該條目是對《十字軍之王3》困難級成就之一「七世列王」的攻略。成就的描述相當簡單：以867年的安茹伯爵厄德·卡佩（厄德·羅貝爾）開局，帶領你的家族統治法蘭西王國（遊戲裏顯示為西法蘭克王國）。 一般來說，這個成就對於有經驗的玩家來說都很簡單，但有時也會出現一些複雜的情況。伯爵厄德在開局時間是一個父母雙亡的10歲男孩，有兩位領主是你登上王位的最大障礙，而與你有殺父之仇的維京人就在你的臥榻之側。這是個很可能默默無聞的小角色，若要締造一番大業，就必須積極進取。如果你打算在一生中達成此成就將使難度翻倍，而這就是這篇攻略的主要內容。
開始[編輯 | 編輯原始碼]
在取消暫停之前，您需要處理幾個問題：
年幼的厄德[編輯 | 編輯原始碼]
遊戲開始時厄德尚未成年，你需要選擇教育重心。他在開局時擁有冷靜特質以及隨機的童年特質與教育重心。強烈建議刷出一個以管理為教育重心的開局，而第二個特質最好是固執或節制，以獲得管理能力加成。如果特質是天主教美德之一也行，這能使其他人更待見你，並且你還能獲得有用的虔誠。遊玩前期你會在很長一段時間裏只是一名三地伯爵，而且還沒有任何實地封臣。提高管理能力以讓自己能直轄4到5塊領地對培養力量至關重要。
你要儘快為自己選擇一位好監護人，但如果沒有任何好監護人（即管理能力高，沒有會教壞你的負面特質）可供選擇，請先等到有為止。
結盟[編輯 | 編輯原始碼]
在正常遊戲中，你大多數時間將扮演一名封臣。雖然你終將成為一名強大的封臣, 但早期你的軍事力量堪憂。為了彌補這一點，儘量把一些無用親戚送去聯姻來締結盟約，讓鄰近王國的一些友好封臣站在你這邊對未來的戰爭更有利。理論上與封臣同僚結盟對你奪得王位很有幫助，只不過在法國北部沒有與您友好的封臣。另外要注意的是避免與您最終要征服的人結盟，尤其是您的領主，因為您的目標是取代他，不是支持他。
內閣[編輯 | 編輯原始碼]
遊戲開始時，你的內閣成員能力普遍很糟糕，所以要儘早找到新的人選取代他們。你的廷臣和賓客當中一般很少會有適合的人選，所以要積極聯姻以獲得賢才。你會有一些女性廷臣，所以在為他們安排婚姻的時候記得選擇母系婚姻，然後在候選人列表裏找到能力最強的締結婚姻。儘可能讓軍事統帥、財政總管和掌璽大臣都是賢才，如果不行也要確保軍事統帥和掌璽大臣是才堪大用的人。
然後就要為你的騎士安排婚姻了。用同樣的方法來得到合適的間諜首腦和宮廷醫師（醫師要求高學識），因為這兩個職位在天主教中允許讓女性擔任。最後就要找個合適的教育者，教育者不限性別。
安排婚姻[編輯 | 編輯原始碼]
如果你因未到16歲而無法結婚，你可以提前訂婚，這樣就能防止你的夢中情人被其他人搶走。通過「能力總和」或者「等級」篩選會更容易找到合適的配偶。如果一開始搜到的配偶不合你心意就慢慢等，過幾年就會有新的角色出現了。當年成年的時候有個支持你的妻子會給你很大的幫助。
少年時期[編輯 | 編輯原始碼]
當你不得不作為一個兒童進行遊玩時，很多標準的遊戲選項你都不能使用。個人和敵對陰謀都不能使用，這意味着你應該關注於你的另外兩個工具: 秘密和戰爭。
秘密[編輯 | 編輯原始碼]
在你死之前登上王位是一項昂貴的冒險，所以你會想要獲得儘可能多的收入。對於一個聚焦管理、擁有金錢義務的角色來說，牽制（尤其是強牽制）的利潤是驚人的。每個宮廷一開始都會相當安靜，所以讓你的間諜主管在頭幾年保護你的宮廷——你的對手不時地會試圖謀殺你，所以不要浪費時間在沒有價值的時候把她從你自己的宮廷趕走。一旦你年滿12歲左右，全世界的人就有時間開始做出糟糕的生活選擇，你可以開始把他們收穫起來。尤其是勒索的首選目標包括你的兩位君主（重新談判你自己的封建契約是非常有利可圖的，再加上它會削弱你未來的敵人）或教皇（一個不太可能的打擊對象，但如果你能做到這一點，對勒索非常有用），但任何持有牽制的人都可以很快被勒索30-50塊錢。如果你有強牽制，這些收入每五年就會發生一次。你小時候收集的秘密越多，16歲生日的獎金就越高。
請注意，具有「誠實」或「公正」特質的角色通過這樣做會產生壓力。不管怎樣，還是去做吧。壓力衝擊很小，你應該能夠通過狩獵和宴會來應對，只要你把事情安排好。不要讓你處於壓力的情況下整整四十年，因為你有很多家庭成員將在未來幾十年裏死去。不要僅僅是為了一些錢就給自己帶來精神創傷。
戰爭[編輯 | 編輯原始碼]
If you're accustomed to playing as a giant empire, smashing your opponents under massive hordes, you might be heading for a bad time here. Your targets early on are limited to enemies of the faith and counties you have claims on. While it's possible to call all your allies to come to your assistance, the Prestige cost for doing so means you should do so sparingly. Fortunately, Eudes begins with a pair of choice targets right off the bat. Just north of your capitol lies the county of Vendome, held by a count with no other territory. Devour his territory immediately, restoring Control afterwards if needed. Every county under your control is another source of tax income and levies to scare off attackers with, and the sooner you reach maximum size, the better. Your fellow vassals are unlikely to attack you for your territory, but the weaker and less popular you are, the more likely this is to happen.
