Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord Trade Guide

Bannerlord trading is a great way to earn money for your kingdom. Aside from completing quests, hunting bandits, breaking down weapons, participating in tournaments, or becoming a mercenary, being able to trade offers a way to make denars that’s mostly passive and without a lot of risk. 

As you come across items in your journey — whether you pick them up naturally, loot them, or get them from breaking down other items — trade plays a special role in bartering your way toward mounds of precious gold. 

If you’re enticed by the merchant’s life (or just want to get a few items off your hands for the best price possible), you’ll want to min/max your character before you even start a Mount and Blade 2 campaign. 

Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord Trading Guide

Choose Asarai as Your Culture

Before starting a new campaign, it is very important to select the right culture type. Though you will be presented with six different cultures, the Asarai is the best for trading. This choice gives you:

• 30% bonus for building caravans
• 10% less on trade penalties

Choose Urban Merchants as Your Family

Choose Urban Merchants family as your family. This choice gives you:

• 10 Skill Level
• 1 Focus point to Trade and Charm
• 1 attribute point to Social

Choose Aptitude for Numbers for Childhood

Choose Aptitude for Numbers for childhood. This choice gives you

• 10 Skill Level
• 1 Focus point to Trade and Engineering
• 1 attribute point to Intelligence

Choose Markets and Caravans for Adolescence

Choose Markets and Caravans for adolescence. This choice gives you the same extra points as Urban Merchants family:

• 10 Skill Level
• 1 Focus point to Trade and Charm
• 1 attribute point to Social

Choose Invest Money in a Workshop for Adulthood

Choose Invest Money in a Workshop for adulthood. This choice gives you:

• 10 Skill Level
• 1 Focus point to Trade and Smithing
• 1 attribute point to Intelligence
• +1 to Calculating
• +10 Renown

These choices will give you four out of five focus points at the beginning of the game, putting you well on the trader’s path. 

Start Trading Goods

Before trading begins, though, you need to recruit troops to help you carry your goods. Start trading in small villages before moving into larger cities. To start trading, follow these steps:

1. Approach the village
2. Click on the settlement
3. Select “Buy Products” from the menu

This will open the trade interface, with your inventory to the right. In the top right corner, you will see your carrying capacity and the amount of money you have.

The first two product types you should buy are mules and grain. Mules are needed to increase your carrying capacity, and Grain is required to feed your troops.

Find Opportunities Through Rumors and Gossip

Pay attention to rumors and gossip to find the best places to trade goods and items. 

You can find rumors in the trade menu. Hover over the price of any item, and you will see the item’s availability and the rumored price in other locations. If you see numbers that you like, head over to that settlement and initiate a trade.

Gossip, on the other hand, takes a bit more time and effort to uncover because you must actually talk to people in the taverns. 

To enter a tavern, select “Enter the Tavern” option in the town menu. Once inside, talk to every NPC. If you see the coin icon in the dialogue menu, the NPC has information regarding profitable trade. Keep talking to them to find out where to go.

Use Item Colors to Buy Low and Sell High

In the trade menu, you will notice that some items are green, some are yellow, and some are red. Here’s what each color means. 

• Green: There is an overabundance of goods and they are relatively cheap.
• Yellow: There is a small surplus of goods and the price is average.
• Red: There is a shortage of goods and the items are expensive.

Buy green items and yellow items, but only buy red items if you really need them. However, always sell red items when bartering with a village or city; you will receive more money for them. 

Increase Your Trade Skill for Better Profits

Trade skill depends on your trade margin. Bannerlord gives you more XP the more profit you make during a trade.

The best way to increase your trade skill is to sell more goods than you buy. Early in the game, it’s likely you will buy more goods than you sell because you need supplies to support yourself and move through the ranks. However, as you progress and your kingdom grows larger, you should make sure you sell more than you buy. 

Eventually, you will be able to loot and raid settlements, fight in battles, and participate in tournaments. Naturally, you will amass an excess of goods, which you can sell to quickly increase your trading skill.

—

That’s all you need to know about Bannerlord trade. Follow the above steps and you’ll be a master at trading in no time. For more Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord guides, check out the list below:

• Cheats and How to Activate Them
• How to Declare War
• How to Start Your Own Kingdom
• How to Execute Prisoners
• Best Companions and Their Locations