Early game woes

[Kozenger]

Let me preface this by saying I don't 'suck' at Mount and Blade. I've put hundreds of hours into the game. I've played native, Gekokujo, Tocan's Calradia, 1257AD, Floris and a couple others. Done pretty much everything there is to do in Mount and Blade. I also play with full damage to myself and my allies as well as the best combat AI.

I'm aware that Prophesy of Pendor is designed to be for advanced players. My complaints don't have to do with the difficulty but more to do with the lack of tools in the early game. Part of the problem is native Warband and how the game is set up, though it's exacerbated greatly with Prophesy of Pendor. More so than most other mods I've used.

Here's the problems I'm having. I haven't even go to the mid game in this mod because the early game is just so frustrating and tedious. The problem comes from random enemies having high athletics or riding skills while I have little to no spotting or path finding. Forces much larger than mine just plainly move faster and the distance I can spot them is low. This causes me to run around without ctrl space. It's ok for a while but it's just so slow boring. So I'll start tapping it here and there. Before I know it I've just ran into or put myself in a position to get run down and trampled by your local fanatic group of knights. Which causes me to get even more frustrated and annoyed. Then I use ctrl space even more and the same thing happens again and again. Now that's super annoying but I caused that myself.

So I take the time to calm down a bit and just run in normal speed the whole time. Now this helps a bit, but again my spotting and path finding are so low that I'll still get easily run down by a force I have little to no chance of defeating. The problem is again made worse when I am able to recruit a bit more people as I slow down even more. A lot of these groups of enemies, especially some of the knights, can easily rip apart 50 recruits while still being faster.

I haven't got far enough in this mod but in other mods where the early game has this problem it tends to get much easier mid game when you have the tools necessary to deal with these situations. Mainly a group of companions helping spread out the skill load. I find taking spotting and path finding on my player character largely a waste. I tend to leave most all of the party skills to companions while I focus on combat and leadership skills so I can become and create a force to be reckoned with. Getting to this point in other mods is much easier. I don't know if I'm just not being lucky but every companion seems to be rather expensive and higher level. Which delays these critical party skills even further and extended this awkward early game.

The best analogy I can think of is I'm told to build a house and only given a spoon. They say once I get the basic frame of the house up then I'll get hammers, nails, tape measures, and all those neat little tools for the more advanced parts of building the house. The more advanced parts of the house are "harder" but are actually easier to complete because I have the necessary tools to complete the job. Which makes me wonder why I wasn't at least given a hammer earlier.

Some of you may be thinking, "Hey retard, why don't you just get spotting and path finding then ?". Well, I don't because I know it will be a waste as I'll eventually have plenty of hapless saps in which to delegate it to later on down the road. I also don't feel I should be forced to take those, and waste valuable skill points, just to get past the horrible early game to get to the fun mid/late game.

I honestly can't think if a good way around this issue without simply bashing my bleeding head against the wall over and over until the wall breaks of my head simply stops hurting. Which isn't fun.

 

[Froglegs125]

Hey,

Keep your party size small for the beginning. Seek companions that are either free, or very cheap (under 800 denars). Don't look for the knight companions right away, they won't do much for you in terms of dumping skill points into party skills. As well, just avoid any knight parties, rogue knight and adventurer companies and you should be fine. The fact that this mod is for experienced players means you should be able to solo a rebel or brigand party of 20-30 men with little to no problem. I know you most definitely can, so seek out the brigands and fight them with a small party to gain renown. I'd highly suggest keeping a small party until you have enough renown to compete in tournaments and make some money. Knowing all the troops and where they spawn is also key, so the experienced player must not only be experienced in Warband, but POP as well. It's a fun mod (for me at least) so best wishes to you. If you have any specific inquiries feel free to ask.

 

[Alavaria]

There's no real use in getting 50 recruits. The best way is probably only to have 10 and fight say only 5 bandits (this is because my character has like 7 STR and can't do much).  Other really passive/easy ways are to join battles that are obviously one-sided, you may get to rescue prisoners to add to your army, and be simply given loot and prisoners and even captured lords. Which will start you off nicely. Yes, I have joined a 1000vs 20 fight by myself only, sat at spawn and gotten the King handed to me => 20,000 ransom.


