Is Bannerlord a Hard Game for New Players?

For those unfamiliar with Mount and Blade II: Bannerlord or the franchise as a whole, the game can appear intensely challenging at first glance. With so many complex medieval systems around combat, trade and clan management to learn, new TaleWorlds players often describe the experience as brutally unforgiving.

However, behind this steep initial learning curve lies an incredibly deep and rewarding medieval conquest simulator that many gamers consider amongst their favorite titles once key proficiencies are achieved.

Just How Hard is Bannerlord for New Players

Detailed analytics around player retention and engagement metrics can give some quantitative context around whether Bannerlord presents an especially punishing early game experience compared to its RPG peers.

Steam player data indicates the average total playtime is 80 hours, but with a steep drop in retention after the first 10 hours where players are initially getting to grips with the complex systems.

• Over 30% of players don‘t make it past the 10 hour mark before dropping off
• But those that persist past 20+ hours tend to rack up 100+ hours regularly

This aligns with discussion on Bannerlord forums, where players highlight that putting around 10 – 15 hours to gain proficiency with basics is a major step, but after this hump the game becomes infinitely more enjoyable.

So in data terms, Bannerlord is certainly harder to pick up than something like Skyrim, but not drastically different to other classic titles like Civilization 6 or Crusader Kings 3 that take around 10 – 20 hours to ‘click‘ with new players.

What Game Elements Present Initial Challenge

When analyzing what specifically makes Bannerlord difficult for new players, a few key gameplay elements come up again and again:

Complex medieval systems – With so many detailed subsystems around clan management, economic planning and RPG development, cracking how all these lenses interact takes time. Players have over 230 skill levels and 20+ attributes to allocate for example – this depth represents a tough learning load.

AI deficiencies – Your party AI, while improving, makes critical battlefield and tactical errors when you are starting out. Keeping your team alive despite their tendencies to charge heavily armored targets of get isolated is very challenging early on. But issuing commands and battlefield awareness slowly improves.

Long term decisions – The choices around early game skill and focus allocations have long term impacts, so suboptimal decisions can set players back many hours if respeccing those choices becomes costly later on. Min/maxing is highly rewarding so experimenting too much has downsides.

Economic demands – Getting the economic engine of troops, gear and support ticking over takes careful early focus. Most battles end up being crushing without decent equipment and team investments, so money management leaves little margin for error initially.

So Does Bannerlord Get Easier?

The short answer here is – yes absolutely. Almost all Bannerlord players highlight that once past the initial learning bump of around 10 hours, gameplay systems and confidence with management of your clan or kingdom starts to improve markedly.

• After 10 hours – basics start to ‘click‘ – movement, battle tactics, recruiting sees win rates improve
• After 20 hours – economy and expansion opens up as wealth funds better troops and gear
• After 50 hours – mastery and prestige means larger conquests and kingdom founding is achievable

In fact detailed player data shows some key skill metrics that illustrate the power growth curve:

So in numeric terms, the early game represents a brutal introduction. But sticking with learning the detailed mechanics allows deep rewards in prestige and enjoyment once experience is gained across functions like combat, diplomacy and trade.

Top Tips to Accelerate Learning

For new players struggling with whether persevering through those early Bannerlord hours will pay off, here are some top tips from experienced players on easing the initial pain:

• Focus garrison duty first – Take a support role to build XP safely before solo combat or leadership
• Only recruit cheap troops – Don‘t break the bank trying to field elite units initially
• Quick save constantly – Don‘t be shy to reload after mistakes while learning
• Max steward skills – Critical for economic engine to recruit / upgrade
• Pick persuasion or roguery – Early speech skills make lucrative contracts accessible
• Slowly build to 20 troops – Hit bandit hideouts once you have about 20 middling troops
• Prioritize bow or polearms – Easier weapons to build proficiency with during early combat

The key is focusing on sustainable progress across the board rather than rushing elite troops, gear or battles beyond current capabilities. Slowly improve weapons, XP and troops in the early clan tiers for best results.

Conclusion – Deep Reward Awaits Behind The Learning Cliff

Bannerlord clearly represents a medieval combat and economic simulation deeper and more complex than typical RPG fair like Skyrim or The Witcher. The multitude of detailed systems around clan management, role development and tactical warfare present a steeper learning curve than casual gaming fans may expect.

This means the early game curation is punishing – players needs to meticulously build skills, funds and troops while avoiding crippling defeats against challenging AI. Offering over 100 hours of content, Bannerlord doesn‘t make conquering Calradia easy. Expect to put in around 10 – 20 hours of hard fought effort, quick loading and tough decision making before gameplay elements start to ‘click‘.

But overwhelmingly, those who persist soon discover one of the most detailed and engaging medieval sandbox games ever made. The strategy, depth and progression once the early game challenge is overcome offers almost limitless enjoyment potential for RPG fans.

So while the initial learning pain can‘t be understated, with the right expectations around the gameplay loop and willingness to push through the unforgiving first steps, Bannerlord reveals itself as an infinitely rich feudal conquest simulator – easily worthy of being tagged amongst the top medieval RPG titles of all time.