The Best Tenets for Crusader Kings 3 Ranked | Ck3 Best Tenets

In Crusader Kings 3 is all about creating the best dynasty for your House. Your ultimate goal is to have a long line of descendants following the past ruler’s faith and lifestyle. From the first ruler’s heirs to sons heirs, so on and so forth, before the line will come to an end at some point or another. A kingdom’s faith is the crown’s backbone, and tenets represent the faiths’ unique quirks and rites. Having a tenet means acquiring a vast range of various effects. Some can change people’s traits, which your faith considers sin, affecting how other characters treat and react to them. While others grant specific bonuses, and others allow members of the faith to serve in the knights. Not every religion has access to every tenet, and while you can create a new faith within an existing religion, you cannot start a new religion. So here is our CK3 Best Tenets List!

10. Human Sacrifice

Kicking off our CK3 Best Tenets list is human sacrifice. Executions are always fun to have when creating a dynasty, even when your only a peasant watching them happen. You gain a lot of Piety for killing certain ranks of people.

• +50 Piety per executed Count
• +100 Piety per executed Duke
• +500 Piety per executed King
• +1000 Piety per executed Emperor

9. Esotericism

Esotericism basically means that you become a Wise Man, which gives you access to Mystical Communion. Mystical Communion gives you 300 lifestyle XP every 5 years, which is fantastic if you want to optimize your lifestyle XP. There’s also a hidden trait that gives pilgrimages the chance to grant or upgrade the Wise Man trait line.

See Also: Raising Men At Arms Without Levies in CK3

8. Ecclesiarchy / The Pentarchy

As long as your religion controls your holy sites, it will increase monthly fervor quite noticeably, as it’s +0.1 Monthly Fervor per Holy Site. If your goal is to convert as much of the world to your faith as possible, this would be a solid choice!

7. Communion

Communion is powerful, but only if you’re the Head of Faith, as it allows you to excommunicate whoever you don’t like, which might be a lot of people! Even if you’re not the Head of Faith, Seek Indulgences is useful if you find yourself needing a chunk of Piety.

6. Armed Pilgrimages

Armed Pilgrimages allows your Head of Faith to call crusades, fun for all the family! This Holy War Piety Cost is -20%! It can become quite an unorganized mess but is otherwise an excellent opportunity to grab an entire kingdom from opposing religions. However, unlike CK2, you can go to war for an entire kingdom on your own as long as your devotion (the sum of gained Piety) is high enough, which prevents it from being lower than number 6.

5. Warmonger

The Warmonger is another fantastic tenet for rapid and significant expansion, especially when clergy members can serve as Commanders or Knights. However, it should never be combined with the Unrelenting Faith or Pursuit of Power due to the considerable overlap in effects. Abrahamic religions cannot pick it with the Warmonger tenet. Not hard to see how this has landed on our CK3 Best Tenets List.

4. Pursuit of Power

This tenet is the World Conquest tenet. Title creation costs are extremely expensive in the early game, and you’ll undoubtedly notice the -50% reduced cost with this tenet. The -50% lowered tyranny gain leaves you a lot more room for underhanded actions without all your vassals hating your guts, which is always a plus. You want your neighbors’ property, and that’s reason enough for war. Is there another king just coming out of a costly civil war? Why not invade his entire kingdom because you can!

3. Bhakti

Picking the Bhakti tenet allows you to decide on what branch of Hinduism you want to belong too. If you choose to be a Shaivist or a heresy based on Shaivism, you can pick a permanent bonus that gives you a 20% lifestyle bonus in all lifestyles and +10 clergy opinion. If you pick Vaishnavism, you’ll still get a +20% lifestyle bonus in stewardship, in addition to 10% increased taxes. Easily near the top of our CK3 Best Tenets list.

2. Astrology

Astrology gives + 25% Naval speed increase, which is neat, but only if you have access to water nearby! The best thing about this tenet is that Divine the Stars give you a whopping 25% increased XP to a random lifestyle-changing every 10 years. So if you don’t mind a bit of randomness to your lifestyle leveling, you could create a powerful ruler with Astrology.

1. Alexandrian Catechism

At the top of our CK3 best tenets list is Alexandrian Catechism. Any significant increase in lifestyle experience is fantastic. However, keep in mind that this tenet is restricted to Coptic or player-created Christian heresies. With a +20% Monthly Learning Lifestyle Experience, it’s far too good to pass up on!