Best Companions and Companion Builds - Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord Guide - IGN (2024)

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Finding the best companions and builds in can be a challenge. This guide will help you understand what companions are best for roles like owning a caravan, being a Governor, and leading a party.

Every companion is currently generated uniquely to each player’s game. This means you won’t necessarily find companions in one person’s game that are also in yours. However, data miners are speculating that there may be unique companions added in later Bannerlord updates.

How to Find the Best Companions What Do Companion Titles Mean?
Best Companions For Party Leaders Best Companions For Caravans
Best Companions For Governors Best Companion Builds
Important Clan Roles

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How to Find the Best Companions

Before you have the best companions for whatever role you need, you have to find them first. As explained in our Companions Guide, you can find them by using either the encyclopedia with “N” by default or visiting taverns randomly. The encyclopedia doesn’t always update in real-time, which means companion locations may change from what a page says.

Once you start your Bannerlord campaign, you can search the encyclopedia for specific companion titles that suit what you need. Every character has a title that or last name that makes them specialized in certain skills. For more information on how this works, read the next section below.

What Do Companion Titles Mean?

All Bannerlord companions have a certain title or last name like, “Siona the Healed” or “Elyaksha the Shieldmaiden” that starts them with certain skills. Examples of titles and their related skills are below:

Title Major Skills
the Healer Medicine 60
the Golden Tactics 100
the Prince Roguery 140
the Smith Smithing 60
Frostbeard Scouting 80

Best Companions For Each Role

Best Companions For Party Leaders

If you've reached Clan Tier 2 and can create a new party for a companion to lead, make sure you pick the right one! Think about it the same way you do for what skills make you a good leader. The table below features some titles that work well for party leaders.

Search the encyclopedia under the Heroes section for companions with these titles:

Titles Skills
the Falcon Tactics 100
the Prince Roguery 140
the Surgeon Medicine 80
the Engineer Engineering 80
the Swift Steward 80
the Swordsman Excels in weapon-related skills.
the Shieldmaiden Excels in weapon-related skills.

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Best Companions For Caravans

If you're wondering How to Make Money Fast, caravans can be a good source of daily income. If you have the money to invest, make sure you pick the best companion to lead your money maker. The Trade skill helps the most with making money as it reduces trade penalties.

Search the encyclopedia under the Heroes section for companions with these titles:

Title Major Skills
the Swift Trade 80, Steward 80, Roguery 100
the Spicevendor Trade 100, Steward 80

Best Companions For Governors

Governor companions in Bannerlord primarily should share the same culture as the fief they're governing. This provides a +1 loyalty buff and prevents negative loyalty buffs for not sharing the same culture. Outside of this, you'll want companions who have a high Steward skill for Governor only buffs.

Here are some of the skills, but not all, that give Governor buffs.

Skill Governor Perks
Steward Tax Collector (Lvl 25), Assessor (Lvl 225), Agrarian (Lvl 250), Reconstruction (Lvl 275)
Medicine Pristine Streets (Lvl 150), Bush Doctor (Lvl 150), Physician of People (Lvl 200), Clean Infrastructure (Lvl 200)
Engineering Construction Expert (Lvl 25), Improved Masonry (Lvl 100), Builder (Lvl 250), Everyday Engineer (Lvl 275)
Trade Distributed Goods (Lvl 100), Toll Gates (Lvl 100), Villager Connections (Lvl 150), Content Trades (Lvl 150), Granary Accountant (Lvl 200), Tradeyard Foreman (Lvl 200)
Leadership Stiff Upper Lip (Lvl 75), Gratitude (Lvl 75), Drill Master (Lvl 150), Citizen Militia (Lvl 150), Public Talker (Lvl 200), Inspiring Warrior (Lvl 200)

Search the encyclopedia under the Heroes section for companions with these titles:

Title Major Skills
the Swift Steward 80, Trade 80, Roguery 100
the Spicevendor Steward 80, Trade 100

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Sora is a noblewoman many Bannerlord players like to marry for her high Steward skill of 160. This makes her a great Governor and Quartermaster.

Best Companion Builds

The best companion build depends on what role they're filling. You should always focus their equipment around the weapon skills they are highest in. For example, if a companion has a high One-Handed skill, only give them One-Handed weapons.

Equip every companion with a melee weapon, a ranged weapon, and a shield. A bow and arrows uses two slots, but gives more projectiles compared to throwing weapons. A shield is always useful for blocking enemy ranged units and during sieges. If you're not sure how to equip companions, our How to Customize Companions guide explains it.