Becoming a merc and doing the "follow the marshal" quest thing can also help you get some levels. With a little cash, a few higher-than-you level companions with training can help boost you, and all the other low level companions. I generally track progress by the level of my lowest companions. Level 21 is a good point to really be able to generate good units (Ravenstern Rangers, Maiden Cavalry, Fierdswain Armored Axemen, Empire Crossbowmen, the Rogue XXYY Knights..... for these,  the unit before them can be trained by a level 21 companion). Level 31 is a really big breakpoint, letting you happily mass Maiden Adventurers and Fierdswain Huscarls. Oh yeah, one alternative is to just get a few mid-level companions (level 15 or so) and money from a captured lord etc (see above) and just sit in town letting them train you and the low level companions... (or go grind some bandits in the downtime). Then get a small group of recruits (I like Empire for crossbows or Ravenstern for archers) and then sit in town and let them get trained up (or go grind some bandits in the downtime). But I do rely somewhat heavily on Pathfinding to let me use this all-foot force chase small groups, or more importantly, run from small groups of elites.


I tend to pump INT very fast and thus get a high level of Pathfinding, very quickly your small force can easily catch small bandit groups for you to grind. And then before long you can start massing a few archers (say 15 Ravenstern ones + your companions) and start huntnig Vanskerries. But be careful of the Knights of Dawn. It's time for celebration when you can take them on, but don't try with an archer-heavy force. It is not likely to end well. But the really tiny knight groups cannot take a bunch of Ravenstern Rangers... though I avoid it because I rather not lose people.


Most of PoP's "difficulty" is either cheapshots like the superfast small uberelite knight groups (Dawn, Eventide, or just the usual Renegade Knights or Adventuring groups) and the like, or a general lack of preparation or incorrect preparation.I don't rely on lancing or even really killing anyone, by the time I can, I already have tons of elite troops that have been doing it for me. There's really little reason to get caught by things like (2500 Fierdswain are attacking just as I start my kingdom, I'm doomed) etc if you prepare for it.

 

[AlphaOmega]

Ansen and Leslie are free and both start at lvl 1, so you can get them then easily lvl them to be your spotting/path finding people.  Also path finding on your PC isn't a waste, since it gets a + modifier added on to anything your companions have, so youll be moving just that much faster then if you left it up wholly to the companions.

 

[Kozenger]

Thanks for all the information everyone. It's appreciated.

 

[saxondragon]

Some of you may be thinking, "Hey retard, why don't you just get spotting and path finding then ?". Well, I don't because I know it will be a waste as I'll eventually have plenty of hapless saps in which to delegate it to later on down the road. I also don't feel I should be forced to take those, and waste valuable skill points, just to get past the horrible early game to get to the fun mid/late game.

I honestly can't think if a good way around this issue without simply bashing my bleeding head against the wall over and over until the wall breaks of my head simply stops hurting. Which isn't fun.

In other mods, and in native, spotting and path finding are secondary skills. 

In PoP, these skills are primary.  In order to be successful you must be able to react to what is happening on the map, and to do that, you must be able to see it. 

This is an intentional aspect of play.  You have to play smart. 

In Native and in many of the older mods, your path to elite troops is fast, and once you have them, you can easily mop up the game. 
I did not want that in PoP.  Every phase of play needs to offer a challenge or challenges that you cannot take for granted.

As many have already stated, find your low level companions, attack bandits, stay away from everything that may kill you.  Join in battles when you can for extra experience and prestige. 

I generally find the beginning stages of play great fun, and very challenging. 

Kindest regards,

Saxondragon

 

[noosers]

Yes, it sounds like you´ve gotten the wrong approach. Look yourself up and check the various early game strategies posted in the wiki or/and do a quick search to be enlightened.

In short, keep your party small, use some mercenaries for added ooomph, run and trade, pick your fights carefully and get those companions you like and once you gathered a decent army (max party size 70-100) get yourself attached as mercenary to some kingdom and start toying with lord parties.

Thats where you make the real profit. Loot, XP, XP and loot.

Early Vaseline Moments just as you experience them are totally common for anyone around here and highly amusing for the experienced pop players as they´re pretty much the same mistakes they made themselves.

Like not paying attention and beeing zapped by an Eventide Patrol progressing with lightning speed consisting of 5 Knights on day 1.... or assuming that 20 Ravenstern Archers are capable of feathering a mystmountain bandit party of 15 and realising that a Bearclaw Berserker isn´t a nice thing to oppose after his great big bloody axe chopped down your horse, yourself and 15 Archers.

