What to Expect?

[Arnie Rimsy BSc.SSc.]

I have dabbled a good 50 hours in Warband PC and a solid bigger chunk on PS4 years ago too. I played some massive games, but never ever finished a map and took it all over.
I also tried the Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings mod worlds too for a time.

I'm not really in a rush to spend $70 right now, but maybe I should buy it soon and enjoy it.
One other thing, I'm trying to find a PS5 copy. No Aussie retailers sell the PS5 versions, only PS4, except Amazon. I'd like it on disc to resell later to be honest. So I may not buy it on Steam.

My play style is chilling out, farming mobs, getting gear, gold, XP, level ups, and just riding in circles with a projectile farming kills and getting slashes. It's a very relaxing/chill gameplay loop that I'm into, lots of farming and inventory management. I'm not really into complicated politics and I kinda just get a big army and wipe everyone that looks at me funny, or who I deem as evil.

With all this info, what should I expect of this game?

P.S. I also fight every battle physically because the Warband AI auto resolve was terrible, just like Total Wars... is it better in this game, or does it use "flawed" mathematics and decides your superior army force will lose 24/7? I realize that may sound heated, but basically, is it like Warband, which I don't at all like, or is it different/better to my standards?

Note: I won't be playing the multiplayer and don't expect it to have players in Oceania anyway. I will be fully alone, in sandbox solo.

[Urmel]

if you play always mercenary for different factions in bannerlord you will have much fun. you can always leave the faction without any disadvantage. you need clan lvl 1 to play merc.

the biggest problem for new player is gold. dont use a big high lvl party, cawse you maybe cant pay them. play tornaments/arena (save the game) to lern basic fighting with different weapons. you get good items and gold, xp.


auto resolve in total war is good enough.
the trick is to take battle ai only "normal" and campaign ai what ever you want to play.

[Loot]

I prefer infantry combat in Bannerlord, but mounted combat in Warband. Sieges in Bannerlord are way more fleshed out and much more fun to actually partake in. I used to always go with an Intelligence build in Warband and max all the Surgeon / Trainer perks, etc. Then I'd get enough Agility / Strength for all the good stuff and I was fine with that. In Bannerlord, I kinda feel forced to go Horse Archer. I really struggle to kill infantry in the beginning without it. Once you have a glaive and can execute peasants from 3 area codes away, it isn't so bad. It feels like they have way more reach than you, though.

I also played Diplomacy Litdum in Warband for the most part, so it was nearly a different game. Completely changed how the AI works and I also tweaked unit balance myself over time. I haven't tried any mods in Bannerlord. I'm tempted to download a companion mod that allows more customization, some time, and do a companion only run. My currently companion run feels a bit stagnant, due to them taking forever to level and not starting with the right stats. That's another thing Warband beats Bannerlord in. Companion customization in Warband is much better, without mods.

[ShadowFox]

Originally posted by Nerf:

I have dabbled a good 50 hours in Warband PC and a solid bigger chunk on PS4 years ago too. I played some massive games, but never ever finished a map and took it all over.
I also tried the Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings mod worlds too for a time.

I'm not really in a rush to spend $70 right now, but maybe I should buy it soon and enjoy it.
One other thing, I'm trying to find a PS5 copy. No Aussie retailers sell the PS5 versions, only PS4, except Amazon. I'd like it on disc to resell later to be honest. So I may not buy it on Steam.

My play style is chilling out, farming mobs, getting gear, gold, XP, level ups, and just riding in circles with a projectile farming kills and getting slashes. It's a very relaxing/chill gameplay loop that I'm into, lots of farming and inventory management. I'm not really into complicated politics and I kinda just get a big army and wipe everyone that looks at me funny, or who I deem as evil.

With all this info, what should I expect of this game?

P.S. I also fight every battle physically because the Warband AI auto resolve was terrible, just like Total Wars... is it better in this game, or does it use "flawed" mathematics and decides your superior army force will lose 24/7? I realize that may sound heated, but basically, is it like Warband, which I don't at all like, or is it different/better to my standards?

