TaleWorlds released Warband in March 2010 as a standalone expansion to Mount & Blade, and sixteen years later it is still the reference point for directional melee on horseback. You start as a nobody with a sword and a horse in a Calradia carved up between six kingdoms, and you can finish as a bandit, a mercenary captain, a marshal, or a king with your own vassals. Multiplayer runs up to 64 players across Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Conquest, Battle and Siege.
This guide covers everything you need: core mechanics, the best builds, equipment worth investing in, location progression, and the tips that actually make a difference.
Core Mechanics
Directional melee blocking
Attacks and blocks come from four directions and your block has to match the incoming swing. Feinting by starting a strike from one side and releasing from another is the whole skill ceiling of the combat, which is why Warband duel servers outlived the game's own sequel launch.
Mounted combat and couched lances
Horse speed adds directly to weapon damage, so a lance strike at a gallop kills troops who would survive three swings on foot. Couched damage needs a long lance and enough speed to trigger it, and that single mechanic decides most open field battles.
Troop tree upgrades
Village recruits climb a faction-specific tree by earning experience in battle and then costing denars to promote. Swadian Recruits eventually reach Swadian Knights, Nord Recruits reach Huscarls, and Rhodok Tribesmen branch into Sergeants or Sharpshooters.
Faction relations and fiefs
Every lord, town and village tracks a relation number with you, and lords vote on who receives captured fiefs. Raiding villages funds an early army but costs relation you will badly want later, and that trade is the central tension of the mid game.
Trade and enterprises
Goods carry local prices, so buying grain where it is cheap and selling it where it is not funds an army faster than looting ever will. A Wine Press in Uxkhal works because Swadian grapes are cheap there, and it pays weekly with no risk of dying in a field.
For a deeper dive into how these systems interact, see our Mount & Blade: Warband combat guide.
Builds Overview
| Build | Tier | Playstyle | Key Stats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swadian Knight heavy cavalry | S | Hold the knights back while your infantry pins the enemy line, then charge the rear or flank at full gallop and pull out wide to come around again. | Riding, then Power Strike, then Ironflesh |
| Nord Huscarl heavy infantry | S | Form up on high ground, let enemy cavalry break itself on the shields, and throw axes into the charge before contact. | Power Strike, then Ironflesh, then Athletics |
| Rhodok Sharpshooter crossbows | A | Hold them on walls or behind a spear line, order hold fire until the enemy has closed, then let them volley into a packed formation. | Crossbow proficiency, then Ironflesh |
| Vaegir Marksman archers | A | Deploy on a hill behind infantry, hold them at maximum range, and pull them back the second any cavalry slips past the front line. | Power Draw, then Archery proficiency, then Athletics |
| Khergit Horse Archer | B | Keep distance and circle the enemy line. On the world map, use that speed advantage to pick every single fight you take. | Horse Archery, then Riding, then Power Draw |
Swadian Knight heavy cavalry (S-Tier): The classic Calradian answer to almost everything: a lance charge into the flank of a busy infantry line. Swadian Knights bring heavy armor, a lance, a sword and a shield, and they held the title of best cavalry until the Sarranid Mamluke arrived in Warband.
Nord Huscarl heavy infantry (S-Tier): Huscarls carry great axes, throwing weapons and heavy armor, and they beat any other infantry in Calradia in a straight fight. The Nord tree has almost no cavalry, so a Nord army is a wall that wins wherever it decides to stand.
Rhodok Sharpshooter crossbows (A-Tier): Crossbows plus a heater shield means these troops survive the counter-fire that kills unarmored archers outright. They are the best siege defenders in the game, and they are the reason Rhodok castles are miserable to assault.
Vaegir Marksman archers (A-Tier): Vaegir Marksmen shoot noticeably faster than any crossbow unit in Calradia, which means far more arrows into a charging line before it reaches you. They fold in melee, so they need bodies in front of them.
Khergit Horse Archer (B-Tier): The entire Khergit tree is mounted, so a Khergit army outruns everything on the world map and can refuse any fight it does not fancy. Horse archers are miserable to fight and awkward to command, since the AI keeps riding them into melee.
For full build breakdowns with gear and stat priorities, see our Mount & Blade: Warband builds guide. For rankings, check the tier list.
