Thanks so much for watching here today guys! Here's a quick overview of the units if you'd like a TL;DR: imgur.com/a/3aiHUg3

I would like to see one video covering the changes. Great video as always.

If they nerfed emperor Palpatine's guards I will cry

Cataphracts used to have very cool helmet. Miss it((

If I am making Empire armies, I have often ended up upgrading the Veteran Arches to Bucelarii and then putting them in group 2 and telling them to dismount at the beginning of every battle and act as foot archers. The Bucelarii are bad horse archers, but they're better foot arches than the Palatine Guard, which is...really awkward.

I really feel like you should also include the mercenary unit line in your comparison. Like the mercenary crossbow has a really high melee and crossbow skills and a kite shield, but a bit lower athletic... wich makes them incredibly good in defending positions. But quite slow when you want them to manoeuver. Hired blade sucks, but the cavalry are somewhat ok.

No need to make the guides shorter. I really like long and detail guides rather than shorter simpler explanations.

Still would rather have there be a tier six infantry for empire instead of the cataphract they need to more noble unit types in my opinion. Also probably better to just update individual units as they are still open to drastic changes over the beta phase. Thanks for the content.

Awesome video, been looking forward to this, even though M&B is put on ice for now. First, I'd say don't worry about the length of these videos, you have a lot to say, don't rush it. Otherwise you might miss something and have to double back for it. The pace/length of all these videos so far has been fine. In the previous videos, I'd often throw it up on my second monitor as I'm playing on my main one. Second, I think it'd be good to revisit each guide again when the game officially launches because there'll be a lot of new people getting into the game, won't know what's what, and having to jump from video to video and even jumping around in the same video can be .... discouraging I guess. Especially when you don't know anything about the game. I could see people just getting frustrated and finding a straightforward, up-to-date guide. Could be good to get them out in quicker succession at launch so that people that look things up will find you no matter what faction, could be a good way to make yourself the go-to guy if you weren't already. But these videos no doubt take a lot of work and are time consuming to make as you have to do all these comparisons, footage, etc. Also gambling that TW will leave the units alone at launch for a reasonable amount of time. It's tricky. Third, I'd love to see a series for the oddball units maybe when you do the update guide(s) (however you choose to do it/them). The Mercenary people, maybe the shoot... It's been a while since I've played. Like the forest archer people, there's the viking guys, etc. Not the bandits but the weird units lol. Anyway, you're doing a great job, love the series as always, even when I'm not playing (woo Cyberpunk, Keanu Reeves Friend Simulator lol). Take care!

Great breakdown. I will note that as a fan of multilayer it's disappointing that I don't get to see all the armor and weapon variety because the class system got simplified. Really wish they'd go back to the warband format. That being said, I uploaded a nice little siege defense as the imperials. Also I'd be down to watch updated videos on each faction.

I've been watching your roster videos for a while now, and while I really like them, I think there is also a point which deserves to be taken in consideration : the price of the unit. The quality of the unit is important of course, but also how accessible the unit is. If I take M&B:Warband for example, the arguably best cavalry is the Swadian Knight, but they're also the cavalry unit that cost the most, both because it's a top-tier unit, and thus need a considerable amount of time and upgrades to reach, but also because the unit itself cost a lot in it's upgrade, and cost a lot of upkeep as well. So, while THE best cavalry would be the swadian knight, in the end, this title belongs to the Sarranid Mamelouk : It's almost as good in terms of stats while being cheaper, thus stealing the top spot. Thus, I believe the unit cost should be taken into account in making these tier list, as how pricy a unit is determine how many of them you can mass up in your army, and often, how good a unit is becomes irrelevant if you can't get enough of them

Video on bandits can be interesting. Forest bandit is the best archer outside of fians(despite being level 4). Other bandits are decent too

Great content. Watched all of your unit guides. My vote would be just redo the final units at launch. Appreciate the attention to detail. As some said mercenary units Bandit units and minor faction units would make a nice complete guide list. Thanks for your hard work.

