 is a highly dynamic game. Therefore, many things can go wrong. Even the best plan can fail if the ruler dies of disease or falls victim to some absurd assassination attempt:
Typical problems with an aggressive play style, like the one depicted, are:
- Children die when you assign them as counts to expand the domain limit: young counts either die in battles or during sieges. One must watch out to always have many champions or manually forbid dynasty members from fighting in armies.
- I had the problem that a brilliant second-born son, who was the “heir” of many duchies, was now ruled by the babies of fallen brothers. But the dude kept killing babies and accumulating inherited counties. That’s what happens when you raise them to be cannibals.
- In general, one should avoid conquering so much that one receives more than one kingly title or that further king titles are automatically created after Dyre’s death. Otherwise, troubles will arise during inheritance. The actual expansion of the realm should only be addressed when one can become emperor of Alba in the same generation.
The decisive and most difficult phase comes just when one is at the goal of dreams and has declared oneself king:
- One switches from tribal duchy to feudal kingdom – perhaps one has to disband the army to save gold.
- By then, Jarl Dyre will soon bite the dust – hence it is important to handle the inheritance: By distributing duchies and disinheriting, one ensures that one has only one heir – with whom one can continue to play.
But militarily, hardly anything can stop you for the next hundred years.
If you want to take it easy, take your time conquering until you can give a new county to an “adult descendant” – it’s best to choose a suitable wife for him beforehand. In the meantime, you can go plundering for a couple more rounds.
More about my experience in Crusader Kings 3 I’ve written here:
In my game of the year, I have 14 children, 4 wives, and am the emperor of Ireland
