Scouting guide

Bannerlord v1.5.7 · checked 2026-11-12 · updated 2026-11-13

This guide explains what every Scouting perk and skill effect really does: how fast your party moves, how far it sees, how tracks work, and the odd perks that touch trade, taxes, prisoners and simulated battles. It is for game version v1.5.7; where a tooltip says one thing and the game does another, you get the game's version. NavalDLC extends the battle morale, carry capacity, map visibility, food consumption, healing, party impairment and troop training models, and extends and replaces parts of the clan finance, combat simulation, party size limit and party speed models. Many Scouting halves show "Land only" or "Reduced effect at sea" in their tooltips, and the sea has its own speed and sight rules. SandBox holds the battle morale code that Patrols uses. StoryMode extends the party size limit models in the story campaign. The exact formulas, edge cases and links to the game code are in the deep dives: Party and map (speed, sight, tracks, food, carry capacity, healing, troop XP), Battles (battle morale and simulated battles), Characters and politics (notable relations and prisoner escapes), Crafting and trade (trade penalty), Settlements (taxes and village income) and Naval campaign (the at-sea rules).

Who counts as "the scout". Most Scouting perks are read from your party's scout: the clan member you assigned to the Scout role in that party, or the party leader when nobody holds the role. Some halves are read from the party leader instead, and the town perks from the settlement's governor. Each perk below says which.

What the verdicts mean. works: does what the tooltip says, or more (broader effects are noted). differs: narrower, different, or with extra conditions or values compared with the tooltip. unused: never read by the game. ui_only: only shown in the interface.

What unlocks what

Every 25 points of Scouting opens a new pair. You pick one perk of each pair; the other is locked for that hero.

How speed and sight bonuses add up

Party speed and sight range follow the same pattern: the game takes a starting value, adds flat bonuses to it, then adds up all percentage bonuses and penalties and applies the total once. Percentages do not multiply each other: a +5% perk next to the −25% night penalty is simply added to it.

Speed = (base from party size + flat adds) × (1 + sum of all percentage bonuses and penalties), at least 1

• Base from party size: bigger parties start slower. A party of 100 men starts at 3.9113.
• Flat adds: the overburdened penalty is the main one; it is subtracted from the base before the percentages.
• Percentage bonuses and penalties: terrain, night, morale, cavalry share, cargo, every perk in this guide, and more. The deep dive lists all of them.

Sight range = (12 by day or 6 at night + Scouting skill bonus + flat adds) × (1 + sum of percentage bonuses), at most 60

• Scouting skill bonus: the scout's Scouting skill × 0.06, added as a flat number (see Skill effects).
• Percentage bonuses: Day Traveler, Night Runner, Water Diviner, Mounted Scouts and a few non-Scouting sources.
• At most 60: nothing pushes sight past 60.

Tier 1 (Scouting 25): Day Traveler or Night Runner

Day Traveler

• Primary, +2% travel speed by day (scout; works). Adds +2% to party speed whenever it is not night. Land only, as the tooltip shows.
• Secondary, +10% sight range by day (scout; works). Adds +10% to sight range by day. Also land only, and like all scout sight bonuses it needs a hero acting as the party's scout (the assigned scout or the leader). The 60 cap still applies.

Night Runner

• Primary, +5% travel speed at night (scout; works). Every land party already takes −25% speed at night; Night Runner adds +5% to that sum, softening the night penalty. Land only, as the tooltip shows.
• Secondary, +30% sight range at night (scout; works). Adds +30% to night sight. Land only, needs a hero acting as scout, capped at 60.

Worked example. At night the starting sight range is 6. Your scout has Scouting 150, which adds 150 × 0.06 = 9 as a flat number, so the range is 15 before percentages. Night Runner then adds 30% of that:

A party at night on land, its scout at Scouting 150 with Night Runner. Inputs: seeing range base 6.

With these inputs, party spotting (seeing) range is 19.5000.

The party sees 19.5000 at night. Without Night Runner it would stay at 15.0000. Day Traveler's +10% by day is smaller, but it applies to a bigger number: the day base is 12.

Which one? Night Runner's numbers are larger. It applies if you march at night or hunt bandits in the dark; Day Traveler is an always-on daytime bonus.

Tier 2 (Scouting 50): Pathfinder or Water Diviner

Pathfinder

• Primary, +2% travel speed on steppes and plains (scout; works). Exactly as written: +2% while the party stands on plain or steppe terrain.
• Secondary, relation with town notables (party leader; differs). The tooltip reads as a 50% daily chance. The game never reads that 50% from the perk. Instead, each time your own party enters a town, it rolls a fixed 50% chance; on a hit, your clan leader gains +1 relation with a random notable. After a hit the perk waits at least one day before it can trigger again. So it is a chance per town visit with a one-day cooldown, not a daily roll, and only for the player's party. Land only, as the tooltip shows.

