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Crusader Kings III: Realm holdings and special buildings guide

Crusader Kings III: Realm holdings and special buildings guide

Crusader Kings III has a ton of content in it. Many were concerned that the game would fall into the trap of being kind of threadbare on launch. This was due to the perception that the game would be missing many features added as DLC in Crusader Kings II, and this doesn’t really appear to be the case. There are a great many elements that were DLC in the second game that has been included in the base game of the new sequel.

Among these additions is a robust building and realm management system. Players can manage and customize their entire not only their Realms, but also the counties and duchies within those Realms with various addons and new construction. Each type of building has a base cost and construction time, as well as a net effect. Most of these effects are centered around buffs to the economic and military might of your empire.

Let’s start by talking about the Main holdings, which are carried over from the last game.

Main Holdings

Main Building/Holding Cost Construction Time Effects (Level 1)
Castle 800 5 years +0.4 tax/month; +1 fort level; +175 levies; +250 garrison
City 500 5 years +0.8 tax/month; +75 levies; +150 garrison
Temple 500 5 years +0.5 tax/month; +125 levies; +150 garrison

So let’s talk more about how this new game handles technology and upgrades.

Culture and Tech

Technology has changed a fair bit in this new game. Technology has been removed from the hands of individual empires or kingdoms and is now culture-wide, in practice. If you belong to a more tribal culture, your technology options for military and politics will be more limited. You can still invest in new tech regardless of culture through the new “fascination” mechanic. You can choose to direct your technological development in this manner to push your kingdom in a certain direction, say if you want to rush a certain society technology.

Crusader Kings III: Realm holdings and special buildings guide

To help in achieving this though, you will need to spend Gold and Piety. That’s where holdings can be upgraded with a few different buildings to boost tax and resource income. You can also buff you Levies as well.

Additional construction slots and terrain-dependent buildings

The slots seen below the main settlement’s box are for additional structures in that holding. These are the general ones that aren’t affected by terrain (don’t forget that they can still be upgraded):

Additional Buildings Cost Construction Time Effects (Level 1)
Walls & Towers (castles) 150 3 years +0.2 tax/month; +1 fort level; +150 garrison
Guild Halls (cities) 225 3 years +0.3 tax/month; +5% development growth/month
Prayer Halls (temples) 300 3 years +0.2 tax/month; +0.1 control/month; +0.1 piety/month
Barracks 150 3 years +125 levies; +2 damage for heavy infantry and spearmen
Military Camps 150 21 months +100 levies; +2 archer damage; +1 skirmisher damage; +1 skirmisher pursuit

As you add in more upgrades to your infrastructure, you will notice the requirements changing. Each level of fortification or other upgrade has their own requirements, and you need to pay attention to tooltips here. Each main holding type is also tied to a certain technology tradition.  castles require the “Battlements” technology to be upgraded to hit certain levels. For cities and temples, meanwhile, you’ll need the “Manorialism” tech and its equivalents to add new elements in.

And here are some of the buildings and addons you can add for the economic side of things:

Terrain Buildings Cost Construction Time Effects (Level 1)
Farms & Fields (farmlands, plains, drylands) 150 3 years +0.5 tax/month
Pastoral Lands (most terrain types except farmlands/mountains) 150 21 months +0.2 tax/month; +50 levies
Hunting Grounds (most terrain types except farmlands/deserts) 100 2 years +0.2 tax/month; +2 defender advantage; +1 light cavalry damage and pursuit
Forestry (forests, taiga) 150 3 years +0.3 tax/month; -2% building construction time
Hill Farms (hills) 150 21 months +0.2 tax/month; +50 levies
Wetland Farms (wetlands) 100 3 years +0.3 tax/month; -1% building construction time
Quarries (mountains) 100 21 months +0.2 tax/month; -2% building construction time
Desert Agriculture (drylands, desert, oasis, floodplains) 100 2 years +0.2 tax/month
Orchards (oasis, floodplains) 300 3 years +0.3 tax/month; +75 levies
Manor Houses (farmlands) 400 5 years +0.7 tax/month
Tradeport (coastal) 150 21 months +0.3 tax/month; +5% development growth/month
Regimental Grounds (farmlands and flood plains) 300 5 years +150 levies; +5% reinforcement rate; -0.20% men-at-arms maintenance
Outposts (forests, jungles, and mountains) 100 21 months +2 defender advantage; +50 levies
Camelry (desert, oasis, floodplains) 150 3 years +75 levies; +1 knights; +1 light cavalry damage and pursuit
Elephantry (jungles/Indian lands) 150 5 years +0.2 tax/month; -2% building construction time; +1 knights; +2% knight effectiveness; +2 heavy cavalry damage

Crusader Kings III: Realm holdings and special buildings guide

Tribal Buildings

Feudal and Clan government types in Crusader Kings III tend to share structure types, as they belong to a similar culture group. Due to low development and tech, tribes only have a small number of options to pick from. They can eventually develop into more complex structures by evolving out of Tribal structures, but this will lock off these older development paths in favor of those enjoyed by the likes of Western European powers.

