Overview
Vlandian Banner Knights – Khuzait Khan’s Guard – Battanian Fian Champions – Sturgian Druzhinik Champions – Aserai Vanguard Faris -Farm the Hideouts with Recruits, get the perks from Roguery and Leadership, for faster recruitment of Bandit prisoners and without taking a hit to morale and converting Bandit prisoners to rare soldiers. Done!Forge your own fortune! (and documents).
The Army of Freemen!
Because the game at the moment is not hard, the AI leaves a lot to be desired and if you spent a little time as smith and trading (seriously broken still in 1.5.10), you can buy the best army and even buy Towns and be the Overlord of all Calradia.
Leading bandits to crush your enemies does feel good.
Bandits are the best resource wise and make for fine soldiers and can be upgraded into the best and most rare top tier units. You can keep the Bandits as you found them, they do a really good job but if you have the need for a top tier army, they can be upgraded either using the Leadership Perk Veteran’s Respect 125 or using a Fief with a Training Field to upgrade them.
Early game Bandits can work for -50% less food from Roguery and -20% less food from Steward, the two perks are easy to get. Later on you get more perks that makes them work for little to no food. Athletics -20% less food and the Steward last perk, Scout gives -10% less food when in Forest and Steppes two of the favorite areas to hunt and hide for the Bandits.
Bandits never ask you for recruiting money, they join because they find you handsome and if they don’t, knock them around with a mace and they will agree that you are the most handsome Bandit Leader.
In early game you can solo Bandits for good exp and bonus loot and convince the survivors to join you for free, saving the hiring cost and protecting you during the trading from Town to Town. Later on when you fight for a King and need to replenish the Army, you will find that its “first come, first serve”, you often wont find recruits and when you do, you know they will run at the first sound of battle formations.
Bandits spawn all the time and are everywhere and they are already veteran fighters, with valuable skills and upgrade paths. Bandits can be converted to some of the best and most rare noble units
Once you have become an infamous Rogue, you can get the perk Scarface and hire roaming bandits. In the end if you wish, then get the Veterans’s Respect perk and convert them all into regular soldiers.
There is a third option and that is to get a Fief with a training field and then put your Bandits inside and sooner or later they will be upgraded to regular soldiers.
On this picture you see the lovely coastal areas of Vlandia, where real estate is cheap and the men for hire are plentiful. 307 Bandits are in that one screen shot, with one hideout just out of the picture and some 150+ Bandits on the other side of that mountain range and on this side of the river. The ride to and from Galend to the West Coast will make you another easy 50-70 bandits.
This is an old video of the Merry Men perk at 275 it gave 100% chance for bandits to join you.
Bandits, the veteran Warband guys LFG
The Brigands have javelins and the Highwaymen have horses and javelins, both soldiers are very deadly, just make sure you throw the javelins at early fight when enemies are still bunched up in formations. Its a kill spam if the enemy is holding in a circle formation.
Hillmen tier 2 rocks – NO Shield – underpants = Skirmish (pin cushion)
Brigand tier 3 Javelin + Shield + can spawn armored = Skirmish Infantry
Highwayman tier 4 Horse + Javelin + Shield + Spear + 1h axe + medium armor = OP Skirmish + Spear Cavalry + Shield Wall and Siege Infantry.
They upgrade into tier 6 Vlandian Banner Knights or T5 Sergeant or T5 Voulgier or T5 Pikemen, should you choose to go that way.
Are really good archers not much else to say about them, oh maybe that they upgrade into the most feared unit on the battlefield, Archers are the bane of everyone in Bannerlord, when its not javelins killing you its arrows to the face..no not the knee.
Bushwhacker tier 2 Bow + double quiver + light armor
Freebooter tier 3 Bow + double quiver + light armor
Forest Bandit tier 4 Bow + double quiver + light armor (uses the Woodland Bow, oof)
They upgrade into the tier 6 Battanian Fian Champions and tier 5 Battanian Veteran Falxman
The tier 6 Battanian Fian Champions can outshoot most anyone and what ever comes near them they whack dead with a fast 2 handed sword. They are in desperate need of balance but until then let’s enjoy them
Are also very good javelin infantry and javelin horsemen, equals to the Brigands and the Highwaymen.
Bedouin Rover tier 2 random no named guy with a stick that is the first to die in the movies.
Nomad Bandit tier 3 horse + spear + light armor = fast spear Cavalry
Harami tier 4 horse + javelin + shield + medium armor = OP Skirmish + Spear Cavalry
Upgraded into the dreaded tier 5 Aserai Vanguard Faris and the tier 5 Aserai Mameluke Heavy Cavalry, arguably the most heavily armored Horse Archer.
