Bandit Troops and Roguery Skill - from Mercenary to Lord

Want to lead underrated Bandit armies or overrated Peasant revolutions.
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Edited the guide to mostly represent strengths and weaknesses of Bandits.

I do believe they are underrated and the Roguery skill tree as well.

The Roguery skills and Bandit troops, allow for a freedom to play the game with minimal concern for having enough money.

Bandits can be hired for free and even "sold" in Towns, from 3600 Denar for 16 looters and upwards for higher tier troops.

With perks the ransom broker give 20% more for prisoners and 25% more for fancy lords and such. The Battle Loot increase in % all the time.

The Smuggler Connections make it so, that one shake down of peasants, and the Town will give a far better price for my Battle Loot.

Raiding provides all the needed resources to keep the party in the field. It gives food and horses (can give war and noble mounts) and fur and silver villages pays good. Raiding food villages can give double with a single perk.

The Seafarer Infantry are in part based on Sturgian Infantry, they get metal helmets early and javelins and can even spawn with mail armor at tier 3.

The Forest Bandits are in part strong archers, like the Battanian noble line. They wield one handed melee weapons instead of two handed melee weapons but the Bows are some of the best.

Same goes for the other bandits.

But if you do want the most elite troops then its still the cheapest way to get Bandits first and then convert them. This way it doesn't matter if the villages are empty for troops or have been raided. You can always find an area full of roaming bandits.

Get the perks from Roguery and Leadership, for faster recruitment of roaming bandits and prisoners, all without taking a hit to morale and if need be converting the Bandits to rare soldiers.

Done!

Forge your own fortune! (and documents).

The Army of Freemen!

But why you say?

Because the game at the moment is not hard, the AI leaves a lot to be desired and if you spent a little time as Smith and Trading or even Tournaments (seriously broken still in release), you can buy the best army and even buy Towns and be the Overlord of all Calradia.

Whats that you say, "but why bandits", oh I'll tell you?

Leading bandits to crush your enemies does feel good.

You still dont believe me? How about now?

Bandits, what are they good for and do we need them.

Bandits are the best resource wise and make for fine soldiers and can be upgraded into the best and most rare top tier units. You can keep the Bandits as you found them, they do a really good job but if you have the need for a top tier army, they can be upgraded either using the Leadership Perk Veteran's Respect 125 or using a Fief with a Training Field to upgrade them.

Early game Bandits can work for -50% less food from Roguery and -20% less food from Steward, the two perks are easy to get. Later on you get more perks that makes them work for little to no food. Athletics -20% less food and the Steward last perk, Scout gives -10% less food when in Forest and Steppes two of the favorite areas to hunt and hide for the Bandits.

Bandits never ask you for recruiting money, they join because they find you handsome and if they don't, knock them around with a mace and they will agree that you are the most handsome Bandit Leader.

In early game you can solo Bandits for good exp and bonus loot and convince the survivors to join you for free, saving the hiring cost and protecting you during the trading from Town to Town. Later on when you fight for a King and need to replenish the Army, you will find that its "first come, first serve", you often wont find recruits and when you do, you know they will run at the first sound of battle formations.

Bandits spawn all the time and are everywhere and they are already veteran fighters, with valuable skills and upgrade paths. Bandits can be converted to some of the best and most rare noble units

Once you have become an infamous Rogue, you can get the perk Partners in Crime and hire roaming bandits. In the end if you wish, then get the Veterans's Respect perk and convert them all into regular soldiers.

There is a third option and that is to get a Fief with a training field and then put your Bandits inside and sooner or later they will be upgraded to regular soldiers.


On this picture you see the lovely coastal areas of Vlandia, where real estate is cheap and the men for hire are plentiful. 307 Bandits are in that one screen shot, with one hideout just out of the picture and some 150+ Bandits on the other side of that mountain range and on this side of the river. The ride to and from Galend to the West Coast will make you another easy 50-70 bandits.

Post Card from the lands of the Khuzait

Not one or two nor 3 but 4 shall be the number you count to, not 5 then its too late.

This is an old video of the Merry Men perk at 275 it gave 100% chance for bandits to join you. In 1.9 the perk is now moved to only skill 150 the Partners in Crime.

Tip: As you see me struggle catching them, getting big makes me slower, so remember to get the fastest bandits first. Get the Bandits you want from the steppes and deserts, while you got the movement speed. If you want 75 % infantry bandits, and want to stay in the forest, then the Scout perk Forest Kin, removes part of the debuff of moving in forest.

