Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord puts you in the middle of medieval Europe as you fight to conquer lands, defeat foes, and defend your domain. The game has heavy-handed RPG features in nearly every facet of the game, including the Character Creation. With a highly detailed and slightly confusing Character Builder, it can be difficult to determine how to build your character in Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord.
In this guide, we’ll go over every facet of the Character Creation experience in Mount and Blade 2, including cultures, attributes, background, and more.
Character Culture
The first thing you’ll do in the character builder is pick your Cultural Background in Bannerlord. This aspect of your character doesn’t make a difference in what troops you can hire or which kingdom you can join. However, it affects the loyalty of the later towns you capture. Each capturable area has a cultural loyalty. You can use different perks or select a governor of the same culture to manage that town.
There is a total of six cultures for you to choose from in Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord. Each culture comes with specific advantages and disadvantages.
| Culture | Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|---|
| Aserai | Trade penalty is reduced by 10% and caravans are 30% cheaper to build. | Daily wages of troops are increased by 10%. |
| Khuzaits | Recruiting and upgrading mounted troops is 10% cheaper and villages owned by Khuzait rulers see a 25% bonus in their livestock production. | Tax income from towns is decreased by 20%. |
| Battanians | In forests, the speed penalty is reduced by 50%, and the sight range is increased by 15%. Additionally, towns owned by Battanian rulers gain a +1 bonus to their militia production. | The build rate for town projects is slowed by 10%. |
| Vlandians | Renown from battles is increased by 5% and mercenary income by 15%. Additionally, villages bound to castles see a 10% production bonus. | Recruiting Lords costs 20% more. |
| Sturgians | Recruiting and upgrading infantry troops is 25% cheaper and army cohesion loss is reduced by 20%. | Relationship penalties increase by 20%. |
| Empire | Garrison troop wage is decreased by 20% and being in an army brings 25% more influence. | The rate at which village hearths increase is reduced by 20%. |
The Battanian and Empire cultures stand out as two of the best cultures in the game. The former nets you several advantages inside and outside of combat, while the latter grants you more influence, allowing you to take over areas more quickly.
It is important to note that there is no right or wrong option here, as your Culture depends solely on the playstyle you want to adopt. Still, the abovementioned ones will net you the greatest advantage, especially if you’re a new and/or inexperienced player.
Physical Appearance
The Character Customization suite offers several options to create a character as unique as your chosen playstyle. You can change your gender, skin color, age, height, tattoos and more.
Character Customization does not affect how your character plays. However, your height does net you a small damage boost. The greater your character’s height, the faster they’ll swing their weapon, increasing your damage output. The increase is minor but can come in handy during tight combat scenarios.
At the same time, larger characters take more damage when compared to shorter characters. There is a definite tradeoff involved here. One that requires careful consideration and how it fits into your play style.
Attributes
In Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord, there are six attributes, each with three focus skills, in the character builder. Each focus skill has several perks that you can invest your points into. Knowing how each attribute works is important because your background determines how your skill points will be distributed.
Vigor
The Vigor attribute governs how effective you are with melee weapons. Having a high vigor attribute means you’ll be better at using melee weapons. If you’re someone who wants to maximize their melee combat potential, this attribute is the one to invest most of your points here. This attribute has the following focus skills:
| Focus Skill | Effect |
|---|---|
| One-Handed | Lets you fight with a one-handed short weapon. |
| Two-Handed | Lets you fight with a two-handed short weapon. |
| Polearm | Lets you fight with a spear or similar weapon. (one-handed or two-handed) |
Control
Control, on the other hand, determines proficiency with ranged combat. Short bows, longbows, crossbows, and throwing weapons fall under this attribute. It is generally a good idea to invest in at least one of the Focus Skills for this Attribute to give yourself more leeway during combat. Control has the following focus skills:
| Focus Skill | Effect |
|---|---|
| Bow | Lets you shoot enemies using bows and arrows at long range. |
| Crossbow | Allows you to use Crossbows. |
| Throwing | Grants you the ability to throw weapons at enemies. |
Endurance
The Endurance attribute determines how well you maneuver inside and outside the battlefield, both on and without your mount. This attribute also determines your smithing skills. It has the following Focus Skills:
| Focus Skill | Effect |
|---|---|
| Riding | Increases the speed of your mount. |
| Athletics | Lets you fight on foot and move quicker when unmounted. |
| Smithing | Lets you access the smithy to create, enhance, and destroy weapons |
Cunning
The Cunning Attribute concerns your ability to avoid and/or navigate difficult situations and commanding less conventional forces. It has the following Focus Skills:
| Focus Skill | Effect |
|---|---|
| Scouting | Lets you spot tracks and hideouts and allows you the ability to travel through difficult terrain. |
| Tactics | Improves your odds of winning battles. |
| Roguery | Allows you the ability to recruit and lead bandit troops, raid caravans, infiltrate enemy towns and give bribes to get out of tricky situations. |
Social
This attribute dictates your charm, leadership, and trade capabilities. If this attribute is increased, more people will like your character, your troops will be more disciplined, and your bartering skills will become better.
| Focus Skill | Effect |
|---|---|
| Charm | Lets you charm people to get what you want. |
| Leadership | Gives you the ability to command your troops more effectively and efficiently. |
| Trade | Allows you to partake in trade and operate caravans. |
Intelligence
Investing in this attribute means better stewarding, medicine, and Engineering skills. You will be able to increase your party size, heal troops or companions more quickly, and better siege weaponry and defenses.
| Focus Skill | Effect |
|---|---|
| Steward | Nets you and your party several buffs. |
| Medicine | Lets you heal wounded soldiers in your settlements. |
| Engineering | Grants you the ability to craft and operate siege engines. |
Background
Your background is the last thing you choose in the Character Builder in Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord. The background is divided into six different categories and each category determines your character’s narrative background as well as their starting Attributes and Focus Skills. The six Background categories are:
- Parents
- Early Childhood
- Adolescence
- Youth
- Young Adulthood
- Story Background
Each category has six options to choose from. In all, there are well over 100 different options when considering all six categories as your cultures alter your options.
Generally, you want to pick options that best suit your playstyle. For example, if you want a character adept at throwing and two-handed combat, select the ‘your brawn’ option in the Early Childhood category, as it grants you 1 Focus Point each for Two-Handed and Throwing. Similarly, if you want a character good at Riding and Scouting, you’ll want to pick the ‘you rode off on a fast horse’ option for the Story Background Category as it gives you 1 Focus Point each for Riding Scouting.
It is entirely possible to max out a specific skill during character creation, so take your time and consider your choices carefully. In the end, you will be taken to a character summary, where you will review your choices and make changes accordingly.