Deadly with their javelins and 1 hand swords/axes and at tier 4 they do get large shields and become very good 1vs1 infantry.
Sea Raider tier 2 javelin + light armor + can spawn with shield (pin cushion)
Sea Raider Warrior tier 3 javelin + can spawn with shield + light armor = skirmish infantry
Sea Raider Chief tier 4 axe throwing armored maniac with large shield and 1 handed axe.
In the Beta 1.4 two of my Sea Raider tier 2’s spawned with chest light armor and with chest heavy armor, both with shield.
The one Sea Raider Warrior in same party spawned with chest light armor + metal helmet + shield
The upgrade path here is special, in that they somehow all drop the Sea Raider prefix, that they have been so fond of they mention it no matter the tier and become NOBLE horse riders. They are the famous or infamous, depending on how much of their looting and pillaging days was spent on your villages. Introducing The tier 6 Sturgian Druzhinik Champion. (applause.. or else…)
Once you get some of them into your army you become close to invincible.
Marauder tier 3 yes you guessed it, horse rider + spear + light armor = Light Spear Cavalry
Raider tier 4 horse bow + arrows + sword + polearm + medium armor = Excellent mix of Horse Archer AND Spear Cavalry
These guys upgrade into some of my most favorite units, they just look badass with their black pointy helmets with a metal face. The tier 6 Khuzait Khan’s Guard and the tier 5 Khuzait Heavy Lancer.
They are not the smartest bunch, they lack decent weapons and 1v1 skill but are useful as pincushions due to their movement speed and abundance. Their upgrade path is good, if you got the Veteran’s Respect perk they can become tier 2 Imperial Infantry.
A tip to use two or more Looters as bait.
Put them in a separate unit then place them 20 meters in front of the Infantry, when the enemy start closing in make the Looters run far away to your right flank. A few or more of the enemy Infantry will waste ammo and time on the two Looters and at the same time turning their non shielded side to your Infantry and Archers. You can get a few free shots for the price of two Looters that might even make it out alive 🙂
Hideout general information
Hideout tactics, do we still need them?
In 1.5.9 and 1.5.10 and 1.6.0 Hideouts seem to be very easy even on Bannerlord/realistic.
You can use Z to crouch and sneak up on them, just like in games where you take out guards by smacking them on the head, you can do the same here as long his not looking your way. Often close enough that he doesn’t have time to throw javelins or shoot at you, but instead you force him to draw his sidearm and can smack him while his doing so.
Then again you can also run around naked in 1.5.9 and use the speed to run over the enemies and in 1.5.10 they nerfed Athletics, so you might be too slow at the start and need to actually bring some skills to the game. And by skill I mean Javelins or the Light Crossbow (cost under 900) with 1 skill and it kills on headshots or two shots on torso, easy to find and cheaper than javelins. If using a Bow then some skill is needed and a good strong Bow. (but there are ways around this)
Her stats after the fight
127 skill One Handed, with the perks arrow catcher 125 and shield bearer 75 and deflect 25
76 skill Throwing
80 Athletics
Just for the lols, I tried a few fights naked in 1.5.10 and it was not pretty. So I used the character with 250 in all skills and all perks taken and still it was so slow, considering its unobtainable to get all perks. I wonder why they nerfed athletics so much. Accuracy for the javelins also seem to be all over the place. The only thing not nerfed is the javelins one shot ability even with 1 skill and 0 perks.
Warning manly video and music not for the faint of heart or those of fine taste
For gear I use javelins and throwing axes and which ever troops need some exp. I can hit the boss at end with an axe or javelin in the face or groin and the fight ends pretty fast.
I have also used the bow and arrow but as there are not that many bandits in the hideouts these days, I find running and throwing stuff at them is faster for clearing.
Shield Wall and Charge works good for the infantry and Fire at Will and Charge for the archers. You might want to get them into a good position at first, before charging.
So i wanted to test the throwing weapons knife and axe and javelin damage with 1 skill and 250 skill and all perks from all skills, for the hideout fight against the boss in the Sea farer hideout.
Javelins and sometimes Axes could be replenished during the fight against his henchmen.
No Perks and all skills were 1 at start, they rose to about 20 before boss fight from killing his buddies.
Highlander throwing Axe
Lowlander Javelin?
With 250 in all combat related skills and all perks taken.
In the extra damage from perks, the Perk Last Hit 50% more damage on enemy with less than 50% health is not included, since the boss was full health.