Water Diviner

• Primary, +10% sight range on steppes and plains (scout; works). +10% sight while on plain or steppe. Land only, as the tooltip shows; needs a hero acting as scout, capped at 60.
• Secondary, relation with village notables (party leader; differs). Same mechanism as Pathfinder, but for villages: a fixed 50% roll each time your party enters a village, one-day cooldown, +1 relation between your clan leader and a random notable. Land only, as the tooltip shows.

Which one? Both relation halves are equal. Pick Pathfinder for speed in open country and if you visit towns more than villages; Water Diviner if you want to see further on the same terrain.

Tier 3 (Scouting 75): Desert Born or Forest Kin

Desert Born

• Primary, +5% travel speed in deserts and dunes (scout; works). Land parties take −10% in deserts and dunes (Aserai culture skips that penalty). Desert Born adds +5% on top.
• Secondary, +2.5% tax income (governor; works). +2.5% daily tax from the town or castle this hero governs. The governor has to actually be in that settlement.

Forest Kin

• Primary, halves the forest slowdown for foot parties (scout; differs). Forests slow every land party by −20%. With Forest Kin, and when at least 75% of the party's troops are not mounted, the penalty becomes −10%. The tooltip says "infantry", but the game counts every troop without a horse, foot archers and crossbowmen included, and it counts wounded troops too. Exactly 75% is enough.
• Secondary, +10% village income (governor; works). Each village bound to the governed town or castle pays +10% more (rounded). The governor does not need to be present.

Worked example. A party of 100 men, none of them mounted, crossing a forest at night with a Night Runner scout who also has Forest Kin. The base speed from party size is 3.9113.

A land party of 100 men, all on foot, marching through a forest at night, its scout with Forest Kin and Night Runner. Inputs: total men 100.

With these inputs, party map speed is 2.7379.

Forest Kin cancels half the −20% forest penalty, shown as +10%. The party moves at 2.7379. The same party without Forest Kin:

The same 100-man foot party in a forest at night, its scout with Night Runner only. Inputs: total men 100.

With these inputs, party map speed is 2.3468.

Without Forest Kin it crawls at 2.3468.

Which one? Forest Kin gives its bonus if you run an infantry or archer army through forests. Desert Born applies in the Aserai deserts. Forest Kin's governor half needs no presence, so it applies to a governor who travels.

Tier 4 (Scouting 100): Forced March or Unburdened

Forced March

• Primary, +2.5% speed when morale is above 75 (scout; works). Works as described; land only, as the tooltip shows. It stacks with the normal high-morale speed bonus that every party gets above 70 morale.
• Secondary, +2 XP per day to all troops (party leader; works). While the party is moving and its morale is above 75, each troop gains +2 experience a day. This half still works at sea.

Unburdened

• Primary, −20% overburden penalty (scout; works). When the party carries more than its capacity, it loses speed based on how far over it is. Unburdened shrinks that loss by 20%. Land only, as the tooltip shows: at sea the DLC uses its own overburden rule, and Unburdened is not part of it.
• Secondary, +2 XP per day when overburdened (party leader; works). While moving and carrying more than capacity, each troop gains +2 experience a day. Land only, as the tooltip shows.

Which one? Forced March gives speed and training while your morale stays above 75. Unburdened is for parties that are always loaded with loot or trade goods.

Tier 5 (Scouting 125): Ranger or Tracker

Tracks are the footprints parties leave on the map. How far away you can notice them comes mostly from your Scouting skill (see Skill effects).

Ranger

• Primary, +20% track spotting distance (scout; differs). Raises how far your party notices tracks by 20%. Only the player's party has a track distance at all, which the tooltip does not say; the bonus is land only, as the tooltip shows.
• Secondary, "+10% track detection chance" (scout; differs). The game does not add 10% to a chance. Every track has a difficulty that grows with its age, its distance from you, how small the party was, and night. Ranger lowers that difficulty by 10%, which makes faint tracks easier to notice. Player's party only; land only, as the tooltip shows.

Worked example. Your scout has Scouting 200. Track distance starts at 0 and the skill adds 200 × 0.1 = 20; Ranger adds 20% of that:

The main party's scout at Scouting 200 with Ranger, on land.

With these inputs, main party maximum track spotting distance is 24.0000.

You notice tracks out to 24.0000 instead of 20.0000.

