Quick Links
Much ofCrusader Kings 3is spent building your realm, whether that is by expanding its borders or developing your existing land. However, not all systems of governance are the same, nor does everyone play by the same rules. The concept of fair warfare does not apply to every realm, and you can just as easily make your wealth through raiding.
Raiding is a unique system, letting you travel the world in search of loot without having to declare a formal war. There is quite a bit to the system, including who can even do it and how often you’re able to ransack an area. Let’s look at every piece of this sytem to see how it works, and when you should do it.
What Is Raiding?
Raiding is a fairly simple process. Provided the option is available to you, you simply go to the military screen andraise your army as Raiders. This can be done with your entire army, local army, or Men-at-Arms same as you would raise them in a regular war scenario.
Since raiding does not require you to be at war, you can simplyset off with your soldiers and raid any holding that you like. There is no formal declaration needed. The consequence of this is that your army will be hostile to everyone, and so anyone can battle you. This is important to keep in mind so you don’t accidentally walk right into a massive army.
The actual act of raiding isvery similar to a siege. You simply position your army within the holding you want to raid, and wait for them to take it over. Once this is done, you will acquire Loot, respective to the relative Development level of the holding you raided. This Loot, which is Gold, is not given to you immediately. Instead, yourRaiders must return to friendly territory to deposit their Loot, which then becomes Gold.
You can check how much Loot a Holding has by clicking on it.Prioritise high-Loot Holdings firstto speed-up your Raids.
Your Army can only hold a certain amount of Loot, which can be viewed by selecting them. Raiding any Holdings when they are full will not result in any extra loot, so always return home once you are full. This loot is also lost entirely if the army is defeated and awarded to whoever beat you instead, so try not to be reckless.
Once a Holding has been raided,it cannot be raided again for five years, so make sure to diversify the areas in which you raid.
Who Can Perform Raids?
Raiding can be incredibly lucrative, in the early game especially. For that very reason, it is also restricted to a select few people throughout history so as to prevent everyone looting each other endlessly. Here are the people who can perform Raids:
Beyond these select few scenarios, no one else can raid. Which means that the vast majority of Europe, excluding the Norse in particular, are susceptible to Raids without any means of returning them.The Steppe is also a prime region to become a raideras well, especially as you expand further into central Europe.
Tips For Raiding
Despite Raiding being a fairly simple process, there are still a few things you should look to do when raiding toboost the amount of Loot you bring back, but also to increase your own character’s stats and your realm’s Development.
For one, try tofocus on bringing Men-at-Armsover your whole army. While it will reduce the total amount of Loot you may hold, it will typically cause the AI to think you are weaker than you actually are. This lets you trounce them quickly, performing many fast raids over fewer prolonged ones.
The next most important thing is to bring your actual Ruler. Vikings love glory, and letting your Ruler command an Army when a Raid is completed willcontribute towards the Raider trait, which can unlock after you have personally raided 20 Holdings.
The Raider Trait is not guaranteed after 20 Raids, but can be unlocked from any Raid after this.
This isn’t the only benefit from letting your Ruler lead an army while raiding. You will also potentially be given the option toSack a County after you have raided it, with this chance increasing with the Raider trait. This will let you gain more gold and prestige, or even take slaves and gain a Development level for your own Capital if it currently has less than 15 Development. This, however, will make it so that the County cannot be raided for 20 years.
