Ranking all Guilds - Medieval 2 Total War GUIDE

[@MelkorGG]

I am cutting back on videos. If CA announces a New Great Title, then I will return and cover it, but until then there will be few videos.

[@Randomstuffs261]

CA rebranding as fast food chain is more likely than them releasing a great new title (looking at the cooking videos they released instead of marketing the Rome Remaster).

[@lars9925]

I love videos like this one. If you make only a few of those I would even prefer that over regular videos of the silly kind, but these are just my two cents.

[@Janoxys]

understandable. i just hope that time comes sooner rather than later

[@pawezdziech7120]

St. John's Guild is useful in the late game, when THE plague strikes.

[@Xerrand]

Sooo Mel-kinda-gone ?

[@SplendidFactor]

One other thing about the Theologian Guilds, a recruited priest has a percentage chance of suddenly turning into a Heretic upon recruitment. This is the risk you run by training proper theologians. Some priest might think he knows the True Faith better and goes rogue instantly.

[@biotxsavart]

This is the sort of depth a TW: Medieval 3 needs, at minimum.

[@PoorManatee6197]

@@SplendidFactor never knew this, cool detail

[@VitorEmanuelOliver]

Cool, I'll never build it again then lol

[@RafaSheep]

A bit of trivia for some Guilds. Thieves Guild: The AI spams spies, so nearly every city you conquer from them will have a Thieves Guild. You will have to demolish many of these if you want a chance at getting any other guild. Merchants guild: This one is unique in that the first guild level doesn't boost merchants when trained, unlocking a cavalry unit instead. Merchants only get improved by the level 2 guild, and the Journeyman trait for Merchants is completely unobtaniable, even with the HQ. Swordsmiths Guild: Some factions have no sword units, making this guild inaccessible to them unless they capture one. The melee weapon upgrade also impacts the appearance of some weapons in battle. I always assumed this building was exclusive to castles, because of some guides I read in the past. Horse Breeder Guild: Very hard to get for most european factions until the late game, since most cavalry is exclusive to castles. Middle eastern factions can get them much earlier by building race tracks and holding races. Masons Guild: Despite what Melkor said, you'll only be able to get this guild late in the game, as the normalization and the increasingly high building times will make gaining points very slow, even if your city is building constantly. All: There are ancillaries that only become available when a character is located in a settlement with a guild.

[@idontlikerome2744]

What does the Journeyman trait do? Just extra Finance point? I assume the Mason Guild will be easier to get early as the Byzantines and Egypt? As they often have very populated cities, least the capital very early on

[@RafaSheep]

​@@idontlikerome2744 Yes, the Journeyman trait gives an extra finance point compared to the Apprentice trait (the highest attainable for merchants). These 2 traits become available factionwide , with or without a guild building in a specific settlement. Also, yes. the less construction downtime your settlement gets, the faster you will be able to unlock the Masons Guild. You will need plenty of Florins as well.

[@idontlikerome2744]

@@RafaSheep nothing cheats or some plundering cant fix, thx for the info bro

[@lhdl3870]

The only way i know so can have a swordsmiths guils in a city is by turning a castle with the guilds in one

[@RafaSheep]

@@lhdl3870 There's few factions that can train sword units in cities. Spain, Portugal, Moors, and Byzantines are some of them.

[@sebastianwszywka4490]

by assasins, you can destroy whole enemy faction, without even attack them, this is a big advantage for me

[@Bannerlordfor]

That requires save scumming tho

[@ryancarpenter7625]

Finally getting my melkor fix

[@Randomstuffs261]

I did a ritual sacrifice this morning, praying to the Gods that Lord Melkor would return and deliver unto us a Medieval 2 Guild ranking. Lo and behold, the Gods have fulfilled their promise.

