Part 11

Learn about Heavy Cavalry and Horse Archer builds, leveling up, and making money through tournaments and enterprises in Mount & Blade: Warband.

Heavy Cavalry Build

This build focuses on wearing the best available armor, ideally Plate armor, but Coat of Plates or Scale Mail are also viable. You will need strong gloves, boots, and a Great Helm or Winged Great Helm. This armor is extremely expensive. For gloves, look for good leather gloves as they can outperform normal metal gloves due to their higher base armor values, even if adjectives like "reinforced" provide the same bonus across different armor slots. This build requires significant investment in Strength (at least 15) for heavy gear and skills like Iron Flesh and Power Strike. You also need at least 12 Agility for Riding skill to use Chargers. Intelligence investment depends on how many skills you delegate to heroes, but always focus on Charisma to improve the Leadership skill.

Horse Archer Build

For this build, acquire the fastest horse, a Courser. Prioritize light but effective armor, such as Sarranid equipment, to minimize weight while maintaining protection. Gloves and helmets can be fully armored as they weigh little. Obtain the best bow and Large Bags of Khergit Arrows, using 3 of your 4 weapon slots. A melee weapon is recommended for the final slot. This build needs a balanced spread between Strength and Agility. More Agility increases Riding speed and Horse Archery effectiveness. More Strength allows for a higher Power Draw, increasing damage.

Leveling Up Quickly

You can level up quickly by killing many enemies in battle or by completing quests. Some quests offer thousands of experience points, as does killing a dozen enemies in a battle. After tiring out your troops from fighting bandits, seek out a lord for a quest. Avoid village quests due to poor pay and time consumption, and town quests are only slightly better.

Using Heroes

You can have up to 10 heroes in your party, each capable of handling 2-4 skills. Heroes fill skill gaps while you focus on combat and Leadership. Prioritize heroes with high Wound Treatment, First Aid, and Surgery skills. Jeremus is ideal for these skills; recruit him and focus him on these three plus one other Intelligence skill. Place him at the bottom of the party list to ensure he is the last to engage in battle, making him more available for healing. Pathfinding is the next most important skill. Other skills can be chosen based on your judgment.

Making Money

Tournaments: You can make money by betting on yourself in tournaments. A 100 denar bet can be placed for each of the seven rounds. Each town offers a consistent set of weapons for tournaments, so avoid towns with weapon types you dislike. A general tactic is to attack opponents from behind when they are engaged with another combatant.

Production Enterprises: You can build one production enterprise in each town by speaking to the guild master. More expensive enterprises generally yield higher profits, and the guild master provides profitability estimates. Profits are delivered automatically at the end of each week.