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Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord

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Best Governors

By
Scott Peers

Best Governors

Best Governor Skills & Perks

The usefulness of skills for a governor will vary depending on how you intend to have your settlements governed by a companion, and what you want them to prioritise. There are a lot of perks to choose from which can be useful for governing a settlement, and they are distributed between the following skills at various levels: Scouting, Tactics, Roguery, Charm, Leadership, Trade, Steward, Medicine, and Engineering. The number of perks associated with these skills can be overwhelming, so we’ve provided a table below which breaks down all the useful perks that you might choose to invest in a companion, specifically for the purpose of governing a settlement.

Skill Perk Effect Level
Scouting Desert Born Towns you govern give 2.5% more tax 75
Scouting Forest Kin Villages you govern give 10% more tax 75
Scouting Village Network Villagers parties are 10% larger 200
Scouting Vanguard 10% more damage in simulated battles when sallying out 250
Tactics On the March Increase fortification bonus in simulations by 20% 150
Tactics Pick Them Off the Walls 25% chance of double damage to besieging personnel 175
Tactics Make Them Pay 20% more damage to besieger siege engines 175
Tactics Gens d’armes Increase governed town security by +1 per day 250
Roguery Sweet Talker Prisoners are 20% less likely to escape from towns 25
Roguery Know-How Increase security of the settlement you govern by +1 per day 75
Roguery In Best Light Villages of your clan recover 20% faster 75
Roguery Scarface 5% daily chance to improve relations by 1 with random gang leaders in governed settlement 125
Roguery White Lies 2% daily chance to improve relations by 1 with random notable in governed settlement 125
Roguery One of the Family Gang leaders in settlement offer you 1 more recruitment slot 175
Roguery Salt the Earth Increase tariff revenue by 5% 175
Roguery Arms Dealer Increase daily militia by +2 per day while under siege 225
Roguery Dirty Fighting Town can smuggle in 2 random foot items per day while under siege 225
Charm Effort for the People 10% chance to get 1 relation with random notable per day while continuous projects are active 150
Charm Promoter Increase relation with random notable by 1 for every project completed 150
Charm Natural Leader +10 Loyalty bonus to town 200
Charm Moral Leader +10 Security bonus to town 200
Leadership Raise the Meek Each troop in the garrison gains +3 XP per day 25
Leadership Authority Increase the party size limit by +5 75
Leadership Heroic Leader +1 town loyalty per day 75
Leadership Veteran’s Respect Increase garrison size by 20 150
Leadership Citizen Militia Militia has 20% chance to spawn with more experienced troops 150
Trade Villager Connections Workshop productions are increased by 25% 150
Trade Content Trades Increase tariff income by 10% 150
Trade Granary Accountant 20% production increase for grain, olives, fish, and dates for villages bound to town 200
Trade Tradeyard Foreman 20% production increase for clay, iron, cotton, and silver for villages bound to town 200
Trade Self Made Man Marketplace, kiln, and aqueduct projects are built 30% faster 225
Trade Spring of Gold Gold boosts for town projects are 20% more effective 250
Trade Trickle Down Governed town gains 1 prosperity per day while building a project 275
Steward Seven Veterans +1 town militia per day 50
Steward Drill Sergeant Garrison wages are 5% less 50
Steward Stiff Upper Lip Garrison wages are decreased by 20% for castles 75
Steward Foreseeable Future Tariff income is 10% higher 125
Steward Logistician Tax income is 10% higher 125
Steward Aid Corps Increase village hearth growth rate by 20% 150
Steward Relocation Project boosting is 20% more effective 150
Steward Gourmet Reduce food consumption of garrisons during siege by 10% 175
Steward Forced Labor Construction speed is increased by 10% 200
Steward Contractors Town projects are 10% more effective 200
Steward Urban Developer Continuous projects for settlements are 20% more effective 250
Steward Master of Warcraft Town population consumes 5% less food 250
Steward Price of Loyalty Governed cities tax increases by 0.5% per skill level above 200 275
Medicine Triage Tent Reduce settlement food consumption by 5% during sieges 50
Medicine Pristine Streets Increase settlement prosperity by 1 per day 150
Medicine Bush Doctor Increase village hearth growth rate by 20% 150
Medicine Perfect Health Increase animal production in governed villages by 10% 175
Medicine Physician of People Increase loyalty of settlement by 1 per day 200
Medicine Clean Infrastructure Recover bound villages 30% faster, and gain prosperity bonus from projects related to sanitation & health 200
Medicine Helping Hands 50% less prosperity loss from starvation 250
Medicine Battle Hardened Wounded units gain +25 XP at the end of a battle 250
Engineer Siegeworks Settlement provides 1 extra catapult at the beginning of a siege 50
Engineer Prison Architect Prisoner escape chance from dungeons are decreased by 25% 50
Engineer Military Planner 25% increased build speed for castle projects 75
Engineer Carpenters 12% increased build speed for town projects 75
Engineer Dreadful Besieger Increased hit chance to siege engines by 10% during campaign siege 100
Engineer Salvager Each militia increase build speed of siege engines by 0.1% 125
Engineer Foreman Increase prosperity by 100 for each completed project 125
Engineer Stonecutters 30% faster build rate for fortification, aqueduct and barracks projects 150
Engineer Siege Engineer Defensive siege engines have 30% more hit points 150
Engineer Battlements Increase max granary food storage capacity by 100 175
Engineer Engineering Guilds Wall hit points are increased by 25% 200
Engineer Apprenticeship Each unique project in settlement provides 1% bonus to prosperity gain 200
Engineer Clockwork Gold boosts for town projects are 20% more effective 250
Engineer Architectural Commissions Continuous projects provide 20 gold per day 250