An update guide would be really apreciate from your part since the game changed a lot after all those patches and beta versions

Hey! Wonderful guide. Would love if at the release you simply listed your final verdict on each tree, just listing the LOW-MID-HIGH trees as recap.

I would say one update video would be enough, either way, really appreciate the videos and everything. I'm finally able to watch them without having to worry about crunching homework immediately afterwards.

So glad you’re covering this game!

hey nice video, I think would be nice to ask the developers when theirs gone be a period of stability on the unit roster then make a catch up video and when units are really stable another series of video on all of them ? keep up the great work ! and happy new year!

Thanks for vid, I am in the process of uniting the empire and this is very helpful for my mainly imperial forces.

More videos the better! I love your in depth analyses

Maybe a complete change of every faction over the multiple videos again. If you enjoy doing it that way but if not then the overall changes would be fine too

I find it interesting that you don't like the AI having the Imperial Charger. One thing I've noticed with the Imperial Cavalry Units is the AI tends not to get them killed which I find is probably helped severely by the higher HP Horse preventing them from being dismounted and the slower horse prevents them from taking too many passes. (And the Bucillari having 2 stacks of Arrows ontop of that high health horse keeps them out of the fight longer, while allowing them to survive in melee at the end of a fight without the wear and tear bleeding them down.) I feel like the AI doesn't really capitalize on the Maneuver or Speed of a horse too well or often since the Charge command will have them plow into an enemy line, ride a mile away, and repeat. It's obviously not realistically feasible unless major changes are made but it'd be nice if different types of melee cavalry and infantry would battle differently based on their loadout.

I'd like to see a quick rundown of changes (including rank shifts) every stable patch. You can include it in the patch notes video you do anyways Additionally, I'd like to see a full redo of each faction once Bannerlord hits full release

Whoop been waiting for this! You could probably do a single video for updates. Otherwise the unchanged units your be repeating what you said before. Save new indivduals for release!

great vid!

Would like to see a updated unit guide. Great video

I play the Empire like the Roman Empire : a core of legionaires, and auxilia from other factions for archers and cavalry (cataphracts may be great one-on-one but they are awfully slow to recruit in numbers compared to regular troops cavalry, vlandian vanguards for example)

Would love a video that cover updates and maybe a current "best of class" video. Thanks!

Love these kinda vids. I vote to do both options please ;)

Just picked up the game and it was really overwhelming compared to warband. Your guides really gave me a push in the right direction!

Good pacing buddy! Not that I was complaining tbh

Good video! You need to do a mercenary video now. Also... unrelated question, but how do I get my war parties to make money? Sometime I pay their wages, sometimes they break even, and occasionally they pay me money, but lately it seems I’ve been paying them a lot and they get expensive. How can I get them to generate their own money more often?

I disagree with the Bucellarii being lower tier, especially when compared to the heavy mamluke. With the mamluke, you're only getting half the ammo the bucellarii gets, then you have to charge in. with the bucellarii, you get twice the ammo. the horse that the bucellarii gets is still slow, but it is still faster than infantry blobs in large fights, who they're most effective against. The mamluke is better in most cases but I think the bucellarii is actually better at what its meant to do.

Always love these vids. I'd say maybe do new vids upon the official release of the game?

Please do an update for each unit of each faction thank you for your great work

I'm mainly agree with you ! But I like the Bucellarii in game, in comparison with others horse archers it's bad it's true but it stills pretty effective against infantry and harassing some cav ! It's a low tier but mainly when compared to other horse archers. I never thought of a specific group for the Imp trained infantryman and there jav ! That's a really good idea ! Thank you and really nice vid !

i was waiting for this

I would like just a quick summary. I think these videos are really cool but would wait for the full release

I'm a simple man... I see Italian's video, I like :D

I find the imperial archers are really a change in playstyle that you either have to be really conservative with their arrows; or to do use them intensely then send them into melee combat. In the past I've mainly used them in this manner; they use all their arrows on aggressive mid/short range shooting to thin the ranks quickly then send them in to fight alongside the melee specialists to overwhelm with superior endurance and numbers, while with other factions archers I am more tempted to make full use of their massive arrow capacity to get damage over time and would only commit them as a last resort. Of course this probably gives them a higher turnover (assuming a pure imperial archer line) but given that in my opinion they are also the easiest archer line to train this works out fine. Easy to find, easy to train, decently durable for an archer and thus pretty easy to replace. After all, I've lost more valuable melee veterans in not committing completely to a brawl that was already firmly in my favour, so it's nice to have an archer that preforms decently in that situation.

