What's the best ruler to pick when I start my first game of CK2? I know the basics and played a little EU4 before (and 300h of Civ5, although I know that's casual as shit)
Make sure your first ruler has these criteria
>in an area of Europe you're interested in historically
>not next to any huge blobs
>not a huge blob themselves
Other than that you should be fine
1066 Ireland is considered "Tutorial island" for a reason.
Start as a some duke and try to unify and make your first kingdom
Ireland is a safe bet. Isolated enough to not be swept up.
Tribalism can be fun, but only if you are Norse Germanic.
>>320395965
Ireland is known as tutorial-island for a good reason
Start by uniting the irish, take over the scotts, get raped by the english
>>320396319
>1066 Ireland is considered "Tutorial island" for a reason.
>>320396404
>Ireland is known as tutorial-island for a good reason
That king in the bottom left of Ireland. Conquered the entire country as a scrub with him. Next goal would be the Isles but I feel like there would be a huge power leap.
>>320395965
Someone on tutorial island (Ireland)
Start as a count and lose your first game, but learn the basics of court management and attempting to expand.
>>320396184
>>320396319
>>320396385
>>320396404
>>320396496
>>320396594
thanks bruvs
any tips overall?
Why the god-blessed count of Aargau of course.
>>320397282
don't plot to kill unless you're comfortable with a -10 opinion penalty. It's important to keep yourself powerful. Your most loyal vassal can always die and give his realm to an ungrateful cur. Also, be very careful about which titles you hold. Hold only 1 or 2 duchies with all the counties within it, otherwise your vassals with loathe you.
>>320397282
There are generally two philosophies as to marriage.
>EUGENICS NIGGA
or
>Roleplaying
You better have a good idea of which one you want, regardless.
>Wife's stats matter a lot, so pick a wife with gud stats
>Game is bland as fuck so you should get a mod that adds flavor at some point
>be prepared to hate the game once you git gud at it
>THIS ONE IMPORTANT NIG - Make sure you set up your notifications very well and use the "mark character as important" when needed, it helps a lot
Someone in 1066 Spain, most people will say Ireland because it's easier.
I think spain is better because it gives you other christian nations to polticise with and you also have muslims aplently to the south so you have plenty of space for expansion with worrying about cassus belli.
Personal things mane.
jesus christ almightyany that add features to the "main" campaign and worth it?
>>320397931
The expensive ones are considered "expansions", by which they mean that they add a little bit of underdeveloped content or systems.
>>320397931
Republic
Sword of Islam
Legacy of Rome
Rajas of India
Sons of Abraham
Old Gods
Charlemagne
(Optional but nice) Way of Life
Horse Lords
Only those, pick them up during sales otherwise you will waste a lot of dosh.
>>320397931
>>320398487
Oh and ignore Sunset Invasion.
It's basicaly AZTEC visited Europe and started sacrificing people, it's stupid, it sucks and it's bad.
>>320397931
Protip:
Pirate the DLC and you can play them freely on Steam and get all the achievements.
Played 704 hours and nothing happened.
Question:
Started playing as Tribal Ughyr or whatever this niggers are called.
How the actual fuck am i supposed to WIN ANYTHING?
I dont have troops, i dont have income, i dont have vassels.
I cant even conquer the rich as fuck buddhists niggers close to tibet to get my hand on a trading route
>>320397931
Some of those expand features, they are the expansion pacts and are totally worth it.
The only 'expansion' that you might want to skip is the fantasy one that adds the aztecs invading western europe. I usually play with that one OFF.
The rest of the DLCs are cheaper and usually just add flair to the game, like additional music, or better character portraits. etc.
>>320398487
But if you don't want all of them the must are.
Old Gods, be Viking, rape, pillage and burn.
Sword of Islam, Show those infidels the truth by only one God Allah and messenger Muhammad PBUH
Sons of Abraham, Become a Shekel Master
Republic, Become not jewish Dublon Master
>>320397931
most of them just add new ways to play the game so I wouldn't even suggest messing with them till you're pretty comfortable playing as a christian ruler.
