Armor guide : How & when to spend your money on them.

[Veolfen]

Hello everyone !
Armors are a big part of the bannerlord experience, but sometimes investing in a juicy new armor piece can be really disappointing.
So i thought. Why not make a guide to analyse the "optimal" ways to deal with armor management. When to buy one ? When to not buy one ? Which one is worth it ? So here we go guys. My attempt at making a guide about it. Be ready for a huge post ! A second message will follow the guide to list most of the best cost effective armor pieces etc..

Also before diving into this guide : It's still a single player game, so feel free to do whatever you want, this guide isn't really one. It's more like an "optimal analysis" that is totally unnecessary for a PvE solo game where you can do what you want at the pace you want. It's for dumb people like me that like to over analyze things.

GUIDE STARTING :

Armor is very important and you really need to avoid walking around naked, andIt's still a single player game, so feel free to do whatever you want, this guide isn't really one. It's more like an "optimal analysis" you will deal with armor differently depending on the state of your playthrough.

The single most important factor when choosing to buy armor or not, is how much money do you have and do you have anything better to put your money into ?

Buying high price armors is almost always very bad idea before the very late game.
Why ? Because armor price gets exponantially higher and the "best armors" in the game aren't worth investing your money in until you are rich enough to look for money sinks.
Also it's more important to buy workshops & get a stable gold income before buying 10k+ armor pieces.
You need armor, but you don't need expensive ones.
There is a pretty noticeable difference when fighting naked/with civicilian clothes and having an affordable armor. You'll feel much tankier with a cheap set of armor and having one is the goal early on.
But between having 25/30 all around armor & 55 all around armor, there's almost no feeling of improvement while the cost of those pieces reach insane numbers.

Also, to optimise the price & defense stats, just put specialised pieces : aim at having higher torso armor & leg armor for cavalry (arm can be a little bit important for cav vs cav engagements tho so don't skimp themp too much there. Helmet is sooo much less important for cav), and higher arm & head armor for infantry (infantry actually get hit more often in the head or the arms than the torso and almost never ever get hit in the legs).


So what to do in detail ? :

-Early on don't buy anything or the cheapest of the cheapest pieces and put the best thing you can loot.

-Look for tournament rewards who will be your best way to improve your stuff for a while and will save you a lot of money.

-Then once you get a decent amount of money and money generation : buy the good enough but not too costly armours. (sometimes items bump from costing 300 to suddenly costing 1000. And then costing 3000-4000 to suddenly costing 8 to 10k etc.., so choose a good ratio in cost//defense. A few extra points doesn't do anything anyway)
Go for those pieces that doesn't exceed 3000-4000 denars. Even better if you like gambesons, stick with those pieces that doesn't exceed 1500 denars. Then invest in workshops etc..
The gambesons are the 800 to 1400 armor pieces while leather & early mail armor cost 3000 to 4000 gold. Those are the goals for a while. You can keep your companions in those armor for a very long time. They won't survive much longer in armor pieces at 3 times those prices.

-Once you have the most cost efficient torso pieces, focus on upgrading neck/shoulder pieces, gloves & boots before further upgrading the torso piece. You'll increase the defense at a much lower price (and a much higher amount) than simply buying a chest armor that cost 3 times the price of the previous piece.
!!! Pretty important !!! Before buying them, you can get decent helmets, strong gloves & boots and very strong shoulder pieces in tournaments. So it's a very easy way to stuff you and your companions at no cost.

-After a while, with multiple workshop providing you daily income and 3 to 4k chestpieces and tournaments shoulder, gloves & boots... If you feel like you have some extra gold to spend, you can buy a 10kish chest armor from time to time to upgrade but don't go further. You can consider the 30k to 40k armors & helmets for yourself before upgrading your companions to those 10k armor pieces.

-Once you're in full tournament gloves/boots shoulders with 40k armor & helmet, and your companions in full 10k armor (with tournament for the other pieces), buy them a good helmet before anything else (unless they are cavalry, here improve their boots, then torso, then gloves before the helmet. They can stick with tourney helmets)

-Then once you've played for a very long time and you finally created a big a gold generating empire you can finally consider buying the extremely costly toptiers armors. Those armors are money sinks and won't make you feel much tankier than the 10k gold armor settup (10k chestpiece, everything else from tournaments).


In the end, play for fun but don't forget you won't become a walking tank with the best armors. Look into your favorite looking cost effective armor and go kick some asses !

Extensive list of cost effective pieces bellow.