[@idontlikerome2744]

The most faithful of us always taking the harder tasks, respect brother ✊

[@jasonlupo4117]

Having played the game on and off for about 17 years, I am surprised how much I didn't know about the way that the guilds work, especially in terms of when and how they become available, but even in the aspect of only one master guildhouse per faction--I did not know about that restriction. This was very enlightening! Keep it up, Melkor!

[@charliesierra6919]

Been playing M2TW since the beginning but never really knew all the nuances and levels of play available. A much deeper game than I imagined. I'm learning a ton of valuable info via your vids, and it has increased my love for the game even more. Thanks, and cheers mate!

[@PoorManatee6197]

I was pretty sure all the crusader guilds gained points by being next to pagan/muslim settlements, guess I was wrong. Personally I don't value unit experience that much, my favourite guilds are the swordsmith for that extra attack and merchant for the income, theologian and assassin are very good too depending on the run I'm making. Pro tip: If you are offered a guild you want but dont have the money to build it accept the offer anyway, it wont be built but you will keep getting the offer each turn until you have the money.

[@BucketBoatable]

Now this is the good stuff. I love audio oriented content. Now double dip on the topic and make a guild tier list. (Made comment before watching a single sec, missed the fact it includes ranking, lol)

[@paulmclaughlin351]

Cheers mellkor thanks for taking the time for all the videos ,tips ,and tricks. I find your brake downs extremely helpful and easy to follow .

[@runswithbears3517]

If you ever wonder why some settlements have high 'Unrest', one reason can be that there's an enemy spy in there. Using your own spies to counter-spy will get rid of those more easily. Also, I believe assassins protect the generals in any army they are embedded in. To me, this makes getting at least one Thieves' Guild and one Assassins' Guild in my empire usually worth it, though I'll admit I'm more of a roleplayer. I also believe that the Merchants' Guild counts as an economy building, and more economy buildings in your capital city (Markets, Roads, Docks, etc.) gives a global boost to merchant income.

[@Gitsmasher]

This game is so Awesome and Nostalgic that people still talk about it in2k25👍

[@justoalvarez3940]

Love you Melkor! I still remember you gave me a mod by yourself in a private message on Discord. I hope you keep doing these. Even if I'm not playing Total War at the moment, I still watch your vids.

[@MsSirAndy]

Great video, Melkor! Glad you are back!

[@iamnotthekingsaystheking7951]

Merchants guild is the best unequivocally. 🎉 $$$ Money bonus, but most importantly; You can now turn every settlment into a city. And now you auto win from economy. Since you can now recruit calv from cities you no longer need castle ever. The merchants guild doubled your income per settlement. You cant really lose to the ai anyway so troop bonuses are a meme.

[@Jumka]

You forgot that putting spies in armies or settlements protects the family member/general from spies/assassins. They are important to have but still low on the list.

[@federicocalvo7660]

A timely follow up to your guilds explained video.

[@exactlyloler61]

Melkor returning to Med2 content is truly a boon to this timeline

[@jotaro2690]

Yorkshire Man eaters Guild

[@Randomstuffs261]

I am a lifelong member of this guild

[@takemakizuch0510]

Melkor the Templar Chapter house are the ones with bronze tier armor and the St. Johns are the one with silver tier armor

[@craig42069]

+1 this is my recollection as well. Templar just look slightly cooler.

[@arcomegis9999]

Our highest honors to you, Melkor Spahbed ( Barbarian Invansion Sassanid reference ). Recently my steam accounts got hacked ( not sure if many others are also ), I'm forced to return to Total War classics in the 2000s through other means. Although there was not as many ported mechanics and features from Medieval 2 in Remastered, namely the measurement in diplomatic reputation and chances of successful diplomacy, the UI was a sight to behold. It allowed me to take time and actually progress the game naturally. I downloaded namely 2 mods for the vanilla game, Barbarian Empires and Enhanced. I'm logging hours on the latter. I'm asking if you would recommend any mods that's closer to the vanilla game. I'm also curious as to whether you would consider make videos and eventually, creating playlists about overhaul mods gameplay. Aside from that, I would wish you good health, both able in physical and mental. Last but not least, I await your blessed return with entertaining and thought provoking content, upon your next revisit. P/s: Rome Vanilla or Rome Remastered ? Which one is overhaul better, gameplaywise, easing aesthetic directions... ?

