Party speed is something that is going to affect your whole play-through in Mount and Blade: Bannerlord. You are going to have to move across the map basically the entire time that you play. Whether you plan on being a trader, bandit, lord or conqueror it is always ideal to move as fast as possible on the main map.
This guide will show you some of the ways that you can increase your party speed in Bannerlord to help you get to that castle defense even quicker, or move forth to take settlements for yourself and your faction.
What is the Party Speed in Bannerlord and What Affects it?
In Mount and Blade: Bannerlord when you are not in a town or participating in a battle you will find yourself on the main map screen. When you select a destination you can see that your entire party will be moving across the map, identified as your character model. You can also see that there are other parties moving across the map. Your party speed is the speed at which you can move around on this map. This has nothing to do with how fast you will be able to physically move within a battle.
There are a range of factors that can influence how fast (or slow) your party moves on the map. Factors such as the total amount of trade goods and their weight within your inventory, what types of troops you have in your party, the terrain you are walking on and even the time of day! In terms of terrain and time of day; you may have already noticed that your party is moving slower whilst travelling through forest areas. There is also a negative party speed buff when moving through snowy areas and through the desert as well. Planning your route can be the difference between that army catching up to you, or you leaving them in the dust.
Ways to Increase Party Speed in Bannerlord
There are multiple ways that you can improve the speed at which your party travels on the map. I will go over a few of them in dot points to make it clearer what you need to do, then go into detail if necessary.
Reduce Weight of Inventory
The weight of all of the items in your inventory actually has an impact on how fast your party can move in Mount and Blade Bannerlord. On the trade screen you can see in each trade good you purchase there is a weight value associated with it. All of the items together will affect how fast you can travel. Along with a general weight limit shown at the top of the trade screen, you should try to keep it low if you want to move around fast.
If you’re planning on trading across the world map, you are probably just going to have to bite the bullet and take the slow movement speed. Either that, or buy a bunch of horses to carry the trade goods.
Avoid Holding on to Herd Animals
While we are on the point of trade there is another thing you can do in order to keep party speed high. You should try to avoid bringing herd animals such as sheep or cows along with you on your journeys. Whilst it may be a good idea to have 1 or 2 as a backup for when the food stocks run low, they will slow your party down significantly. So only bring these animals when you think it is absolutely necessary.
Change Your Game Difficulty Settings
If you want a quick way to increase your party speed you can do this within the game settings. When you first set up your campaign there are a few settings to choose from. One of these settings affects the speed at which your party can travel. If you’re halfway through a playthrough fear not! You can still change these settings in the middle of the game. To do this open up the Pause menu with the ESC key. Now, select the Campaign Options. On this screen you should see the option Map Movement Speed near the bottom of the options menu.
There are three different speed options you can select under Map Movement Speed. This will make your party either the default speed (hardest), 5% faster (Easy) or 10% faster (Very Easy). Experiment with the settings and find the one that suits you. If you want to move as fast as possible this setting is a must-change.
Recruit Lots of Calvary Units and Equip a Horse!
Did you know that the type of units that you have apart of your army actually affect how fast you can move? If you have a lot of infantry units as opposed to a lot of troops on horseback then you are going to move a lot slower. An entire army of cavalry will speed through the countryside, catching up to everything in front of it and being able to escape any threats coming their way.
If you are really interested in moving around the map fast, you’re going to have to grab a lot of units that are riding horses. Building on this, you should also equip a horse for your player character. You will move instantly a lot faster if you equip a horse to your character rather than running around on foot.
Skills and Culture Bonuses that Effect Party Speed
There are a few different in-game mechanics that can influence how fast your party can move on the world map. To clear something up straight away, there is no skill that you can increase which relates to party speed. That isn’t to say it doesn’t help to level them up in terms of perks you can unlock, but raising your athletics, riding or scouting skill will not increase your party speed on it’s own. (The only exception to this is the Scouting skill after you get the perk at level 275 called Uncanny Insight). As I said, there are perks and also culture specific bonuses that will increase your parties speed.
When you create your character you are tasked with choosing your character’s culture. Along with the starting location of your character, each culture has different advantages and disadvantages. The two cultures that affect party speed and their bonuses are:
- Battanians: If your choose the Battanian culture your party will move 50% faster through forest areas. Great for quick getaways or cornering your enemies.
- Aserai: The Aserai culture has the benefit of having absolutely no speed penalty in desert terrains. Although this is only really helpful for that side of the map, it can give you an easy end of the map to defend or claim for yourself.
Get Perks to Increase Party Speed in Bannerlord’s Map
Another easy way to get that speed level up is by taking some of the speed-related perks. There are a few different perks across the various skills to pick through. I’ll save you the trouble of seeking them out and list all of the party-speed related perks right here:
Full List of Perks
| Perk | Requirement | Effect |
| Nomadic Traditions | Riding Lvl 75 | Mounted infantry increase your party speed by 30% |
| Sweeping Wind | Riding Lvl 100 | Increase your party speed by 2% |
| Riding Horde | Riding Lvl 175 | Halves the party speed penalty for herding |
| Energetic | Athletics Lvl 175 | Your party suffers 20% less speed penalty for being overburdened |
| Strong | Athletics Lvl 200 | Foot troops in your party give 5% party speed |
| Day Traveller | Scouting Lvl 25 | 2% party speed bonus during the day time |
| Night Runner | Scouting Lvl 25 | 5% party speed bonus during the night time |
| Pathfinder | Scouting Lvl 50 | 2% Movement speed bonus on steppes and plains |
| Desert Born | Scouting Lvl 75 | 5% Movement speed bonus on deserts and dunes |
| Forest Kin | Scouting Lvl 75 | If party > 75% infantry, gain 50% more speed through forests |
| Forced March | Scouting Lvl 100 | 2.5% more speed if morale is higher than 75 |
| Unburdened | Scouting Lvl 100 | 20% less speed penalty from being overburdened |
| Tracker | Scouting 125 | When following a hostile party gain 2% party speed |
| Uncanny Insight | Scouting Lvl 275 | increase party speed by 0.1% for every skill point over 200 |
| Sledges | Medicine Lvl 75 | Decrease wounded party speed penalty by 50% |
Whilst every perk doesn’t increase party speed, they will all help keep you moving quicker across the map.
Keep Morale High
Your party’s morale will also have a direct effect on how fast your party can move on the map. A happy army is a fast army. Some of the ways you can ensure that morale stays high withing your army is:
- Through the many perks which increase morale in an army (most of them are in Leadership)
- Continuously win battles
- Have a wide variety of different foods available in your inventory
- Don’t recruit bandit troops or prisoners
In Closing
If you really want to up the speed instantly you are probably best equipping a horse to your character and changing the campaign difficulty options as mentioned. Throughout your play-through you are going to get faster and faster as long as you are increasing your characters riding and scouting skills and getting the perks related to party speed. Keep an eye on perks surrounding party/movement speed and grab them when you can in order to become the fastest party in Calradia!