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Which Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord Faction Should You Choose?
Butcher79
The intricacies of all of Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord's factions are not immediately apparent to those without a deep knowledge of the game's historical setting. Late Antiquity or the Early Medieval period provided much of the source material for this game. Even if you can tell your Byzantines from your boyars, deciding which group to ally with is not easy.
Luckily, we've spent many hours helping you choose the best Bannerlord units for you and how to help each faction thrive. As you travel throughout Calradia, you'll likely pick up many, if not all, of them before the game ends. Besides, it's always nice to know your enemy. So here are all the factions in Bannerlord and the units that should be prioritized in every army.
All Bannerlord factions and how they work
Each faction Bannerlord there is a primary recruit and a rare secondary, both with their own line of upgrades. The basic recruit usually splits into a melee and ranged tree. The melee tree then splits into the weapon tree and the shield tree, while ranged weapons are usually split into any two types: bow, crossbow, and archer. A rare faction recruit is just a rarity. They spawn less often in villages and towns and cost more, but they move on a linear path to that faction's main or signature unit.
Note. These following factions are not the only units in the game yet. Elite troops such as Skolder Brotva, or mercenary guards, can be found in limited numbers, for example, throughout the game world.
All Mount And Blade 2 Bannerlord Factions:
- ➤Northern Empire
- ➤Southern Empire
- ➤Western Empire
- ➤Battania
- ➤Vlandia
- ➤Sturgia
- ➤Aserai
- ➤Khuzaite Khanate
EMPIRE
Spread across the center of the Calradian Empire were three factions: the Northern, Southern, and Western Empires. The empire split into separate states after the assassination of the emperor, and each of them comes into conflict with various external forces at the beginning of the game. But don't be fooled: the empire is in a state of civil war, and these three factions are scratching their fists to go to war with each other. Not much about them:
- ➤Northern Empire. Led by the wealthy plutocratic senator Lucon, the northerners want the imperial senate to choose the next emperor. It is scattered over a large mountainous area on the shore of a large lake, so they are quite well protected. They also have a strong economy, but having multiple enemies at the same time is a constant problem for them.
- ➤Southern Empire: This part of the Empire is led by Empress Rageya, the wife of the slain emperor, in the name of his daughter and heir, Ira. If you are interested in the Southern Empire, you can use Aira's services: she is single at the beginning of the game. The Southern Empire has well-defended natural frontiers, but struggles to expand against the formidable cavalry of the Khuzaites and Aserais.
- ➤Western Empire: The Western people are led by Garios, a famous and popular military leader who sees himself as the next emperor. The Western Empire controls several wealthy cities, but often finds itself embroiled in a battle of attrition with the Battanians.
The Imperial military employs heavy cataphract cavalry, effective archers, and a core of versatile heavy infantry. Their melee troops excel when riding foot soldiers and legionaries as they carry shields and heavy projectile weapons. While they have access to crossbowmen, their archer upgrade path leads to the much more effective (and well-armed) Bucellarii chamber guards or mounted archers. Their rare recruit is the Imperial Vigla, which transforms into a Cataphract. Cataphracts wear head-to-toe armor and carry spears and bows, making them one of the deadliest and most agile heavy cavalry in the game.
BATTANIA
The highlands northwest of the empire are controlled by the Battan Confederation. Their early game position is good: they only control five cities, fewer than anyone else, but they are tight and relatively close to each other. In addition, each entrance to the highlands is in a dream defensive position as it passes through narrow mountain passes guarded by castles.
The Battania army uses medium to heavy infantry with strong bows as ranged support. Their cavalry is weak, generally only suited for skirmishing or fending off enemy cavalry. Battania is also hampered by their choice of division. Their Fian Champions are the best archers in the game with the highest Bow skill and an unparalleled high rate of fire with their longbows, and they carry two-handed swords at the highest skill level, but there is a problem.
Unfortunately, Battania's archers are only descended from a rare Highborne recruit. Battanian players should recruit as many as possible and take the Discipline perk under the Leadership skill. Battania's other strongest units are Wildlings (heavily armored shooters) and Falxmen. Falxmen are fragile without a shield, but their sweeping swings can devastate an enemy already in a mess of arrows and darts.
VLANDIA
Spread along the entire western coast of Calradia, Vlandia is the most authentically medieval faction in Bannerlord. Their territory is quite large, and some important factions are very distant, so enemy armies often disperse before effectively besieging or raiding. Vlandia starts the game in a difficult war against Sturgia, where long travel distance can doom AI attacks before they get off the ground.