[Veolfen]

*Helmets :
Mostly don't buy any early on and aim at getting them from tournaments.
-Cheap ones are like padded cap. Don't put more than 300 early on it's not worth it.
-If you really want a decent helmet that isn't a padded cap, you can buy the Steel Cap (sturgian helmet) for 18 armor at 800ish denars.
Once you get tournaments helmets, upgrading them is gonna cost you, helmet is the worst cost efficient armorpiece to buy yet the most important one for infantry characters so it's even more important to spend your money upgrading them before considering the highest priced armor pieces.
-Once again, the Steel Nasal Cap from Sturgia cost 10k and gives 35 armor. It's a worth upgrade if you really can't handle the look of your tournament helmet.
-Kettle Helmets you get in Vlandia in the Empire are the most cost effective helmets overall after the steel nasal cap and the tournament helmets.
-The imperial Spangenhelm line of helmets is also a good line of helmets to consider.

You then have 2 options for your next helmets. Those helmet give 45 armor at 40k denars and are the best "cost effective" helmet available by far (at this price range) :
-The Knight Helmet with Bronze Faceguard & Closed Knight Helmet (rare in Vlandian territory). Light and high protection. Anything above cost 20 to 30k more gold.
-The Mameluke Helmet with Mail. Midweight and high protection for the same price as the knight helmets. More common than the knight helmets. Found in Aserai territory.

Everything else is extra costly and are to consider once you have your "gold empire". You pick the strongest helmets you find the best looking and that's it, at this states who cares about their cost effectiveness.


*Shoulder/Neckpieces :
Also avoid buying too much thing here, you can get some of the most toptier shoulder pieces in tournaments !
But here are a few options before tournament pieces :
-Plate pauldrons at 250ish denars for 8 arm armor (khuzait or aserai territory)
-Woven Leather Shoulders at 350 denars for 6/4 body/arm armor (khuzait or aserai territory, maybe can appear in empire ones)
-Legionary studded Harness at 420 denars for 7/4 body/arm armor (empire territory)
-Reinforced Leather Pauldrons at 420 denars for 8/3 body/arm armor (khuzait territory)
-Padded leather shoulders at 500 denars for 8/4 (vlandian & empire territory)
-Legionary Padded Straps at 600 denars for 9/4 (empire territory)
-Legionary Reinforced Studded Harness at 600 denars for 7/6 (empire)
-Leather Lamellar Shoulder guards at 1000 denars for 12/3 (khuzait)
-Reinforced Studded Neckguard at 1300 for 17 body armor (khuzait/aserai)
-Cured Studded Leather Armor at 1800 for 13/6 (khuzait, probably aserai & maybe empire territory too)
Those are cost efficient but not needed, overall stick to those at 600 or bellow and get better shoulder pieces from tournaments (you can get those legionary pieces there). THe best shoulder pieces you get for free in tournaments are :
-The legionary cloak for 16/4 armor that usually cost 3700+. Get it for free in empire tournaments. Not very common as a reward tho
-The Rough bearskin for 16/4 armor that usally cost 3200ish. Get it for free in battanian tournaments. The best tournament shoulder piece as it is lighter thant the legionary cloak and it's a very common reward there !

Above those, consider very few pieces that are worthwile upgrades :
Heavy Lamellar Pouldrons at 9200ish denars for 17/9. Look sexy & big upgrade for arm armor. Empire territory
Reinforced Scale Pouldrons at 9200ish denars for 18/8. Sexy and big upgrade too. Khuzait/Aserai territory. Maybe in Sturgia too.

Everything else cost more than twice the price of those so consider them in very lategame.

[Veolfen]

*Gloves :
Buy a bunch of cheap one, you can get those in tournaments too
But here a few options before tournaments pieces (overally all the pieces at 300ish cost for 9 armor) :
-Rough Tied Braces (khuzait territory)
-Padded mittens (vlandian & empire territory)
-Guarded padded Vambraces (VLandian & empire territory)
But mostly, in tournaments you'll get pieces that give 18 to 22 armor for free, so don't spend too much money on gloves.
Here are some cost effective gloves :
-Lordly Padded mittens for 18 armor. You can buy them in empire & vlandian city for 1400ish and are the most cost effective of the bunch. (winnable in tournaments)
-Mail mittens at 2400 for 20 armor. Vlandian & sturgian cities. (winnable in tournaments)
-Plated striped gauntlets for 22 armor at 3200. Don't remember where you get them. (winnable in tournaments)
-Bronze bracers for 22 armor at 3400. Aserai & khuzait territory.
Everything above cost 1000 to 2000 more denars for 1 or 2 points.
So overall interesting to buy those pieces if you don't get them in tournament, but ideally just get them all in tournaments.


