How GOOD is the Heroic Linebreaker? Bannerlord Shock Troops Units Guide

This is a 1.8. Bannerlord in Depth Analysis of the Shock Troop known as Heroic Linebreaker.
This video is part of a Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord Playlist where we analyze each unit not only based on their equipment but also on statistics taken after intensive testings.
The Data will be trimmed down and showcased both throughout the video and at the end to allow the viewer to know as much as possible about the unit in question.
A score will also be provided at the end based on Lyon’s opinion, this score shouldn’t be taken as hard evidence, as different playstyles may impact the way viewers evaluate units.
In this here video we are going to talk about the Sturgian Heroic Linebreaker.
A troop that as been at the top of the shock troop food chain for a long time.
But Patch 1.8. and it's indirect nerf to long weapons might have had an impact on this Berserker performance
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Units Guide Playlist: • How BAD is The Wildlin...
And remember, criticism and constructive feedback are always appreciated.

[@DestroyerOfOgis]

An average person's nightmare: Being chased down by scary and creepy stuff in a dark and silent environment. A Vlandian's nightmare:

[@MilitaryBuff]

I figured out why taleworlds gave shock troops 1 handed weapons. It's to make sure shock troops can still fight if they hold a banner. I saw one of my line breakers use his sword while holding the formation banner.

[@LyonExodus]

Makes sense, same goes for prison breaks. thing is they used to have 1h weapons that they never used even before the implementation of those features. It's nothing more than a meme really.

[@kubaGR8]

Units without 1h weapons get assigned one anyway when given a banner, it seems Try giving a banner to a formation of Khan's Guard, one of them will magically get a 1h sword and ride around with it.

[@p4r4wastaken18]

Very nice guide!

[@colhammer1]

Have been waiting for this one.

[@LyonExodus]

How you feel now? Did you get the answers you were seeking?

[@colhammer1]

@@LyonExodus yes I did. Looking forward to next one.

[@christophesiewecke9208]

Another great video! After nearly 2000 hours of Bannerlord I never keep any shock troops in my parties because they just die to ranged and cavalry far too easily. I have found that shielded infantry and shielded companions just tend to fare much better and die far less. Especially in siege assaults, which make up more than half of all major battles in my playthroughs. Watching all of your unit analysis videos I am going to experiment with having a 30-50 group of shock troops to see if their anti-infantry capabilities are worth having for pitched non siege battles. Any more and the risk of high losses during sieges are just too high... Anyway, thanks for anothe great video. I would add that I would love to see more information and statistics on how units fare in sieges because I think siege assaults are the most likely battles to cause high casualties (other than battles where your force is very outnumbered, which could also be interesting from a statistical standpoint...).

[@LyonExodus]

Thank you for the great comment Chris. I find that 50 to 75 shock troops worked best in my campaigns as long as there where enough T5 shielded infantry to protect them. So as an unwritten rule i upgrade shielded troops first and then seek the shock troops. The siege suggestion is a great one and i'd like to dive deeper into it as for now i only make assumptions based on my experience and how they perform against low tiers. I do test the units against militia but a siege is completely different than fighting on a field.

[@christophesiewecke9208]

Would you bother separating the shock troops into their own formation or do you just leave the shock troops in with the shielded infantry? I think the AI will bring the shielded units to the front of a mixed infantry formation, but I am curious which is more effective, a mixed formation or two seperate one.

[@LyonExodus]

i personally keep all of them in formation 1 as i prefer reliable tactics over complex ones. The shielded troops will be in the front and the shock troops or any unshielded unit will stay in the back. I generally split archers, horse archers and cavalry and i don't like playing with mods that pause the game or the slow down setting. So reliable tactics are more important for my playstyle

[@IamnotfromUSA]

@@LyonExodus noo it is not Batanian Fian Champion is best shock troop

[@styxrakash4639]

Bro playing some captains mode matches in MP forced me to respect shock troops. They are lawn mowers. Their ideal target is an enemy infantry unit that is in a thin shield wall line. You come up behind them and start SMACKING HEADS. Easy. 30-50 will go to town. Just keep them back and in cover away from ranged. They definitely require a ton of micro but when they flank successfully it is amazing

[@varpix5026]

Great video

[@imperialdemon5648]

Voting for the Imperial Troops guide as well!

[@sedeslav]

I have just 7 of them ,but they still stay and kill everything in their path. they most of the times finished battle as wounded, but survive and fight for another day. i love my seven lunatics!

