Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord is one of the most immersive and liberating medieval fantasy sandbox games out there. Even now, there's still nothing quite like it. However, to get to the meat of the game and to actually be immersed, some beginners to the franchise might have to learn some hard lessons. With how steep the learning curve is for Bannerlord, it's easy to make mistakes.
There's also the fact that the game isn't complete yet at the time of writing and is still hovering around in its early access phase. Thus, there are plenty of improvements to be made. New players will have to take note of others' mistakes so that they can have a less rough start. These mistakes are some of the most common and need to be avoided if players want to be successful feudal lords.
Updated December 17, 2022, by Sid Natividad: Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord has come a long way from its early access more than two years ago. Now that the game has been officially out for a few months in its full release, it ought to be a more welcoming experience, right? Well, perhaps a bit. It's still quite an unforgiving medieval sim with a steep learning curve.
That's why some Bannerlord tips are still very much warranted in 2022 and beyond. There are too many mistakes to commit, and new players are bound to commit a lot of them. Heck, even veteran players are still not infallible to such mistakes. So here's what to avoid, consider them as Bannerlord tips as well.
13 Rushing To A Kingdom
The initial moments and the early game in Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord might feel slow and uneventful with repetitive quests, but that's part of the grind. Players might just frustrate themselves or burn themselves out trying to rush to a kingdom or at least try to snag a castle too early.
A full army does take a lot of food and depending on the difficulty, a poorly commanded battle might result in the deaths of veteran troops. It's best to build up a reputation first in order to curry favor from more powerful lords. Allying with nobles is the key to securing land and territory. Taking it slow is also a good way to familiarize oneself with the other systems.
12 Warmongering
Speaking of trying to gain a kingdom too early, it's usually a violent path and endeavor. That might even require unprovoked battles instigated by the players themselves. While starting random wars and resorting to banditry might alleviate boredom or provide a quick path to power, it's not recommended for newcomers.
Too often, enemy AI will swarm the players and try to chase their paltry warband with little to no help from the ally or home faction. Players should refrain from making too many enemies in the game until they have secured their own powerful allies. That is unless they want a life of banditry, which isn't a relaxing gameplay path at all.
11 Fighting Melee In Field Battles
The biggest waste of time in Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord is waiting for one's lord character to heal back up to fighting shape in the event that they're defeated in battle. For that matter, conserving the health of the player character is paramount to keeping a smooth gameplay flow.
It just so happens that fighting in melee during field battles is counterproductive to this flow. Because like in the campaign map, the enemy AI will swarm players in the digital mosh pit and gang upon the commanders. Sure, it might be tempting to jump into the fray upon seeing this cinematic clash for the first time, but it's a lot safer and smarter to just use the bow while mounted. The troops won't mind having a practical coward as a commander.
10 Trying To Win Every Battle
While on the topic of battles, trying to win every battle might not be that feasible, especially on normal or higher difficulties. Some bandit or enemy faction ambushes are simply too crafty. Some battles are also not meant to be won, especially if players are on the losing side right at the start.
For that matter, players can minimize their army's casualties by retreating (through the scoreboard). Because if players are defeated in battle, they'll have to nurse their characters back to health and their entire army will be decimated. Another option is to surrender before the fight; this way, players get to keep some of their gold and items and even rescue their troops later.
9 Not Utilizing The Campaign Brother
A lot of players tend to forget that they're given a rather important management resource right away in the Campaign. Players typically start off with a brother or two and these brothers can join the battle as usual. But players can also delegate them as companions.
These companions can also handle menial tasks and quests. Those tedious quests that require players to procure food or supplies can be given to companions while the players continue with something else. Beyond that, they can also lead troops into battle though there might be more casualties under their command.
8 Ignoring The Shield
It might be tempting to go two-handed to add to the fear factor on the battlefield but those zweihander or lancer fantasies will have to take a backseat to safety. Because unless players are godly at melee combat, they'll get swamped by AI units and in Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord, it's not that incompetent.
