How to Make Money in Crusader Kings 2

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Crusader Kings II, most commonly referred to as Crusader Kings 2 or CK2, is a grand strategy simulation video game in which players assume the role of a character in the Middle Ages. Crusader Kings II (2012) was developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive. In this immersive sandbox simulation, players must then find various ways to obtain more power in the game, acquiring gold (money), prestige and alliances with other characters and kingdoms. Crusader Kings 2 is a video game about dynasties, land and power. Having money in Crusader Kings 2 is of great importance in order to wage wars, bribe characters, end plots, gain favor, increase opinions of characters, hire mercenaries, create titles, among other important activities. Due to the sandbox nature of Crusader Kings 2, one can never be sure of the next moment when the main game character will be required to have money in order to conduct an activity. In this sense, for a playthrough of Crusader Kings 2, it is very important to have money as often as possible, as much as possible, and to have at least one meaningful source of income in the video game.

Some important ways to make money in Crusader Kings 2 are owning land, having vassals, banishing prisoners and marrying.
  • Owning land
  • Banishing prisoners
  • Marriage
  • Taking loans
  • Mercenary companies
  • Loyal vassals

Short-Term Methods

Some quick ways of making money in Crusader Kings 2 in the short term include banishing some of your prisoners (which will confiscate their money) and marrying (if your main game character is not married yet). Banishing prisoners allows you to make money quite quickly in Crusader Kings 2, because the money of the prisoners is confiscated immediately (as long as they have money). Even more so, if you banish powerful prisoners, such as noble characters, they may have a lot of money with them. In my opinion, banishing prisoners is one of the easiest way of making money quickly in Crusader Kings 2. However, this is limited because you may not always be able to banish prisoners, and this is only a temporary source of money because this is not a source of income per se, such as receiving money from vassals or by owning land.

Marrying your main game character is also an effective way of making money quite quickly in Crusader Kings 2. However, unlike banishing prisoners, it may not be easy to do this frequently in the game. However, depending on the power of your character and depending on the character your main game character marries in the game, you are able to collect a lot of money for the marriage, which is another quite quick way of making money in the game.

Another way of making money very quickly is by taking a loan, which is available in the decisions of your character. While this is effective for making a lot of money very quickly, I do not recommend it because you will have to pay interest and it may also lower the opinion of certain characters in regards tot your main character. However, if you really need a lot of money immediately, this is an option available.

Medium-Term Methods

Perhaps one of the best ways of making money in Crusader Kings 2 in the medium term is by ordering one of your courtiers to assemble a mercenary company. This will provide your game character with an additional source of income. However, successfully creating a mercenary band in Crusader Kings 2 may require some experience with the game, because some game characters are better suited for this task, because it may heavily affect the levies of your lands and also because there are some later decisions which will have to be made by your game character. While this is an effective way of making money in the medium term, I do not recommend it for new players and beginners of Crusader Kings 2. Instead, if you are a new player in Crusader Kings 2, consider the ways that I present in this article in both the short term and in the long term sections, because most of them are more suited to new players and beginners.

Long-Term Methods

One effective way of making money in Crusader Kings 2 is by having much land, which is called demesne in the video game. In general, most game characters in CK2 start with some amount of land. While some game characters start with much land, in the case of characters that start as kings, some other characters start with a lot less land, such as in the case of characters that start as counts. Nevertheless, land is of the utmost important in the game in order to acquire power and to make money. If your game character does not start with much land, there are various ways to acquire land in Crusader Kings 2. Most of them involve either waging war with other characters or by marrying characters. In the case of waging war, you can use your chancellor in the game to fabricate claims in other counties, duchies and kingdoms, until you have a claim in the specific title. After you have the claim on the title, you can declare war on the character and wage war until you win and earn the title for yourself, gaining the corresponding land. Another method is by marrying your game character with a noblewoman. For example, if your game character marries a countess, duchess or queen, and she does not have children before the marriage, if your game character has a standard marriage with her (and not a matrilineal marriage) then the children of the marriage will be of the same dynasty as your main game character, and your children will inherit the titles of the mother. In this way, your children will inherit her land. For this reason, marriage is also an effective way of acquiring land in Crusader Kings 2.

Another effective way of earning more money in Crusader Kings 2 is by having vassals. In some cases, your main character may not have claims on other titles or it may take long to fabricate claims in order to declare war and earn new titles and land. In these cases, pay attention to who your de jure vassals may be. If your game character is at least a duke or duchess, you likely have de jure vassals, even if they are not your vassals in the game world. This means that, due to the title your character possesses, you are able to either offer vassalization to these characters, or declare war on them to vassalize them. With more vassals, you will make more money in the game.

If your game character already has vassals and you are not making much money, it is likely that your vassals have a poor opinion of your character, and thus the money they give to your character is decreased. In order to improve this, I suggest giving gifts to these vassals and awarding them with honour titles in order to increase their opinion of your game character, which in turn will increase the money you make each month in the game.

Another important factor to consider to make money in Crusader Kings 2 is not only to have land and vassals, but also to cut down expenses. If your game character is not currently waging war in the game, then generally it may be best to dismiss any recruited troops and hired mercenaries, because active troops in the game cost a lot of money and will greatly affect the financial balance of your kingdom, duchy or county.
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