[Top 5] Mount & Blade 2 Best Horses Revealed

Updated:

30 Sep 2021

Coconuts aren't going to work this time. You're going to need a horse.

Horses are an essential part of Mount and Blade 2 Bannerlord. They improve your damage, speed and act as a massive bank of hit points. Although mounted combat is challenging, it’s well worth learning excellent riding skills.

Unsurprisingly, the best horses cost serious cash, and unlike weapons and armor, they can be injured and die. Due to their somewhat temporary nature, you’ll use many mounts throughout your Bannerlord campaign.

Just as a quick note, as of patch 1.61, the horses reuse color schemes, so you can’t tell them apart by looks alone. You will notice the difference in speed and handling in actual play, don’t worry!

With that in mind, here are some horses you will see throughout your journeys in Mount and Blade 2.

5. Beginner Horse: Sumpter Horse

It's a horse. Better than nothing.

Why Sumpter Horses are Great:

You start the game with a free sumpter horse.

Sumpter Horse details:

Base Price: 157 Denars
Where to Buy: Odokh
Stats: Tier: 1

Charge Damage: 4

Speed: 34

Maneuver: 41

Hit Points: 260

Right after character creation, you’ll start with a sumpter horse. Sumpter horses are cheap and have lots of hit points.

Unfortunately, sumpter horses are slow and not very maneuverable. You’ll watch all of the other horsemen speed by you like you’re standing still. They’re difficult to turn, and you’ll often have difficulty lining up shots. Use your sumpter horse while you’re wandering around fighting looters, but try to upgrade as soon as possible.22

4. Troop Upgrade Horses: Midlands Palfrey and Imperial Charger

Cheap transportation for your troops.

Why Midland Palfreys and Imperial Chargers are Great:

Low Cost
Wide availability in the middle of the map
Most used horses for upgrading cavalry troops

Midlands Palfrey details:

Base Price: 170 Denars
Where to Buy: Jalmarys
Stats:Tier: 2

Charge Damage: 4

Speed: 47

Maneuver: 61

Hit Points: 200

Imperial Charger details:

Base Price: 157 Denars
Where to Buy: Danustica
Stats: Tier: 2

Charge Damage: 12

Speed: 44

Maneuver: 66

Hit Points: 290

When upgrading infantry or archers to cavalry, you will need to supply a horse. There’s no need to provide an expensive horse. It won’t make a better troop. So we want the cheapest horse that qualifies as good enough.

Notably, sumpter horses do not qualify as good enough. Despite being described as a horse, these farm horses are not suitable for battle. Luckily, midlands palfreys are easy to find in the central-southern Empire cities.

If you happen to be over in Khuzait lands, you can sometimes get steppe horses for a similar or even lower price. The problem with steppe horses is that you can only get that low price in two cities, and the price will go up quickly if you buy a lot of horses.

Horse pricing is partly based on quality and partly on demand. If you buy a lot of horses at one time, the price will go up. Luckily, Midlands Palfreys spawn lots of horses in many different South Central cities, which will help you equip large cavalry forces.

The higher tiers of cavalry require war horses. Look at the type of horse in the third line of the description. Imperial chargers are widely available and cheap in the same areas you find midlands palfreys.

Swing by Khuzait territory for horse-trading, though. Despite being higher quality, Khuzait horses are sometimes cheap because of how many horses southern Khuzait cities produce.

3. Bandit Hunting: Steppe Horse

Agility helps when you're trying to poke someone.

Why Steppe Horses are Great:

Very Cheap in Akkalat and Odokh
Excellent tier two horse with low riding requirements.
Noticeably faster than a sumpter horse, with outstanding maneuverability

Steppe Horse details:

Base Price: 157 Denars
Where to Buy: Odokh
Stats:Tier: 2

Charge Damage: 8

Speed: 44

Maneuver: 69

Hit Points: 210

Steppe horses are the specialty of the Khuzait horse archers. Agile and rugged, these horses are fantastic early game mounts.

You will have access to tier 2 horses after only a few battles. Treat yourself to the upgrade rather than selling, and you’ll notice an immediate improvement.

Although still much slower than higher-tier cavalry, the step horse’s fantastic maneuverability will help you line up shots easier. As long as you can avoid being run down by faster cavalry, the steppe horse will serve you well through the mid-game.

2. Best Warhorse: Battanian Thoroughbred

An excellent choice for our most discriminating customers.

Why Battanian Thoroughbreds are Great:

Top tier stats
Bragging rights

Battanian Thoroughbred details:

Base Price: 2239 Denars
Where to Buy: Unavailable in markets, Sometimes won as rare loot
Stats: Tier: 4

Charge Damage: 10

Speed: 66

Maneuver: 76

Hit Points: 230

There are several special horses that you can win as prizes in tournaments. These horses are rare and difficult to replace if they die or become lame. In the hard-fought battles of Bannerlord, you’ll probably end up losing your rare horse if you aren’t extremely careful.

Battanian Thoroughbreds are arguably the best of the bunch. These horses combine good speed with excellent maneuverability and hit points.

Better, they’re slightly less rare than the other top-tier mounts. Find Battanian Thoroughbreds in the loot from major battles and as tournament prizes.

1. End Game Warhorse: Aserai Horse

The Aserai Horse will never let you down.

Why Aserai Horses are Great:

Almost as good as the rare tier 4+ mounts
Wide availability and low price
Horses get injured and die. Just get a new Aserai Horse when the old one goes lame.

Aserai Horse details:
Base Price: 1193 Denars
Where to buy: Hubyar
Stats: Tier: 4

Charge Damage: 7

Speed: 66

Maneuver: 70

Hit Points: 200

Aserai Horses are excellent bread and butter warhorses during the end game. They are cheap and replaceable if you need a hit point sponge to charge into the enemy infantry.

Aserai horses are just as fast as Battanian Thoroughbreds but have noticeably lower maneuverability and hitpoints. For most playthroughs, Aserai horses will be your default horse.