Mountain Bandits

Hillmen tier 2

rocks - NO Shield - underpants = Skirmish (pin cushion)

Brigand tier 3

Javelin + Shield + can spawn armored = Skirmish Infantry

Highwayman tier 4

Horse + Javelin + Shield + Spear + 1h axe + medium armor = OP Skirmish + Spear Cavalry + Shield Wall and Siege Infantry.

They upgrade into tier 6 Vlandian Banner Knights or T5 Sergeant or T5 Voulgier or T5 Pikemen, should you choose to go that way. Pro tip Highwaymen upgrade to Banner Knight without paying for a war/noble mount. Seems like a bug but for now, its the cheapest way to get Heavy Cavalry. You can also upgrade the Brigands to Highwaymen, buying one normal mount and then into Banner Knights.

Forest Bandits

The Forest Rangers -> Battanian Noble Troops

Are really good archers not much else to say about them, oh maybe that they upgrade into the most feared unit on the battlefield, Archers are the bane of everyone in Bannerlord, when its not javelins killing you its arrows to the face..no not the knee.

Bushwhacker tier 2

Bow + double quiver + light armor
Freebooter tier 3

Bow + double quiver + light armor
Forest Bandit tier 4

Bow + double quiver + light armor (uses the Woodland Bow, oof)

They upgrade into the tier 6 Battanian Fian Champions and tier 5 Battanian Veteran Falxman

The tier 6 Battanian Fian Champions can outshoot most anyone and what ever comes near them they whack dead with a fast 2 handed sword. They are in desperate need of balance but until then let's enjoy them

Sea Farer Bandits

The Seafarer Bandits -> Sturgian Noble Troops

Deadly with their javelins and 1 hand swords/axes and at tier 4 they do get armor and large shields and become very good 1vs1 infantry.

Sea Raider tier 2

Javelin + light armor + can spawn with shield (pin cushion)

Sea Raider Warrior tier 3

Javelin + can spawn with shield + light armor = skirmish infantry

Sea Raider Chief tier 4

Axe throwing armored maniac with large shield and 1 handed axe.

The upgrade path here is special, in that they somehow all drop the Sea Raider prefix, that they have been so fond of they mention it no matter the tier and become NOBLE horse riders. They are the famous or infamous, depending on how much of their raiding and pillaging days were spent on your villages and caravans. Introducing The tier 6 Sturgian Druzhinnik Champion. (applause.. or else...)

Steppe Bandits

The Steppe Bandits -> Khuzait Noble Troops

Once you get some of them into your army you become close to invincible.

Steppe Bandit tier 2

Random hero that might or might not make it to next tier. Can spawn with a spear, then at least he is useful.

Marauder tier 3

Yes you guessed it, horse rider + spear + bow + sword + light armor = Light Spear and Bow Cavalry

Raider tier 4

Horse bow + arrows + sword + polearm + medium armor = Excellent mix of Horse Archer and Spear Cavalry.

These guys upgrade into some of my most favorite units, they just look bad ass with their black pointy helmets with a metal face. The tier 6 Khuzait Khan's Guard and the tier 5 Khuzait Heavy Lancer.

Desert Bandits

The Desert Bandits -> Aserai Noble Troops

Are also very good javelin infantry and javelin horsemen, equals to the Brigands and the Highwaymen.

Bedouin Rover tier 2

Random no named guy with a stick that is the first to die in the movies.

Nomad Bandit tier 3

Horse + spear + light armor = fast spear Cavalry

Harami tier 4

Horse + javelin + shield + medium armor = OP Skirmish + Spear Cavalry

Upgraded into the dreaded tier 5 Aserai Vanguard Faris and the tier 5 Aserai Mameluke Heavy Cavalry, arguably the most heavily armored Horse Archer.

Looters

Short section for Looters -> Empire Recruits

They are not the smartest bunch, they lack decent weapons and 1v1 skill but are useful as pincushions due to their movement speed and abundance. Their upgrade path is good, if you got the Veteran's Respect perk they can become tier 2 Imperial Infantry.


A tip to use two or more Looters as bait.
Put them in a separate unit then place them 20 meters in front of the Infantry, when the enemy start closing in make the Looters run far away to your right flank. A few or more of the enemy Infantry will waste ammo and time on the two Looters and at the same time turning their non shielded side to your Infantry and Archers. You can get a few free shots for the price of two Looters that might even make it out alive :)

Peasants, the most elite special forces of Calradia

In Calradia, three classes of peasants existed: slave, serf, and free tenant. Then a fourth arose to avenge the injustices done to them, The Avengers.



