General starters guide to becoming your own King

[Rasral]

Hey well, i've noticed a few people asking this here so i figured i'd make a post explaining exactly what to do and how to do it. First, a few notes. I'm not sure if i'm allowed to post something like this on a forum but meh, it's 2am, i'm bored and if this helps just one person then my time is worth it.

I first started playing Mount & Blade back in 2008. I enjoyed it but felt it lacked..substance. Then Warband came out and i was hooked. It's the game that ive always wanted people to make. This guide will be full of typos. it might not be perfect but i hope it helps someone.

This guide is also assuming you're using the Diplomacy mod. If you don't have it, then get it on the Steam Workshop. If you're playing a Total Conversion mod like Floris or Clash of Kings then don't worry, they come with Diplomacy from the get go! Although the guide is written for Vanilla with Diplomacy, so skip the Faction section if you're using a total conversion mod.

Let's get started!


FACTIONS


Okay. So you started Warband and see all these fancy factions around the world. Awesome, i hear you think, But how do i become my OWN King? I hate following these AI douche's around! Well first things first, you can't become king all by your lonesome. Each faction has their own specialties. Their own "Best in Slot" unit's if you will.

The Nords (Blue) tend to focus heavily on Melee, especially the Huscarls. Seriously, if you're on foot and you see a Nordic Huscarl running towards you, run. It's the best chance you'll stand against one of these beasts. The Nords downside is that they have no mounted troops, like..seriously, none. Their Archers are very middle of the pack too. not amazing, but not too shoddy either.

The Swadian's (Red) have Heavy Cavalry. MASSIVE Emphesis on the "Heavy". These monster's on horses just will NOT die. In a wide open battlefield, with correct tactics, they can easily win any battle even if they are outnumbered 10-1. The Swadian downside is..well..everything else. Their Infantry is useless and their Archers can't hit the broad side of a barn.

Kingdom of Vaegirs (White). Now here we have the "rangers" of Warband. This agile faction have by far and away the BEST. The. Absolute. Best. Offensive Archers in the game. They go down fast sure, but they can shoot the wings off a fly at 50 paces without breaking a sweat. They really badly suffer in every other aspect though. In closed spaces they're basically cannon fodder, but give them a Hill to shoot from and you will find Defeat very rare to come by.

The Khergit Khanate (Purple) have probably the most annoying specialisation in the game. In Medevil times these units were called "Harassers". Horse Archers/Spear Throwers essentially. They don't do a lot of damage and they die fairly fast if you can catch up with them...But my lord are these guys annoying. If you fight enough of them it litterally feels like "Death from a thousand cuts". Each hit doing abrely any damage but theres so damn many of them it overwhelms almost any army. Like the Swadians, give these guys an open field and you're just asking for pain.

The Rhodoks (Green) are best known for their Crossbowmen. They are the polar opposite of the vaegeirs. A Rhodok Crossbowman won't do massive damage to you, but nothing (and i do mean NOTHING) penetrates his shield. he will stand fast and HOLD the line. These are the guys you want on your side during Seige defences. I've seen a team of 30 well trained Rhodok Crossbowmen repel an army of 400 Swadians. I'm not even joking. However take them away from their walls and put them in a wide open space and they'll fall just as easily as the rest of the Rhodok units.

Now...we come to the Sarranid Sultanate (Yellow). These arabian dudes are the "everyman"'s army. They have Horsemen as good as the Swadians, Archers as good as the Vaegeirs and Invantry that can give a Nordic Huscarl a run for his money. The downside to the Sarranids? Well because they are so "balanced" it's hard to have a full army made up of them. It generally doesn't work because, while they do indeed hold their own against their other Faction counterparts, they will still be beaten in a 1 on 1 fight. They're the jack of all trades of Warband.


FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC

Okay so you've read up on the Factions, you've decided which one is for you and you're now face to face with their King. Good for you! Now lick. His. Boot. When you talk to the king you can ask to "pledge your sword" or some nonsense. Suck it up and ask him. he will most likely say no, this is where said boot licking should occur.

Go to all the main Lords in the Faction, do quests for them, help them out if they're fighting anybody and make them love you. Find out who your faction is at war with and fight them yourself. Eventually you may be asked to be a "Mercenary" for the faction, if you're friends with a lord or two. Accept this and prove yourself to the King. After a while of this, you can ask him about serving him again and he should say yes. Promoting you from a Mercenary to a vassel. You'll also get a crappy little town. Woohoo, you're a somebody!

Next order of buisness is to find the Marshal. Every faction has one. This is a Vassel that has been apointed by the King to handle all the War efforts such as defending the lands and assaulting the enemies. You can beceom one yourself if you wish, but that is not the purpose of this guide. Find the Marshal and suck up to him. Follow him around, ask if he wants his shoes shined, whatever he needs do it.

Eventually he'll ask you to come with him on raids into the enemy's borders to take a castle or city. Do it. Make sure you keep talking with other lords, you want as many people as possible to think you're litterally Jesus.

