Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord, while a deeply engaging game, isn’t without its flaws. Player reviews often highlight specific pain points that can detract from the overall experience. This article addresses five key issues raised in Bannerlord 2 player reviews, offering practical solutions and alternative perspectives to enhance your gameplay.
Many players express frustration with certain aspects of Bannerlord 2. Let’s dive into the most prevalent concerns and explore effective strategies to mitigate them.
Kingdom Management Woes
One of the biggest complaints revolves around kingdom management. Players find it tedious and unbalanced. Wars feel constant, resources are stretched thin, and loyalty is a persistent issue.
- The Clan Tier System: The game has a clan tier system where you grow your power by gaining renown through various acts such as winning battles.
Balancing Resources: One effective method is to specialize your fiefs. Designate towns for trade and castles for troop production. This concentrates your efforts and maximizes efficiency. Prioritize improvements that boost income and garrison size.
Dealing with Constant Wars: Engage in smart diplomacy. Seek truces when possible, and consider paying tribute to avoid overwhelming conflicts. Use skilled companions to improve relations with lords and keep them from rebelling.
Influence is Key: Regularly participate in kingdom decisions and support policies that benefit your clan. Use influence to propose policies or call armies that strategically help you.
The Grind is Real
Another frequent criticism is the repetitive nature of early-game activities, often referred to as “the grind”. Leveling up skills, accumulating wealth, and recruiting a decent army can feel like a slog.
Focus on Specific Skills: Instead of trying to master everything, specialize in a few key skills. For example, focus on combat skills if you enjoy fighting, or trade skills if you prefer a more economic approach.
Participating in Tournaments: Tournaments are a great way to earn money, renown, and even valuable gear early on. Practice your combat skills and bet on yourself to maximize your earnings.
Trading Wisely: Identify profitable trade routes. Look for goods that are cheap in one town and expensive in another. Keep an eye on market fluctuations and adjust your routes accordingly.
Early Game Army Building: Focus on cheap, effective units like archers. They can provide significant firepower in early battles without breaking the bank. Upgrade them as you gain wealth.
AI Inconsistencies and Strategic Limitations
The AI in Bannerlord 2, particularly in battles and strategic decision-making, often comes under fire for its inconsistent behavior.
Battle Formations: Take manual control of your troops and use formations effectively. Position archers on high ground, shield your infantry, and flank with cavalry. Don’t rely solely on the AI to make tactical decisions.
Exploiting AI Weaknesses: The AI often prioritizes numerical superiority over tactical advantage. Exploit this by using terrain to your advantage, setting ambushes, and using hit-and-run tactics.
Strategic Patience: Don’t rush into wars or engagements without a plan. Take the time to assess the situation, gather intelligence, and choose your battles carefully.
Technical Glitches and Performance Issues
Performance issues, bugs, and glitches are common complaints, especially for players with older hardware.
- Optimize Graphics Settings: Experiment with different graphics settings to find the best balance between visual quality and performance. Lowering shadow quality, texture detail, and particle effects can significantly improve frame rates.
- Update Drivers: Ensure your graphics drivers are up to date. Nvidia and AMD regularly release new drivers that can improve performance and fix bugs.
- Community Patches and Mods: Explore community-made patches and mods that address performance issues and fix bugs. These can often provide significant improvements over the base game.
The “Snowball Effect”
Once a faction gains momentum, it can be difficult to stop, leading to a “snowball effect” where they dominate the map. This can make the late game feel unbalanced and frustrating.
- Form Alliances: Forge strong alliances with other factions to counter the dominant power. Coordinate your attacks and defend each other’s territories.
- Target Key Lords: Focus on capturing or killing key lords from the dominant faction. This can weaken their leadership and disrupt their momentum.
- Guerilla Warfare: If you’re outmatched, resort to guerilla warfare. Harass their armies, raid their villages, and disrupt their supply lines.
- Strategic Sieges: Target strategically important cities and castles to cut off their supply routes and cripple their economy.
Beyond addressing specific complaints, adopting a different mindset can significantly enhance your Bannerlord 2 experience.
Embracing the Role-Playing Aspect
Instead of solely focusing on conquering the map, embrace the role-playing aspect of the game. Create a character with a unique backstory, motivations, and personality. This can make the game feel more immersive and engaging.
The Long Game: A Generational Perspective
Consider your character’s legacy. Focus on building a dynasty that will endure for generations. Make strategic marriages, train your children, and prepare them to take over when you’re gone. This adds a layer of depth and purpose to your gameplay.
Sandbox Freedom: Define Your Own Victory
Bannerlord 2 is a sandbox game, meaning there’s no single “correct” way to play. Don’t feel pressured to conquer the entire map or achieve a specific outcome. Set your own goals, define your own victory conditions, and enjoy the journey.
Accept Imperfection, Anticipate Change
The game is constantly evolving. Patches, updates, and mods can significantly change the gameplay. Embrace this evolution, adapt to new challenges, and be patient with the development process.
Having spent considerable time navigating the world of Calradia, I’ve discovered some strategies that aren’t commonly discussed:
- Mastering the Art of the Trade Caravan: Early game, forget joining armies. Invest in a caravan led by a high-stewardship companion. Micromanage its route, focusing on towns with ongoing wars – the demand for basic goods skyrockets.
- Tournament Exploitation…Kind Of: Once you get decent at combat, tournaments are your friend. However, train ONLY in the weapon style used in tournaments. Ignore all other skills. This quickly maximizes your effectiveness.
- The “Honorable Bandit” Run: Play as a bandit clan, raiding only the rich. Declare war on kingdoms that abuse their populace. This garners surprisingly positive relations with commoners and oppressed lords, opening unique recruitment and alliance opportunities.
- Early-Game Economic Focus: In the early game, prioritize establishing workshops in towns with high prosperity and low competition. Focus on producing goods with high demand, such as smithies or breweries. Reinvest the profits into upgrading your workshops and expanding your trading network.
I’ve been an avid strategy game enthusiast for over two decades, with a particular focus on medieval warfare simulations. My experience spans various titles, including the original Mount & Blade, the Total War series, and Crusader Kings. This extensive background provides a deep understanding of the genre’s mechanics, challenges, and player expectations.
Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_%26_Blade_II:_Bannerlord.
| Pain Point | Solution | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Kingdom Management | Specialize fiefs, improve relations, active participation | Concentrates efforts, prevents rebellions, influences policies. |
| Early-Game Grind | Focus on specific skills, participate in tournaments | Efficient leveling, earns money and renown. |
| AI Inconsistencies | Manual control, exploit weaknesses | Take tactical control, use terrain, set ambushes. |
| Technical Glitches | Optimize settings, update drivers, community patches | Improves performance, fixes bugs. |
| “Snowball Effect” | Form alliances, target key lords, guerilla warfare | Counters dominant power, weakens leadership, disrupts supply lines. |