Companions are useful and interesting in Bannerlord, but recruiting and developing them is a struggle. Want more slots? Level up your clan. Need unique abilities? Forget it. As for turning ordinary soldiers into heroes, do not get me started.
I went through around a dozen mods and selected those that really change how companions work, from simply removing limits to promoting soldiers into heroes for battlefield achievements.
Bannerlord Expanded — Companion Expanded
A comprehensive companion overhaul that expands interactions and changes how wanderers appear. It combines several older ideas into one package that receives proper updates for newer game versions.
- New companion dialogue in towns and settlements
- Configurable wanderer spawning in taverns
- Wanderers travel between towns instead of staying put
- More companions can accompany you into settlements
- A configurable companion limit tied to clan tier
- Localization support
✅ How gameplay changes: Companions stop being anonymous entries on a list. You see them in towns and talk between battles, while wanderers no longer spend the entire game in one tavern. Choose this if you value roleplaying over simply adding stats to your party. The system is flexible, with settings you can adjust to suit yourself.
Useful Companions
A mod that makes companions useful outside combat. It focuses on developing them through peaceful activities and improving their performance as governors and caravan leaders. The author updated beta-branch compatibility, making it one of the most stable options at present.
- Noncombat experience through administrative tasks
- More effective governors
- More effective caravan leaders
- The ability to move companions between parties
- General improvements to companion roles
- A compatibility fix for the latest TaleWorlds update
✅ How it works in practice: Your companions gain experience outside battles. Appoint one as governor, and administrative skills improve. Put another in charge of a caravan, and trade and cunning rise. This removes the silly situation where a companion sits in town without developing at all. It does not overturn gameplay, but makes the system more logical.
UnlimitedCAP (Companions and Parties)
An extreme increase in limits for anyone wanting huge numbers of companions. It raises companion and party caps to 500, scaling progressively with clan tier.
- A very high companion limit of up to 500
- An increased party limit
- Support for large campaigns
- Designed around playing with a huge number of companions
✅ Who it suits: Players who treat the game as a sandbox and want an empire run by entire parties of companions. Managing 100+ companions is a pain in practice, but there is no alternative if you want that scale. Be aware that the party management screen may start to slow down.
Proven Steel
Proven Steel promotes ordinary soldiers to companions based on their combat achievements. Soldiers who distinguish themselves on the battlefield get a chance to become permanent heroes in your party.
- Post-battle promotions: soldiers exceeding a kill threshold are nominated
- Random promotions: a soldier can occasionally be recognized without a formal nomination
- More companion slots, with base bonuses and extras per clan tier
- Role-based skill bonuses for infantry, cavalry, and archers
- A four-tier title system: progression at 25, 50, 75, and 100 kills, accounting for culture and profession
- The player awards titles through a post-battle message
- Kill tracking saved with the game
- A post-battle tally showing the top seven companions and their statistics
- Milestone notifications during battles
- A statistics panel on the clan screen
✅ Actual impact: The most original mod here. Instead of hiring companions in taverns, you effectively earn them on the battlefield. A soldier who fought beside you through a dozen battles becomes a named hero with a history of their own. Progression and changing titles provide long-term motivation, while MCM settings let you tailor thresholds to any playstyle. For mercenary or vassal campaigns, it turns your party into a band of distinctive veterans.
Mav’s Expand Your Clan
Grow your clan by promoting soldiers based on their performance in battle. Units who prove themselves can become heroes, inheriting their original troop stats.
- Recruit soldiers as companions
- Promotion based on combat performance
- Promoted companions inherit their troop's stats
- Clan expansion systems
✅ The idea: Similar to Proven Steel, but simpler. A soldier fights well and becomes a hero. No titles or elaborate systems. This works if you want a straightforward option without extra menus. Remember that companions inherit troop stats: an elite cataphract becomes a strong hero, while a militia soldier becomes a weak one.
Custom Companion 2.0
Create custom companions through the town menu. Build up to four unique companions with full control over appearance, skills, perks, and personality.
- Create up to four unique companions
- Change names, gender, appearance, and age
- Control skills and perks
- A companion management screen with access to every system
- Seven specialization paths and numerous combat roles
- Tier I and II command perks to strengthen infantry, archers, and cavalry
- Special combat progression perks unlocked through kills, victories, and achievements
- A war horn system for the player and companions
- Companion personality and memory systems shaping reactions and dialogue
- Companion initiatives, conflicts, and personal quests
✅ Practical use: If you enjoy creating characters from scratch, this gives you full control. Build a companion for a specific role: an infantry tank, an archer sharpshooter, or a cavalry commander. The perk system is deep, although all those options can bury you in menus. The result is distinctive companions rather than tavern clones. You can also download ready-made character presets on Nexus.
