You will never unlock every perk in a Bannerlord campaign, so the ones you choose are what your character and your army actually become.

Most skills force a choice at each level threshold, and picking the wrong side of that choice is one of the quietest ways to hold your run back.

This is not a list of all of them. It is the perks that are worth prioritizing, grouped by what they do for you, plus the ones people waste points on.

How Perks Work

Every skill unlocks a perk roughly every 25 levels, and at most tiers you have to pick one of two. Two things decide whether a perk is worth it.

1. First, personal perks affect only you or your whole party, while captain perks affect just the troops in the formation you personally command in battle, which means captain perks are only doing work if you actually lead that formation.
2. Second, some of the strongest effects are on your companions and governors, not you, so spreading key skills across your party often beats stacking everything on your main character.

The Must Have Party Leader Perks

If you run an army, these are the skills that make it possible to keep one fed, paid, and healed. Prioritize them before anything flashy.

• Steward. The single most important support skill for a party leader. Its perks cut your troop wages and food consumption and raise your party size limit, which is the difference between fielding a real army and going broke trying. Every party leader wants steward leveled.
• Leadership. Boosts party size and morale, and unlocks strong captain perks for the troops you command. High morale wins battles you should have lost, and a bigger party wins them outright.
• Medicine. Grab the first few perks early. They give instant healing and extra hitpoints to your troops, which keeps veterans alive long enough to become the elite core your whole army is built around. Ignore Pain in particular is one of the best captain perks in the game because more effective health means more soldiers still standing at the end.
• Tactics. Reduces your casualties and improves how your troops fight when you delegate command or resolve a battle in the simulation. Underrated, and it quietly saves you the veterans that are so expensive to replace.

The Perks That Win Battles

Captain perks turn a formation into a specialist. The rule is to lead the formation whose captain perks you have invested in, and to build each companion around one formation type.

• Infantry captain perks. The ones that add armor, health, or shield durability turn your line into a wall that simply refuses to break.
• Archer captain perks. Perks that raise ammunition and accuracy turn a block of archers into a machine gun that empties enemy formations before they arrive.
• Cavalry captain perks. Charge damage and maneuver perks make a cavalry wedge a battle ending hammer rather than a screen of horses.

Best Combat Perks for Your Character

Your personal weapon skills matter most if you actually fight on the front line. The picks come down to whether you are mounted or on foot.

• Polearm. At level 25 take Cavalry if you fight from horseback or Pikeman if you fight on foot. At level 50 take Braced when mounted or Keep at Bay when on foot. At level 75 Clean Thrust and Swift Swing are both strong depending on whether you want damage or speed.
• Two Handed. The armor penetration perk is excellent, since two handed weapons already hit hard and cutting through armor makes them lethal against the elite troops that would otherwise shrug you off.
• One Handed and Riding. If you fight from a horse, couch and one handed cavalry perks let you carve through infantry. Match your weapon perks to your actual fighting style rather than picking the biggest number.

Best Economy Perks

An army is a money pit, so a few economy perks pay for the whole campaign.

• Trade. The caravan and discount perks compound over a long run and are one of the cleaner ways to fund an army without constant looting. Pairs directly with our money guide.
• Steward, again. The wage reduction perks are as much an economy pick as a military one. Cutting what your army costs every day is the same as earning that money.
• Smithing. If you smith for profit, grab Charcoal Maker early, because you will burn through an enormous amount of wood fuel, and the smithing money loop only works once fuel stops being your bottleneck.

Perks People Waste Points On

A few common traps. Do not pour points into a weapon skill you never actually use in melee, because those perks do nothing if you are commanding from the back. Do not take captain perks for formations you never personally lead.

And do not chase perks on your main character that a companion or governor could carry instead, since your main character's focus is better spent on the party wide skills like steward and leadership.

The Bottom Line

Bannerlord perks reward a plan. Level steward, leadership, medicine, and tactics so you can actually field and keep an army, build each companion around a single formation so their captain perks stack, and match your personal combat perks to how you really fight.

Do that and your campaign stops feeling like a grind against your own bank balance and starts feeling like a conquest.

FAQ

What are the best perks in Bannerlord?

The highest value picks are the party leader support perks in steward, leadership, medicine, and tactics, since they let you field, pay, and heal a real army. After that, captain perks for the formation you command and combat perks that match your fighting style.

What is the most important skill for perks?

Steward for most party leaders. Its perks cut wages and food and raise your party size, which underpins everything else you do.

Do captain perks work if I do not lead the formation?

No. Captain perks only affect the troops in the formation you personally command in battle, so invest in them only for the formation you actually lead.

Should I put all my perks on my main character?

No. Companions and governors can carry key skills too. Keep your main character on the party wide skills like steward and leadership and let companions specialize.

Related Reads

• Best Troops in Bannerlord: The Tier List (2026)
• Best Character Builds in Bannerlord
• Bannerlord Smithing Guide: Best Weapons to Craft and Sell
• How to Make Money Fast in Bannerlord (2026 Guide)
• Bannerlord Faction Tier List (2026): Every Kingdom Ranked