Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord Khuzait Khan's Guard Guide - Master the Strongest Horse Archers

This article is based on information as of June 3, 2026. Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord does not feature a "season" system common in live service games. Game versions are updated via patches, and at the time of research, the latest stable version was the "e1.2.x" series. While the version numbering changed with the introduction of the "War Sails" DLC, it does not significantly impact the balance of the base game this article covers. Recent patches have included balance adjustments for specific factions (Battania, Vlandia) and changes to automatic combat calculations. Please use this information as current.

To all lords aiming for the strongest army on the vast lands of Calradia. Among the numerous troop types, one unit is almost unanimously recognized by many players as the "strongest": the Khuzait Khan's Guard, the noble troops proudly serving the Khuzait Khanate. They combine overwhelming mobility with firepower, striking down enemies from afar and sweeping them away up close. This article provides a thorough explanation based on detailed data, covering everything from the performance of these versatile horse archers to methods for streamlining their challenging training path and tactical deployment strategies to unleash 120% of their true potential on the battlefield.

What Are the Khan's Guard? The Versatile Troop Dominating Calradia

The Khuzait Khan's Guard are noble troops classified as "Tier 6," the highest rank among all troop types in the game. As their name suggests, noble troops have a special recruitment path different from regular soldiers, requiring considerable time and cost to train, but their performance far surpasses that of common troops. The Khan's Guard stand at the pinnacle of this hierarchy, boasting versatility that transcends the typical horse archer role. With astonishing skill values of 200 in Bow, Riding, and Polearm, they exhibit first-class combat prowess not only as mounted archers but also as dismounted archer units or shock infantry wielding powerful two-handed weapons. In open field battles, a force composed solely of Khan's Guard is virtually invincible, capable of unilaterally overwhelming any enemy.

Incredible Performance and Equipment Details

Exceptional Skills and Stats

The core of the Khan's Guard's strength lies in their exceptionally high skill levels. With Bow, Riding, and Polearm skills reaching 200, their mounted bow accuracy, horse maneuverability, and melee weapon damage are all at the highest standard. This allows them to accurately shoot enemies while moving at high speed, and if approached, they can retaliate with powerful melee attacks. Defensively, they are equipped with heavy lamellar armor, giving them a resilience that can withstand ordinary attacks.

Powerful Equipment Dominating at All Ranges

The Khan's Guard's equipment symbolizes their versatility. Their primary weapon, the "Steppe Recurve Bow," is a renowned bow that combines high firing speed and power, suitable for mounted archery. Carrying two quivers provides a generous total of 48 arrows for continuous fire. What prevents them from being mere horse archers is their melee weapon, the "Glaive." This is a two-handed polearm with a blade attached to a long shaft, and a single swing from horseback boasts immense power. Even other Tier 6 cavalry units like the proud Imperial Heavy Cavalry "Imperial Elite Cataphract" or Vlandia's "Banner Knight" will be swept away by the Glaive's slashes.

Comparison with Other Factions' Tier 6 Troops

Even when compared to other factions' Tier 6 noble troops, the Khan's Guard's versatility is exceptional. For instance, Vlandia's "Banner Knight" is a lancer cavalry boasting Calradia's highest charge power, but once their charge is complete, they can be drawn into close combat or targeted by archers from a distance. The Empire's "Elite Cataphract" is heavy cavalry with the best defense, but lacking bows, they are helpless against long-range attacks. In contrast, the Khan's Guard can evade enemy cavalry charges with their mobility while peppering them with arrows, unilaterally eliminate infantry and archer groups with carousel tactics, and engage in close combat with their Glaive if necessary. It is this adaptability to all situations that earns the Khan's Guard the title of "strongest."

Training Routes and Efficient Recruitment Methods

The path to training the strongest soldiers is long and arduous. We will explain two main methods for adding the Khan's Guard to your warband.

Regular Training Route: A Long Journey from Nomads

The most straightforward method is to patiently train "Khuzait Nomad's Sons," who can be recruited in "villages attached to castles" of Khuzait culture. However, as the base unit for noble troops, their appearance is random and low-probability, so you'll need to persistently tour Khuzait territories and recruit them whenever found. Below is their training tree.

Alternative Route: Rising from Bandits

For players exhausted by regular recruitment, converting bandits is a recommended method.

1. First, capture many "Steppe bandits" that appear in Khuzait territory, making them Prisoners.
2. Raise your player character's Leadership skill to 150 and acquire the "Veteran's Respect" perk. This perk allows you to upgrade bandit units into regular troops.
3. After acquiring "Veteran's Respect," when you add the captured Steppe bandits to your warband, they can be converted to a regular troop tree (e.g., Khuzait Horse Archers).
4. Then, accumulate experience to eventually upgrade them to the Khan's Guard.

Battlefield Deployment Tactics and Weaknesses

To fully unleash the potential of the Khan's Guard, understanding appropriate tactics is essential.

The Strongest Tactic: "Carousel"

The carousel (merry-go-round) tactic is both the fundamental and ultimate technique for horse archers. After issuing a follow order (F1→F2) to your troops, the player character rides their horse and continuously circles the enemy force. By having your entire warband rotate around the enemy, firing arrows unilaterally, you can minimize counterattacks from enemy infantry and archers while safely annihilating the enemy. While delegating combat to the AI using the F6 key is powerful enough, executing the carousel manually can even allow you to achieve zero casualties.

Strengths, Weaknesses, and Optimal Battlefields

• Strengths: Overwhelming mobility and ranged firepower, high melee combat ability with the Glaive, high survivability. They possess versatility to overwhelm any enemy in open field battles.
• Weaknesses: Extremely high upkeep costs (wages) due to being a Tier 6 troop. Maintaining a large warband requires enormous financial resources. Also, due to the difficulty of recruitment and training, sustaining significant losses at once makes replenishment very challenging.
• Optimal Battlefields: Open plains with few obstacles. Horse mobility can be maximized, making the carousel tactic most effective.
• Unsuitable Battlefields: Sieges, especially combat within castle walls, or dense forest areas. Horse mobility is severely restricted, halving their strengths. However, even in such situations, dismounting them allows them to function as top-tier archers or two-handed infantry, so they are by no means powerless.

Conclusion

The Khuzait Khan's Guard is a unit that boasts overwhelming performance, truly deserving the title of "strongest troop" in Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord. While their training requires considerable time and effort, and their upkeep demands vast funds, they promise battle results that meet, or even exceed, these investments. Beyond the regular recruitment path, consider the alternative route of training them from bandits using the "Veteran's Respect" perk, and assemble your own personal guard. Before them, galloping across the lands of Calradia, no grand army shall stand as an enemy.