Tracker

• Primary, +20% track lifetime (scout; differs). Tracks normally last up to 28 hours, depending on the size of the party that left them. With Tracker on your party, every party's tracks stay 20% longer, but never past the 28-hour maximum. Land only, as the tooltip shows: nothing while your own party is at sea.
• Secondary, +2% speed while chasing a hostile party (scout; differs). The party must be set to engage a target whose faction is at war with yours, and the target must not be at sea. It does not help when following a neutral party or escorting a friend.

Which one? Ranger if you use tracks to hunt bandits or lords; Tracker's lifetime bonus is capped, so its main value is the chase speed.

Tier 6 (Scouting 150): Mounted Scouts or Patrols

Mounted Scouts

• Primary, +10% sight range with a mostly cavalry party (scout; differs). The game counts only troops whose class is cavalry; horse archers do not count. Wounded troops do count. The tooltip says "more than 50%", but exactly half is enough. Land only, as the tooltip shows; needs a hero acting as scout, capped at 60.
• Secondary, +5 party size (party leader; works). Five more troops in your party, always.

Patrols

• Primary, +5 battle morale against bandits (scout; differs). Your troops start a battle with +5 morale when the enemy side includes a bandit party. Two catches the tooltip skips: the party must be led by a hero, and the party leader's own character gets no bonus, only the troops. "Reduced effect at sea", as the tooltip shows.
• Secondary, +10% auto-resolve advantage against bandits (party leader; differs). Your side's advantage in simulated battles rises 10% when the opposing party is of bandit culture. Needs a hero leader. Land only, as the tooltip shows.

Which one? Mounted Scouts' +5 party size works for everyone and never turns off; take it unless you spend your game clearing bandits.

Tier 7 (Scouting 175): Beast Whisperer or Foragers

Beast Whisperer

• Primary, 5% chance to find a mount (scout; works). Each day on plain or steppe, the party has a 5% chance to find one random mount, added to its inventory. Land only, as the tooltip shows.
• Secondary, +10% pack animal capacity (party leader; works). Pack animals carry 10% more. Land only, as the tooltip shows: at sea the game does not count pack animal capacity.

Foragers

• Primary, −10% food consumption in forests and steppes (scout; works). Daily food use drops 10% while on forest or steppe terrain. The tooltip says forests and steppes and the game checks exactly those.
• Secondary, −15% disorganized duration (party leader; works). A disorganized party normally stays that way for 6 hours. Foragers shortens it by 15%, halved at sea ("Reduced effect at sea" in the tooltip).

Which one? Beast Whisperer finds mounts on the plains, and spare mounts can help foot troops move faster. Foragers saves food and speeds recovery from disorganization.

Tier 8 (Scouting 200): Rumor Network or Village Network

Rumor Network

• Primary, −5% trade penalty in your own towns (party leader; works). The merchant's cut shrinks 5% in towns of your faction. If you are not in a kingdom, "your faction" is your clan, so only your own towns qualify. More on the trade penalty in Crafting and trade.
• Secondary, +30% hideout detection range (scout; works). Your party spots hideouts from 1.2 × its sight range; Rumor Network multiplies that by 1.3. Player's party only.

Village Network

• Primary, −10% trade penalty in villages (party leader; differs). The tooltip says villages of your culture. The game checks villages of your faction instead and ignores culture completely.
• Secondary, +10% villager party size (governor; differs). Applies only when a villager party is first created from a village bound to the governed settlement: each group of troops in it is 10% bigger, rounded. It does not raise a size limit afterwards. The governor does not need to be present.

Which one? Rumor Network for players who hunt hideouts or trade in their own kingdom's towns; Village Network for village trade inside your faction.

Tier 9 (Scouting 225): Keen Sight or Vantage Point

Keen Sight

• Primary, "−50% sight penalty for traveling in forests" (scout; differs). This is not about your party's sight in forests. Parties standing in a forest are harder to spot: they count as 30% less visible. Keen Sight halves that, so a party hiding in a forest is only 15% less visible to you. It only helps the player's party. Land only, as the tooltip shows.
• Secondary, −50% lord prisoner escape (party leader; works). Lords held prisoner by your party have half the daily chance to escape. Land only, as the tooltip shows. Stacked with other escape perks it can bring the chance to zero; see Hero prisoner daily escape.

Vantage Point

• Primary, +25% sight when stationary for an hour (scout; works). When the party has stood still for at least an hour, its sight range grows 25%. It needs a hero acting as scout, is land only, as the tooltip shows, and the 60 cap still applies.
• Secondary, +10 prisoner limit (party leader; works). You can hold 10 more prisoners, always.