That's why taking a shield is always the best option here no matter how lame one thinks it is to have a shorter one-handed weapon. As it is, most of the combat the players will be doing is keeping their general or commander alive. They're just as vulnerable as the common foot soldier in this game. So the shield is the best insurance they can have against untimely death.
7 Upgrading All Troops & Units
Gaining momentum in Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord means also gaining income and territory. This allows for army upgrades, and beginners will certainly feel giddy – they might be tempted to upgrade all their units, but this can quickly stop their progress in its tracks. Upgrading units increase their upkeep or maintenance cost and this can easily drain resources and supplies.
It's best to be conservative with the upgrades unless there is a steady income stream. If players are merely living off other lords' territories, then they will do better to hold off on some upgrades. When picking which units to prioritize in upgrading, then it's best to always pick melee cavalry as they have the most impact in battles and can turn the tide.
6 Wanting The Best Army Available
In addition to being conservative with the upgrades, players will want to balance out their army compositions. Armies can easily drain the bank or be inefficient for the cost that they demand. As a rule of thumb in Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord, players can't have both quality and quantity. Hence, an army consisting of the most powerful units in high numbers is ill-advised.
Armies should always have fodder units such as those that will make up the bulk of the army and trade blows with the foot soldiers of the enemy army while the elite troops circle around to flank (usually cavalry units). Moreover, an army only full of elite units will be too expensive to maintain and upgrade and can still lose to an inferior army with better tactical management.
5 Agreeing To All Side Quests
Side quests are a huge part of the Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord progression as players can commit to them while they still haven't secured a kingdom or big territory of their own. They're a good way to gain reputation and money. However, not all side quests are advantageous to typical rags-to-riches gameplay in Bannerlord.
There are actually side quests that favor banditry or unlawful play styles. Some quests will straight up ask the players to break a kingdom's laws and the game might not even tell them the consequences of their actions. Hence, players will have to carefully consider some shady side quests and use their moral compass – unless they're roleplaying as bandits or mercenaries.
4 Getting Careless With Quests
Players might think they're safe after picking up the morally upright quests for their noble playthrough, but that doesn't mean they can slack off. Because it turns out, failing some quests – particularly from nobles or other important NPCs can hurt the player's Charm or the game's metric for reputation. This can hurt player progress as well as alliances.
It might be easy to brush off quest failure as inconsequential because of the lack of UI prompts that explain such mechanics (at the moment), but that only means players will have to be careful in how they approach quests or even in accepting quests that don't match their army's competence. This is where saves come in handy, especially in handling quests that are too difficult. Being able to reload to an earlier point at the start of the battle is almost necessary.
3 Being Merciless With High-Profile Hostages
If and when players do win some of their tough battles, especially against the more established armies or lords and ladies, then they will want to practice restraint. Because as it turns out, being bloodthirsty and executing these noble hostages or even outright head-hunting them in battles can result in lowered Charm levels.
This will have dire consequences later on as Charm affects a player's ability to unite with other kingdoms, form alliances, or even sway some enemies into certain actions. If players release a lord or lady hostage, then they can, later on, form an uneasy alliance or understanding with them in the event that they become more powerful.
2 Buying Too Many Horses
Increasing an army's speed on the map can result in less wasted time and supplies. This can be done by buying horses for the army. More mounts mean more speed and the army will move as fast as a mounted regiment. One horse for each soldier should yield this kind of result.
Buy too many horses, however, and the army's speed will go lower because of the "herd debuff." This happens when the horses or other animals significantly outnumber the troops in the army. The game will thus treat the army as some kind of caravan, hobbling the movement speed. So it's best to keep the horse headcount equal to the troop number at most.
1 Forgetting To Manually Save
It's still an early access game, so a lot of things might change once Bannerlord gets released but right now, the autosave system is somewhat brutal. There are frequent moments when the game will quickly save after the outcome of a less-than-favorable battle and players will be pulling their hair out after finding out that they forgot to manually save or that the quicksave function was already overwritten.
Thus, players will want to make it an in-game habit to keep a manual save (or five), especially for some big and crucial decisions regarding marriage or territory. Save scumming is a big part of the game. Such is life in this unforgiving feudal world.
Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord is available on the PC.