Companions..

[High chief Kieran]

i have no idea if this works but considering roguery increases with recruiting and leading bandit troops and raiding caravans i would assume they can increase it when you have them form a party? they could potentially recruit bandits that they capture and they could raid caravans.

 

[Nikomakkos]

Right now I can only have 3 companions and no more. How can I increase that?

 

[High chief Kieran]

Right now I can only have 3 companions and no more. How can I increase that?

increase you clan rank,
for the first rank do the quest (get 50 prestige, 1 companion, 2000 gold)
after that you increase by getting more prestige. on the campaign map press the L key, at the top right there should be a bar that shows you how much you need for the next rank

 

[Tsewe]

Yes, this is the impression I get as well. Almost all exclusively Sturgians and with samey *I was forced into being a mercenary* backstories, but they work.

One trick is to click on the name of the companion while interviewing them in the tavern before paying to recruit so you can see their skills from the encyclopedia, but I feel like their nicknames should give greater clarity as to their skills. I still have only found fighters, rogues, tacticians, scouts and healers though - no engineers, smiths or traders.

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one to have noticed the Sturgian favortism here haha
Interesting trick you got there. I feel like there are so many small options like this one that are very well hidden in the game. Like not obvious/intuitive.
Anyway, haven't found any scout yet, nor tactician.

Is there a limit to how many companions you can have? I used to have around 10 in Warband, but i seems I cannot have more than 4 (my party limit is around 50).

*EDIT: oh the post above seems to address this question already, thanks.

 

[raidersdie]

I feel I should already know this, but how do you gain more prestige?

I am winning battles left and right, but my prestige doesn't seem to go up by much.

 

[High chief Kieran]

I feel I should already know this, but how do you gain more prestige?

I am winning battles left and right, but my prestige doesn't seem to go up by much.

win battles the bigger the battle the more prestige, it gives much more prestiege from battles in which you are outnumbered.
winning tournaments gives you 3 prestige per tournament

 

[Brave_Lung]

I think the companions AI is a little bit weak. They barely hit something on horse. It takes ages for them to kill 5 looters even with good skills and gear.

 

[raidersdie]

I think the companions AI is a little bit weak. They barely hit something on horse. It takes ages for them to kill 5 looters even with good skills and gear.

I know what you mean. I really miss Warband companions. AI wasn't the greatest, but I could always sick Matheld or Bunduk on the enemy and knew that they will get the job done. Also, since they actually had their likes and dislikes and usually commented on them, they felt more alive.

In comparison even the game itself admits these are generic companions in Bannerlord.

win battles the bigger the battle the more prestige, it gives much more prestige from battles in which you are outnumbered.
winning tournaments gives you 3 prestige per tournament

Well, that explains it. I don't like tournaments so I rarely do them and I never fight when I am outnumbered.

 

[Shemet]

Has anyone found a companion with engineering skill? And is rougery a party skill? There doesn't seem to be a clan role for rougery.

Try finding Companions with titles like "The Black", "Longknife", "The Accursed", "The Robber". These types of companions have 60 Rougery, sufficient enough for sending them to quest, etc.

 

[MountainBladesMan]

Try finding Companions with titles like "The Black", "Longknife", "The Accursed", "The Robber". These types of companions have 60 Rougery, sufficient enough for sending them to quest, etc.

Again, I know there are companions with rougery, but I was asking whether the skill is considered a party skill. There is no role for rougery in the clan menu, which leads me to believe it is not.

 

[raidersdie]

There should have been more roles in clan menu.

 

[Robbie_RGJ]

Has anyone found a companion with engineering skill? And is rougery a party skill? There doesn't seem to be a clan role for rougery.

I think the roguery skill companions are going to be useful later once the whole "gangs and crime" thing starts to actually work. In some dev blogs and teasers they said YOU could take over a criminal underworld in a city and appoint a companion to lead it when you left the city. I imagine that like having someone with high steward be your governor, having someone with high roguery will increase profits from your criminal enterprises.

 

[Shemet]

Again, I know there are companions with rougery, but I was asking whether the skill is considered a party skill. There is no role for rougery in the clan menu, which leads me to believe it is not.

Hmm from what I see in the character skill sheet, the skill seems a personal skill but has certain effects with the party like raiding caravans infilitrate towns, bribes and escaping captivity.

 

[High chief Kieran]

I do not think it is a party skills, it might be usefull if you make a

Again, I know there are companions with rougery, but I was asking whether the skill is considered a party skill. There is no role for rougery in the clan menu, which leads me to believe it is not.

i think it is a personal skill but it might be usefull for companions who are becomming a leader of a party when they are raiding a caravan or when they lose a battle to escape capture.

 

[Tarasb]

My suggestions for how the companion system can be added to/reworked/modded:

1: Add loyalty system to companions
It would be very cool to be able to raise and lower your relation with companions in the same way that you could in warband. You would raise/lower your relation with them by doing things they agree/disagree with: too low of a relation would result in them leaving your party while raising relations would open up new functionality. I envision it is that companions start out as being nothing more than extra soldiers that you can outfit. We can call this loyalty level 1. Then by raising relations with them, you can raise their loyalty level with you and unlock more abilities. Here's a rough draft of what the bonuses could look like:

Loyalty Level 1: Companion join party
Loyalty Level 2: Companion unlocks ability to lead caravans, execute quests, and take on party roles
Loyalty Level 3: Companions can become vassals and governors and lead their own parties
Loyalty Level 4: Player can switch between this companion and himself during battles. This would allow the player to take over as this companion in the event that they are downed on the battlefield.
Loyalty Level 5: Companion's Party Leader perks are transferred to the player while they are in the party. Companion can succeed the player's clan role in the event of their death.