Tribesman throwing knife
+ 250 skill and all perks, headshot for 173 damage from a range of 9.8 meters
When I write all perks it means all perks from the entire tree nothing is left out, so the bonus from e.g. 2h weapons and what ever that might stack is there.
Test of the Throwing Knife as melee weapon in 1.5.10
Throwing 175,
Perks Quick Draw, Flexible Fighter, Perfect Technique, Running Throw, Well Prepared, Last Hit, Head Hunter.
Athletics 125,
Perks Well Built, Fury, Stamina, Powerful, Surging Blow.
One Handed* 100,
Perks Deflect, Strong Arms, Shield Bearer, Duelist.
*(I do not know if they work for throwing knives, when switching the knife into a melee one handed weapon with the x key).
Tutorial part & Endgame
So to begin.
Do the first tutorial or skip if you played M&B before, you will learn how to fight with all the weapons and make sure you become proficient with them and not just see how they work.
Then go out and do the first quest with chasing the raiders and attacking their hideout, you will need the lessons learned here for later, when you make taking down hideouts part of your strategy.
In the end you will have gathered all your troops for free and often been paid to get them and can keep the ones you like and dismiss or donate or sell the ones you don’t like.
Early Game.
Now for the early game you can make money with Smith & Trade and there are several really good and funny guides for this, so I will skip that. You can also make money from winning Tournaments, if you are good at that kind of fighting.
Here I will give you tips to gather a cheap army, just for the fun of it.
When you travel to trade look out for looters and when you see small groups that you can solo take them down, this gives nice boost of exp and a bit of loot. Keep the looters taken prisoner in your train. Don’t sell them for cheap (5 gold), you will use them when they want to work for you but no sooner than you meet a large enough group of looters that you can not solo, now just before engaging them hire all the looters that wants to fight for you from the prison train. This way you grow and soon you will be able to take out roaming bandits. Later on you get good money from selling excess looter and bandit prisoners to villages that need a workforce.
When you come by hideouts, first make sure it is doable and if they have captured peasants or soldiers, if not leave them alone and keep trading.
Keep checking up on the hideouts during travels and take them down if they got captured peasants or soldiers, and if they are to many bandits then come back later when some might have left the hideout.
The newly freed will join you for free and while you have to pay any soldier you get this way a living wage, peasants you get will work for food only. Keep the peasants. Patched Peasant are now in a Union and minimum wage is 1 GOLD!
So you finally got an Army
Now you have an Army made up of tier 0 Peasants, tier 2-4 Bandits or an even cheaper army that work only for food and 1 Denar wage, yes a full army of Peasants.
I would advise against taking a Peasants Army anywhere, without being part of a Factions Field Army. That way you get the protection needed, you fight in the Sieges, and you will one day get a Fief without ever having spent a single gold on hiring a soldier or paying wages. (patched to cost 1 Denar wage)
With the Bandit army you can go anywhere and fight anyone and if you should choose to become a noble Lord along with your fellow Bandits, they too can be upgraded into fine civilized soldiers.
Perks 1.5.9 and 10
For early game raising and maintaining a Bandit Army has become very easy and cheap. Here are my choices of early and mid tier perks to make life easier. Doing a Prison Break in a neutral Town will get you a lot of skill points.
Bandit units in your party gain xp 20% faster. Really good and you get it so early, you could try playing a Vlandian Character for 20% more exp bonus.
Faster raiding 5%. Yeah well not so much to say about that.
50% Better chance of success with disguise missions. Good for prison break jobs
Convert Bandit prisoners without suffering morale penalty.
The most important one to get, after you have this then you can pick and choose what to get next. Otherwise you suffer -2 morale penalty for every Bandit prisoner you hire
Bandit units in your party consume 50% less food. And the Prisoners no longer eat food
This is so good but you might not realize it at first because its just food, it saves all the expensive extra food you get for morale bonus or reselling.
Bandit prisoners can be recruited to party 30% faster. Good but a bit late at 100 skill. Becomes useful again later for replenishing Bandits.
30% higher chance of enemy surrender* (bandits, villagers, caravans). Be aware that this does not work if you are solo and trying to convince them to join you. They are not stupid, they will rob you and take you prisoner.
5% daily chance to improve relations by 1 with random gang leaders in the settlements you govern. Its good for when you get old and settle down and govern a Town. 🙂
Keeping morale high and saving on food is good early on and getting some exp on top.
Tbh the names of the perks are enough reason to pick them.
Party consumes 10% less food.
No morale penalty from having a single type of food.
Tier 4+ troops gain +4 daily xp.
+1 militia per day.
or
All troops gain +2 daily xp.
Garrison wages are 5% less.
Do not pay wages for wounded soldiers.