So in short, really pay attention whom you want to fight and keep in mind all party compositions are sorted - top stuff is top troops.

 

[magitsu]

It's really easy to forget how hard your first experience with this mod can be.
Yesterday I rolled a new character and started near Janos. I had a 2h axe and swaybacked saddle horse. Ran into snake patrol while trying to raise enough recruits to be able to take the Merchant quest accepted.
With my experience I was somehow able to ride around and nail about 6 weakest snake units. Two to four with crossbows, black iron spear and green mail were harder, but doable - but a crossbow hit would take almost everything, even though I had that crazy good 42 body D'shar starter armor. But then there was a single Cobra. I couldn't do anything against him, even less against the beast he rode on. Arrow hits with 0 or 1 horse archery did 0 damage to him. I was lucky to be able to hit maybe once or twice for 7 but he parried the rest - maybe about 50 hits from every possible angle. If I had any kind of lance it would've been doable, but it was a nightmare.

Well, playthroughs with 0 losses are nonsense anyway. Didn't expect it to happen in my first battle though.

Bearclaw Berserkers. I remember vividly clearing that one snowy camp... everyone went down like a breeze until a lone zerker ran over everyone of us.
Arranging a prison escape where D'Shar Bladesmen(masters) and Scorpion Assassins keep watch is even more horrendous lube moment.

 

[Kozenger]

Some of you may be thinking, "Hey retard, why don't you just get spotting and path finding then ?". Well, I don't because I know it will be a waste as I'll eventually have plenty of hapless saps in which to delegate it to later on down the road. I also don't feel I should be forced to take those, and waste valuable skill points, just to get past the horrible early game to get to the fun mid/late game.

I honestly can't think if a good way around this issue without simply bashing my bleeding head against the wall over and over until the wall breaks of my head simply stops hurting. Which isn't fun.

In other mods, and in native, spotting and path finding are secondary skills. 

In PoP, these skills are primary.  In order to be successful you must be able to react to what is happening on the map, and to do that, you must be able to see it. 

This is an intentional aspect of play.  You have to play smart. 

In Native and in many of the older mods, your path to elite troops is fast, and once you have them, you can easily mop up the game. 
I did not want that in PoP.  Every phase of play needs to offer a challenge or challenges that you cannot take for granted.

As many have already stated, find your low level companions, attack bandits, stay away from everything that may kill you.  Join in battles when you can for extra experience and prestige. 

I generally find the beginning stages of play great fun, and very challenging. 

Kindest regards,

Saxondragon

Thank you for the insight into the design philosophy. I understand why you wanted to place greater emphasis on some of the lesser used skilled though I don't agree with it at a glance. Let me throw it out there that I don't have any modding or game development experience so I am indeed no way an expert source of information on that topic but this is how I see the situation.

Mount and blade floods the player with more skills than they can realistically or effectively take in gameplay but it gives you heros to take some of the load off your shoulders. Partly to give the heros more value than just a random elite unit with a name and short back story but also to give the player the opportunity to delegate. Like any good leader or ruler of men should. Send the message to the player that they're not a one man army and cannot to do it all without some assistance. It's further reinforced with delegating fiefs to lords and appointing ministers to your court. That's the starting point.

The issues I'm having are a temporary problem. I know this and so does everyone else. Investing my nonrefundable skill points into something that I'm ultimately going to be inferior at than my companions feels like a waste. Even if it helps alleviate a temporary problem. So I'm left with a choice of looking at those 2, 4 8, 10, or however many skill points I invested being unused and wishing I could refund them or brute force my way through problem and come out better as a whole on the other end, as those points eventually will be better placed elsewhere. I don't like that choice. That isn't a fun or interesting choice to make in my opinion. If it wasn't a party skill I would feel differently about the situation. I would look back over my character and say that it's a good investment because this is the only way I can make use of these skills.

I enjoy the mod and I'm going muscle past these early game bumps and just solo the smaller groups of bandits. Fighting 1v15 against Vanskerries... now that's fun and challenging. I'll be able to outrun everyone if I'm alone and I'll just focus on companions earlier than I usually do to get some help with the skill point load.

Again, thank you Saxondragon for your reply and everyone else who offered their advice and perspective. I'm looking forward to exploring the rest of Pendor and enjoying the countless hours of gameplay to come.

 

[Alavaria]

Arranging a prison escape where D'Shar Bladesmen(masters) and Scorpion Assassins keep watch is even more horrendous lube moment.

