Bannerlord Polearm Weapons Build¶

For a full list of Polearm perks, see here.

The main reason to specialise in polearms in Mount & Blade: Bannerlord is to use them while mounted on horseback. They provide much greater reach than one-handed or two-handed weapons, and can be couched to inflict devastating damage on one or more opponents as you ride by them at high speed. Although you can use one-handed or two-handed weapons while mounted, you won’t be able to couch them and you will need to ride much closer to enemy lines to ensure a hit. The polearm perk tree also provides advantages for horseback combat such as increased damage to other horses, improved couched damage in general, and reduced cooldown before you can couch your polearm again. To couch your polearm means that you will be piercing enemies head-on, but you can also choose to swing a polearm against multiple units as you ride behind the ranks of an enemy army. This is particularly effective against groups of archers, which would otherwise be protected by multiple lines of infantry or enemy cavalry. In addition to basic damage and speed increases, the polearm perk tree provides the ability to knock multiple enemies back, interrupting their attack animations. You can also increase the base morale of your army by 15%.

If you want to focus on creating a polearm build, you will benefit from selecting the following background skills during character creation (for a full breakdown of background skills, see Defining Background Skills):

• Family - A Baron’s Retainers: +10 Skill Level and 1 Focus Point to Riding and Polearm. 1 Attribute Point to Social.

• Early Childhood - Your skill with horses: +10 Skill Level and 1 Focus Point to Riding and Medicine. 1 Attribute Point to Endurance.

• Adolescence - Caring for horses: +10 Skill Level and 1 Focus Point to Riding and Steward. 1 Attribute Point to Endurance.

• Youth - Trained with the infantry: +10 Skill Level and 1 Focus Point to Polearm and One-Handed weapons. 1 Attribute Point to Vigor.

• Young Adulthood - You defeated an enemy in battle: +10 Skill Level and 1 Focus Point to One-Handed weapons and Two-Handed weapons. 1 Attribute Point to Vigor. +1 to Valor and +20 Renown.

• Story Background - You rode off on a fast horse: +10 Skill Level and 1 Focus Point to Riding and Scouting. 1 Attribute Point to Endurance.

Selecting these background skills will provide you with the highest skill in polearm weapons and their associated attributes and skills at the beginning of the game. You can then gradually improve your skill in polearms by investing attribute points in Vigor and skill points in polearm combat. This will increase the learning rate of of that particular skill, allowing you to level it faster as you use polearms in battle scenarios. The more frequently polearms are used, the faster your skill level with them will increase. This applies even to the amount of times that you execute a simple swing or strike with them. The most experience is earned upon successful hits, especially if you are able to kill one or more enemies with one hit, but you can also earn experience with practice swings during a lull in fighting.

The polearm perk tree is fairly linear in terms of the options for progression available to you. Initially at level 25 you will be able to slightly increase your hit points, and greatly improve the morale of your troops at the beginning of a battle by 15% at level 50. From here you can choose whether to increase damage dealt to horses by a significant 70%, or increase your movement speed by 2%. Given that you will be spending much of your time in battles on horseback if you invest in the polearm skill, the increased damage to horses is recommended over the small boost to general speed. The next choice at level 150 is between increased swing damage or thrust damage; a matter of preference depending on your style. The same goes for your choices at level 175 - increased damage with polearms on foot or on horseback - the latter is recommended to create the ultimate horseback killing machine.

In terms of equipment for a polearm build, you can utilise four weapon slots. This allows you to specialise in other forms of combat in addition to polearms. For example, if your main build is based on horseback combat with a polearm, you can also develop your bow or crossbow skills and select the perks most relevant to mounted ranged attacks. This will improve your versatility on the battlefield when using a melee weapon might not be the best option, allowing you to switch between ranged and melee attacks easily. There is also an advantage to remaining on horseback in that your speed will not be limited by the amount of extra weapons that you carry, but do note that you will need at least one weapon slot for either arrows or bolts when using a bow or crossbow. If a bow or crossbow isn’t your thing, you can also develop your throwing skills and have a few axes, javelins, or knives at the ready when necessary. Alternatively you can simply equip a shield alongside a one-handed spear, sword, axe, or mace for when you need to dismount, such as when besieging a settlement.

The best polearms are generally those which can be crafted. However, if you don’t want to invest in the crafting system and would rather find equivalents at marketplaces or from battle loot, you should look out for the following:

One-handed polearms:¶

• Long Glaive: Superior cut damage, less pierce damage, good reach and handling

• Triangular Throwing Spear: Superior pierce damage and handling, less reach and slightly less speed, lacks cut damage

• Thin Fine Steel Hewing Spear: Superior reach and speed, less pierce damage and handling, lacks cut damage

Two-handed polearms:¶

• Western Pike: Superior reach, good pierce damage, lacks cut damage, poor handling

• Warrazor: Good balance of excellent pierce damage and cut damage, less reach and handling

• Rhomphalia: Superior cut damage, decent swing speed, reach, and handling

• Sledgehammer: Superior swing speed, good cut damage, excellent pierce damage and handling, less reach

These weapons are not too difficult to find in the early game, but they can be expensive. The two-handed polearms are much more expensive than one-handed polearms, so you may wish to start with a one-handed polearm and shield to begin with. Each of these weapons can be found on the battlefield, especially after fighting a lord. It is therefore recommended that you join a faction and participate in a large battle with an ally lord against an enemy lord as soon as possible. This will allow you to earn a lot of money in a short amount of time, while also providing you with an opportunity to loot some of the best items with little effort.