In Crusader Kings, culture is something that will make up a large amount of who her character is, what their realm will run like, and what kind of gameplay mechanics they can utilize. Every country on the map and every character will have an assigned culture, but this is not permanent and subject to change. Culture gives varying modifiers and mechanics depending on what kind your character holds and holdings will also be affected by modifiers. Overall, your culture will evolve and change throughout your run as you conquer new lands and unlock new modifiers.
Why is it important to pick the right culture?
Now “picking a culture” is more convoluted than you might think. You can't necessarily pick any culture you want for your starting character unless you are creating your own. Every starting character will have a predetermined starting culture, but their culture can switch, hybridize, or evolve beyond recognition. CK3 cultures allow themselves to have their traditions changed and removed, which you can relate to how guns in fps shooters have different modifications. Pay very close attention to how you evolve your culture, perhaps you are a foreign ruler and will need to adopt some of your subject’s ways. Without further ado, let's get into some of the best cultures to start your journey with.
10. Armenian
The Armenian culture is located in and below the Caucasus region.
Are you looking to keep to yourself and build up a realm able to prosper amongst wolves? Armenian might be geared perfectly for your play style. This culture is armed with traditions aimed toward religious strength and defense. Armenians will have traditions that mainly grant your religion more fervor and some beneficial modifiers to their native terrain of mountainous hills. This is perfect for an Armenia run uniting the local apostolic religion as you will be able to reform this religion in a crusading war machine. The defense modifiers will assist you greatly in this task as you will need to mainly defend against larger empires whilst slowly building your power from within.
What makes Armenian good?
- Righteous doctrine allows the revocation of titles from vassals with different religions.
- Hill Dwellers tradition will increase your development growth rate in all holdings with hilly terrain.
- Strong Believers tent will help your religion withstand conversion from neighboring Islam and Orthodox rulers.
Armenian Traditions
- Strong Believers
- Fervant Temple Builders
- Highland Warriors
- High Dwellers
- Eastern Roman Legacy
9. Egyptian
The Egyptian culture is located in the North East corner of Africa, connecting the continent with the Middle East
Heading south to the Middle East, many Arabic cultures like Egyptian are perfectly set up for the holdings they exist in. Egyptian will allow you to grow your character greatly in the learning skill tree and increase development faster in Nile River wetlands. Let's delve into why this culture is so perfect to rule Egypt with. Egyptians in the year 1066 will start with the Agrarian tradition, which gives a massive 30% development growth boost in floodplain terrain. Given that this is about every major holding in Egypt, your kingdom will prosper much more than it already does. Choosing to utilize your philosopher culture tradition and educating yourself in learning will also allow you to boost development growth by another 20% with Planned Cultivation.
What makes Egyptians good?
- High development holdings, will give you a head start in Africa.
- High development growth modifiers, will massively increase your development in a short span of time.
- University and Pyramid of Giza wonders will additionally boost your development growth.
Egyptian Traditions
- Philosopher Culture
- Agrarian
- Mubarizun
- Strong Believers
8. Andalusian
The Andalusian culture dominates the bottom half of the Iberian peninsula.
Heading across the Mediterranean to Iberia, the Andalusians await a capable leader to push back the Reconquista. Defend the Islamic faith and unite the Iberian Muslims against the invading tide of Catholic Iberians. With this culture, you will have all the right traditions to stand a winning chance. Andalusian starts with traditions that will bolster your military and ruling capabilities, namely the Tabletop Warriors and Malleable Subjects traditions. Tabletop Warriors grants an increase to the frequency of commanders gaining commander traits whilst Malleable Subjects will keep all the varying cultures and religious populations you subjugate pacified. Being able to build up your army and maintain a rapidly growing realm is integral to your survival in Iberia.
What makes Andalusian good?
- Good probability for skilled commanders.
- Access to the befriend scheme without any prerequisites.
- Ability to create higher quality artifacts to gain better modifiers.
Andalusian Traditions
- Tabletop Warriors
- Expert Artisans
- Ritualized Friendship
- Malleable Subjects
- Hit and Run Tactics
7. Dutch
The Dutch cultures is small but encompasses a sizeable area along the North sea.
There is a saying that “God created the world, but the Dutch created the Netherlands.” While CK3 does not have any mechanics for lifting entire holdings out of the sea, you can certainly build tall out of your existing land. Many traditions of Dutch culture will bolster development for your small realm. All 4 of the Dutch traditions, see below, are going to be critical in building your realm into a formidable nation. Two traditions will directly benefit your development growth up to an incredible 100% in holdings like Amsterdam. Your other traditions mainly grant building bonuses along the coastline, which is fortunately almost the entirety of where Dutch culture exists. Your development will skyrocket if you can shrewdly unite the Netherlands in 1066
What makes Dutch good?
- Incredible development growth modifiers
- Decent building modifiers will make coastal buildings more efficient to build.
- Polders tradition that will make wetland terrain easier to defend in.
Dutch Traditions
- Parochialism
- Polders
- Maritime Mercantalism
- Agrarian
6. English
The English culture doesn't exist in any of the starting time periods, but will appear once either you or the AI conquer England as Duke William II
While English is a great culture you’ll have to do a little work to get it. English, unlike other cultures on this list, does not spawn in either starting years. English can only be achieved by successfully conquering the English throne as Duke William II The Bastard of Normandy. While obtaining English culture will be a struggle, it will be well worth it. Immediately after English is born it will gain traditions from both Norman and Anglo-Saxon, putting you at a technological advantage to almost all of your immediate neighbors. Pair this with your longbowmen and you are ready to conquer even your greatest enemy, France. Not to mention, all of England will be united before you.
