Combat in can take different forms in each playthrough, but polearms are classic and popular weapons in medieval settings, making them a valuable skill for your characters to train and improve at.
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Their long-range provides better safety both on foot and on horseback, and with some training and perk choices, they can deal damage comparable to the best two-handed weapons in the game. If you want to play as a mounted knight with a lance or devastate the enemy cavalry with your braced pike, these perks in the polearm skill will help you along the way.
10 Cavalry
The first perks in the polearm skill tree are both amazing choices and can be useful even for characters who are not planning on raising their polearm skill above this threshold. Cavalry increases your damage with polearms while mounted, and Pikeman increases your damage with them on foot.
While the first part of these perks is a matter of preference, the second part is the more impactful. They increase the damage of your cavalry or infantry across the board, and not just with polearms. Cavalry is typically much more impactful in field battles, making it generally the better option, but if you are playing an infantry-heavy campaign, Pikeman is a priceless addition to your captain bonuses.
9 Braced
The second perks of polearm skill are Braced and Keep at Bay. Braced is a great option for both mounted and on-foot combat with polearms, as you have a higher chance of dismounting enemy cavalry. Keep at Bay, on the other hand, only benefits you while on foot, as it can knock back enemies, giving you more space to handle your long-range polearm.
The secondary benefits of these perks make Braced the best choice at this level. Keep at Bay is the better option for one of your companions who plan on becoming a governor, but Braced is the pick for your main character, as both benefits are valuable, especially the ten percent increased damage of your infantry against cavalry.
8 Clean Thrust
This might seem a controversial pick if you have played with the swing polearms. These weapons have extremely long range and can defeat even the most heavily armored troops with one swing. But it's exactly for that reason that Swift Swing is a bit of an overkill, and Clean Thrust can give you more benefits. Most swingable polearms can be used as thrust weapons as well, so both of these perks affect your performance.
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High-tier swing polearms are very slow, and the increased swing speed can seem crucial. But you usually want to take accurate and calculated swings with these weapons to ensure a kill with each hit, so the increased speed doesn't have as much benefit as one might imagine. Thrust damage, on the other hand, can use the ten percent help as they deal considerably less damage. In addition, the secondary benefit of the Clean Thrust perk can help your troops more with the increased skill for your infantry.
7 Hard Knock
The fourth perk choice in the polearm skill tree is between Footwork and Hard Knock. The former increases the movement speed of you and the infantry under your command, and the latter makes your polearm attacks more likely to knock down enemies, leaving them vulnerable. More importantly, it increases the hit points of all your infantry.
While movement speed can be a nice bonus, especially if you stack similar perks to give you and your troops a considerable movement increase, Hard Knock's secondary effect is much more valuable in most circ*mstances.
6 Lancer
One of the most effective ways of participating in large battles is for you to lead the cavalry and charge into the weak points of the opposing army. The Lancer perk helps you and the cavalry under your command to deal more damage and take down vulnerable soldiers more easily.
While the Steed Killer perk gives a substantial increase to your damage against mounts, it will mostly be useful if you are leading an infantry-heavy army and you yourself fight on foot. It also requires specific troop composition as unlike other perks, it will only increase your troops' damage if they are using polearms, making Lancer more effective overall.
5 Skewer
Having a couch lance is fun in Bannerlord. It's satisfying to connect with a high-tier enemy and see upwards of 200 damage in one hit, but its weakness is that, after the one hit, you have to ride around and couch your polearm again for the next hit, making it inefficient and slow compared to other combat techniques.
The Skewer perk gives you a chance to keep your polearm coached after you kill an enemy, allowing you to run through the enemy archer line and, well, skewer them one after another. Guards perk is also a decent pick if you don't plan on using couch polearms and rely on making accurate attacks.
4 Phalanx
The next perk choice is between Phalanx and Standard Bearer. Standard Bearer's first benefit is reducing the morale loss of your troops in battle, and its second benefit is for governors and not applicable to your main character. Morale perks can be useful if you face armies larger than yours, but in this case, it's just not worth the perk point.
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Phalanx, on the other hand, increases every melee skill of your infantry while they are in shield wall formation. Shield wall is one of the best formations for infantry, and you are likely to have your troops use it in most situations, making this a very consistent buff for all your infantry.
3 Generous Rations
The next perk choice in the polearm skill tree is an easy one. While the Drills perk can be useful specifically if you stack it with similar perks to increase your troops' experience gain, leveling up troops in Bannerlord is generally fast enough and doesn't require additional buffs.
The Generous Rations perk, though, increases your troops' hit points. With the addition of similar perks, such as Hard Knocks, and multiple perks in other melee weapon skills, you can have much more durable troops overall.
2 Unstoppable Force
Standing in the way of charging cavalry is a bad idea, even with the added defense benefit of the Sure Footed Perk. It's the best option if you find yourself in this situation more than often, but overall, it's not a valuable perk in most scenarios.
Unstoppable Force perk triples the damage of your couch lance against shields, making it likely to destroy low to mid-tier shields in one hit, and leaving the enemy infantry defenseless. The secondary benefit is also a great bonus if you lead your cavalry and charge into the enemy lines.
1 Sharpen The Tip
Like the third perk option, the final perks are a choice between thrust polearms and swing polearms. And just like before, Counterweight that benefits swing polearms is not impactful enough to make a difference in these weapons' performance.
Sharpen the Tip increases thrust damage of polearms for you and your troops, and since most troops in Bannerlord have thrust polearms, it's a more effective perk overall. Thrust polearms can become powerful with these perks, and even though swing polearms deal considerably more damage, these perks can make thrust polearms a more viable fighting style.
NEXT: Mount And Blade 2: Bannerlord - Best Two-Handed Perks
