Hello and welcome back to another Strat Gaming video guide. In this episode of the Bannerlord Perks guide we will cover all perks from the one handed skill tree. By the end of this video, you will have a complete understanding of what each one does and which to pick based on your specific needs. I won’t be covering any captain perks until they allow us to pick captains for our army as they are pretty much irrelevant right now. I put timestamps in the description for your convenience and without further ado, let’s get started!
Level 25 – Bash: The extra damage is negligible as the base bash damage is 2. I’ve synced up 2 stuns to begin at the exact same time and slowed time down 50%. There is a difference, but it’s mostly with how far back the enemy is pushed and not much in terms of how long the enemy is stunned for.
Level 25 – Deflect: I’m not a big fan of handling increase as I’ve found it extremely hard to tell the difference in damage after taking these perks. If your aim is atrocious then consider picking this perk, but otherwise I would recommend taking Bash instead.
Level 50 – Swift Strike: I’m a huge fan of stacking attack speed modifiers, although 2% by itself isn’t much. The secondary perk giving +0.5 militia per day for the governor is amazing as militia help deter attacks and are wage-free troops!
Level 50 – To Be Blunt: If you’re having trouble getting axes to 1-shot kill and maces to 2-shot, then consider this perk as 5% damage boost is decent. However, with a good smith in your party, damage shouldn’t be an issue. The secondary perk for 0.5 security is decent as well, however, I find the militia to be more beneficial in general. My pick here is Swift strike most of the time.
Level 75 – Cavalry: I’m not big on mounted damage boosts as the speed damage bonus from mounted combat is generally enough to kill anything in one hit anyways, however 5% is a pretty good bonus to have.
Level 75 – Shield bearer: I tested a sprint across a field to see what difference the shield bearer perk had and it was quite underwhelming to say the least. I actually couldn’t tell any difference at all between the two, making Cavalry the obvious choice here.
Level 100 – Duelist: 20% is a huge increase in damage, however I can’t think of a reason why you would use a one handed weapon without a shield? If your shield breaks in combat, then this can be handy I suppose, or in the civilian setting where using a shield isn’t an option. Double renown gain from tournaments allows an extra 3 renown per win, however by the time you’re level 100 in one handed, you probably won’t be doing too many tournaments.
Level 100 – Trainer: +2 hit points isn’t much, but I highly recommend stacking as many HP modifiers as you can get. When you get to late game and have good armor, you’ll be an absolute tank! The secondary perk is a nice addition, giving 5% XP more to all foot troops. My foot troops tend to die the most, so being able to level them quicker is a plus. The level 100 pick is situational, but my preference is usually trainer.
Level 125 – Arrow catcher: Having a larger protection area against arrows is very useful as ranged attacks tend to be the majority of my deaths.
Level 125 – Shield wall: If like to hold your shield steady without moving it to block correctly, then this can be helpful. However, I rarely get into battles where my shield is destroyed. Even then, it’s not hard to find a replacement shield from the floor. I pick arrow catcher every time.
Level 150 – Corps-a-corps: As stated before, having extra XP gain from battles for infantry is nice as they will need to be replaced often and leveling them up can be more challenging than archers. I don’t often find myself having garrison issues, so +30 to garrison size is a non-factor.
Level 150 – Military Tradition: My preference is for passive XP over battle XP boost since it will be used as much in peace as it is during war times. It also hits all infantry, whereas battle XP boost is only for those who get hits and kills during battle. I’m also a huge fan of garrison wage decrease for the governor as garrison wages can easily become larger than the money produced from a settlement, making your fiefs an expense instead of an income source. Military tradition is my pick 100% of the time.
Level 175 – Lead by example: Gaining 5% more XP for all troops after battle is nice since it doesn’t just apply to infantry this time. Also, starting with a flat 5 bonus morale for all battles is great!
Level 175 – Stand United: Gaining 8 morale is even better, however it only applies when you’re outnumbered. If you mostly use high tier troops and don’t mind riskier battles, then this can be a great pickup, however in general it’s more situational that the other perk. Gaining 30% more security from garrisoned troops can help stabilize a newly conquered settlement quicker, but again security is generally the easiest stat to fix. This pick can be very situational, but I lean towards Lead By Example.
Level 200 – Fleet of Foot: 5% more movement speed is MASSIVE! If you’re planning on fighting on foot, then this is a must have for mobility. Like the other movement speed modifiers, it’s difficult to see the difference with testing unless you stack enough modifiers, so if this is the only movement speed bonus perk you can take then consider skipping it.
Level 200 – Steel Core Shield: I’m not a huge fan of shield HP bonuses as I rarely lose my shield in combat. If you have issues with your shield surviving, then consider this perk. However, my personal pick here is Fleet of foot 100% of the time.
Level 225 – Deadly Purpose: Increasing all One Handed damage by 5% is a decent bonus, but damage is rarely a bottleneck for my builds.
Level 225 – Unwavering Defense: +5 hit points is a great bonus, especially when stacked with other HP increase perks. On top of this, we gain +10 HP for all infantry in our party, which is a huge increase! This isn’t even close, Unwavering Defense is the pick here.
Level 250 – Chink in the Armor: Attacks ignore 10% of the enemy armor, which can make a slight difference to damage on higher tier troops, however it’s just not enough to entice me to pick it. And by the time we reach level 250 one handed, money shouldn’t be an issue so the secondary perk for 20% recruitment cost is a non-factor.
Level 250 – Prestige: Extra damage to shields can be pretty good if you’re using an axe. In my testing it took 5 hits instead of 7 to destroy a shield, which is a big difference. However, the secondary perk is S tier all by itself – +15 to party size limit is HUGE and ends the discussion here. Prestige is the pick 100% of the time.
Level 275 – There is only one perk here making the decision trivial, however let’s look at how effective it is at different levels so we can compare and decide how far past 275 it might be worth for us to level up. There is a huge difference between 275 without the perk and 330 with the perk, however from 300 to 330 is not as noticeable. I don’t think 330 is worth the grind, but getting close to 300 is definitely worth it!
We are nearing the end of the video and it wouldn’t be a Strat Gaming guide without some bonuses, so here we go!
A good perk can make a marginal difference by itself, but the real power comes from when you select groups of perks that synergize well together. Let’s look at some One Handed perks that would stack nicely with other skill perks:
Governor Militia increase – There are 7 perks that will increase militia everyday without extra requirements. This totals up to +4.5 extra militia per day! Using a castle with terrible loyalty to test, we can see the base Militia is 105, but with all governor perk boosts that number shoots up to 285, an increase of 171%! Keep in mind, militia are free units and cost nothing to recruit or maintain. Even without a garrison, this castle will be difficult for most enemies to siege quickly. It’s not uncommon to win a defense while being outnumbered 2 to 1 or more.
Main Character HP Increase – There are 8 perks that increase our main character’s hit points. If we add all of these up without the final athletics perk, we can see a +32HP increase. With Athletics maxed at 330, we can increase that number by an additional +80, bringing our total HP increase to +112. The base HP is 100, so this is a 112% increase! With a good set of late game armor, surviving on the hardest difficulty setting becomes trivial, allowing us to rack up even more kills!
I want to thank you all for watching another Strat Gaming video guide. If you found any of this information entertaining or useful, hit the like button as that’s the best way to let the YouTube algorithm know that I’m doing something right! If you want to see more videos and guides just like this, consider subscribing. Let me know in the comments section below what topic you would like to see covered on the channel. Up next, we will be looking at all of the two handed sword perks! Thanks again for watching and I’ll see you… on the next one!