Note: I won't be playing the multiplayer and don't expect it to have players in Oceania anyway. I will be fully alone, in sandbox solo.

Short version its like warband but better in 90% of things but missing about 10% of old content. All in all you get a lot more out of bannerlord unless you love warband with like 6 mods in which case you might wanna wait awhile

[Krayor Krelion]

Well, we have a saying: "it's Taleworlds math." Yes, autoresolve needs work in this game as well. It'll sometimes kill a high tier unit or two 'just because' even when facing lower tier enemies. There is a whole skill tree for it as well that doesn't seem to work fully. I would say that's my biggest gripe about the game right now. Just a lot of broken things that aren't working properly. They recently busted a lot of perks with their recent update to perks. Workshops don't work properly anymore. Cavalry AI has improved but still needs work. Lords still don't do a good job defending fiefs (especially newly acquired fiefs). Seems like end game needs some work just so people can even win the game.

Otherwise, if you enjoyed the play loop of Warband, this is likely a safe purchase. It's pretty much the same with some improvements in the core mechanics over Warband. The combat and battles are more fun. The clan system is interesting, as is the skill based leveling system. Looting is a tad more interesting with more diverse weapons and armor. There are more QOL features in Bannerlord as well that are nice. As far as politics goes, there's another saying that Mount & Blade is built wide but shallow. What politics is in the game is pretty simple. My advice would be to skip console versions and stick to PC. You're going to want to mod.

[Ruffio]

Originally posted by ShadowFox:

Short version its like warband but better in 90% of things but missing about 10% of old content. All in all you get a lot more out of bannerlord unless you love warband with like 6 mods in which case you might wanna wait awhile

From what I can gather... Some people enjoyed to frolic around in Warband at feasts and cite poems, and their poor little hearts did shatter when they didn't get it in Bannerlord -)

[Krayor Krelion]

Well, you have to admit that feasts made finding nobles easier. So there is some practicality to them. And Bannerlord included use of a civilian clothing set (separate from battle attire) in the inventory that kind of goes to waste by not having them. Feasts were big part of the reason I had suggested this feature long before Bannerlord came out and was very happy they included it (because swapping out of armor to mingle with the nobles was such a pain in the rear).

[Machiavelli]

Originally posted by Ruffio:

Originally posted by ShadowFox:

Short version its like warband but better in 90% of things but missing about 10% of old content. All in all you get a lot more out of bannerlord unless you love warband with like 6 mods in which case you might wanna wait awhile

From what I can gather... Some people enjoyed to frolic around in Warband at feasts and cite poems, and their poor little hearts did shatter when they didn't get it in Bannerlord -)

Snivelry

[Ruffio]

Originally posted by Krayor Krelion:

Well, you have to admit that feasts made finding nobles easier. So there is some practicality to them. And Bannerlord included use of a civilian clothing set (separate from battle attire) in the inventory that kind of goes to waste by not having them. Feasts were big part of the reason I had suggested this feature long before Bannerlord came out and was very happy they included it (because swapping out of armor to mingle with the nobles was such a pain in the rear).

Only way a feast would be reasonable, would be you arrange one in your fief and local lords/nobles who could attend would show up. Lords that at war with each other etc, give no sense what so ever to attend to such.

[Krayor Krelion]

I used feasts in Warband as a means of gathering my vassals in order to sort out stuff like fief assignments. Came in handy there. Not really applicable in Bannerlord. Constant war makes feasts unfeasible as well (it's a shame). To be frank, the constant war is kind of an issue in Bannerlord, it makes it tedious trying to manage settlements and such when you're constantly needing to battle. Game could use more peacetime just to get a breather from time to time.

[Arnie Rimsy BSc.SSc.]

Thanks guys, I'll think about it then and maybe get it soon. It'll probably be on sale for the summer sale too.

[Khergit Horse Archer]

if you love combat, and no mumbo jumbo politics, then yeah just buy the game. you will love it.