@RodLimitless
Good post, you brought up a lot of glaring issues myself and many others have seen with Bannerlord. With that being said, I think you are confusing one thing:
In a Mount&Blade game, equipment and keybinds ≠ skillcap.
The skillcap in games like Warband and Bannerlord derive entirely from the combat mechanics.
The difference in skillcap between Warband and Bannerlord can be attributed to a very specific root cause: RNG and a lack of thorough understanding of how the game works.
For example, Warband has a higher skillcap than Bannerlord because in Warband every facet of character movement, attacking, blocking, angling, and positioning can be
measured and counted for.
Warband veterans know to the point of mastery the range and timing of every type of swing (up, left, right, stab) of the weapons they use, and conversely the weapons their opponent are using. These parameters don't change, and if they do it is because of variables the
player controls (i.e. factions and the presence of a shield or not). Additionally, they know which angle of their swing (up/down tilt) will get their weapon the fastest possible contact with the enemy. Stun lock/stun delay is thoroughly understood, and used to maximum benefit when it occurs. Last but not least, Warband veterans know how seamlessly responsive Warband is, making their attacks and blocks smooth and near-instinctive.
And ^this^ is just for infantry melee fighting. We can talk about how consistent the archery and cav mechanics are in Warband but we'd be here all day.
Bannerlord on the other hand, has a number of issues which contribute to RNG and a general head-scratching bewilderment about how the combat works.
-The Stance System
The Bannerlord stance system affects the speed and range of swings depending on which stance you're in -something that is difficult for the player to control when they're in the heat of very intense combat. This obviously creates inconsistency in the combat mechanics and makes it near impossible to fully master distance and timing -because distance and timing are now subject to a degree of randomness.
-Weird Character Movement
This has been somewhat improved upon in recent patches, but the issue remains. Bannerlord characters can accelerate very rapidly and then rotate at weird unnatural angles. There are also many variables attached to movement, such as class speed, which shield they are using, attacking, blocking, and S+A/S+D. Why is this bad? Because, when compared to Warband -which had much more measured and consistent character movement, rotation rate, and acceleration speed, this adds a degree of randomness to the fighting. Suddenly positioning and range becomes a lot less consistent. I can't tell you how many times I've hit someone flush, dealing a chunk of damage, only to suddenly miss on my
immediate follow-up swing because they were able to scoot away. Like how? Oh, wait, it's because there's almost no penalty to movement speed when you get hit. Oh and pro-tip, if you're fighting someone better than you in Bannerlord, just try spinning -that's good trick.
-Inconsistent Hitboxes and Weapon Reach
Weapons feel functionally shorter than they actually appear (except for some maces and short swords, which feel longer than they look). The hitboxes also seem really janked at times. A lot of either ghost-hits or unexplainable straight-up whiffs on a pretty nice-sized targets. The friendly fire too, allied hitboxes just seem to be magnet for teammate attacks. And don't get me started on the those wall-hit that your weapons always get stuck on. Something just feels off about the hitboxes. I might be the only one thinking this, or maybe it's not just me. Who knows, that's just my take.
-Over-exaggerated Swing Animations
Warband had nice tight animations. It really put the player in control of where they were attacking. In Bannerlord they bring the weapon all the way behind their back like they're in a bad 80s movie. It's a ridiculous over-windup of the swing and it causes you to hit things more at your sides than what's in front of you. All too often I've actually hit an enemy I wasn't even aiming at simply because of the over-exaggerated swings -and if that's not RNG/inconsistency then I don't know what is.
-Arbitrary Delays
Block delay was a battle that raged for months. Now the issue of attack/hold delay sadly remains. I mentioned earlier about Warband being so seamless and responsive. Held attacks were a major part of melee fighting, used to throw off your opponent's rhythm, open them up, or foil an opponent trying to chamber you. Well now with Bannerlord's extra animation attached to held attacks (known as hold delay), holds become a lot less powerful. Additionally, keep in mind that it only takes your left mouse button being held down for a few milliseconds to trigger a hold delay, so many times this issue happens even when you're not trying to do a held attack.
-Archery
Not so much having to do with RNG/inconsistency, but adding to the skillcap issue all the same. Incredibly user-friendly, drop-assist in 3rd person, arrows are auto-nocked after every shot, high archer mobility, high dps. Bannerlord's tagline at Early Access launch should have been: "Now you too can play as John Wick."
-Misc.
Non-uniform infantry movement speed between the factions, creating a big disconnect between faction infantry abilities.
See above but now apply to different infantry classes.
Kicking (especially before 1.5 patch. If you are one of those people who said kicking was fine pre-1.5 then sorry but you are a shill.)
Broken chamber blocking.
Throwing weapons accuracy/damage (has seen improvement though)
The hitboxes for horses' heads are a magnet for melee damage thus protecting the rider from attacks that would otherwise hit them.
I love Warband -it's my most-played game of all time. This doesn't mean I hate Bannerlord. I don't. I've had fun playing Bannerlord, but not as much as I would have liked to. I really want to enjoy Bannerlord, but this would mean removing the issues of inconsistency/RNG which are currently plaguing it. I really hope Taleworlds takes these issues into account and improves the multiplayer experience for everyone.