Mount and Blade Warband: instructions and mods

[JeenLeen]

I bought Mount and Blade: Warband on Steam over the weekend, and I'm having trouble finding good instructions for the game. The training tutorial at the beginning is not that great, and I don't see any obvious Help menu to access.

Is there an online instruction manual somewhere? I looked on the official website and GameFAQs, and didn't see basic instructions.

I'll post a few questions I have in particular, in case other players of it have answers:
1. Does your background do anything besides determine your starting stats (Str/Agi/Int/Cha, skills, weapon proficiencies) and equipment? (I know gender can impact some aspects of gameplay.)
2. How does healing work?
3. Does your Int give you more skill points at each level-up or just during char-gen?
4. If you beat a battle, do you auto-loot fully or is there any benefit to picking up weapons enemies drop/looking for treasure caches? I can't tell how the Looting skill is used or if it's passive.

And a couple opinion questions:
3. Is there any real penalty to 'wasting time'? I know quests have deadlines and I have to pay for troops, but if I waste a week trying to fight random bandits or something, will that hurt me in the long-term? I guess part of this question is "are my future enemies growing stronger" and thus I'll be too behind, or is it 'okay' if I waste time having fun being inefficient?

4. I'm not great at action games (prefer turn-based), so I'm not really good at the combat in-game. Does it behoove me to boost my Strength and put points into combat skills, or would I be better having higher Int/Cha and hope to recruit more folk?

5. How much does starting location matter?

Note: I did find a helpful FAQ on GameFAQs that answered some questions, like how the main PC needs Leader skills, and I can eventually get Heroes to cover some of the Party skills.

[Can]

Well, you're in for a treat! As for your questions:

1. In Vanilla, just those except the 'your father was an impoverished noble' background, which starts you off being able to choose your banner immediately when you start the game. Otherwise, you'd have to wait until you become a vassal of some lord.
2. You heal as time passes. There's various ways to speed it up (sleeping in a town/castle, wound treatment skill) or regain it (first aid heals you and your companions between each stage of bigger battles).
3. Every single time you put one point in int, you get one extra skill point.
4. After each battle, you get the loot screen. Depending on your loot skills, your enemy and your contribution (if you kill 1 enemy in a thousands vs. thousands battle, don't expect much), you'll get more stuff to choose from.

As for the others:

1. Not really. I usually stick to mods so I don't know in what degree vanilla follows, but when time passes you tend to get bigger lord stacks running around. However, I'm talking about late-game here, where you already have had some serious impact on the size of kingdoms. Better if you take your time than rush and get yourself captured.
2. Depends on your playstyle. If you're one of the rare few that is content with staying back and directing the battle, you can easily afford to ignore the combat skills and be an even better leader/make more money of trading and whatnot. That said, in vanilla you can easily armour up and charge 100+ enemies along with a few dozen knights and have a very good chance of surviving. Getting a few points in things like Power Strike, Ironflesh and if you swing that way, Power Draw for better bows (crossbows don't have power draw requirements for better crossbows, but a good bow and a few quivers can do wonders in a siege) can pay of pretty well. Not to mention giving you a better shot at winning tournaments which is a decent way of getting cash and renown. You don't really need it for the tournaments if you get the fighting mechanics down and you're good at using your head.
3. Mostly, it's about what type of bandits you'll be facing. Khergit and Sarranid starters face mounted bandits which tend to be faster than you if you've got some infantry with you and in the beginning phases, they can really be painful. Nord starters face Sea Raiders, who can be outrun, but their equipment is way better than any other bandit type. When you can take Sea Raiders on, you can earn a decent penny from looting their gear, but don't take too many chances, their thrown weapons really hurt. Vhaegir bandits are okay with a bit of danger due to thrown weapons, while Swadian and Rhodok bandits aren't too dangerous (doesn't mean it's a good idea to take them on early in the game unless you outnumber them or have decent gear). You could argue starting location matters in terms of trade goods and making money, in which case the spices from Khergit cities are certainly lucrative, but you can easily travel the world so you don't need to start in their lands to benefit from the easy money through trading.

Hope that clears some things up, just remember that certainly in the early stages it can be pretty challenging!

[Brother Oni]

Seconding Can's comment of Mount and Blade being very challenging in the beginning, especially if it's your first time.

As for an instruction manual, go to your library in the Steam launcher, right click on Mount and Blade: Warband -> View player manual.

The various player guides do just as good, if not a better, job than the manual though.

[JeenLeen]

Thank you both!

3. Every single time you put one point in int, you get one extra skill point.

What all do you get when leveling up? I take it skill points are not gained each level unless I put points into Int. I've seen that I can get weapon proficiencies just from using them in battle.

