In a game of constant war and strategy, such as Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord, the need for mercenaries is inevitable.
Mercenaries have been renowned in history to have been able to turn around the balance of war and give even the smallest kingdom a chance if enough money was paid.
Recommended Read: How to Increase Leadership in Bannerlord
In Bannerlord, there are two types of mercenaries one can hire. They can either get mercenary troops to join their party or hire already-established armies to work for their kingdom.
To make it easier for the normal player, we will explain exactly how you can hire mercenaries in Bannerlord and make you understand everything there is to know about them.
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Hire Mercenaries in Bannerlord
There are two types of mercenaries players can hire in Bannerlord:
- Mercenary troops
- Minor clans
Both of these are useful depending on the point in the game you might find yourself. If you need quick and decent troops for your army, get the mercenaries. If you are a king in an all-out war, hire a minor clan.
Mercenary Troops
Mercenary troops in Bannerlord used to be embarrassingly bad, as either infantry, cavalry, or archer troops, compared to the normal soldiers from the various factions.
However, they are now renewed, and they are a decent choice for your army, especially considering their high costs.
As compared to normal troops, a mercenary unit will cost 50% more than a normal troop (e.g., a Tier 4 normal troops wage is 8, meanwhile a Tier 4 mercenary gets 12). This debuff can be fixed with a perk that reduces mercenary costs, though.
Though their costs are relatively high, they can now make a huge difference on the battlefield. There are three mercenary troops trees from which you can hire in Bannerlord now:
- Western Mercenaries
- Eastern Mercenaries
- Sword Sisters
The Western Mercenaries are either really good pikemen or crossbowmen. They remind us of the Rhodoks of Warband.
The Eastern Mercenaries are similar to the Aserai, but their Tier 5 troops are a horse archer with a couchable lance and a two-handed mace user.
The Sword Sisters are exactly what they sound like: women with swords. Their best troops are crossbow-wielding sisters, either on foot or horseback.
To hire mercenaries such as the Sword Sisters in Bannerlord, all you need to do is visit a tavern in any town.
It seems that they are mostly region-based, so you will probably find the Western Mercenaries on the western side of Calradia, and the Eastern Mercenaries in the east, with the Sword Sisters sometimes randomly appearing in between.
Minor Mercenary Clans
These guys are either an amazing way to train your troops for independent parties or good helpers in hard wars.
Once you have established your kingdom or have managed to take the reins of another, you will realize that fighting on many fronts at the same time can be really hard.
If you don’t have enough vassals or need more and don’t have time to woo some random nobles, here is how you can hire mercenaries from the minor clans in Bannerlord:
You first need to find a mercenary minor clan that is either close or that you personally prefer. To find a clan, press N on the keyboard to open the Encyclopedia and go to Clans.
In the top left corner, tick the Minor box, and all the minor clans will appear on the right side of the Encyclopedia menu.
Click on any clan and then select their leader. You will see in the upper right corner their last known location. If the location is unknown, enter a settlement and then check again.
To hire the mercenary minor clan for your wars, you will need to personally find and talk to their leader (if this sounds like a lot of effort, you can always get a mod that allows you to talk to faraway lords).
Once you find the leader of the clan, talk to them and select “There is something I’d like to discuss”, followed by “I would like you to serve *Kingdom Name* as mercenary”.
Now, there are two things that can happen when you start this conversation. They can either just say that they don’t trust you (if relations are bad), or they will offer a price for their services.
The way mercenary clans are paid in Bannerlord is pretty interesting. The mercenaries get paid per influence gained.
This means that for every battle they take part in, they will get a set amount of money per influence gained. This can quickly lead to your kingdom’s bankruptcy if you don’t have a lot of money.
They will now work as any normal clan in Bannerlord, but they won’t have any of the benefits that come with being a vassal.
They can’t get any fiefs, and they can’t vote on anything, but they will fight in every fight they can with your enemy kingdoms and gain a lot of money doing so.
Mercenary minor clans are the best thing you can use when you’ve just started a kingdom, as they have really good troops, they usually have 4 parties, and all of them have around 100 troops.
They will not only protect you if you are attacked, but they will also keep some factions from attacking you since you won’t be as weak as they would like you to be.
That’s everything you need to know about how to hire mercenaries in Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord!
Have any input or suggestions for this guide? Let us know in the comment section below.
