Leading large armies and winning epic battles is the peak of , and getting to the late game with sufficient power and resources is an important part of enjoying those moments in the game.
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These perks will help you charm your way to victory in Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord.
The leadership skill offers some of the best perks in the entire game regarding army management. It allows you to lead larger and happier armies, with better-quality troops and well-trained captains to lead each formation into battle.
10 Combat Tips
Combat Tips | +2 experience per day to all troops in party +1 to troop tiers when recruiting from same culture |
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Raise The Meek | +4 experience per day to tier 1 and 2 troops +3 experience per day to each troop in garrison in the governed settlement |
The Combat Tips is one of the best perks at level 25 for any skill in the game. The daily experience can add up considerably during peace times, allowing you to upgrade more troops when you need them for a big fight.
While Raise the Meek gives more experience to low-tier troops, the secondary benefit of Combat Tips will make that effect redundant. You will get higher tier troops from all settlements as long as you are in the same culture, making all of your recruits tier two at least. The only time that you get more benefit from Raise The Meek is if you plan on mostly recruiting troops from cultures other than your own.
9 Stout Defender
Fervent Attacker | +4 starting battle morale when attacking +50% recruitment rate of tier 1, 2 and 3 prisoners |
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Stout Defender | +8 battle morale at the beginning of a battle when defending +50% recruitment rate of tier 4+ prisoners |
Fervent Attacker and Stout Defender boost your army's morale when you are attacking or defending, but the more important benefit of these perks is the faster recruitment rate of prisoners.
Low-tier prisoners generally become recruitable faster, so the 50 percent increase will be more effective for high-tier prisoners, making the Stout Defender an amazing perk for keeping up the numbers in your party and replenishing your losses with high-quality troops.
In late-game wars, converting prisoners is one of the best ways of reinforcing your army. Combining the Stout Defender perk with high medicine and roguery skills will give you a reliable source of available soldiers as you defeat enemy parties back to back.
8 Authority
Authority | +20% security bonus from the town garrison in the governing settlement +5 party size limit |
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Heroic Leader | +1 daily loyalty in the governed settlement +10% battle morale penalty to enemies when troops in your formation kill an enemy |
Heroic Leader is one of the best governor perks for a companion as it gives them a flat boost to settlement loyalty, but, for your main character, Authority is the best perk choice at Leadership level 75.
High leadership skill directly affects your party's morale and experience gain, making any perk that increases your party size limit even more impactful. If you are the ruler of your kingdom, you can make even more use of this skill with certain policies that increase your party size even further.
7 Famous Commander
Famous Commander | +50% renown gain from battles +200 experience to troops on recruitment. |
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Loyalty and Honor | Tier 3+ troops in your party no longer retreat due to low morale +30% faster non-bandit prisoner recruitment |
Loyalty and Honor is a great perk to make prisoners even a better source of soldier recruitment, but if you want to take full advantage of this perk, you need a high investment in roguery and medicine skills as well.
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Famous Commander is a great perk on its own, and in combination with Combat Tips it makes recruits even more viable for replenishing your army. With the addition of Famous Commander, troops that you recruit from your own culture, at the very least, will be almost at tier three, making them viable for important battles as soon as you recruit them.
6 Leader Of The Masses
Leader of the Masses | +5 party size for each town you control +5% experience from battles shared with the troops in your party. |
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Presence | +5 security per day while waiting in a town No morale penalty for recruiting prisoners of your faction |
If you choose the path of maximizing the effectiveness of prisoners, or if you don't have any towns under your control when you reach this level in leadership, Presence is a decent choice that negates the morale penalty for recruiting prisoners into your party.
But once you take a few towns under your control, the Leader of the Masses becomes the superior choice. It both increases your party size and increases the experience gained by your troops, and it gets even better with each new town that you conquer.
5 Veteran's Respect
Citizen's Militia | +20% chance of militias to spawn as elite troops in governed settlement +20% morale from victories |
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Veteran's Respect | +20 garrison size in the governed settlement Bandits can be converted into regular troops |
Both Citizen's Militia and Veteran's Respect are primarily governor perks that benefit companions more than you, with Citizen's Militia being the more effective and cost-efficient option for most governors.
But, for your character, Veteran's Respect might be the better choice, especially if you do invest in prisoner perks in leadership and other skill trees. The increased morale boost from the Citizen's Militia will become redundant once you reach high leadership levels, as you will have more than enough morale just from the passive bonus of the skill.
4 Uplifting Spirits
Inspiring Leader | -20 influence cost for calling parties to an army +5% experience to troops in your formation |
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Uplifting Spirits | +10 battle morale in siege battles +10 party size limit |
If you invest enough attribute points in your charm to level up leadership, you should have a decent charm skill by the point you get to leadership level 175. This makes the main benefit of Inspiring Leader negligible as, with a high charm skill, you'll have more than enough influence at your disposal.
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Uplifting Spirits is another perk to increase your party size limit, with a less important but still decent increase in battle morale during siege battles. With some investment in steward skill or with a skilled quartermaster, you can easily get parties with more than 200 troops at this level.
3 Trusted Commander
Lead by Example | +50 recruitment rate for infantry prisoners +10% shared experience for cavalry troops |
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Trusted Commander | +50% recruitment rate for ranged prisoners +20% experience for troops when they are sent to confront the enemy. |
The choice between Lead by Example and Trusted Commander is mostly situational and depends on your preference. Lead by Example will allow you to get more infantry recruitments from your prisoners, and the Trusted Commander will do the same for ranged troops.
What might give a slight edge to the Trusted Commander perk is its secondary benefit. Once you have a large party, fighting bandits and small enemy parties is mainly a way for leveling up your troops and you are guaranteed to win, making the bonus experience from the perk a nice addition in the late game.
2 Make A Difference
Great Leader | +5 battle morale to troops at the beginning of a battle +5 battle morale to troops that are of same culture as you |
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Make a Difference | +100% battle morale to troops when you kill an enemy in battle +30% shared experience for archers |
Battle morale is rarely an important stat that you need to keep track of, but perks that increase your army's battle morale are a nice option to have to make sure your troops won't retreat prematurely if a battle doesn't go in your favor.
Both perks at this level affect your troops' battle morale but Make a Difference is a more active and fun option as it encourages you to take part in the battle instead of commanding your army from afar. The secondary benefit is also a nice boost to level up your archers faster.
1 Talent Magnet
Talent Magnet | +10 party size limit +1 clan party limit |
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We Pledge Our Sword | +1 companion limit +1 battle morale at the beginning of the battle for each tier 6 troops in the party up to 10 morale |
The final perk choices in the leadership skill tree are both so strong that you might want to plan on which you want to choose from the beginning. If you don't invest in intelligence, and its corresponding skills, you will need a lot of companions for various party roles as well as clan parties, making We Pledge Our Sword a better option.
But if you do invest on those skills, or play in the campaign mode where you have access to three extra family members as companions, Talent Magnet will be the superior option, as it both increases your party size and gives you an extra clan party, allowing you to create larger armies without spending influence.
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