Hey,nice timing man,i just wanted to start new emp game,good job,like+sub for u xD

i'd really love to see a 100 vs 100 leginoaries vs heroic linebreakers

Would love an updated video for every faction

I would like to see a video ranking the best to worst of each unit type amongst all factions i.e. best horse archer, crossbow man etc. available if you recruited from across the entire continent

Can you be sure that (in Tier 6), the slight range doesn't actually give them a severe advantage in general. Simply because they will be typically making first contact? Greater armor, and greater lance reach may make them OP'ed if they were not diminished in other features as well. Have you tested these guides for quality, or just theory by statistical analysis?

Looking forward to see other factions, too.

Something I would like to see would be overall army comparison. Like, Empire has all of these units and can build this kind of army; while Sturgia has these units and can build this way. How do they compare? Who has the best overall army make up? Maybe also compare the factions in other ways too. Like economy, and map position, etc.

An update one video

Updated videos of all, and please include best way to play the factions on your opinion, like skirmish, cav, etc... that would be sooooo helpfull!!!

One thing you might have missed on doing is comparing palantine guards and crossbow man directly. Which of the two do you think is currently better?

What goes for imperial palatine guard is how easy it is to "mass produce" them. Except far reaches of Vlandia, you are never far from nearest imperial settlement and thus imperial recruits. Tier 2 unit is already an archer and thus have higher chance of hitting something and surviving than stick throwers in some factions which means faster leveling of more units. Last but not least, AI controlled factions do not discriminate against hiring imperials and since imperial settlements are near every faction, imperial archers of all tiers are in abundance in their armies which means recruiting them from amongst prisoners to patch up holes after large fights is easy.

Updated for each one

love this series

Updated unit guide for each kingdom please!

I must protest your take on the Imperial Charger and the Fine Steel Paramerion. Imperial Charger isn't the fastest, nor most maneuverable, but does have the highest hit points and is sporting great barding. Survivable horses for Cataphracts is absolutely essential for what they were designed to be used for. Which is fight against every other cultures' horsemen, including the Khuzait and Aserai. Fine Steel Paramerion. It is a fine sword, I don't know why you keep saying it is low damage. My 50 Legionary soldiers end up with 200+ kills in big fights, many times more than that. And it isn't from using the Pila. 74 damage is enough to one-shot any medium to low armored infantry as long as you hit them in a vital spot. 84 speed isn't that great, but acceptable. Mind you I am still trying to discover the truth of these things myself, as I only recently learned more about the damage thresholds for cut, blunt, and pierce damage against unarmored and armored enemies. For instance, how many swings does it take for a Sturgian Warsword to down a Khuzait Darkhan at a high(200+) one handed skill? About 5-7. How many swings does it take for a Cataphract Mace? 2-3. Much to learn still. Thanks for the vids regardless.

Update each faction in a separate video! The more unit guide videos the merrier!

One video to rule them all

Please make updated guides on troops by type as a column. Per tier per faction is maybe nice for pure armies, but most people will mix. Each troop choice is basically a stack of troops of tiers 2-5, and is either worth it, ok-ish or something to avoid if you can get better. Spend as little time as possible on shitty troops and relatively more time on higher tiers, unless the lower tier is exceptionally good or bad. So make an update video (or two) on: - Shield infantry - Non-shield aka damage/shock infantry Note performance on staying alive, damage, thrown option, performance in sieges or against specific opponents and maybe difficulty of leveling up. - all ranged, so both bows and crossbows Note accuracy vs speed, range, amount of arrows and general squishiness/melee performance. Maybe as an exception include the Fian/forest bandit in how well each ranged troops performs relative to it. Make a special note on how having a tier 2 makes them level up way way easier and how lacking a tier 2 (and 3 for the Aserai) affects army composition. - cavalry, cav with thrown and horse archers As not all faction has each type and they have different strong points and purposes, include all mounted units including noble lines. Moreso than compare, note where a troop shines and at what tier. Basically, is it worth getting. Maybe a note on sieges, and how well they perform dismounted compared to foot variants. --- alternative --- You could approach this per region, with every having access to empire: South-east: Kuzait - Aserai South-West: Aserai - Vlandian North-West: Vlandian - Batannian North-East: Sturgian - Khuzait In each region: what troops to avoid, which are ok and which are the best for a role what are likely army compositions and what are it's strength and weaknesses Possible nice additions from a little further away.

