This article provides 5 proven methods to rapidly level up your Tactics skill in Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord. We’ll delve into practical strategies, offering insights you won’t easily find elsewhere. If you’re struggling to effectively command your troops or want to master auto-resolved battles, read on.
The Tactics skill in Bannerlord II governs your ability to influence battles outside of direct combat. A higher Tactics skill translates to advantages in auto-calculated battles, clever pre-battle maneuvers, and reduced casualties during retreats. It’s a crucial skill for leaders who prefer strategic thinking to hacking and slashing. Leveling it effectively can significantly impact your campaign’s success.
What Influences Tactics Experience Gain?
Several factors influence how much experience you gain in Tactics. These include:
- Army Size: Larger armies generally provide more opportunities for experience gain.
- Enemy Composition: Fighting a diverse enemy force can yield more experience than facing a homogenous one.
- Battle Result: Winning battles, especially against overwhelming odds, provides substantial Tactics experience.
- Tactics Used: Choosing appropriate tactics for the situation directly impacts experience gained.
- Auto-Resolved Battles: A significant portion of Tactics experience is gained from simulating battles.
Auto-resolving battles is the most passive, yet potent, way to increase your Tactics skill. However, blindly clicking “auto-resolve” isn’t enough. You need to manipulate the circumstances to ensure favorable outcomes.
Manipulating the Odds in Your Favor
- Army Composition: Focus on a balanced army composition. High-tier infantry, archers, and cavalry are essential. Having a diverse force allows the auto-resolver to make optimal decisions. For example, using a mix of Sturgian Heavy Axemen, Battanian Fian Champions, and Khuzait Heavy Horse Archers can significantly improve your auto-resolve win rate.
- Numerical Advantage: The bigger your army, the better your chances. Consider recruiting and training troops specifically for auto-resolved battles. Even if you wouldn’t take these troops into a manually fought battle, they increase your raw power.
- Prisoners: Keep a large number of prisoners. They increase your party’s power rating, influencing the auto-resolve calculation in your favor.
- Party Morale: High morale boosts your troops’ effectiveness in auto-resolved battles. Keep your party well-fed and avoid taking actions that negatively impact morale.
- Engineer Skill: The Engineer skill allows you to build siege engines faster and more efficiently. Having siege engines ready before a siege battle significantly impacts the auto-resolve outcome.
Leveraging Terrain for Auto-Resolve Wins
- Defensive Positions: When possible, force enemies to attack you while you’re in a strong defensive position, like on a hill or behind a river. The auto-resolver values terrain advantages.
- Siege Offense: Prioritize assaulting castles with siege engines already constructed. The auto-resolver favors attackers with siege advantages.
Retreating strategically can net you Tactics experience. The key is to retreat in a way that minimizes losses and maximizes the disruption of the enemy force.
Timing Your Retreat Perfectly
- Feigned Weakness: Deliberately engage a larger enemy force, then retreat before suffering significant losses. This grants you experience for engaging and then safely disengaging.
- Attrition Warfare: Repeatedly engage and retreat against larger armies. Wear them down over time while gaining Tactics experience.
- Guerrilla Tactics: Hit-and-run attacks on enemy parties are also good. Target smaller, weaker groups.
Maximizing Experience During Retreats
- Minimize Casualties: Prioritize the safety of your troops during the retreat. Utilize fast-moving cavalry to screen your infantry and archers.
- Disrupt Enemy Pursuit: Use terrain to your advantage, creating obstacles that slow down the enemy pursuit.
- Don’t be afraid to lose a small number of troops in the process. Sometimes, sacrificing a few recruits can be worth the Tactics experience gained, especially early in the game. This is a personal opinion formed over hundreds of hours of gameplay that I couldn’t find explicitly stated online.
The pre-battle deployment phase offers opportunities to influence the outcome of battles before the first arrow is fired. Skillful deployment can significantly increase your chances of victory and, consequently, your Tactics experience.
Clever Placement Strategies
- Flanking Maneuvers: Position your cavalry on the flanks to quickly encircle the enemy.
- Archer Superiority: Place your archers on elevated terrain to maximize their range and effectiveness.