Important Clan Roles to Fill

  • Scout - Best fitted to companions with a high Scouting skill and Cunning attribute.
  • Engineer - Best fitted to companions with a high Engineering skill and Intelligence attribute.
  • Quartermaster - Best fitted to companions with a high Steward skill and Intelligence attribute.
  • Surgeon - Best fitted to companions with a high Medicine skill and Intelligence attribute.

For more Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord guides, take a look at our Essential Tips and Tricks for Beginners. And if you need a little help funding the armor and weapons for your companions, we have a guide on How to Make Money Fast.

Up Next: Essential Tips and Tricks for Beginners

PreviousHow to Customize Your CompanionsNextEssential Tips and Tricks for Beginners

Top Guide Sections

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  • How to Get Renown Fast

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Best Companions and Companion Builds - Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord Guide - IGN (2024)

FAQs

What is the best companion in Bannerlord scouting? ›

Scouts: Of the Wastes has the best Scouting and a high Bow skill, making them a little more versatile than the second choice, Of the Hills. Stewards: The companion with the highest Steward skill is The Spicevendor, and they also happen to have the highest Trading skill too. The Swift is an acceptable alternative.

Who is the best person to marry in Mount and Blade Bannerlord? ›

Because as far as cavalier wives go, Arwa is next to none in Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord. She's one of the few wives in the game who's excellent at horse riding. Pair that with her exceptional Polearm skills or just about any other melee weapon, then players might just find their top warrior in the form of Arwa.

What should I look for in companions Bannerlord? ›

The main thing to look for when trying to find the best companions is their suffix. These titles tend to hint towards that companion's best stats. Here are the best Bannerlord companions suffixes: The Golden – has riding (170), one-handed (180), polearm (190), throwing (150), and tactics (100).

Who is the best party leader wife Bannerlord? ›

On top of her excellent personality, Liena is also the best party leader or governor you can marry. She still has decent combat capabilities, but with 160 skill in leadership and tactics, and 140 in steward, she can lead strong parties on her own.

Who has the best army in Bannerlord? ›

Khan's Guard are best troops hands down, they say horse archer but that leaves out the giant pikes they can swat troops with. Decent armor, great bow, and a very good close quarters melee make them all around a great unit.

Can you marry a king Bannerlord? ›

For female characters there is a special wedding possible. You can marry the king of a kingdom after placing someone else on the throne by developing a relationship with the king before they leave the realm.

Can you marry your sister in Bannerlord? ›

Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord

Can you marry you sister? Yes you can. You can marry off your sister, but you lose her because she joins her spouse's clan, and you get absolutely nothing in return for someone who is potentially one of your strongest clan members.

Can you marry leaders Bannerlord? ›

Not gonna happen in the vanilla game. The player cannot marry clan leaders. Get a mod that allows it, or copy/paste her appearance onto someone else if it's that important.

What is the best faction to recruit in Bannerlord? ›

Any Imperial faction is a good choice. Aside from what others have already stated, you'll also find you can recruit Imperial units all over the place in the territory of other "Imperial" factions. If you want an army that is culturally cohesive with easy recruit availability, an Imperial faction is your best choice.

Who is a good trade companion Bannerlord? ›

Try to find a companion named "Bitterdraught" or "The Spice Vendor". They are the best companions in bannerlord when it comes to trade. Characters with the title "of the wastes" have a base score of 140 upon recruitment. Thats the best in the game.

Which skills to choose Bannerlord? ›

Fine-tune your character's skills and perks
  • Vigor: Any - This really depends on your preferred melee weapon and playstyle.
  • Control: Bow - Regardless of your chosen melee weapon, you're still likely to shoot enemies with a bow.
  • Endurance: Riding - Helps with mounted combat and charges.
Jan 4, 2024

What is the richest city in Mount and Blade 2 Bannerlord? ›

With the highest starting prosperity of all settlements in the game at 5600, Ortysia is one of the busiest trading towns in all of Calradia.

What is a hero in Bannerlord 2? ›

For the heroes featured in Bannerlord, see Companions (Bannerlord). Heroes or companions are unique troops with individual names, stories, skills, attributes, and equipment (all of which can be chosen by you). Like the player character, monarchs and vassals, heroes never die and are only knocked unconscious.

Can you romance in Mount and Blade 2? ›

Press "N" to open up the encyclopedia. Search for someone you like or want to develop fantastic relations with. Then you can scroll down and see their family members. Click on the best looking of the lot, and you'll see roughly where they are located.

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