What minor faction troops do you go for?

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Apocal

Grandmaster Knight
As the title asks: which minor faction troops do you try to ahem recruit?

I know there have been at least two cycles of nerfs to them. And that some of the minor faction troops, even without nerfs, were just gallingly bad in terms of performance.

But some are actually still good?

For me, it is Beni Zilal Royal Guards, javelin cavalry. They do about as well as my Aserai nobles, sometimes clearly outperforming them for whatever reason. Their armor isn't great but it is good enough to head-up against the archer backline on an unmasked approach and they have enough staying power to chew through them once they get there. A top-notch troop, not even really a budget fill-in but actually capable of earning their place on their own merits.
 
As the title asks: which minor faction troops do you try to ahem recruit?

I know there have been at least two cycles of nerfs to them. And that some of the minor faction troops, even without nerfs, were just gallingly bad in terms of performance.

But some are actually still good?

For me, it is Beni Zilal Royal Guards, javelin cavalry. They do about as well as my Aserai nobles, sometimes clearly outperforming them for whatever reason. Their armor isn't great but it is good enough to head-up against the archer backline on an unmasked approach and they have enough staying power to chew through them once they get there. A top-notch troop, not even really a budget fill-in but actually capable of earning their place on their own merits.
I think regrettably they are all a little weak at the moment - i'd like to see them get revamped and offer a way to hire them without having to beat down their armies.
 
They got a huge nerf making them essentially pointless. They all had varying uses before their nerf. Idk anyone who asked for their nerf but oh well.
 
Lake Rats(double javs tier 4), Triarii(faster upgrade tree and lower cost than Legionary with great armor), Ghilman(their camels will die but they have amazing armor and good maces so they make good suicide bombs).

Zilals/Jawwal both make for good javelin swarms but I don't use either atm.
 
There was a time when I wanted to collect Wolfskins for my Battanian army, due to a lack of archers. Never met any and, I've long abandoned that Battania game. I had some Triarii and remembered them doing alright, although the Fian Champions were definitely making work for them easy.

Since the nerfs, I've had zero interest in minor faction troops. Their ceiling is lower than any recruit, so why bother with ever training them? Anything they can do, a t4 from a major faction will do the job just as well, while being far easier to get in vanilla, and stronger in the long run.
 
There is a mod that re balances minor factions and makes them a bit more useful. I use a few but their use is very subjective for me:

Foresters and Boars (garrison duty) great ranged troops but lack the durability required for an army.

Ben Zilal and Karakhergit (quick reaction) If I need a small mobile force (map speed) to defend vunerable villages I use these quite a lot Their use is limited though so if I do recruit these its in smallish numbers and they idle in a garrison in case they are needed.

Skolderbrotva The best minor faction infantry. Not in the same league at as Legionaries but still useful

Lake Rats and Legion of Betrayed not as good as above but useful skirmish troops I'd generally only use in garrisons.

Any other minor faction troops are ransom broker fodder.
 
Before the nerf I liked to have Triari in my army and those Arboreals. Ben Zilal were also nice to have. But now... I prefer a lean troop-composition (at least I try to keep it like this) and IF I put "exotes" in my army, they have to be the best of the best and no Tier 3 eqivalent.
 
I personally think that minor factions are totally irrelevant these days. Bannerlord is supposed to have "drunk" from important source mods, in this case from Prophesy of Pendor. In PoP the minor factions have a utility and a reason to exist; in Bannerlord they just exist.
I wish Bannerlord's minor factions worked at least as well as those in Endless Space 2; they at least provide you with bonuses or effects. In Bannerlord, on the other hand, their usefulness is based on the more precarious form of mercenary.
 
I personally think that minor factions are totally irrelevant these days. Bannerlord is supposed to have "drunk" from important source mods, in this case from Prophesy of Pendor. In PoP the minor factions have a utility and a reason to exist; in Bannerlord they just exist.
I wish Bannerlord's minor factions worked at least as well as those in Endless Space 2; they at least provide you with bonuses or effects. In Bannerlord, on the other hand, their usefulness is based on the more precarious form of mercenary.
I have a feeling they aren't really full implemented yet - for example it seems baffling that the only way to access their troop lines is by defeating their parties and hiring prisoners. It's probably just pretty low priority.
 
I think it would be fun if minor faction encampments where you could trade and recruit would spawn for a short time following similar rules to bandit hideouts. It would also make playing as an outlaw more interesting by having an extralegal method of selling loot and sourcing troops
 
I have a feeling they aren't really full implemented yet - for example it seems baffling that the only way to access their troop lines is by defeating their parties and hiring prisoners. It's probably just pretty low priority.

And I think it's perfect that you think about it, but enough with all the secrecy and "keep it as a surprise" speech from Taleworlds (public-official).

In the years of the blogs it was normal to " keep" the hype, moreover I participated in a controversial way (What else remains to be explained?). The fact is that we're beyond that stage and there are still too many gaps and fogs as far as mechanics are concerned. It's perfect that now they want to polish bugs and improve stability through a good optimization; however my question is, what and how much muscle are you going to put in this skeleton that is Bannerlord? With some exceptions (mexxico, azhaki,etc) the parapet is "I can't talk about it"; well talk about what is coming or in case it is all in the air and is " susceptible to change"...

#Nomoremysterytellmemore
 
The Jawal Camel riders are my favorite! They very effective at side swiping horse archers with me and I like camels. I treasure every one I get. I was a bit bummed that there wasn't a standard camel troop like in MP beta. Ghillman are cool too , but not as much.
I also like the Beni zilaw for the same reason. The Karakhergit are just more HA, fine to take em but ultimately standard HA lines are better.
I also like the lake rats and the one with wolf heads (forget name), though I mostly leave them in a town.

I been stalking the Jiwal and beni when I see them, trying to join them in a fight, knock out all their troops with blunt arrows and then see if they get caught by bandits so I can get the troops! Hasn't worked yet but maybe sometime.
 
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