Which factions has the best type of units?

[Marty187]

Has anyone tried out Khuzait or Aserai infantry much? I'm curious on how they are for my next playthrough and haven't fought them much this one.

Also, does anyone use 2h troops? Are they worth grabbing and sticking in their own formation?

I've used falxmen with some succes. Place them in a seperate group and line them right behind your shield infantry. Once enemy cavalry breaks trhough your line or flanks you they can butcher them. Or if the enemy infantry reaches your line and archers aren't an issue anymore charge them in. They can inflict massive casualties in my experience but are very vulnerable agains archers.

Cheers,

Marty

 

[Niomedes]

Does anybody tried to form a full(or almost full) archer army. Im wondering wich faction is the best at ranged and also meele combat(fian champions are perfect )but they are not good at meele fight as much as they good at bows

The best ranged army is actually going to be a Vlandian crosbow army. You can get them everywhere since they're commoners, Their higher tier troops have pavise shields, which means that they not only have crazy damage and accuracy with their crossbows but can also go toe to toe with every 1H meele infantry in the game.

 

[Nuts]

Does anybody tried to form a full(or almost full) archer army. Im wondering wich faction is the best at ranged and also meele combat(fian champions are perfect )but they are not good at meele fight as much as they good at bows

Yes, here. Got around sixty t5 empire archers, and up to fourty t3 and t4 archers. they work just fine no infantry needed except some recruits luring the enemy infantry away. Its almost ashaming how easy I get rid of double size armies easily

 

[VanHoven]

My favourite roster atm is khuzait. actually great infantry melee and ranged (highest tier melee infantry, the darkhan, even has javelins, a huge upside in my book) and ofc great horse arches, the highest normal horse archer tier even has 2 quivers for double the fun. The khan guard noble end tier unit is just bonkers. 280 bow skill and a glaive for serious dmg after they run out of ammo. Also very good armored all around. Infantry is a bit lacking on lower tiers though.

 

[Beau Vine]

Nothing way too obvious.

Elite units like Fians are hard to come by, and while you can do some things to farm them (attack weak Battanian parties, farm Sea Raiders for recruitment), it's time intensive so you're giving up control of the map. If you do have a chance to farm them (war with Battania), werll worth the time.

Aserai recruits into mameluke archers are nice because you get them kinda for free by doing some horse trading - compounded by the fact there's plenty of looters to farm there. Grab a book, 1, F1-F3 for a while and you suddenly have horse archers as tier 3.
Khuzait will get you those archers as tier 2, but their bandidts are harder to farm, so despite easy to get noblemen, they seem like a waste of time unless you're doing a steppe warhorse trip.
And horse archers are insanely powerful in small to mid engagements - AI takes bait and runs after them most of the time. Bad luck if you have a unit limit, and the army leader doesn't call your horsiers until their own units are already routing.

Vlandians on the other hand have plentiful recruits where grain and flax is made, and if you don't care much for digital lifes of recruits, aforementioned book + 1, F1-F3 will quickly get you a force that'll actually hold a besieged castle. Or siege one. Just remember that Levy Crossbowmen favour melee, and you need to make them fire at will.

Mid war Empire and Vlandian troops make for great reinforcement as you can shape them into whatever you need (assuming you've held a healthy stock of horse archers if that's your main preference).

Aserai footmen may be good, but they're too out of the way. If you're going there, why not make cav?

 

[levilop]

Has anyone tried out Khuzait or Aserai infantry much? I'm curious on how they are for my next playthrough and haven't fought them much this one.

Also, does anyone use 2h troops? Are they worth grabbing and sticking in their own formation?

In my campaign I sided with the Kuzaits and fought many battles against the Aserai so I can give you some feedback. Khuzait infantry tend to specialise in spears, which is not as effective as other nation's infantry in the current build of the game. They are good for holding the ground against the enemy until your lancers flank the enemy infantry either from the sides or from behind, however I would not consider Khuzati infantry the backbone of my army. As it goes with each faction, you have to take advantage the strengths of your chosen nation, therefore my tip is the following: With your Khuzait army, at least 40-50% should be horsemen. 15-20 horse archers can do a decent job when you let them, an additional 25 but preferably 30-35-40 lancers can give you the much needed upper hand in the battles. Khuzait archers also do a decent job so just put them behind the infantry.
Aserai has better infantry than Khuzaits, you can either recruit mameluke axemen that can nicely chop enemy units into pieces but are weak against enemy range troops or you can stick with aserai infantry that come with shields which are always good to have in sieges or in field battles. In case you decide to side with the Aserai and you go to war against Khuzaits, you should counter their horde with a solid archer - mameluke combo with some aserai infantry to protect your archers.
But in either case if you get awarded with territories that are not core for your faction's culture is, you can create a much more versatile army. For example, I own 1 former empire city and 3 former empire castles, therefore recently I tend to stick with a hybrid Khuzait-Empire army composition. With empire troops you are able to get a decent infantry line, not to mention their crossbowmen / palatine guards which are just amazing in their ability of wrecking the enemy. For cavalry I explicitly use Khuzait lancers and sometimes empire horsemen when I have the chance to recruit them, but horse archers are explicitly from the Khuzait. This army composition works for me the best so far