Increase village hearth growth rate by 20%.
The Leadership perks has also seen an extreme buff and are now very good, just takes some time to get them so it might be better to get them later.
Additional 4 morale at the beginning of the battle, when you are attacking.
Increase the rate of recruiting tier 1-3 prisoners by 50%.
or
Additional 8 morale at the beginning of the battle when you are defending.
Increase the rate of recruiting tier 4-6 prisoners by 50%.
+1 town loyalty per day.
Troops in your formation cause 10% more morale penalty, when they kill an enemy.
Loyalty and Honor at 100
Tier 3+ troops under your command ignore retreat due to low morale.
Convert non-bandit prisoners 30% faster.
Increase +5 security in a town per day while waiting.
Remove morale penalty for recruiting prisoners of your faction.
Increase garrison size by 20.
You are able to convert bandits into regular troops.
Increase the rate of recruiting melee prisoners by %50.
Cavalry troops generate 10% more shared experience.
Increase the rate of recruiting ranged prisoners by %50.
Troop experience gain while fighting in simulated battles are increased by 20%.
Once you are ready to form Armies to get the Perks, farm the Hideouts in Khuzait and Aserai they got many Peasants and then use the freed Peasants to form Armies with your Companions, the Peasants are plentiful and only cost 1 Denar wage. While you do Hideout there is no need for higher tiers and movement speed is not so important.
Using the Companions Peasants and Recruits as support.
We defended a Castle against 800 men with support from one ally and took another Castle, then defeated a 600 man Army and now Aserai was in such big trouble, had it not been for the “Make Peace With Aserai” popping up at the right moment.
If you play on very easy, there is no need for much of anything, you can choose the perks you feel like. It is only with the realistic damage and the challenging AI settings, that you might find these perks to gather new bandit troops after hard fights valuable but then again in Calradia as a bandit you can choose when to fight and when to look for prey.
How to find fortune as Bandit or Mercenary
Here will be some ideas of where one can go to make gold and get some fun action.
[link]Get the bounty money on top of the loot from the hideouts.
What is that you say, 50 Denars for a Looter!? I’ll be right back!
Market price in 1.5.10 for Bandits with the Ransom Broker in the Tavern.
Tier 5 = 100 Denars
Tier 4 = 50 Denars – Tier 4 Cavalry 87 (guessing they pay for the horse)
Tier 3 = 25 Denars
Tier 2 = 12 Denars
Tier 1 = 5 Denars
The mixed bunch I have atm will sell for ca 15000 Denars.
Note: Mercenaries and men from named Mercenary Bands do not count as Bandits.
While chasing bandits to sell there is no need to do the chasing part for free.
Mercenary work is the best, no drama, no worries, it’s all about the Denars.
The Caravan Ambush Mission pays both Denars and gives you the Caravan loot for helping them out.
Random Hideout Loot
My gear preferences
Statistically Bandits are more likely to be killed with their own weapons.
The Hideouts provide you with all the needed gear to clear them, you can use the first guys weapon if its better than yours and they often are in the early game. The javelin drops are crazy good, the 1h axes they drop are very good and if you have trained bow skill with the cheap hunting bow, (shooting the looters), then you can pick up the Longbow from a dead Forest Bandit. Same bow that is also used by the Fian.
Tournaments are another good way to get some armor and weapons and pick up some skills. Look for a Golden Helmet next to a Town name indicating there is a Tournament. If you arrive at night time you will need to wait until morning to join.
You can choose the weapons you like to play with, there is no absolute in Bannerlord.
Gear
Most important piece of gear is your Helmet!
You just cant afford to get hit or shot in the face without a Helmet of some kind, it will end you.
Besides a Helmet, starting gear is really most about having a horse in Calradia, then a Lance/Glaive if you find one cheap and a cheap bow and some arrows and you are set to go. Remember for taking down infantry with lance without risking getting hit in return, the lance/spear need to be 190 reach or more. The starter spears are typically only 170ish and combined with the Sumpter Horse, you are in a world of hurt against the Looters.
Bow and Crossbow skill is fine even at very low level for the job I do and the same goes for Horse and Polearm skill, so I do not put many points there. You can use the Light Crossbow with 1 skill, headshot is one shot kill and torso are two shots.
The Nordic Bow is the cheapest good bow you find in Sturgian Towns for just under 2000 Denars.
The Light Crossbow is an excellent weapon from start until end game, for under 900 Denars.
The Rusty One Handed Bearded Axe, drops from Bandits and Hideouts, compared here to a new improved Axe for over 5000 Denars, not really worth the upgrade.
