Even with its endless list of high-quality mods, blacksmithing was notably absent from Mount & Blade: Warband, so it should come as no surprise that fans were ecstatic about an official weapon crafting mechanic in its sequel, Bannerlord. Like most of TaleWorlds’s mechanics, the game lets you find your way without holding your hand. This handy Bannerlord smithing guide should help make things a bit easier.
How To Improve Smithing Skill in Bannerlord
Unsurprisingly, the best way to improve smithing skills in Bannerlord is by performing related tasks. This includes smithing a lot, of course, but also smelting and refining (the other two actions in the smithing screen). The key to leveling up faster is to work with fancier materials. This is accomplished in two ways:
- By continually crafting weapons that are way above your skill level. This should be easy, assuming you’re starting from level one and always crafting the highest difficulties possible. It is possible to hit a wall with learning limits, so make sure you’re spending focus points on smithing if you don’t want the materials to go to waste.
- By smelting high-tier weapons. This requires that you invest in your smithing skill by buying them, or break down the loot you get from defeating tough parties like opposing lords, who always have at least a few expensive arms to melt down. Unless you’re strapped for denars, it’s a good idea to sell everything except weapons in the early stages of your campaign. You can give your character a head start on leveling and unlocking parts by smelting all of the weapons you take off bandit parties.
How To Unlock Parts in Bannerlord
Unlocking parts follow the same principles as improving the smithing skill, where parts are also unlocked by smithing, smelting, and refining. Similarly, there are two ways to make this process go much faster:
- Completing orders found in the ‘Orders(x)’ tab found in the smithing screen–as opposed to ‘Free Build’–will unlock parts quickly. Just make sure you have the required skill and parts to complete the orders. You’ll also find that completing orders levels your character quickly for really difficult jobs after mid-game.
- Smelting high-tier weapons is also a good way to unlock parts, and Bannerlord makes no distinctions as to whether these weapons are bought, crafted, or taken from enemies. This means that once you unlock tier-2 parts and beyond, you can craft a bunch of them and immediately smelt the weapons you just created to unlock more parts. Look for variety in the parts if you want to make money off the weapons later; avoid smelting all two-handed swords or axes, but be sure to throw some daggers and polearms in the mix as well, since these will be useful for completing the orders mentioned above.
- After the first level, follow the perks along the top half when selecting the next one in the smithing skill. You’ll notice that each one lets you discover parts faster for the various activities–smelting, crafting, refining–whereas the ones on the bottom are all related to smelting better materials. You should keep at least one character in your party dedicated to each of these.
Making Money With Smithing in Bannerlord
Some would argue that making money with smithing is an exploit in Bannerlord that should be buffed. As of the 1.8 BETA, the amount of money you can get for smithed items of a certain type has been reduced, though it’s still one of the best ways to make money in the game. There are too many parts in the game to provide a comprehensive list of combinations, but these weapon types are the best items to make from smithing in Bannerlord since they always fetch the highest prices:
- The large ‘slicing’ type two-handed swords that unlock at tier 3–such as falchions and falx–which have no thrust damage and extreme slicing damage. You’ll notice that these blades are at least 50% higher in slice damage than the rest of the swords (e.g. 150 to 100), which the economy considers as the weapons base damage and prices them accordingly.
- Look for the polearm with the ‘pine shaft’ label that has parts at tiers 3 and 4. Attach a high-tier slicing blade to it and it becomes a devastating glaive that sells for 10K minimum.
Using Companions
To maximize your smithing potential, it’s a smart move to use all your companions for various purposes at the forge. The limitations of stamina are such that you want to save the important tasks for those to which you’ve dedicated focus points. An ideal setup would have a companion for each of these tasks:
- Each companion should have at least the first perk unlocked (level 25 in smithing), which allows you to refine 2 pieces of wood into 3 pieces of charcoal. You’ll always need charcoal for all smithing tasks, so these companions would allow you to save stamina for your higher-rated smiths to craft and smelt.
- At least one companion should follow the bottom row of the perk tree, which allows them to refine better materials. The lower-tier metals will accumulate naturally as you smelt basic weapons, but fine steel and themaskene steel might need someone to make them when you run short.
- At least one companion should be dedicated to the top half of the perk tree, which allows them to learn parts faster. This companion should always handle the smelting and crafting operations, so you’re always unlocking parts.
Best Weapons to Smelt in Bannerlord
There are countless weapons to smelt in Bannerlord that would yield you good materials, but these two are the cheapest and most readily available:
- In the early campaign search for Highland Daggers in Battanian shops. They sell for about 200d a piece depending on your Trade skill, but they provide all the necessary metal for you to craft any of the early weapons.
- Once you’ve unlocked some parts and accumulated some income, head to Empire cities and buy every Pugio you can afford. The Pugio’s yields far exceed its cost, considering each dagger has a bar from each metal except themaskene steel. Once you’ve unlocked the ability to refine fine steel into themaskene, you can craft any piece with just 8 of these Imperial blades!
