The best companions in Mount and Blade II: Bannerlord

Companions are a useful mechanic for you to obtain in Mount and Blade II: Bannerlord. They make it so you can add a robust member to your clan, and have someone perform tasks on your behalf if you have them in your party, and enough troops to support them. However, each campaign in Bannerlord comes with a different randomly generated NPC for every player, so there are no set companions. There is a way to narrow this process down, though, to make it easier for you to make your decision based on what you want to do for your campaign.

If you’re looking for a specific companion, you need to look at their surname. Their surname gives them a set of particular stats, making it easier to spot what companions you want to obtain and offer jobs. Redditor u/ImAShaaaark breaks down the stats of those surnames in post. You can locate the various names in your companion by visiting the Encyclopedia, going to heroes, occupation wanderer, and then finding the list of all companions and their skills.

Here’s the list u/ImAShaaaark of surnames and the stats tied to them:

Generic warriors:
“the Shieldmaiden” (honest/daring/cruel), “the Red”, “Coalbiter” (Cruel/Daring/Generous) –
Vig 150/200/140
Ctr 100/80/100
End 100/100/0

“The wanderer” –
Vig 150/150/170
Ctr 115/100/100
End 100/90/0

“Breakskull” (daring/cruel) –
Vig 120/170/110
Ctr 80/60/80
End 80/80/0

“the Wronged” (honest), there seem to be two versions of this surname –
Good version:
Vig 120/120/120
Ctr 100/80/80
End 80/80/0

Bad version:
Vig 90/90/90
Ctr 65/110/0
End 0/0/0

Tactician:
“the lucky” (generous/daring) –
Vig 90/90/90
Ctr 75/60/60
End 60/60/0
Tactician 60

“Bloodaxe” (Honest/Calculating) –
Vig 90/90/90
Ctr 75/60/60
End 60/60/0
Cng 0/30/0

Scouts:
“Frostbeard” (daring/merciful/generous) –
Vig 90/40/60
Ctr 135/60/60
End 60/80/0
Scouting 80

“the fish” –
Vig 90/90/90
Ctr 75/60/60
End 60/60/0
Scouting 60

Healers:
“the Healer” and “Willowbark” (merciful/calculating) –
Vig 60/60/60
Ctr 50/40/40
End 40/40/0
Scouting 40 “the healer” / 20 “Willowbark”
Medicine 60

Rogue: “The Black” Generous/Daring –
VIG 120 120 120
CTR 90 130 70
END 60 70 0
CNG 0 0 40

“Longknife”, “Accursed” –
Vig 90/90/90
Ctr 75/60/60
End 60/60/0
Roguery 60

“The Robber” Generous/devious/merciful –
Vig 90 70 70
Ctr 75 0 90
End 60 90 0
Cng 0 0 60

These are the types of wanderers you can find in your game and their given profession. You want to pick and choose who you want based on your needs in the game. For example, if you prefer to focus on battle than trade, you want to go out of your way to find the Shieldmaiden, the Red, or the Coalbiter to add to your army. Those who are interested in doing more nefarious activities want to seek out the Longknife.

You can view every companion in your campaign in your encyclopedia, and you can find their location next to their name to make it easy to locate them. This guide may alter in the future depending on if developer TaleWorlds Entertainment introduces specific companions for every campaign, or if they change the stats.