Crusader Kings 3 is a grand strategy game released by Paradox Interactive in 2019. The game immediately gained popularity among fans of the genre because it has everything gamers love in grand strategy games: a large map with numerous different states, the influence of religion on gameplay events, a complex diplomacy system, and much more. And first and foremost, to achieve success, players need to have enough money.

To maintain the power of their state, players will need to regularly finance their army, without which they won't be able to defeat their enemies. However, players often don't understand how to quickly earn enough money. Specifically for them, there is a clever life hack that will allow them to become one of the richest rulers.

Golden Obligations

It's worth knowing that the game has a "way of life" system. It consists of several skills with three different development paths. This allows players to develop their ruler according to their preferences as they progress through the game. "Way of life" directly affects the characteristics of governing a state. And if you need to obtain a large amount of money, you should primarily develop the "Stewardship" skill.

At the same time, special attention should be paid to the first branch of improvements. It is this branch that will help generate significant income. The others are practically useless in this regard. Start the improvements with the "Golden Obligations" skill. Thanks to it, players will be able to blackmail any characters, including the ruler's children.

In Crusader Kings 3, blackmailing characters using hooks allows players to exert influence over them. And for quick earning, simple blackmail can be used. If a player knows unpleasant secrets about an influential person, they can use this information in several ways: sell it to the person themselves or to someone interested in the information. The more serious the secret, the more you can earn from it.

How to Hook a Character Faster

Most often, hooks can be obtained in the game as a result of various random events. However, this happens rarely, and it's not possible to earn quickly this way. Therefore, it's worth using a little trick that allows for more efficient money-making through blackmail. To do this, simply send your spymaster to the territory of another state. They will be able to quickly uncover the secrets of enemy characters.

Doing this is very simple. You need to go to the "Council" and select the "Find Secrets" option. It is located at the bottom of the screen. After that, the player will be able to send their spy to gather valuable information in any state. It is better to choose those that are closer to your own territories. This will allow the spy to bring in "hooks" faster. It's worth sending them on a longer journey if there are no characters with secrets nearby.

You can start blackmailing as soon as the spy uncovers the character's secret. To do this, click on the victim's image and select blackmail. The amount of money you can demand depends on the seriousness of the secret. Sometimes characters don't care about their reputation and refuse to pay to keep the secret.

What you need to know about trading secrets

The amount of earnings directly depends on the wealth and status of the buyer. If you manage to learn the secret of a king, you are guaranteed to get a good amount of money for selling the information. To sell a secret, simply click on the buyer's portrait and select the "Demand Money" option. Sometimes the character doesn't have enough money. In that case, you can wait for a while. If the buyer is interested in the information, they will definitely come up with the required amount.

On average, you can get from 200 to 300 gold coins for one secret. A lot depends on the importance of the secret. But in any case, you won't get less than 100 coins. That's the cost of the least important secrets. However, even completely useless information always finds its buyer. It's worth remembering that these prices are valid only with the "Golden Obligations" skill upgraded. Otherwise, the prices will be significantly lower.

By the way, if a character doesn't fall for blackmail and refuses to pay, there's no need to despair. You should continue to blackmail the victim for a long time. Eventually, they will break and pay the required amount.

Currently, this method of earning money is the most effective in the game. It's not possible to quickly earn a significant income in any other way. It is quite possible that in future updates, the developers will remove this method. But for now, it works and can be used.