Equipment Guide
| Equipment | Why It Matters | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| One handed weapons | Swords, axes and maces paired with a shield, which is the only loadout that survives sustained arrow fire on foot. | Shield infantry and anyone farming prisoners for ransom |
| Two handed weapons | Great swords, long axes and mauls trade the shield away for reach and damage. | Siege ladders and breaking a shield wall open |
| Polearms and lances | Pikes and long spears out-range everything on foot and brace hard against cavalry, while lances gain couched damage from horse speed. | Cavalry charges and holding a siege breach on foot |
| Bows | Fast to draw, tied to Power Draw for damage, and usable from horseback once you have Horse Archery. | Mobile damage, horse archer builds, defending walls |
| Crossbows | Higher damage per bolt, no strength requirement at all, and slow to reload. | Siege defense and low strength characters |
One handed weapons: Swords, axes and maces paired with a shield, which is the only loadout that survives sustained arrow fire on foot. Maces and war hammers deal blunt damage, knocking enemies unconscious instead of killing them and filling your prisoner stack with ransomable lords.
Two handed weapons: Great swords, long axes and mauls trade the shield away for reach and damage. Nord and Rhodok top tiers use them well because their armor absorbs the hits a shield would otherwise have caught.
Polearms and lances: Pikes and long spears out-range everything on foot and brace hard against cavalry, while lances gain couched damage from horse speed. Both use the polearm proficiency, so a cavalry character can dismount without switching skills.
Bows: Fast to draw, tied to Power Draw for damage, and usable from horseback once you have Horse Archery. Vaegir Marksmen fire noticeably faster than any crossbow troop, which is why stacks of them shred infantry columns before contact.
Crossbows: Higher damage per bolt, no strength requirement at all, and slow to reload. Rhodok Sharpshooters carry one alongside a heater shield, which is why they survive exchanges that kill archers outright.
Full breakdowns in our Mount & Blade: Warband weapons guide.
Location Progression
| Location | Level Range | Key Rewards |
|---|---|---|
| Kingdom of Swadia | Good starting region for a new character | Swadian Knights, Swadian Sharpshooters, cheap grapes in Uxkhal for a Wine Press |
| Kingdom of the Vaegirs | Mid game, once you can carry archer upkeep | Vaegir Marksmen, Vaegir Guards, northern fur and iron trade routes |
| Kingdom of the Nords | Any stage, brutal to fight early | Nord Huscarls, Nord Veteran Archers, throwing weapon access |
| Kingdom of the Rhodoks | Any stage, strongest on defense | Rhodok Sergeants, Rhodok Sharpshooters, broken terrain that blunts cavalry |
| Khergit Khanate | Difficult early, dominant once you can afford horses | Khergit Lancers, Khergit Horse Archers, unmatched map speed |
Kingdom of Swadia: Central plains ruled by King Harlaus from Praven, holding Uxkhal, Suno and Dhirim alongside it. Swadia is the only faction with genuinely strong troops in all three categories, and the Swadian Knight is the benchmark every other cavalry unit gets measured against.
Kingdom of the Vaegirs: The northeastern kingdom centered on Reyvadin, with Curaw, Khudan and Rivacheg. Vaegir Marksmen out-shoot every crossbow unit in Calradia and Vaegir Guards are excellent shock infantry, though the cavalry sits a step behind Swadia's.
Kingdom of the Nords: A seafaring culture on the northern coast under King Ragnar at Sargoth, also holding Tihr and Wercheg. Nord Huscarls are the strongest infantry in the game and Veteran Archers back them, but the faction fields next to no cavalry.
Kingdom of the Rhodoks: Hill country around Jelkala, Yalen and Veluca. Rhodok Sergeants carry long polearms that stop a cavalry charge cold, and Rhodok Sharpshooters bring crossbows with a shield, which makes this the best defensive faction on the map.
Khergit Khanate: The eastern steppe faction based at Tulga, with Narra, Ichamur and Halmar. It is the only kingdom whose entire troop tree is mounted, so Khergit armies are the fastest on the world map and the hardest to run away from.
See our maps & locations guide for detailed area breakdowns and our walkthrough for the optimal progression path.