[@ashina2146]

7:26 The Swordsmiths guild also enables the Weapon upgrade, which iirc the real bonus being +4 Melee Attack, plus the Unit you need to Recruit are Swordsmen Unit/units who uses swords as their primary weapon, s HRE o Dismounted Imperial Knights doesn't count due to using Maces.

[@ashina2146]

Also on the Knights Hospitaller, they do have Silver Armor upgrade, upgrading their Heavy Mail to Partial Plate and then Full Plate, while Templars can only upgrade their Heavy Mail to Partial Plate, well infact only Templar Knights lacks the Full Plate Armor.

[@omicroneridani7456]

Haha I was quite about to buy the "secret Indian faction" bluff... but then again, that would have been great! 😀 Very nice video, regardless, Mr Melback... and by the by: is it me or he's sounding more and more ASMR than before the long hiatus?

[@Xerrand]

Playing this game since it released, and still learning new stuff.

[@AdaIlgar]

I didnt know it was that deep , thx for the video

[@voidghost84]

Hi. When playing HRE, I noticed a pagan province in the north-east (stetin if I remember corectly). It started with 100% paganism. To protect it from conversion, I took out Poland. I got the Teutonic Knights on turn 30. I noticed, that the polish provinces bordering the pagan one also got points, even thou I wasn't the provinces owner (I got a guild proposal in Krakov - if I remember correctly - this was like 10 years ago). So, it looks like points are generated not just in owned territories and conquering provinces gives you the points in them.

[@Ebonymercury]

The new india faction joke had me good. I was crapping myself with exitement

[@MelkorGG]

XD

[@cavalieredigitale]

Great guide Melkor, Thank you! but I think you missed one, the Hanseatic League in Teutonic Campaign, which is similar to the vanilla Merchants Guild but it is influenced by the Teutonic Campaign script.

[@logandaley1544]

I wish the guild system was easier to track or encourage in certain settlements. I thought it was all random for years when I played as a kid.

[@Bannerlordfor]

Imo merchants are overrated. Sure they make thousands a turn but how long does it take to get there? If you put the investment money into troops instead they will provide both more security and income from battles + capturing

[@gracelesstarnished573]

We need Medieval 3 Total War ASAP

[@rdg665]

Bro you really said assassins are useless ? Ok so imagine, every single turn one or two of your leading generals keep dying out of the blue, even your faction leaders, your priests, your merchants, diplomats, governer generals etc, an important general in the middle of a campaign away from home besiging a well defended city. How would you think about that ? You would think it is basically hell, so yeah this is how good they are and this is what the AI has to face. In fact, the best strategy for beating the mongols is by using assassin spam, you can topple the faction without even fighting a battle. And you can topple any faction with the same method without even fighting. You can also use them to keep destroying the enemy barracks and stables and archery ranges in cities and castles to prevent your enemies from training units. Assassins are crazy powerful if you know how to use them for maximum destruction.

[@MelkorGG]

But you can also use that recruitment slot to get a unit which does the job also - without dying of old age, without having the dice role, etc... As for destroying buildings, that is just hassle, just take the city and keep the buildings for yourself.

[@flaviusstilicho1239]

Luv me my teutonic guild houses

[@crocworks]

In multiplayer and Custom Battle, the Hospitaller Knights are the ones that can get 2 armor upgrades while the Templars can only get 1. Is it different in the campaign?

[@TheOriginalTuhat]

No, this knights of St. John slander must not stand 😩

[@Bannerlordfor]

The thieves guild is bad but spies are amazing. The ability to blitz a siege because the gates are open allows you to conquer faster. Also the huge campaign vision range is massive to scouting. Assassins are useless because they are a purely RNG agent with minimal impact.