The amusing thing is that even if it is one of my own lords that gets captured. Well they can't be going out and getting beaten and losing relationship for getting beaten up if they're locked up so hah.

 

[zykox]

Here's some of my tips for early game, and in a little more detail:
___________________
Foreword:
PoP has a bigger scaling on items (compared to vanilla or other mods)...so strong armor will offer better protection
Good weapons will have a much bigger impact, and scale equally much with each point of Power Strike...

In other words, PS 5 might not be so bad in vanilla vs plate, but it's almost useless in PoP.

Ah yes...dishonorable play is not encouraged.
......................................
1. First, run around carefully ALONE, and look for Leslie or Ansen. They're lvl 1, you get them for free...and there you have your compansy for party skills.

2. Next, hire some (1 or 2 suffice) MOUNTED mercenaries in any tavern...or if you're lucky, help any faction patrol vs bandits with prisoners.
Don't help any minor faction, as they'll turn on you quickly after the battle...

Helping out 1 faction will improve relations...BUT will worsen relation of the opposite faction, so be careful.

As for the mounted mercs, go for merc cavalry, or Rogue Knight, or Jatu Mercenary.
-mounted, so the party speed won't decrease
-BIG diff between squires and knights, so go for the heavy armor version. They'll pretty much be your safety net in early bandit battles.

3. Stay away from....D'Shar region (because bandits are fast and sometimes use lances...which can kill your armored safety net).
                              Jatu region (it's the empty mountain range, between Poinsbruck, Laria and Marleons)...
                              it will take a looooooong time until you can fight Jatu.
                               
4. Do...keep heavy penetrating weapons around: like a lance, or crossbow, or heavy maul or 2-hander.
          keep fast weapons around: like a scimitar, staff, etc...

          Focus on building up armor...invest in yourself the most, don't distribute in lesser armor for the party.
          (1 unkillable you is better than vulnerable everyone)

          Join a Knight Order you like, as soon as you can, for the first set of good armor.
          As you progress in Order ranks, you will get better armor.

5. Beware (early game)...Rogue Knights, Rogue Squires
                                        Cobra Knights
                                        Heretic Worshipper
                                        Adventurers
                                        Red Brotherhood Thief
                                      D'Shar Asssassins (sometimes "night bandits" in towns; they're deadly with throwing knives)
  Beware means, if there's more than 1 or 2 of them, don't fight them. Also be cautious around "Notorious Outlaw"s, they're killable, but have a nasty crossbow.
  Also, "Heretic Minions" and "Cult Armsman" might seem weak, but they have good chainmail, and have siege crossbows.

Extra beware (meaning, don't fight them)...ANY Order Knights (and their lesser versions, the "sergeants" with a different name), ANY Jatu
                                                                            Anaconda Knights / Snake Priestesses
                                                                            Heretic Magni
                                                                            Hero Adventurers / Heroine Adventurers

Extra extra extra beware...ANY Noldor: 40 Noldor will kill 80 mixed faction troops, so think carefully before joining a lord against them.
                                                                For god's sake, don't even think about taking them on on your own (until late mid-game)

                                              Demonic Magni: Seriously, never even join a faction fight vs them while they're still alive.
                                            Even if it's 84vs42 advantage (on 150 battle size). No. Not even if it's only one
                                            (unless you have berserkers or order knights).
                                            You can try once though, makes for a spooky experience.

6. For fast level up...I recommend the "provoke war" quest, and kill villagers. You can do it repeatedly. You can farm the honor later.

7. Mind achievement bonuses, so you don't waste any stat points:
                          max        bonus
Ironflesh            9          +1 for defeating the first Snake Cult army
Weapon Master 8          +1 from book, +1 for winning 50 tournaments
Riding                9            +1 for defeating the first Jatu army
Trainer              5            +1 from book, +1 for 5.000 kills, +2 for 10.000 kills
Tactics              6            +1 from book, +1 for winning 250 battles, +2 for winning 500 battles
Engineering      8              +1 from book, +1 for 30 fief improvements
Persuasion        7            +1 from book, +1 for converting 30 lords, +1 for becoming order grandmaster
Leadership        8            +1 from book, +1 for founding your own kingdom
................
Well, since you're mainly focusing on warrior, I guess most of the above is not interesting for you.

8. Party skills are never a waste...big battles are long and hard, and your companions WILL get knocked out.
        You should always have at least 2 points (also gives +1 party bonus) in pathfinding and wound treatment.

