Throwing guide

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

This guide explains what the Throwing skill and every Throwing perk really do: how your javelins, throwing axes, throwing knives and slings fly faster, hit harder and come in bigger stacks, what the captain, party-leader and governor halves give your troops and towns, and which perks behave differently from their tooltips. Game version v1.5.7. The battle rules (damage, armor, ammo, accuracy, draw speed, morale) live in the SandBox module. NavalDLC extends the agent damage, agent stats, battle morale, hit experience, troop training, wage and recruitment cost, militia, security and armor and strike magnitude models, and extends and replaces parts of the battle reward models. It recomputes armor penetration (Weak Spot still counts once), and in a naval battle on a ship with upgrades it resets the first throwing-weapon slot after deployment, so the extra ammunition perks are lost in that slot. StoryMode extends the hit experience and wage and recruitment cost models, and extends and replaces parts of the battle reward models in the story campaign.

For exact formulas, edge cases and links to the game code, see the deep dives: Combat damage (damage perks, shield hits, armor penetration, missile speed, dismounting, shield-piercing javelins), Combat agent stats (effective skill, draw speed, travel speed, accuracy, zoom, ammo, pick-up distance), Battles (starting morale, combat XP, renown and victory morale), Party and map (recruitment cost, daily troop XP) and Settlements (security, militia).

Each perk has two halves. The primary half usually helps you personally; the secondary half helps others when you hold a role: captain (troops in the formation you lead in battle, not counting yourself), party leader (your whole party) or governor (the settlement you govern, only while you are in it). The verdict after each half says how the code compares with the tooltip:

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

No Throwing perk is unused or ui_only.

What unlocks what

You pick one perk of each pair. Tier 11 has a single perk.

The second half of each perk is described in its section below.

Land and sea

Each half's tooltip has a line under its description. The lines below are the only difference at sea, except Knock Off (primary), whose dismount ability ignores its line; the perk sections do not repeat them.

"Throwing weapon" means a weapon whose skill is Throwing: javelins, throwing axes, throwing knives and slings with their stones.

How the damage perks add up

Most Throwing damage perks add a percentage to the damage of a hit. They all go into one sum:

Damage after perks = damage of the hit × (1 + all SandBox percentages added together) × (1 + all NavalDLC percentages added together)

• Damage of the hit: the damage after armor, before any perk.
• SandBox percentages: every damage perk of this guide, plus perks of other skills that apply to the same hit (for example Strong Arms from Athletics) and your formation banner. They add, they do not multiply each other.
• NavalDLC percentages: Mariner perks and other naval terms, applied on top.

So Head Hunter +50% and Unstoppable Force on the same headshot add together; neither multiplies the other.

Throwing 25: Quick Draw or Shield Breaker

Quick Draw

• Primary (works): +20% draw speed with a throwing weapon, that is, how fast you ready the next javelin, axe, knife or stone. Slings count too.
• Secondary, captain (works): +10% draw speed to troops in your formation wielding a throwing weapon.

Draw speed = 0.93 × (1 + mounted penalty) × (1 + all draw-speed perk percentages added together)

• 0.93: the starting draw speed of every agent.
• Mounted penalty: the Riding penalty while mounted (it never becomes a bonus); 0 on foot.
• Perk percentages: Quick Draw (yours or your captain's).

Worked example. A hero on foot with Quick Draw:

A hero on foot wielding throwing weapons, with Quick Draw and no captain draw-speed perk.

With these inputs, agent weapon reload speed multiplier is 1.1160.

See Reload speed.

Shield Breaker

• Primary (works): +40% damage to shields with a throwing weapon. It counts when a shield blocks your throw (it raises the damage the shield takes) and when you hit a shield carried on someone's back.
• Secondary, captain (works): +8% to the same hits by troops in your formation.

Shield Breaker and Splinters (Throwing 200) add together on the same hit. See Shield-block branch.

Throwing 50: Flexible Fighter or Hunter

Flexible Fighter

• Primary (works): +10% damage when you fight in melee with a throwing weapon (a javelin or throwing axe held in hand).
• Secondary, captain (works): +15 skill to troops in your formation. Infantry get +15 Bow, Crossbow and Throwing; ranged troops get +15 One Handed, Two Handed and Polearm. This is broader than the tooltip: there is no on-foot test, and "archers" means every ranged troop, not only archers. It is real effective skill, so it raises the damage, speed and accuracy those troops get from the skill. See Effective skill.

Hunter

• Primary (works): +40% damage to horses and other mounts with a throwing weapon. Hits on the rider do not count.
• Secondary, captain (works): +8% damage to mounts by troops in your formation throwing a throwing weapon.

Throwing 75: Mounted Skirmisher or Well Prepared

Mounted Skirmisher

• Primary (works): while mounted with a throwing weapon, −20% to the two accuracy penalties of throwing on the move: the penalty for moving and the penalty for an unsteady aim. See Movement, unsteady and rotational accuracy penalties.
• Secondary, captain (works): +10% damage with throwing weapons by mounted troops in your formation.

