Bannerlord mechanics

Ratings and results

Bannerlord v1.4.8 · checked 2026-11-10 · updated 2026-11-12

Which items count as obtainable, how they are split into lists and weight thirds, how each item is scored and ranked, and what the rankings show, at full precision for game v1.4.8. For a plain-language version, see the equipment guide. The game formulas the scores are built on (damage after armor, body-part armor sums, encumbrance, stealth, loot) are on Armor and damage.

Content scopes: base (SandBoxCore, SandBox, StoryMode) and naval (base + NavalDLC). Slots: head, body, hands, legs, cape, shield, harness. The numbers in the tables and charts are computed by the Python model in src/bannerlord/equipment/.

At a glance

Step Rule
Obtainable sold in shops (shop) or in a battle equipment set of a character of the scope (loot)
Lists per mode (battle, civilian, stealth), culture and slot
Weight thirds each list split at weight percentiles 33 / 67 into light, medium, heavy
Scores stat sum per weight, slot-relative, damage saved, damage saved per kg, stealth total
Ranking per (mode, culture, slot, third, score), score then stat sum descending, top N tie-inclusive

Obtainable items

Rule Value
shop is_merchandise absent or true
loot not merchandise, in a battle equipment set of an NPCCharacter of the scope (troops and heroes): inline EquipmentRoster without civilian="true", or a referenced EquipmentRoster id whose reference and set are not equipmentType="Civilian"/"Stealth"
Dropped multiplayer_item="true", tournament items, items only in civilian / stealth sets, in rosters no character references, or in mpcharacters.xml
Naval NavalDLC items and rosters added; the 8 redefined base ids are Type-less patches (name, culture, weight) applied over the base item, armor stats kept; XSLT patches not applied

How the game picks a looted item from a casualty is on What drops as loot.

Lists

Dimension Rule
Mode civilian Civilian flag (ItemObject.IsCivilian, 0x400000)
Mode stealth Stealth flag (ItemObject.IsStealthItem, 0x4000000)
Mode battle all obtainable items
Culture all plus one list per culture; neutral_culture is its own list
No culture attribute in all and in the no_culture list
Thirds weight percentiles 33 / 67 (inclusive quantiles); ties at a cut go to the lower third; lists with < 3 items are not split (third = all)

Scores

Stat sum per slot (stealth mode adds stealth_factor):

Slot Stats
head, body, hands, legs, cape head + body + arm + leg armor
shield hit_points + shield_reach (XML weapon_length)
harness body_armor
Score Definition
sum_per_weight stat sum / weight
slot_relative Σ (stat / median of stat) / (weight / median weight); medians over the whole slot list (before thirds); stats with median 0 skipped; shields add shield_armor as a stat
damage_saved armor slots: E(reference) - E(reference + item); harness: 1 - mean_fraction(body_armor)
damage_saved_per_kg damage_saved / weight
stealth_total stealth_factor; stealth mode only

Weight 0: per-weight scores are blank; the item stays in absolute scores.

Expected damage

mean_fraction(a) = mean over {cut, pierce, blunt} of raw(type, magnitude, a) / magnitude
E(armor)         = Σ share[part] * mean_fraction(armor[part])        parts: head, torso, arms, legs

Defaults: magnitude 80; shares head 0.15, torso 0.55, arms 0.15, legs 0.15; damage types weighted equally.

The kit example ends with E for a naked character and the light, medium and heavy kits, times the magnitude.

Reference loadout

Per armor slot S (head, body, hands, legs, cape) in a given (mode, culture), third T:

reference(S, T) = Σ over other armor slots O:  per-column median (head, body, arm, leg) of O's items
Case O's items used
O is split and has third T O's third T
O is split and lacks third T O's whole list
O is unsplit (third = all) O's whole list
O has no items zero contribution

Shields and harness have no reference loadout.

Ranking

Results

The tables below use the naval scope and culture all. Battle and civilian picks are ranked by damage_saved, shown as a percent; stealth picks by stealth_total. Every list, culture and score is browsable in the Armory.