This also includes enemy Lords. Keep in mind the end goal here. Screw your current faction. You want to start your own! Make sure if given the choice to capture an enemy you choose NO, unless he's part of a quest. All Capturing him does is make him VERY angry at you, and gets you a 1-3000 gold random. Not worth it in the long run

Once you have assisted in taking a city or castle you can then go around to each lord and ask "Who do you think deserves this". Chances are most will say a different Lord, or maybe even the King if they want to kiss his butt. Try convince them to give it to you. Some Kings ignore the Vassels and give the Cities/castles or whoever they damn well please, but most listen to their Lords.


REVOLUTION!

Now we come to it. You've learned everything you can learn form this King/Faction and it's time to go your own seperate ways. To part amicably, or not...

There are 2 ways to leave a King's service.Resigning and Rebellion. First, lets discuss resigning If you go to the King you can resign from his service. You will keep your men/equipment, but all towns/cities given to you in your faction will be stripped from you. Gone. Bye bye. You will still be friendly with the King and you won't be at war with anyone, but you won't even have the original town the King gave you to call home.

To rebel, you have to take a castle or a town then wait until the King gives it to someone else other than you. This can take awhile, but when it does happen you have an option to go "Wtf King I'm out!" This lets you keep EVERYTHING, but automatically puts you at War with the faction you just rebelled from.

The "best" way to leave is to make sure you have at LEAST 3-4 Castles and 2-3 Cities. Also make sure your followers are high enough level and you are well liked in your current faction. When you rebel from the king, retreat to your capital and Knight your followers into Vassels. Send a few of these with messages to your friends in different factions, I find a bribe works well here. This is why you release as many lords as you can. You want people that love you EVERYWHERE, not just in your old faction.

Convincing someone to defect from their king is tough, but if you manage to do it you get all of their cities/castles they own and their main army, which is usually quite sizable by this point. Keep in mind their relationship with the King matters too. If they LOVE their king, then even if you're best buddies they arn't gonna leave him for you. Be careful who you choose because you want the strongest Vassels ASAP.

If your Friendshjip is high enough with the King you just rebelled from, you can ask for Peace. It's unlikely he'll accept until the War has gone on a few months OR he takes a castle/city from you. From this point you should have most of your followers promoted to Vassels, your own Marshal running around and a decent chunk of capital to get started.

It's not reccomended to start your own Kingdom until you have Several hundred Reknown and a mountain of gold. Being a king is expensive work and definitely not for the faint of heart. But it's what makes this game so fun in the long run for me. The politics, the end game..it elevated Warband from a 1st/3rd person hack'n'slash to its own genre.


CONCLUSION

Well that's it. i didn't explain everything. I just thought i'd make this to help people looking on the forum. I expect it to get removed soon anyway but as i said, if it helps just one person then i've not wasted the 40 mins i spent writing it :P if you have any questions feel free to ask here or PM me.

[Elphelt's Biggest Fan]

Thank you for your assistance and thoughtfulness in making this.

[Neme]

Nice little guide you have here , It would be a shame if you never placed this into the guide section as an acuall little guide before this disapears into the sea or other posts. :)

[Barbiz]

nice guide :) i tend to have a hero with huge leadership, get the largest army i can and take the weekest castle/town i can find at lv5 or so, most my men die in the seige and coming assules till the king i took it from agrees to peace :P (this is kinda hard and i bet not for everyone).

[Mango]

how do i send trade agrements e.t.c

[the smoking mค็็็็็n]

why do you think it will be removed?
its not offensive or spam
anyway,put it in the guide section so its always around,its quite easy,and it will give you something else to do at 2am ..you can add some pictures and stuff
good job

[Chaoslink]

Yeah, theres a guide section, thats where this belongs.

[CallMeDicta]

I rebelled and left the nords but my faction is called player's supporters and I could not choose a minister. I can still make vassals but I can't appoint a marshall or minister. Does it take a while for your faction to properly form or is this a bug?

[BRO | SirDrum]

A true piece of literature. Very well written and highly satisfactory. Thanks a bunch man, I greatly appreciate the knowledge you have given me access to. <3

[Jojojay]

thank you .

[GoldieShort]

Im extremely late but Thank you! :P.. finally a guide that helps, i was wondering how to become a king without losing my current castles/cities. and now i know :) THANKS!
Lvl 22
527 renown
4 honour
57 right to rule.
That enough to start making my own kingdom?

Also the tips on faction troops are really helpfull. figured most of it out while playing but its a nice finishing touch for me :)

[Lenny]

The swadian is actually ORANGE not RED. Also in feasts there are tournaments that too help with becoming the king's ♥♥♥♥♥.

[Seamless]

So how exactly do you keep your cities after rebellion? do you need the diplomacy mod for that?

[sololeif]

Its fine, I already save it on my notepad. It will remain in me forever, so your 40 mins will never be wasted.

[Xylene]

5 years later and it's still helping people out. Thanks!

[Rasral]

Originally posted by Xylene:

5 years later and it's still helping people out. Thanks!

Yeah, god i was so young when i wrote this, lol. Im glad its still helping people out, genuinely believed Bannerlord would be out by now though :p

I read through the guide again and its still pretty accurate. one or two things id change but overall im happy enough to leave it up. It seems people are at least still finding it, although i have no idea how