I know that the Palatine Guard was OP at the start of the game but since TW has somewhat balanced them out I wish they would get extra arrow item

Would palatine guard still be high ranked with just 1 stack of arrows and no shield or anything else to fill in that empty slot? They do great in short engagements but in any kind of extended battle they run out of arrows really quickly. And I mean purely as an archer, not an all round unit with their better armor.

Yupp, you should update them. We talkeda bout this before, they have done (as you mention) tweaks here and there, as you said about Battania. Overall speaking of the game, Sturgia Tier2 is prolly the worst around. And prolly the reason why Sturgia almost always looses ground, since you rarely seen the highest tier units. Heck, even when I went against Aseri with Battania (14k kingdom strenght vs 13 k) met Unqid and... most of this stuff were tier 2, 200 vs 210 (me) army... all of my guys are tier 4+. Which is a common thing when fightning the NPC lords. A strong showing of this is the Northen Empire which often gets hammared by the Khuz. Even when I saw them taking 3 castle and 2 cities from the Khuz, they still got hammered back. Just because the tier 2 khuz horse is giving them a higher combat strenght.

I’m new but has the ulfhednar and berserker been removed cause when I look at the units it says sturgian line breaker and sturgian heroic line breaker

updated videos on each faction please

i think unless the faction changes all troops an update vid is the best.

You should do 1 video covering faction updates (and maybe minor clan changes too) but only do full remakes once the game officially launched and the units are solidly locked down for the most part

I'm new to your ranking videos so I had a question: The rankings are only purely comparing against other cultures right? It's still better to always upgrade when ready? Like the first imperial archers are high rank and it's upgrades go down to mid, but it's still better to upgrade them rather than leave them at first tier right?

I think about Imperial Bucellarii, comparing with Aserai .... the horse is not as fast, but you almost can't dimount them. That 90 more hit points and, if I remember well, more horses armor.

YEEEEEEEEET!!!!!

One video for Battania alone and one for all the other scrubs.

how do i get nobles? i have been searching for them by killing raiders with prisoners and checking all the towns but i cant find any

With both menavliatons the weapon values are wrong. I think it's important to note that the menavlion in this case is two-handed and can also be swinged, making it a REALLY versatile weapon against both cav and infantry. Damage output is thus larger than of the excecutioner's axe that has lower swing speed and shorter range, I think. I use a menavlion on horseback in my playthrough kinda like a glaive, and it is devastating! Of course I would use a rhomphalia if I ever found one :D

sturgia has archers at tier 3 also... im lookin at them right now lol. its probably a hard C for the bucellarii, and vigla is probably a hard G, cuz if ur going by the latin pronunciations they didnt even have the letter J in their alphabet, or a K. their c's were always hard and so were the g's. funny fact this means julius caesar was actually spelled "iulius" since they used I where we would normally use a J. super simplistic explanation of it but no point in being super complex in a youtube comment :D

Love the vids did it seem like some time back they ruined the skirmisher unit ai? I used to give them the advance order they close range and throw and try to stay back till they used them all. Now they suicide charge

I had no idea there were multiple gear loadouts for units, that explains why some of my legionaries had maxes all of a sudden. How do you determine what loadouts they use? (I'm new to the game)

Yes! My favorite faction

Has anything changed in 1.6.0 ? And did you make fallout new vegas unique weapons guide, your voice sounds very familiar.