Most of the other lands you have claims on are controlled by much scarier opponents, but your next target isn't any of them at all. Instead, turn your eyes toward Montaigu, the single county to your west that is held by your rival, Haesteinn. He has a massive army made up of special troops, making him undefeatable in a fair fight and a constant raid threat. Taking his land for your own as soon as possible gets rid of one of the major irritants of this challenge, and thankfully he provides an opportunity to do just that early on.
Soon after the game begins, you'll notice his troops travelling away from his territory. Check his character screen to confirm that he's on an adventuring war against one of the nearby kingdoms. If he manages to win this war, your rival goes from being a dangerous count to a terrifying king, but you can stop this. Watch his war's victory percentage. Once it starts to climb above 0%, he will be fully invested in the war abroad. Take this opportunity to declare a Holy War for his county, then rush in, conquering the place unopposed. With any luck, you'll add his land to yours long before he wins his war and ascends to kinghood. That's your future job, not his.
Once you've grabbed two additional counties, you may be at your managerial capacity. If you can fit a fifth, look around at other counties you have claims on; you should be able to find several that can be taken, although you might need to call for help from allies and attack together. Either way, once you've gotten all the land you can comfortably hold as a count, let your levies recover to full, make sure your Marshal is increasing your max levy size, and then get ready to become a Duke.
Life as a Duke[編輯 | 編輯原始碼]
Miniboss: Duke Hugo[編輯 | 編輯原始碼]
You can't progress beyond this point very far without grabbing your half-brother Hugo's duchy title away from him; it's the only title of that rank you already have a claim on, and besides, Hugo is not a very intimidating opponent - unless the RNG has behaved very oddly, he shouldn't have anywhere near as many allies as you do. Ideally you should be able to take him out before reaching adulthood through use of your own allies and men-at-arms (bowmen are an excellent and affordable option early on, and even a single force of onagers makes sieges go faster), but feel free to save up funds for more men-at-arms or even some mercenaries if you need to. The gold is better spent upgrading your holdings, but failing a war against your liege is not ideal. As soon as he's defeated, the two of you switch places and he becomes your own (very unhappy) first vassal.
Serious Growth[編輯 | 編輯原始碼]
Once you've become a duke, the cap on your controlled territories is removed and you can start collecting vassals! This is going to be your primary goal for the next twenty years or so, particularly in areas that allow you to create new duchy titles. Along with granting you a pile of prestige and improved tax and levy output, holding a duchy will make your new liege (the king) hand over his own vassals in that region for you to manage! Any territory that you don't need to fight for is a good thing.