[@yngvebekk8946]

I mostly use linebreakers to defend my archers, they do a excellent job at taking down cav and stranglers breaking through the sturgian shield wall

[@stormwingmlx5118]

Nice video

[@Kingdomkey123678]

Imperial troops next? The Manavlion isn’t the longest polearm around, so I wonder if imperial shock troops are doing okay

[@LyonExodus]

Good intuition there. We have 1 Sturgian troop to go and then we are voting on the next faction

[@CaptSeaTomato]

I’ve personally found that Menavalions preform amazingly in open field battles when they’re mixed in with the line infantry, but not so much when you use them as actual shock troops to flank or counter cavalry. Sieges on the other hand? The long menavlion spear you’d think would be super dangerous while holding a choke point, but most of the time they just end up hitting the wall and getting clapped

[@miaou429]

amazing

[@RemasteredDK]

Great video, wonder hoe they work with the advcanced combat mod. Will test it out tonight!

[@LyonExodus]

no idea on how they behave with combat mods. this guide is vanilla only to give all players an idea of how they perform.

[@matsab7930]

Can you test fian champion without ranged? They have good armour and by far the best 2 handed skill of any troop, how do they compare to other shock troops?

[@LyonExodus]

There should be the Melee Performance testing on the Fian Champion video. You can pick the number from that one and compere them with the Palace Guards and the Linebreakers

[@BaskinTimi]

Can you do a horse raider top?

[@LyonExodus]

only option for the next video

[@colhammer1]

For the algoritme!

[@Pvinini]

Hey! Any specific reason why an armor value of 50 is needed to be good?

[@IRRob.]

So they don't die as quick lol

[@LyonExodus]

I feel like that's the minimum for infantry. Most cavalry gets over 60, while most infantry stays above 50. I also feel like 10 armor for each tier is the most balanced anyway, at least for pure melee options. It also helps since the game is so projectiles oriented (arrows) so, if you don't have a shield an armor buff would make you a bit better. But remember that with some perks they can get to above 50 armor anyway.

[@Pvinini]

@@LyonExodus okay! Was just wondering if there was a hidden gameplay change above 50 armor haha. Thank you

[@LyonExodus]

I think above 65 is where there is a big difference. but that's a lot of armor to bring around. And generally head armor is way more important than body. So a 50+ helmet and 30 body will do better than the other way around for the AI

[@blazezz1101]

I always prefer the Heroic Line Breaker over the Mameluke Palace Guard but I don't mind recruiting either depending on whether I spend more time fighting in the north or south. It's unfortunate how TaleWorlds made the AI unable to utilize weapon range to their potential. Looking forward to your analysis of the Sturgian Horse Raider in comparison to the Battanian Mounted Skirmisher esp with the former having a short polearm.

[@7heTexanRebel]

TW AI: "wait there are other movement keys than W?!?"

[@noctusfury6918]

I guess the sword is a prestige symbol for their elite status and their accomplishments in battle more than as a practical tool for battle? But you're right, having another 3 throwing axes would be better than a sword. Or, better yet, toss away the throwing axes and just get a bunch of javies, or better armour. Still one of my most favorite units in the game. ❤

[@kubaGR8]

Well it's a sidearm, it's meant to do sidearm things - except other than spears on foot, Bannerlord just flat out does not model any situations in which switching to a secondary would be needed, let alone a good idea.

[@requiemaeternam3406]

Using the loose Just before the charge allows the shock troops to Better swing and envelope the enemy, i Will Just Say they are more situationals in use compared both to Cav and shield infantry.

[@LyonExodus]

don't know. Them and the Palace Guards have always performed great in my campaigns. And the way i used them was: same formation as the infantry and Shield wall Holed fire. The 150 base skill and the cleave is a great combo for the Axe they use. They only need some extra DMG and shield break bonuses and they slaughter militia in sieges when they storm the gate. Head armor also a huge plus, body is not fantastic

[@requiemaeternam3406]

@@LyonExodus yeah it's the other and easiest way to use shock troops i was using the same tactic, but when i started using voulgiers and veteran falx found out that a separate infantry formation in line behind your shield Wall works Simply way better if you give them loose order before charge. Will never pur shock troops into mixed formations anymore except skirmishers they do wonders togheter, should try this simple trick in pitch battles your line Will Always outperform enemies even if worst tier.

[@LyonExodus]

i personally don't like doing almost any micro because if i forget once it can get bad. But with the new combat mechanics giving it a try would be good. I'll see if i can get something going in the campaigns i am playing right now, i want to eventually make an HOW TO "Faction" guide for all of them, using different tactics, troops, and such. Will need a lot of time to gather all of the notes and such but that's the plan for the "end" game

[@requiemaeternam3406]

@@LyonExodus with the right picking of troops and the right captains "micro" usually consists in giving like 2/3 more orders per battle, in a said series you should also give some hints on the army Building to make tacticts really pay off. Definitly looking forward for big juicy contents like those, YT Is quite poor on that side atm.