 

[Tuco]

They're not nobles so they're not the best, but I've had a really good time with the imperial menavlion which I haven't seen talked about much. Imperial units are great because there are so many locations to recruit them from and the menavlion seem pretty easy to upgrade to.

I did however replace their sword with javelins so I don't know if that counts



Also, this spreadsheet compares the different soldiers and is worth a look. Check the Best Units tab:

Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord Troops & Trading

Troops Made by Bjarke,Last Updated 15th of April 2020,Skills,Armor Values Unit Name,Starting Unit,Nationality,Role,One Handed,Two Handed,Polearm,Bow,Crossbow,Throwing,Riding,Athletics,Tier,Level,Wage,Head,Body Arboreal,Sprout,Vlandia,Ranged,200,60,60,200,130,60,0,140,5,26,12,0,47 Aserai Archer,A...

docs.google.com

 

[sirano]

Hey all,

Couldnt find a quik anwser to this so I figured id make a new thread for it.

What faction has argueably the best unit type? And with that I mean, which one has the best archers. Which one best shield-wall line troopers etc etc.

Back in warband I knew each faction and what unit was good and which ones werent but most factions seem abit more balanced atm and I havent seen THAT many outliers yet, but feel like im overlooking something. For example empire has every type of unit (as far as I can see) but only 1 tier in elite catathract. And most of the other units have 130 as their highest skills so no uber units there as far as I can see.

Speaking of elite tier 6 units.I havent found a good way of getting those juicy tier 6 units have any tips for that as well?

the ones i hate the most are kuzait horse archers evern from warband now i would say they got way more hp and good armor at tier 3 horse archer

 

[Bramborough]

No. Strugain veteran or shock trooper is the best.

So, I've taken this onboard in good faith. Have even trudged up north to pick up some Sturgies; want to try these troops out. They haven't leveled up quite yet, but looking forward to seeing these guys in action.

That said...I look at the stats, and the Veteran Warrior seems similar to the Legionary and Sergeant in pertinent skills, while the Shock Troops are lower.

Am curious to know what makes them better...and what caused them to outperform other infantry in custom battle testing. I assume it must be equipment related. Is their shield beefier HP-wise than everyone else's? Or it's just larger, so blocks incoming ranged fire better? Perhaps because they're axe-armed, and chew through enemy's shields quick? Do they have better throwing weapons?

Not arguing at all...genuinely trying to figure this stuff out. Hopefully they'll promote to T5 today and the answer(s) will become more apparent.

Edit: aha, the linked spreadsheet (very helpful) above provides some insight....think that came in while I was typing. Same skills. Veteran Warrior has throwing weapon and bigger shield, whereas the Imperial Legionary carries a second melee weapon (it's a polearm). So reasonable to conclude Vet Warrior probably fends off ranged fire a little better, while Legionary probably better at resisting cavalry (and has very slightly higher armor: 188 total vice 170)....and the Vet Warrior edging ahead infantry-vs-infantry due to the shield size and throwing weapons (plus I still suspect the axe must help too).

 

[Demoulius]

Edit: aha, the linked spreadsheet (very helpful) above provides some insight....think that came in while I was typing. Same skills. Veteran Warrior has throwing weapon and bigger shield, whereas the Imperial Legionary carries a second melee weapon (it's a polearm). So reasonable to conclude Vet Warrior probably fends off ranged fire a little better, while Legionary probably better at resisting cavalry (and has very slightly higher armor: 188 total vice 170)....and the Vet Warrior edging ahead infantry-vs-infantry due to the shield size and throwing weapons (plus I still suspect the axe must help too).

Legionaire has 2 Pila which are currently bugged atm. Their damage is very low and they count as polearm instead of javelin.

Thanks for the insights people going to hunt some noble units

 

[Rorxy]

No. Strugain veteran or shock trooper is the best.