Well Prepared

• Primary (differs): +1 ammunition in every throwing-weapon slot when the battle starts. In a naval battle on a ship with upgrades, the first throwing slot is reset from the ship's stock after deployment, and the bonus is lost in that slot; the tooltip does not say so.
• Secondary, party leader (works): +1 ammunition in every throwing-weapon slot to every member of your party, the leader included. Its "Land only" line already keeps it out of naval battles, so the slot reset does not matter for it.

All the ammunition perks (Well Prepared, Saddlebags, Resourceful) add together, per slot. See Ammo per slot.

Throwing 100: Knock Off or Running Throw

Knock Off

• Primary (differs): your thrown weapons can dismount riders, and they ignore 25% of the rider's dismount resistance; the tooltip prints this as "+0.3%". The perk is what lets thrown weapons dismount. The tooltip says "Land only", but the dismount check reads the perk without the sea check, so in a naval battle the dismount ability is not switched off (the 25% is). Ship crews never ride; the Blocked Estuary story battle spawns a horse for you. See Can dismount and Dismount penetration.
• Secondary, captain (works): +5% throwing-weapon damage by troops in your formation against cavalry: the hit counts when the victim rides a mount or is a mount with a rider. The throwing troop does not need to be mounted itself, which is broader than the tooltip.

Running Throw

• Primary (differs): the tooltip shows "+0.3% damage bonus from speed", but the game does something else. When the missile's speed relative to the target is above its starting speed, the game adds 25% of the excess. Damage grows with the square of the missile's speed compared with its starting speed. Only heroes get it, and only with sling stones, stones, throwing axes, throwing knives and javelins. See Missile magnitude.
• Secondary, captain (works): +30 Throwing skill to every troop in your formation. There is no troop or weapon test: everyone in the formation fights with 30 more Throwing whenever the game reads that skill.

Worked example. A troop with Throwing 100, in a formation whose captain (someone else) has Running Throw:

A troop with Throwing 100 in a formation whose captain (another character) has Running Throw. Inputs: skill value 100.

With these inputs, agent effective skill in battle is 130.0000.

The troop now fights as if it had Throwing 130; see the damage example under Skill effects.

Throwing 125: Saddlebags or Skirmisher

Saddlebags

• Primary (works): +2 ammunition in every throwing-weapon slot if you are mounted when your equipment is set up at the start of the battle.
• Secondary, party leader (works): +1 daily XP to every infantry troop in your party. Tooltip: "Land only", so it gives nothing while your party is at sea. See Daily troop experience.

Skirmisher

• Primary (works): −10% damage taken from arrows, bolts and thrown weapons while you hold a throwing weapon in your main hand. It also protects your horse while you ride it.
• Secondary, captain (works): −3% damage taken from arrows, bolts and thrown weapons for every troop in your formation, whatever weapon they hold.

See Reductions.

Throwing 150: Focus or Last Hit

Focus

• Primary (works): +25% maximum camera zoom while your main weapon is a throwing weapon. See Camera zoom.
• Secondary, governor (works): +1 daily security in the town or castle you govern, while you are in it. See Daily security change.

Last Hit

• Primary (differs): +50% damage against enemies at half of their hit points or less, but only with thrown weapons; the tooltip does not name a weapon. The game checks the victim's health before your hit lands, and exactly half counts.
• Secondary, party leader (works): +5 starting battle morale for the troops of your party. The party leader's own agent does not get it. See Initial battle morale.

Throwing 175: Head Hunter or Slinging Competitions

Head Hunter

• Primary (works): +50% damage on headshots with a throwing weapon.
• Secondary, party leader (works): −20% recruitment cost of troops of tier 2 and above. The game checks the hero who pays for the recruits. See Troop recruitment cost.

Slinging Competitions

• Primary (works): when a sling stone you throw hits an enemy in the head, the game treats the head as having no armor at all. With NavalDLC active this still holds. See Adjusted armor.
• Secondary, governor (works): +1 daily militia in the town or castle you govern, while you are in it. See Daily militia change.

Throwing 200: Resourceful or Splinters

Resourceful

• Primary (differs): +2 ammunition in every throwing-weapon slot when the battle starts, with the same naval exception as Well Prepared.
• Secondary, party leader (works): +10% combat XP for the troops of your party that carry a throwing weapon. The game gives it on every hit they land, which is how it counts battle experience, and the tooltip says "Reduced effect at sea". See XP per hit.

Splinters

• Primary (differs): the tooltip says "triple damage against shields with throwing axes", but the game adds +300% to the damage sum. On its own that is 4 times the damage, not 3, and more with other shield perks such as Shield Breaker. Only throwing axes get it, and only on shield hits.
• Secondary, captain (works): +50% damage to shields by troops in your formation, with any throwing weapon.