Can you pick which equipment set you get with your units? I notice you keep clicking through different equipment sets but I don't see that option in game

One video just giving each empire a quick update in units changed

Redo all the guides when the game launches imo. Makes it easier for newer players.

Italian better pace to this I vote for keeping it this way. On another note, I still think it is weird that the pilum is a polearm that can be thrown and not a javelin. To be honest while there is a ton of debate on it, it would be cool if the pilum was just a decent damage and accurate short range javelin with a stack of 2, maybe throw a little bonus to shields on them to make them better and a nod to history. All that said The Empire in this game is based on the Byzantine Empire so they should all be using spears and be using the spiculum not the pilum, which is kind of like the Germanic angon and the pilum had a baby. That said I gameplay wise I would like to see tier 4 and 5 tweaked a little. The Byzantine army in gameplay terms was the hold the line and ranged heavy kind. Every legionary would have a throwing weapon, sling, or bow as well as a shield spear and sidearm(probably spatha or similar sword, though axes and maces were common in the east). So it feels weird that the top tiers don't have a full load out for the empire. I think they should keep their equipment about the same maybe even lower it as far a damage but make the empire all about armor and versatility so the are the metal wall that fills the air with missiles(not best or most accurate) while they wait to deliver the final blow with heavy cavalry. EDIT: Also wish the Cataphracts could be no shield two handed polearm and a mace with a mid tier bow as back up, would make them more interesting, also I think their is a better imperial horse in the game files it only slightly faster and more maneuverable but has like almost 400 hp which would make them tanky as hell and should be with tier 5 and 6 use.

Minavliaton being crap is such a shame. That helmet looks so much like a Hastati and having them push forward when the line seems to be breaking wouldve been legendary.

Redo all armies closer to release please. love you and love your content thanks

Can we get a sturgia over look again please and a khuzait on as far as Ik they are the most changed

What about the mercs and the golden boars, there are more crossbowmen then just vlandia, and IMO mercs are the best crossbowmen in the game! I am sorry to bring up, minor sloggers but they are some of the best guys to fill your lines, I think it was you that told me from day one fight the minor factions, and I love them. I am sorry I got back into WoW., and son filled up my SSD with hentia so I cant play bannerlord anymore but keep pushing and lifting hard!!! love ya

UPDATED UNIT GUIDE. lots of us are still in cities that are locked down, we have all this spare time.

I vote for an update for each faction. hit the updates. Sturgians and Battanians need a second look for sure.

can the elite cataphract coach his lance? i know the vlandians can. pretty sure the imperials can't.

I think the decision to redo the unit guides or include a single change video should be your judgment call when taking in how much has actually changed from your first videos. I don't imagine needing to redo everything but we never know exactly what the devs will do before release!

por fin!!!!!

Isn’t there another imperial line? With hastati, princepi and triarii?

Menavliatons are much better, there is two handed mode, but it's not showing in your description. Other bad thing - they don't use it agains infantry. =(

7:40 “this is the sole purpose of this unit” you sound like a young J.K Simmons. I’m gonna have to hear you read some Omni-Man lines.

10:44 _"but they also have the lowest damage"_ Uh... What? Are we playing the same game? They have the Menavlion as their primary weapon. It has 123 swing cut damage. It also swings as fast as a sword and isn't super long to struggle in tight engagements. Every swing is a kill. Imagine having troops that one-hit everything with every swing. The weapon is pretty much a shorter and faster Rhompalia with the added functionality that it can thrust, meaning it deals with cavalry better. The Menavliatons are, by far, the deadliest tier 4 infantry in the game.

What are you doing steppe bow

Do a unit guide from unit mods

So sad when he said the game launches in march or april, but he is right its in April but not 2021 but 2022

The bucelarrii is bad? Those guys fuck shit up for me

Whys the khans guards cool helmet gone why wtf

oof. Removing the mace from the cataphract is just... weird.

The Imperials have way too little access to actual cavalry, with pretty bad archers in terms of equipment and pretty bad infantry also in terms of shields and spears, cavalry just dominates over them every time and it *sucks*.