Two-handed polearm

Bannerlord v1.4.8 · checked 2026-11-11 · updated 2026-11-12

This page answers two questions for the two-handed polearm: which piece drives which stat, and which recipe gives the best result for each goal once you have unlocked pieces up to a given tier. The formulas were read out of the game's own code: they were recovered from v1.4.6 and compared method by method against v1.4.8, where none of the compared methods changed (some could only be compared by their headers; Value and price has the details). Rows labelled "NavalDLC" give the best result with NavalDLC active, which adds pieces and changes which pieces each weapon type can use; they are listed only where they beat the base game. How smithing works in general is in the Crafting guide; the usages, grips and blade ranges in full are in Weapon templates.

Usages and damage

The two-handed polearm has four slots, pommel, handle, guard and blade, and the widest spread of usages of any weapon type. One crafted item can have five:

• One-handed polearm: one-handed, wide grip. 42 blades in the base game, 56 with NavalDLC.
• Two-handed polearm: two-handed, wide grip. 53 blades, 69 with NavalDLC.
• Two-handed polearm (couchable): one-handed, wide grip. 41 blades, 53 with NavalDLC.
• Two-handed polearm (bracing): two-handed, wide grip. 47 blades, 59 with NavalDLC.
• Thrown polearm: thrown, one-handed grip. 43 blades, 56 with NavalDLC.

A usage is only there if every piece you picked is allowed for it, so which usages your item has depends on the blade and the other pieces.

Pieces from the bottom up: Pommel, Handle, Guard, Blade.

Damage factor and stack size ranges cover every blade, NavalDLC ones included. A thrown usage after the first usage gets stack size 1.

Example recipe:

Most blades have no swing and deal thrust damage only. The usage's grip changes the result with the same pieces: the example recipe deals 30 pierce damage as a one-handed polearm and 36 as a two-handed polearm.

The wide grips have a swing drag of 3.9 per unit of reach, against 1.17 for the thrown usage's one-handed grip, so a long polearm loses swing speed fast.

The thrown usage works like a javelin:

Thrown damage = 9 × thrust strength × the blade's thrust damage factor

• Thrust strength: grows with the weight times the square of the thrust speed. Thrown weapons leave out the fixed extra mass that melee thrusts add.
• Thrust damage factor: a number on the blade, from 1.5 to 3.2 for the thrown polearm blades.

Its missile speed is 3.6 × thrust speed, the same factor as the javelin.

For the tier score, the one-handed and couchable usages count 1, the two-handed and bracing usages 0.8 and the thrown usage 0.6.

Which piece drives which stat

• Blade: sets the damage factors and the damage type, and decides whether the item swings at all. It also counts most for difficulty.
• Handle and guard: add weight and length. The pieces stack from the handle up, and the handle, guard and blade all add to the length.
• Pommel: adds weight but no length. The game counts it as if it sat past the blade tip when it works out handling, so a heavy pommel costs far more handling than its real position would. Its appearance sets the value multiplier.
• Weight: all pieces added up. More weight means more swing and thrust strength, so more damage, but usually less speed and handling.
• Length: with the wide grip, every extra unit of reach adds more than three times the swing drag it adds on a sword.

Best results from tier 1 to tier 5

One-handed polearm

• Thrust damage: 28 with tier-1 pieces, 41 from tier 4; with NavalDLC up to 48 at tier 5.
• Thrust speed: 90, rising to 94 at tier 5.
• Handling: 84, then 86 from tier 4. NavalDLC pieces give 91 from tier 2 and 93 from tier 4.
• Length: 132 at tier 1, 318 from tier 4.
• Weight (lightest): 1.4 kg, down to 0.97 kg at tier 5.
• Value: 4,805 at tier 1, 134,915 at tier 5.

