With the way Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord's recruitment system is set up, players will usually have to start from scratch. While technically, players could also recruit high-tiered soldiers from their prisoner pool, it's much more personal to have an elite army that shared the same grind and toil to the top. Moreover, starting with higher-tier troops can be a logistical handicap.
Therein lies the need for a more in-depth look at which of these low-tiered units are worth recruiting. Players will be recruiting their troops based on potential anyway, so knowing which among them have the best potential is the key to having an elite retinue in Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord.
10 Khuzait Nomad
The Khuzait Nomad is and ideal recruit because it can immediately transform into something game-changing, like a horse archer, the Khuzait Tribal Warrior. If not, then players can always go down the infantry path and get something heavy.
Even then, infantry paths are varied enough and also include career changes into archery. Pretty soon, players will find themselves with a well-balanced army full of archers. For some, a Khuzait Nomad recruitment pool might be more than enough if they win enough battles to upgrade their troops.
9 Sturgian Recruit
Sturgia is well-known for its heavily-armored and intimidating infantry units capable of tanking arrows and maintaining unbreakable shield wall formations. Of course, they do have to start small but even so, the Sturgian Recruit already looks promising.
Their stats are the same as any other tier one recruit but they have more options for their weapons. Some of them carry around scythes, making it ideal against cavalry while axes are great for both sieges and close quarters combat. The upgrade path sadly lacks strong cavalry options, but they get shields early on, helping players minimize casualties.
8 Vlandian Recruit
Vlandian starting troops are as ragged as they come. They even look more like peasants geared for a harvest rather than conscripts. But seeing as Vlandia mostly focuses on its strong cavalry, that's to be expected. If players want the best starting cavalry, then the Vlandian Squires are strong options.
The upgrade path is rather limited as they're just melee cavalry. However, they get shields early on an some good spears. Vlandian Recruits are also decent as a starting option but players will be sacrificing cavalry if they pick those.
7 Imperial Recruit
Players looking for a well-rounded army might want to start with the Imperial Recruits. The faction specializes in jack-of-all-trades units but they do require more experience and training to upgrade. In any case, they get early access to shields and archers.
This makes army compositions more varied and versatile. Like Vlandian Recruits, however, they also lack cavalry upgrade paths so players will need to purchase a separate tier two unit from the Empire, called the Imperial Vigla Recruit for their cavalry needs or just go to Vlandian towns and grab early horsemen.
6 Aserai Recruit
Speaking of versatile factions, the Aserai are also famed for their varied troop compositions. Thankfully, they have more cavalry options and their starting Aserai Recruit units can easily branch out to mounted units if need be. These mounted units also have shields.
Starting from their tier two upgrade, these Aserai units can also branch out to some of the most impressive archers in the game. But even at their starting tier, they're no pushovers; the spears ensure that they can fend off low-tier cavalry attacks.
5 Battanian Highborn Youth
Battanians are feared for their guerilla tactics, and as such, their units are more suited for hit-and-run battles and ranged combat. For that matter, the Battanian Highborn Youth are some of the best archers in the game due to their high innate Bow skill.
Depending on who they're fighting, they can easily wipe out hundreds of infantry troops, even those equipped with shields. Vlandian crossbowmen can outrange them, so that's one weakness that players need to take into account.
4 Sea Raider Warrior
Generally, recruiting bandit or mercenary units in Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord are expensive and should be minimized. However, a special case can be allowed for the Sea Raider Warrior units because they're great all-rounders that will almost always win in fair melee skirmishes with tier three units.
They excel in One-Handed combat but can easily branch out to ranged and even withstand some heavy cavalry attacks due to their weapons and high Polearm skill. They are hard to replace so players might not want to be too careless with these special units.
3 Steppe Bandit
Another Bandit unit that players might want to look out for in their post-battle results or out on the field are these evasive devils. Steppe Bandits might seem too basic during their tier two appearance but with enough battles, they can either turn into Marauders or Khuzait Raiders.
Either option is awesome since both can lead to Khuzait horse archers which are not only formidable but game-changing with enough maneuvering. Basically keep them alive long enough after absorbing them into the army and watch them grow into the most fearsome horse archers in the game.
2 Bedouin Rover
Players stumbling upon some Desert Bandit Camps ought to look for some Bedouin Rovers since apart from being a promising tier two unit that can hold a line against cavalry and an infantry charge, they can also become heavy Aserai cavalry.
Players can either upgrade them into fully-armored Aserai heavy cavalry or Aserai archers which are also decent ranged units especially in sieges. Even in their starting form, they can contribute well to battles thanks to their weapon variations.
1 Bushwacker
The Bushwaker might have a poor reputation as small-time Battanian brigands but if players give them the time and effort, they'll easily become some of the best archers in the game, namely the Battanian Fian Champion as stated earlier.
They're thus a cheap way to get one's hands on some of the best elite units in the game, one that can wipe out infantry easier and more safely than a cavalry charge. These are tier two units, by the way, and they can easily dominate a battle with melee infantry despite being nerfed.
Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and Microsoft Windows.