Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord has many non-combat skills that assist your character in various aspects of the game. Diplomacy, managing armies and settlements, and traversing the world as efficiently as possible are achieved through these skills.
Scouting is a valuable skill that can be trained for your character, and since you can appoint companions as your party’s scouts, it’s better to delegate them as companions. The high level of this skill and the best perks in the skill tree allow you to flee from adverse encounters and choose your battles when and where it suits you best.
10 day traveler
The first perk picks in the scouting tree both give your party valuable movement speed. Night Runner gives you more speed and range of vision at night, but the days are much longer in the game world.
The Day Traveler has slightly smaller speed and vision range bonuses, but it’s a good choice for most situations as it provides longer daylight hours and easier daylight combat. The Nigh Runner will help you catch up with troops fleeing at night more quickly, but fighting in the dark may not be an ideal situation.
9 pathfinder
The choice between Pathfinder and Water Diviner is a tough one. The Water Diviner’s second benefit is extremely valuable, as it unlocks more recruitment slots in the town as you strengthen your relationship with it over time.
However, Pathfinder is a better option for companions appointed scouts, or even if you prefer speed bonuses, as these small bonuses can add up over time to give you a significant advantage in the late game.
8 forest skin
Choosing between the third perks in the scout tree will depend on your culture and where you spend most of your play time. Desert Born is a better choice if you’re an Aserai from Khuzait or if your kingdom is at war with them most of the time, since the perk increases movement speed in deserts and dunes.
But otherwise Forest Kin is a better choice as it halves the speed penalty for going through the woods. It’s a great perk that also stacks with the Battanian culture bonus, and you’ll come across a lot of forest on your travels, except for the southern and eastern parts of the map.
7 forced march
In the early stages of the game when your party is small, unburdened can be a great perk that helps when carrying a lot of stuff, as it increases speed and gives your troops a passive experience.
However, once you reach the late game and can consistently keep your party’s morale above 75, Forced March becomes a better choice. Unburdened loses value over time as you don’t want a hefty penalty unless you have no other options.
6 tracker
When you reach a high enough level in Scouting, you’ll start seeing signs of other armies as you move through the world map. Detecting and following these tracks will provide your party’s scouting experience over time, and can sometimes lead you to enemies before you reach your destination.
Ranger and Tracker are the only perks that affect this track. The Ranger is a great option for discovering more tracks and leveling up your skills faster, but the Tracker’s secondary ability is a significant advantage for closing the distance between your party and fleeing enemies.
5 mounted scout
Patrol is a decent perk in the early game, as it gives you an advantage against bandit parties. It helps to send troops to auto-resolve battles against bandit parties with fewer casualties, but as you approach the late game you’re less likely to bother fighting bandits.
Mounted Scouts are a great perk even if you get them early in the game because of the side effect that increases the party size limit. If you’re playing a cavalry-heavy style, the perk’s main benefit is also a great add-on, but it’s still worth it if you’re not getting the sight range bonus.
4 beast whisperer
Beast Whisperers and Foragers each provide significant advantages. Beast Whisperer gives you a small chance to find mounts while traveling across the prairies and plains, and Foragers reduce chaos after battle and allow you to return to normal speed more quickly.
An ideal scenario would be to train your companion as a Scout so they can pick the Beast Whisperer perk, and you, the party leader, train a skill and pick the Gatherer perk so you get the best of both worlds. But if you can’t get a companion or don’t have the time to train skills for both characters, Beast Whisperer’s extra mount is a more worthy option.
three rumor network
Rumor Network and Village Network are both perks that affect trading profits and don’t offer many other benefits if you’re not focused on earning trades. The Rumor Network reduces trading penalties within the kingdom’s cities, while the Village Network does the same for villages.
The second advantage of the Rumor Network is more useful, as it helps you find more distant bandit hideouts. If you want to engage in trade, cities offer more goods and profits, giving you better perks than the region in every way.
2 vantage point
Keensight is a great perk for keeping a lord captive for a longer period of time, and aids the party’s vision range while traveling through the forest. But the Vantage Point perk gives you a huge advantage, especially late in the game.
In addition to increasing your prisoner limit by 10, your vision range is increased by 50% if you haven’t moved for over an hour. This is particularly useful while besieging enemy settlements and being able to see defenders approaching from farther away and being able to act before it is too late.
One electric potential
The last perk in the scouting tree gives you an advantage against auto-resolving battles. When sent to defend a siege camp, rearguards increase troop damage and increase the recovery rate of wounded troops.
Vanguards increase the damage of troops when sent out to attack or sortie, making them a better option when attacking in most situations as they generally have numbers and can auto-resolve combat more safely.