Horse archers, the lesson in hard knocks you never needed.

Have you had a hard time with archers in Bannerlord, picking and choosing different types to little success?  Have you despaired when watching videos of YouTubers decimating armies with only-archer builds, only to attempt and fail everytime you try to?  If you have these issues, you should read through this article.

Archers can be the most powerful unit in Bannerlord if used properly.  They are the best type of troops to have in a siege, the best troop for conserving armies and often the best for dealing with infantry.  Read through this list to learn which archers you want in your army.

#10. Arboreal (Best for throwing in a garrison)

Guide to Minor Faction Troops (skip to 15:59 for Arboreals)

Arboreals are archers you can acquire from the minor faction The Brotherhood of The Woods.  These troops used to be super powered at 200 Bow skill, but now have been reduced to a measly 100.  They are still very effective in battle, but if I were you, I'd just chuck them in your garrisons for a rainy (siege) day.  

Arboreal Details:

• Mid-tier archer unit at Tier 4
• Has a decent bow and arrows 
• Only recruitable from making them your prisoner

Why Arboreals are great:

• They can be excellent units for defending your settlements, as they are cheap and effective
• They look cool and have a great name

#9. Khuzait Marksman (Best for defending settlements)

Guide to Khuzait Troops (skip to 22:16 for Khuzait Marksman)

Khuzait, Khuzait, Khuzait… why would you EVER have a non-noble foot archer unit that was worth being in this list while the Battanians don't?  I don't know, but they do.  The Marksman is perfectly average compared to its other tier 5 counterparts, and that just means it's twice as strong as it should be.  These guys are good for siege defense because if you're acquiring Khuzait units, it's for their horse archers and not these guys.  They will still do a great job in a walled environment, but there isn't much reason to choose them over the other eight archers on this list.  

Khuzait Marksmen Details:

• They are equipped with a long sabre and recurve bow
• They really have the same stats as most other tier five archers, except they fall a little short in equipment and armor when compared

Why Khuzait Marksmen are great:

• They're better than Arboreals, more plentiful and therefore easier to stock your castles with and forget about
• They have two quivers of arrows, furthering their ability to do well in a siege

#8.  Mameluke Heavy Cavalry (Best for stomping on Khuzaits)

Guide to Aserai Troops (skip to 20:27 for Mameluke Heavy Cavalry)

The developers of this game seemed to have put a secret key into it for defeating the Khuzait, and that key is the Aserai.  Here we see their tier 5 horse archers, and boy they can be good.  While it is hard to get them in large numbers, if you do you can do a lot of damage to both cavalry and footmen alike.

Mameluke Heavy Cavalry Details:

• They come with sword, shield and good bow and arrows
• They are tier five, and getting to them is quite challenging with their troop tree progression

Why Mameluke Heavy Cavalry is great:

• They are high armor, so they can take quite a beating
• They have a sword AND a shield, which makes them excellent for dealing with other cavalry and archers AHEM KHUZAITS AHEM
• The arrows they use are highly armor piercing, aka good for killing horses
• You can run a small group of these guys into a Khuzait horse archer horde and most of the time it will keep them off your footmen, possibly even killing the vermin in the process

#7. Khuzait Heavy Horse Archers (Best for creating a locust horde that will devour the crops that are Calradia’s beloved footmen)

Showcase of Horse Archer only Armies (skip to 19:50 for Khuzait Heavy Horse Archers)

Khuzait Heavy Horse Archers are the best non-noble horse archers in the game.  They are the easiest to progress to in their tier, and this allows for droves of high caliber troops to be accrued alarmingly quickly.  You are a foot soldier in an Imperial army, and you crest the hill of a field to see a hundred of these cavalry charging at you.  You watch in terror as your men form a circle, and theirs do too.  A hundred horsemen, circling and shooting hundreds of arrows into you, an unstoppable force of nature. 

Khuzait Heavy Horse Archer Details:

• They are equipped with a sword, a bow and two quivers of arrows
• They have above average armor
• They have well armored and fast horses

Why are Khuzait Heavy Horse Archers Great:

• You can gather a horde of them very quickly
• They have two quivers of arrows, so their opponents probably won’t even have shields by the time they charge into melee
• They are effective as melee cavalry 
• They have good armor

#6. Sturgian Veteran Bowmen (Best for close-range conflicts)

Guide to Sturgian Troops (skip to 25:25 for Sturgian Veteran Bowmen)

A lot of people don’t like this troop because they have a shorter range than most archers, but I say that with careful positioning and troop tactics, they can shine incredibly bright.  They have an astounding 180 Bow skill, and if you get into range of these proficient shooters, they are sure to dominate.  They have good armor, but are not very viable as melee combatants.

Sturgian Veteran Bowmen Details: 

• Equipped with a fast sword, a weak bow and weaker arrows
• With 70 One-Handed skill, they are barely viable in mid to high tier melee combat
• They are very short range archers

Why are Sturgian Veteran Bowmen Great:

• They have 180 Bow skill (the highest of any non-noble troop)
• If you use them in a siege battle, they will absolutely decimate any force coming against you as long as you have enough of them.
• Paired with their fellow Sturgian Heavy Axemen and their incredible shield walls, you can easily flank around the enemy and start obliterating them with highly precise ranged fire while they’re fighting

#5. Imperial Palantine Guards (Best for a well-rounded high tier archer unit)

Showcase of Imperial Palantine Guards

The best archer the Imperials have, the Palantine Guard is also the tankiest archer in the game.  They are excellent archers as well as excellent melee fighters.  Their downfall is in their lack of shields and in only having one quiver of arrows, but their armor all but completely makes up for this fact.  They are excellent in sieges because of their ability to perform two jobs at a high level. 