The Khuzait Towns have got some of the cheapest and best Glaives early game, 188 Denars for a fast Glaive that can be used with a Shield and used without shield will one shot pretty much anything.
For the price of just under 400 Denars in the Town of Husn Fulq in the land of the Aserai, you can buy and even bigger Glaive that will prevent the enemies from reaching you with its 200+ reach.
When the Denars keep rolling in and you want to show off your stick is better.
Prices are for 1.5.9 as in 1.5.10 they have increased to ludicrous levels. So get them while you can.
I feel that the javelins with perk upgrades are VERY FUN but can be tough against larger Khuzait forces, for when I run out of ammo.
I tried the 2h perks, also very fun but my fighting skills are very rusty, so for now I run with 1h axe and shield. I do use a sword or mace sometimes just because its fun and I like the different sounds they make, but axe is just my overall favorite.
My character faction and build preferences
Faction trait for bandit
Vlandia with the 20% exp perk is good, it pays off to get your bandits to tier 4 asap, where they get good armor and shields. Combined with perks that gives exp bonus it should be very good.
Aserai trade bonus not really doing much for a bandit lord, unless you choose to be bandit in one end of Calradia and an honest merchant in the other.
Empire building and siege bonus are fine but only if you want to min max sieges and towns later in the game.
Sturgians doesn’t get the same amount of de-buff as everyone else on snow, which means he has a speed advantage to catch Caravans on snow and there are many dead ends in the snowy lands for a Caravan to get stuck.
My favorite faction for a bandit character
I make a Battanian or Khuzait, for I want max speed. Nothing worse than looking at speed and see that the enemy has 0.1 advantage and will catch you , also easier to catch enemies and Caravans. Khuzait only if I want to go full Horde with cavalry only. The Battanian is the perfect bandit, with 30% less de-buff in forest, he can use it both to catch or slip away. There are a lot of forest and even a few trees can slow down a rich caravan for you to catch them.
Perhaps overlooked but it also saves me time getting around the map, which might not seem like much but when looking at the bigger picture or math, it amounts to days of travel time saved. Meaning I got to do more trades and more battles etc. Don’t you hate being late to a great battle with only a few seconds.
On a side note: If you are being chased by a faster foe, check and see if you are overburdened or have become a herd or getting slowed by prisoners, then you can dump some cargo or prisoners or horses and gain speed, you might even consider losing wounded men or even some old footmen. Better to lose them before than after they catch you, this way there is no need to have skills or lose morale for leaving men behind to cover your retreat. This is the way!
Size matters
Smaller is better against missiles
I know of the idea that a larger warrior have better reach but I would argue that being able to dodge javelins and arrows with higher consistency beats that. I can even hide behind small trees if I stand with my left shoulder on the tree trunk. I tried this with a big guy, it doesn’t work. When enemies hit me they often hit my weapon arm but with the big guy, they can hit my shield arm too because its sticking out and I can get hit on my big head sticking out over the top of my shield. Not to mention the many arrows I catch during sieges or fighting the KHUZAIT!
Bigger is better for duels
One downside to a small character is in melee fights against larger opponents, they will have reach that you can negate by getting closer or having a weapon with greater reach but if you do get hit then its very likely to be a hit to the head, no matter if the swing came from top or left or right, because of the height difference of the smallest character to the larger character, the target area will be your head.
You can plan accordingly when choosing a character, do you fear death from javelins or swords and axes. I plan on keeping my character just small enough to dodge javelins but not so small he gets his nose bloodied every time he runs into a bandits knee.
Image is everything
– and next comes speed, I think speed is the most important thing in Bannerlord.
I try to get all the running speed and hit point and extra armor perks, I want max running speed and effective hp, so I can take active part in large scale battles. Running speed increases with skills but decreases with the extra armor I get. In 1.5.10 Movement speed has been nerfed and its now more important to find some speed perks and the right top tier armor with low weight.
Big damage numbers are good for fighting dragons.
Doing extra damage perks are not worth it imo, if the trade off is movement speed or armor. I can’t get armor that will decrease damage to 0 or increase my running speed with some magic potion in late game but for damage dealing the skill level and good weapons can easily one shot soldiers, sometimes sending them flying.
Peasants, the most elite special forces of Calradia
In Calradia, three classes of peasants existed: slave, serf, and free tenant. Then a fourth arose to avenge the injustices done to them, The Avengers.
Sooooooo, lets take a look on the Peasant, as a soldier.
Pros
-Some Peasants are using the 2 handed polearm Scythe aka the early game free Berserker/Falx.
-Armed with the Scythe, that does 59 PIERCE damage good versus higher tier soldiers.
