Some questions about Mount and Blade.

[Inhuman One]

After hearing a lot of good things about the game and it being recommended countless times I figured to download the demo first from steam and give that a try.

But without any sort of manual and explanations being scarce in the game, some things dont make much sense yet.


1. Tournaments.
First of all: tournaments. They are nice.. as long as they dont give me a jousting lance. The attack seems bugged with this weapon, it has a delay and its just unwieldy. A sword seems to work much much better but you dont get to choose a weapon for the tournament and can't see which weapon you need to use before entering the tournament.
I also noticed named characters sometimes amongst the participants. Does that have any effect when you defeat them or such? No one can be recognized with those tournament tunics so it just doesnt seem to have much meaning to me.

2. Female characters.
I was curious about the differences between the two genders. Appearantly there are none aside from the face since female characters seem to look male in all armor and clothes. Is there a mod that can fix this?

3. Surcoats.
I created a character with a noble background, a knight thats allowed to carry his own banner. To my pleasant surprise I saw that this banner is displayed on specific shields you buy which looks great, but sadly the symbol of the banner is displayed around the crotch on a surcoat. Is there a patch or mod that corrects this to be higher?

4. Countries and Vassals.
How does this work? how can I know which countries are at war? when I become a vassal to one of them, how does that work? Does it have benefits? do I take on their banner?

5. Followers.
Is there a way to customize followers? buy them armor, weapons and all that?
Do I need to have followers or does it work fine to stay alone? How can I give orders to followers?

6. Late game armor.
Will I be forced to use full plate armor in the late game because its better than anything else or are there quality armors around of every kind?

7. Original vs Warband.
Is there anything to recommend the original game over Warband? I certainly won't buy both since that would be the price of a full game, and while its an enjoyable game it has outdated graphics and lacks polish, so is not worth 60 euro's to me.

8. dismounting.
Is it possible to dismount during a battle? If so, how? I dont seem to get that option.

9. Tips for beginners?
The scope of the game is rather big and I am not really sure where I should start. So far I wandered around a bit and first recruited some followers. One was killed in a battle against some bandits, and later on I encountered a large group of bandits and I surrendered since I could never win. After that I had no followers anymore and I participated in a tournament with swords, one with lances which I quit since I can hardly hit anything with a lance, and I also fought in an open arena battle.
Furthermore I did a quest where I helped a group of peasants fight off bandits that where terrorizing their village.

[Poach]

1. Tournaments.
First of all: tournaments. They are nice.. as long as they dont give me a jousting lance. The attack seems bugged with this weapon, it has a delay and its just unwieldy. A sword seems to work much much better but you dont get to choose a weapon for the tournament and can't see which weapon you need to use before entering the tournament.
I also noticed named characters sometimes amongst the participants. Does that have any effect when you defeat them or such? No one can be recognized with those tournament tunics so it just doesnt seem to have much meaning to me.

Named characters are just fluff, your own named party members also participate, as well as any Lords present in the town. Defeating them gives no additional bonus inside or outside the tournament.

Lances are difficult to use but deadly when you know how. They're a charging weapon, not a close combat weapon: you need to line up against your enemy and gather up speed and charge him. Your lance will drop automatically into the "couched" position and if you ram your enemy with it you'll do extreme damage, often a 1-hit kill.

2. Female characters.
I was curious about the differences between the two genders. Appearantly there are none aside from the face since female characters seem to look male in all armor and clothes. Is there a mod that can fix this?

No, armour models for women have breasts included. There may be mods that make females look more effeminate but I am aware of none. By that token, however, I have never bothered looking for one as it never bothered me.

3. Surcoats.
I created a character with a noble background, a knight thats allowed to carry his own banner. To my pleasant surprise I saw that this banner is displayed on specific shields you buy which looks great, but sadly the symbol of the banner is displayed around the crotch on a surcoat. Is there a patch or mod that corrects this to be higher?

Are you using Warband most recent version? It's best to update as far as possible, either on vanilla or warband.

4. Countries and Vassals.
How does this work? how can I know which countries are at war? when I become a vassal to one of them, how does that work? Does it have benefits? do I take on their banner?

You retain your banner when becoming a vassal. You can monitor the political situation via menu options: the "Notes" menu option along the bottom of your screen gives you access to a wealth of political, economic, and personality information.

To become a vassal you need a certain amount of Renown (2 or 300, I don't recall) and then you swear an Oath to a King. In return you get a village that you now own and you can gain more through fighting in the faction's wars.

5. Followers.
Is there a way to customize followers? buy them armor, weapons and all that?
Do I need to have followers or does it work fine to stay alone? How can I give orders to followers?

Yes, buy them armour then talk to them, ask them to show you their inventory, and change about what you want.

I'm not going to explain how to give orders to your party in battle: it is covered in detail in the manualm I suggest you read it.

6. Late game armor.
Will I be forced to use full plate armor in the late game because its better than anything else or are there quality armors around of every kind?

