Crusader Kings 3 is a grand strategy game set in the Middle Ages. There are three main building categories in this game, those with an economic focus, those with a spiritual focus, and those with a Military focus. What exactly is the best type and building to start out with? The best buildings, especially in the early game, are buildings that increase gold income.

Manor Houses or Farms & Fields are the best choices for increasing Gold income when available. Their breakeven point is almost the same at 28 & 27 months respectively. As time progresses Manor Houses will outperform Farms & Fields due to their higher output.

I use a simple equation to figure out the breakeven point for any building if I’m interested in strengthening my economy first. I’ll use a Manor House as my first example. I’ll take the cost to construct it and divide it by its output to figure out how many months or years it takes to break even. For a Manor House that’s 200 Gold divided by .7 Gold. That comes out to about 334 months (after rounding). Divide that by 12 and you get 28 years (again, after rounding).

I also like to look at the payback after 50 years, including the time it took to construct the building. To do that I take the time it took to break even and subtract it from 600 months (50 Years) and then multiply that by the building output. For a Manor House I would have gained about 186 Gold in 50 years.

For Farm & Fields the breakeven point is 324 months (27 years) and the Gold gained in 50 years would be 138, so in the long run Manor Houses would be a better investment.

All this is a convoluted way of saying, as a rule of thumb, build the highest Gold producing buildings available first. Keep in mind, however, that this is strictly from an economic point of view and does not factor in things like increasing the number of Levies or providing a defensive advantage.

But, all things considered, it’s generally best to go for the Gold! With a large gold reserve you can hire Mercenaries if your army is not up to the task of defending you or expanding your empire. Building structures that build up your military is the second option, but without that gold income you won’t be able to support it for very long. Building structures that provide increases in Gold is the first, best option.

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The best Holding to start improvements in is your realm capital, which is identified with a gold crown next to its name in the Domain tab. This is the best place to start since it has the highest development in your domain. That’s crucial since it will typically be the Holding with the best infrastructure and highest income, so it makes sense to start there first. The higher the development the more you get in taxes and Levies, plus the supply limit is increased as well. Since you’re building in your capital you will probably be able to build a Duchy building as well.

Using Charles the Bald as an example, his Paris capital is much more developed than the rest of his Holdings, plus he has a lot more building slots available. It produces 2.64 Gold per month, the rest of his Holdings only produce 0.4 Gold per month. Since Charles the Bald has Mansions, which produce 0.7 Gold per month, upgrading that would give an additional 0.4 Gold per month. Building Farms & Fields would give another 0.5 in taxes, Pastoral Lands 0.2, Hunting Grounds 0.2.

The advantage Pastoral Lands has over Farms & Fields is that it gives an additional 50 Levies and the advantage Hunting Grounds has over Pastoral Lands is that it also gives an additional 50 Levies plus it gives a Defender Advantage of 2, a Light Calvary Damage increase of 2%, and Light calvary Pursuit a 2% increase. If your mainly interested in Gold income at the start of the game Farms & Fields would be the best bet. Other empires will have similar options.

Continue to focus on the economy until you have a good, steady flow of Gold coming in. With that you’re ready to go to war and will have the economy to support it.

If strengthening your economy is not your only focus build your second building in the Capital as well and focus on improving Men-At-Arms regiments, probably Archers. These are relatively cheap units that are vastly superior to any levies opposing Empires may throw against you. Once again, using Charles the Bald as an example, he would be able to build Archery Grounds, level 1 Archery Ranges, since the Duchy buildings are available. This building provides a 15% increase in Archers Damage and a 5% increase in their toughness, along with benefits to other units as well. To have this option available the Holding must be the de jure capital of a Duchy plus the person holding the duchy must have the relevant Duchy title.

If Duchy buildings are not available build Military Camps, level 1 Hide Tents. This will give you a 4% increase in archer damage, 2% increase in Skirmisher damage, and a 2% increase in Skirmisher pursuit. Archers are a great choice since early in the game since you’ll be facing mostly Light Infantry, and Archers are extremely effective at taking them out.

What Are The Best Holdings in CK3 To Build?

Holdings in CK3 are Castles, Cities and Temples. Overall, at level 1, Castles give the biggest boost in Levies available, Cities give the biggest boost in Gold, Temples are somewhere in between the other two and give a boost to both Gold and Levies.

The most popular opinion among experienced gamers is that temples are the best holdings in CK3. Although temples are somewhere in between cities and castles when it comes to Levy and Gold increase, the fact that the higher the Court Chaplin’s opinion of you is and the more Temples he controls the more you can get in Taxes and Levies. With enough Temples you can get an increase in Taxes and Levies that can easily surpass the other two Holding types.