-Unarmored, means his fast and agile.
-Cost only food to have in army. Patched, its now +1 Denar in wage for Peasant.
-If the Peasant just get one hit in before he dies, its a good deal of damage done and the enemy might be dead in the next hit or two.
-The AI seems to rarely use his shield properly, giving Peasants a good chance to land a deadly hit.
Kind of pros
Have you ever noticed how well the peasant can parry you on the highest difficulty settings? I think they get so buffed up in skill to the point where the lack of armor is secondary melee, if you use them wisely they can survive for quite some time on the battlefield were they just keep pushing using their numbers and taking down a good number of enemy regular soldiers.
Enemies will usually split all missiles towards you, its safer for you and your higher tiered troops to have some fast moving targets out there dodging and sometimes catching missiles. Surprisingly we are the only target that enemy AI will hit consistently but never the Peasants or Looters. Seems we are always the most armored and the slowest and we catch most of the missiles.
The Avengers cleared the Sea Farer Hideout on realistic settings.
They got speed and agility and numbers
Cons
-Weaknesses of the Peasant, unarmored no shield and low fighting skills, they cant fight Cavalry or Archers or 1vs1 but then again they are free.
A Peasants Deadly Weapons.
Other than the Scythe Polearm Peasant, the Spear armed Peasant is capable of killing tier 3+ troops and they do good because you often have 3 spear Peasants poking one guy and as you might have experienced, it is really difficult fighting two opponents or more, as they keep attacking and can get through shields with crushing blows.
If you want, you can help the Peasants in the open field battles by riding around the AI and getting the attention of the enemies, making it easier for the peasants to get free shots on them.
The Scythe polearm, as used by the Peasants. Here tested on a volunteer tier 5 Forest Bandit Boss
Note how small a percentage of the pierce damage is absorbed, when compared to cut damage.
The head armor of the Boss seems to be his weakness, I doubt it got more than 18 armor. Good chest armor will absorb half the damage. The Scythe weapon can easily do crushing blows.
The Avengers now in 1.5.10
“Where we have walked, nothing grows”
Bannerlord Settings!
I had a solid Army of Bandits T5 and T4 but noticed my allies kept bringing recruits and low tiers to the fight, so it was my infantry in the front ranks taking the brunt of the attack and in the end some fancy pant Lords would get much of the loot because they had lighter troops that killed the wounded enemies and chased after the fleeing enemies. After a very bad battle in which I had 0 infantry standing at the end, only some of my archers were left and still fighting, we won a Pyrrhic Victory.
Now we had some good surgeon around so I kept most my infantry, they had been knocked out but it got me thinking, why are the Lords getting away with this kind of behavior and its all the factions doing it. Plus there is only a challenge in battle when the enemy outnumbers me greatly, for I am the only one with a full T5-T4 Warband later in the game. I am the only one to worry about a siege being to costly and I will be losing cavalry men. Then I decided I will not be working for a few Denars with elite T5 & T4 Bandits, no instead I bring Peasants that cost 1 Denar each and do fine and they are so good at what they do I got 27% of the loot from a Castle siege and 20% loot from two consecutive field battles.
Defeating a Sturgian Army of 657 men, netted me 2 Sturgian Lords and 83 prisoners + some random crap loot for reselling smelting. We did have greater numbers though, like 1024 men of the Northern Empire lead by the great Commander Udris Horsethief, I lead one of the Cavalry Wings.
I did play the Peasant Army last year but back then they didn’t cost money and I remember it was a fun way to get fiefs for free. I didn’t get to finish the game due to mods breaking my saves and irl work.
Thoughts about characters in Bannerlord
Thoughts
When I play it is with an idea of who my character is and for immersion sake I stick to that.
In Calradia who is a Noble and who is a Bandit, don’t mean much to the peasant running for dear life. So I can play a Bandit with what ever traits I like, he can be a bit Robin Hoodie like or just a little bald.. I mean bad Norsemen Earl with vanity issues about hair loss but he never goes full re-♥♥♥♥.
I like to look at the faction wars and their strengths and weaknesses and how my men would fare against them. Then I decide which faction to serve as mercenary and which area that suits my army best for fighting. So I spend some time doing quest for the Lords including raiding and picking of weak enemy Lords or guiding them into allied Lords for a good ganking. When I spot hideouts I save them for later unless I need reinforcements, I will go clear one and take the rescued into my army as arrow and javelin fodder locked on a separate key.. I mean as equals of course.. of course.. on a separate key.
