Mount and Blade II: Bannerlord features a clan tier system. Upgrading your clan tier unlocks new features such as becoming a vassal or even starting your own kingdom. There are a few other benefits to increasing your clan tier, and you’ll find that your clan tier increases as you play the game.
As your renown grows, so will your clan tier level. Here’s how to increase your clan tier in Bannerlord and what each clan tier unlocks.
Clan Tier 0
This is the starting tier. You’re a nobody. People in your own village don’t even know your name and have never heard of your last name either.
You are a tadpole in an ocean. At Clan Tier 0, you can have 3 companions, but since companions are fairly expensive you probably won’t even have any hired by the time you unlock Clan Tier 1.
You’re going to need 50 renown for Clan Tier 1, which might seem like a lot, but it passes quickly when you’re doing quests for villagers and attacking looters and eventually bandits.
Clan Tier 1 – 50 Renown
Bonuses
- +1 more companion
- +1 party to be commanded by a companion
- +15 party size for parties commanded by a companion
- +25 party size for your own party
- Can become a mercenary for a kingdom
- 150 renown required for the next level
Clan Tier 1 is where people start recognizing who you are. You’re not exactly famous, but people have probably heard of you cutting down looters in the area.
At this level, you can become a mercenary for a kingdom and fight for them. They have to be at war with someone first, so find a kingdom that is on the winning side of a war and pledge your sword for their gold.
You also get to have one more companion at this level, an extra party, and it increases the party size by 15 for parties led by your companion.
This means that your companions get to command 15 extra troops, not that you get to command 15 extra troops. Your party size will increase as your clan size increases. At this rank, you will be able to command an extra 25 troops.
Clan Tier 2 – 150 Renown
- +1 more companion
- +1 party to be commanded by a companion
- +15 party size for parties commanded by a companion
- +25 party size for your own party
- Can become a vassal for a kingdom
- 350 renown required for the next level
Now you’re a big boy or girl at this point. The kingdoms have heard about you since you were probably a mercenary for one of them at one point.
You can now pledge your allegiance to a king or queen and fight for them as a vassal. You can even get your own castles or cities now! We see the same upgrades to our parties, companions, etc. as we did in the previous clan tier.
The only difference between the two is that now you can become a vassal and that the next tier requires 350 renown.
Clan Tier 3 – 350 Renown
- +1 more companion
- +1 party to be commanded by a companion
- +15 party size for parties commanded by a companion
- +25 party size for your own party
- Can start your own kingdom after completing the main quest
- 900 renown required for the next level
Hitting Clan Tier 3 is like getting upgraded to the adult table during the holidays. You can now start your own kingdom after completing the main quest.
Everyone knows who you are, some nobles just think their clan is better and bigger, which is probably true. Like the other tiers, the only thing special about this one is that you get to start your own kingdom. The increases to your companions and parties are all the same.
At the following clan tiers, nothing interesting particularly happens. They just require insane amounts of renown to get! We will go into some ways to get lots of renown at the end of this guide.
Clan Tier 4 – 900 Renown
- +1 more companion
- +15 party size for parties commanded by a companion
- +25 party size for your own party
- 2350 renown required for the next level
Clan Tier 5 – 2350 Renown
- +1 more companion
- +15 party size for parties commanded by a companion
- +25 party size for your own party
- 6150 renown required for the next level
Clan Tier 6 – 6150 Renown
- +1 more companion
- +15 party size for parties commanded by a companion
- +25 party size for your own party
If you’ve hit clan tier 6, congratulations, you’re one of the strongest families in all of Calradia. You can now command hundreds of troops by yourself and your companions’ parties can have easily over a hundred as well.
If you’re at clan level 6, chances are you’ve conquered most of the map or are in the process of it. 6150 renown is hard to acquire through means other than combat with enemy lords and sieges.
How to Get Renown to Increase Your Clan Tier in Bannerlord
If you want to increase your clan tier in Bannerlord you’re going to need to get more renown. In the early stages of the game, you’ll find that getting to clan tier 3 and becoming a vassal isn’t hard, some even find that getting the 900 isn’t so bad either.