Distributions

Five histograms of item counts per armor sum (head + body + arm + leg armor) in bins of 5, base game with the NavalDLC additions stacked on top. Head: 249 items in the base game, 274 with NavalDLC, armor sums 0 to 59, tallest bin 45 to 49 (43 base, 45 naval). Body: 242 and 268, armor sums 0 to 99, tallest bin 5 to 9 (43 base, 45 naval). Hands: 35 and 44, armor sums 0 to 29, tallest bin 20 to 24 (11 base, 13 naval). Legs: 39 and 46, armor sums 0 to 29, tallest bin 5 to 9 (20 base, 22 naval). Cape: 91 and 107, armor sums 0 to 29, tallest bin 10 to 14 (25 base, 29 naval).

Scatter chart of the 268 body armors in the naval scope, battle mode: weight from 0.2 to 28.6 against body armor from 0 to 57. Dashed lines at weight 1.2 and 8.3 split the light third (92 items), medium third (89) and heavy third (87). Ringed dots are the top 3 per third by damage saved: light Woodland Garments (weight 1.2, body armor 14), Old Fur Armor (0.9, 12), Layered Leather Tunic (1.2, 11); medium Heavy Lamellar Vest (8.3, 35), Leather Strips over Padded Robe (5.5, 36), Thick Brigandine Vest (4.5, 34); heavy Heavy Scale Armor over Mail Hauberk (21.4, 57), Heavy Mastercrafted Northern Armor (26, 55), Lamellar with Scale Skirt (24.1, 52).

The light-medium cut sits at 1.2 and Woodland Garments weighs 1.2: ties at a cut go to the lower third, so it is a light item.

Slot impact

Bar chart of damage saved by the best item in each armor slot per weight third (naval scope, battle mode), light, medium and heavy: head 8.89%, 9.68%, 10.53%; body 15.97%, 29.21%, 38.52%; hands 4.46%, 4.57%, 4.50%; legs 2.57%, 4.61%, 4.65%; cape 16.26%, 15.06%, 10.35%.

Each bar is measured against the reference loadout of its own third, so bars of different thirds use different references.

Best picks

Best item per mode, slot and weight third (naval items, all cultures). Damage saved: percent of an average hit of 80 the item removes, worn with median items of its third in the other slots. Stealth: the item's stealth factor.

Mode Slot Third Item Weight Score
Battle Head Light Berserker Helmet 2 8.89
Battle Head Medium Heavy Nasalhelm over Padding 3 9.68
Battle Head Heavy Closed Huscarl Helmet 4.4 10.53
Battle Body Light Woodland Garments 1.2 15.97
Battle Body Medium Heavy Lamellar Vest 8.3 29.21
Battle Body Heavy Heavy Scale Armor over Mail Hauberk 21.4 38.52
Battle Hands Light Fian Bracers 0.6 4.46
Battle Hands Medium Bronze Bracers 1.3 4.57
Battle Hands Heavy Reinforced Northern Mail Mittens 1.7 4.50
Battle Legs Light Folded Leather Boots 0.9 2.57
Battle Legs Medium Reinforced Suede Boots 1 4.61
Battle Legs Heavy Scaled Boots 2.6 4.65
Battle Cape Light Scale Shoulderguards 1.7 16.26
Battle Cape Medium Northmen Raider Heavy Fur Cape 2.3 15.06
Battle Cape Heavy Berserker Cloak 3.8 10.35
Civilian Head Light Padded Cap 0.2 3.24
Civilian Head Medium Lightweight Padded Coif 0.5 3.96
Civilian Head Heavy Luxury Turban Over Helmet 2.8 8.89
Civilian Body Light Sleeveless Studded Fur Armor 0.4 12.61
Civilian Body Medium Light Long Padded Armor 1.3 17.95
Civilian Body Heavy Norse Chainmail 16 30.70
Civilian Hands Light Leather Vambraces 0.5 3.38
Civilian Hands Medium Fian Bracers 0.6 4.35
Civilian Hands Heavy Northmen Raider Wrist Guards 1.2 3.47
Civilian Legs Light Northern Raider Boots 0.4 2.05
Civilian Legs Medium Reinforced Suede Boots 1 4.85
Civilian Legs Heavy Majestic Iron Boots 2 4.85
Civilian Cape Light Woven Shoulder Pad 0.3 3.51
Civilian Cape Medium Northern Majestic Shoulder 1 10.17
Civilian Cape Heavy Northmen Raider Heavy Fur Cape 2.3 15.34
Stealth Head Light Blackened Hood 0.4 25
Stealth Head Medium Thick Fur Hood 0.6 10
Stealth Head Heavy Raider Fur Helmet 0.8 15
Stealth Body Light Leather Armor over Heavy Cloth 1.8 20
Stealth Body Medium Sloven Leather 2.9 20
Stealth Body Heavy Blackened Armor 5 30
Stealth Hands Light Padded Vambraces 0.1 10
Stealth Hands Medium Guarded Armwraps 0.4 5
Stealth Hands Heavy Plated Leather Vambraces 1.7 10
Stealth Legs Light Wrapped Shoes 0.8 15
Stealth Legs Medium Blackened Boots 1 20
Stealth Legs Heavy Tied Leather Boots 1.8 15
Stealth Cape Light Fringed Cape 0.25 10
Stealth Cape Medium Leather Shoulder Guard 0.6 10
Stealth Cape Heavy Blackened Cape 0.85 15