Prestige may be a limiting factor in how quickly you can spread. Waging war on your own claim is much cheaper than doing so on behalf of a vassal, and holy wars are actually quite difficult when your opponent is actually there and willing to fight you. Besides, you should focus on territory within West Francia; the more of the place you control when the final battle starts, the easier it'll be. Having a competent chancellor will provide you with a steady stream of prestige, but you'll definitely need more than that.
Be sure to spend cash on extracurricular activities. Hosting Feasts and Hunts will help you manage stress, gain useful traits, and generate big chunks of Prestige. Going on Pilgrimages generates Piety and makes you more popular with fellow Catholics, but more importantly, allows you to ask the Pope for funding. Don't be afraid of the small popularity hit that comes with begging for cash from the Vatican; that will fade and the gold will be very useful.
Also, feel free to be a good little vassal and join your liege's wars! Yes, he will eventually be your opponent, but for now you should help him keep vikings out. Better still are wars against Italy, as Italy will invariably call its allies to assist it, providing you with a massive neighboring country with a busy military to loot, chock full of sites to siege and nobles to kidnap and ransom. You can acquire far more wealth looting and ransoming than you lose paying for your soldiers. In any case, joining these wars will sometimes make your liege become your Friend, which is not a bad thing. Friends are a lot slower to anger when you generate claims on their kingdoms, after all.
As all this is happening, you'll be gaining Stewardship perks. Take everything in the Avaricious tree, as well as Tax Man, Cutting Cornerstones, and Professional Workforce from Architect; you'll want to build up your controlled territories with as many gold- and levy-producing buildings as possible. By the time you've completed the tree, your liege will likely have died and been replaced by his less competent, less popular son. If West Francia still contains multiple kingdoms, the succession will split them up, greatly reducing your new liege's power. Your next perk should go into the Meritocracy perk of the Administrator branch, because it's time to take the throne.
Final Boss: The King of France[編輯 | 編輯原始碼]
Unlike Duke Hugo, who you go up against in the end is determined by the RNG, but that hardly matters; the easiest way to take the throne involves very little direct conflict. First, save up some funds for mercenaries. Being able to summon a few thousand troops at a moment's notice is very powerful, making any fighting that does happen much less concerning. Next, use the Claim Throne decision against your liege. It'll take a while to finish, though setting your Spymaster to assist your schemes will speed things up significantly. You will want to do this fast to minimize the chance of your liege noticing your actions and deciding to act against you. For extra insurance, first get a hook against your liege, then renegotiate your contract to protect your titles, but ideally this won't be necessary.
Once you have a claim, be patient. War will break out, either on the border of Spain or the northern coast of France. In either case, your liege will commit his troops to deal with the mess, which will be your time to strike. Declare war against the liege for your claim on the kingdom of West Francia. If all goes well, your liege's troops will be so tied up dealing with the first issue that you'll be able to take several holdings before the first battle, and all your allies will have arrived and joined the party. Grabbing the enemy capitol can result in critical prisoners being taken, which may end the war early. If not, your liege's beleaguered armies will eventually march out to face you, reduced by their first war and already well behind in war score. Between your armies, your allies, and your mercenaries, your reduced opponent should be no match for you.
Win the war, declare yourself king, and pat yourself on the back for achieving Kings to the Seventh Generation in just one.
What Now?[編輯 | 編輯原始碼]
Oftentimes, after snagging an achievement, a run kind of loses direction. One particularly nasty goal you can pursue from here is the Frankokratia achievement: as a French Catholic (hey that's you), hold the Kingdom of Thessalonika without being a vassal of the Byzantine Empire. There are fastier and cheatier ways to accomplish this, but if you want to push your plucky little Robertine cadet branch to the limits, start conquering eastward! It's a long march and there's a lot of territory to snag along the way, but holding the heart of Byzantium for your own is a solid cap on your story. Just remember that "Invite Claimants" and the Learning branch ability "Sanctioned Loopholes" are very powerful when you need a proper casus belli, and consider grabbing any regional techs along the way that improve vassal mood. By the time you're done, you'll need every advantage you can get to keep your empire from being in constant rebellion under its own weight.