From my experience Vlandian sergeants can stand toe to toe with them and beat them. Probably because in my playthroughs the sharpshooters whittle them down and the Banner knights break them

 

[Maximum997]

From my experience Vlandian sergeants can stand toe to toe with them and beat them. Probably because in my playthroughs the sharpshooters whittle them down and the Banner knights break them

Some guy tested it in moded custom battles. Shock troops beated any infantry. With war razors as secondary weapon they are doing great. But in actual combat they dont swap after fight so after initial melee they die very fast against archer spam.

 

[Capillati]

Has anyone tried out Khuzait or Aserai infantry much? I'm curious on how they are for my next playthrough and haven't fought them much this one.

Also, does anyone use 2h troops? Are they worth grabbing and sticking in their own formation?

Yorkshire tea guy?

 

[Beoron]

Hey all,

Couldnt find a quik anwser to this so I figured id make a new thread for it.

What faction has argueably the best unit type? And with that I mean, which one has the best archers. Which one best shield-wall line troopers etc etc.

Back in warband I knew each faction and what unit was good and which ones werent but most factions seem abit more balanced atm and I havent seen THAT many outliers yet, but feel like im overlooking something. For example empire has every type of unit (as far as I can see) but only 1 tier in elite catathract. And most of the other units have 130 as their highest skills so no uber units there as far as I can see.

Speaking of elite tier 6 units.I havent found a good way of getting those juicy tier 6 units have any tips for that as well?

The best archers are Battanian Fian Champions. No other faction archers are even close, which makes sense as they are the only noble line of archers. I am pretty sure they are tied with 3 other units for highest weapon skill in the game at 280 in bow and they have 220 in athletics. Funnily enough, the last upgrade before the final tier still has 210 bow skill (still significantly higher than Palatine Guards or Master Archers) and a whopping 180 in two handed, making them the most skilled two handed fighters in the game. The Wolf minor faction have good archers, better than any faction except Battanian, that also have really good one handed skill and they carry a shield. Arboreal are also good, and forest bandits are actually fairly solid. Palatine Guards from Empire are heavily armored but they won't get near as many kills as Battanians.

The best crossbows from faction are either Vlandian Sharpshoots or the Empire crossbowmen. Neither are super great and at range a Battanian archer is much stronger. They do have good one hand skill and a shield. Boar champions are the best if you can get them.

Best horse archers are the Khan's Guards and they're the best by a fair margin.

Heavy calvary on paper is either Elite Cataphracts from the Empire or Vlandian Banner Knights. In practice, I have both and the Banner Knights consistently get more kills.

Footmen have decent parity, but I find the Sturgian Veteran soldiers to be the best. They have a one handed weapon and a large shield plus a good throwing weapon. Empire infantry are quite good too. Skolder troops are very good if you can get them, and the best infantry in the game are probably Triarii from Legion of the Betrayed. I have managed to get about 40 by taking prisoners or rescuing them and they're super effective with very high skill levels.

 

[Demoulius]

The best archers are Battanian Fian Champions. No other faction archers are even close, which makes sense as they are the only noble line of archers. I am pretty sure they are tied with 3 other units for highest weapon skill in the game at 280 in bow and they have 220 in athletics. Funnily enough, the last upgrade before the final tier still has 210 bow skill (still significantly higher than Palatine Guards or Master Archers) and a whopping 180 in two handed, making them the most skilled two handed fighters in the game. The Wolf minor faction have good archers, better than any faction except Battanian, that also have really good one handed skill and they carry a shield. Arboreal are also good, and forest bandits are actually fairly solid. Palatine Guards from Empire are heavily armored but they won't get near as many kills as Battanians.

The best crossbows from faction are either Vlandian Sharpshoots or the Empire crossbowmen. Neither are super great and at range a Battanian archer is much stronger. They do have good one hand skill and a shield. Boar champions are the best if you can get them.

Best horse archers are the Khan's Guards and they're the best by a fair margin.

Heavy calvary on paper is either Elite Cataphracts from the Empire or Vlandian Banner Knights. In practice, I have both and the Banner Knights consistently get more kills.

Footmen have decent parity, but I find the Sturgian Veteran soldiers to be the best. They have a one handed weapon and a large shield plus a good throwing weapon. Empire infantry are quite good too. Skolder troops are very good if you can get them, and the best infantry in the game are probably Triarii from Legion of the Betrayed. I have managed to get about 40 by taking prisoners or rescuing them and they're super effective with very high skill levels.

Thanks for the nice list and explanation