DLC changes

Best picks that change with the naval DLC (all cultures). Damage saved: percent of an average hit of 80 the item removes, worn with median items of its third in the other slots. Stealth: the item's stealth factor.

Mode Slot Third Base pick Base score Naval pick Naval score
Battle Head Light Brass Turbaned Helmet with Leather Flaps 8.18 Berserker Helmet 8.89
Battle Body Light Old Fur Armor 13.35 Woodland Garments 15.97
Battle Body Medium Leather Strips over Padded Robe 28.56 Heavy Lamellar Vest 29.21
Battle Hands Heavy Mail Mittens with Plate Guard 4.50 Reinforced Northern Mail Mittens 4.50
Battle Cape Medium Mail Shoulder Guards 7.91 Northmen Raider Heavy Fur Cape 15.06
Battle Cape Heavy Reinforced Ornate Pauldrons over Scale 9.36 Berserker Cloak 10.35
Civilian Head Medium Leather Coif 2.73 Lightweight Padded Coif 3.96
Civilian Body Medium Old Fur Armor 13.30 Light Long Padded Armor 17.95
Civilian Body Heavy Bronze Breastplate 33.69 Norse Chainmail 30.70
Civilian Hands Light Guarded Armwraps 2.12 Leather Vambraces 3.38
Civilian Hands Medium Leather Vambraces 3.29 Fian Bracers 4.35
Civilian Hands Heavy Fian Bracers 4.24 Northmen Raider Wrist Guards 3.47
Civilian Legs Light Strapped Shoes 1.51 Northern Raider Boots 2.05
Civilian Legs Heavy Leather Riding Boots 1.59 Majestic Iron Boots 4.85
Civilian Cape Light Cotton Hood 2.48 Woven Shoulder Pad 3.51
Civilian Cape Medium Woven Shoulder Pad 3.35 Northern Majestic Shoulder 10.17
Civilian Cape Heavy Leopard Pelt 4.48 Northmen Raider Heavy Fur Cape 15.34
Stealth Head Medium Thinhide Coif 5 Thick Fur Hood 10
Stealth Head Heavy Tight Head Scarf 15 Raider Fur Helmet 15

A row where both scores are equal is a tie broken by the ranking key (stat sum, weight, id), not an upgrade. Scores are not comparable across scopes: the naval items change the weight cuts and the medians of the reference loadout, so a naval score can be lower than the base one.

Old picks

Earlier compendium picks re-ranked (naval items, all cultures, the pick's own weight third). Position 1 is the best; tied scores share a position. Damage saved: percent of an average hit of 80 the item removes, worn with median items of its third in the other slots. Stealth: the item's stealth factor.

