Mount and Blade Bannerlord features a vast campaign map that requires time to traverse, so knowing how to increase party speed can be vital. Slower parties can get around just fine using the fast-forward mode available. But this leaves them vulnerable to faster parties, who may choose to flee or fight at will.
How to increase your Party Speed
Your overall party speed is controlled by many separate factors in Bannerlord. A base speed is determined by the size of your Warband. This base party speed is then adjusted by other values. Some perks will adjust this value positively, while there are penalties that will do the opposite.
Army Composition
One of the most obvious modifiers in this system is your army composition.
What exactly your Warband consists of will adjust your base speed significantly. A large portion being Cavalry for example will increase your party speed and mean a faster fighting force. Comparatively carrying a lot of trade goods will slow you down, particularly if you exceed your weight limit.
Inventory Management
The most significant factors outside of your army composition tend to be tied to your inventory management.
Being over-encumbered can slow you down to a base 1.0 party speed. As that means every AI party will be faster than you. You can make use of pack animals, such as mules or camels to avoid going over your weight limit.
It is not recommended to employ too many animals though, as you can also get a herd penalty, which can be just as severe. The herd penalty applies when you have more animals than soldiers to control them in your band. This includes horses, war horses, pack animals, and livestock such as cows or sheep.
Avoiding or reducing these penalties is one of the key ways to maintain your party speed. They are often the largest sources of penalties. If you still find you’re a bit slow though, there are more options available to increase your party speed.
Perks
Outside of adjusting your army composition and inventory management, perks are your next best bet. Chief among these is the final Scouting perk, Uncanny Insight.
Uncanny Insight will grant you 0.1% extra party movement speed per level above 200 when unlocked. While this sounds small, the perk can be redeemed at the earliest at scouting level 275. That means it’ll grant at least a 7.5% increase from the moment you get it and it will only increase over time.
Of course, level 275 Scouting requires a lot of time to reach. If you want your movement speed bonus immediately, you might not want to wait for that. One thing you could do is employ a mod such as Character manager to edit your Scout level.
There is also a movement speed boost available in the game difficulty settings which is worth adjusting to your preference. While the effects are quite small on their own, they do help greatly. The player cannot afford to get caught anywhere near as easily as an AI lord can after all, so taking this boost is usually a smart decision to keep the game fun for you.
In any case, properly managing and where possible employing an increase to party speed is essential in Bannerlord. A faster party can pick their battles, while a slower one might not get a choice in the matter.