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These cost both gold and prestige, and you can find the costs below:

Tribal Buildings Cost (Gold/Prestige) Construction Time Effects (Level 1)
Tribal Hold (castle/settlement main building) 200/400 5 years +0.2 tax/month; +1 fort level; +250 levies; +250 garrison
Pallisades 75/200 3 years +2 defender advantage; +1 fort level; +100 levies; +150 garrison (County)
+2 spearmen damage; +1 spearmen toughness; +2 archer damage; +1 archer toughness (Realm)
War Camps 75/200 5 years +150 levies (Holding)
+1 knights; +10% knight effectiveness; +2 heavy infantry damage; +1 toughness; +2 skirmisher damage; +1 skirmisher toughness (Realm)
Gathering Halls 75/200 5 years +100 levies (Holding)
+0.2 control growth/month (County)
+0.2 prestige/month (Realm)
Markets 100/300 2 years +0.4 tax/month; +500 supply limit (Holding)

Duchy buildings

Duchy buildings in Crusader Kings III are all the same regardless of culture or government type. They can only be constructed in a duchy’s capital though. You will be locked out of the realm-wide upgrades until you have a sufficient title. At level 1, all the duchy buildings cost 300 gold and will take five years to construct. The costs go up from there, and like any other buildings, expect the buffs to increase as you move up tiers.

Duchy Buildings Effects (Level 1) Scope
Military Academies -2% army maintenance; +2 knights; +25% knight effectiveness Realm
Marches +4 defender advantage; +25% supply limit; +1 fort level; +20% hostile raid time; +25% garrison size; +25 levy reinforcement rate Duchy
Siege Works +20% siege weapon effectiveness; +2 siege weapon toughness Realm
+1 fort level Duchy
Royal Armories +20% levy size Duchy
Jousting Grounds -6% men-at-arms maintenance; +10% damage/toughness/pursuit/screen for light cavalry; +10% damage/toughness for heavy cavalry Realm
Blacksmiths -6% men-at-arms maintenance; +5% damage and +15% toughness for heavy infantry and spearmen Realm
Archery Grounds -6% men-at-arms maintenance; +15% damage and +5% toughness for archers; +10% damage, +5% toughness; +10% pursuit, and +5% screen for skirmishers Realm
Tax Offices +10% taxes from all holdings Duchy
Leisure Palaces +5% monthly prestige; +15% stress loss; +5 hostile and personal scheme success chance Realm
+0.2 control/month; +20% control growth factor Duchy
Royal Reserves +0.8 tax/month Holding
+10% development growth; +5 popular opinion Duchy

Special buildings or historical landmarks

Lastly, you’ve got Crusader Kings III‘s special buildings are the pinnacle of engineering and power. Kingdoms able to construct these get massive buffs to their entire empire in some cases, or localized buffs to counties and holdings. These represent both the holy sites of various religious disciplines and major historical landmarks. All CK3 special buildings cost 1,000 gold and would take five to six years to finish.

Special Buildings Effects (Level 1) Scope
Notre-Dame
(Paris/Ile de France)
+2 tax/month Holding
+20% holding taxes +0.2 development growth/month; +30% development growth/month; +5 popular opinion County
+1 stewardship stat per Devotion level; +1 piety/month; +5% monthly renown Realm
Tower of London
(London/Middlesex)
+6 defender advantage; +6 fort level; +750 garrison Holding
+5% holding taxes; +10% development growth/month; +0.1 development growth/month County
+30% Dread gain Realm
Grand Cathedral
(Santiago/Galicia; Christian holy site)
+2 tax/month Holding
+20% holding taxes; +20% development growth/month; +0.1 development growth/month County
+0.2 piety/month; +5% monthly renown; -15% holy order hiring costs; +5 clergy opinion; +5% control growth factor Realm
Grand Temple
(Nablus/Jerusalem)
+2 tax/month Holding
+20% holding taxes; +20% development growth/month; +0.1 development growth/month County
+0.2 piety/month; +5% monthly renown; -2.50% men-at-arms maintenance; -10% short reign duration; +5% control growth factor Realm
Dome of the Rock
(Jerusalem; already built; Judaism holy site)
+3 tax/month Holding
+20% holding taxes; +20% development growth/month; +0.1 development growth/month County
+1 martial stat per Devotion level; +3% monthly piety per knight; +5% monthly renown; +20% knight effectiveness; +10% control growth factor/month Realm
Great Mosque of Mecca
(Mecca; already built; Islam holy site)
+3 tax/month Holding
+20% holding taxes; +20% development growth/month; +0.1 development growth/month County
+1 piety/month; +5% monthly renown; -10% men-at-arms maintenance; +5 same faith opinion; +10% control growth factor/month Realm
The Colosseum
(Rome; already built)
-10% building construction time Holding
-5% army maintenance Realm
Hagia Sophia
(Constantinople; already built)
+20% development growth/month County
+2 learning; +2 intrigue stat per Fame level; +0.1 piety per knight; +5% monthly renown; +2 knights; +20% knight effectiveness Realm

Controlling these special buildings and historical landmarks will be very important in your Crusader Kings III playthrough. One look at the bonuses alone would show you that they’ll definitely help throughout your campaign.

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