[@VitorEmanuelOliver]

So apparently, there's a bug that makes you not get a bonus on your spies when you have higher tier thieves guilds. It only works on level 1. One less reason to have it

[@filip1408]

God emperor melkor, I bow

[@annibasarsinoe]

If only the Cult of Baal was still around...

[@runswithbears3517]

By the way, does the Explorers' Guild give a global boost to movement? Or only through generals that pick up the 'Intrepid Explorer' ancillary?

[@De_Wit]

The def's really did the player dirty by restricting the horsebreeders guild to city's only, making them allmost impossible to get for most factions and also almost useless except the higher tier, as the jousting list building gives more xp on its own. But nothing a little bid of adapting the code can't fix.

[@eduardoanzolch6078]

Assassin's Guild Mission Issued:[Assssinate That Pagan Priest.]/[Assssinate That General]

[@mikefoxtrot1157]

Heavily disagree that assassins are useless. It's not enemy generals or agents that assassins are useful for, maybe only the mongol/timurid generals but it's the pope. Spamming priests and a couple of high tier assassins ensure you always get your Pope, crusades on targets you wish etc. This is quite useful if you are not closer to Italy at the start/mid game like England, Portugal, Poland as it might not be possible to just capture the Papal States all together, which is the best option.

[@MelkorGG]

But then it is same issue as the Theologians guild. You don't need to play the Papal Game. As for Mongols and Timurids, I prefer to just fight normally/forts. So this list is still my own preference.

[@Thanatos833]

Are you sure the Explorers guild increases movement points for all your military units faction wide? I thought it only affected units built in a settlement with an Explorers guild?

[@MelkorGG]

I don't know exactly how it works, but I think it works with just the settlement, as you said. That was what I was meant to say, but I said it wrong

[@godoforder1828]

Man do i disagree with what you said about spies. Yeah the guild is pretty useless but i always send 2 or 3 spies ahead to open the gates of any settlement, it makes conquering so much easier, without siege engines to slow you down, specially in modded campaigns.

[@matthewryan2060]

Sword smith for Castles and Merchants for Cities.

[@trickyfoxx6941]

I always just cheesed the mechanics to get the guilds I wanted including the guild headquarters buildings so I had everything and the AI had nothing

[@ProfeSeb]

you should have done a S to D tier list that we can see in one image, try that for next videos

[@MelkorGG]

People don't click on those videos as much when I upload them anymore.

[@flyingfoamtv2169]

I am coming to your channel as an escape from all of the insanity of my countries current presidential administration.

[@VitorEmanuelOliver]

I thought higher ranking thieves guild gave you a global law bonus

[@Ackalan]

Uhm, if I don't misremember, the swordsmith guild up your troops weapons level.

[@cristhianferreyra1563]

I remember hospitalarian knights can get plate armor. 🤔

[@MelkorGG]

A lot of people have said that. I don't remember the source I used though XD Eitherway, does not matter too much, it is just 1 upgrade.

[@civ-fanboy2137]

Muslim Generals can not get the "Drunk" Trait, so the way to the Hashashims Guild isn't so punishing

[@Cba409]

I would rank them swordsmith> hospitaler> templar>merchant> Theologian> all others.

[@FifinatorKlon]

What if you constantly built e.g. stables and brothels and tore them down? Would you still get extra exp or is the game coded smart enough to deduct the points again after tearing the buildings down?

[@MelkorGG]

Ooh, I don't know.

[@rramos117]

Putting Merchant Guild HQ in Constantinople for $$$$$

[@Maus_Indahaus]

Video idea: How to reach the Americas in Vanilla?

[@KA-jm2cz]

Nice to know about 20 years later I stop playing this

[@hyper_5pace902]

Teutonic knoghts guild is goated. Those knights are giga busted

[@altynorda1227]

Question: there may be only one HQ guild for entire world? Or one for each type?