Bannerlord Expanded — Settlement Interactions
This is not exclusively a companion mod, but it includes training companions in castles. Additional settlement interactions make it useful support for companion-focused playthroughs.
- Train companions in castles
- Gain experience in random skills
- Additional settlement roleplaying interactions
- Support for developing companions over time
- A useful supporting mod for companion management
✅ Why use it: Vanilla Bannerlord leaves companions standing in garrisons without developing. This fixes that: weaker companions can improve their skills while you are in a castle. It is a logical addition to Useful Companions or similar mods, bridging combat leveling and peaceful development.
No Companion Limit
A straightforward companion-limit remover available through Steam Workshop. It removes vanilla restrictions and offers a lightweight alternative for players who prefer Steam to Nexus.
- Removes restrictions on companion numbers
- Available on Steam Workshop
✅ When to use it: The quickest option if you simply want the cap gone without title systems or progression settings. It does exactly what it promises and does not conflict with most other mods. The drawback is less control than UnlimitedCAP offers.
Companions No Limits (WPS)
A simple WastedPotentialStudios mod setting the player's clan companion limit to 2,500. It effectively removes practical restrictions while keeping the game functional.
- A companion limit of 2,500
- Affects only the player's clan; AI clans retain vanilla limits
- Extremely lightweight: a single Harmony patch
- High compatibility with other mods
- Safe to add to and remove from existing saves
- No configuration required
✅ A practical approach: The cap is so high that you will never reach it in normal play. A limit of 2,500 effectively means unlimited companions, while remaining technically stable. The author warns that keeping 100+ companions can reduce performance on management screens, but that is an engine limitation. Choose this for a simple cap remover without extra settings.
Mod installation recommendations
Companion mods usually work together, but there are a few details to watch. Here is how to avoid problems:
- Do not install several limit removers together. UnlimitedCAP, No Companion Limit, and Companions No Limits change the same value, so choose one.
- Proven Steel and Mav’s Expand Your Clan can run together, but you will have two separate soldier promotion systems. That can create conflicts and confusion, so choosing one is better.
- Custom Companion 2.0 works well with limit expanders. Create unique heroes through its menu and get extra slots from UnlimitedCAP or WPS Companions No Limits.
- Useful Companions and Settlement Interactions complement each other: one develops companions through their roles, the other through castle training. Use both for maximum progression flexibility.
- Bannerlord Expanded — Companion Expanded can be combined with any mod here, because it changes interactions and spawning rather than limits or character progression.
Load order is usually not critical, but put MCM, Mod Configuration Menu, near the top if you use it. Most mods in this selection use MCM for configuration.
Companion mods are generally straightforward to install, but if this is your first time modding Bannerlord, read the installation guide first. It explains load order and how to avoid wrecking your saves.
Which companion mods should you install first?
Your choice depends on how you play. For roleplaying and companions who feel like living characters, choose Bannerlord Expanded — Companion Expanded. Add Useful Companions for sensible development outside combat, and the system works throughout the game.
If battlefield achievements matter to you, Proven Steel is essential. Titles and the promotion of veterans into heroes add progression absent from vanilla. For a simpler approach without extra menus, use Mav’s Expand Your Clan.
Enjoy creating characters? Custom Companion 2.0 gives you control over every aspect of a companion. Combine it with UnlimitedCAP or Companions No Limits (WPS) so you do not hit the slot cap.
If you simply want the restriction removed, No Companion Limit on Steam Workshop or WPS Companions No Limits on Nexus will do it in a couple of clicks.
Distinctive companions come into their own as part of a considered mod setup. Appearance mods help them fit the atmosphere, reworked weapons make their battles more impressive, and army changes make their roles clearer. My Bannerlord collection guide explains how these parts work together so you can avoid installing blindly.
If I missed a worthwhile companion mod, send it my way: I will test it and may add it. Finding something that actually improves the game is always interesting, especially with Bannerlord patches breaking working mods so often. To bring these ideas together, use my Bannerlord mod collection guide to plan the rest of your setup.