Sooooooo, lets take a look on the Peasant, as a soldier.

Pros

-Some Peasants are using the 2 handed polearm Scythe aka the early game free Berserker/Falx.
-Armed with the Scythe, that does 59 PIERCE damage good versus higher tier soldiers.
-Unarmored, means his fast and agile.
-Cost only food to have in army. Patched, its now +1 Denar in wage for Peasant.
-If the Peasant just get one hit in before he dies, its a good deal of damage done and the enemy might be dead in the next hit or two.
-The AI seems to rarely use his shield properly, giving Peasants a good chance to land a deadly hit.

Kind of pros
Have you ever noticed how well the peasant can parry you on the highest difficulty settings? I think they get so buffed up in skill to the point where the lack of armor is secondary melee, if you use them wisely they can survive for quite some time on the battlefield were they just keep pushing using their numbers and taking down a good number of enemy regular soldiers.

Enemies will usually split all missiles towards you, its safer for you and your higher tiered troops to have some fast moving targets out there dodging and sometimes catching missiles. Surprisingly we are the only target that enemy AI will hit consistently but never the Peasants or Looters. Seems we are always the most armored and the slowest and we catch most of the missiles.

The Avengers cleared the Sea Farer Hideout on realistic settings.


They got speed and agility and numbers

Cons
-Weaknesses of the Peasant, unarmored no shield and low fighting skills, they cant fight Cavalry or Archers or 1vs1 but then again they are free.

A Peasants Deadly Weapons.
Other than the Scythe Polearm Peasant, the Spear armed Peasant is capable of killing tier 3+ troops and they do good because you often have 3 spear Peasants poking one guy and as you might have experienced, it is really difficult fighting two opponents or more, as they keep attacking and can get through shields with crushing blows.

If you want, you can help the Peasants in the open field battles by riding around the AI and getting the attention of the enemies, making it easier for the peasants to get free shots on them.

The Avengers now in 1.5.10

"Where we have walked, nothing grows"


I had a solid Army of Bandits T5 and T4 but noticed my allies kept bringing recruits and low tiers to the fight, so it was my infantry in the front ranks taking the brunt of the attack and in the end some fancy pant Lords would get much of the loot because they had lighter troops that killed the wounded enemies and chased after the fleeing enemies. After a very bad battle in which I had 0 infantry standing at the end, only some of my archers were left and still fighting, we won a Pyrrhic Victory.

Now we had some good surgeon around so I kept most my infantry, they had been knocked out but it got me thinking, why are the Lords getting away with this kind of behavior and its all the factions doing it. Plus there is only a challenge in battle when the enemy outnumbers me greatly, for I am the only one with a full T5-T4 Warband later in the game. I am the only one to worry about a siege being to costly and I will be losing cavalry men. Then I decided I will not be working for a few Denars with elite T5 & T4 Bandits, no instead I bring Peasants that cost 1 Denar each and do fine and they are so good at what they do I got 27% of the loot from a Castle siege and 20% loot from two consecutive field battles.

Defeating a Sturgian Army of 657 men, netted me 2 Sturgian Lords and 83 prisoners + some random crap loot for reselling smelting. We did have greater numbers though, like 1024 men of the Northern Empire lead by the great Commander Udris Horsethief, I lead one of the Cavalry Wings.

I did play the Peasant Army last year but back then they didn't cost money and I remember it was a fun way to get fiefs for free. I didn't get to finish the game due to mods breaking my saves and irl work.

Bandit Bosses! The real power behind the bandits.

Nah just kidding, they show up at end of hideout fights and challenge you to a duel. They can be taken prisoner, if you are careful and do not kill him in the duel. They do have some good weapons and some have good armor and higher skills than other bandits. If you make them serve in your party, then everybody else can see who is the boss of bosses in the Calradia mafia family.

How to find fortune as Bandit or Mercenary

Here will be some ideas of where one can go to make gold and get some fun action.

Get the bounty money on top of the loot from the hideouts.


What is that you say, 50 Denars for a Looter!? I'll be right back!
They nerfed this by 50%.

Note: Mercenaries and men from named Mercenary Bands do not count as Bandits.

While chasing bandits to sell there is no need to do the chasing part for free.


Mercenary work is the best, no drama, no worries, it's all about the Denars.


The Caravan Ambush Mission pays both Denars and gives you the Caravan loot for helping them out.



