The focus, before age 6
A child can be given one education focus up to age 6: diplomacy, martial, stewardship, intrigue, or learning. The button sits at the lower left of the portrait. The game's default follows the childhood trait. You can replace that default once. After that, the focus stays.
Each childhood trait favors two skills. A focus on one of those two skills is the match. A focus on a different skill lowers the chance of a high education.
The five childhood traits are Rowdy, Charming, Curious, Pensive, and Bossy. The trait pages name the rest of what each icon does.
The guardian
Name a guardian whose skill matches the focus. That skill counts twice the guardian's learning.
Genius, Intelligent, Quick, and Shrewd raise the chance of a high education, on the child or on the guardian. Slow, Stupid, and Imbecile lower it.
A spouse on the guardian's council can add 1 point, and can add it more than once. The extra point comes from a patronage focus, a high learning education, high learning, or the Scholar trait.
When the Court Tutor seat is filled on the 16th birthday, the child gets one more education roll. Royal Court, released Feb 8, 2022, is the expansion that adds court positions. Royal court is the throne room and the grandeur bar beside those seats.
A guardian whose realm holds a university building can send the ward. The offer prints the gold. The flag is set on the child at once. It stays if the guardian changes or the holding is lost. The roll happens on the 16th birthday.
The Kin legacy is the dynasty track for children's education traits. The dynasty guide lists it with fertility and family opinion.
Steam dates the Royal Court expansion to 8 Feb 2022.
The trait at 16
From age 6 to age 16 the education score stays hidden. A birthday in that span can add 2 points, and the span holds ten of those birthdays. The guardian, a spouse on the council, a court tutor, and a university flag add further chances. At 16 the score becomes an education trait from level 1 to level 4. Level 5 comes from a later upgrade.
The lifestyle screen credits the matching education for extra experience in that lifestyle. A learning education does this on the learning lifestyle, and the same pattern holds for diplomacy, martial, stewardship, and intrigue.
The domain guide lists how each education level steps the domain limit. Read the level on the trait, then read the summed line on the domain view.
A martial education can also grant a prowess trait when the child's culture, or the guardian's culture, has the Knighthood innovation and a Martial Custom pillar that matches the child's gender. That score is separate. The guardian's skill leaves it alone. The prowess traits are Bumbling Squire, Confident Knight, Formidable Banneret, Famous Champion.
| Score | Level |
|---|---|
| 0-7 | 1 |
| 8-12 | 2 |
| 13-17 | 3 |
| 18 or higher | 4 |
The trait names
Levels 1 through 4 are the trait the score at 16 can give. Open the trait page for the skill lines in patch 1.20.1.2.
| Focus | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Level 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diplomacy | Naive Appeaser | Adequate Bargainer | Charismatic Negotiator | Gray Eminence |
| Martial | Misguided Warrior | Tough Soldier | Skilled Tactician | Brilliant Strategist |
| Stewardship | Indulgent Wastrel | Thrifty Clerk | Fortune Builder | Midas Touched |
| Intrigue | Amateurish Plotter | Flamboyant Trickster | Intricate Webweaver | Elusive Shadow |
| Learning | Conscientious Scribe | Insightful Thinker | Astute Intellectual | Mastermind Philosopher |
Level 5, after childhood
Wards and Wardens, released Aug 22, 2023, adds education events for children at court and a Wet Nurse court position. Adults continue education by attending university.
The activities list names University Visit. The window says the visit may upgrade the education trait. It prints the gold for this visit. Hosting one leaves the activity unavailable for 20 years.
Level 5 needs a finished Legitimacy legacy, or an Education Hall upgrade on the estate. Legitimacy is the legacy from Legends of the Dead, released Mar 4, 2024.
The level 5 traits are Virtuoso Arbitrator, Exalted Warlord, Golden Sovereign, Conniving Puppetmaster, Erudite Oracle. The trait pages list the skill lines for patch 1.20.1.2.
Wards and Wardens, released Aug 22, 2023, adds education events for children at court, a Wet Nurse court position, and university study for adults.
Steam dates Legends of the Dead to Mar 4, 2024.
The heir you will play
The next character is the one whose education you set. A level 1 education lowers the domain limit. A level 4 or level 5 education is a large share of that limit, before the tax penalty for going over it.
Set the focus before age 6, then keep the guardian matched to it until the trait arrives at 16. Marriage decides which house that child joins, and succession decides which titles they carry.
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