*Boots :
A bunch of cheap one you can buy before getting the free good tournament boots :
-Woodland leg wrappins for 8 armor at 250 (battania)
-Folded Leather boots for 9 armor at 300 (battania)
-Mail Cavalier boots for 12 armor 500 (vlandia)
They are much rare in tournaments tho so here considering buying them might be a priority over boots & shoulders. Toutnament gets you overall boots that give 18 to 20 armor.
Consider buying these anyways :
-Mail Chausses for 22 armor at 2700ish denars (sturgia)
-Strapped Mail chausses for 23 armor at 3300ish denars (sturgia) The best above those cost more than twice this price !
!!! WARING very BEST BOOTS INCOMING !!!
-The Reinforced Suede shoes : For 1750ish denars, get 20 armor with those very light boots. Very light, cheap and still very high armor. Some heavier with less defense armor cost more than those. Khuzait boots.

[Veolfen]

*Chestpieces :
Here's the big boy coming. You can get a few interesting pieces in tournaments, but here are the best cost efficient pieces at all price ranges :

-Old Fur Armor at 350 for a very cheap cav chestpiece (battania)
-Ring Mail at 420ish for a decent early infantry chestpiece (aserai)
-Aketon for at 470ish for a decent early infantry chestpiece (vlandia)
-Fur armor at 480ish for a decent early infantry chestpiece (battania)
-Rugged Gambeson at 660ish for a decent early cav chestpiece (empire/vlandia)
-Mirrored Leather Armor at 770ish for a decent early cav chest piece (aserai/khuzait)
-Padded Sleeveless short coat (same as above, vlandia)
-Padded Short Coat at 770ish for a decent early infantry chest piece (vlandia)
-Woodland garments at 820ish for a decent allrounder (battania)
-All imperial infantryman gambesons. All have a very good cost effectiveness and fit all kind of role (empire). Cost from 900 to 1450ish denars.
-All imperial auxiliary armors. Same as gambesons. From 1200 to 1450ish denars.
-Light padded armor good all around armor at 1300ish denars. (location not sure)
-Sleeveless padded Coat : The very best cav chestpiece for this price range. Cost 1300ish denars (vlandia/battania)
-Leather armor with irons plates : Best all around chestpiece, especially if you have shoulderpieces that traded some armor in the torso for more in armor in the arms. 1500ish (sturgia/khuzait)
-Leather armor : Slightly better than the previous piece, and lighter, but the cost has bumped to 2300ish. Still worth it (empire territory)
-Reinforced Leather armor. For cavalry, it's much better than the classical leather armor with more torso armor & leg but less arm armor. Same price at 2300ish price range. (empire/khuzait, not sure)
-Rugged scale armor at 3500ish price range. Very good cav armor. Not arm armor tho so get some good shoulders to protect them ! (sturgia)
-Heavy Mail Vest at 3500ish price range. Also very good cav armor. Trade a lil bit of torso armor (compared to Rugged Scale armor) for a lil bit more leg & arm armor. If you enjoy it more take it (battanian)

From there you need to hold onto those pieces till you are fully suited in tournament helmet/gloves/boots. Once you have one of these armors + tournaments helmet/shoulders/gauntlets/boots + a decent daily income with workshop, craft etc.. you can finally start considering good all around armors at 10k to 20k denars. Upgrade them one by one from time to time, it's not an urgent buy but a confortable one. You can even keep your companions with previously listed armors + tournament stuff for a long time, it'll be more worth it to upgrade yourself even more before looking into them.

-Bronze lamellar Vest over Gambeson : The best cost efficient cavalry chestpiece of this price range. good leg armor and very high torso armor for 8700ish denars. Also very light (Aserai & maybe Sturgia)
-Banded Leather Over mail : Very good all arounder for 8900ish price range (Vlandia). Pretty nice for a while and good to keep on companions.
-Leather strips over Padded Robe for 9600ish denars. Very good for infantry. Also best armor you can get as a civilian outfit. (Khuzait/Aserai)
-Mail shirt at 10kish denars. Very good all arounder if you have a shoulder piece that increase mostly chest armor. (vlandia)
-Ranger mail at 11kish denars. Very good all arounder. This sexy piece is a really good jack of all trades piece and a piece to look into when you want to compare other pieces of this pricerange (Battania)
-Infantryman Mail vest 12kish denars. The improved mail shirt. (Empire)
-Gambeson over Mail Armor 16kish denars. One of the very best cavalry chestpiece of this price range. Decent chest armor and very high leg armor. Also very light. (Aserai & Sturgia)
-Heavy Mail shirt with Wide belt at 167kish denars. Very good all arounder even tho it's best as a cav chestpiece. (Battanian)
-Heavy Lamellar Vest at 20k denars. The very best cav chestpiece of this price range. You take the Bronze variant and add 10 armor to the legs. (Sturgian)

So here are those armors you can look into for you and your companions. You're gonna stick around with those for a while, but your companions will probably keep those until the very ultra lategame where you are filthy rich. You really don't need and shouldn't upgrade them further before you're fully kitted out yourself. Speaking about yourself, at a slightly higher cost than the previous one, you can look into getting some pieces that are stronger all around :

