There is a particular stage of Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord where you have grand plans for a kingdom and barely enough money to feed twelve people. Suddenly, a merchant’s bandit problem starts looking like a career opportunity.
Quests can fund those early ambitions, but the biggest payment does not always mean the best deal. Travel, casualties, purchased supplies and daily wages all eat into your earnings. A modest job on your existing route can be more profitable than an impressive contract halfway across Calradia.
Caravan Ambush is my strongest all-round recommendation for a capable early-game party. Army of Poachers and Extortion by Deserters are useful alternatives, while delivery and supply quests suit players who would prefer their income without quite so many arrows.
This guide focuses on recurring quests in the base game. Reward amounts, requirements and availability can change between versions, so check the offer in your own campaign before committing. TaleWorlds has revised quest rewards, durations and alternative solutions across multiple updates.
Best Bannerlord Quests at a Glance
These recommendations weigh the payment against travel, risk and the useful things you can achieve along the way.
| Quest | Best reason to accept | Main drawback | Best suited to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caravan Ambush | Combines a contract payment with a focused combat opportunity | You must protect the caravan and handle the attackers | A small, dependable fighting party |
| Army of Poachers | Usually a contained job with a nearby objective | Timing and enemy ranged attacks | Early-game parties with shields |
| Extortion by Deserters | A direct defensive fight without a lengthy escort | Deserters can outclass recruits | Parties with some experienced troops |
| Nearby Bandit Base | Useful payment alongside clearing a local threat | Hideout fighting can punish poor preparation | Players with strong companions and selected troops |
| Gang Leader Needs Weapons | Efficient when suitable weapons are already cheap or available | Buying expensive stock destroys the margin | Traders and opportunistic looters |
| Deliver the Herd | Earn money while travelling towards a useful destination | Livestock can slow your party | Small parties following safe routes |
| Train Troops | Adds a contract objective to your existing training battles | Borrowed soldiers need to survive | Patient players fighting manageable enemies |
| Landowner Needs Manual Laborers | Gives eligible bandit prisoners an alternative use | Prisoner requirements and competing interests | Parties already capturing bandits |
Caravan Ambush: Best All-Round Quest
Caravan Ambush earns its place because the job brings several useful activities together. You follow a decoy caravan, allow the ambush to develop and intervene against the attackers.
For a party ready to fight organised bandits, that is an attractive package. There is the quest payment, plus the opportunity to gain combat experience, collect loot and take prisoners.
The important distinction is that battle proceeds are separate from the contract reward. Your total return depends on what happens during the encounter and what you can recover afterwards.
Stay close enough to help promptly. Getting distracted by a nearby market while your employer is being dismantled is an awkward approach to customer service.
I would prioritise Caravan Ambush when:
- Your troops can handle more than scattered looters.
- Your party is fast enough to follow comfortably.
- You have room for loot and prisoners.
- You are free to concentrate on the caravan.
It is less appealing when you are already rushing towards a siege or hauling enough goods to move at the speed of regret.
Army of Poachers: Best for a Short, Focused Job
Army of Poachers is appealing because its objective is relatively contained. A merchant directs you towards poachers at a village, with the confrontation tied to the appropriate time of day.
Depending on the available dialogue and your character’s abilities, you may be able to resolve the situation through persuasion. Fighting offers a different return, including the opportunity for loot and experience.
Neither approach is automatically superior. A peaceful solution can be the better financial decision if your party is weak or recovering from casualties.
If you choose combat, respect the bows. Poachers are quite capable of turning exposed recruits into an expensive lesson.
Best approach: accept when the village is nearby, check the deadline immediately and bring troops who can survive ranged fire.
Extortion by Deserters: Best for a Direct Fight
Extortion by Deserters suits players who want a clear objective: help a village deal with soldiers demanding supplies.
The attraction is its limited scope. You are dealing with a local threat rather than following a merchant through several settlements. That makes it easier to fit around recruiting, trading and other nearby work.
The danger is assuming deserters are simply looters with a more interesting backstory. They can bring equipment and experience that your fresh recruits lack.
Check the opposition before committing. A compact force of dependable infantry and ranged troops is often more useful here than a large collection of people who acquired their weapons yesterday.
For a party already capable of winning the encounter cleanly, this is a satisfying way to earn money and improve local relations.
Nearby Bandit Base: Best When Several Objectives Align
Clearing a bandit hideout becomes more attractive when you have a nearby quest paying you to do it.
You remove a local nuisance while creating an opportunity for loot, prisoners and experience. Where compatible quests point towards the same hideout, check whether you can complete more than one objective during the visit.
The catch is the fighting format. Your full army does not simply flood into the hideout, so the quality of the troops accompanying you matters.
Bring reliable companions, shields and soldiers who can cope with close fighting. Your campaign party might look terrifying on the map, but most of it will not be there to rescue you from a badly judged duel.
