Mount and Blade General

I spent a year being a manhunter in my strongest female game. I had over a hundred soldiers by the time I started doing more. I waited til one nation had another distracted, then I marched on the other side of their Kingdom and started taking land by force. Had at least one castle and two towns by the end of my independent reign. After that I signed on with the conquerors as a vassal for protection, and didn't even need to worry about being granted land.

Does one's own industry even have a meaningful effect on whatever supply and demand is in the game? I normally build dyeworks in like 80% of the towns (the excpetions being the four or five towns where other industry is more lucrative), and they never seem to get meaningfully less profitable.

WRT Nord archers, while they're not quite Vaegir archers, they're still pretty formidable. I mean, Sea Raiders are basically Nords that are hostile to everyone, and their archers are among the bandit enemies that remain a threat the longest.

edited 31st Aug '16 6:39:49 AM by Balmung

I've read on the M&B wiki that it's a risk, but I don't know for sure.

Do the rulers pay you for being a sellsword? Like is it a regular thing?

They don't pay the entirety of your weekly wages, but working as a mercenary for a faction will heavily reduce your weekly burden.

That's good. I've already cut down my weekly pay thanks to my mill and bakery.

Just be careful. If you're an enemy of a nation your businesses are in, they'll be sequestered. Far as I know they won't be destroyed, but you'll get no profits from them til the war is over.

Yeah, I've read about that, too. Can you pick what enemy you want to fight against, or is it just "everyone at war with your country is your enemy"?

edited 31st Aug '16 7:27:52 AM by theLibrarian

The problem with Nord Archers isn't that they aren't functional. It's just that all other archers are better for their intended purpose. Nord archers have pretty bad rate of fire compared to Veagir Marksmen or Sarrannid Master Archers, and don't even get a noticeable uptick in damage for it like with Swadian and Rodock sharpshooters.

Their only real advantage is heavier armour, but that's just not the kind of thing you get much use out of as an archer (assuming AI on AI), and it's still not enough to stop them from getting murdered by any stray cavalry.

As far as bandits go, I'm more "scared" of taiga bandits. So many javelins. Oh, sure, they're easier to clean up than sea raiders, but just as you're getting complacent, you're suddenly growing a beard of jarids and lost half your hitpoints before you know it.

In addition to taking on part of your upkeep burden, they also involve you in a war where you can loot to your heart's desire, without any personal accountability. Don't want to be at war with that faction any more? Just don't renew your contract, and everyone promptly forgets you were ever a part of things.

War is a profitable business, and playing mercenary is an excellent way to get involved without risking anything you can't easily replace. Play catch and release with any lords you capture, and you'll even be making friends rather than enemies.

edited 31st Aug '16 7:33:32 AM by Kayeka

Except for men, but overall it seems fine.

That's where quests come in handy. There's a few strong quests you can take on when villages have them to offer. Play your cards right and you'll be able to replenish your supply of men in no time. Bonus points if you fill in as many trainer points as you and your companions can get. Make sure your level's higher than the soldiers you want trained, and you can slink off to lick your wounds for a week or two before coming back with a vengeance.

Yeah, right now I'm trying to hunt down some forest raiders for Sargoth...and that's being difficult because I can't find any forest raiders. I'm going to start asking around, I guess, ask if anyone's seen them.

Forest bandits? Could be anywhere but they're focused the most in the woods of Swadia. Try the forest band near Uxkhal. I know in the original there was a serious forested pass near Elerdah that was just swarming with the fuckers. I don't remember off hand if there's such a place in Warband, but if there is, I'd roll through there as well.

Yeah, I've looked from Sargoth to Tihr and haven't found anything. I'm going to start asking around in villages, because otherwise I can't find them.

You're probably too far north. Those quests don't restrain the targets to just the immediate area that was hit. Try running south to Swadia and check the forests. It's not necessarily where they are, but it's a good place to start.

Well that's dumb! The Guild Master said they were in the woods near Sargoth.

edited 31st Aug '16 8:15:58 AM by theLibrarian

I know. The biggest risk in those ones is that someone else will hit the group and break it first. you get a quest failure from that. Personally, I either just don't bother, or I hit control + c with cheats enabled, and start combing the map for them. It is a cheat, but even that doesn't actually guarantee you'll find them.

Meh, it's no big deal. I also got a quest to break a noble's brother out of a castle but I'm not going to do that because I'd rather not lose all of my progress. I guess if I fail the quest because I can't find them it's no big deal.

Man, screw doing quests for guild masters. They are a big pain in the butt and unbelievably boring. Don't even pay all that well, either.

Now, village elders, that's something else. Quick, and easy, and even though you won't get paid for most of them, you will be picking the fruits of your efforts quite soon. A perfect way to farm experience for an early character and pave the way for future glory.

Eh, caravan escort quests pay fairly well, at least.

The only real purpose to a town quest is to unlock the ability to set enterprises there. And that can be overcome much more easily and profitably by winning tournaments. Help lords and help villages. Getting in good with Lords can help you deal with issues when you have land, since you can potentially lure them to your side and gain at least their armies if not their lands.

ETA: Warband's getting released on PS 4 and X-Box on September 16th! So any console people who want to play this series, you're going to get your chance.

https://www.taleworlds.com/en/Games/Bannerlord/News/153

edited 31st Aug '16 8:28:17 AM by Journeyman

So many times with those bandit quests I've just done the "Reveal whole map cheat" - yes, it disables achievements but honestly, at least it solves the frustration of not being able to find your targets because of the weird overworld scale.

Also, the "Follow the spy and capture them both" quest. That's an arse. And a lesson to equip all party members with BLUNT weapons.

And tracking skill. So very much tracking skill.

So, with two tournaments and a few other things, I now have 7000 florins! Yay me! I also fought my first battle as a sellsword, which cost me 18 men while helping a Nord jarl fight a Vaegir lord. We did win, though.

Their losses were well worth it for the experience. With enough levels in trainer among you and your companions, you should do fine with rebuilding your forces.

Yeah, I went through a few villages and more than made up my numbers.