Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord has many non-combat skills that help your character in various aspects of the game. Diplomacy, managing armies and settlements, and traversing the world as efficiently as possible is done through these skills.
Scouting is a valuable skill to train your character in, but it’s even better if you demote it to Companion because you can appoint it as a Scout for your party. With high levels of this skill and the best perks of his skill tree, you can escape unfavorable encounters and choose battles when and where it suits you best.
Ten day trippers
Both of the recon tree’s first perk choices provide valuable movement speed for the party. Night Runner gives you more speed and visibility at night, but the daytime is much longer in the game world.
The Day Traveler has slightly less speed and sight range bonuses, but its longer day duration and easier daytime combat make this perk the better choice in most situations. Nightrunners can help you catch up with fleeing troops at night faster, but fighting in the dark can be less than ideal conditions.
9 Pathfinder
Choosing between Pathfinder and Water Diviner is a tricky one. His second advantage of the Water Diviner is very valuable as it unlocks more recruitment slots from the village over time as your relationship with them grows.
For companions appointed as scouts, however, Pathfinder is a better option. And even if you prefer speed bonuses, these small bonuses add up over time and can give you a sizable late-game advantage.
8 Mori no Kin
Which of the third perks you choose for your scout tree depends on your culture and where you spend the majority of your playthrough. If you are an Aserai of Kuzait, or if your kingdom is almost at war with them, Desert Born is a better option, as perks increase movement speed in deserts and dunes.
But otherwise, Forest Kin, which halves the speed penalty for moving through forests, is a better option. This is a great perk that also stacks with the Battanian culture bonus, as you’ll encounter many forests along your journey, with the exception of the southern and eastern parts of the map.
7 forced march
In the early stages of the game when your party is small, Unburdened will increase your speed and give your army a passive experience, making it a great perk to help when you’re carrying lots of supplies.
However, once you reach the late game stages and your party’s morale is more consistently above 75, Force March becomes a better option. Unburdened loses value over time as we don’t want to take overage penalties unless we have no other choice.
6 tracker
Once you’ve reached a sufficient level in Reconnaissance, you’ll be able to see the footprints of other armies as you move around the world map. Detecting and tracking these tracks will give your party reconnaissance experience over time, and in some cases can lead enemy troops before they reach their destination.
Rangers and Trackers are the only perks that affect these tracks. Ranger is a great option for discovering more tracks and leveling up skills faster, while Tracker’s secondary ability is a key advantage in closing the distance between your party and fleeing enemies. .
Five Mounted Scout
Patrol is a decent perk early in the game as it gives you an advantage against bandit parties. This is useful for sending troops to automatically settle fights with bandit parties with fewer casualties, but the closer you get to the late game, the less likely you are to bother fighting bandits.
Mounted Scouts are a great perk, even if you get them early in the game, just for the side effect of increasing your party size limit. The main benefit of this perk is also a great addition if you’re playing in a cavalry-heavy style, but even if you don’t get the sight range bonus, it’s still worth it.
Four Whisper of the Beast
Beast Whisperers and Foragers each offer significant advantages. Beast Whisperer gives you the small chance of spotting a vehicle while traveling across grasslands and plains. Foragers help reduce post-battle confusion and return to normal speed faster.
The ideal scenario would be to train your companions as Scouts and let them choose the Beast Whisperer perk, and you as the party leader to train your skills and choose the Foragers perk to get the best of both worlds. However, if you don’t have time to add companions or train skills for two characters, the additional mounts from Beast Whisperer are a more worthwhile option.
3 rumor network
Both the Rumor Network and the Village Network are perks that affect your trading profits and don’t offer much else if you’re not focused on trading to earn income. The Rumor Network reduces trade penalties within kingdom cities, and the Village Network does the same for villages.
The second advantage of Rumor Network is that it helps you locate bandit hideouts from a distance, making it even more useful. It also outperforms comparable perks in every way, as cities offer more goods and benefits if you want to be part of the deal.
2 vantage point
Sharp eyesight is a great perk for keeping a lord captive for an extended period of time, and it also helps increase the party’s sight range as they move through the woods. However, the Vantage Point perks offer great benefits, especially in the late game.
This perk increases the captive limit by 10, as well as increases the range of vision by 50% when standing still for more than 1 hour. This is especially useful when besieging an enemy settlement, where you can see defending forces approaching from a great distance and act before it’s too late.
1 Vanguard
The final perk of the scout tree benefits auto-resolve combat. Rearguards increase the recovery rate of wounded troops as well as increasing the damage of troops when they are sent to defend a siege camp.
Vanguards increase your troops’ damage when they are sent to attack or deploy. They usually have numbers on their side when attacking and can auto-resolve combat more safely, making them the better option in most situations.