>>320398832
But Rajas of india opens up the subcontinent. that's good once you have played Muslims and Christians for a bit and looking for something new.
>>320397931
these games always have lots of cosmetic shit and music packs etc. just filter them out. the wikis are going to tell you exactly what youre getting into
>>320397867
>play spain
>kill bros
>teach them islams whos boss
>strike into france
>wtf is a jihad
>why are my sons dying
>wtf why am I sick
>game over
Such is life
>>320399062
Let's not overflow the poor guy with content.
I think my game broke
>>320395965
Croatia. You can take Duklja easily, and Hungary falls into anarchy pretty quick. Hre and Byzantium are too busy with their own problems to give me shit. Ally yourself with Czech bros and see them suicide into every goddamn war they can get into. But they always help when shit hits the fan. I love you, Czech bros.
Iceland
because:
>sit
>wait
>form relationships throughout Europe
>marry into a powerful family of a even more powerful country
>gain the trust of their underlings
>start a betray
>become the new king of this country
works everytime
>>320399391
>Fraticelli catholic main religion
>Germanic still strong
>Ortodox somehow in russia
>Every mongol is sunni
oh boy
>>320395965
Don't listen to the guys that tell you to start in Ireland. It's really boring and takes forever.
>>320399557
>start as croatian count with absurd intrigue
>do everything in my power to set my son up as emperor of Byzantium, from marriages to succession changes
>it works
>proceed to ward off a usurper ravaging Anatolia, conquer Israel, and mend the schism in another two generations
felt bretty gud
>>320399829I'm playing as a Germanic kingdomRemove filthy sandshit religion from Euro shores
Just play with someone you have a cultural affinity to, i started playing as ireland only to get bored because i couldn't pronounce most of those weird irish names.
>>320400408
OP here, I'm canadian, this might limit the choices
>>320400869
British or French, obviously.
>>320400869
Go England. It's actually fun to play in CK2 because it isn't OP like in every other Paradox game.
>>320400869
With cultural affinity i meant cultures you actually have a grasp on.
I can play as england, spain or france because they are the cultures that are easy to understand, i just can't get into playing almost all of the tribal lands.
>>320399391
Charlemagne start has a habit of fucking shit up.
Byzantium thriving happens often, Saxony sometimes survives and takes Gelre, and the Christian moral authority goes to the shitter after Charly dies, so the Fraticelli is not as far-fetched as you think.
The Monglims is bad luck, but shit shifts and changes so drastically over there everything can happen really.
>>320401965
I always hated how in the starts before the vanilla practically all the catholic world depends on the karl guy surviving.
>England is a messed orgy of petty kingdoms
>Spain is still shit at that time
>The Lombards tend to be useless and revolt way too much
If the karlings fail everything goes to the trash so hard that is almost not funny, worst thing is that you actually have to play for quite a time to see if he was successful or not.
>>320402561
what are some of the thing when you play through that part if karling fails
play the byzantine empire and remove kebab/slav/latin from rightful roman clay
>>320397428
I once actually had the AI habsburgs manage to become emperors of the HRE
was god damn impressive
>>320402684
>starting as an overpowered big blob
>>320402684
Don't do this for your first game. You'll be immediately at war with a more powerful neighbour; while it was possible to win in some patches before, as of current you're not going to win. With some serious day-by-day counting (aka abusing transports to remove sieges) it's still possible, but that's not happening on your first game.
>>320402679
That whole european area becomes a massive blob of war where no one has a solid grasp in the region, even if kingdoms like aquitaine are created they are still shit and can't barely keep up with the cosntant fights.
Even if crusades are created by the umayyad pushing into france it doesn't matter because if that happens then it means the catholic world is already too weak to put up a fight, holy orders or not.
Worst thing that can happen is king charly becoming heretic before dying, effectively ruining the party for the other already weak catholic kingdoms.
>>320402561
>>320403148
Wait, are you talking about the Charlemange start? All i've ever seen from starting at that date is the different charles going to war with each other, pressing stupid claims.