Random Hideout Loot
Steppe Bandit Hideout


Forest Bandit Hideout

My character faction and build preferences

Faction trait for bandit

My favorite faction for a bandit or mercenary character
I make a Battanian for I want max speed. Nothing worse than looking at speed and see that the enemy has 0.1 advantage and will catch you , also easier to catch enemies and Caravans. The Battanian is the perfect bandit, with 50% less de-buff in forest, he can use it both to catch or slip away. There are a lot of forest, even a few trees count as forest, and can slow down a rich caravan for you to catch them.

Perhaps overlooked but it also saves me time getting around the map, which might not seem like much but when looking at the bigger picture or math, it amounts to days of travel time saved. Meaning I got to do more trades and more battles etc. Don't you hate being late to a great battle with only a few seconds.

On a side note: If you are being chased by a faster foe, check and see if you are overburdened or have become a herd or getting slowed by prisoners, then you can dump some cargo or prisoners or horses and gain speed, you might even consider losing wounded men or even some old footmen. Better to lose them before than after they catch you, this way there is no need to have skills or lose morale for leaving men behind to cover your retreat. This is the way!

Before you create a character know that:

Size matters

Smaller is better against missiles
I know of the idea that a larger warrior have better reach but I would argue that being able to dodge javelins and arrows with higher consistency beats that. I can even hide behind small trees if I stand with my left shoulder on the tree trunk. I tried this with a big guy, it doesn't work. When enemies hit me they often hit my weapon arm but with the big guy, they can hit my shield arm too because its sticking out and I can get hit on my big head sticking out over the top of my shield. Not to mention the many arrows I catch during sieges or fighting the KHUZAIT!


Bigger is better for duels
One downside to a small character is in melee fights against larger opponents, they will have reach that you can negate by getting closer or having a weapon with greater reach but if you do get hit then its very likely to be a hit to the head, no matter if the swing came from top or left or right, because of the height difference of the smallest character to the larger character, the target area will be your head.

You can plan accordingly when choosing a character, do you fear death from javelins or swords and axes. I plan on keeping my character just small enough to dodge javelins but not so small he gets his nose bloodied every time he runs into a bandits knee.

Image is everything
- and next comes speed, I think speed is the most important thing in Bannerlord.
I try to get all the running speed and hit point and extra armor perks, I want max running speed and effective hp, so I can take active part in large scale battles. Running speed increases with skills but decreases with the extra armor I get.

Big damage numbers are good for fighting dragons.
Doing extra damage perks are not worth it imo, if the trade off is movement speed or armor. I can't get armor that will decrease damage to 0 or increase my running speed with some magic potion in late game but for damage dealing the skill level and good weapons can easily one shot soldiers, sometimes sending them flying.

Companions and Party Leader
Scout - 175 or 225 and 275 for Uncanny Insight if party leader is scout.
Steward - 275 Price of Loyalty
Medicine - 225 Cheat Death for Heroes - 275 is personal ;(
Engineer - 275 Masterwork. + 225 Metallurgy for party leader - if you want it.
Smith - 275 Legendary Smith - can get all companions to 150 or 225 for the attribute points.


After a few hours total training in the Arena. I got the Crossbow skill Piercer for the 20% discount on hiring archers, while also making lots of money. I like to relax and practice in there, so its just a bonus that I also get skills and Denar.



Some of the point are from cleaning out a forest bandit hideout. Looted a bow during the fight, from the first bandit and then later a better one from a second bandit.

My gear preferences

Statistically Bandits are more likely to be killed with their own weapons. - Calradia Ncyclopedia News - CNN

The Hideouts provide you with all the needed gear to clear them, you can use the first guys weapon if its better than yours and they often are in the early game. The javelin drops are crazy good, the 1h axes they drop are very good and if you have trained bow skill with the cheap hunting bow, (shooting the looters), then you can pick up the Longbow from a dead Forest Bandit. Same bow that is also used by the Fian.

Tournaments are another good way to get some armor and weapons and pick up some skills. Look for a Golden Helmet next to a Town name indicating there is a Tournament. If you arrive at night time you will need to wait until morning to join.

Once I can afford to marry then I find a suitable wife. That happens to have the weapons and armor I need but mostly the weapons. Like the One Handed Engraved Backsword, it counts as a civilian weapon and can be used both in battle and town fights. For a one handed, it does 103 cut damage and have plus against shields, much like an axe and the falx.

Gear
Most important piece of gear is your Helmet!

You just cant afford to get hit or shot in the face without a Helmet of some kind, it will end you.

