I've decided to write a guide to help the (few) people who visit this forum who are just starting out in the game and don't know what to do.
I've been playing Mount & Blade since 0.5 beta, which was about 3 years ago! If there's anything I don't know about this game, it probably doesn't exist. This means that this guide will be detailed.
:ninja:
Character Creation
I can't give you that much help in character creation, as the skills that you develop and the kind of character you want are down to you. However, I will recommend that with any new character, you build up the Strength and Agility attributes, as you will most likely need to be able to defend yourself because you won't have a lot of strong troops to protect you (Yet). It would also be wise to choose a weapon profession as early as possible. For new players, the easiest would be One-Handed Weapons and Two-Handed Weapons. More experienced players may want to choose Archery and Crossbow. If you prefer a challenge, choose Polearms or Throwing.
You should also build your skills as quickly as possible. Of course, it is best for new players to build Strength and Agility related skills first, as these will help the most in battle, especially Ironflesh and Power Strike/Draw/Throw. It would also be a good idea to build up your Athletics skill and, if you want, the Riding and Shield skills.
Starting Out
As a low-level character with not much equipment, money or men, you aren't going to be able to take massive Lord's armies. The beginner's steps are what Looters are for. Looters are the worst units in the game (After peasants) that you can fight. These are your target for the first few levels while you build up your skills and make some money.
Before that though, it is recommended that you go to a Training Ground. This is like a tutorial, and allows you to build up your skills a short way without the risk of being captured and losing what little you have already. The training, if completed, will advance your character to level 2 without much effort and for no cost, as the training is free. So you now have a character that is advancing and hopefully you have decided which method of combat is best for you. The best news is that you can keep going to it and sparring with opponents to gain XP.
Tournaments
If you feel that you've advanced enough from fighting Looters and participating in training, then you might consider participating in tournaments. Tournaments are a great way to earn a bit of money (The maximum winnings being 4180 denars). They appear at random Towns each day and you can usually find out the locations from asking Arena Masters or just going round each town, as you need to participate in a Melee round before the Arena Masters will tell you where the tournaments are (Which is Annoying!).
Each tournament has 64 competitors, which include: You, Your Companions, any Lords at the Town, Arena Champions (Kradus, Xerina & Dranton), Novice/Veteran/Champion Fighters, Sword Sisters and Hired Blades. There are 6 rounds in every tournament. Each round has a random selection of the number of teams and the number of people on each team (It isn't just 32 v 32, 16 v 16, 8 v 8, 4 v 4, 2 v 2 & 1 v 1), and you can bet 5, 10, 20, 50 or 100 denars on each round. Tournaments are a brilliant way for you to gain a lot of XP and money you can use to buy equipment and troops.
What Next?
There are several things you can do next. You could continue to participate in tournaments and gain even more money and XP. You could also set your sights on fighting Forest and Mountain Bandits. You could go around villages hiring troops to fight for you. You could go around taverns and find companions to hire.
Companions
Companions are other named characters in the game that aren't lords or members of a faction. They can all be found in the taverns of each Town and will usually join your party, some for a price. Most of them are pretty low level and will need to be trained up, but some of them will be developed and will have skills superior to yours. This is good for you as it means that they will be able to handle themselves in battle without falling after 2 minutes. Some companions also have skills which complement yours (e.g. Charisma or Intelligence-based skills). A disadvantage of companions is that any damage they take remains with them after the battle, whereas regular troops that survive the battle and are concious are completely healed at the end of the battle, which means that companions, even if they are good fighters, won't last long if several battles are fought back-to-back.
Troops
The only troops that you would be able to hire and maintain at this stage would be peasants, farmers and townsman. These are basic infantry with basic weaponry (Farming tools). If they survive, however, they can be upgraded. When a unit has had enough battle experience (Gained by participating in battles and killing foes) you will have the opportunity to upgrade them to the next Tier (Level) of troops. Sometimes, you will need to choose from more than one upgrade path e.g. Infantry/Archer or Infantry/Cavalry. You should generally choose to upgrade troops to be the same style as you (If you are a foot soldier have foot soldiers, if you are an archer have archers and if you are on horse have horsemen). Once you get troops, it is recommended that you start to increase you Intelligence and Charisma attributes and focus on the Leadership and Wound Treatment skills, as these will allow you to have more troops and be able to keep them for longer without them dying.
Kingdoms
You will have learnt by now that there are 5 Kingdoms in M&B. The Vaegir Kingdom, The Swadian Empire, The Nord Kingdom, The Rhodok Kingdom and The Khergit Khanate. You might also have been considering joining one of these factions or even gotten an offer of Vassalage from a Faction Leader. There are advantages and disadvantages to joining a faction. The obvious advantage is that you get protection from a faction and the ability to capture lands in your name and own them, collect taxes from them and fall back when you are being overwhelmed. You also get access to the faction's troops, which are generally stronger than the mercenaries and Bandits. The disadvantage is that you will make enemies with one or more factions, which means that several towns won't be as easy to get into as before, and you will likely get attacked by Lord Parties, which can have up to 100 people, and Faction Leader parties usually have about 300 troops, so you would need to be very careful, or just build up your Leadership and Renown until you can field an army just as big. You will also be expected to join in military campaigns with your Faction Leader, which may end in disaster and may leave you back at square one, depending how the campaign goes.
Thats it! If you have any questions or feel that I've missed something out, then PM me. DO NOT clutter up this page with them, as then I'll just lose track.