As a Bandit Chief or Rogue Lord or Mercenary or Soldier of Fortune, whichever title fits at the time. I don’t feel bound to a faction and will end my mercenary contract and move my horses to better pastures. Remember that if you are ever cornered as a mercenary by enemy forces, ending your contract on the spot makes you a neutral and the Lords will stop chasing you. (Press K and on top right corner click Leave Kingdom)
Joining a faction as a sworn man with the sole purpose of gaining benefits and then leaving them is also a very Rogue idea, nothing wrong here. If you want to level Leadership perks early, join the best faction for you at the time and just do what it takes to level the skills and leave. Do not attach yourself to fiefs and such. Live the Rogue life.
Faction Cultural Effects for patch 1.6.0
[Pro] Caravans are 30% cheaper to build. 10% less trade penalty.
[Pro] No speed penalty in deserts.
[Con] Daily wages of troops in the party are increased by 5%.
[Pro] 50% less speed penalty and 15% sight range bonus in forests.
[Pro] Towns owned by Battanian rulers have +1 militia production.
[Con] 10% slower build rate for town projects in settlements.
[Pro] 20% less garrison troop wages.
[Pro] Being in an army brings 25% more influence.
[Con] Village hearths increase 20% less.
[Pro] Recruiting and upgrading mounted troops is 10% cheaper.
[Pro] 25% production bonus to horses, mules, cows and sheep in villages owned by Khuzait rulers.
[Con] 20% less tax income from towns.
[Pro] Recruiting and upgrading infantry troops is 25% cheaper.
[Pro] Armies lose 20% less daily cohesion.
[Con] 20% more relationship penalty from kingdom decisions.
[Pro] 5% more renown from battles. 15% more income while serving as a mercenary.
[Pro] 10% production bonus to villages that are bound to castles.
[Con] Recruiting lords to armies costs 20% more influence.
Mods that makes life easier and more
Some mods I got for better oversight of my troops in the party panel and some for the battlefield. Then again other mods are just there for fun and making life easier in general. Here is a small list of the current ones I am playing with and having fun in 1.5.9.
Character Manager – Allows for changing stats and names of characters, companions and even enemies.
Party Screen Enhancements – Can rearrange the party to show the troops in the order I want.
Better Time – Adds x 4 times speed for campaign map. Really nice for the early game overburdened travels.
Army Arrow Counter – Shows the amount of missiles on the battlefield.
AIValuesLife – AI will do some thinking before charging into battle and will often surrender if they are greatly disadvantaged, saving me time from loading a battle just for the F1+F3.
LootEveryone – I got so fed up with loot last year I quit the game in May, when they introduced several prefixes for an item, that do nothing but clutter up the already insufficient inventory panel. This allows for real battle loot, stripping the fallen of their gear.
Party AI Overhaul and Commands – Allows for better control of Companion parties. No longer will they leave with the men you gave them to join some hopeless siege deep in enemy territory only to be defeated and lose all the men and be captured.
RTS Camera & Command System– Still figuring out what it does but it does give me control of a friendly unit when I am knocked down, so I can keep fighting and giving commands. It is so much fun to fight as some random unit.
Improved Combat AI – Can make the AI fight harder than the settings allow for otherwise.
Dismemberment (Plus) – Self explanatory, chopping arms and legs and heads of in combat.
Autoblocker – Blocks in the direction of the attack.
No Cheer on retreat – The men act like a disciplined army and don’t start cheering until the fight is over!
Ultimate Mounts – It is like OnlyHorses 😅
Armor Craft Request – Allows for asking the local armorer to make you an armor piece he might not have in stock. A bit like the old Viking Conquest in Warband feature? I have not used it yet.
Distinguished Service – Brings up a menu during battle, of troops that have done lots of kills and allows you to make them a Companion. I use it to see which troops do better than the rest. There have been guys with 14 kills against the Jawwal Camels, when I caught them during a Village Raid, they all got bunched up, so I sent forward the 2h Infantry to support my Cavalry. In about a minute they all seemed to get 10 kills and more.
Improved Garrisons – As the name implies makes it easier to control a Garrison and transfer soldiers and send out patrols. I use it to do the job that I would like to have my Companions been able to do, like go get me some more troops from x garrison or go clean out looters in x area.
Keep own Fief – Allows for using 500 influence to keep a fief that has been from the enemy. Have not used it so far, so no idea if it actually works and if the others lords become angry over the corruption.
Stable Enabler – You can make a Stable Workshop creating horses. Yes please! Some Towns in Vanilla have Villages with horses but there is no option for a stable workshop.
Use your army to build improvements – Managing a Town or Castle the army will be used as a workforce much like ancient times and even today in many countries.
