So, you just won your first big battle in Bannerlord and are wondering what to do with all those prisoners? Thankfully, the prisoner system has been much expanded compared to Warband, as you have a lot more options now.
Before, the only thing you could do was sell the prisoners to the highest bidder. Now, there are a lot more tactics that you can employ when handling your prisoners. Here’s what you can do with your prisoners in Bannerlord.
Sell Them to a Ransom Broker
This is the simplest, quickest, and easiest way of getting rid of your prisoners in Bannerlord. Plus, it’s the most lucrative method as well. To sell your prisoners, all you have to do is go to the nearest tavern and sell your prisoners to the Ransom Broker.
Thankfully, each and every tavern in Calradia has a ransom broken these days. Gone are the days when you had to search for days on end to find a ransom broker. Now, we live in a much more civilized age, where every town has a ransom broker.
Donate Your Prisoners to Gain Influence
Prisoners in Bannerlord can also be donated to the local dungeon for an influence boost. This boost scales with the tier of the prisoner you donate. I.e. the higher the tier, the more influence you get.
However, I’d strongly advise against donating prisoners. The influence rewards you get from it are negligible at best and are a waste of good prisoners. Only donate your prisoners in the most extreme of cases.
Such cases are when your army is about to disband and you need the extra influence right now. Or, if your prisoner train is slowing you down and you need the extra speed. In all other cases, hold on to your prisoners.
Keep Your Prisoners For Recruitment
This method is the best thing that you can do with Bannerlord prisoners, and it’s the method that I usually use in all of my playthroughs. It’s a bit cheesy, but damn has it helped me when I needed it the most.
Here’s what you’re gonna want to do. Whenever you defeat an enemy party, take as many high-tier prisoners as you can carry. Ideally, only take Tier 5 prisoners and above. After that, it’s only a matter of waiting till they become recruitable.
Eventually, you’ll run into a battle that ends as a pyrrhic victory. In that situation, your army will be depleted and sorely lacking men. That’s when your prisoners will come in handy. By recruiting from your prisoner pool, you’ll have a full party instantaneously.
Sure, it’ll cost you morale to do so. But if you have the right Stewardship perks and a ton of food variety, it shouldn’t really be a problem. Plus, it’s a lot cheaper to recruit a Tier 6 Cataphract than it is to upgrade one.
Do NOT Execute Enemy Lords
Captive lords are unlike the regular everyday Bannerlord prisoners. In Bannerlord, you can actively execute any lords you capture on the battlefield. Although it may sound tempting, this is the worst possible thing that you can do with them.
Not only will it take away any positive traits that you may have, but it will set your relationships back with other lords by dozens of points. Imagine spending years of in-game time grinding relationships… only to ruin all that in a couple of seconds. Not worth it, trust me.
A much better thing to do with your captive lords is to hold onto them. That way, you prevent them from raising up another army to oppose you. Alternatively, you can donate them to a dungeon. Which practically accomplishes the same thing.