Mode Slot Item Third Position Items in third Score Best in third Best score
Battle Cape Long Sleeved Bronze Scale Shoulder Guards Light 1 39 16.26 Scale Shoulderguards 16.26
Civilian Cape Leopard Pelt Heavy 7 7 4.47 Northmen Raider Heavy Fur Cape 15.34
Stealth Head Tight Head Scarf Heavy 1 5 15 Raider Fur Helmet 15
Stealth Legs Wrapped Shoes Light 1 6 15 Wrapped Shoes 15
Battle Body Bronze Breastplate Heavy 34 87 28.93 Heavy Scale Armor over Mail Hauberk 38.52
Civilian Hands Fian Bracers Medium 1 5 4.35 Fian Bracers 4.35
Battle Head Warlord Helmet Heavy 4 80 10.29 Closed Huscarl Helmet 10.53
Battle Body Thick Brigandine Vest Medium 3 89 26.58 Heavy Lamellar Vest 29.21
Battle Body Heavy Scale Armor over Mail Hauberk Heavy 1 87 38.52 Heavy Scale Armor over Mail Hauberk 38.52
Stealth Hands Plated Leather Vambraces Heavy 1 3 10 Plated Leather Vambraces 10
Battle Legs Reinforced Suede Boots Medium 1 11 4.61 Reinforced Suede Boots 4.61
Stealth Cape Leather Shoulder Guard Medium 1 5 10 Leather Shoulder Guard 10
Stealth Hands Padded Vambraces Light 1 3 10 Padded Vambraces 10
Stealth Body Leather Armor over Heavy Cloth Light 1 6 20 Leather Armor over Heavy Cloth 20
Stealth Body Sloven Leather Medium 1 5 20 Sloven Leather 20
Stealth Legs Tied Leather Boots Heavy 1 2 15 Tied Leather Boots 15
Stealth Legs Tied Boots Heavy 1 2 15 Tied Leather Boots 15
Battle Body Heavy Mail Hauberk Heavy 43 87 27.93 Heavy Scale Armor over Mail Hauberk 38.52
Battle Cape Scale Shoulderguards Light 1 39 16.26 Scale Shoulderguards 16.26
Battle Hands Splint Vambraces Medium 3 14 4.24 Bronze Bracers 4.57
Battle Head Closed Knight Helmet Medium 9 97 9.29 Heavy Nasalhelm over Padding 9.68
Battle Head Knight Helmet with Bronze Faceguard Medium 12 97 9.16 Heavy Nasalhelm over Padding 9.68
Civilian Head Open Padded Coif Heavy 3 11 3.96 Luxury Turban Over Helmet 8.89

Position counts only items with a higher score, so a pick at position 1 can share its score with a different "best in third" item, which won the ranking tie-break.

Caveats

Game code

IL for the item flags on this page, decoded from game v1.4.8 with the steps in How the findings were reversed:

IL for loot, body-part armor, encumbrance and stealth: Armor and damage, Game code.

Reproducing

uv run python -m scripts.equipment.sync_xml   # copies ModuleData XML into xml/v<version>/; no-op if present (--force recopies)
uv run python -m scripts.equipment.export     # -> data/equipment/v1.4.8/{items,best}_{base,naval}.csv

export options: --version, --xml-root, --out-dir, --top-n (5), --magnitude (80), --hit-shares (0.15,0.55,0.15,0.15 = head, torso, arms, legs). It reads only xml/v<version>/. Code: src/bannerlord/equipment/. CSVs are gitignored.

File Content
items_<scope>.csv every obtainable item, all fields, source, third, scores; battle mode, culture all, the item's own third
best_<scope>.csv top N per mode, culture, slot, third, ranked_by; columns rank, item fields, all scores 
xml/v<ver>/<module>/ModuleData  --ItemLoader-->  [Item]
  --AvailabilityResolver(scope)-->  obtainable [Item] + source
  x mode filter x culture filter x slot  -->  list
  list --weight thirds--> light | medium | heavy
  third x Scorer --> score columns --> rank per scorer --> top N

The tables and charts on this page and on Armor and damage are built from a committed snapshot of the obtainable items:

uv run python -m scripts.equipment.export --docs-json src/bannerlord/equipment/data/v1.4.8/obtainable.json   # obtainable-items snapshot (both scopes)
uv run python -m scripts.docs.examples.equipment                                                            # regenerate web/src/data and docs/snippets

Changelog