What makes English good?
- Special longbowmen that increase in quality with every era.
- Castle Keeper tradition that will allow you to set your rule in stone.
- Large kingdom united under one culture.
English Traditions
- Hereditary Hierarchy
- Castle Keeper
- Longbow competitions
- Chivalry
5. Bedouin
The Bedouin culture exists in the majority of the Arabian peninsula.
Once again returning to the Middle East, Bedouin is a culture, similar to Egypt, that is perfectly in tune with its environment. With the Bedouin culture, you will always have the home advantage over invading foreigners. With the right tactics, you will have the ultimate desert warriors. The Arabic peninsula is difficult to traverse and resistant to subjugation. Naturally, a Bedouin ruler should unite the realms. Using traditions like Desert Travellers and Mubarizun, your commanders and armies will be well-suited for desert combat. In CK3, desert combat is some of the most challenging. An army revolving around the desert is invaluable.
What makes Bedouin good?
- Mubarizun will increase supply capacity in desert terrain and will help keep your troops alive.
- Desert Travellers grants increased probability for desert-related commander traits.
- The Caravaneers also grant a nice bonus to travel in the desert for activities.
Bedouin Traditions
- Tribal Unity
- Desert Travellers
- Caravaneers
- Mubarizun
- Avid Falconers
4. Persian
The Persians live in the land connecting the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent.
Further east, the Persian culture is relatively overlooked but fun to play with. With many traditions focused on building modifiers, your cities will rise from the sands. You will have the opportunity to create a wealthy and opulent kingdom.Your main focus with Persian will be to educate your ruler in learning skills and to focus on building tall. Persian has unique and handy traditions like garden Architects to increase the value of their holdings constructions. Dryland Dwellers will also grant a bonus to development growth in Deserts and Drylands.
What makes Persian good?
- Dryland Dwellers and increased learning abilities will allow for good development rate stacking.
- Futuwaa will grant you special men-at-arms and modifiers to strengthen your tactical ability.
Persian Traditions
- Garden Architects
- Dryland Dwellers
- Futuwaa
- Philosopher Culture
- Refined Poetry
3. Mashriqi
Mashriqi culture is the heir to much of the highly developed lands in Mesopotamia.
Mashriqi combines the best from Egyptian and sets the intensity to the max. The highly prosperous Mesopotamian floodplains region will be the beating heart of your empire. You will be a pioneer of technology and development in the Middle East. Masriqi culture exists in the very highly developed Mesopotamia region. Securing the holdings around Baghdad will be essential to your prosperous run. The combination of dryland dwellers and the duchy of Baghdad alone is enough to build Baghdad to rival the likes of Constantinople or Rome.
What makes Mashriqi good?
- A combination of development growth and learning education modifiers will be highly beneficial to building tall.
- Your neighbors will be considerably fractured and all under one liege, allowing for somewhat unchallenged conquest.
- The Ghilman innovation will reduce men-at-arms maintenance
Mashriqi Traditions
- Medicinal Herbalists
- Philosopher Culture
- Dryland Dwellers
- Mubarizun
2. Greek
Greek is a widely encompassing culture, spanning all of modern day Greece and Turkey.
While Greek culture does not have any stand-out overpowered modifiers, it will certainly be a good culture for beginners. The Greek culture will encompass the vast majority of the Byzantine empire and therefore, will make it easier to keep control of. Greek culture will be form-fitted to maintain the regality of Byzantium. Ruling Byzantium is made easy with the Greek culture. Such a large realm may look very hard to manage and keep in one piece, but Byzantine traditions will help you keep many inner threats at bay. Greek traditions mostly provide bonuses that prevent rebellion and punish vassals for insubordination.
What makes Greek good?
- Byzantine traditions prevent many potential candidates from claiming your throne.
- A legalistic tradition that will increase your legislative control over your vassals
- High-development holdings that will increase your personal levies
Greek Traditions
- Eastern Roman Legacy
- Legalistic
- Byzantine Traditions
- Formation Fighting Experts
1. Norse
While in later start times Norse is relegated to the fringes of Iceland, the culture dominates Northern Europe in earlier start times.
Any player who seeks glory and conquest to rival Alexander the Great, will choose a Norse character. A Norseman in ck3 has endless potential for where he can go and who he can conquer. Norse culture can both conquer entire empires within a few years and integrate itself with higher-level cultures. The Norse culture’s advantages are many, and its gameplay changes are very significant. The Norse built-in mechanics allow for Varangian adventure wars and increased availability of conquest casus belli. Norse culture is a conquering war machine that can't be stopped once momentum is built.
What makes Norse good?
- Varangian Adventure allows you to move you and your realm around the map.
- Coastal Warrior tradition allows for coastal raiding which is an extremely fast way to gain money.
- Malleable invaders will allow you to integrate with cultures that are considerably more innovative and use their advantages for yourself as well.
Norse Traditions
- Ting Meet
- Northern Stories
- Performative Honor
- Coastal Warriors
- Malleable Invaders