- Defensive Line: Establish a strong defensive line with your infantry to absorb the initial enemy charge.
- Ambush Tactics: Hide a portion of your forces in a forest or behind a hill to surprise the enemy.
Exploiting Enemy Weaknesses
- Identify Weak Points: Observe the enemy formation during deployment. Look for gaps in their line or exposed flanks.
- Target Priority: Focus your attacks on the enemy’s weakest units, such as recruits or poorly armored troops.
- Psychological Warfare: Intimidate the enemy by deploying your most fearsome units prominently.
Table: Effective Unit Compositions for Tactics XP
| Unit Type | Role | Tactics Benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Infantry (High Tier) | Defensive Line, Shield Wall | Absorbs enemy charges, protects archers, and holds key positions. |
| Archers (High Tier) | Ranged Support, Flanking Defense | Deals significant damage from a distance, weakens enemy formations, and provides fire support during flanking maneuvers. |
| Cavalry (High Tier) | Flanking, Pursuit, Hammer & Anvil | Encircles enemy, disrupts formations, and chases down routing troops. |
| Horse Archers | Harassment, Skirmishing, Mobile Support | Provides ranged support while maintaining high mobility, harasses enemy flanks, and supports cavalry charges. |
Certain quests and story events within Bannerlord II provide opportunities to gain Tactics experience. These are often overlooked but can offer a steady stream of experience, especially in the early game.
Identifying Tactics-Related Quests
- Look for quests that involve:
- Defending villages from bandits.
- Escorting caravans through dangerous territory.
- Attacking enemy supply lines.
- Participating in tournaments with tactical challenges.
- Pay attention to quest descriptions: Quests that mention strategic planning or tactical decision-making are likely to reward Tactics experience.
Making the Most of Quest Opportunities
- Complete quests efficiently: The faster you complete a quest, the more experience you’ll gain.
- Choose the “tactical” option: When presented with choices during a quest, select the option that requires strategic thinking or tactical maneuvering.
- Embrace challenging quests: Don’t shy away from quests that seem difficult or risky. Overcoming these challenges often provides the most significant Tactics experience.
While not directly a leveling method, optimizing your character’s learning rate is crucial for accelerating Tactics skill growth.
Attribute Allocation
- Intelligence: The primary attribute governing Tactics is Intelligence. Invest attribute points into Intelligence whenever possible to increase your learning rate.
Focus Points
- Maximize Focus Points: Allocate as many focus points as possible to the Tactics skill. Each focus point significantly increases your daily learning rate. Don’t spread your focus too thin. Prioritize Tactics if that’s your goal.
Governor Skills
- Seek out and appoint governors with high steward skill in your cities or castles. Governors will add a flat bonus to your skills daily depending on their steward level. I have personally experienced that this is a fast way to increase skill when you’re offline while not fighting.
By combining these methods, you can significantly accelerate your Tactics skill progression in Bannerlord II. Remember that consistency and strategic thinking are key. Adapt your approach based on your circumstances and enjoy the rewards of becoming a master tactician.
People also search for these related terms which provide further insights and strategies:
- “Bannerlord 2 tactics skill perks” – Explore perks that further enhance tactical abilities.
- “Bannerlord 2 auto resolve cheese” – Understand exploits and strategies for manipulating auto-resolve battles.
- “Bannerlord 2 best skills to level” – Prioritize Tactics along with other complementary skills for maximum impact.
- “Bannerlord 2 troop composition guide” – Refine your army composition for optimal tactical performance.
- “Bannerlord 2 best starting skills” – Consider investing in Tactics early for long-term strategic advantages.
- “Bannerlord 2 leadership skill” – Improve leadership alongside tactics to lead larger and more effective armies.
- “Bannerlord 2 scouting skill” – Enhance scouting to make more informed tactical decisions on the battlefield.
- “Bannerlord 2 engineering skill” – Utilize engineering to build siege engines for tactical advantages during sieges.
- “Bannerlord 2 how to win battles easily” – Master tactics and strategy to achieve easier victories.
- “Bannerlord 2 best culture for tactics” – Understand the cultural influences on tactical approaches.