[@LyonExodus]

@@requiemaeternam3406 There are so many things i want to cover. The problem is that i want to make the best, most researched, well explained content i can. and without a professional editor is quite hard to do all of it on your own and keep a consistent schedule.

[@Bzhydack]

If Empire will be next, Palatine Guard should go first, because it gets buffed recently.

[@LyonExodus]

Will see what the audience wants to see. I suspect empire but no idea what troop they want to see first. The Palatines are a big one for this patch but so are Legionaries.

[@serkan978]

Sturgia always was my main faction and honestly they were never weak people just didnt use em right Oh btw i know the vet bow archers arent the preferred play stile but they are pretty good at meele combat and stay at range but done be afraid of meele of course not the fians but the fians are nobles :/ I dont think theyre the best but good if you use em right Love your vids man

[@LyonExodus]

I think what makes people think Sturgia is weak is that infantry should generally be a little better across all units. But unit by unit Sturgia as some of the best top tiers units out there. But they do lack a good Bowman in comparison to the others. I do like the Bowman too, i think with a good captain they can become very good and you can transform them into little tanks in melee. But they will always feel a bit weaker than most on the shooting side

[@serkan978]

@@LyonExodus true, true

[@cc-bk3tx]

I mean the infantry is kinda underrated but the archers are trash tho I really can't use them well

[@DestroyerOfOgis]

Exactly. People just use Sturgia in the stereotypical way and call it bad. Vlandian bias smh.

[@scottyalto]

Think so? Try this... Put them up against a formation of dismounted Khans Guard. Turn hold fire on once they clash. You just might get surprised.

[@LyonExodus]

have you watched the 1.0 video or the khan's guard one? cause if you did you would now i am not surprised about the results, it would just be a bit unfair to categorize the Khan's as anything lower than gods, no favoritism on my part

[@mortache]

The 1H sword skill could be there just for tournaments

[@LyonExodus]

yes it is. but he 1H sword itself is an item the unit will never use in combat. might use it in prison breaks but never on the field.

[@williammclyr3330]

​@@LyonExodus irl troops with big weapons always had something smaller as sidearm, I think this was the logic.

[@shimonbarkokhba3433]

cover the khans guard

[@LyonExodus]

another Sturgian to go then we are voting on Empire or Khuzait

[@niteowl9733]

The best infantry is heavy cav of your choosing. Simply dismount them and use shield wall. Axemen were destroying my cataphracts, bannerknights and dunzeks(spl). I tried a different approach. After killing enemy cav and horse archers I would dismount them. Smooth sailing.

[@pascalvicto598]

So in 1.8, all vladian suck and all stuegians rock?

[@LyonExodus]

Voulgiers and sharpshooters felt 1.8. a lot. crossbows got less accurate and the Voulgier has the 1.8. AI parasite. Other than that the other troops have kinda always felt worse than other units in their classes, apart from the Banner Knights who are among the best unit in the game.

[@MilitaryBuff]

After testing the heavy axeman I think Heroic linebreaker is pointless. Only thing heroic linebreaker would have over Sturgian heavy axeman is being able to beat some shock troops( but not the Voulgiers or falxman). Heavy axeman can have the same performance with a shield according to my brief testing. Listen to Lyon Exodus over me though because my testing was nowhere near as good as his.

[@LyonExodus]

shock troops in general are not satisfying me in the latest patches. they need more micro than ever after they changed the way troops in formation attack. altough the extra axe dmg to shields is still very reliable for sieges. they melt militia shields like it's butter. But they will need to survive the projectiles to do so. and if you keep them in the same formation as your infantry you are going to have a few casaulties.

[@MilitaryBuff]

@@LyonExodus True I only use shock troops if I need to make up for the lack of anti-cav ability of my shield infantry or just bad mele performance from them in general.

[@agungsuryapangestu2446]

this guys kill a lot and dead a lot....so balanced

[@agungsuryapangestu2446]

@@narxes you know what,im using legio and always use this unit flank so yeah so balance unit anyways

[@LyonExodus]

you get the kills, you get the Med XP. at least. Don't know if this guys are worth it in 1.8. but they are still decent. Hopefully they will fix the AI at one point.

[@agungsuryapangestu2446]

@@LyonExodus yea thats the main problems Ai always mess somehow and about this guys....well same like they aserai brother killing anything until they die either this guys or their enemy

[@agungsuryapangestu2446]

after 350 hours with this guys,i make my mind dont put this guys and their aserai bros as shock troop i mean they dont do well againts shield unit (infantry)