Full Plate is the best but you're not required to use it. Only Kings tend to wander around in top-level gear, wearing decent mail armour will see you through most fights.

7. Original vs Warband.
Is there anything to recommend the original game over Warband? I certainly won't buy both since that would be the price of a full game, and while its an enjoyable game it has outdated graphics and lacks polish, so is not worth 60 euro's to me.

Warband is far, far better. Totally reworked campaign map with a new faction, better AI, much more political interactivity, ability to found your own Kingdom with your own Lords, and multiplayer.

8. dismounting.
Is it possible to dismount during a battle? If so, how? I dont seem to get that option.

Target (look at) your horse and hit your "use" key when the dismount option shows up.

9. Tips for beginners?
The scope of the game is rather big and I am not really sure where I should start. So far I wandered around a bit and first recruited some followers. One was killed in a battle against some bandits, and later on I encountered a large group of bandits and I surrendered since I could never win. After that I had no followers anymore and I participated in a tournament with swords, one with lances which I quit since I can hardly hit anything with a lance, and I also fought in an open arena battle.
Furthermore I did a quest where I helped a group of peasants fight off bandits that where terrorizing their village.

When you first start off, the best bet is to recruit a few named followers from taverns and level them up a bit. Once you have some money you should start recruiting soldiers.

Only fight battles you know you can win: if you have 20 men and a 45-strong bandit group appears on the horizon: run away.

Try to become a mercenary for a faction (check Lords for quests, you'll get it if the faction is at war), which earns you money and gives you powerful friends to stick with and fight battles alongside, getting you money and your soldiers experience.

* * *

Most of your questions could have been answered by simply reading the manual/playing tutorials: next time you meet something you can't do, it may be a good idea to refer there, it's available to download for free.

[Poach]

Most of your questions could have been answered by simply reading the manual/playing tutorials: next time you meet something you can't do, it may be a good idea to refer there, it's available to download for free.

Maybe read my opening post in it's entirety.

[BaldTastic]

Target (look at) your horse and hit your "use" key when the dismount option shows up.

The problem i have had with this is the dismount option only seems to pop up when im already in close combat (ie surround by people).....i cant seem to dismount at any time i choose.....any ideas??

[Inhuman One]

Thanks for answering the questions, but seeing how the game doesnt seem to be sold in any stores I ever encountered theres no manual.

[Inhuman One]

I missed that part then, sorry.

I bought Warband and its fully patched, but symbols still seem to be located around the crotch instead of on the chest.

[Leonidas The Lion]

Thats just how they are atm.
Also I have a quick question to those of you that know.
How do we change a flag emblem to a banner emblem?

[NikeBG]

You can dismount only when your horse isn't moving (and, of course, you have to "target/look at" it exactly).

[Armatus]

armor is pretty diverse, you can find varying qualities due to the fact it degrades over time so your plate armor won't always be the best armor.

[Inhuman One]

I recently noticed my horse degraded as well since I am certain I didnt used to have a lame horse.

[Kamos]

Usually horses get crippled like that if they are brought down in battle. Didn't know armor degraded...

[Armatus]

Armor doesn't degrade?? Are you sure about that? Maybe my mind was filling in the blanks then again I could have been playing a mod, but considering horses go lame after being damaged and you have varying qualities of armor maybe I had just assumed that was so, because it's been a while since I played.

[NikeBG]

Armor doesn't degrade?? Are you sure about that? Maybe my mind was filling in the blanks then again I could have been playing a mod, but considering horses go lame after being damaged and you have varying qualities of armor maybe I had just assumed that was so, because it's been a while since I played.

Horses get crippled (become lame) if they fall in battle (and if they fall again while they're lame, they die). Armour doesn't degrade, except in some rare mod(s). Can't remember which mod it was though...

[BemusedHorse]

For the lance, so you don't have to stab it then? Just have it lowered in the position and ride it into your opponent. If so, no wonder I'm sucking horseback. Should get some going with the TWC clan.

[Inhuman One]

no stabbing, just aim the tip of the lance at your enemy.

[Armatus]

I haven't played the latest version of warband so not sure if couching was changed, last I played in multiplayer couching had to be activated and required waiting period after it was executed. Originally you just let you lance fall and steer your horse into the enemy to couch them. Targeting with the lance is useful when you don't have enough speed or room to couch properly.

[Kamos]

Well basically what it does now is it auto-lowers then after using it you'll have to wait a period of time before using it again. Stabbing is still useful though.

[Armatus]

I can remember the patch were they took out couching and man that's when I really learned how to stab with the lance.

[Kamos]

Well I used to use a sword and shield all the time but then I got sick of axemen destroying my shield and kill me all the time so a switched to a bow. Then I remember I was terrible at ranged combat in this game and switched to an axe.

[Armatus]

I learned to use Javs in the mp beta. Nothing like scoring a head shot with a jav.