EDIT/additional questions: I heard that selling prisoners to the ransom broker (?) is a good way to make money. To take someone prisoner, do you just have to use blunt weapons or have someone using such, and knock them out instead of killing them? (I read in one tutorial that you can recruit Manhunters, by rescuing them from bandits, and those are good for this.)

Would there be any detriment from attacking a random group of peasants that I see traveling around, and possibly imprisoning (then selling or recruiting) them? Would that hurt my reputation in the area?

[Grif]

Thank you both!

What all do you get when leveling up? I take it skill points are not gained each level unless I put points into Int. I've seen that I can get weapon proficiencies just from using them in battle.

Mostly those tagged with (Leader), since they're the ones which you cannot offset by putting them on companions, who has their own set of skill points. You might want to experiment to see which suits your playstyle best. I personally play a Leader type, so I tend to get Leadership, Inventory Management and a few weapon-related skills of choice.

[Brother Oni]

What all do you get when leveling up? I take it skill points are not gained each level unless I put points into Int. I've seen that I can get weapon proficiencies just from using them in battle.

From the manual, you get 1 attribute point, 1 skill point and 10 weapon proficiency points when you level up.

EDIT/additional questions: I heard that selling prisoners to the ransom broker (?) is a good way to make money. To take someone prisoner, do you just have to use blunt weapons or have someone using such, and knock them out instead of killing them? (I read in one tutorial that you can recruit Manhunters, by rescuing them from bandits, and those are good for this.)

Would there be any detriment from attacking a random group of peasants that I see traveling around, and possibly imprisoning (then selling or recruiting) them? Would that hurt my reputation in the area?

The ransom broker is a good way of earning money and shows up randomly in inns and taverns.

To take people prisoner, just hit them normally with a weapon that deals blunt damage - if you 'kill' someone with blunt damage, you capture them instead. Manhunters deal blunt damage by default, thus are excellent for capturing people without accidentally killing them.

Attacking random group of peasants and merchants lowers your standing towards the owning faction, unless you're signed up with a warring faction at the time then go freelance afterwards (any negative standing you earned while at war is dropped apparently).

[JeenLeen]

Thanks again, and I found the instruction manual via Steam, so that's a help.

One (I think last) basic question: is there any way to 'select all' during the Looting interface? It's annoying to click & drag every item to my inventory.

[Squark]

Thanks again, and I found the instruction manual via Steam, so that's a help.

One (I think last) basic question: is there any way to 'select all' during the Looting interface? It's annoying to click & drag every item to my inventory.

Ctrl+click moves something from inventory to the store/ground and vice versa.

Regarding picking up weapons: In vanilla, it's mostly useful in tournaments for grabbing gear that suits you better than what you got. It's slightly more useful in early Viking Conquest, because weapon breakage is a problem (Also, you only start off with a knife, which might let you overpower one or two bandits, but because it can't block, grabbing a dead bandit's staff or pitchfork makes the fight a lot easier).

[Hazzardevil]

You get a skill point every time you level up, adding a point to intelligence gives you an additional point. I would also have Leadership for the decreased troop wages and higher morale. In this game you are rarely further than a few days without food and some battles from morale being so low men are leaving. I personally find the Rhodoks or the Swadians as the easiest areas to start, because they don't have horses and are quite slow for the most part.

It's the deserters you have to watch out for. A group of higher tier soldiers will rip an unprepared party to shreds.

Regarding picking up weapons: In vanilla, it's mostly useful in tournaments for grabbing gear that suits you better than what you got. It's slightly more useful in early Viking Conquest, because weapon breakage is a problem (Also, you only start off with a knife, which might let you overpower one or two bandits, but because it can't block, grabbing a dead bandit's staff or pitchfork makes the fight a lot easier).

I don't remember if this is a vanilla thing or modded, but I think you can take a picked up weapon to your baggage to keep it, if you drag it to your inventory. You'd have to test it for yourself though.

[Knaight]

When it comes to starting, there are a few critical things to keep in mind, and a lot you'll learn just by playing. Much of it is pretty intuitive, but a few notes.

• Faction relations aren't too big of a deal, but it generally helps to have high lord relations all around as much as possible, and high village relations are also really helpful, affecting recruitment.
• Pop into taverns a lot. You find named characters to join you there, you get some of the better quests there (like killing bandits affecting a village or training villagers to fight bandits, which gets you a big relationship benefit and thus better troop access).
• One of the big moneymakers is tournaments, specifically betting on them. Bet as high as possible every round, and when you win you come out with a lot of cash.
• Early game, beating on bandits is fine. Stats do matter, and if you're new it often helps to hit the training grounds, level a bit there, and then take on a few looters first. Small groups of other infantry bandits gets you access to significantly better equipment though, so that's helpful.
• There are tons of mods, and the game is built to handle them. It's worth checking a few out.