Is there any video out there that explains the basics of the game?
>>320402679
Not him, but the Gavelkind turns Europe into one big giant bowl of chaos and spaghetti.
As soon as the viking age starts in 793(?), which is just around the same time, the temple raids make the moral authority of Catholicism drop, and before you know it, heresy's everywhere, turning Europe into an even bigger fuckup.
The Ummayads conquer Asturias duchy by bit and form a blob that'll rival the Byzantines, and soon Europe will have even bigger problems.
It turned so bad in my current playthrough that I actually decided to convert to Pictish Catholic missionaries (they were the only Catholics left in the whole of Britannia) instead of reforming the Germanic faith, just to fix things.
On an unrelated note, I've managed to convert the Jomsvikings multiple times, but is there a way that I can have them fight Holy Wars on my side?
>>320403660
Are they your vassals? I think that'd be the only way to force them into it.
Your first goal should be to unite the Finnish people under one flag and to earn yourself a cool nickname
>>320403940
Yup, they're my vassals.
Can't demand religious conversion on them though, probably because they're hardcoded to be Germanic.
I have managed to revoke the title of Jomsvikings, but that gives me nothing, nor does it result in anything if I grant it to a Christian.
The only thing I can think of right now is attacking them in a claimant war, but that'll be ridiculous since they're my vassals.
The only problems i have with the game in the early starts is that muslims are way too overpowered.
Playing as asturias i'm pretty sure i could survive by myself hiring mercenaries and stuff if it wasn't for the umayyad's vassals levy reaching incredible numbers.
At fist they are considerable numbers like 2k or 3k while their demesne levy is just 2k, but after some time those vassals end up giving the umayyad 5k then 6k then 8k until it reaches the astronomical number of 12k vassal levy alone.
The french blob can barely keep up with it, you have to call in the byzantines, no other option there.
I bought this during the last steam sale thinking I'd sink a shit tonne of hours into it while I listened to podcasts (which is something I do often), but I haven't played a single second of it since I installed it 6 months ago.
I should really rectify that
>Install Way of Life DLC.
>I guess this is kinda neat, I can become a falconer or fight duels or--
>"You have contracted Lover's Pox."
>What the fuck?
>My wife has lover's pox, that bitch!
>Throw her ass off a balcony.
>Remarry nice girl.
>Month later she has Lover's pox.
>W-well maybe I gave it to her.
>Next ruler, fresh start.
>Choose a nice homely wife.
>Has Lover's Pox within the week.
>Everyone in my kingdom is trying to fuck her and succeeding.
>Fuck this.
>Marry a lesbian.
>She runs off with another lesbian.
>>320404360
FINLAND MENTIONED :DDD
>>320404696
>Being this much of a c.uck
>>320404589
that's what i do with civ. so many goddamn hours sinked in
>>320404448
Yeah i don't think it'll work; personally i have used console to try to make them another religion but it doesn't work on them at all. Giving it to a christian somehow will just flip them to germanic, i think.
>>320404696
The game becomes infinitely better if you edit the focus files to disable Seduction. There's like a fucking 50% chance for AI to pick it if they are lustful and/or hedonist.
>>320405450
>Focus based on traits
Is this why charlemagne keeps choosing scholarship focus for having zealous trait instead of going war focus and wrecking shit?
>>320398487
If your waifus are persain and you love playing at them the unit packs are pretty. you are not meant to buy all of them
>>320405601
The AI have a 100% chance of picking Theology focus, dropped to 0% if they're Imbecile, Inbred, Cynical, and 25% if they're Wroth, Ambitious or Brave, if i recall the factor values right.
But as for Zealous - fucking Theology is the ONLY focus with Zealous as a modifier. Picking war focus is not in any shape or form influenced by Zealous for the AI, while Theology is heavily influence by it. Essentially, unless the AI has a trait that counteracts the massive factor from Zealous, like being Inbred or Wroth, they're gonna pick it. I don't know his education, but if he's of the Learning kind, it's an even bigger chance.