9. Custom Knight Order (CKO) is a nice new feature in PoP...BUT:
-item upgrades will take a loooooooooooong time. Think of 100 days for upgrading to plate armor.
-items for the CKO can be unlocked by defeating some unique spawns and initiating the right dialogue (tip: one is a noldor)
-CKO stats will be upgraded through training from your companions...so having specialists (in stats AND skills) will be overall more useful

10. Troops:
-Every faction has some lords and kings with access to "household" troops, which will be very powerful, and you can't get them.
-Some companions made into lords will get special troops (not household), depending on their background story.
-You can't hire prisoners that are lvl 40+.
-There are some minor "fake/lesser" knight orders with very colorful names. They're weaker than any traditional Knight Order, and you can't join them.

11. Take your time playing PoP....don't think you can conquer it in 500 days. If you want to enjoy some CKO experience, prepare to take your time as well (AFTER you have founded them).

12. Check the following Wiki: Especially read up on "Qualis Gems", and how to get them:
http://pop3.wikia.com/wiki/Prophesy_of_Pendor_3_Wiki

_____________________________
Last but not least, be sure to check the victory conditions in PoP.

 

[Alavaria]

Custom Knighthood Order is very great, though this is more of medium game than early.

10 PD, maxed out stats, uber proficiencies, all for time (and the companions to train)
Plate armors etc, for time and money.
Noldor Composite Bow, for time, money and some Noldor relationship farming.

Plus, you can start it while a vassal, and have your doomorder (+deathstack garrison) ready when you rebel. Siege assault THIS Valdis.

It's like being able to make Noldor on command, except your CKO can actually be better than a Noldor Warrior or Ranger if you really push the limit on what is possible.



Also, don't autoresolve if you are carrying troops you really don't want to lose. Because they can magically die even if it was 300 vs 10, somehow. Correspondingly, spamming berserkers or something specifically to autoresolve (specifically Noldor) is amusing. Or using friendly lords' troops as autoresolve fodder.




There comes a time when you stumble across a hostile marshal with two or three lords in tow and can tell them "Surrender or die". Of course they won't surrender, or die. So you just kill all their soldiers, loot the corpses (and prisoners) and maybe throw them into the prisontower (in the Town with better-than-Noldor-CKO garrison) for some funtimes with Alistair. Remember, he promised to introduce you to a good torturer to deal with recalcitrant lords. And Alyssa is also intrigued by the concept of torture at dinner parties.

Pendor is a big world, and with patience and preparation you can make sure that even a sea of vaseline won't be enough for it once you're done.

 

[AlphaOmega]

2. Next, hire some (1 or 2 suffice) MOUNTED mercenaries in any tavern...or if you're lucky, help any faction patrol vs bandits with prisoners.
Don't help any minor faction, as they'll turn on you quickly after the battle...

Helping out 1 faction will improve relations...BUT will worsen relation of the opposite faction, so be careful.

As for the mounted mercs, go for merc cavalry, or Rogue Knight, or Jatu Mercenary.
-mounted, so the party speed won't decrease
-BIG diff between squires and knights, so go for the heavy armor version. They'll pretty much be your safety net in early bandit battles.

Problem with this though is they will bleed a new persons money before they know how to make some.  There's cheaper alternatives to Calvary, D'Shar bandits as prisoners, Mystmountain warriors/raiders, Caravan Master can even be good early on

 

[Alavaria]

Are most of these predicated on "+farm the tournament for cash" ?

 

[magitsu]

I like Barclay Sappers for early grunt work, like bandit lairs and especially if I run into the Red Brotherhood lair quest.
Just don't go near High Pass Keep since everyone will catch you.

Adventurers are a bit expensive to carry around early on. Maybe the best bet would be to rescue some Heretic cavalry.

 

[zykox]

2. Next, hire some (1 or 2 suffice) MOUNTED mercenaries in any tavern...or if you're lucky, help any faction patrol vs bandits with prisoners.
Don't help any minor faction, as they'll turn on you quickly after the battle...

Helping out 1 faction will improve relations...BUT will worsen relation of the opposite faction, so be careful.

As for the mounted mercs, go for merc cavalry, or Rogue Knight, or Jatu Mercenary.
-mounted, so the party speed won't decrease
-BIG diff between squires and knights, so go for the heavy armor version. They'll pretty much be your safety net in early bandit battles.

