Thanks to the earlier-than-expected Early Access release of Mount and Blade II: Bannerlord, you can now live out your dreams as a fat noble in the medieval era sacking spouses and stealing castles (or is it the other way around?) while dealing with political intrigue and the occasional plague.
Life in a medieval simulator is expectedly hard and much like today, you need skills to survive or thrive. Thankfully Mount and Blade II lets you start out as an adult with all the skills you need ready at your disposal (and unlike real life where you have to work hard for them). We’re here to suggest which ones to take and develop if you want to become a brutally effective warlord because peace was never an option.
12 Medicine
As you might imagine from a skill called “medicine”, it’s one that should be prioritized early in the game due to its effectiveness at dealing with your wounded clan members. It’s quite easy to get bogged down with injuries in this game, especially during the more punishing large skirmish battles.
The medicine skill offers up the role of surgeon or doctor for all intents and purposes. This skill will allow you to deal with injuries such as bleeding, broken or displaced bones, and even preventing infections. It’s important to have your battle party in the best shape possible so it’s encouraged to obtain the medicine skill early on.
11 Charm
Would you think that a skill called “charm” would be considered useful in a medieval battle simulator? The question is actually rhetorical since the charm skill is highly important. Simply put, this skill is incredibly useful when it comes to negotiations and developing your clan in this game.
Being able to charm people will allow them to trust you which in turn makes them more likely to follow your lead. You can obtain this skill by speaking with as many different citizens as possible. The more you learn to interact with others, the higher your proficiency will become, thus leading to the charm skill.
10 Riding
Back in the middle ages, dogs are just food– the actual man’s best friend back then were horses. These valiant steeds will accompany men blindly into the maw of death itself no matter how stupid that sounds.
Having a horse is also the difference between being a lord and being collateral damage a.k.a. a peasant. So this is one of the most essential skills ever in a game with “mount” in its title. Because four legs are always better than two and you practically double your HP with a horse.
9 Polearm
The choice of a two-handed weapon was not something to do lightly in Mount and Blade II. Greatswords are simply awesome, but after much practical math and pragmatics, we have to say that the Polearm is the best choice.
It’s a weapon class where all the options would have made your caveman ancestors proud since they’re practically long sticks with pointy ends– except shinier and stabbier. Pair this one with mounted combat and you’ll realize just how unfair cavalry was before guns were invented.
8 One-Handed
As for the second choice of melee weapon, we recommend the old-fashioned sword and board setup. You could go with the greatsword as the second melee weapon proficiency you have but we advise against being suicidal–in Mount and Blade II, your HP is the same as everyone, king or beggar.
That’s why having a shield is the best insurance plan a noble can have back in the day and one-handed weapons allow such safety. We don’t recommend picking more than two melee weapon proficiencies, by the way, unless you want to be a medieval commando.
7 Bow
Speaking of medieval insurance plans, why not go the extra mile and fire pointy death sticks at your enemies instead of getting up close? You’re the commander anyway, so cowardice– er, self-preservation is a must on the battlefield. The bow is a good way to avoid getting crushed in the A.I. moshpit like a tomato.
Even better, stay on a horse and shoot the enemies instead of dirtying your hands– that’s what your poor and underfed foot soldiers are for. Do bear in mind that the enemies can also do the same, but since the A.I. is still in its Early Access phase, they’re no match for your reptilian brain.
6 Tactics
Let’s be realistic, most of the time, you won’t do much of the fighting in Mount and Blade II. That responsibility falls to your army. That doesn’t mean you can blame them if you lose while outnumbered, of course, as you’ll be commanding them. One way to prevent this is by improving your tactics.
The tactics skill allows your troops some impressive bonuses such as additional damage or inflicting morale loss on the enemy. All of these add up to help you have better chances of winning all kinds of battles, particularly the ones where you’re outnumbered and are being bullied by the richer nobles.
5 Leadership
This and the Tactics skill is what sets you apart from a dumb warmongering barbarian to someone worthy of taking castles and raising his own empire. The Leadership skill grants a lot of hefty bonuses to your troops involving morale and administrative stuff.
Hence, it affects both the battle and management aspects of the game. You don’t have to take it right away but do note that as your retinue and dominion grows, you have to start acting like someone who deserves it rather than most nobles throughout our human history.
4 Athletics
Most of the time this could be a situational skill, especially if you prefer to spend the majority of combat on horseback. However, there are still instances where being a fit individual on the battlefield is the difference between life and death.
Besides, your horse isn’t immortal and once you’ve obtained your own castle, it’s only a matter of time before someone who wants to be like you will besiege it. Horses simply don’t do well in siege battles especially if you’re defending. For that, you need to be more reliant on your own muscles instead of animals.
3 Engineering
Speaking of sieges, having the proper equipment can save you a ton of headaches. Catapults, battering rams, and siege towers– it’s safe to say that these weapons of mass destruction didn’t come from the blunt minds of soldiers, but engineers.
That’s why the Engineering skill is a nice one to have if you fancy taking your own castles or besieging some of the more well-established ones. When not destroying castles, Engineering can also be used to fortify your own walls.
2 Smithing
It’s a medieval game and if you miss your chance to forge your own weapon, then you bring shame to your craftsmen ancestors. Smithing not only gives you the chance to craft legendary items but also bonuses for weapon damage.
Moreover, some of its bonuses allow you to become stronger and more vigorous, making it a good skill to have if you also took Athletics and Riding. You might as well put that energy into making weapons in your downtime.
1 Steward
Once you start conquering settlements and establishing a country of your own, you’ll want to make sure that these settlements or castles are doing their part like the tyrannical noble lord you are. Just kidding, but you can improve your management and the output of each settlement with the Steward skill.
This allows your regions to contribute better to your war efforts. It involves perks such as increased villager tax, farm production boosts, less food consumption so you can focus better on imperialism and maintaining the feudal status quo like a proper medieval lord, have fun!
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