Tips That Actually Matter
- Fight the tournament in every town you pass through during your first ten in-game days. Betting on yourself pays better than any early quest, and the renown lets lords take you seriously months before you can afford a real army.
- Put your first skill points into Power Strike, Ironflesh and Riding. Trade, Leadership and Prisoner Management matter later. None of them matter if a Sea Raider knocks you off your horse in week two.
- Buy a shield before you buy better armor. Arrows kill unarmored characters fast in Warband, and a shield blocks arrows passively while it is on your arm, which is a change from the original game.
- Blunt weapons take prisoners. A war hammer knocks lords unconscious rather than killing them, and ransoming a captured lord through a ransom broker pays more than a whole battle's loot.
- Recruit from villages that actually like you rather than the nearest one. Village relation rises from completing their quests and from not raiding them, and a friendly village hands over more recruits per visit.
- Send infantry up the ladders last in a siege. Order archers to clear the wall first, then push, because troops climbing a ladder arrive one at a time against an entire garrison.
- Build enterprises where the input is cheap. A Wine Press in Uxkhal earns because grapes are cheap there. The same building somewhere else pays a fraction and takes just as long to break even.
- Do not declare your own kingdom until you can hold two fiefs. Right to Rule, garrison wages and the war every neighbor immediately declares all cost more than they look like they will, and most first attempts fold inside a month.
- Companions dislike each other. Several of the sixteen will walk out if forced to travel with a specific rival, so check the conflict pairs before you fill every slot, or run eight carefully chosen ones instead.
- Keep your army under your Leadership cap. Every soldier over it drags party morale down, and a low morale army bleeds troops to desertion between battles, which costs more than the extra bodies were ever worth.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Mashing attack in melee. Warband rewards holding a swing to feint and matching your block to the incoming direction, so players who click as fast as possible lose duels to anyone who learned the four directions.
- Ordering a full charge on turn one. That throws your archers into melee where they die, and scatters cavalry into single fights they lose. Hold ranged, hold infantry, send cavalry wide.
- Fielding one enormous army of low tier troops. Sixty Swadian Recruits lose to twenty Swadian Knights and cost more in wages, because damage in this game scales sharply with armor and weapon quality.
- Raiding villages of the faction you plan to serve. It funds the early game, then the relation loss follows you, and lords remember it when they vote on the fief you wanted.
- Ignoring world map speed. Party size, terrain and cavalry ratio all change how fast you move, and being slower than the Khergit party chasing you is how a promising campaign ends.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Warband still worth playing after Bannerlord?
Yes, and it is still the version most modders target. The directional combat is tighter, kingdom management is easier to learn, and total conversions like Prophesy of Pendor and 1257 AD have no real equivalent on the newer engine.
Which faction should I join first?
Swadia if you want cavalry, the Rhodoks if you want to defend, the Nords if you want infantry that wins outnumbered. Swadia is the gentlest starting point because its troop tree covers cavalry, infantry and crossbows without borrowing recruits from anyone else.
How many factions and towns are there?
Six factions and 22 towns. Warband added the Sarranid Sultanate and its four towns on top of the original game's five kingdoms, taking the total from 18 towns to 22.
Can I create my own kingdom?
Yes. Back a claimant and rebel, declare independence outright, or simply take fiefs and swear to nobody. Each route needs Right to Rule, a garrison you can pay for, and companions you can promote into vassals with lands of their own.
How does multiplayer work?
Up to 64 players across Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Conquest, Battle and Siege. Equipment is bought with money earned during the round, so everyone starts a match equal and survival is what buys you the good gear.
More Mount & Blade: Warband Guides
- Mount & Blade: Warband Best Builds
- Mount & Blade: Warband Tier List
- Mount & Blade: Warband Walkthrough
- Mount & Blade: Warband Beginner's Guide
- Mount & Blade: Warband Tips & Tricks
- Mount & Blade: Warband Weapons Guide
- Mount & Blade: Warband Combat Guide
- Mount & Blade: Warband Boss Guide
- Mount & Blade: Warband Maps & Locations
- Mount & Blade: Warband Crafting Guide
- Mount & Blade: Warband Classes & Characters
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