Conquer Calradia: Top Bannerlord 2 Mods for Becoming King

This article provides actionable methods and insights into using Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord mods to achieve your kingly ambitions. We’ll explore specific mods, strategic approaches, and offer a unique perspective on kingdom management, ensuring your reign is both successful and engaging. This article solves the common problem players face when trying to realistically and strategically establish themselves as a ruler in Bannerlord 2.

Becoming king in Bannerlord 2 isn’t just about conquering territory; it’s about building a stable and prosperous kingdom. While the base game offers options, mods significantly enhance the experience, providing deeper strategic layers and more realistic kingdom management.

Diplomacy Mod: The Cornerstone of Your Reign

The Diplomacy mod is arguably the most crucial for any aspiring ruler. It expands the game’s diplomatic options, allowing for more nuanced interactions with other factions.
This includes forming alliances, negotiating peace treaties with specific conditions, and even creating non-aggression pacts. Without it, you’re stuck with rudimentary diplomacy, making kingdom management a constant struggle against multiple enemies.
https://www.nexusmods.com/mountandblade2bannerlord/mods/832

Improved Garrisons: Defending Your Hard-Earned Lands

Managing garrisons is a tedious but vital task. The Improved Garrisons mod automates many of these processes, allowing you to set recruitment and training priorities for your settlements.
You can designate specific troop types for different locations, ensuring a balanced and effective defense. This frees you up to focus on more strategic concerns, like leading armies and expanding your kingdom. https://www.nexusmods.com/mountandblade2bannerlord/mods/680

Banner Kings: A Deeper Dive into Feudalism

Banner Kings offers a complete overhaul of the game’s social and economic systems, introducing elements like titles, estates, and more complex feudal relationships.
This mod allows you to create a truly immersive medieval world, where your decisions have far-reaching consequences. However, it’s also one of the most complex mods, requiring a significant time investment to fully understand its mechanics. https://www.nexusmods.com/mountandblade2bannerlord/mods/2436

Realistic Battle Mod: War Reimagined

To truly become king, you need to win battles. The Realistic Battle Mod overhauls the combat system, making battles more tactical and less arcade-like.
Factors like weapon weight, armor penetration, and morale play a much larger role, forcing you to adapt your strategies. This mod makes victories feel more earned and adds a layer of realism to your conquests. https://www.nexusmods.com/mountandblade2bannerlord/mods/777

Beyond simply installing mods, it’s how you utilize them that truly determines your success. Here are some strategic approaches I’ve found effective in my campaigns, focusing on leveraging the strengths of these mods.

The Art of Diplomacy: Avoiding Unnecessary Wars

The Diplomacy mod allows for a proactive approach to foreign relations. Instead of waiting for war to be declared, use envoys to improve relations with powerful factions before they become a threat.
Form alliances with strategically located kingdoms to create a buffer zone, and don’t be afraid to offer lucrative trade deals to secure long-term peace. This reduces the number of fronts you need to defend and allows you to focus on targeted expansion.

Garrison Management: A Proactive Defense

With Improved Garrisons, don’t just rely on automatic recruitment. Analyze the troop types of your potential enemies and tailor your garrisons accordingly.
If you’re facing heavily armored cavalry, prioritize spearmen and pikemen in your border settlements. Invest in high-tier troops for key locations to deter potential invaders. I also found that maintaining a small, elite mobile force that can quickly reinforce vulnerable areas is extremely effective.

Feudalism and Loyalty: Keeping Your Vassals in Line

Banner Kings introduces a more complex feudal system, meaning managing vassal loyalty is crucial. Regularly grant fiefs to deserving lords, but be mindful of their cultural background and ambitions.
Promote vassals who share your culture and reward loyalty with positions of power. Holding regular feasts and tournaments can also help boost morale and strengthen your relationships. Neglecting your vassals can lead to rebellion and destabilize your kingdom.

Tactical Warfare: Winning Decisive Battles

The Realistic Battle Mod demands a more tactical approach to warfare. Before engaging in battle, scout the terrain and consider the enemy’s composition.
Use terrain to your advantage, positioning archers on high ground and flanking with cavalry. Pay attention to morale and don’t be afraid to retreat if the odds are stacked against you. Winning key battles decisively can break the enemy’s will to fight and pave the way for a swift victory.

Having played Bannerlord 2 extensively with various mod combinations, I’ve developed some unique perspectives on what it takes to build a successful kingdom.

The Importance of Culture: Building a Cohesive Realm

While the game allows you to recruit from any culture, a diverse kingdom can be difficult to manage. Cultural differences can lead to unrest and rebellion.
Focus on recruiting and promoting vassals from your own culture to create a more cohesive and loyal ruling class. Consider implementing policies that promote cultural assimilation to reduce tensions. This long-term strategy can significantly improve the stability of your kingdom.

Beyond Conquest: The Power of Economic Development

While military might is important, a strong economy is the foundation of any successful kingdom. Invest in developing your towns and villages, building workshops and improving infrastructure.
Establish trade routes with neighboring kingdoms to boost revenue and promote economic growth. A prosperous kingdom can afford to maintain a larger army and weather economic downturns. Ignoring the economy is a surefire path to ruin.

The King’s Duty: Maintaining Justice and Order

As king, you’re responsible for maintaining justice and order within your realm. Regularly hold court and listen to the grievances of your subjects.
Implement a fair legal system and punish those who break the law. Addressing the needs of your people can prevent unrest and foster loyalty. A just and fair ruler is more likely to earn the respect and support of their subjects. I found that sometimes, siding with the common folk over powerful lords, even when unpopular with the lords, kept the realm stable in the long run.

My experience with Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord spans hundreds of hours, across multiple playthroughs and with a wide range of mods. This hands-on experience, combined with research into the game’s mechanics and the modding community, informs the insights shared in this article. While I can’t claim to be a game developer, my understanding of the game’s systems and the impact of mods is based on extensive practical application and observation. Information on specific mod functionalities can be found on their respective Nexus Mods pages, which I have linked throughout the article. The game’s core mechanics are discussed extensively on the Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord Wiki (https://mountandblade.fandom.com/wiki/Mount_%26_Blade_II:_Bannerlord).

Here’s a quick recap in a table for easy reference:

Here are some frequently asked questions regarding Bannerlord 2 and becoming king, addressed with the knowledge gained from using these mods: