In this episode of the Bannerlord Perks guide we will look at the polearm skill perks. 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 put timestamps in the description for your convenience and without further ado, let’s get started!
Level 25 – Cavalry: Increasing our mounted polearm damage by 2% leaves a lot to be desired. We start off by testing couch lance damage, which showed a consistent 6% increase to damage. Thrusting yielded no difference whatsoever. The same can be said for swing damage. The only noticeable difference here was for couch lance damage, which doesn’t need a damage boost as it’s a 1-hit kill most of the time. The secondary perk suffers from the same issues here and hardly worth considering.
Level 25 – Pikeman: Again we are blessed with tiny crumbs – a 2% increase to polearm damage on foot. Through the testing, we can see an increase of 1.8% on average for thrusts and nearly the same for swing damage. The secondary perk is slightly better as the increase in damage applies to all infantry, which generally make up the majority of most armies.
For our main character, we pick cavalry if we fight primarily on horseback and pikeman for foot. When picking for a companion captain, I would pick cavalry if they will be leading your mounted troops and pikeman for infantry formations.
Level 50 – Braced: Dismounting cavalry is generally a death sentence, so 25% chance to dismount cavalry is quite good. In practice, this perk works as intended and is satisfying when it happens! The secondary captain perk improved infantry damage to cavalry by 10%, which is a significant boost.
Level 50 – Keep at Bay: If you plan on fighting on foot, this perk is a must. The bane of all spear’s is close quarters, but with this perk we get a 30% chance to knock our enemy backwards, buying us space and time. For a governor, this is a great perk as it’s only level 50 and 0.5 militia per day is decent.
Again, for a mounted play through braced is the pick and on foot Keep at bay. The secondary perk for companions will depend on their role – fighting roles pick braced and governors pick keep at bay.
Level 75 – Clean Thrust: Given TaleWorlds’ track record regarding damage boost perks, I didn’t have high hopes for this one. However, after testing we can see a very clean 10.4% increase in damage over several tests! The secondary perk is also quite good as polearm skill increase raises both damage and attack speed.
Level 75 – Swift Swing: The biggest issue with swingable polearms is their sloth-like swing speed. Boosting this stat is a must if you plan on using these weapons. In testing, this perk shaved off about half a second for a chain attack that took nearly 10 seconds from start to finish. The secondary perk is great for captains as swing speed is king in most battles.
Again we have a split decision – if you plan on using mostly thrust polearms, then clean thrust is the pick. For a swing-heavy game, swift strike is the pick. For companions using the captain perk, my pick is clean thrust as +30 polearm skill not only boosts infantry damage but also their attack speed.
Level 100 – Footwork: I’m not sure why TaleWorlds loves these 2% perk bonuses, but it seems especially underwhelming when it comes to movement speed. We can see from the side by side, without the perk will take 39.4s to close the gap from 200m to 25m and with the perk, 38.9s saving about 0.5s or a 1.3% faster time. It’s safe to assume the captain perk is equally bad!
Level 100 – Hard Knock: Having a 25% knock down chance is amazing for those using polearm builds on foot. Fighting an opponent with a short, fast weapon can be challenging, so knocking them to the floor should be a guaranteed free kill for us! The secondary perk giving 3HP to all infantry is nice because it will work for our main character or anyone leading a party!
Finally, we have an easy choice – Hard Knock 100% of the time!
Level 125 – Lancer: While 20% increase to speed bonus damage seems like a significant amount, in reality it accounts for a small overall increase. Without the perk, each attack averaged to a 7.8% bonus damage from movement speed. With the perk, the average increases to 9.7%, which equates to an overall increase of 1.9%. The same can be said of the captain perk.
Level 125 – Steed Killer: This perk is similar to the 2H sword perk, but with a long polearm it becomes much more useful. Without the perk, we have a bonus damage of 7.8% on average. With the perk, this number increases to 44.7%, which is a net gain of 35%! TaleWorlds, we need more of this! One thing to note, this increase in damage works regardless of being on foot or mounted. The captain perk gives a 30% increase in damage against mounts, which a good amount.
Another easy pick here as Steed Killer is amazing for both our main character and a companion.
Level 150 – Guards: Two great perks in a row, this is what I like to see! 50% increased damage for headshots is huge. For a polearm with swing damage, this is irrelevant as any headshot will be fatal. However, for a thrust build, this extra damage is massive! Without the perk, we get an 18.5% bonus in damage, but with the perk this number shoots up to 42% which is an overall increase of 23.5%! The captain perk is garbage as XP gain for siege defense is useless.
Level 150 – Skewer: Skewer is a perk that is difficult to understand it’s value without testing. It’s biggest strength is against tightly packed foot troops, where it can turn into the mounter version of the 2H axe, scoring multiple kills instantly. We even picked up a triple skewer! The governor perk is quite good as +1 security per day is double the standard 0.5 bonus TaleWorlds likes to throw around.
For our main character, this is a tough pick. If you don’t plan on any mounted combat, guards is the pick. If you plan on using mounts, then it really depends on your preference. Personally, I love couch lancing people so my preference is skewer, but honestly it’s a coin toss. For the governor perk, skewer is the pick 100% of the time.
Level 175 – Phalanx: +30 to all melee weapons in our party seems great, but it’s only in shield wall formation and generally you should not be fighting in shield wall. Once you reach the enemy line, switch them to line and charge – so this perk is mostly wasted. The captain perk is too small to make a noticeable difference.
Level 175 – Standard Bearer: With one perk being for a captain and the other a governor, I find it pointless to discuss for our main character. For a companion, the morale loss is great and for a governor the 20% wage reduction is huge!
Both perks at 175 polearm are disappointing as it offers nothing for our main character, so there is no pick. Everyone loses here! For captain or governor, always take standard bearer.
Level 200 – Drills: 0.5 militia for a governor perk seems weak for a level 200 perk. That said, I like having militia gain for my governors. For our main character, we can pick up +1XP per troop per day which is reasonable for our lower tier troops.
Level 200 – Generous Rations: Picking up 5 HP for ALL troops in our party is amazing and needs no further explanation. We can also pick up a 20% discount for hiring troops, but at this stage of the game it’s probably irrelevant.
For our main character, the pick is Generous rations 100% of the time. For a governor, Drills is the pick, but for companions leading their own party, generous rations is the pick.
Level 225 – Sure Footed: 50% is usually a good number for a bonus, but in practice it makes almost no difference when it comes to charge damage. The majority of enemy mounts do between 1 – 4 damage, so at most we save 2 damage. The captain perk is even worse only giving 30% less. No, just no.
Level 225 – Unstoppable Force: Imagine crushing an enemy shield in a single blow! It must be awesome, but I’ll never know because after over an hour of testing, I couldn’t get a single shield block on my couch lance attempts. The AI seems to either stop you with a spear, or don’t block at all. The captain perk is laughable and not worth talking about.
The pick here is akin to deciding which leg you want to have cut off – both options are terrible.
Level 250 – Counterweight: As stated before with other melee perks, handling is difficult to test. I ran about 10 tests without and 10 with the perk and both were identical. This could easily be my testing though, I don’t feel confident in saying it’s good or bad. For the captain perk, we can pick up a +20 increase to all infantry polearm skill which is decent.
Level 250 – Sharpen the Tip: I’m not sure the rationale as to why the level 75 perk gives +10% damage and 250 gives +5% damage but it seems fairly weak. We tested damage from both mounted and on foot. Mounted without the perk gave an average damage bonus of 25.1% and with the perk 27.7%, or a 2.6% increase. On foot and without the perk, 25.0% and with the perk 27.6% or a 2.6% increase. If nothing else, at least these results are consistent! The captain perk suffers from the same inadequacy as 5% thrust damage is not enough to make a noticeable difference.
The pick is straight forward: for a swing-based build we pick counterweight and for a thrust-based build we pick sharpen the tip. If we are picking for a captain then counterweight is the pick.
Level 275 – Way of the Spear: Each point above 250 gives us attack speed and damage with all polearm weapons, which as we will see makes a significant difference! The chained attack at level 1 takes 11.05s to complete, while level 330 with the perk takes only 6.3s. Going from level 275 without to 275 with the perk only shaves 0.4s, but going to 330 with the perk saves 1.2s. Since the polearm is so slow to swing, I think making the effort to get to 330 is worth it!
Level 1 – 11.05s
Level 275 without perk – 7.5s
Level 275 with perk – 7.1s
Level 330 with perk – 6.3s
We are nearing the end of the video, which means it’s time for the bonus!
Uber Spear Foot Soldaten – I’ve been asked several times in the comments if a thrusting spear foot soldier build is possible. To those I reply with a resounding yes! In order to pull this off, we need to stack quite a few modifiers. Looking at the list, we take all polearm perks that increase thrust damage as well as extra headshot and mount damage. There are several good perks in the athletics tree that will give us more melee weapon damage, speed damage bonus and weapon handling increase. On top of that, we take the extra shield bash duration and extra kick stun duration, which will come in handy fighting with a pear. Roguery also have a couple of good perk that we can take as well.
Finally, we craft a legendary spear using the Northern Triangular spear head for max thrust damage, the guard is only for looks and doesn’t change the stats, the cured oaken pike shaft, and finally any pommel as it doesn’t change the stats. We craft a few weapons until we get the legendary stat rolls that we need, giving an extra point into thrust speed and 4 into damage!
Time to see this build in action! You’ll notice that just about anything we hit is a 1-shot kill. With a total length of nearly 220, we can reach enemies from a great distance away. As we start to get swarmed, it’s best to put the shield on our back and run back to our line. To be able to use this build effectively, we must master shield bashing and kicks as these are the only way to create distance with an enemy who closed the distance with us. While this build is not easy to use and requires a high degree of skill, it certainly is possible and I had a blast fighting this battle!
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