Turns out that running a kingdom is hard. Players simply can’t just sit on their thrones eating roast chicken and cherry tomatoes while someone sings for them. There has to be some form of ruling involved. That’s whatMount and Blade 2: Bannerlorddemands from its players.
Because there will come a point when players' actions can snowball intoowning a kingdom. When that happens, players need to be prepared to either genuinely care for their people or to minimize the need for ruling so they can go about their merry way. These policies will aid in either endeavor.
Updated On August 07, 2025, by Joshua Leeds:There are many policies to be enacted in a kingdom in Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord. Most of them have pros and cons depending on where you stand in that kingdom, and this article has been updated to include additional policies and which are best for where you currently rank in the kingdom’s hierarchy.
Cons
If players don’t want to be tied down to their stately duties as a lord, then they’ll be pleased to know that they can enhance their experience as a war-mongering warband leader with policies like Noble Retinues. It increases the number of troops they can bring to their party.
While there areother ways to increase your party size, this is a huge additional on top if you are the leader of the kingdom. That’s quite the advantage considering the relatively low troop count inBannerlordclashes.
Loyalty tends to be difficult to gain the larger the territory so if players find themselves holding too much. So in order to keep their territories more manageable, then Grazing Rights might just be the policy they need, especially against a populace that’s quickly becoming unruly.
Such a policy is even more important if players delegate kingdommanagement to their companionsor wives just so they could run around gallivanting with their retinue. The negative hit is relatively low, so it’s almost a staple pick once players have earned a kingdom.
Castles are easily the most important structures in a player’s kingdom and ensuring that they’re well up to standards in the event of a siege is imperative. Luckily, the Castle Charters policy is practically free and has no downsides, making it yet another staple pick for players with budding kingdoms.
Granted, a lot of players will likely be snowballing their way into domination once they can already claim and keep castles so the upgrade cost reduction might not mean much. It’s fair enough, however, since there’s no negative stat and any discount is welcome.
Another way to increase loyalty once players have started collecting towns under their dominion is Tribunes of the People. It gives an even more substantial and steady loyalty boost compared to Grazing Rights though it’s only for towns so the benefits are limited.
The drawback can hurt players' wallets since towns now pay less but it’s just a small amount and players likely won’t notice it especially if they’re getting a lot already from their territories as a whole. Consider it a small price to pay for preventing rebellions and bandit uprisings.
If players simply just want to grab more territory via settlements without much bloodshed, then they ought to make sure they have Precarial Land Tenure. This allows players to politically maneuver a settlement they want with less cost to their influence currency.
There’s also virtually no downside since usage for this kind of policy is a bit niche as securing certain settlements is easier done through brute force. But if players find themselves spending their influence a lot during gameplay, then this can help them perform more political machinations.
As all policies have pros and cons, some are better suited for smaller kingdoms than larger ones. Serfdom greatly benefits smaller kingdoms or those that are more compact and easily defendable, as the negative side to this policy will require you to quickly reach enemy armies and intercept them to protect your towns.
On the positive end, the additional influence will make calling together an army much easier, and have you quickly be prepared to handle whatever force is approaching your fiefs. Larger kingdoms may suffer a bit more with this policy, but if there is constant turnover with fiefs due to war in a kingdom it also won’t matter as much.
Some monarchs prefer to abandon their kingdom to the council to expand its borders. If players are that kind of ruler inMount and Blade 2: Bannerlord, then the Cantons policy will be more than handy.
It essentially makes armies replenish faster and thus, ready for action more immediately after a battle. This will minimize downtime if players are too focused on conquest. The treasury will take a substantial hit, of course, but whoever said war was inexpensive?
If the players are the king or queen and they own the ruler clan, then this policy is almost mandatory. It practically has no downside if one is the top dog in a certain territory. The policy also makes it even more difficult forother clansto undermine the main clan.
Theoretically, this will result in fewer rebellions or secessions from other clans or vassals. Influence, after all, is a currency that binds the player’s kingdom together in this game. Players can never have too much influence.
Royal Privilege is another must if players are serious about their edicts askings or queens. Sometimes, the clans and the vassals or other lower powers in one’s kingdom will practice a bit of democracy and vote for a less-than-desirable action or course.
Having Royal Privilege means players can afford to be contrarian or practice a bit of their tyranny more smoothly. It’s also a good way to save a bit of influence for later decisions. Because sometimes, these uppity vassals typically commit some odd decisions in the worst moments.
Getting influence and leveling up your clanto rank five will take some time, and this policy should only be voted for if you are clan level five. Most clans in a kingdom will be lower than rank five, but the strongest few won’t be.
Deciding on this policy will only make you focus more on which banners you are calling to your army. It will force you to call only the stronger clans to your army, but this does have the added benefit of getting more high-level troops in your army.