Two-handed polearm

• Swing damage: 63 at tier 1, 115 at tiers 2 and 3, 206 from tier 4.
• Thrust damage: 33 at tier 1, 50 at tier 5; with NavalDLC 57.
• Swing speed: 101, then 105 from tier 4. NavalDLC pieces give 107 from tier 2 and 111 from tier 4.
• Thrust speed: 98, rising to 101 at tier 5.
• Handling: 84, then 87 from tier 4. NavalDLC pieces give 93 from tier 2 and 96 from tier 4.
• Length: 132 at tier 1, 318 from tier 4.
• Weight (lightest): 1.4 kg, down to 0.97 kg at tier 5.
• Value: 4,805 at tier 1, 134,915 at tier 5.

Two-handed polearm (couchable): no recipe with tier-1 or tier-2 pieces.

• Thrust damage: 35 at tier 3, 41 from tier 4; with NavalDLC 45 at tier 5.
• Thrust speed: 85, then 87 from tier 4.
• Handling: 67, then 74 from tier 4.
• Length: 269, then 298 from tier 4.
• Weight (lightest): 1.8 kg, then 1.7 kg from tier 4.
• Value: 2,572 at tier 3, 111,639 at tier 5.

Two-handed polearm (bracing): no recipe with tier-1 or tier-2 pieces.

• Thrust damage: 42 at tier 3, 47 at tier 5; with NavalDLC 47 at tier 4 and 53 at tier 5.
• Thrust speed: 92, then 94 from tier 4.
• Handling: 62, then 65 from tier 4.
• Length: 282, then 318 from tier 4.
• Weight (lightest): 1.8 kg, then 1.67 kg from tier 4.
• Value: 14,083 at tier 3, 134,915 at tier 5.

Thrown polearm: no recipe with tier-1 or tier-2 pieces.

• Thrown damage: 133 at tier 3, 150 at tier 4, 168 at tier 5; with NavalDLC 155 and 179.
• Missile speed: 27, then 28 from tier 4.
• Length: 224, then 253 from tier 4.
• Weight (lightest): 1.45 kg, then 1.32 kg from tier 4.
• Value: 38,906 at tier 3, 121,934 at tier 5.

Best recipes by highest piece tier

Each row is the best recipe for one goal using only pieces at or below that tier. The highest piece tier is the highest tier among the pieces you have unlocked for the two-handed polearm. The couchable, bracing and thrown usages have no rows for tiers 1 and 2.

One-handed polearm usage

All pieces at scale 100. Weight in kg.

Two-handed polearm usage

All pieces at scale 100. Weight in kg.

Two-handed polearm (couchable) usage

All pieces at scale 100. Weight in kg. No recipe when the highest piece tier is 1 or 2.

Two-handed polearm (bracing) usage

All pieces at scale 100. Weight in kg. No recipe when the highest piece tier is 1 or 2.

Thrown polearm usage

All pieces at scale 100. Weight in kg. No recipe when the highest piece tier is 1 or 2.

Every recipe here has every piece at scale 100, the piece's default size. The scale slider changes weight and length, and with them the other stats; how it works is in Scaling a piece. What the solver research found about scale is in Getting the best weapon from your pieces.

Worked example. With tier-4 pieces your best two-handed swing damage is 206, with blade axe_craft_10_head, guard spear_guard_17, handle spear_handle_15 and pommel default_polearm_pommel. With tier-2 or tier-3 pieces the best is 115, with spear_blade_33, spear_guard_17, spear_handle_5 and default_polearm_pommel. NavalDLC has nothing better for this goal.

Practical tips

• Tier 4 is the big step for swing damage. The two-handed swing jumps from 115 to 206; tier 5 adds nothing to it.
• The couchable, bracing and thrown usages need tier-3 pieces. With tier-1 or tier-2 pieces none of them has a recipe.
• NavalDLC helps handling, speed, reach and damage, never value. Most NavalDLC rows swap in spear_handle_rough_30. NavalDLC pieces also give the thrown polearm 155 and 179 thrown damage at tiers 4 and 5, against 150 and 168, and the longest tier-2 one-handed and two-handed polearms 221 and 227, against 218 and 224. No NavalDLC recipe beats the base game for value.
• For reach, use spear_banner_22. It is the guard in every best-length recipe from tier 3, in every usage.
• Wide grips hate length. All melee usages here have the wide grip's swing drag, so a longer pole swings much slower.