Besides a Helmet, starting gear is really most about having a horse in Calradia, then a Lance/Glaive if you find one cheap and a cheap bow and some arrows and you are set to go. Remember for taking down infantry with lance without risking getting hit in return, the lance/spear need to be 190 reach or more. The starter spears are typically only 170 and combined with the Old Sumpter Horse, you are in a world of hurt against the Looters.

Bow and Crossbow skill is fine even at very low level for the job I do and the same goes for Horse and Polearm skill, so I do not put many points there. You can use the Light Crossbow with 1 skill, headshot is one shot kill and torso are two shots.

With the new positive stats that battle loot can have, all my gear and companions are from battle loot. I got a Lordly Coat Armor with better stats than a similar body armor selling for over 400.000 Denar. Many of my weapons are Masterwork or Balanced versions.

So with the new improvements to drops, hideout loot has become even more worthwhile.

The Forest Bandits drop bows and can even get lucky and find a longbow. If you want to buy a cheap starter bow then, The Nordic Bow is one of the cheapest good bows you find in Sturgian Towns.

The Light Crossbow is an excellent weapon from start until end game. Very easy to find in Vlandia and Empire Towns.

The One Handed Bearded Axe, drops from both Forest and Mountain Bandits and the Veteran Axe from Sea Farer Hideouts.

Javelins drop from Mountain and Sea Farer Bandits and Hideouts, and even cheap ones are good.
I feel that the javelins with perk upgrades are VERY FUN one hit kills and seeing rag dolls flying.

I used to play 1h and shield but with the new armor changes to damage from missiles. I have had plenty fun with 2H weapons and swing able polearm, like the Battania Rhompaia and the shorter Glaive from the Khuzait.

These days I level with 2H Axe, since it can one shot and often hit 2 or 3 targets, its skills up faster than one handed. Once at 175 I get the +5 perk to party size and it also gives extra morale to my low tier troops, every time I kill enemies.

The 2H Hammer is also a good choice.


I also level bow to at least 100 for Merry Men perk +5, and sometimes for the perk Skirmish Phase Master, that gives 10% less damage taken from missiles. It goes fine with 2h weapon use.

In the end you can choose the weapons you like to play with, there is no absolute in Bannerlord.

Faction Cultural Effects

Aserai

[Pro] Caravans are 30% cheaper to build. 10% less trade penalty.
[Pro] No speed penalty in deserts.
[Con] Daily wages of troops in the party are increased by 5%.

Battania

[Pro] 50% less speed penalty and 15% sight range bonus in forests.
[Pro] Towns owned by Battanian rulers have +1 militia production.
[Con] 10% slower build rate for town projects in settlements.

Empire

[Pro] 20% less garrison troop wages.
[Pro] Being in an army brings 25% more influence.
[Con] Village hearths increase 20% less.

Khuzait

[Pro] Recruiting and upgrading mounted troops is 10% cheaper.
[Pro] 25% production bonus to horses, mules, cows and sheep in villages owned by Khuzait rulers.
[Con] 20% less tax income from towns.

Sturgia

[Pro] Recruiting and upgrading infantry troops is 25% cheaper.
[Pro] Armies lose 20% less daily cohesion.
[Con] 20% more relationship penalty from kingdom decisions.

Vlandia

[Pro] 5% more renown from battles. 15% more income while serving as a mercenary.
[Pro] 10% production bonus to villages that are bound to castles.
[Con] Recruiting lords to armies costs 20% more influence.

Perks for Alternative Lifestyle

Once you are ready to form Armies to get the Perks, farm the Hideouts in Khuzait and Aserai they got many Peasants and then use the freed Peasants to form Armies with your Companions, the Peasants are plentiful and only cost 1 Denar wage. While you do Hideout there is no need for higher tiers and movement speed is not so important.

Using the Companions Peasants and Recruits as support.

We defended a Castle against 800 men with support from one ally and took another Castle, then defeated a 600 man Army.


If you play on very easy, there is no need for much of anything, you can choose the perks you feel like. It is only with the realistic damage and the challenging AI settings, that you might find these perks to gather new bandit troops after hard fights valuable but then again in Calradia as a bandit you can choose when to fight and when to look for prey.

Roguery perks

Roguery Perks.

For early game raising and maintaining a Bandit Army has become very easy and cheap. Here are my choices of early and mid tier perks to make life easier. Doing a Prison Break in a neutral Town will get you a lot of skill points.

No rest for the Wicked 25
Bandit units in your party gain xp 20% faster. Really good and you get it so early.

Faster raiding 5%. Yeah well not so much to say about that.

