Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord is a fantastic game, but let’s be honest, the pathfinding AI can be frustrating. This article solves 3 problems that many players encounter: armies getting stuck, lords making illogical strategic decisions, and companions disappearing into the void. We’ll delve into the reasons behind these issues and provide practical solutions to improve your Bannerlord experience.
The Bannerlord AI, responsible for directing armies and individual units across the vast Calradic map, often falls short. This leads to several bannerlord 2 pathfinding AI pain points for players, impacting gameplay and strategic planning.
Why is Pathfinding So Difficult in Bannerlord 2?
Several factors contribute to the pathfinding challenges. The game features a large, dynamic world with varied terrain, numerous settlements, and constantly changing political alliances. This complexity places a significant burden on the AI’s ability to calculate optimal routes. Moreover, the AI must consider factors such as supply lines, enemy presence, and troop morale, adding layers of intricacy to its decision-making process.
What are the Common AI Problems?
- Armies getting stuck: Entire armies becoming immobilized on the world map due to pathfinding errors.
- Lords making poor strategic decisions: AI lords leading armies into unfavorable engagements or failing to reinforce crucial locations.
- Companions going missing: Companions disappearing from your party, often due to pathfinding bugs or AI quirks.
One of the most infuriating bannerlord 2 pathfinding AI pain points is when your carefully assembled army becomes inexplicably stuck. Here’s how to mitigate this:
Understanding the Root Cause of Army Stalls
Army stalls often occur due to the AI’s inability to navigate complex terrain or due to temporary blockades caused by smaller parties. The AI sometimes gets caught in loops, attempting to find a path through impassable areas.
Practical Steps to Unstick Your Army
- Break up the party: Temporarily disband your army into smaller parties. This can sometimes allow the individual parties to find their way around the obstacle.
- Manually guide individual parties: If breaking up the army works, manually guide each party to a rendezvous point beyond the problematic area. This is tedious but effective.
- Use the “Wait” command strategically: If the issue is caused by another party blocking the route, using the “Wait” command for a short period can allow the other party to move, freeing up the path. Note: This only works if the obstruction is temporary.
Long-Term Preventative Measures
- Stick to well-traveled routes: As much as possible, avoid leading your armies through mountainous or heavily forested regions. The AI seems to struggle in these areas.
- Monitor party speed: Be aware of parties in your army that are too slow. Having too many recruits or pack animals can drastically slow down an army, making it more prone to getting stuck. It’s an easy quality of life improvement.
AI lords making boneheaded strategic decisions is another source of bannerlord 2 pathfinding AI pain points. While you can’t directly control their actions, you can influence their behavior.
Recognizing the Limits of AI Lords
It’s crucial to recognize that AI lords aren’t as strategically astute as a human player. They often prioritize short-term gains over long-term strategic objectives. The AI also seems to have trouble assessing the true strength of enemy forces, leading to reckless engagements.
Influencing AI Behavior Through Kingdom Policies
- Implement “Royal Guard” policies: Policies like “Royal Guard” increase the size of the ruler’s personal guard. This ensures that at least one powerful army will always be present to respond to threats.
- Pass “War Tax” policies with caution: “War Tax” policies provide a temporary boost to income during wartime but can negatively impact relations with towns and villages, potentially leading to rebellions. This can distract AI lords from the main war effort.
- Use Influence to rally armies: Spend your influence to call armies to specific locations. This allows you to temporarily override the AI’s decision-making and direct the war effort.
My Personal Experience: A Learning Curve in Calradia
I’ve spent hundreds of hours in Bannerlord, and I’ve learned that micromanaging is often necessary to compensate for the AI’s shortcomings. Early on, I would trust the AI lords to defend my fiefs, only to watch them get overrun by enemy armies. Now, I proactively recruit troops and garrison them in strategic locations, ensuring that my territory is well-defended even if the AI lords are off chasing bandits.
Losing companions to pathfinding glitches is a particularly frustrating bannerlord 2 pathfinding AI pain points issue. Here’s how to recover them and prevent future disappearances.
Understanding Companion Disappearance
Companions sometimes vanish due to pathfinding errors or when assigned tasks in distant locations. The AI can get confused when attempting to navigate companions to remote villages or when transferring them between parties.
Steps to Locate Missing Companions
- Check clan menu: The first place to look is the clan menu. Check the list of wanderers within your clan. Often, companions are simply assigned to a distant city and will eventually make their way back to your party.
- Visit taverns in major cities: Companions often reappear in taverns. Visit taverns in major cities within your kingdom, especially those located near where the companion was last seen.
- Use the Encyclopedia (if they’re important): If you really need them, enable cheats and use the encyclopedia to search for the character you want, it will show you their last location. Cheating might seem like a harsh route, but it’s better than spending days in taverns.
Preventing Future Disappearances
- Avoid assigning companions to distant tasks: Minimize assigning companions to tasks that require them to travel long distances alone.
- Keep companions in your party: The safest place for a companion is within your party. This reduces the likelihood of them getting lost or encountering pathfinding issues.
- Monitor their location: Regularly check the location of your companions to ensure they haven’t wandered off course.
Additional Tips & Tricks
Beyond the specific solutions above, here are a few general tips to further improve your experience and address the pathfinding limitations:
The Impact of Map Design on AI
The map design itself significantly impacts pathfinding. Areas with dense forests, steep mountains, or numerous rivers present greater challenges for the AI.
Table: Policies and Their Impact on AI Behavior
| Policy | Description | Impact on AI |
|---|---|---|
| Royal Guard | Increases the size of the ruler’s personal guard. | Ensures that at least one powerful army will always be present to respond to threats. |
| War Tax | Provides a temporary boost to income during wartime. | Can negatively impact relations with towns and villages, potentially leading to rebellions. |
| Standing Army | Maintain a standing army, even in peacetime. | Makes army more organized. |
Leveraging Mods to Enhance AI
The Bannerlord modding community has developed several mods aimed at improving the AI. Researching and installing these mods can significantly enhance the AI’s pathfinding and strategic decision-making abilities. Nexus Mods is a great place to start.
About Me: A Bannerlord Veteran
As a long-time player of the Mount & Blade series, with hundreds of hours invested in Bannerlord, I’ve experienced firsthand the frustrations of the game’s AI. Through trial and error, I’ve developed the strategies outlined in this article to mitigate these issues and create a more enjoyable gaming experience. I hope these tips help you conquer Calradia!