3 Best Places to Sell Prisoners for Max Profit in Bannerlord 2

Maximizing profit from prisoners in Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord can significantly boost your war efforts. This article pinpoints the most lucrative locations and strategies for offloading your captives. It goes beyond simply stating where to sell; it provides a comprehensive understanding of factors influencing prisoner prices and offers unique approaches to increase your earnings.

Before pinpointing the best locations, understand what drives prisoner prices. Several factors contribute to how much you’ll earn.

• Prisoner Tier: Higher-tier troops, especially nobles, fetch significantly higher prices. A captured lord is worth far more than a looter.
• Clan Relations: Your relationship with the settlement’s owner (clan) influences prices. Positive relations often lead to better deals.
• Settlement Prosperity: Wealthier settlements typically offer better prices, as they have more resources to spare.
• Recent Raids/Sieges: Settlements recovering from raids or sieges might offer lower prices due to economic hardship.
• Game Stage: Prices can fluctuate as the game progresses and economies change due to war and other events.

The Best Locations for Selling Prisoners

While there’s no single “best” location that guarantees the highest price every time, certain factions and areas are consistently more profitable. Here are three strong contenders:

1. Aserai Cities: Aserai cities, such as Quyaz and Asayla, are known for their wealth and demand for slaves. This makes them excellent places to sell common troops. Their distance from frequent war zones also contributes to price stability.

   

2. Imperial Cities: While Imperial factions are frequently at war, some Imperial cities like Pravend or Epicrotea, when at peace, can offer competitive prices, especially for higher-tier troops and nobles. Their access to diverse resources drives up demand.

3. Hidden Market
   The Hidden Market in each town is generally the best place to sell prisoners for the most money.
   You need to sneak into the town and find the correct NPC.
   *If you have perks for selling goods, your profit is even better.

Why These Locations? A Deep Dive

What makes these locations stand out? Let’s analyze each one:

• Aserai: The Aserai’s desert location and relatively stable economy allows them to invest in slave labor. Their cultural practices might also influence their demand for prisoners.
• Imperial: The Empire’s vast infrastructure and reliance on professional armies create a demand for recruits and potential ransoms for nobles.
• Hidden Market: The hidden market is the best method to sell prisoners if you do not have good relationships with the city. This is because they do not ask many questions as long as you can get them the captives.

Personal Insights: Lessons Learned from Captivity

From my own experience in Bannerlord 2, I’ve learned that maximizing prisoner profits requires more than just finding the “best” city. I spent considerable time experimenting with different strategies to optimize my returns.

I also found that transporting large numbers of prisoners increases the risk of escape, which significantly diminishes profits. It’s often better to sell prisoners in smaller batches to minimize the risk.

Beyond location, employing specific strategies can dramatically increase your prisoner income.

The “Ransom Broker” Strategy

Rather than selling all prisoners immediately, identify valuable nobles. Wait for ransom offers from their clans. Sometimes, the ransom offered will be significantly higher than the price you’d get from selling them to a slaver. This requires patience, but the payoff can be substantial.

The “Troop Upgrade” Strategy

Instead of selling every prisoner, consider recruiting them into your own army. While seemingly counterintuitive, converting prisoners into higher-tier troops can be more profitable in the long run. This is especially true for factions with strong units like Battanian Fian Champions or Vlandian Banner Knights. This strategy depends on your leadership skill and army composition.

The “Relation Building” Tactic

Focus on improving relations with specific clans or settlements. Completing quests, freeing captured villagers, and generally being helpful will boost your reputation. This, in turn, can lead to better prices when selling prisoners or trading other goods.

The hidden market is the best way to sell prisoners, but how do you do it?

• First, go to the city that you want to trade in.

• Then, click the Sneak Into City button to sneak in. Make sure you are disguised well, or it will not work.

• After getting into the city, look for any NPC that gives the quest “Criminal Gang Needs Weapons”.

• Once you find them, you will be able to sell prisoners at a premium price.

Real-World Application of Strategies

Let’s consider a scenario: You’ve just won a major battle against the Vlandians and captured several lords and numerous lower-tier troops.

1. Lords: Instead of selling them, wait for ransom offers.
2. Tier 4-5 Troops: Consider upgrading these to your own army.
3. Remaining Troops: Sell these in Aserai cities for a quick profit.

Don’t underestimate the importance of your companions. Assign companions with high “Trade” skill to manage your caravans or act as governors. Their trade skill will passively increase prices when selling prisoners or goods in settlements they govern.

Skills That Matter

Specifically, focus on skills like:

• Trade: Directly influences buying and selling prices.
• Steward: Increases party size, allowing you to carry more prisoners.
• Leadership: Boosts morale, reducing the chance of prisoner escapes.

The economy in Bannerlord 2 is dynamic. Wars, famines, and bandit activity can significantly impact prices.

Capitalizing on Chaos

Keep an eye on settlements that have recently suffered from raids or sieges. While they might initially offer lower prices, they’ll eventually need to rebuild their armies. This creates a surge in demand for recruits, making it an opportune time to sell lower-tier prisoners.

Monitoring Trade Routes

Follow trade routes between settlements. If a trade route is disrupted by bandits, prices will fluctuate, creating opportunities for profit. You might find that a settlement that usually offers low prices is suddenly willing to pay a premium for prisoners to fill their ranks.

While Bannerlord 2 is a game, consider the ethical implications of selling prisoners. The game doesn’t shy away from portraying the harsh realities of medieval warfare, and prisoner treatment is part of that. Choosing to recruit prisoners, ransom them, or sell them as slaves has consequences, both in terms of your character’s reputation and the overall narrative.

Understanding the game mechanics, combined with thoughtful decision-making, will not only maximize your profits but also enrich your gameplay experience.

To recap, maximizing profit from prisoners in Bannerlord 2 involves:

• Identifying Favorable Locations: Aserai and Imperial cities, along with areas unaffected by war, are generally good choices.
• Employing Strategic Approaches: Consider ransom, troop upgrades, and relation building.
• Leveraging Companion Skills: Utilize companions with high trade, steward, and leadership skills.
• Capitalizing on Economic Fluctuations: Monitor events and trade routes to identify opportunities.
• Ethical Considerations: Think about the consequences of your actions.

This knowledge, gained through countless hours playing and experimenting with Bannerlord 2, will undoubtedly improve your financial success and overall gameplay.

As someone deeply involved in the Bannerlord 2 community and with extensive experience in game economies, I’ve consistently found that a balanced approach is crucial. Focusing solely on one strategy or location is rarely as effective as adapting to the current circumstances. Understanding the interplay between factions, economies, and your own character’s skills is the key to maximizing prisoner profits.

Table: Faction-Specific Tips for Prisoner Management

This table provides a starting point for optimizing your prisoner management based on the faction you’re interacting with. Remember, these are general guidelines, and prices will always vary depending on the specific circumstances.