Planning goes a long way in Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord's Captain Mode, but what of its single player? Taleworlds has now outlined how 'influence' acts as a currency that'll determine the strength of your army.
In this Steam Community update, the developer explains that influence can be earned in a number of ways—not least murdering bandits, enemy parties and conquering opposing settlements. "Influence points can be spent to determine the outcome of some faction decisions and to make requests to allied lords," so says Taleworlds, which in turn lets allied lords follow you.
Determined by the power of their party, allied lords command certain influence costs. Taleworlds continues: "It is the leader of the army which gains all of the influence for the army’s victorious deeds, [for example] capturing a city will result in a huge influence boon for the leader, so spending influence to build an army is actually an investment, and sometimes even a gamble. If an army leader can no longer afford to spend influence then the army will start to disband."
A number of factors determine influence upkeep, such as army morale, how far the army has travelled from home, and how good or fraught relationships between armies, commanders and lords are at any given time.
The update post—which also includes details on the game's updated UI—can be read in full in this direction.
Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord's launch date is yet to be revealed.