Mount and Blade Bannerlord is one of the best army combat simulation games on the market. With the ability to not only control your troops and lead great armies into battle, your character can get in on the action and fight directly with your troops as well. There are many different weapons and mechanics at play when facing off against an enemy in Calradia. There are even some more advanced combat tactics that the tutorial won’t tell you about. Today we are covering how to brace spears and pole-arms in Mount and Blade Bannerlord. Also known as couch lance.
What does it mean to Couch Lance?
Bracing a spear is the act of holding it down hard in one position and having an enemy run into it. One of the more practical uses for bracing a spear is when you are with ground infantry units and there is a cavalry charge coming towards you. Bracing your spear by sticking it against the ground for support will mean that the spear will stick up in one spot and allow the rider to take great damage riding head-on into it.
Couching is a term that refers more to riders and cavalry charges. The rider of a horse can couch the spear under their arms to give it great support when charging. This means that you wouldn’t thrust the spear directly at the enemy when you get close, but brace it in one position and try to ride the spear straight into them. See the image below to get an idea of what a couched spear looks like when the rider is using this technique.
How to Brace and Couch a Spear in Bannerlord
To couch a spear whilst you are on horseback start riding until you get to a good medium pace. Once you are riding at a good pace press the X key on your keyboard by default to brace the spear against yourself. Your character should look like the one in the image above when you have done this successfully. Now, ride towards an enemy and take them out with your new spear technique!
How to Brace a Spear on Foot
Thanks to a recent update to the game it is now possible to also brace a speak while you are standing on the ground in Bannerlord. No longer is this technique just for horseback. You can now press the X key with certain weapons while on foot. This is called a spear brace when done on foot.
Only certain weapons can perform this maneuver. If you want to find a weapon where this is possible, check the weapon’s information in the inventory screen. The once that can be braced will have the tag Spear Brace shown when you select them. Just like in the image above.
Which Weapons Can Be Couched in Bannerlord?
Not all spears and pole-arms can make use of this special couch technique in Mount and Blade Bannerlord. For starters, this couching technique is available for two-handed and some one-handed weapons. When you view weapons either in your character’s inventory or whilst accessing a trading screen you can see a tool-tip on the weapon. If you want to check whether you can couch with the weapon, look at the tool-tip for the individual weapon. If the option to brace the weapon on horseback is available then the weapon will have the stat page for Couch Lance available to view in it’s tool-tip. Check the image below for an idea of what to look for.
In the current version of Bannerlord, none of the Spear weapons are able to be couched. Only weapons that are specifically named Pikes and Lances can be couched. Even then, come of the cheaper lances won’t allow you to couch them at all. You will have to check each weapon carefully before making a purchase decision as you may buy a weapon that can’t be braced.
Crafting a Couch Lance
The player can also craft weapons that can be used to couch on horseback. The player will have to craft a weapon in the “two-handed pole-arms” section of the smithing menu. Depending on the handle that they choose for the weapon, it can also be used as a couch lance. Check the image below for an example of a crafted weapon that can be used to couch.
If you want to make one for yourself, just try around with different designs. you can see whether your handle is compatible with the couch lance mechanic at any time through the game’s UI menu. Beside One Handed and Two Handed you will see the option to view the weapon stats while it is being used as a Couch Lance.
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