But to get to clan tier 6, you’re going to need to fight a lot of battles and sieges. Here are the main ways to get renown in Bannerlord to increase your clan tier.
- Win battles
- Complete tasks for NPCs
- Win tournaments
In the beginning, we suggest that you complete tasks for NPCs, fight small groups of bandits, and fight in tournaments. If you like fighting in tournaments and are particularly good at it, you can also gain a good bit of renown by being the victor.
It’s important to focus on setting yourself up strength-wise and money-wise for when the time comes to be a mercenary or vassal.
This is important because once you are fighting a war for a kingdom you can increase the rate at which you get renown by a lot.
Once you can run around with your kingdom’s army, you can take part in bigger battles and even in sieges. This is where the real renown starts coming in.
Fighting a band of looters might net you 1 renown if you’re lucky. Laying siege to an enemy castle and taking it can net you a lot more! You will also get considerably more renown if you win a battle that isn’t in your favor.
A good way to think about it is that people remember the time your 100 man army took a castle defended by 200, they don’t care about that time you ran down 5 looters.
Having said that, here’s a more holistic overview of how the battles work in Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord:
Battles
The battles are generally optimized to give concurrent rewards according to the battle difficulty. In simpler terms, if a battle is too difficult, you’d get more Renown for it than the others. This number can ramp up to a maximum of 50.
Therefore, it’s generally recommended that you challenge harder foes – given you’re strong enough to take them down. These battles can be fought on a regular basis, so the more bloodthirsty you are, the better it is for yourself and your clan.
However, you’d need to make every battle count since there is only so much you can do in a single sitting. Therefore, make sure to choose your opponents wisely. Otherwise, you’d practically end up with nothing – even after investing a fair portion of your gaming hours.
Tournaments
These events are generally split into two categories:
- Free For All
- Stage Progression
The free for all mode hosts melee fights that are generally intended for warriors that want to test their skills to be the last one standing. This mode is almost always available and can grant a fair bit of loot and experience.
However, the true glory and Renown lies within the Stage Progression mode that promises greater rewards. Since the risk factor is quite high here, you’d have to be extremely lucky and skilled to win it all.
Besides, this kind of tournament is only open when accompanying a feast. Therefore, it’s not really suitable for grinding – unless your clan is filthy rich.
How Much Renown Is At Stake?
The amount of Renown you can earn from such tournaments is no different from the usual formula that Mount and Blade II: Bannerlord’s in-game engine uses i.e.
20 – (Current Renown / 200 [rounded down])
The tournament method is generally reserved for mid to late game since there is no way for a newbie to beat veterans all by his lonesome.
Quests
Quests are generally the main way of story and character progression on Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord. While some of these provide morale and denars, others focus on increasing relations with the NPCs of the world.
However, there are a select few that tend to dish out a lot of Renown for what they’re worth. Therefore, you should put a greater emphasis on clearing the storyline and side quests since even the general reward from them isn’t bad in any way.
Additional Ways of Gaining Renown
If you’re running short on stuff to do for Renown, then there are a few ways to quickly fill up your Renown count – if you haven’t done so already. You can try your luck at the most prominent ones mentioned below:
| Aims | Renown Earned |
|---|---|
| Becoming a Lord or Lady | 160 |
| Wooing, asking for, and marrying a Lady | 1/2 the renown of the Guardian for approval |
| Becoming a Marshall | N/A |
| Participating in feasts without vassalage | 200 |
| Leading a Claimant’s rebellion | 200 |
Additionally, you could also earn a bit of Renown by countering remarks from lords as a female character. While it tends to act like a double-edged sword, the move is – in most cases – worth the risk.
Why Are You Losing Renown?
Renown is a metric that’s meant to decrease at the end of each week. This is intended to make the competition fair, but it also entails that the higher your Renown is, the harder it will be to retain it – let alone progress even further.
The previously mentioned formula not only reduces your Renown earnings, but it also essentially acts as a limit. Therefore, you need to be constantly earning Renown in order to see your clan afloat – which can be difficult considering the harsh reduction and limitations.
We hope you found this guide on how to increase your clan tier in Bannerlord both informative and useful. If you’re looking for more Bannerlord content, check out our other guides below!