Loyalty Decoded: How to Understand Loyalty in Bannerlord 2

Understanding loyalty in Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord 2 is crucial for building a successful kingdom. It’s not just about keeping your lords happy; it’s about preventing rebellions, securing your fiefs, and ensuring the long-term stability of your realm. This article breaks down the mechanics of loyalty, offers practical tips for managing it, shares some unique insights based on gameplay experience, and addresses common questions players have.

Loyalty in Bannerlord 2 is a numerical value representing a settlement or clan’s allegiance to you. For settlements, it directly affects public order and prosperity. For clans, low loyalty can lead to defection, taking their fiefs and armies with them. The closer to 100, the more secure your holdings are. Here’s a breakdown of the key factors influencing loyalty:

• Security: High security in a settlement drastically improves loyalty. Patrols, garrison size, and dealing with bandits contribute to this.
• Food Supply: A well-fed populace is a loyal populace. Ensure your settlements have ample food production and trade routes.
• Culture: Cultural differences between the governor and the settlement’s population reduce loyalty. Appointing a governor of the local culture is essential.
• Recent Conquests: Newly conquered settlements suffer loyalty penalties due to war weariness and cultural resistance.
• Prosperity: A prosperous settlement provides better living conditions, leading to increased loyalty.
• Policies: Kingdom policies can have positive or negative effects on loyalty, depending on the specific policy and the settlement’s characteristics.
• Governor Skills: A governor with high stewardship skills can mitigate loyalty penalties and improve overall settlement management.
• Clan Relations: For clan loyalty, personal relationships matter greatly. Lords who like you are less likely to betray you, even if their fiefs aren’t ideal.

Improving and maintaining loyalty requires a multifaceted approach. Here’s a breakdown of actionable steps:

• Appoint the Right Governors: This is paramount. Prioritize governors of the same culture as the settlement. If that’s impossible, look for high stewardship skill. Check their traits as well. A cruel governor might be efficient, but they’ll inspire less loyalty.
• Improve Security: Increase garrison sizes, especially in frontier towns. Regularly patrol the area around your fiefs to deter bandits. Completing “Issue” quests in villages attached to your fief improves relations and security.
• Ensure Food Supply: Invest in improvements that boost food production, like irrigation and granaries. Promote trade by clearing bandit hideouts along trade routes.
• Implement Beneficial Policies: Research kingdom policies carefully. Policies like “Forgiveness of Debts” can temporarily boost loyalty in recently conquered settlements. Policies like “Royal Guard” boost security, which impacts loyalty indirectly.
• Personal Interactions: Visit your fiefs regularly. Holding feasts and tournaments in your settlements will improve relations with local notables and boost morale. Talk to the local clan leaders and address their concerns.
• Manage Clan Power: A powerful clan can become a threat. Distribute fiefs strategically to prevent any single clan from becoming too dominant. Consider marrying your daughters or sisters to members of less powerful but loyal clans to strengthen their position.
• The “Days of Peace” Policy: If you are a king and are at peace, enact the “Days of Peace” Policy to massively increase Loyalty gain by +1.
• Exemption from Service Policy: This will reduce your Fief Income by 10%, but will increase loyalty in all owned towns by +2

Unique Insights & Experience-Based Strategies

Based on hours of gameplay, here are some nuances I’ve observed that aren’t immediately apparent:

• The “Culture Penalty” is More Than Just Numbers: A governor of a different culture not only applies a numerical penalty, but also creates a negative feedback loop. They are less effective at dealing with issues, leading to further unrest and lower loyalty.
• Early Game is Crucial for Clan Loyalty: The early game is the best time to build relationships with potential vassals. Join their battles, support their decisions, and offer them gifts. These early investments pay off later when you need their support.
• Strategic Fief Distribution Matters MORE than you think: Don’t just give fiefs to the clan with the highest influence. Consider the location and the clan’s personality. Giving a border fief to a warlike clan can turn them into a valuable shield, while giving it to a peaceful clan can lead to constant raids.
• Clan Tier Affects Loyalty: Tier 1 clans generally are loyal because they need your kingdom to survive and have no power to rebel. Higher-tier clans are harder to control because they have high Clan Influence and are prone to rebellions. Make sure higher-tier clans have strong relations with you to prevent rebellions.

For example, I once inherited a kingdom with several disloyal clans on the verge of rebellion. I tried simply increasing garrison sizes and appointing new governors, but nothing worked. What ultimately turned the tide was a combination of things: I personally visited each disloyal clan’s fief, held tournaments, listened to their grievances, and offered strategic compromises (like swapping fiefs for better cultural alignment). I also noticed that clans with low morale due to recent losses in battle were more prone to disloyalty, so I made sure to include them in successful campaigns to boost their spirits. This hands-on approach, combined with the other strategies, slowly but surely brought the kingdom back from the brink.

To fully grasp how to manipulate loyalty, consider this breakdown table of factors.

My insights come from hundreds of hours playing Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord 2 and experimenting with different strategies for managing loyalty. While TaleWorlds, the game’s developer, doesn’t provide a comprehensive manual on loyalty mechanics, the information above is based on observed in-game behavior and player experiences documented across various online forums and communities. For a deeper understanding of kingdom policies and their effects, refer to the Bannerlord 2 section on the Mount & Blade Wiki: https://mountandblade.fandom.com/wiki/Mount_&_Blade_II:_Bannerlord.
Please be aware the game is constantly updated, so some mechanics may shift over time.

These are common questions players ask:

• How quickly does loyalty change? Loyalty changes daily, influenced by the factors listed above. Negative factors can cause a rapid decline, while positive factors create a slower increase.
• What happens when loyalty reaches zero? For settlements, public order plummets, leading to rebellions. For clans, they defect from your kingdom, taking their fiefs and armies with them.
• Can I “buy” loyalty? While you can’t directly buy loyalty with gold, giving gifts to clan leaders can improve their relations with you, indirectly increasing their loyalty.
• Is it better to have many small fiefs or a few large ones? This is a strategic choice. Many small fiefs spread the wealth and prevent any single clan from becoming too powerful, but they also require more management. A few large fiefs can create powerful and loyal vassals, but the risk of rebellion is higher.
• Does my character’s charm skill affect vassal loyalty? Yes! High charm skill makes it easier to persuade vassals and build strong relationships, which contributes to their loyalty.
• How does culture affect loyalty? A settlement with a different culture than its governor will suffer a loyalty penalty. This is because the population is less likely to trust and respect a governor who is not of their own culture.
• How can i see my current loyalty score? You can view loyalty in the settlement’s information panel when visiting the town or castle. For clan loyalty, review relations panel with each clan.
• What if i have a lot of different cultures in my kingdom, what should i do? When your faction’s culture is unlike that of most of your fiefs, it can be incredibly useful to start recruiting governors and party members that will assimilate to other cultures.