2: Add unique characters with unique backstories, skills, and quest-lines.
I understand that unique characters wouldn't work too well given the aging mechanic and perma-death but perhaps this could be used in a mod. I would love to have all of the companions have a rich and unique background which the player can explore over time. If paired with the loyalty system outlined above, raising a companion to the next loyalty level would unlock a new quest associated with that character's backstory and in turn help the player gain relation with the companion even further. This could definitely help remove some of the grind aspect in the early game as you would complete meaningful unique quests which benefit you rather than fight bandits non-stop and complete cookie-cutter quests.

3: Add different ways to find companions other than taverns.
It feels disingenuous to hire all of your companions as mercenaries in taverns. It would be great to spice it up a little. For instance, you could randomly find a companion as a prisoners in a bandit party. If you defeat the bandits, the companion can join you. Similarly, maybe a companion starts off as an outlaw in a group of bandits. The player could then defeat the group, capture the companion, and then convince them to join the player's party. Another idea is to have some companions join you when you remove a gang from a town or take on a certain type of quests. This would add a little spontaneity to the way that companions are found. The way that you find them can also be tied with their backstory/skills.

 

[paladinx333]

Why are they all so debt ridden? The are all like "I need 2k denars to settle some debts." How did they manage to get into so much debt? Is that their bar tab?

???

 

[qmax]

The biggest issues with companions are that they seem completely premade and you can't change their focus to something else. That actually means using the term "focus" is wrong. I did find one with engineering skill but it was not in their story.

 

[Borretsch]

Co

My suggestions for how the companion system can be added to/reworked/modded:

1: Add loyalty system to companions
It would be very cool to be able to raise and lower your relation with companions in the same way that you could in warband. You would raise/lower your relation with them by doing things they agree/disagree with: too low of a relation would result in them leaving your party while raising relations would open up new functionality. I envision it is that companions start out as being nothing more than extra soldiers that you can outfit. We can call this loyalty level 1. Then by raising relations with them, you can raise their loyalty level with you and unlock more abilities. Here's a rough draft of what the bonuses could look like:

Loyalty Level 1: Companion join party
Loyalty Level 2: Companion unlocks ability to lead caravans, execute quests, and take on party roles
Loyalty Level 3: Companions can become vassals and governors and lead their own parties
Loyalty Level 4: Player can switch between this companion and himself during battles. This would allow the player to take over as this companion in the event that they are downed on the battlefield.
Loyalty Level 5: Companion's Party Leader perks are transferred to the player while they are in the party. Companion can succeed the player's clan role in the event of their death.

2: Add unique characters with unique backstories, skills, and quest-lines.
I understand that unique characters wouldn't work too well given the aging mechanic and perma-death but perhaps this could be used in a mod. I would love to have all of the companions have a rich and unique background which the player can explore over time. If paired with the loyalty system outlined above, raising a companion to the next loyalty level would unlock a new quest associated with that character's backstory and in turn help the player gain relation with the companion even further. This could definitely help remove some of the grind aspect in the early game as you would complete meaningful unique quests which benefit you rather than fight bandits non-stop and complete cookie-cutter quests.

3: Add different ways to find companions other than taverns.
It feels disingenuous to hire all of your companions as mercenaries in taverns. It would be great to spice it up a little. For instance, you could randomly find a companion as a prisoners in a bandit party. If you defeat the bandits, the companion can join you. Similarly, maybe a companion starts off as an outlaw in a group of bandits. The player could then defeat the group, capture the companion, and then convince them to join the player's party. Another idea is to have some companions join you when you remove a gang from a town or take on a certain type of quests. This would add a little spontaneity to the way that companions are found. The way that you find them can also be tied with their backstory/skills.

I toally agree, but want to add to 3: Companions that are connected to the relation of a particular faction or minor faction.(like in the Last das mod)

That the player can sometimes recrute a companion from the family feud quest is a step in the right direction.
And for more inspirations Taleworlds can look at Kenshi or Elex to make a better companion sytem.

 

[Slyde]

I never really like the way you recruited Companions in Warband and Bannerlord. It was just so simple, find any companion talk to them, pay whatever sum they asked for and done, you have companion now.

If I remember correctly, in the original Mount and Blade (not warband), Borcha was actually a prisoner in one of the castle dungeons and if you talk to him he tells you he was wrongfully imprisoned and asks for your help. If you convince the lord to let him go, Borcha becomes your companion.
Marnid is a random guy who has 5 bucks to his name, no weapons or armour and asks you to help him. If you do he too becomes your companion.

I loved that and added to the immersion, instead of magically looking at encyclopedia that knows where everyone is 24-7 and knows what skill/traits they have without even meeting them or talking to them first.

 

[Because]

May seem obvious, but there are mods that let you change quite a bit about companions
My favourite if the below that lets you respec companions

Character Export Import

Export/Import character to modify attributes, skills, and perks from text file

www.nexusmods.com

Doesn't let you reduce skills but does let you make other adjustments and I have found to be an excellent utility especially if you don't want to keep restarting a new campaign to get a decent number of wanderers with a good range of skills. Especially good for adding focus points to main skills that otherwise would never advance. Especially as I believe the average companion comes with 8 less focus points than a player would of the same level.
You can adjust their appearance (and I believe gender) too with

Detailed Character Creation

Enables detailed character customization options, such as weight, build, and age and the ability to modify NPC appearances!

www.nexusmods.com

Lastly there are also plenty of tweak mods that let you adjust no of companions allowed such as

Bannerlord Tweaks

A collection of tweaks that seek to improve the balance and reduce grind in Bannerlord. Everything is configurable through the in-game options menu and can be disabled if you don't like it.

www.nexusmods.com

These don't address the lack of character or indeed number available in the world, but they do let you design them to fit whatever character concept their background indicates or that you want to make up for them and I find helps to make a bit more of a connection with them.