As part of the subset of the playerbase that's been clamoring for Paradox to make CK3 more challenging since the beginning, I feel obliged to make a thread about the new difficulty levels after having played a few games on Very Hard. Since the devs are doing a test run on the difficulties, I'd encourage anyone that cares about difficulty in CK3 to try them out and provide feedback.
I'll preface this by saying that I've played two full (300+ years) games on Very Hard since the new patch with all DLC and no mods: Matilda into France/Francia into European domination (1060) and the Nestorian Keraits (867) on the steppe into Mongol Empire, as well as a few shorter games (Ireland, Persia, Tarim Basin) to test some things out. Conquerors on default setting (primary heir inherits), everything else that matters on Default. Everything below is my opinion.
Pros:
1) AI generally consolidate quicker and build up quicker.
Games played out a bit like EU4, where the realms generally grow larger and dominate their region as the game progresses. AI realms are powerful (HRE and Byzantium fielding 15-20k, France fielding 10k, etc. at game start in 1066) with full MAA regiments, robust economies, and several allies that can be dangerous in their own right.
2) AI seem to pursue empires/formables more.
I saw Hispania forming, the Holy Roman Empire (re)forming (thanks France) after I destroyed it as Matilda, and a great Conqueror-founded Berber Caliphate owning North Africa, Sicily, Sardinia, and the Levant, where they duked it out with Byzantium. In general, Conquerors, even more than on normal, are the founders and destroyers of great empires, which feels both cool and historical.
3) AI are more aggressive and opportunist.
The AI is quick to sense weakness and can quickly gang up on a realm and take large chunks out of it. I've been DoW'd a few times, too, and it's fun to try and scramble to meet the threat. It also incentivizes you to build up your Men-at-Arms quickly and not stay weak while you build up your economy.
4) Your vassals are powerful and easier to rouse.
Duchies in 1066 could field 2-3k troops with full MAA and money to buy mercs, and allied among themselves. Revoke Title wars need to be planned out and Tyranny wars are very dangerous. Factions, likewise, are dangerous and do seem to appear a little more often. AI generally rises up when you Revoke Titles unless they have high opinion and trait combinations like content/cowardly.
5) Arranging marriages and marriage alliances is harder.
This incentivizes you to befriend/use hooks to secure good marriages, alliances, and skilled characters by way of marriage. Alliances reduce the marriage alliance acceptance drastically, so one has to choose allies carefully and it's harder to cheese the game with them.
6) Hostile schemes are harder to pull off, but not impossible.
Killing the King of France should be hard to pull off, and it is. Good agents are harder to find and might have to be paid and success chance is lower. Between a greater need to kill key characters to break alliances and schemes being harder/more expensive, stuff like the Schemer lifestyle becomes less of a meme and more of a useful strategic tool, which is a huge win in my book.
7) Wars are more interesting/tactical.
Between the "AI Rulers gain advantage when leading armies" and huge and full MAA armies, you might actually have to be tactical. As Matilda, I baited the HRE Emperor's armies into the mountains to break on my pikemen, pulling off a severely numerically disadvantaged win (6k vs 19k) in the early game.
Neutral:
1) The AI 'cheats'.
The AI uses bonuses and 'cheats' to compensate for stupid stuff like questionable building choices, accolades, MAA composition, so on, so forth. Of course, we all wish they could fix this, but the game is still a good deal more difficult, which is a win in my book.
2) Snowballing is still a thing.
Faster than, say, EU4 Very Hard, you are still going to reach a point when you've stacked all your MAA bonuses, built up a powerful economy, and stacked enough artifacts/traits that the game is gonna tend toward trivial.
3) Mercenaries.
Paying 700g for a few archers that stay around for 5 years seems questionable, but if you need the extra oomph (and you very well might), it's still an option. Meanwhile, the AI spams them out like normal mode Papal State, so that's something to watch out for.
Cons:
1) Recruiting Courtiers
Marrying your courtiers off to fetch skilled characters/knights is a lot harder now, but you can still recruit half the map with level 5 Lodgings as soon as you become a Kingdom. This feels like an oversight.
2) Tyranny gain
Changing your Vassal Contracts unfairly gives an insane amount of Tyranny now (160 to ask for slightly higher taxes from one vassal) for some reason, but Tyranny from revoking titles is unchanged. I'd argue for doubling the Tyranny costs across the board instead of targeting the Vassal Contracts specifically. In theory, you can still change everyone's contracts when you're about to die, accrue 5000 Tyranny, and then die.
3) Ransoming prisoners
Ransoming prisoners gives a pitiful amount of gold, but you can still ask for hooks and Demand Payment from Hook for the usual amounts. Once again, this feels like an oversight.
4) The Pope doesn't want to give you money anymore.
This always felt like half a cheat anyhow, but it doesn't seem like the solution is to nerf Catholicism even more for players. Instead, up the Piety cost/make the AI use it more.
As you can probably tell, my overall impression of the new difficulty setting is positive, and the balance of Very Hard feels closer to what I wish the game had been like from the beginning (something I can't say for EU4, where VH sometimes feels like an exercise in masochism). I believe there's still some quirks to be worked out and hope this thread can assist in that endeavor.
