Bandit troops in Mount and Blade II: Bannerlord are a bit more useful than they were in previous installments. A lot of them can be upgraded into high tier units and some of them are just good troops on their own early on. If you want to turn forest bandits into Fian Champions and don’t want to wait till level 125 Leadership to unlock the disciplinarian perk then you need to read this guide. There is a simple way to turn bandit troops into the next tier without having to grind away at that skill early on. While you will eventually hit 125 in your playthrough and unlock that perk, here’s how to upgrade bandits without the Disciplinarian perk in Bannerlord.
How to Upgrade Bandits
First, you are obviously going to need some bandit troops. Bandit troops are looters, forest bandits, sea raiders, and the like. Now normally, you can’t upgrade them until you hit 125. They will still get experience like normal, but when you try to upgrade them you won’t be able to. If you don’t want to wait until 125 all you need is a castle and time.
If you’re a seasoned player, or even a new player, you should get a fief fairly early on in the game just by becoming a vassal for a faction. Once you get a fief, you can then manage things like its garrison and buildings. The important part is the garrison for this tutorial. Take your bandit troops that can be upgraded and put them in the castle. Once they’re there, just travel around the world map or wait inside the castle for a day and eventually they will automatically upgrade!
Whether this is a bug or a feature is unclear. But what is clear is that it is pretty nice to be able to pump out an army of Fian Champions to turn your enemies into pincushions!
We hope you enjoyed this simple tutorial on how to upgrade bandits without the disciplinarian perk in Bannerlord. If you’re looking for more Bannerlord content, check out our other guides!