Mount & Blade II: How To Increase Your Party Size | Screen Rant
After a surprise Early Access launch via Steam on March 30, 2020, Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord has garnered a lot of attention. While not all of the feedback for the game has been positive – mostly due to game crashes, repetitive quests, bugs, and a relentless AI that can rebuild armies in the blink of an eye – overall, the game has been well-received by fans. However, there are several essential mechanics the game’s tutorials neglect to teach, one of which is how to increase one’s party size.
Parties in Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord are essentially miniature armies. While party sizes can be rather large – approaching 600 or more in number – they tend to be relegated to smaller amounts (anywhere between 50 and 250), especially in the early- and mid-game. The issue, however, is that the game does not make it clear how to increase the party size limits, though, players may find it’s not as hard as it seems. Despite the various means to increase party size limits, the process does take a decent chunk of time to accomplish effectively; it may become less tedious and more efficient as the game receives more patches and sludges through its Early Access state, but for now, the following is a comprehensive list of ways to increase one’s party size limits in Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord.
After creating a new character and completing the tutorial missions (unless players skip the tutorial), gamers will be prompted to create a banner and name for their clan. Once done, players will then embark on a journey to increase the tier of that clan by earning renown. Renown is earned by completing side quests, claiming victory in battle, and competing in – and winning – tournaments. Players can see their clan's current tier and how much renown is required to achieve the next rank on the clan page (default 'L' key).
Each clan tier grants a +15 increase in one’s party size limit. With the max clan tier being tier six, players can get a total +90 party size limit increase by ranking up their clan. This journey, however, is a lengthy one, as the higher the clan tier, the more renown one must earn to reach the next level. Claiming victory in large battles against multiple generals is currently the most efficient way to earn renown and rank up one’s clan, but that’s easier said than done when players’ party size is limited and they’re still using lower-tiered troops. Naturally, easier difficulty settings can give players an edge when it comes to taking on more powerful adversaries, but that comes down to one’s preference and how much of a challenge they are seeking.
After creating a kingdom, which requires one to progress the campaign’s main quest line and reach clan tier three, players will be able to activate policies – a function that offers a wide variety of benefits to players’ kingdom, from income and influence bonuses to minimizing food consumption and bolstering vassal loyalty.
Two policies offer increases to the kingdom ruler’s party size limits:
- Royal Guard
- Ruler’s party size is increased by 80.
- Ruler clan gains 1 influence per day.
- Non-ruling clans lose 0.2 influence per day.
- Tier 4+ clans gain 1 influence per day and the party size of their leaders is increased by 50.
Note that some policies offer bonuses while simultaneously causing minor negative effects – a double-edged sword. To pass policies, players need to open the Kingdom page (default ‘K’ key), navigate to the Policies tab, select the policy they wish to activate, and click the Propose button at the bottom of the page. Policies cost influence to be able to activate, which is gained by constructing and upgrading buildings in the fiefdoms players own. Some policies also increase influence once activated.
Unlocking perks in Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord also offers increases to one’s party size limits. Perk points are acquired by leveling up the more general skill trees. When a perk point is available within a given skill tree, players will notice a silver shield in the lower left-hand corner of the skill tree with the number of perk points available to allocate. Perk points unlock within skill trees after reaching a certain threshold within a given tree. Players will find available perks on the character page (default ‘C’ key).
The following is a list of each ability in the game that increases gamers’ party size limit and the trees in which they are located.
- Bow
- Merry Men - +3 to party size.
- Throwing
- Skirmishers - +5 to party size.
- Riding
- Squires - +2 to party size.
- Conroi - +4 to party size.
- Ultimate Leader – Every skill increase after 250 gives +1 party capacity.
- Ultimate Leader 2 – Every skill increase after 250 gives + 1 party capacity.
- Mercenary Trader - +15 to party size.
- Bannerlord - +2 to party size for each fief the player owns.
- Swords As Tribute - +10 to party size for every vassal.
- Man-At-Arms - +5 to party size for each fief the player owns.
The Leadership and Steward skills offer the most lucrative increases to party size limits when it comes to the player character’s upgrades. The two Ultimate Leader perks beneath the Leadership tree will increase gamers’ party size limits by one every time they rank up the Leadership skill, offering an infinite number of potential increases to party size limits as long as players keep increasing that skill (assuming there is no skill cap).
The perks under the Steward tree encourage players to expand their clan and kingdom, giving them an incentive to conquer new territory to augment their parties and armies. In addition, the Swords As Tribute perk incentivizes turning other clans into vassals as opposed to annihilating them outright. Either way, expansion will be the key to increasing party size limits with the perks under Steward active.
Players can, of course, attempt to acquire every perk mentioned above, though, that will require an immense amount of grinding and patience. Indeed, most of the perks in the game is obtainable, but accomplishing that feat comes at the cost of a massive time sink and dedication, as gamers must actually use every skill consistently to make that feasible.
Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord released in Early Access on March 30, 2020, and is available on PC via Steam.