[@MelkorGG]

Only 1 Merchant HQ in the world, but you can have a Theologians HQ, or a Swrodsmiths HQ. So one of each type.

[@altynorda1227]

@MelkorGG for example, if I build Explorer's HQ, so I can't built a Merchant's HQ?

[@MelkorGG]

@ If you build the Explorer HQ you can also build a Merchant HQ. One HQ of each type is allowed - so you can have all of the HQ's on the map.

[@idontlikerome2744]

So the Headquarters version is the equivalent of Wonders from back Rome Total War, though one that the player/faction can build but man, i for sure have easily completed 10x runs as many nations in the game and never saw or got the Headquarter But good to know nonetheless, it would be more useful if this vid was released maybe 10 years ago for little me

[@JohnReilly-wm4sl]

Why are you cutting back Melkor ?

[@MelkorGG]

I've got real life stuff going on, mostly work related.

[@JohnReilly-wm4sl]

@@MelkorGG All the best to you !

[@RagingDong]

Using govenors is a bad strategy, i mean unless your trying to pop boost a town into a citidel for early late game troops there is no point using a govenor, just let it rebel and sack/exterminate them.

[@joecromwell2471]

There's gotta be other keys than those mentioned. I never recruit that many merchants and get merchant guilds all the time. I love M2TW, but hate how little is explained regarding the rules. Infuriating, lol. CA have been slack bastards for decades. It's a strategy and tactics game guy, not a first person shooter dammit. Include a damned pdf or word file explaining the freakin rules you trifling bastards! Still love the game, don't get me wrong. Good video, too!

[@michaelhawkins7389]

You said you had quit KZbin?

[@Randomstuffs261]

He quit quitting KZbin

[@MelkorGG]

? I've been uploading for about 6 months.

[@michaelhawkins7389]

@@MelkorGG This was the only vdieo of yours that I saw on my youtube homepage lol

[@MelkorGG]

@ XD This is what we mean when we complain about the KZbin algorithm.

[@SawedOffLaser]

Merchant Guild is crazy easy to get if you go on the first crusade to Egypt. Recruit merchants in Alexandria or Cairo, and set up on the trade resources there. They are worth a TON of money, and you'll make buckets of cash. Once you have the guild your merchants become even stronger, so it's even more money.

[@halokiller031]

Oy Vey when did you return

[@Xander77Ru]

So... we're pretending that you won't get endless guild points for spies and assassins by simply sending them on missions? And that you won't be spammed with endless offers to build and upgrade your guilds without ever building a single Inn \ Brothel \ Tavern? Edit - IIRC, the explorers guild grants some of your generals auxiliaries that boost movement speed, it doesn't improve movement speed globally. And given that you can't trade most aux without mods, it's not much of a benefit.

[@MelkorGG]

I have never used a spy for anything but as a moveable watchtower, and I rarely recruit assassins (maybe 1 per game max)... so, no I don't experience that. Don't you need to build inns, taverns, etc... to recruit them?

[@Xander77Ru]

@@MelkorGG You don't. Note the requirements in... your video. 10 points in EVERY settlement per every successful mission. As you might imagine, if you have 2-3 spies \ assassins, and they're doing stuff (which they should be doing constantly, if only to train their skills), the points accumulate very quickly.

[@MelkorGG]

@ Yes, but to recruit them in the first place, you need to build them, surely? (You don't start the same with those 2-3 spies.)

[@Xander77Ru]

@@MelkorGG Ah. Sorry, misread that completely. Yeah, fair point. Slightly better if you're Muslim, as they can't become drunkards. That said: 1. Family members can pick up those negative traits even without the buildings. 2. You don't have to park family you care about in the frighteningly decadent city. 3. Besides everything else, spy and assassin missions allow your King to easily gain those ever important Dread point.

[@khalid6722]

🫡