getting cardinal

**Sith_Lord** · March 12, 2008, 07:26 PM

I have tons of priests, but they never turn into cardinals, are there any tricks to it!?!?!?!?!

**Chipp** · March 13, 2008, 12:13 AM

Send them into Muslim territory. They gain piety much quicker.

**pwijnands** · March 13, 2008, 03:32 AM

Yes, but send them in swarms. They have to be converting the populace and it's impossible for a single priest to compete with a religious building. If they aren't converting anything they will become unorthodox and ultimately become heretics.
It also helps to train them in your city with the highest level of religious building to attract the theologians guild (extra piety for newly trained priests) and by building the next upgrade for the religious building first (higher level buildings give more traits/ancillaries that improve piety).

**Tankfriend** · March 13, 2008, 01:31 PM

You also have to pay attention that there is a free place among the cardinals that your priest can fill.

Another good but slightly rare method for your priests to gain more piety is chasing down those heretics and witches; if they manage to get rid of one they get a new piety-related trait most of the time.

I'm not sure, but does your personal relationship with the pope influence the probability for your priests to become cardinals? I think it's unimportant but as I said: I'm not at all sure about that.

**masterbaker** · March 13, 2008, 03:31 PM

Originally Posted by Tankfriend

You also have to pay attention that there is a free place among the cardinals that your priest can fill.

You shouldn't really wait, as empty spots can be filled by any priest with 5 piety (sometimes even 4), so often they disappear straight away. Make sure your priests are skilled before those cardinals start dropping dead.

**Monsieur Alphonse** · March 14, 2008, 12:09 PM

Originally Posted by Tankfriend

I'm not sure, but does your personal relationship with the pope influence the probability for your priests to become cardinals? I think it's unimportant but as I said: I'm not at all sure about that.

Nope

If you train them in a city with a (Huge) cathedral and a theologians guild, your priests start with a least four piety. I have trained priests with 10 piety (real saints). Priets with the most amount of piety will become cardinals.

**Tankfriend** · March 14, 2008, 12:34 PM

Originally Posted by Monsieur Alphonse

Nope

If you train them in a city with a (Huge) cathedral and a theologians guild, your priests start with a least four piety. I have trained priests with 10 piety (real saints). Priets with the most amount of piety will become cardinals.

Ok, thanks for clearing that detail.

Originally Posted by masterbaker

You shouldn't really wait, as empty spots can be filled by any priest with 5 piety (sometimes even 4), so often they disappear straight away. Make sure your priests are skilled before those cardinals start dropping dead.

Well, I didn't suggest that you should "wait" for a place to open up among the cardinals and then start to train your priests as that would be rather foolish for the reasons you have mentioned already. I just wanted to say that even if one has a huge number of "acceptable" priests, one does have to wait till one cardinal dies nonetheless. Just to make that one clear.

**phowa** · March 14, 2008, 12:52 PM

how do you make a saint?

**SteelKnight** · March 14, 2008, 10:25 AM

cheat

**White Lotus** · March 14, 2008, 12:56 PM

The only "saints" are generals that acquire certain traits, and gain the epithet "the Saint". Priests cannot be saints.

**Sith_Lord** · March 14, 2008, 04:46 PM

good thing you relationship with the pope, doesn't matter, cause i am the lowest you can go without being excommunicated. I hate the french and milan, they attact me (england) and i loose standing with the pope.

**pwijnands** · March 15, 2008, 06:38 AM

The pope doesn't even like it when you attack catholics when you aren't a catholic faction yourself. I (Byzantium) am allied with the papal states but my relations frequently drop from "outstanding" to "abysmal" when I take a settlement or two from a catholic faction. I must have paid close to 100.000 already to get my relations back up to reasonable 5-6 times.

**Korlon** · March 15, 2008, 02:12 PM

There's a trait that priests get that depend on a large percentage of the population turning into your religion in one turn. This is why sending in large batches of priests into the same region is good. Since that large percentage will be achieved, all your priests get that trait and large amounts of piety. I believe there's also a retinue that your priests get if they sit in the same spot for a few turns.

In the beginning of the campaign when everybody's priests have very low piety, you can usually get a cardinal when your priest/bishop has about 5 or 6 piety, which is easily gotten by sending a ship of priests (5 or 6 priests works very well) to either around Egypt, Russia, or southern Iberian peninsula.