Stewardship in Bannerlord 2 is crucial. It dictates your party size, settlement prosperity, and overall economic stability. A higher stewardship skill allows you to manage larger armies, govern fiefs more effectively, and accumulate wealth more efficiently. This article tackles the pain of slow stewardship leveling, providing five effective and practical methods to accelerate your skill gain.
Stewardship, like all skills in Bannerlord 2, is leveled by performing actions that fall under its domain. The more challenging the task, the more experience you gain. However, simply performing these actions isn’t always the most efficient way. Understanding the core mechanics is key.
Focus on Actions that Grant Experience
Maximizing stewardship experience hinges on identifying and consistently performing actions that yield the most experience. This primarily revolves around increasing your clan’s party size and managing your fiefs effectively. Remember that the game tracks these actions, and rewards skill increases.
Early Game Considerations
Early on, you might not have access to advanced stewardship perks or large fiefs to manage. Focus on the basics: consistently increasing your party size through perks and leadership skills, and participating in trading activities that indirectly contribute to your economic understanding. Do not neglect early game tasks because they will have a big impact on the later game.
One of the most direct ways to increase your stewardship is by maximizing your party size. Your capacity for a larger army will have a big impact on your stewardship.
Perks That Boost Party Size
Several perks across the Leadership and Stewardship skill trees directly increase your party size. Invest in these early. For example, the “Authority” perk (Leadership, Tier 1) grants +5 to party size. These small boosts accumulate and contribute significantly to your overall stewardship experience gain. Selecting these perks strategically can make a considerable difference in your skill progression.
Garrison Management
While not directly increasing party size, managing garrisons efficiently frees up your personal party slots, allowing you to recruit more troops and thus gain more stewardship experience. Ensure your fiefs have adequate garrison sizes to avoid draining your personal troop capacity.
Stewardship isn’t just about armies. It encompasses economic management.
Trading Strategies
Engage in profitable trade routes. Buy low in one town and sell high in another. The higher the profit margin, the more experience you gain. Focus on goods that are in high demand and low supply in different regions. Monitor market prices closely to identify lucrative opportunities. I personally find that trading between Aserai and Battanian territories, focusing on horses and textiles, can be highly profitable early game.
Workshop Optimization
Workshops, when managed effectively, generate passive income and contribute to your stewardship skill. Choose workshop types that are in demand in the town they are located in. A brewery in a town with abundant grain production is a solid choice. Regularly check on your workshops and adjust their production based on the town’s economy. Over time, the steady income and management tasks associated with workshops contribute significantly to your stewardship level.
Governing fiefs is a stewardship goldmine, but it requires careful planning.
Focus on Loyalty and Security
High loyalty and security in your fiefs directly translate to increased prosperity and reduced rebellions. Invest in buildings that boost these stats, such as granaries (for loyalty) and walls (for security). A stable fief is a prosperous fief, and a prosperous fief contributes significantly to your stewardship experience.
Policies and Projects
Enact policies that benefit your fief’s economy and population. Construct projects that improve infrastructure and resource production. These actions directly contribute to your stewardship experience. Pay attention to the specific needs of each fief and tailor your policies and projects accordingly.
A surprising, but effective, method for boosting stewardship is ensuring your party has access to a variety of food.
Morale Boosts
A happy army is a productive army. Providing a varied diet boosts morale, which in turn reduces desertion and increases overall efficiency. This indirectly contributes to your stewardship by reducing the strain on your resources and improving your party’s cohesion.
Experiment with Different Food Sources
Don’t just rely on grain. Purchase different types of food from various towns. Meat, fish, vegetables, and fruit all contribute to food variety. Observe the morale effects of different food combinations and adjust your inventory accordingly. From my personal experience, having at least three different food types in my inventory significantly improved my party’s morale and reduced desertion rates.
Assigning specific roles within your clan and party members also contributes to overall stewardship gain.
Delegating Responsibilities
Delegate tasks like quartermaster and scout to companions with relevant skills. A companion with high scouting skill will reduce your party’s food consumption, effectively increasing your stewardship. Efficient delegation reduces the burden on your character and allows you to focus on other stewardship-related activities.
Companion Specialization
Train your companions to specialize in specific areas of stewardship, such as trade or governance. This allows them to contribute more effectively to your overall stewardship efforts. A well-rounded team of companions can significantly enhance your stewardship capabilities.
Beyond the strategies mentioned above, the biggest factor in skill increase is experience. The more you immerse yourself in managing your party, economy, and fiefs, the faster your stewardship will grow.
The Fief Cycle
One aspect that isn’t immediately obvious is the cyclical nature of fief management. Prosperity fluctuates, security wavers, and loyalty ebbs and flows. Understanding these cycles allows you to anticipate problems and implement preventative measures. For instance, if you notice grain prices rising in a fief, invest in agricultural projects to increase production and stabilize the economy.
Don’t Neglect Personal Wealth
While managing fiefs is important, don’t neglect your personal wealth. Investing in enterprises, participating in tournaments, and even raiding caravans (if you’re into that sort of thing) can all contribute to your overall economic understanding and thus boost your stewardship skill.
| Method | Description | Skill Boost | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maximize Party Size | Utilize perks and leadership to increase party size beyond base limitations. | Direct; significant early to mid-game. | Medium |
| Trade & Workshop Mgmt | Engage in profitable trading routes and optimize workshop production. | Indirect; contributes to economic understanding and management. | Medium |
| Govern Fiefs | Focus on loyalty, security, and prosperity within your fiefs. | Direct; significant mid to late-game. | High |
| Food Variety | Maintain a diverse food supply to boost morale and reduce desertion. | Indirect; improves party efficiency and reduces resource strain. | Low |
| Clan/Party Roles | Delegate responsibilities to companions with relevant skills. | Indirect; enhances overall stewardship capabilities. | Medium |
Increasing your stewardship skill quickly in Bannerlord 2 requires a multifaceted approach. Focus on maximizing party size, engaging in profitable trade, governing fiefs effectively, providing food variety, and delegating responsibilities. These methods, when combined, will accelerate your skill gain and make you a more effective leader in the world of Calradia. The game relies on your wisdom to manage your party to a win.
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