Best approach: clear hideouts when you have a contract, a prepared assault group and a practical reason to improve relations in the area.
Gang Leader Needs Weapons: Best for Cheap Inventory Turnover
Gang Leader Needs Weapons can be efficient when you already possess suitable items or can buy them cheaply nearby.
The operative word is suitable. Check the requested weapon type and quantity before spending money. A bag full of miscellaneous blades is not necessarily a completed order.
Work out what the weapons would otherwise earn you, too. Looted equipment still has a sale value, even if you did not pay for it.
This quest is worth considering when the offered payment comfortably exceeds the value of the items you hand over. It is much less attractive when you have to visit several towns buying increasingly expensive stock.
Gang work can also involve criminal consequences or conflicting local interests, depending on your choices. Read the dialogue rather than treating every delivery as harmless shopping.
Deliver the Herd: Best When You Are Already Going That Way
Deliver the Herd is a transport job. The quest supplies the livestock for you to deliver, rather than asking you to buy an entire herd yourself.
That makes it particularly useful for a small party travelling towards the destination anyway.
The payment becomes less impressive if the animals slow you down, extend the journey or leave you vulnerable to faster enemies. Check your movement speed after accepting, especially if you already own plenty of spare horses and livestock.
Keep the delivery animals available until the handover. Selling or slaughtering your employer’s property tends to complicate the invoice.
I would take this over a risky combat job during the opening stages of a campaign, provided the route is sensible. There is no shame in financing your future empire through competent animal transport.
Train Troops: Best Alongside Battles You Already Planned
Train Troops gives you borrowed soldiers to develop through the required upgrades.
Its value depends heavily on your existing routine. If you are already hunting manageable bandit parties, the training objective can fit neatly into those battles.
If you have to abandon everything else and chase suitable enemies across the map, the return becomes harder to justify.
Keep the borrowed troops alive, track the required upgrades and read the completion conditions carefully. These soldiers are the objective, so using them as disposable frontline protection is a bold interpretation of the brief.
Best approach: accept when you have time, access to safe training fights and a party capable of protecting inexperienced troops.
Landowner Needs Manual Laborers: Best for Existing Bandit Prisoners
This quest provides another outlet for eligible bandit prisoners.
The useful comparison is between the quest payment and what those prisoners could earn elsewhere. Capturing them is already part of many combat routines, so a suitable nearby contract can add value without requiring a separate expedition.
Check exactly which prisoners the quest accepts. Do not assume ordinary enemy soldiers qualify.
There can also be competing interests within the village. Pay attention to the available choices and their consequences, particularly if you are trying to build relations with specific notables.
Financially, it is strongest when you already have suitable prisoners. Spending days searching for the final few captives can turn an easy-looking payment into a poor use of time.
Is Escort Merchant Caravan Worth Doing?
Escort Merchant Caravan remains useful, but I would usually choose Caravan Ambush when I want a shorter combat assignment.
An escort commits you to protecting the caravan over a journey involving multiple settlements. That can work well if you want repeated fighting opportunities and have no urgent destination.
It becomes awkward when war breaks out, your party needs replacements or the route pulls you away from more valuable work.
Choose it when you can afford the commitment. A long escort is a questionable bargain for an expensive army whose daily wages keep ticking upwards.
Version differences also matter here. TaleWorlds’ v1.5.0 beta notes include fixes affecting caravan quest availability and gold looted from several quest-related raider parties, so older earnings claims may not match every game branch. TaleWorlds Entertainment
How to Get Better Value from Quest Rewards
My preferred approach is to choose a useful region and complete compatible jobs there. Constantly crossing Calradia for unrelated contracts creates a lot of movement without necessarily creating much profit.
Before accepting, check:
- Travel: does the objective fit your existing route?
- Costs: will purchases, wages and replacements consume the payment?
- Risk: can you win without losing valuable troops?
- Relations: is the quest giver someone you want to help repeatedly?
- Deadline: can you finish without abandoning another commitment?
Improving relations with recruitment notables can be particularly useful if you regularly return to the same settlements. That longer-term benefit may justify a modest payment.
Ordinary issue quests should not, however, be treated as a dependable source of political influence or guaranteed rare equipment. Their main appeal is money, relationships and the opportunities created while completing them.
Which Bannerlord Quest Should You Choose?
Start with Caravan Ambush once your party can handle the fight. It offers a useful balance of payment, combat and additional earnings opportunities.
Choose Army of Poachers or Extortion by Deserters for a more contained assignment. Take delivery and weapon contracts when the route or inventory already works in your favour.
As your army grows, become more selective. A contract that financed your first dozen recruits may barely cover a later party’s wages.
The best quest is the one that leaves you better off after the journey, purchases and casualties. Calradia has plenty of people offering work. Very few seem concerned about your operating costs.
