Part 5

Learn how to recruit heroes and soldiers in Mount & Blade: Warband. Discover how to find Claimants, manage hero skills, and build your army from villages, prisoners, and mercenaries.

This section of the guide covers recruiting and managing your party members in Mount & Blade: Warband. It details how to find and recruit heroes, understand their roles and skills, and how to acquire basic troops for your army.

Finding Claimants: To locate a Claimant, visit a town's tavern and speak with a 'Traveler' NPC (if present). For 30 denars, they will provide a general location. Claimants typically stay in a town for 3-10 days before moving. They can always be found in the castle area of a town not controlled by their desired faction.

Heroes: Mount & Blade: Warband features nearly two dozen unique NPCs called 'heroes' that can join your party. Heroes act as secondary leaders but cannot use 'Leader skills'; these must be used by the player character (PC). However, heroes can utilize 'party skills,' which are crucial for managing a large army. The game uses the highest score among the PC and any healthy heroes for each party skill.

Heroes can be recruited from taverns for 0 to 500 denars. Their stats are not immediately visible, but a linked Google Docs spreadsheet provides this information. To manage a hero's equipment or level-up choices, access the party tab, select the hero, and speak with them.

Heroes can also be sent on strategic missions: one to gain 'right to rule' (useful for forming your own faction) and another to gather information on faction discontent by speaking with their contacts. This latter mission is particularly helpful for claimant quests.

Each hero has specific relationships: one they like, two they dislike, and various other dislikes. Common dislikes include retreating, heavy casualties, running out of food, and failing quests. Some heroes dislike raiding, but this can be managed by doing it sparingly and maintaining high morale.

If a hero's morale drops too low, they may leave, taking all their equipment. They can be found by paying a 'Traveler' NPC 30 denars in a tavern, and will rejoin if conditions improve. You may also encounter them randomly.

Your Character (PC): As the leader, your PC controls the army's finances, decisions, and is the only one whose 'Leader skill' values are used. If defeated in battle, you will be captured, leading to army dispersal, loss of possessions, and a period of waiting to escape. Falling in battle multiple times results in an instant party loss.

Character equipment is managed in the Inventory tab, and stats are viewed in the Character tab.

Recruitment: There are three primary ways to recruit soldiers:

• Villages: The main source for basic 'Recruit' or 'Tribesman' units at 10 denars each. Recruiting requires a positive relationship with the village. Higher tiers of recruits are rare.
• Freeing Prisoners: Captured troops from defeated enemy parties or sieges can include a wide range of units, from basic peasants to elite knights.
• Hiring Mercenaries: While not detailed in this excerpt, mercenaries are another option for bolstering your army.