Two Faced 50
50% Better chance of success with disguise missions. Must have for prison break jobs

Convert Bandit prisoners without suffering morale penalty.
The most important one to get, after you have this then you can pick and choose what to get next. Otherwise you suffer -2 morale penalty for every Bandit prisoner you hire

Promises at 100
Bandit units in your party consume 50% less food. And the Prisoners no longer eat food
This is so good but you might not realize it at first because its just food, it saves a lot of the expensive extra food you get for morale bonus or reselling.

Bandit prisoners can be recruited to party 30% faster. Good but a bit late at 100 skill.

Slave Trader
20% better deals with ransom broker for regular troops. Increase prisoner limit by 20%
Really good for getting some extra cash or if you want to farm millions first. Then stack the money makers. More perks like this up a head. Can respec later for peanuts.

Scarface at 125
30% higher chance of enemy surrender* (bandits, villagers, caravans).
The chance for surrender is good for villagers and tiny bandits, but rarely will you meet the criteria for caravans to surrender.

Partners in Crime at 150
Bandit parties always offer to join you. This is really like the old Merry Men at skill 275 = 100% chance of bandits joining my party, its really good. Be aware that this does not work if you are solo and trying to convince them to join you. They are not stupid, they will rob you and take you prisoner.

Smuggler Connections
Increases civilian body armor +10 AND any amount of criminal rating gives you 50% less trade penalty.
This is so good. Hustle some villagers outside a Town for what they got on them, WITHOUT attacking them. This will give you -1 or so criminal rating, then go into Town and get 50 less trade penalty on your battle loot, including noble horses and banners.
I cant believe it. The two best perks at 150. I wonder if they meant for it to be a negative for us as criminals and not make more money? Better hope TW dont realize what they have done :)

Ransom Broker
Hero prisoner gives 25% better deal from ransom broker
Hero prisoners are 30% less likely to escape
Sell Lords at luxury prices
More money, what to do with all the money, where can we hide it /shrug

Arms Dealer at 225
20% decrease in sell price for penalty for weapons.
This is very good, because now we get weapons with good modifiers too and they sell for extra cash already. This can stack with the smuggler connections.

Dash and Slash at 250
Increase speed bonus effect to damage by 50% while on foot
If you are playing with 2 hander for prison breaks, then running and stabbing them will do more damage

Fleet Footed at 250
Escape chance from mobile prison increased.
Should Llady luck not like you and let you get caught. Don't worry things can be replaced, new bandits can be hired and all can be won back. And with fleet footed it means you escape in about two seconds. Did they really catch you or did you just let them catch you so you could start over again making millions.

Rogue Extraordinaire at 275
Increase loot amount by 1% for every skill point over 200
I haven't gotten to it in release legally. So I reserve judgement.
From what I hear, it only affect trade goods.


Info from Bannerlordperks site on the last Roguery skill

Leadership perks

Leadership Perks

The Leadership perks has also seen an extreme buff and are now very good, just takes some time to get them so it might be better to get them later.

Fervent Attacker at 50
Additional 4 morale at the beginning of the battle, when you are attacking.
Increase the rate of recruiting tier 1-3 prisoners by 50%.
or
Stout Defender at 50
Additional 8 morale at the beginning of the battle when you are defending.
Increase the rate of recruiting tier 4-6 prisoners by 50%.

Heroic Leader at 75
+1 town loyalty per day.
Troops in your formation cause 10% more morale penalty, when they kill an enemy.

Loyalty and Honor at 100
Tier 3+ troops under your command ignore retreat due to low morale.
Convert non-bandit prisoners 30% faster.

Presence at 125
Increase +5 security in a town per day while waiting.
Remove morale penalty for recruiting prisoners of your faction.

Veterans's Respect at 150
Increase garrison size by 20.
You are able to convert bandits into regular troops.

Lead by example 200
Increase the rate of recruiting melee prisoners by %50.
Cavalry troops generate 10% more shared experience.

Trusted Commander at 225
Increase the rate of recruiting ranged prisoners by %50.
Troop experience gain while fighting in simulated battles are increased by 20%.

Steward perk

Steward Perks

Keeping morale high and saving on food is good early on and getting some exp on top.
Tbh the names of the perks are enough reason to pick them.

Spartan at 25
Party consumes 10% less food.
No morale penalty from having a single type of food.

Seven Veterans at 50
Tier 4+ troops gain +4 daily xp.
+1 militia per day.
or
Drill Sergeant at 50
All troops gain +2 daily xp.
Garrison wages are 5% less.

