Warband, the first Mount, and Blade title, is well-known for its unique companions called ‘heroes’. Most heroes arrived fairly weak at the beginning of the game. This allows the player to train them through countless battles to be worthy of following the heroic main character. The companion system is similar to Mount and Blade II: Bannerlord, in that you can still find companions throughout Calradia and train them to suit your needs.
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Bannerlord: Best Companion Types
The difference with the sequel–or rather, the prequel–is that companions are randomly generated instead of unique. Their monikers give some indication as to their specialties. For example, a character named Lagertha the Shieldmaiden would be as effective a melee fighter as her name indicates. On the other hand, Mary the Spicevendor would always be good at trading and some social skills. Nothing really changes regarding the dynamic of how you interact with them except there is a lot more variety in character ‘types’ than there is with individuals. Considering there are dozens of character types in the second game, it can be difficult to narrow down Bannerlord’s best companions for any given job.
In the following article, we break down which of these companion types are best for the important tasks in Bannerlord, so you’re not wasting years experimenting with them. For each archetype, we’ll provide at least one male and one female character type, in case you want to mix things up.
Bannerlord’s Best Companions for Combat
The best companions for melee combat in Bannerlord are the ones you give the best armor and place in command of your infantry:
- Male types named “The Swordsman”, “Coalbiter”, and “Bloodaxe” are Bannerlord’s best companions for melee combat. Each has a 200 score in 2-handed, and 150 in one-handed and polearms. It places them among the strongest close-quarters fighters in the game.
- The best female companions for melee combat are those who have earned the title “She-Wolf”. They are the only female close-quarters fighters with stats equal to their male counterparts mentioned above.
Bannerlord’s Best Companions for Trade and Profit
The best companions for trade will obviously have the highest trade skill. Although, you’d also want to have good scouting and riding skills if you’re going to put them in charge of caravans.
- The best male companions for trade are called ‘Bitterdraught’. Bannerlord clearly dedicates its trade skill to women, since none of the male archetypes have a trade skill higher than this one, a lowly 42.
- “The Spicevendor” is the best trading companion in Bannerlord. She is the only companion with a trade skill of 100. She also has good one-handed (120) and crossbow (140) skills for protecting those caravans from bandits.
Best Companions to Use As Governors in Bannerlord
Installing companions as governors is vital if you want to get the most out of your settlements. Lots of factors change how effective companions are as governors. Strong fighters will have perks for the garrison, engineers will build improvements faster, and so forth.
- The “Bitterdraught” male companions are the most well-rounded group for governors. While they’ll need some leveling in Steward (40), this is still the highest score among the male followers. Also, their Charm (80), Trade (42), and Medicine (62) skills can help with various projects. For a short-term solution to get your settlement up to speed before installing a permanent governor, consider using an “Engineer” character. It will make all your builds faster at the cost of other benefits.
- The “Spicevendor” female characters are also great as governors. Her martial skills will add extra XP benefits for the garrison, and trade skills will benefit profit. Most importantly, she has the highest Steward skill (100) of any companion.
Best Companions For Party Leaders
For players who like to split their forces to field bigger armies, or send additional warbands to patrol their lands, a separate party from the main group might be in order. You’ll need a strong leader to get the most out of this scenario.
- For male party leaders, you can’t go wrong with the powerful fighters mentioned in the combat section above. They’ll have perks that give advantages to all their engagements. The best companion to use as a party leader is the “The Golden” archetype. His 100 rank in Tactics and Leadership will be the difference in simulated battles. And, his martial skills are such that you’re not sacrificing too much by not using the fighters.
- Female characters called “The Swift” make the best party leader companions. She has decent scores in Leadership and Tactics (both 60), and good bow skills (135) that will benefit any party that has a lot of archers. You might also consider taking advantage of the high Steward skill of the “Spicevendor” (100) if you just want to field a bigger party.
Best Companions for Each Party Role
These are the best companions for the in-party roles, regardless of their gender:
- Scout: Characters nicknamed “of the Wastes” have a base scouting score of 140.
- Surgeon: Surprisingly, “The Scholar” is the best doctor instead of “The Surgeon”, as his base Medicine score is 122.
- Quartermaster: This job is based on the Steward skill, so “The Spicevendor” wins again since she is the only companion who starts at 100.
- Engineer: “The Wainright”, “The Scholar”, and “The Engineer” each have a base Engineering score of 80, so either one can be installed in this role on recruitment.
Following this guide of Bannerlord’s best companions should yield you the best result if you leave these companions in their roles for the duration of your experience. Remember to invest skill points so their levels don’t cap at a certain number. If you put 3 skill levels into a companion like The Spicevendor’s Steward skill, it will likely reach 150 in a few years, making her even more effective as governor.
Any companion can be installed into a role and learn on the job, but those who arrive with the best scores from the beginning will obviously become masters of it later. For governors, some experimentation is in order depending on what type of kingdom you run–you might have one companion for building, one for running the keep at peace, and another one to keep it safe during times of war. The beauty of Bannerlord is that the choice is yours.
