Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord covers many aspects and facades of early medieval life. That very well means there is more to do in-game than just shortening one's life, or shortening other people's lives as a warmongering feudal lord. Because apart from a life of relative peace as a trader, players also have the option to create things rather than destroying them as a peaceful gameplay.
Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord offers this opportunity through the workshop mechanics. Players can essentially purchase workshops in the game in order to earn a passive income. That's the primary intent. But if players are tired of raiding caravans and performing quests with paltry rewards, then this medieval self-starter business route is the way to go. Feudalism is out, and capitalism is in with these best workshops.
8 Smithy
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One would think that Smithies in Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord offer the best profits since the demand for iron during wartime is sky-high. But that's not the case in this game. The ideal locations for Smithies are quite sparse compared to other workshops. Thus, they're not as common.
Players can try to force a smithy into any location, but they won't be maximizing production and profit gains in doing so. Still, for players who keep stumbling upon villages with the Iron Ore icon, then a smithy will definitely be a profitable venture there or at least one that can sustain a thirst for crafting swords.
7 Pottery Shop
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Pottery is something that will offer players a change of scenery. It's mostly up to player preference whether they want this or not. But any village with an abundance of clay will benefit more from having a Pottery Shop compared to other locations.
For players who are into the caravan lifestyle in Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord, then this is also a must. Locations like Husn Fulq offer a good way to mark up the price of pottery due to travel distance, practically turning players into imported goods merchants. The ideal location rarity can also be a plus here, turning the pottery trade into a rare and niche venture.
6 Olive Press
Yet another way for players to corner the market in the game— specifically the food market, is through the olive trade. Apparently, it's olive oil that these Olive Presses will specialize in, and it's quite handy in this budding medieval fantasy world. Turns out there are quite a lot of locations in the game that will produce a surplus of olives.
Make sure to hunt for these locations. Setting them up in the villages of the aforementioned regions will create a healthy trade route for players. If not, players can simply use the produced olives and olive byproducts to feed their armies.
5 Linen Weavery
For villages or towns that produce lots of flax, then a Linen Weavery would be the ideal workshop. Players can find these places all over the map and there's quite a handful of them, also allowing players to set up a good trade route centered around this item.
Although it's not really as ubiquitous or as generous compared to something like olives, the Linen Weavery is still profitable enough given how the product can sell for more. Do note that in the aforementioned regions above, each only has around one or two villages that are suitable for Linen Weaveries.
4 Velvet Weavery
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For those who prefer their customers or market to be of nobility, then a Velvet Weavery might be the best workshop. Any village in any region that produces a surplus of Cotton will be ideal for a Velvet Weavery. Too bad there are only a few of them in the game
But of the two regions mentioned above, both have around two villages that produce a lot of Cotton so that only makes the caravan stops less tedious. Velvet products can sell higher anyway, meaning players will still be making profits, and the fact that Cotton is rare means players can sell them higher in most locations.
3 Wool Weavery
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The good news in the clothes merchant venture in Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord is that there's a good variety of clothing materials and products to produce and sell. Wool is among them and players will be pleased to know that villages that produce Wool for Wool Weaveries are healthily scattered all over the map.
Players can then happily set up their clothing line empire in the game with a combination of Linen, Wool, and Velvet clothing. Some mentioned regions above even contain as many as three villages producing a generous amount of Wool.
2 Wood Workshop
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While Hardwood doesn't exactly look as ubiquitous as something like Olives or Grain, it's still a valuable resource especially if players are into smithing. Forges do require a copious amount of wood to burn in order to keep the fires going. Players will do well to set up Wood Workshops in the regions above.
The number of villages that produce a surplus of Hardwood for the Word Workshops isn't high, however. But if players are not using the wood themselves, then they can happily sell them for a higher price in most locations given the rarity of the villages that produce it in bulk.
1 Brewery
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Grain is likely the most common and most ubiquitous resource in Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord, making it the most profitable and the smoothest trade route to set up. Almost everywhere players go, there's Grain to be seen and to be processed into beer or something.
That's why Breweries are the current workshop meta in Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord. Players can just grab their Beer products from villages that produce grain and then sell them high in areas with not much Grain production. Pretty soon, feudalism will go out of style.
Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord is available on Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X and Series S, and Microsoft Windows.