>>320405989
In the early start karl karling always starts with zealous, diligent and i'm not sure if there's a third trait, but he always start with the educational trait being brilliant strategist.
>>320395965
I like starting with Provence, right along the bottom of Francia. You're in a good position to expand into Spain, fractured Italy, or your northern neighbors.
>>320406614
Brilliant strategist gives 0.25 factor to pick War, Diligent has a factor of 2 towards Business and Rulership, while Zealous has a factor of 3 towards Theology. So essentially, in a vast majority of games he's going to pick Theology instead of anything else - he's more likely to pick Business or Rulership instead of War, even.
>>320397931
You can use the pirated DLC´s with the original game on steam, and they have no way to check they are pirate, so just downlaod them all.
>>320406951
Too late for me, i wasted the last sale because there was no way i could afford the DLCs.
>>320397931
Charlemagne, Old gods and The republic are all great. Horse Lords is okay, but nomads are fucking broke. RIP in peace if you intend to play a slavic country.
>>320406905
Why is this built like that? it should be based on the general build of the character and their circumstances rather than the traits alone.
i mean, charlemagne starts with a fuckton of martial point, why not make him choose war focus or even hunt focus to give him an edge on those abilities.
A character getting bankrupted? why not make him choose business focus to let him get out of it and start building fortune to pay for the loans the AI likes to take from jews.
The AI is really stupid in the choices it makes, one time i saw charlemagne bankrupted and with already a loan from jews, somehow losing money even though he was at peace, not sure if it was a bug or something.
Damn, this game again. I keep reading about it, glossing over it on every steam sale and eventually never getting it.
Maybe I should next time it pops up. How's playing as Denmark and Poland? In total war I usually do not enjoy playing as countries I cannot relate to, so would probably play those two a lot.
>>320397282
Once you hit King, try and educate the heirs of your most powerful Dukes to ensure they're meek and content to make your/your son's life easier.
Once you hit Emperor, create and anti-pope and dethrone the current pope to vassalise the Papacy. This is a little exploity but it will net you some serious money and the ability to literally strip him of cash and get county/ducal claims on demand.
Keep your spymaster friendly and scheming in your capital for maximum protection, especially in your first few years after inheriting.
Castle Town is top priority upgrade early on for maximum dosh.
Once you hit Emperor and start to blob, don't create more than one Empire title, it just causes your vassals to get envy rage.
ALWAYS join crusades, aka DUKES ON TOUR 1096. Get yourself, your heir, all male children and your top dukes to step into the combat zone for a week or so so they all get Crusader trait. Then it's back home for tea, medals and friendly banter for the rest of your reign.
>>320397931
Just pirate them all. Steam doesn't find out.
>>320406951
How does that work? My CKII doesn't recognize downloaded DLC's.
>>320399557
What about Kebab removers, though?
>>320403415
Just start straight in Iron Man mode you shit
>>320395965
You have to know that Holy Roman Empires elects its emperors, so even your shitty duke can become one for several years.
Your demesne can be shared among your sons, don't forget that you don't play as a dynasty, but as the head of it and as your first heir, nobody else. Your favorite son WILL become your shitty envious brother as soon as your leader dies
Keep finding wives and husbands for every servant in your castle, so you can have some choice for your counsillors and your children's tutors
>>320399829
I started in the Charlememe start once, Ragnarr Lodbrok managed to reform paganism and it just hasn't gone away.
Italy claimed and created the kingdom of jerusalem in the first Catholic Crusade for Jerusalem (bonus is that the entire Abbasid Emirate imploded into a shitload of independent quarreling lords)
Meanwhile I, through marriages and some kidnappings, turned my family from Lombards into Anglo-Saxons and moved to York.
>>320405098
>Pick a female ruler.
>Every day get bombarded by 20 messages from other lords who want to fuck me.
GO AWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY
>>320409192
>Keep getting everyone married.
That's some hardcore micromanagement you have there, specially since you start getting random female courtiers if you spend them all.
