Forest Bandit (classic)

Forest Bandit
Troop Information
Culture	Bandits
Wages	6-3 denars/week
Acquired from...	Looters - or - Prisoners
Upgrades to...	Swadian Recruit
Upgrade Cost	40 denars
XP for Kill	88 experience
Ransom Value	73 denars

Forest Bandits are bandit archers in Mount&Blade and Warband.

Tactics

Inhabiting and roaming the dense forests of Calradia - mainly around the Kingdom of Swadia - they spawn in groups of 4-52.

Forest Bandits are lightly armored and carry ranged weapons. They can be quite effective when attacking, as the large number of archers enables them to destroy most enemies at range. Even with their strength in numbers, Forest Bandits are ineffective against heavily armored soldiers, as their attacks are absorbed by their targets' armor. In close quarters, Forest Bandits have no chance versus most foot troops due to their poor melee skills, weak weapons, and lack of decent armor.

Despite this, avoid fighting them with tier-one-or-two troops. You should kill Looters to level up your party members before trying to defeat Forest Bandits. Heavy cavalry is suggested against bigger groups of Forest Bandits, and Mercenary Cavalry, Swadian Knights, or Sarranid Mamlukes work well. Other highly effective units are heavy but fast infantry, such as Nord Huscarls.

They can be upgraded to Swadian Recruits for 40 denars. This is recommended as it is the beginning of their journey to becoming Swadian Knights, some of the most powerful cavalry in the game. However, avoid upgrading if you need Forest Bandits as expendable skirmishers while on a prolonged campaign.

Quotes

Forest Bandits will say things like:

• "Everything has a price... even your life!"

Stats and Equipment

Note: Troops have a set of default stats; at the beginning of a new game, these stats are randomly adjusted for each type of troop. The following is the default set for this troop as seen within the game code and may not reflect the specific stats you will see during actual gameplay. For more information, see troop stats.

Forest Bandit - Default Stats and Equipment

Attributes Stat Points Level 11 Strength 7 Agility 5 Intelligence 4 Charisma 4 Health 42 Armor Head (Possible) Black Hood (Possible) Hood (a) Body Padded Leather Leather Jerkin Ragged Outfit Shirt Hand None Foot Leather Boots Hide Boots Skills Skill Points Ironflesh ? Power Strike ? Power Throw ? Power Draw 3 Weapon Master ? Shield ? Athletics ? Riding 1 Horse Archery ? Looting ? Trainer ? Tracking ? Tactics ? Path-finding ? Spotting ? Inventory Management 2 Wound Treatment ? Surgery ? First Aid ? Engineer ? Persuasion ? Prisoner Management 1 Leadership 1 Trade 2 Proficiencies Weapon Type Points One Handed Weapons 90 Two Handed Weapons 90 Polearms 90 Archery 90 Crossbows 90 Throwing 90 Weapons Melee Quarter Staff Axe Hatchet Ranged Short Bow Hunting Bow Arrows Shield None Mount None

Trivia

• Being of Swadian origin, their usage of bows can be considered somewhat odd since their parent faction's troops employ only crossbows - yet it may be intentional, though, as crossbows were historically employed by professional soldiers only, meaning Forest Bandits would have to be Swadian deserters to get them.
• While they carried Longbows in classic Mount&Blade, they carry Hunting and Short Bows in Warband, making them a bit weaker.

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