To take people prisoner, just hit them normally with a weapon that deals blunt damage - if you 'kill' someone with blunt damage, you capture them instead. Manhunters deal blunt damage by default, thus are excellent for capturing people without accidentally killing them.

Other things that do blunt damage include horse charges, so even if you have only sharp weapons you often get some amount of prisoners.

[Whammydill]

Here is a good infographic series for how to play...

http://imgur.com/gallery/FMAqV

[The Hellbug]

Here is a good infographic series for how to play...

http://imgur.com/gallery/FMAqV

Yeah, that's a pretty good one. Just don't make the same mistake I did and start your first game in the Viking area. I can't emphasize enough how much more dangerous sea raiders are than other infantry bandits. I personally would suggest Swadia for just starting up, since it's right in the middle of the map (and the bandits won't murder you too bad).

[Knaight]

Yeah, that's a pretty good one. Just don't make the same mistake I did and start your first game in the Viking area. I can't emphasize enough how much more dangerous sea raiders are than other infantry bandits. I personally would suggest Swadia for just starting up, since it's right in the middle of the map (and the bandits won't murder you too bad).

I personally really like starting in that area and picking fights with Sea Raiders immediately, but I wouldn't reccomend it to new players. As far as danger goes though, the Nord area isn't too bad. It's more dangerous than the Vaegir, Swadian, or Rhodok ones in the very early game, but compared to the Sarranid and Khergit areas it's a walk in the park. At least sea raiders are infantry and have the associated overland travel rates.

[Squark]

At least sea raiders are infantry and have the associated overland travel rates.

Yes and no- They aren't as fast as a small force of cavalry, but once you start picking up infantry they'll quickly outpace you thanks to nord parties having high pathfinding skills.

[Knaight]

Yes and no- They aren't as fast as a small force of cavalry, but once you start picking up infantry they'll quickly outpace you thanks to nord parties having high pathfinding skills.

Maybe. I prioritize getting certain companions pronto, one of which is Borcha, and if you do that they're much worse at outpacing you. I've consistently not had much of a problem from sea raiders in the early game, which I can't say about mounted bandits.

[Brother Oni]

Other things that do blunt damage include horse charges, so even if you have only sharp weapons you often get some amount of prisoners.

To clarify this for JeenLeen's sake, you just ram them with a horse at speed, not hit them with a weapon or a couched lance on horseback.

[JeenLeen]

After one does the first mission (in Swadia, clearing some bandits to save a merchant's brother), there's not really a plot in a real sense, right? Is the standard to do quests to raise money and get renown, build up my army, etc., until I'm strong enough to either work for a country or claimaint, or to strike out and make my own faction?

I found the cheat codes on GameFAQs, and using it to raise some gold and levels to bypass some of the 'grinding' of quests is an appealing concept, but I don't want to miss the 'story' of when you are weak, if there is one.

[Grif]

After one does the first mission (in Swadia, clearing some bandits to save a merchant's brother), there's not really a plot in a real sense, right? Is the standard to do quests to raise money and get renown, build up my army, etc., until I'm strong enough to either work for a country or claimaint, or to strike out and make my own faction?

I found the cheat codes on GameFAQs, and using it to raise some gold and levels to bypass some of the 'grinding' of quests is an appealing concept, but I don't want to miss the 'story' of when you are weak, if there is one.

Nah, there isn't. The appeal of the game is the sandboxy nature and the make your own story part. (Though I recommend building up an army the non-cheaty way, because it really lets you practice your combat skills.)

[Flickerdart]

Regarding tournaments - the different regions will stick you with weapons used there. So be prepared to get stuck with javelins or bows in Khergit cities, and deal with lancers in Swadia. Regardless, your strategy should be to get mounted ASAP if you're not already, and stay that way. Mobility is the best way to avoid getting ganged up on. Similarly, it will benefit you to kill enemy horses before attacking them personally since horses are very easy to hit.

[Squark]

Regarding tournaments - the different regions will stick you with weapons used there. So be prepared to get stuck with javelins or bows in Khergit cities, and deal with lancers in Swadia. Regardless, your strategy should be to get mounted ASAP if you're not already, and stay that way. Mobility is the best way to avoid getting ganged up on. Similarly, it will benefit you to kill enemy horses before attacking them personally since horses are very easy to hit.

Not to mention that they don't carry shields or wear any sort of armor in tournaments. Also, in a joust, aiming for the horse ensures you hit first, which saves you from being instagibbed by the couched lance.

[Dienekes]

Not to mention that they don't carry shields or wear any sort of armor in tournaments. Also, in a joust, aiming for the horse ensures you hit first, which saves you from being instagibbed by the couched lance.

This is why I like doing the Nords tourneys. Survive for a little and you'll be able to pick up a shield. Just pray you don't start with the bow. Or do, if you're good at it. I for one suck at the range weapons in this game.

