Engineering Skill Guide
November 21, 2025
Leveling Engineering for better siege engines.
Engineering Skill Guide
Engineering in Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord is often overlooked but is critical for taking towns with minimal casualties. A high Engineering skill allows you to build siege engines like Trebuchets and Fire Onagers faster, build the siege camp itself quicker, and—if you are a Governor—speed up settlement projects significantly.
What Does Engineering Do?
The Engineering skill governs two main activities:
Siege Warfare: Speed of building the siege camp, siege towers, rams, and ranged engines. It also increases the health and damage of your engines.
Settlement Management: When assigned as a Governor, it speeds up the construction of buildings (like Granaries or Walls) in your fiefs.
A well-managed siege camp allows you to out-gun the defenders before the assault begins.
How to Gain Engineering XP
You gain Engineering XP through:
Building Siege Engines: Every time a Ballista, Onager, or Trebuchet finishes construction during the map phase, the party Engineer gains XP.
Using Siege Engines: Operating a catapult or ballista manually during a battle and getting kills yields massive XP.
Constructing Buildings: Governors gain XP when town projects are completed.
Tip: For a deep dive on power-leveling this skill, check out our Engineering Skill Leveling guide.
Key Perks to Watch
Engineering perks are split between Party Leader/Scout/Engineer roles and Governor roles. You often have to choose between a perk that helps you take a castle and one that helps you build up a castle.
Choosing the right perks can mean the difference between a long starvation siege and a quick assault.
Best Party Perks
Scaffolds (Lvl 25): Increases siege engine build speed. Essential for offense.
Torsion Engines (Lvl 25): Increases damage of engines. Good for defense.
Military Planner (Lvl 75): Increases siege camp build speed. This is huge because the camp build time is the longest phase where you are vulnerable to enemy armies.
Best Governor Perks
Dungeon Architect: Reduces prisoner escape chance.
Wall Breaker: Increases damage to walls (actually a Captain perk, but often paired in this tree).
Engineering Guilds (Lvl 200): Increases town project build speed.
Siege Tactics for Engineers
The "Reserve" Trick
When building siege engines on the campaign map, they will be targeted by enemy castle defenses immediately. To save them:
Pause the game the moment an engine finishes.
Click the engine and select "Move to Reserve".
Repeat until you have 4 engines (e.g., 4 Trebuchets) in reserve.
Deploy them all at once to overwhelm the enemy defenses.
Choosing Your Engines
Ballista: Good for anti-personnel, but weak against walls. Fast to build.
Onager/Mangonel: Balanced. Good against troops and light defenses.
Trebuchet: The king of wall-breaking. Slow to build but destroys walls from a safe distance.
Using a Fire Onager manually can rack up dozens of kills and huge XP gains.
The Engineer Role
You don't need to be the Engineer yourself. You can hire a companion with the "The Scholar" or "The Know-it-all" suffix. Assign them to the Engineer role in your clan screen to utilize their skill for building engines.
Summary
Engineering is the key to late-game conquest. Whether you are cracking open a Rebel town or defending your own fiefs against the Vlandian hordes, investing in this skill—or hiring someone who has—is mandatory for a ruler.