Huskarls?

[Dillinius Sandar]

So i've read the crusader kings 3 wiki, looking for information on how to unlock huskarls, and the furthest i got to is that you need to unlock the cultural innovation called Hird. The thing is it does not appear in the cultural innovations tab for Norse Factions. Correct me if I am wrong but does anyone know how this cultural innovation is achieved?

[BoydofZINJ]

Every culture gets 1 specialized units such as Huskarls.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2236483116

Norse gets them when they advance to the next age - feudal and this is the tech you need to unlock in the culture tree to get it.

Other cultures get their units at different times:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2236483588

This is Gaelic - they get theirs on the last age.

[sammwich]

Depending on your start date, you may have a cultural troop already. Anglo-Saxon, for example, starts with Huscarls in 1066. Some cultural innovations may be available as a result of having your culture in a specific region. These will be visible in the tech screen (check the tooltip for specific requirements) and tend to be non-special unit innovations, giving other bonuses.

[Harris]

This actually is frustrating as you don't get huscarls unless you settle down and go feudal, losing the ability to raid. But then again, if vikings got their huskarls in addition to being able to raid early game, would probably be too OP yes?

[Dillinius Sandar]

okay, thanks for all the information. Wouldn't have known this i guess unless i played long enough to get to that age.

[Crim]

Originally posted by Harris:

This actually is frustrating as you don't get huscarls unless you settle down and go feudal, losing the ability to raid. But then again, if vikings got their huskarls in addition to being able to raid early game, would probably be too OP yes?

If it makes you feel better Huskarls are like Top5 Cultural unit
Probably Top3

[Harris]

Originally posted by Talamare:

If it makes you feel better Huskarls are like Top5 Cultural unit
Probably Top3

What makes you think that though? And what are the others from that top then? Huskarls literally have nothing else going for them other than countering both spearmen and archers. Generally that would mean you don't need cavalry, but you still need it since pursuit stat helps wiping stacks on retreat. And their stats are generally not much better over normal heavy inf. Certainly not that much of a boost that longbowmen, konni or palatini have over the "normal" version of the unit.

Actually the era is a very important consideration when making such "top 5" because the earlier you get them the sooner you can make use of them.

For example, Konni are amazing not only because of double pursuit stat but because you get them from the get go. And Gendarmes while look great on paper in reality you're unlikely to do any major warfare by late medieval, when your empire was already forged ages ago.

[Crim]

Originally posted by Harris:

Originally posted by Talamare:

If it makes you feel better Huskarls are like Top5 Cultural unit
Probably Top3

What makes you think that though? And what are the others from that top then? Huskarls literally have nothing else going for them other than countering both spearmen and archers. Generally that would mean you don't need cavalry, but you still need it since pursuit stat helps wiping stacks on retreat. And their stats are generally not much better over normal heavy inf. Certainly not that much of a boost that longbowmen, konni or palatini have over the "normal" version of the unit.

Actually the era is a very important consideration when making such "top 5" because the earlier you get them the sooner you can make use of them.

For example, Konni are amazing not only because of double pursuit stat but because you get them from the get go. And Gendarmes while look great on paper in reality you're unlikely to do any major warfare by late medieval, when your empire was already forged ages ago.

Konni are among the best as well.

The ability to counter 2 different classes is huge
The fact that it counters different classes while not playing double duty with your grouping is important too

Groupings are Skirmish & Archers, Cavalry, Spear & Heavy. Since those are the Duchy Buildings.

The fact you can go Huskarls and Spearman and counter everything except Heavy Infantry and Skirmisher means you can basically control most battlefields

Also, you don't NEED pursuit. It's just nice to have.


Edit - For example
Landsknechts are Spearman that counters Spearman and Horses. However, their grouping, Heavy Infantry, also counters Spearman... Which is inherently limited.

[Harris]

It's worth of note that while countering two kinds of units is good, in practise it only allows you to have your building more specialized. As in, if your enemy has 100 archers and 100 spearmen, you still need 200 huskarls to fully counter them, not 100.

While pursuit is not necessary strictly speaking, it is very comfortable to have. Obviously it only kicks off after the battle itself and you need something to win said battle in the first place.

Another consideration - unique horsemen regiments are inherently superior in that there is no military/economical trade off with them. Hunting and pastoral both buff your cavalry and bring you taxes, which is amazing. Another reason why Konni is the top unique unit for me as I personally value gold buildup of my domain more.