Problem with this though is they will bleed a new persons money before they know how to make some.  There's cheaper alternatives to Calvary, D'Shar bandits as prisoners, Mystmountain warriors/raiders, Caravan Master can even be good early on

First: I made a mistake on my list...it's not the "Red Brotherhood Thief", it's the "Red Brotherhood Guildsman" you should be beware of.
...................
Mystmountain Raiders are bad, even worse than Heretic Minions or Cult Armsman.

Mystmountain Warriors are good and cheap, but hard to get, both as prisoners and as mercs in taverns.

Overall, hiring cost for 1-2 knights may be expensive, but the weekly cost should be no problem. Having less people in a party means:
-faster party speed (crucial, if the MAIN doesn't put points into pathfinding)
-more loot
Just 1 encounter with a bandit party should yield 100-200 denars, + 200 denars item loot (maybe even more if lucky).
Imagine the speed with 3-4 people on horses, and you can actually boast 2-3 encounters per day.

Bandits, Caravan Masters, etc...all nice and useful in early game...BUT, we don't have much surgery or wound treatment, so an almost invulnerable knight is preferable. Also, if you hire 5-6 Mystmountain Warriors for 2 Knights, the weekly cost is the same.
__________________
Bandit lairs might seem a good idea normally, but only if you have some pts in surgery, and enough money to hire 5-6 elite troops (like Barclay Sappers).
Even then...even a forest bandit lair will have "notorious outlaws", and their nasty x-bows always pose a danger of killing a precious troop (especially early early-game).

I think Bandit Lairs are mid early-game stuff, when you won't have to worry about getting into the red numbers every week.
__________________
High Pass Keep is D'Shar Territory.
__________________
If you can get your hands on some good foot prisoners, feel free to do a bandit lair quest. Note that the difficulty of the bandit lair is relative to your MAIN's level.

If you can get your hands on Cobra Knights, Heretic Worshippers or Mystmountain Warriors, get them. They're rather tough and have cheap upkeep.
Just don't think of them as equals to Order Knights or Jatu Cavalry.
......
Late early-game or early mid-game, you can get Snake Cult Armsman or Heretic Minions, as you can upgrade them to the above versions.
Mystmountain Raiders don't upgrade to Mystmountain Warriors.

 

[Kozenger]

Again, thank you Zykox and everyone else who shared information and insight. It's very helpful and greatly appreciated.

 

[Cornelius Sula]

First, vary good job zykox on your posts.

I will not go on tips and tricks rant, you have that on many many posts, for virtually any question about game there is a post to answer it. What i will do is to recommend to you Kozenger to read lore like in this post http://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,54010.0.html. Or info on sticky section of forum like Master link compilation or WARBAND-FAQ for PoP. Get imersed into this world and you will enjoy it. Hell i am enjoying it for years now and from time to time game still ''gves me a proper trashing''. Pendor is chalanging but rewarding like no other mod around (imo).



P.S. sorry for spelling errors 

 

[fidoman1272]

My favorite strategy to date is to buy a lance, 3 shields and go find some vanskerries.

Ride in counter-clockwise (your shield has to be able to soak up the damage) circles around them until they've lobbed all of their axes and spears into your shield, the ground, or the face of your horse, then couch down the archers and just take your time with the rest.

The only risk with this is your horse dying from all of the sharp baubles the Vanskerries stick into it, and then you're left with the dead horse that got unicorn'd by a javelin and a bunch of pissed off Vikings, but that only happens now and then a lot most times until you get a good horse. (unless you play on 34% difficulty like some sort of Heretic)

 

[zerepe]

I have 4 tips for early game:

1.- Get a trainer companion (Donevan costs 3k but it is totally worth it, imo).
2.- Get a few cheap mercenaries to mix with your fresh recruits.
3.- Focus in liberating prisioners, keep close to other NPC armies and engage in battles on their side, to liberate mid/high tier captives and incorporate them into your group.
4.- Keep your army size small enough to travel at least at 5.5 speed on the world map.

As soon as you have some mid tier soldiers, the bandits and other marauders will turn around on the spot and run away. That should give you a break in the early game and keep those cheeky bandits at bay.

My problem is in the mid game. The factions at that point are so unbalanced they wipe me out with their massive armies. I try to help here and there as a merc or as vassal but it's no use, specially Fierdsvain, they roam around with 300-400 average. Man, curse those vanskerry jarls and their throwing axes >_>