Which one? Vantage Point gives +25% sight while camping plus +10 prisoners. Keen Sight is for hunting parties in forests and keeping captured lords.

Tier 10 (Scouting 250): Rearguard or Vanguard

The damage halves change simulated battles (auto-resolve and the parts of a fight you do not play). They only apply when both parties involved move on the map. Rearguard's healing half shows "Reduced effect at sea" in the tooltip; the three damage halves are land only, as the tooltips show.

Rearguard

• Primary, +20% wounded recovery in an army (party leader; works). While the party is in an army, wounded regular troops heal 20% faster, halved at sea ("Reduced effect at sea" in the tooltip). A starving party gets no healing bonus at all.
• Secondary, +10% damage defending a siege camp (party leader; works). Your troops deal 10% more simulated damage when they are the defending side in a battle outside a besieged settlement or against a sally-out. Land only, as the tooltip shows.

Vanguard

• Primary, +5% damage when attacking (party leader; works). Your troops deal 5% more simulated damage whenever your party is on the attacking side, in any kind of battle. Land only, as the tooltip shows.
• Secondary, +10% damage in sally-outs (party leader; works). When your side sallies out of a besieged settlement, your troops deal 10% more. Stacks with the primary half, so a sally-out gets both.

Which one? Vanguard if you attack more than you defend. Rearguard suits a lord who spends a lot of time in someone else's army.

Tier 11 (Scouting 275): Uncanny Insight

• +0.1% speed for every Scouting point above 200 (scout; works). Counts the scout's Scouting skill above 200 with no upper limit, so it keeps growing with skill. Land only, as the tooltip shows.

Uncanny Insight = 0.1% × (scout's Scouting − 200)

• Scout's Scouting: the skill of your party's scout, not your own unless you are the scout.

Skill effects

These come from the Scouting skill itself, no perk needed. They use the scout's skill (or the party leader's when there is no scout).

• Spotting distance, "+0.06% per point" (differs). The tooltip shows a percentage, but the game adds 0.06 × skill as a flat number to the sight base of 12 by day and 6 at night. At Scouting 150 that is +9 (see the Night Runner example). It applies to every party and keeps working at sea. Capped at 60 like all sight.
• Track detection radius, "+0.1% per point" (differs). Again shown as a percentage, but it is the whole track distance: 0.1 × skill, starting from 0. With no Scouting you see no tracks at all; at 200 you see them out to 20. Ranger then adds 20% (see the Ranger example). This one works at sea too. Player's party only.
• Track information level, 0.04 per point (ui_only). 0.04 × skill, rounded down, is how many lines the track tooltip shows, in this order: party size, time, speed, whether mounted, party type, prisoners, pack animals, enemy or not, culture, and finally the party's name, which replaces the party type at level 10. It only changes the text you see.

What the skill level itself does

The game also reads your Scouting level directly, without any perk. Effects that depend on any skill level are listed once in the skills guide.

Who the perks work for

Who counts as you, a relative or a wanderer, and why some halves skip one of them, is explained in the Skills guide.

Every other Scouting perk half and skill effect works for every hero: you, relatives and wanderers.

All Scouting effects

Every effect site of the Scouting perks, skill effects and skill level. Values are what each site applies; a value that grows with skill is shown at the perk's required skill (skill effects and skill levels: per skill point). ×N marks N identical sites.

Practical tips

• Put your highest-Scouting companion in the Scout role. Nearly every speed and sight perk is read from the hero in the Scout role, and so are the skill effects. A companion with high Scouting in that role helps the whole party even if your own Scouting is low.
• Party leader perks stay with the leader. Pathfinder and Water Diviner relations, Forced March and Unburdened XP, Mounted Scouts' party size, Vantage Point's prisoners, Patrols' auto-resolve, Rearguard, Vanguard and the other party-leader halves all need the perk on the party leader. Pick those on your own character.
• Sight comes from skill first. The flat +0.06 per point is added before the percentages, so every sight perk multiplies it. Nothing goes past 60.
• Forest Kin counts foot armies. Horse archers and crossbowmen without horses all count as "infantry" for it; just keep fewer than a quarter of the party mounted.
• Mounted Scouts ignores horse archers. A Khuzait army of mostly horse archers will not get the +10% sight.
• At sea, Scouting mostly sleeps. Most speed, sight, track and simulated-damage halves are "Land only" and give nothing on water, some show "Reduced effect at sea", and the skill's sight bonus and track radius and a few leader halves (for example Mounted Scouts' party size and Forced March's troop XP) keep working. See Naval campaign for what applies at sea.