Turns out that running a kingdom is hard. Players simply can't just sit on their thrones eating roast chicken and cherry tomatoes while someone sings for them. There has to be some form of ruling involved. That's what Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord demands from its players.
Because there will come a point when players' actions can snowball into owning a kingdom. When that happens, players need to be prepared to either genuinely care for their people or to minimize the need for ruling so they can go about their merry way. These policies will aid in either endeavor.
Updated February 28, 2023, by Sid Natividad: There's no shortage of work to be done for a liege in Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord. To make players' work easy as feudal lords, they can employ certain policies that reduce the micromanagement required to run a kingdom (or run it down).
So to assist players more, this Bannerlord best policies list has been updated with even more efficient edicts. After all, and despite numerous updates, Mount and Blade Bannerlord and its series is still a challenging game, even for franchise veterans.
15 Noble Retinues
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If players don't want to be tied down to their stately duties as a lord, then they'll be pleased to know that they can enhance their experience as a war-mongering warband leader with policies like Noble Retinues. It increases the number of troops they can bring to their party.
In addition to the +80 party size granted by rulers, this adds up to a total of +120 troops for the player's party or retinue, provided they're a big-shot lord with a sizable territory. That's quite the advantage considering the relatively low troop count in Bannerlord clashes.
14 Grazing Rights
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Loyalty tends to be difficult to gain the larger the territory so if players find themselves holding too much. So in order to keep their territories more manageable, then Grazing Rights might just be the policy they need, especially against a populace that's quickly becoming unruly.
Such a policy is even more important if players delegate kingdom management to their companions or wives just so they could run around gallivanting with their retinue. The negative hit is relatively low, so it's almost a staple pick once players have earned a kingdom.
13 Castle Charters
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Castles are easily the most important structures in a player's kingdom and ensuring that they're well up to standards in the event of a siege is imperative. Luckily, the Castle Charters policy is practically free and has no downsides, making it yet another staple pick for players with budding kingdoms.
Granted, a lot of players will likely be snowballing their way into domination once they can already claim and keep castles so the upgrade cost reduction might not mean much. It's fair enough, however, since there's no negative stat and any discount is welcome.
12 Tribunes of the People
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Another way to increase loyalty once players have started collecting towns under their dominion is Tribunes of the People. It gives an even more substantial and steady loyalty boost compared to Grazing Rights though it's only for towns so the benefits are limited.
The drawback can hurt players' wallets since towns now pay less but it's just a small amount and players likely won't notice it especially if they're getting a lot already from their territories as a whole. Consider it a small price to pay for preventing rebellions and bandit uprisings.
11 Precarial Land Tenure
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If players simply just want to grab more territory via settlements without much bloodshed, then they ought to make sure they have Precarial Land Tenure. This allows players to politically maneuver a settlement they want with less cost to their influence currency.
There's also virtually no downside since usage for this kind of policy is a bit niche as securing certain settlements is easier done through brute force. But if players find themselves spending their influence a lot during gameplay, then this can help them perform more political machinations.
10 Cantons
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Some monarchs prefer to abandon their kingdom to the council in order to expand its borders. If players are that kind of ruler in Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord, then the Cantons policy will be more than handy.
It essentially makes armies replenish faster and thus, ready for action more immediately after a battle. This will minimize downtime if players are too focused on conquest. The treasury will take a substantial hit, of course, but whoever said war was inexpensive?
9 Sacred Majesty
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If the players are the king or queen and they own the ruler clan, then this policy is almost mandatory. It practically has no downside if one is the top dog in a certain territory. The policy also makes it even more difficult for other clans to undermine the main clan.
Theoretically, this will result in fewer rebellions or secessions from other clans or vassals. Influence, after all, is a currency that binds the player's kingdom together in this game. Players can never have too much influence.
8 Royal Privilege
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Royal Privilege is another must if players are serious about their edicts as kings or queens. Sometimes, the clans and the vassals or other lower powers in one's kingdom will practice a bit of democracy and vote for a less-than-desirable action or course.
Having Royal Privilege means players can afford to be contrarian or practice a bit of their tyranny more smoothly. It's also a good way to save a bit of influence for later decisions. Because sometimes, these uppity vassals typically commit some odd decisions in the worst moments.
7 Royal Guard
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Again, this policy is of great benefit to a ruler who prefers the rough horseback saddle to the comfort of the throne. If players prefer to trot about in territories (theirs or their enemies), then having a larger party makes battles easier to win.
It's like having a small personal army comprised of elite soldiers. Such a policy also helps players in roleplaying as Leonidas and his 300 elite Spartans, but down to 80 instead, if players like that kind of challenge. The influence gain is also decent
6 Imperial Towns
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The Imperial Towns policy is an interesting and underhanded way to land grab some towns from other clans. This way, they lose some of their town's loyalties. That is assuming the players control the ruler clan and are the king or queen.
If they are, they get to strengthen their towns and borders a lot more with a shower of loyalty and prosperity. As one can imagine, it's not a good policy if players are just vassals or don't belong to the ruler clan.
5 Land Tax
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Money wins wars and the same holds true for Mount and Blade 2. Players will eventually need to find a way to sustain their fielded armies and their elite retinue as king. Food and other logistical concerns are also always looming.
Unfortunately for the clans, they will shoulder the financial weight. Their village income would go to the ruler clan's pockets. At the very least, the villages will not incur a loyalty penalty. Just don't misappropriate that tax income, ideally.
4 Forgiveness Of Debts
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Loyalty is another metric that players will need to nurture if they want to be as hands-off as possible with their kingdoms. A loyal domain is one that manages itself, apparently. For that, Forgiveness of Debts is a great policy.
Players are practically trading settlement loyalty for substantial power and hierarchy hit from the lesser clans. That's for the best probably, as players wouldn't want these clans becoming too arrogant and obstructive anyway.
3 Trial By Jury
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This policy is an odd one since it turns settlements into pacifistic and vulnerable havens but they also stay more loyal to players. That's still good, but players will need to ensure that these settlements are well-guarded from brigands and other militaristic threats.
The influence hit is a bit costly, but it's still a small price to pay for having fewer rebellions popping up on the map. Besides, settlement loyalty can also dictate their defensive performance, offsetting the security hit a bit.
2 Senate
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For players whose clans are tier three or above, then this policy is good to have. It will also encompass the other clans, but that means more power to everyone whose spot in the hierarchy is above average. The rich get richer, per se.
It will be more taxing to include clans below tier three in an army, but those clans tend to have lower-quality troops and equipment anyway. They also tend to have fewer troops to contribute to an army, so they don't matter too much past a certain threshold.
1 Magistrates
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This policy is straightforward. Players sacrifice a bit of income just to make the towns more secure. The implementation doesn't make sense, however. Because in hindsight, the policy suggests that town inhabitants pay fewer taxes and receive more protection.
In reality, they shouldn't be receiving more protection without paying the cost. In any case, players can just pretend that the magistrates who enacted this policy were slightly corrupt and embezzled some of the tax. Human greed doesn't seem to have changed much from the feudal era, after all.
Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord is available on Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X and Series S, and Microsoft Windows.