-The Red & White Tabard over Mail Hauberk at 25k. For this price range, it's the best all rounder you can get your hands on. (Vlandia)
-The Aserai Chain Mail at 35k. Not as cost efficient as the previous one, but if you prefer this look, you'll lose a lil bit of torso armor for more arm & leg amors. (Aserai)
-Rouge scale Mail at 35k. Like the Aserai Chain Mail. And alternative if you prefer this look, but not as cost efficient as the Hauberk. (Battania/Sturgia)
-Mirror Bringadine Armor at 45k. The upgrade of the Tabard over Mail Hauberk. Way less cost effective, but better nonetheless. If you feel like spending this much, you get this nice armor in return (Aserai)
-Stitched Leather over Mail. Exactly the same as the previous armor. (Khuzait)

There is also a very specialised piece of armor that happens to be so freaking good for it's pricerange. Consider getting it for yourself or your favorite companions if you/they are on foot :
-the Light Lamellar Armor : No leg armor (so it's a total nope for cav) but trade this for a HUGE amount of body armor and high armount of arm armor. For this much upper armor, it's pretty light. At 40k it's ultra worth it.


Anything above these armors become the ultra lategame armors you should consider once you become filthy rich and you need money thinks.


So here you are guys. It answers the question i saw on some topics + i liked doing this so if you don't care, well know that i also don't care that you don't :p.
Hope people who are interested in this will find some use in this and have fun Calradia !

[Willow Ufgood]

maybe maake this a guide

[Veolfen]

Oh i see. I'm not used to this steam tool. Gonna look into it thanks for the tip.

[𝔗𝔢𝔞 ❀]

Yeah, good like turning it into a guide.

[Veolfen]

Well let's go guys. Guide made. Check it out. Instead of spending 2 to 3 hours, spent the whole day on this.
Thanks :p

[Willow Ufgood]

link to Veolfen's guide https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2729255384 good work thanks for putting in the time to do this

[Veolfen]

Thanks man !

[Humble]

I found warband armor is way better gameplay for high rating armor, oddly, low armor is better in this game with all enemies damage you, while warband is very highly damage when come to low armor, but high armor is very useful in warband, but high armor rating here is not that great for cost. Warband high rating armor is worth of cost, sometime you get zero damage when enemies attack you, but here is mostly you get few point damage, but lot of enemie attacking you, it's get damage very quickly.

Throw weapon is less damage in this game than warband, I noticed.

[Veolfen]

Yeah armors are kind of weak. That's why i point out that it's better to have a decent amount of armor that you can freely get with tournament stuff, and then focus your money on something else because high level armors are a very low improvement for an insane price increase.
That's also why looking for the most cost efficient armor pieces is interesting (hence why i felt like doing this guide)
In Bannerlord damages are overall higher than in WB, especially with 2 handers (they basically oneshot anything).

[Lord Savage]

Shorter version:
Armor is crap.
According your money and progression buy or win: light armor, medium armor, heavy armor. Buying of armor for 750k doesnt worth only when u got wasteful bunch of money (and yes heavy armor is pretty nice).
Even in strongest armor you are not semi god and one good headshot can knock you off. Also harpoon in chest, neck, toe, finger, etc.. (on realistic mode, dont know how it works on easier modes).
Also weakest hammer which is used by looters can deal you 20dmg.
Also consider your build when you are runner - going for attletic you dont want heaviest armor as soon as possible. Only after u have above 200 attletic so you can run fast enough even in heavy armor.

[Underprivileged White Male]

Save all your money, don't waste it on equipment. Use that money to make more money. Use that money to make more money.

Then buy an army. 5 mercs are going to be more useful than any armor you could ever buy. Just buy a shield, 2 stacks of arrows, a bow, and a horse. Then sit back giving orders bored to death. It's very effective.

[Rodi]

Instead
Do smithing and get 5 mil
Then buy top tier armour whenever its available

[Veolfen]

Originally posted by Lord Savage:

Shorter version:
Armor is crap.
According your money and progression buy or win: light armor, medium armor, heavy armor. Buying of armor for 750k doesnt worth only when u got wasteful bunch of money (and yes heavy armor is pretty nice).
Even in strongest armor you are not semi god and one good headshot can knock you off. Also harpoon in chest, neck, toe, finger, etc.. (on realistic mode, dont know how it works on easier modes).
Also weakest hammer which is used by looters can deal you 20dmg.
Also consider your build when you are runner - going for attletic you dont want heaviest armor as soon as possible. Only after u have above 200 attletic so you can run fast enough even in heavy armor.

Yeah, that's a pretty accurate sum up ahah. It's a bit sad tho, i wish they could be at least a tiny bit more impactful.

Originally posted by Rodi:

Instead
Do smithing and get 5 mil
Then buy top tier armour whenever its available

And yeah there's always that. It's the more reasonable way to afford the money for these armor pieces in the end ahah