Throwing 225: Long Reach or Perfect Technique

Long Reach

• Primary (works): while mounted, your reach for picking up items from the ground rises to 3 instead of the normal 1.5, so you can pick up dropped javelins and weapons from the saddle. See Agent flags and interaction distance.
• Secondary, party leader (works): +20% renown and +20% party morale after a battle your party wins. See Renown and Victory morale.

Perfect Technique

• Primary (works): +25% travel speed for the throwing weapons you throw.
• Secondary, captain (works): +10% travel speed for the throwing weapons of troops in your formation.

Travel speed multiplier = 1 + all travel-speed percentages added together

• Percentages: Perfect Technique (yours, or your captain's), Unstoppable Force (+0.2% per point of your own Throwing above 200).

Wet weather slows arrows and bolts but not throwing weapons.

Worked example. A hero with Throwing 275 who has both Perfect Technique and Unstoppable Force:

A hero throwing a javelin with raw Throwing skill 275, with Perfect Technique and Unstoppable Force, and no captain travel-speed perk. Inputs: skill 275.

With these inputs, missile speed multiplier is 1.4000.

See Reload movement penalty and missile speed.

Throwing 250: Impale or Weak Spot

Impale

• Primary (works): javelins you throw can go through shields. Only javelins get it, not axes, knives or stones. With NavalDLC active this still applies. See Missile weapon flags.
• Secondary, captain (works): +10% damage with throwing weapons by troops in your formation.

Weak Spot

• Primary (works): your throwing weapons ignore 30% of the armor on the body part they hit. It adds to the other armor-penetration perks (Vandal from Two Handed, for example) that apply to the same hit. With NavalDLC active the game recomputes this armor step, and Weak Spot is still counted once.
• Secondary, captain (works): troops in your formation ignore 10% of the armor with their throwing weapons.

See Adjusted armor.

Throwing 275: Unstoppable Force

• Primary (works): for every point of Throwing above 200, +0.2% travel speed for your throwing weapons. See the worked example under Perfect Technique: at Throwing 275 it gives +15%.
• Secondary (works): for every point of Throwing above 200, +0.5% damage with throwing weapons. Despite being the second half, it is yours, not a role bonus.

Both halves count your own Throwing skill, not the effective skill a captain's Running Throw gives you. The count starts at 200 even though the perk needs 275, so it already gives a bonus the moment you unlock it.

Skill effects

Your Throwing skill itself does three things, whether or not you have perks. All use your effective Throwing in battle (your skill plus captain bonuses such as Running Throw) and only apply while you wield a throwing weapon.

• Thrown weapon damage (works): +0.06% damage per point. It multiplies the force of your hit before armor, for throws and for melee hits with a throwing weapon.
• Thrown weapon speed (works): +0.07% ready speed per point.
• Thrown weapon accuracy (differs): −0.06% inaccuracy per point for javelins, axes and knives. Slings ignore this effect and use their own rule instead: their inaccuracy falls by 0.7% per point of Throwing, down to at least 20% of the base. See Inaccuracy.

Weapon damage multiplier = 1 + 0.0006 × effective Throwing

• Effective Throwing: your skill plus captain bonuses, as in the Running Throw example.

Worked example. The Throwing 100 troop under a Running Throw captain fights at effective skill 130:

The same troop throwing a javelin with effective Throwing 130. Inputs: skill 130.

With these inputs, agent weapon damage multiplier is 1.0780.

The skill level also sets how much moving and holding your aim cost you: the movement and unsteady-aim penalties shrink as your Throwing rises, and the moment your aim starts to waver comes later.

What the skill level itself does

The game also reads your Throwing 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 Throwing perk half and skill effect works for every hero: you, relatives and wanderers.

All effects at a glance

Every effect site of the Throwing 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

• Damage: Head Hunter, Last Hit, Unstoppable Force and Impale's captain half (only when someone else leads the formation) add into one damage sum. Weak Spot removes armor before that sum.
• Shields: Shield Breaker (+40%) and Splinters (+300% with throwing axes) add together on shield hits. Impale lets javelins go through shields.
• Mounted: Mounted Skirmisher cuts the mounted accuracy penalties, Saddlebags gives +2 ammo per slot if you start the battle mounted, and Long Reach lets you pick items up from the saddle.
• Running Throw: the primary half adds 25% of the excess when the missile's speed relative to the target is above its starting speed. As a captain it gives +30 Throwing to your whole formation.
• Ammo: Well Prepared, Saddlebags and Resourceful stack per slot, and Well Prepared's party half gives your troops and yourself +1. At sea on a ship with upgrades, the first throwing slot loses the Well Prepared and Resourceful personal bonuses.
• Captain: Flexible Fighter gives your infantry +15 Throwing, Bow and Crossbow, and your ranged troops +15 One Handed, Two Handed and Polearm.
• Slings: Slinging Competitions makes sling-stone headshots ignore head armor; the Thrown weapon accuracy effect does not apply to slings, which use their own accuracy rule.
• Governor: Focus gives +1 daily security, Slinging Competitions +1 daily militia.