Xorberax’s cut through everyone – When I feel like trying to chop several guys in half with one swing of the Glaive.
V’s No limit bundle updated – Removes limits on army, prisoners, companions, workshops, etc.
Diplomacy
Surrender Tweaks
Battle Regeneration
Battle Mini Map
Configurable Battle Scenes
Updates & Info, Twitch, YT and Mods
Discord: [link]
Twitch: [link]
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCml3nHYQkaluIbWYdT54GNg?
Year 2021
All test and videos are done on hardest settings, not that I prefer to play at these setting but I find little meaning in testing on easy, when it’s well easy 🙂
July 21 2021
Did the old Vikings aka Sea Raiders wear helmets and why.
[link]
June 25 2021
Testing patch 1.6.0 for some days now and while Roguery has become easier to level it is still no where near a good place and Noble troops can now be in plenty of the Castles Villages. So if you play 1.6.0 and only want the Noble troops drop Roguery and spend the points for something more useful. Best skills so far, Trade and Smith (still good) Stewardship and Leadership and Charm.
My next character will be a Medicine Man, the last perk Minister of Health gives troop extra hit points. +1 hp for every 2 pts above 200. Perfect for my Peasant Armies 🧙♂️
June 11 2021
Reading the patch notes for 1.6.0
June 9 2021
I have tried to remix my guide to show the bandit and converting them part on top and the pure bandit and peasant army part later, for anyone interested, It was not originally written this way, for me it is more confusing now. My thinking is though that most people don’t want to play with bandits and peasants and want the strongest elite army.
May 23 2021
Edited the Guide and added some short videos of test done on 1.5.9 and 1.5.10 videos range from 5 sec to 28 sec to 1 min to 8 min?
Updated the Peasant info and the missions that give easy gold.
Update: May 20 2021
Trying to figure out how to edit videos in order to keep the info stuff in and all the boring (running part) out. Trim and Split sounds easy but when you are an old guy born during the Bronze Age and the Sea Peoples invasions, then it’s not so easy.
1.5.10
Update: 9 May 2021
A year has gone and hope everyone had some good times and are happy.
I have started playing Bandit again and testing the new Roguery Perks viability, for now it looks good. Will be updating this guide a little at the time, as I find new things.
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Year 2020 oof
1.4.1
Update: 25 May 2020
Found a mod today on Nexus will test it, in the meantime I link it here if anyone else is interested in testing it. The mod makes it possible to hire bandits directly from hideouts.
[link]
Banditry[www.nexusmods.com]
TW seems to have broken a few things, there is constant war and my faction voted unanimously to declare war against everyone!
Melee attack speed seems very broken after near max levels, units attack so fast its crazy and dont even try to go near a Lord or any unit that has 250+ in weapon skill.
Update: 15 May 2020
Patch notes: Fixed a problem where it was not possible to select newly changed perks in older save files.
YEAH 1.4.0
Update 14 May 2020
Guys if you dont have time to level a new character and tired of the old buggy savegame, get the mod for character trainer, from Nexus and you can export your old guy and import him to a new game.
[link]
Character Export Import[www.nexusmods.com]
Update 13 May 2020
Looking at Steam guides there was an old guide (video) with name very similar to my guide. “How to get…” so seeing as his guide was over 20 days older than mine, I changed the name.
Update 12 May 2020
Get the mod from Community Patch, this fixes all the Roguery Perks and makes this Build Complete, I just tested it and there is no way TW will not balance this in the future, so get it before and steamroll Calradia
[link]
Community Patch[www.nexusmods.com]
[link]
Update 9 May 2020
I decided to cut down of the guide info, I dont have time to update all the sections anymore. I got to start work when they let us out and I have to spend my time fixing irl broken stuff. My work car wont start and it got a flat tire, its been sitting idle for almost 2 months now.
No fix for troops on keys 5-6-7 spawning in the middle of camp! They also spawn in the middle of battle field if you attack near a village.
No luck recruiting tier 5+ from prisoners. Perhaps TW dont want it to be possible, since there has not been a fix for this.
Recruitable[www.nexusmods.com]
05-05-2020: Steams says “400 hrs on record“ “we dont play games”
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Trade
Seems to have been balanced and its no longer possible to get rich from selling to Caravans and Villages. But still way to easy to get rich quick and beat the game.
Exping troops
Since long past, the looters used to train new recruit with auto calculated battles have been balanced so its no longer useful. Since looters now will kill veterans soldiers and thus nullify the tier ups you might have gotten from the encounter.
Magic
Still works when fighting the simple minded bandits and you can still hide behind a tree and clean out the place with blunt arrows.