Stiff Upper Lip at 75
Reduce food consumption while in an army by 10%.
Garrison wages are decreased by 20% for castles.
or
Sweatshops at 75
Siege engines are built 20% faster.
Workshops owned by you have 20% increased production.

Efficient Campaigner at 100
Troop wages are decreased by 15% while in an army.

Giving Hands at 125 (1.6.0.)
Discarded weapons can be donated to troops for increased experience.
(This perk allows "equipment donation", which distributes 50% of the value of discarded inventory items as XP among your troops, if you have this perk. It works for all items, not just weapons, and does not stack with Paid in Promise). Source Bannerlordperks

Aid Corps at 150
Do not pay wages for wounded soldiers.
Increase village hearth growth rate by 20%.

Trade skill perks

Appraiser at 25
15% decrease in sell price penalty for equipment.

Medicine perk

Well the last perk Minister of Health at 275 beats everything else on the entire skill tree. If you want it get it and don't worry about what you might not be able to get, because you put 7 or 10 attribute points in Medicine.

Engineering perk

Engineering Perks

Getting Engineering used to require studies of Art of War and Tactics and become a mathematical genius, become a member of the secret Mason society etc etc. Today all you need is start a siege and you get points, build siege engines and shoot troops with them, you get lots of skills points.

Metallurgy at 225
Looted items are very unlikely to get negative modifiers.
According to one old post from 1.7.0 (Bannerlordperks) it meant 80% less chance. I tested it in release and so far so good. I cant attest to the numbers because I don't know the real number behind it. But all my Companions are using battlefield loot. I got so many Masterwork weapons and Lordly Armor.

Second part of the Metallurgy perk
Troops under the formation you control have their armor values increased by +5.
A very nice buff to bandits, that often have very low armor. Although low armor is a good thing for leveling Medicine and bandits can be replaced faster than you get food at the drive inn.

Sieges can be costly, but replenishing Bandit Armies with trained troops are so easy, it takes all but a few minutes of roaming outside a Hideout. Compared to recruiting normal troops and its a win win.

WiP Troops that punch above their pay

Troops that are so good already at lower tier, they need not be upgraded for the longest time. Not to be confused with the best fighters from the elite tier, but troops that can work for half the pay and work close or equally to one tier above. Saving money in one army can create two armies.

I ended up making a separate guide for these troops.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2890531096

Updates & Info, Twitch, YT and Mods

Discord: https://discord.gg/D3RJ6nYt
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/agroplode
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCml3nHYQkaluIbWYdT54GNg?

Year 2023


Year 2022

Update 09-11-2022
Have been cleaning the guide for outdated stuff and added a few bit of new information.

Update 30-10-2022
Getting elite troops have never been easier. They can be picked up at villages connected to castles. And leveling up Roguery is broken again, this time because Lord prisoners are not put inside prisons. Prison Breaks was the best way to get lots of skill points.

There is now some good bandits mods out. I will try the Fourberie mod, that is both on Steam Workshop and Nexus mods page.

----
Update 2022
Just installed the game a few days ago to see where it is at, with the release date so close. If I find it fun or just want to spend some time experimenting, I will update the guide and remove outdated parts.

Year 2021

All test and videos are done on hardest settings, not that I prefer to play at these setting but I find little meaning in testing on easy, when it's well easy :)

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2089424613

July 21 2021
Did the old Vikings aka Sea Raiders wear helmets and why.
https://youtu.be/pD-f45TbvEw

June 25 2021
Testing patch 1.6.0 for some days now and while Roguery has become easier to level it is still no where near a good place and Noble troops can now be in plenty of the Castles Villages. So if you play 1.6.0 and only want the Noble troops drop Roguery and spend the points for something more useful. Best skills so far, Trade and Smith (still good) Stewardship and Leadership and Charm.

My next character will be a Medicine Man, the last perk Minister of Health gives troop extra hit points. +1 hp for every 2 pts above 200. Perfect for my Peasant Armies 🧙‍♂️

June 11 2021
Reading the patch notes for 1.6.0


June 9 2021
I have tried to remix my guide to show the bandit and converting them part on top and the pure bandit and peasant army part later, for anyone interested, It was not originally written this way, for me it is more confusing now. My thinking is though that most people don't want to play with bandits and peasants and want the strongest elite army.

May 23 2021
Edited the Guide and added some short videos of test done on 1.5.9 and 1.5.10 videos range from 5 sec to 28 sec to 1 min to 8 min?

Updated the Peasant info and the missions that give easy gold.

Update: May 20 2021
Trying to figure out how to edit videos in order to keep the info stuff in and all the boring (running part) out. Trim and Split sounds easy but when you are an old guy born during the Bronze Age and the Sea Peoples invasions, then it's not so easy.