Imperial Palantine Guard Details:

• They come equipped with a sword, bow and one quiver of very good arrows
• They have a high armor rating
• They are tier 5 archers, but it is quite easy to get your lower tiered archers to Palantines as long as you protect them in battles

Why are Imperial Palantine Guards Great: 

• They are great both in and out of melee 
• They are the best archers for siege defense because of their versatility
• They have armor up to par with that of other tier 5 line infantry (very heavy armor)
• They have very good bows and arrows

#4. Aserai Master Archers (Best for non-noble foot archers)

Showcase of Aserai Master Archers

Aserai Master Archers are as good as it gets without having Fians.  They are high armor, able to go in and out of melee combat with excellent results, and have amazing bows and two quivers of equally great arrows.  They are fast firing killing machines, able to take on most opponents with ease.  They are great in a siege, great on the field, great everywhere (said Sam I Am).

Aserai Master Archers Details:

• They are equipped with a sword, a great bow and two quivers of the best arrows in the game
• They have the same stats as the Palantine Guard, with 160 Bow Skill, 130 One-Handed and 130 Athletics
• They have good armor

Why are Aserai Master Archers Great:

• They fire quite fast and from quite far away, making them especially lethal in numbers
• They have the best arrows in the game, which do 4 piercing damage each.  This makes them excellent against high armor opponents like Sturgians and… The Khuzait.
• They are very effective in melee, as they have the armor for it and a good sword to boot.
• Do not envy the man who sieges a settlement full of these archers

#3. Battanian Fian (Best for lower tier noble foot archers)

Guide to Battanian Troops (skip to 24:45 for Battanian Fians)

These Fians are not to be confused with the Fian Champions, which is what they upgrade into.  Both the Champions and the regular Fians are so good they both have top three spots on this list.  While they do not possess the Bow skill of their Champion counterparts, these archers are better than almost every other archer in the game, and employing them against your foes will be sure to entail a bad hair day for them.

Battanian Fian Details:

• They are equipped with a great bow and arrows as well as a sword
• They are very much like the Aserai Master Archers, but with more range and better equipment

​​Why are Battanian Fians Great:

• They have an incredible bow and arrows that allow them to decimate any opponent from quite a distance away
• They, like the Champions, are extremely capable in melee fighting
• If you have these guys, they’re going to turn into Champions, and is there anything greater than that?

#2. Battanian Fian Champions (Best for foot archers in the entire game)

Showcase of the Battanian Fian Champions

These are the premiere foot archer troop in Bannerlord.  They have an astounding 260 Bow skill along with 220 in Two-Handed, which makes them the best in both fields when it comes to footmen.  They outrange and outkill everything in this game, and if you put just a few dozen in a settlement, it will take an army to get them out.  They also have two quivers of arrows, just on the off chance their opponents survive the first.

Battanian Fian Champion Details:

• They are equipped with the best bow in the game, the best two-handed sword in the game, and impressively heavy head and body armor
• They have two quivers of highly armor piercing arrows
• They can outrange most troops

Why are Battanian Fian Champions Great:

• They can probably kill most troops with one or two arrows, due to the power of their bows and the armor piercing nature of their arrows
• They have uncanny range for an archer
• They have a two-handed sword that not only makes them the best foot archer in the game, but the best berserker troop as well
• They have very high body and head armor, which are really the ones that matter
• Do not be the man who sieges settlements that possess lots of Fian Champions

#1. Khan’s Guard (Best for archers in Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord)

Showcase of the Khuzait Khan's Guard

Ugh.  Here we are again, and here I have to praise the Khuzait troops AGAIN.  There was back and forth on whether these were the best or the Champions, but these guys do everything the Champions do but are on a horse and with a deadlier melee weapon.  If you see an army full of Khan’s Guard, starve them out, avoid them, do whatever you have to to not engage.  Even an army twice their size has a good chance of dying against these monstrous horse archers.

Khan’s Guard Details:

• The bastards are equipped with bows, two quivers of arrows and a glaive
• Their glaive can cut through multiple enemies at once.  What the fuck Taleworlds.
• They have unbelievably high armor

Why are Khan’s Guard Great: 

• They are completely unstoppable and Taleworlds expects you to bow to them and beg for mercy upon your hundred hour campaign every time you encounter them
• They have 260 Bow skill, 220 Polearm skill and 200 Riding skill making them impossible to hit and extremely deadly
• They are not only the best archer troop in the game, but the best melee cavalry, as their glaive kills just about anything it touches in one hit and, as mentioned above, can kill more than one person in a single swing
• They have such high armor that you need a catapult to kill them
• They are Khuzaits, and as such have the gods of Bannerlord on their side to decimate any who stand in their way

You may also be interested in:

• [Top 10] Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord Best Cavalry Units
• Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord Best Faction - Which To Choose
• [Top 10] Mount & Blade 2 Bannerlord Best Companions
• [Top 25] Mount and Blade 2 Bannerlord Best Mods You Should Use
•  
• Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord Best Culture - How To Choose
• Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord Review - Is It Worth It?
• [Top 10] Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord Best Wife - How To Choose
•  
• Mount & Blade 2 Bannerlord Best Troops for Each Faction
• Mount & Blade 2 Best Troops For Each Faction (2021)
•  
• Mount & Blade 2 Best Culture - Which To Choose
• Mount & Blade 2 Multiplayer -How it Works