[JeenLeen]

Is there a way to leave a nation once you are hired as a mercenary and/or sworn in as a vassal?

I was a merc for Swadia, now a sworn noble, but I think I'd like to defect to another side or just strike out on my own. But I can't figure out how.
Also, until you are at war with a side, is it impossible to raze villages?

[Flickerdart]

Is there a way to leave a nation once you are hired as a mercenary and/or sworn in as a vassal?

As a mercenary, you should be able to talk to your nation's king and get released that way. As a vassal, I think you might still be able to do it, but it will be a huge relations hit and you will lose all your titles.

[JeenLeen]

As a mercenary, you should be able to talk to your nation's king and get released that way. As a vassal, I think you might still be able to do it, but it will be a huge relations hit and you will lose all your titles.

Thanks. I see that option as a vassal. Oddly, I never saw it as a mercenary, or maybe I just missed it or hadn't waited for the full 30 days I agreed to be a merc.

Any opinions on mods? I was looking at some on Steam, and Warwolf and Diplomacy both seemed to have high reviews. I've never done a mod through Steam before (or really on any game before), so I'm not 100% certain of how it works, but it sounds pretty straightforward.

[Grif]

Thanks. I see that option as a vassal. Oddly, I never saw it as a mercenary, or maybe I just missed it or hadn't waited for the full 30 days I agreed to be a merc.

Any opinions on mods? I was looking at some on Steam, and Warwolf and Diplomacy both seemed to have high reviews. I've never done a mod through Steam before (or really on any game before), so I'm not 100% certain of how it works, but it sounds pretty straightforward.

Put mod in folder according to instructions, then load it up in the ingame loader. Pretty straightforward.

As for mods, I'd heartily give Diplomacy a go for the Vanilla+ experience. Otherwise you might want to try full conversion mods like Prophesy of Pendor and 1241.

[Flickerdart]

Is it possible to load multiple mods? I remember getting one with better textures and one with better lighting or something, and then they both appeared as options in the dropdown but I couldn't select both.

[Hazzardevil]

Is it possible to load multiple mods? I remember getting one with better textures and one with better lighting or something, and then they both appeared as options in the dropdown but I couldn't select both.

I thought most of the time the graphics mods could have you just open it up and take the files about, but I don't know how easy it would be.

As a mercenary, you should be able to talk to your nation's king and get released that way. As a vassal, I think you might still be able to do it, but it will be a huge relations hit and you will lose all your titles.

I don't think you can get an instant release without becoming a vassal and then leaving. Your main option is to simply wait out the contract, which is either 30 or 60 days.

[Jonzac]

Yes and no- They aren't as fast as a small force of cavalry, but once you start picking up infantry they'll quickly outpace you thanks to nord parties having high pathfinding skills.

I like heading to the Sea Raider area right from the get go...especially with a crossbow. Find a party of 5 to 10 or so...start riding around them at a long distance...they chase you and if they have someone with a bow he will shoot at you. If you keep your shield up and keep moving at right angles/varied path you can get the arrows to miss. Once the bowman is done, ride toward the group and keep circling while they throw javelins and axes at you. They are inaccurate at longer distances.

Once the axes are gone stop and turn your horse with your crossbow out. Once you bring out your bow/crossbow the raiders bring up their shields which slows them down. Wait for them to get close and shoot them in the leg BELOW THE SHIELD EDGE. Shoot and IMMEDIATE move your horse away and load your crossbow. Rinse and repeat. Most raiders will take 3 bolts to take down. This is a good way to get great armor and shields early on...as well as 20-30 points of renown each battle....more renown lets you have more troops in the future.

[Flickerdart]

I like heading to the Sea Raider area right from the get go...especially with a crossbow. Find a party of 5 to 10 or so...start riding around them at a long distance...they chase you and if they have someone with a bow he will shoot at you. If you keep your shield up and keep moving at right angles/varied path you can get the arrows to miss. Once the bowman is done, ride toward the group and keep circling while they throw javelins and axes at you. They are inaccurate at longer distances.

Once the axes are gone stop and turn your horse with your crossbow out. Once you bring out your bow/crossbow the raiders bring up their shields which slows them down. Wait for them to get close and shoot them in the leg BELOW THE SHIELD EDGE. Shoot and IMMEDIATE move your horse away and load your crossbow. Rinse and repeat. Most raiders will take 3 bolts to take down. This is a good way to get great armor and shields early on...as well as 20-30 points of renown each battle....more renown lets you have more troops in the future.

Hehe, that's definitely one of those things like "grind peasants in the arena until you have Swadian Knights" that's good in theory but a little grindy in practice.

[Dienekes]

Hehe, that's definitely one of those things like "grind peasants in the arena until you have Swadian Knights" that's good in theory but a little grindy in practice.

People grind for Swadian knights? Jeez. I just go win some tourneys and straight buy them.