However, Vlandia's army is one of the best in the game. Their mighty knights are vicious in attack, and they back it up with cheap, efficient, readily available crossbowmen. Their crossbows are effective from the first upgrade, from Levi Crossbowmen to Vlandian Riflemen. Vlandia's hardened crossbows also carry a huge pavisa shield into battle, keeping them safe as they move into range like a shield wall. Keep as many melee infantry around you as you need to shield them and fend off enemies, especially the Vlandian infantry upgrade line that ends at the Vlandian sergeant. Otherwise? Crossbows.
Crossbows and horses. Rare recruit Vlandian Squire starts off normally but becomes more and more powerful from the first upgrade before becoming Vlandian Banner Knight, the most powerful heavy cavalry in Mount & Blade 2. Get as many of these unit knight units as you can and then fill the gaps in your cavalry army with light cavalry and vanguard units from the main infantry tree.
The Vlanders also have a secret up their sleeves. Most cavalry groups suffer from sieges, but the Bealman and Vulgier upgrades for the Vland Spearman are excellent at taking and clearing walls. I like to have a reserve of about ten for siege battles, but I keep them away from the enemy during field fights.
STURGIA
The inhabitants of the frozen north of Bannerlord are inspired by the people of medieval Russia, a confederation of kingdoms united under one prince. Their territory stretches the entire length of the map from east to west, which is both a blessing and a curse: enemies struggle to get through snowy forests and narrow valley points, but reacting to an attack on the other end of their territory could mean you arrive there too late to repel the attack.
The army of Sturgia is built around a solid core of reliable heavy and medium infantry. Their cavalry is not very special; at best, it is the strength of reconnaissance and skirmishing. Their low level troops are pretty weak, with no bow and only small shields, so try to take on marauder groups as often as possible to get them through tier 2 to the best tier 3+ armed and armored units. Sturgian Veteran Warriors are one of the best infantry units in the game and, with the support of Ulfhednar's berserkers, can grind any body of infantry into a paste and take any castle wall. Just be careful of enemy armies that can shoot down and outmaneuver you with heavy cavalry.
However, the rare recruit of the Sturgens, Son of the Warrior, is just about nothing. Their final form, the Vigilante's cavalry, is a second-rate cataphract at best. As of patch 1.0.7, they are pretty useless - now they are poor in their main weapon at every upgrade stage. Once fixed, they will be useful as a mobile backup.
ASERAI
Desert-dwelling Aserai has perhaps the best starting position in the game. Separated from any enemies by a natural choke point to the east and west, their enemy borders are quite small, so they are well positioned for expansion. At the same time, the Aserai may struggle to use their protected status because their main cities are so far out in the desert from their borders. AI-controlled Aserai lords often spend as much time traveling home to recruit troops as they do fighting.
Unlike other factions, Aserai troops are separated from recruits into separate standard or special purpose trees, rather than melee and ranged combat. The default tree is dull, so you're better off taking archers and infantry from other faction recruits in the long run.
However, the specialty of the Mamluk tree is excellent. Aserai Mameluke Palace Guardians are heavy-armored shock infantry with two-handed axes. The Aserai Mameluke and Heavy Cavalry are fast compared to their counterparts in other factions, and with their bows and swords, they fill any cavalry role needed. A rare Azerai recruit tree, the Azerai Youth grows into a large unit of striking and running cavalry lances much faster than the equivalent units of any other faction.
KHUZAIT KHANATE
Based on the steppe civilizations of the Huns and Mongols, the Khuzaites inhabit the vast and otherwise empty region at the eastern end of the map. Their high mobility is their strength on the steppe with their relatively large numbers of cavalry. However, this area is not without problems: the most dangerous bandit faction in the game, the Steppe Bandits, is always causing trouble.
Luckily for the Khuzaits, the steppe bandits and the Khuzaits share a key and dangerous attribute: mounted archery led by a tribal Khuzait warrior, a level 2 unit already equipped with horse and bow. Khuzait's Heavy Horse Archer is the best horse archer in Bannerlord, and even if Khuzait's Heavy Lancer isn't the best heavy cavalry, once the enemy is hammered with hundreds of arrows, it doesn't matter.
A rare Khuzait recruit is the Noble Son, who transforms into the Guard of Khuzait Khan, a heavily armored cavalryman with a longbow and long blade. Khuzait Khan's guard might just be the best unit in Mount & Blade 2.
To win as Khuzait, form your mounted archers into a column and circle the enemy a few times before sending the rest of your army to break up their scattered, arrow-riddled stragglers.
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