Consider the companion you hire as the final you will get. I am using the Bannerlord tweaks mod which makes you level up much faster compared to vanilla. My companions are doing a lot worse job but still better than normal. But the skills you want them for, like surgeon, engineer, roguery or scout move at a snail pace at best, barely noticeably Skyrocketting your smithing skill. Now the main idea is to : - Go to a new city. - Buy cheap weapons that can be smelt for a lot of wood/ingots (cf list below) - Smelt those weapons. - Make the most difficult 2 handed sword that you can, depending on the part you unlocked. What I used to do (before I started using tutelage) is do a hideout with just MC + companion you want to train. You tank all the dudes, they kill them with the chosen weapon. When 1 guy is left retreat. Wait. Redo hideout. (This can also be done with shieldwall infantry vs bow hideout or bow bandits when you want to level ranged). Tutelage just Switch companions around a lot to level different skills. Go into battle with a high medicine Surgeon so troops are wounded instead of killed, then switch to your lowest medicine companion to level their medicine. Switch scout and quartermaster around when you can. Keep varied food types and high morale. Yes, companions can level up and gain new skills in Mount and Blade 2 Bannerlord. As companions gain experience, they can level up and allocate skill points to improve their abilities. Companions can also gain new skills through training or by using certain items, such as books and weapons. It's not necessarily intuitive, I didn't know about it at first. Main point of having smith companion is to outsource as much skill as you can. Currently you can outsource following skills without loss in quality: Current leveling system allow leveling up to level 25, after this any progress will be almost stopped. I just realized there are companions with high starting Steward skills, so I'm wondering if I should forego steward on my personal character and just have a companion for it. Personal character. Every 4 level increase 1 party size. If companion die or become prisoner, your party size would suddenly shrink. I've been fighting with my 80 stack + my companion's 50 stack and just realized i dont know if the troops in my companions party are leveling up or not. Because if they are what determines which path they choose? I know if they're not getting experience it's unintentional because armies in your army controlled by other lords definitely level up .

mount and blade 2 bannerlord how to level up companions