I'll preface this by saying that I've played two full (300+ years) games on Very Hard since the new patch with all DLC and no mods: Matilda into France/Francia into European domination (1060) and the Nestorian Keraits (867) on the steppe into Mongol Empire, as well as a few shorter games (Ireland, Persia, Tarim Basin) to test some things out. Conquerors on default setting (primary heir inherits), everything else that matters on Default. Everything below is my opinion.
Pros:
1) AI generally consolidate quicker and build up quicker.
Games played out a bit like EU4, where the realms generally grow larger and dominate their region as the game progresses. AI realms are powerful (HRE and Byzantium fielding 15-20k, France fielding 10k, etc. at game start in 1066) with full MAA regiments, robust economies, and several allies that can be dangerous in their own right.
2) AI seem to pursue empires/formables more.
I saw Hispania forming, the Holy Roman Empire (re)forming (thanks France) after I destroyed it as Matilda, and a great Conqueror-founded Berber Caliphate owning North Africa, Sicily, Sardinia, and the Levant, where they duked it out with Byzantium. In general, Conquerors, even more than on normal, are the founders and destroyers of great empires, which feels both cool and historical.
3) AI are more aggressive and opportunist.
The AI is quick to sense weakness and can quickly gang up on a realm and take large chunks out of it. I've been DoW'd a few times, too, and it's fun to try and scramble to meet the threat. It also incentivizes you to build up your Men-at-Arms quickly and not stay weak while you build up your economy.
4) Your vassals are powerful and easier to rouse.
Duchies in 1066 could field 2-3k troops with full MAA and money to buy mercs, and allied among themselves. Revoke Title wars need to be planned out and Tyranny wars are very dangerous. Factions, likewise, are dangerous and do seem to appear a little more often. AI generally rises up when you Revoke Titles unless they have high opinion and trait combinations like content/cowardly.
5) Arranging marriages and marriage alliances is harder.
This incentivizes you to befriend/use hooks to secure good marriages, alliances, and skilled characters by way of marriage. Alliances reduce the marriage alliance acceptance drastically, so one has to choose allies carefully and it's harder to cheese the game with them.
6) Hostile schemes are harder to pull off, but not impossible.
Killing the King of France should be hard to pull off, and it is. Good agents are harder to find and might have to be paid and success chance is lower. Between a greater need to kill key characters to break alliances and schemes being harder/more expensive, stuff like the Schemer lifestyle becomes less of a meme and more of a useful strategic tool, which is a huge win in my book.
7) Wars are more interesting/tactical.
Between the "AI Rulers gain advantage when leading armies" and huge and full MAA armies, you might actually have to be tactical. As Matilda, I baited the HRE Emperor's armies into the mountains to break on my pikemen, pulling off a severely numerically disadvantaged win (6k vs 19k) in the early game.
Neutral:
1) The AI 'cheats'.
The AI uses bonuses and 'cheats' to compensate for stupid stuff like questionable building choices, accolades, MAA composition, so on, so forth. Of course, we all wish they could fix this, but the game is still a good deal more difficult, which is a win in my book.
2) Snowballing is still a thing.
Faster than, say, EU4 Very Hard, you are still going to reach a point when you've stacked all your MAA bonuses, built up a powerful economy, and stacked enough artifacts/traits that the game is gonna tend toward trivial.
3) Mercenaries.
Paying 700g for a few archers that stay around for 5 years seems questionable, but if you need the extra oomph (and you very well might), it's still an option. Meanwhile, the AI spams them out like normal mode Papal State, so that's something to watch out for.
Cons:
1) Recruiting Courtiers
Marrying your courtiers off to fetch skilled characters/knights is a lot harder now, but you can still recruit half the map with level 5 Lodgings as soon as you become a Kingdom. This feels like an oversight.
2) Tyranny gain
Changing your Vassal Contracts unfairly gives an insane amount of Tyranny now (160 to ask for slightly higher taxes from one vassal) for some reason, but Tyranny from revoking titles is unchanged. I'd argue for doubling the Tyranny costs across the board instead of targeting the Vassal Contracts specifically. In theory, you can still change everyone's contracts when you're about to die, accrue 5000 Tyranny, and then die.
3) Ransoming prisoners
Ransoming prisoners gives a pitiful amount of gold, but you can still ask for hooks and Demand Payment from Hook for the usual amounts. Once again, this feels like an oversight.
4) The Pope doesn't want to give you money anymore.
This always felt like half a cheat anyhow, but it doesn't seem like the solution is to nerf Catholicism even more for players. Instead, up the Piety cost/make the AI use it more.
As you can probably tell, my overall impression of the new difficulty setting is positive, and the balance of Very Hard feels closer to what I wish the game had been like from the beginning (something I can't say for EU4, where VH sometimes feels like an exercise in masochism). I believe there's still some quirks to be worked out and hope this thread can assist in that endeavor.
- 12
- 8
- 3
