How to Gain Piety Fast In Crusader Kings 3

You always need a reason to declare war in Crusader Kings 3, but all sorts of reasons are acceptable. One of the best reasons, or casus belli, is "Holy War," which gives you direct control of every county you conquer. This means you can hand out your newly acquired land to anyone you like.

However, declaring a Holy War costs Piety, plus you need to reach a certain Level of Devotion to use the best Holy War CBs in the game. You also need piles of Piety if you want to convert to a new faith, create a new faith, or reform a pagan faith. So what's the best way to get all the Piety you need?

Praying before the court chaplain in Crusader Kings 3.

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Virtues and Learning

Crusader Kings 3 Virtues — A list of Catholic virtues in Crusader Kings 3.

Every character in Crusader Kings 3 has at least three personality traits and a certain amount of Learning. These features combine to give your ruler a guaranteed amount of Piety every month.

Each faith has at least three personality traits it considers Virtues, and three traits it considers Vices. Some faiths have more than three Virtues thanks to special Doctrines. For instance, Catholicism has Monasticism, which adds Temperate as a Virtue and Gluttonous as a Sin, and Communion adds Honest as a Virtue with Deceitful as a Sin. Every character gets an extra +1 Piety per month for each Virtue they have in their publicly practiced religion, and -1 Piety for every Sin they embody.

You also get a bonus or penalty from the traits Zealous and Cynical, even though they usually aren't a Virtue or a Sin. Zealous gives you a 20 percent bonus to your monthly Piety, while Cynical gives you a 20 percent penalty.

Notably, traits based on religious doctrines don't change your Piety income. Adulterers and Fornicators receive opinion penalties, but never Piety penalties.

The last essential factor is each character's Learning skill. Every point of Learning gives a character 0.1 Piety per month, so a character with 28 Learning gets 2.8 Piety per month, while a character with 6 Learning only gets 0.6 Piety.

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Ruler Actions

Crusader Kings 3 Theology — The Theology focus in Crusader Kings 3.

Traits and the Learning skill are ways for every character in the game to get Piety. Rulers get a few more options that players can take advantage of.

Lifestyle Bonuses

The Theology Focus of the Learning Lifestyle branch gives you a flat +1 Piety per month. The extra 1 Learning effectively makes it a +1.1.
The Prophet perk gives you +1 percent Piety per champion you have, and the Theologian trait gives you an extra 20 percent Piety.
You can increase your Piety indirectly by taking perks that improve your Learning skill. Scholarly Circles gives you two Learning for each Level of Devotion your character has, Learn on the Job gives you a bonus to every skill based on your councillor skills, and each Learning Lifestyle trait gives you at least one point of Learning.
Several perks can reduce the cost of each major use of Piety. Apostate cuts the cost of converting faiths by 75 percent, Prophet cuts the cost of creating and reforming faiths by 50 percent, and Bellum Justum (in the Martial Lifestyle tree) cuts the cost of all casus belli in half.

Councillor Jobs

Your court chaplain or realm priest councillor can always perform the "Religious Relations" job, no matter which form of government you have, which tenets your faith offers, or which DLCs you own. Aside from any relationship bonuses this job provides, your chaplain will give you 0.05 Piety per month for each Learning skill point they have.

Your ruler's confidant or primary spouse also provides you with a way to boost your ruler's stats, which can include your Learning skill (and thus your monthly Piety bonus). Assist Ruler gives you a small boost to every skill, while Patronage gives you a focused boost to your Learning.

Items

With or without the "Royal Court" DLC, your ruler can get items that increase their monthly Piety income. In particular, religious artifacts and certain books often give you a specific Piety bonus, and several types of trinket give you a bonus to your Learning skill.

Traditions

A few cultural traditions can also increase the Piety you gain from otherwise normal activities:

Religious Patronage: Building temples gives you a set Piety boost when the construction finishes. This tradition makes this bonus bigger, and adds to the passive boost each building provides.
Sacred Hunts: Along with their normal bonuses, the hunt activity also provides characters of this culture with a Piety reward, and the Hunter trait becomes Virtuous.
By the Sword: This Tradition comes with a 20 percent Piety penalty, but it makes it easier to declare more Holy Wars with fewer Levels of Devotion.

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Tenets

Aside from making certain traits Virtuous, several religious tenets can give your ruler additional ways to increase their Piety. Here are just a few:

Communal Possessions: Rulers can gain Piety by sending gifts and artifacts to others, and by marrying Lowborn characters.
Hedonistic: Rulers gain Piety when hosting feasts.
Pacifism: Rulers who have been at peace for two or more years get +1 Piety per month.
Sacred Childbirth: Along with making the Pregnant trait a Virtue, this tenet gives both parents Piety when their children are born.
Blot: Executing prisoners gives you extra Piety instead of costing Piety.

Buildings

If you pay to build a temple holding, even if the holding is outside your ruler's personal domain, you get a flat 500 Piety when construction finishes. Temples also have a unique "Monasteries" building, which provides the direct owner with +0.1 to +0.8 Piety per month. However, playable rulers can only hold temples (and thus get this bonus) if their faith has the "Lay Clergy" doctrine.

Legacies

The Erudition Legacy line has several Piety bonuses that apply to every character in your ruler's dynasty:

Ordained Rulership: Provides a flat 10 percent Piety bonus.
True Believers: This Legacy gives you a 20 percent discount on faith creation and reformation, along with a 30 percent bonus to the Piety you get from pilgrimages.

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Pilgrimages

Crusader Kings 3 Jerusalem Pilgrimage — The Kaiser has made it to Jerusalem in Crusader Kings 3.

If you need a big lump of Piety all at once, a pilgrimage is your best bet. The "Tours and Tournaments" DLC revamped the game's pilgrimage mechanics, but you don't need the DLC to go on a pilgrimage.

Each time you complete a pilgrimage, you get a set amount of Piety based on how far you had to travel and the Pomp level you chose at the start. More Pomp means more Piety, but it also makes your pilgrimage more expensive.
"Humble" Pomp also gives you more Piety, but it makes the journey more dangerous instead.
You get Piety from pilgrimages either way, but the Pious Pilgrimage gives you a Piety bonus depending on how many "Pious" choices you make along the way. The Worldly Pilgrimage gives you a Culture Acceptance bonus instead.
The Zealotry intent tends to give you more opportunities to get Piety compared to the other options.
The pilgrimage activity has no cooldown period, so you can go on pilgrimages as often as you like. Your only limitation is the amount of Gold each trip costs.
Even if you make frequent journeys to a nearby holy site, you can count on getting a few hundred Piety from each pilgrimage.
Pilgrimages also build up the Pilgrim trait. Once maxed out, Pilgrim gives you +3 Learning and 25 percent extra Piety.
If you do have the "Tours and Tournaments" DLC, you can access the Activities line of dynastic Legacies. The second Legacy, "Walking the Sacred Path," makes pilgrimages cheaper, makes the Pilgrim trait increase faster, and gives you extra Learning for each holy site you visit.