Bannerlord Beginner Guide — Essential Tips to Conquer Calradia (2026)

Bannerlord is overwhelming — the map is huge, there's no tutorial quest chain, and you can do almost anything from the start. Most new players wander aimlessly and get destroyed by bandits. This guide gives you a clear path for your first 50 days.

📌 Cheats | Best Factions | Money Guide

• Complete the tutorial quest (find your brother/sister) — gives you free troops and introduces mechanics
• Recruit from villages — visit villages and recruit 20-30 peasants. They're weak but become strong troops after battles.
• Hunt Looters first — groups of 5-15 Looters are the easiest enemies. Fight them to level up your troops and gain loot.
• Sell loot in towns — weapons, armor and horses from defeated bandits are your primary income early on.

• Tournaments — Enter tournaments in towns for gold prizes and renown. Bet on yourself for maximum profit.
• Trading — Buy cheap goods (grain, fish, pottery) from producing villages and sell in towns that lack them.
• Quests — Talk to notables (marked with ! icons) in towns and villages for gold-rewarding quests.
• Smithing — Once unlocked, smithing is the most overpowered money source. See our Smithing Guide.

• Build 80-100 troops before considering faction warfare
• Join as a mercenary first — you get paid for fighting but no obligations. Test which faction you enjoy.
• Become a vassal when ready — swear fealty to a king for fiefs, but you must fight their wars.
• See our Best Factions Guide for which kingdom to join.

• Block direction matters. Move your mouse in the direction of the incoming attack to block. Practice against training dummies.
• Horse archery is overpowered. If you invest in riding + bow skills, you can kite entire armies alone.
• Use F1-F6 commands. Order your troops to hold position (F1→F1), charge (F1→F3), or follow you (F1→F2).
• Always have a shield. Archers will snipe you without one. Equip a shield until you're experienced.

• 🔑 Cheats & Console Commands
• ⚔️ Best Factions & Troops
• 👑 Kingdom Creation Guide
• ⚒️ Smithing & Money Guide
• 🎮 Warband Beginner Guide