1.5.10

Update: 9 May 2021
A year has gone and hope everyone had some good times and are happy.
I have started playing Bandit again and testing the new Roguery Perks viability, for now it looks good. Will be updating this guide a little at the time, as I find new things.

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Year 2020 oof
1.4.1
Update: 25 May 2020
Found a mod today on Nexus will test it, in the meantime I link it here if anyone else is interested in testing it. The mod makes it possible to hire bandits directly from hideouts.
https://www.nexusmods.com/mountandblade2bannerlord/mods/1612
Banditry[www.nexusmods.com]

TW seems to have broken a few things, there is constant war and my faction voted unanimously to declare war against everyone!
Melee attack speed seems very broken after near max levels, units attack so fast its crazy and dont even try to go near a Lord or any unit that has 250+ in weapon skill.

Update: 15 May 2020
Patch notes: Fixed a problem where it was not possible to select newly changed perks in older save files.

YEAH 1.4.0

Update 14 May 2020
Guys if you dont have time to level a new character and tired of the old buggy savegame, get the mod for character trainer, from Nexus and you can export your old guy and import him to a new game.
https://www.nexusmods.com/mountandblade2bannerlord/mods/16
Character Export Import[www.nexusmods.com]

Update 13 May 2020
Looking at Steam guides there was an old guide (video) with name very similar to my guide. "How to get..." so seeing as his guide was over 20 days older than mine, I changed the name.

Update 12 May 2020
Get the mod from Community Patch, this fixes all the Roguery Perks and makes this Build Complete, I just tested it and there is no way TW will not balance this in the future, so get it before and steamroll Calradia
https://www.nexusmods.com/mountandblade2bannerlord/mods/186
Community Patch[www.nexusmods.com]
https://youtu.be/FMtNUx2VSf4

Update 9 May 2020
I decided to cut down of the guide info, I dont have time to update all the sections anymore. I got to start work when they let us out and I have to spend my time fixing irl broken stuff. My work car wont start and it got a flat tire, its been sitting idle for almost 2 months now.

No fix for troops on keys 5-6-7 spawning in the middle of camp! They also spawn in the middle of battle field if you attack near a village.

No luck recruiting tier 5+ from prisoners. Perhaps TW dont want it to be possible, since there has not been a fix for this.
Recruitable[www.nexusmods.com]

05-05-2020: Steams says "400 hrs on record" "we dont play games"
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Trade
Seems to have been balanced and its no longer possible to get rich from selling to Caravans and Villages. But still way to easy to get rich quick and beat the game.

Exping troops
Since long past, the looters used to train new recruit with auto calculated battles have been balanced so its no longer useful. Since looters now will kill veterans soldiers and thus nullify the tier ups you might have gotten from the encounter.

Magic
Still works when fighting the simple minded bandits and you can still hide behind a tree and clean out the place with blunt arrows.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lPJ9J-6vDw

[Agroplode]

Updated for release :)

[Agroplode]

Might make a new guide for 2021. Played a few days of 1.5.9 and 1.5.10 and it seems okay fun play bandit again. Waiting for some mods to be updated, like party panel manager and unlimited units/prisoners and a few others.

[Agroplode]

Patch 1.5.6

Seems they might have buffed gaining experience for Roguery Perks but the rework made the line quite unfun. No more Merry Men

"Hostile actions against caravans and villagers (Force them to give supplies, taking them prisoner, attacking them) now give Roguery experience.

Recruiting bandits now gives Roguery experience."

[Agroplode]

New Video up, showing Merry Men functioning with 1.4 and the Community Patch <3

[Agroplode]

GREAT NEWS TODAY 12 MAY 2020,

THE COMMUNITY PATCH ON NEXUS MODS FIXES THE PERKS, MERRY MEN NOW WORKS
GET THE MOD HERE:
https://www.nexusmods.com/mountandblade2bannerlord/mods/186

[Agroplode]

100% agree

[Hans.]

If you have the money for it, an army of nothing but Azerai Vanguard Faris and Heavy Cavalry is very fun.

[DandyCheung]

cool

[Agroplode]

You reminded me that I sometimes give Maces to all Companions and blunt Tournaments arrows, to collect a few extra prisoners.

[Midknight22]

Not used bandits a whole lot till i read this but they are actually far more viable than i thought, though they are worth more as prisoners at times, especially when you want to donate them for influence, but the forest boys and cav are well worth a recruit from what little i've tried.