Best Governor Companions

There aren’t as many companions which start off with high levels in a wide range of governance skills, as many do with combat skills. Instead, you’ll find that specific companions narrowly specialize in different skills by default. Below you’ll find a list of companions with their default values of governance skills at the beginning of a campaign. We’ve included each companion based on whether they achieve at least level 40 in a specific skill by default. This provides a good basis for expanding that skill without the initial grind from much lower values, so long as you know that the skill you’re looking for is associated with specific perks that you want to invest in, as with those shown in the table above.

Companion Epithet Skill Specializations & Level
Bitterdraught Charm (80), Trade (42), Steward (40), Medicine (62)
Blacktooth Scouting (60), Roguery (40), Charm (10)
Horsethief Scouting (100)
The Golden Tactics (100), Leadership (100)
The Healer Medicine (80)
The Huntress Scouting (100)
The Hyena Roguery (101)
The Knowing Engineering (80)
The Prince Roguery (140)
The Silent Tactics (60), Leadership (60)
The Spicevendor Trade (100), Steward (100)
The Surgeon Medicine (80)
The Swift Roguery (100), Trade (80), Steward (80)
The Wainwright Engineering (80)

You will note from the above table that the best all-rounders are Bitterdraught and The Swift, based on the fact that they achieve at least level 40 in three different skills. However, you may want to consider a companion such as The Golden, who specializes in only two skills, but both at level 100. The companion you choose will depend entirely on your own governance preferences, having considered the future perks available from each skill.

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Guide Information
  • Publisher
    TaleWorlds Entertainment
  • Platforms,
    PC, Steam
  • Genre
    Action RPG, Sandbox, Strategy
  • Guide Release
    23 April 2020
  • Last Updated
    21 December 2022
    Version History
  • Guide Author
    Scott Peers

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The empire of Calradia is plagued by inner conflict, tearing the structure of the old order as new lines are drawn on the map. The chaos creates a dangerous world, with opportunities to capitalise on the uncertainty of the future. Control trade routes to manipulate production and distribution of resources, join factions to gain renown and influence world politics, or create your own clan to build a world of your own. Whatever path you choose, this guide will help you to understand the intricacies of the Bannerlord economy, combat, factions, skills and perks, tactics, troop types, character builds, smithing system, quests, and much more to ensure that you are never left wondering what to do next, or how you might go about doing it. The guide covers:

  • A guide for campaign Quests, including main and side quests
  • A detailed guide covering the Combat system, includes basic and advanced techniques for different weapons
  • Guide to combat Tactics, includes how to organise troops on the battlefield and simulation battles
  • Guides for how to quickly gain Renown and Influence in Calradia
  • A Character Development guide to Factions, Skills, Companions, and Marriage
  • A guide covering Character Builds for different combat styles such as melee, mounted, and ranged
  • A comprehensive guide to all Perks associated with combat and governance
  • A detailed Army Troop Types guide including how to get the Best Troops of Each Type
  • An Economy guide covering How to Make Money quickly through raiding, conquest, and trading
  • A list of Recommended Mods for the campaign and battles!

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