Authority is annoying

**lgoodin101** · November 30, 2012, 06:46 PM

I was playing as sicily over the weekend and I had a full stack of DCK, CK, muslim archers rebel just outside palermo

my king was in the castle and it absolutely ruined my economy so much that I had resort to cheating (cannon elephants) to destroy the traitors

how do you get authority for faction leader? I usually get dread induced authority cos I always execute prisoners, assassinate people etc but I want to try to get chivalry so any chivalric ways and dread ways to get authority??

**Kaiser Nonsense** · November 30, 2012, 10:24 PM

Same way as getting dread authority, release prisoners, lower the tax rate, build churches and jousting lists, go on Crusades, after every third level of chivalry stat you will also get authority.

**lgoodin101** · November 30, 2012, 11:03 PM

ok thanks I'll try them

. but doesn't having a low tax rate give your F.M's bad traits like "poor with taxes"

**Avatar** · December 01, 2012, 04:06 AM

You only get tax related traits when you complete building, for the most part. So long as you switch taxes to very high on the turn a structure will be completed, you should mostly avoid any negative traits.

Aside from that, the benefit from having a high chivalry score probably outweighs the possible loss of income anyway.

**Vipman** · December 01, 2012, 11:58 AM

Never let big armies with no general if your king has low authority. Keep armies in cities and when you move big armies always have a general in them to avoid rebellion.

**Chromium** · December 14, 2012, 03:14 PM

The easiest way to gain authority quickly is to use spies and assassins. Merely keeping 5-10 in the field will gain you 1-2 authority points within 10 turns. Also, I prefer to use my Faction Leader and Faction Heir for constant battles and crusades; It takes a bit of practice but pruning your family tree will also earn good results in this case.

I usually kill off my faction leader when he's about 50. My heir generally has three authority points by then and gains 2-3 more within a few turns.

Always release and occupy with your FL & FH. You're going to loose Chivalry because of your spies so be sure to pick up good ancillaries too. Try to make them governors during the last turn of a building & set taxes at very high. It'll give them good tax traits. Try not to leave armies without generals- even if your FL has 10 authority; It's not good form and you're wasting the traits a general might've gained from the battles fought by that army.

PS- If you're really desperate, there's a cheat- FactionKiller (1,2,3). I usually use it when I've had a really awesome FL and it's time to choose the poor character's epitaph (Emperor Henry of the HRE-Conqueror of all lands from Krakow to Paris; Overlord of France, Poland & Hungary; Destroyer of Milan & Denmark.) You get the 'The Great' title on the family tree and it looks awesome. I don't recommend making a habit of using it; It's not very sporting to the AI.

**lgoodin101** · December 15, 2012, 01:29 AM

Originally Posted by Chromium

The easiest way to gain authority quickly is to use spies and assassins. Merely keeping 5-10 in the field will gain you 1-2 authority points within 10 turns. Also, I prefer to use my Faction Leader and Faction Heir for constant battles and crusades; It takes a bit of practice but pruning your family tree will also earn good results in this case.

I usually kill off my faction leader when he's about 50. My heir generally has three authority points by then and gains 2-3 more within a few turns.

Always release and occupy with your FL & FH. You're going to loose Chivalry because of your spies so be sure to pick up good ancillaries too. Try to make them governors during the last turn of a building & set taxes at very high. It'll give them good tax traits. Try not to leave armies without generals- even if your FL has 10 authority; It's not good form and you're wasting the traits a general might've gained from the battles fought by that army.

PS- If you're really desperate, there's a cheat- FactionKiller (1,2,3). I usually use it when I've had a really awesome FL and it's time to choose the poor character's epitaph (Emperor Henry of the HRE-Conqueror of all lands from Krakow to Paris; Overlord of France, Poland & Hungary; Destroyer of Milan & Denmark.) You get the 'The Great' title on the family tree and it looks awesome. I don't recommend making a habit of using it; It's not very sporting to the AI.

is that dread authority?? thanks man this is really helpful to me

**Maklodes** · December 15, 2012, 02:45 PM

Did you really have DCKs as Sicily? Are you sure they weren't dismounted Norman knights or dismounted broken lances?

Anyway, it's something of a dilemma. What you want is to maximize authority (for leaders) + loyalty (for other generals). Most methods of getting authority also add to dread. However, high dread causes reduced loyalty among chivalrous generals. Chivalrous methods don't get as much authority, but high chivalry causes increased loyalty among chivalrous generals.

There are four traits associated with authority that I know of: DeceiverVirtue, PoliticsSkill, StrategyChivalry, and StrategyDread. The simplest approach to maxing authority is to go all-in on DeceiverVirtue/PoliticsSkill/StrategyDread, since the triggers overlap a lot. However, it is possible to go with chivalry. You'll just have to accept a few reverses -- your leader might sometimes take a step backward from Honourabe Ruler (+4 chiv/+2 authority) to Chivalrous in Rule (+3 chiv/+1 authority), or the like.

Probably the most authority bang for your chivalry buck comes from the LeaderOrderedBribery. Have a diplomat who tries to bribe people. He'll probably fail, but he doesn't have to succeed to give your leader PoliticsSkill. The diplomat will be ruined by so much failure, but oh well. Each time you try to bribe, your leader has a 50% chance of getting 5 points of PoliticSkill (good for +1 authority each time, up to +3 authority) and a 25% chance of getting 1 point of StrategyDread. There's also a 10% chance of DeceiverVirtue.

Try to avoid attempting to bribe chivalrous enemy generals, though, because they'll actually gain chivalry when they turn down your bribes.

UPDATE: I should note that BattleChivalry and BattleDread are also associated with authority at very high levels, but given what a crapshoot it is to get either one, I just give up on the idea of relying on them in any way.