The AI in Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord’s campaign map presents a challenge for many players. Frustrating decisions made by lords, armies, and even your own companions can derail your strategic plans and lead to unforeseen consequences. This article addresses some of the most common bannerlord 2 AI pain points on the campaign map and provides actionable solutions to improve your overall experience.
One of the first frustrations players encounter is the seemingly random behavior of AI lords. They might embark on ill-fated sieges, leave valuable territories undefended, or simply wander aimlessly across the map. Understanding the underlying factors that influence their decisions is crucial to mitigating these issues.
Limited Resources and Poor Decision-Making
The AI often struggles with resource management. They might be short on troops, money, or supplies, leading them to make suboptimal choices. For example, a lord with a depleted garrison might avoid engaging in conflict, even if their territory is vulnerable.
How the AI Prioritizes Objectives
The AI prioritizes its objectives based on a complex set of factors, including:
* Clan strength: A stronger clan is more likely to engage in aggressive actions.
* Territorial proximity: Lords tend to focus on defending and expanding their territories.
* Diplomatic relations: Wars and alliances influence the AI’s strategic decisions.
* Current Tasks: Assigned quests influence the AI’s behavior.
Understanding these priorities helps you predict the AI’s actions and plan accordingly.
While you can’t directly control the AI, you can influence their behavior through smart governance.
Choosing the Right Policies
Implementing the right policies in your fiefs can indirectly affect the AI’s actions. For example:
- “Land of the Free”: Promotes prosperity and attracts more settlers, making your fiefs more attractive to AI lords seeking to replenish their armies.
- “Royal Guard”: Increases garrison size, discouraging enemy lords from attacking.
- “Grain Storage”: Boosts the town’s food supply, reducing the likelihood of attrition during sieges.
Managing Your Clan’s Territory
Your clan’s territory should be strategically positioned to act as a buffer zone, protecting your more valuable fiefs. Giving less important territories to AI lords can act as meat shield against invasion. This buys you time to react to threats and reposition your forces.
Granting Fiefs Wisely
Be mindful of who you grant fiefs to. Lords with high relationship scores are more likely to support your decisions and follow your orders. Consider their personality traits as well. Some lords are naturally more aggressive or cautious, influencing their strategic choices.
One of the biggest bannerlord 2 AI pain points on the campaign map is the lack of coordination between AI armies. They often scatter across the map, leaving them vulnerable to larger enemy forces. Forming your own army and influencing the AI’s armies is essential to winning wars.
Forming and Managing Armies
- Create Armies Frequently: Use your influence to call armies of allied lords. This is essential for coordinating large-scale offensives and defending against major threats.
- Strategic Positioning: Position your armies strategically to intercept enemy forces, reinforce besieged towns, or launch coordinated attacks.
- Use the “Hold” Command: The “Hold” command is crucial for keeping AI armies in a specific location, preventing them from wandering off on their own. This is especially useful for defending critical chokepoints or reinforcing besieged cities.
Companion Parties
Equip your companions with decent troops and assign them patrol areas. While they are not a replacement for a full army, they can effectively deal with smaller raiding parties and keep the peace in your territories. They also help train troops, improving their overall quality.
Using Influence Effectively
Influence is a valuable resource that allows you to exert control over AI armies. Use it wisely to:
- Call Armies: As mentioned earlier, calling armies is essential for coordinating large-scale operations.
- Extend Army Cohesion: Extending army cohesion allows your armies to stay together for longer periods.
- Kick Lords from Army: If a lord is acting erratically or undermining your plans, you can use influence to remove them from the army.
The AI, despite its flaws, follows certain patterns that can be exploited to your advantage. Understanding these patterns allows you to manipulate factions and gain a strategic edge.
Raiding and Provocation
Raiding enemy villages and caravans can provoke the AI into launching counterattacks. This can be used to lure enemy armies into ambushes or draw them away from other vulnerable areas. Be mindful of the consequences, as raiding can negatively impact your relations with the target faction.
Playing Factions Against Each Other
Encouraging wars between different factions can weaken your enemies and create opportunities for expansion. You can achieve this by:
- Spreading Rumors: Using the “Spread Rumor” action in towns to decrease relations between factions.
- Attacking Caravans: Attacking caravans belonging to factions you want to destabilize.
- Supporting Rebellions: Supporting rebellions in enemy towns to weaken their control.
Capitalizing on AI Inaction
The AI is often slow to react to certain threats. For example, they might ignore small raiding parties or neglect to reinforce vulnerable territories. Capitalize on these oversights by launching surprise attacks or seizing undefended settlements.
From my experience, one aspect often overlooked is the importance of micro-managing your own family members. While they are AI-controlled, their success or failure directly impacts your clan’s power. I’ve found that giving them specific tasks, like training troops or managing workshops, makes them far more effective. Another tip is to strategically marry off your family members to members of powerful clans. This can forge strong alliances and provide valuable political leverage.
Many players complain about the AI’s seeming inability to defend against raiding parties. My personal strategy involves designating specific companions as “patrol leaders.” I equip them with fast horses and a decent retinue of troops, and assign them to patrol areas that are frequently targeted by raiders. This proactive approach has significantly reduced the number of raids in my territories.
Table of AI Exploitation Strategies
| Strategy | Description | Benefits | Risks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raiding | Attacking enemy villages and caravans. | Provokes counterattacks, lures enemy armies, disrupts economy. | Negative relations, can escalate into war. |
| Provoking Wars | Spreading rumors, attacking caravans to incite conflict between factions. | Weakens enemies, creates opportunities for expansion. | Can backfire if factions ally against you. |
| Exploiting Inaction | Capitalizing on AI neglect by launching surprise attacks. | Seizing undefended territories, gaining a strategic advantage. | Requires careful planning and timing. |
Addressing the bannerlord 2 AI pain points on the campaign map requires a combination of strategic governance, army management, and exploitation of AI weaknesses. By implementing the solutions outlined in this article, you can significantly improve your overall experience and increase your chances of conquering Calradia. Understanding and adapting to the AI’s behavior is key to success in Bannerlord 2. The AI is not perfect, but these strategies will make a noticeable difference in how you approach the game’s campaign.
Here are some frequently asked questions about the AI in Bannerlord 2‘s campaign map: