Workshops are a good way to earn money in Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord if you manage to invest in the right workshop in a good location. They are not cheap, however, and you will need between 10,000 and 15,000 gold to start your little venture.
To purchase a workshop, head to a large town, and then wander around it. You are looking for a town with a Tavern and an Arena, as these will have workshops for sale.
While walking around the town, hold Left Alt to bring up places and people of interest, and look for workshops. Go to one and speak with the worker you will find there. You will have the option to buy the place, and will also be able to decide which workshop you want to set up.
This is where it gets a little tricky. The profitability of a workshop will depend on the availability of the goods that it needs, and the market for the product that it makes.
Experimenting with different workshops is the only real course of action right now, as the community doesn’t have enough time in the game to now the best things to build in different locations.
Some people seem to have had great success with a Wood Worker at Ortongard, while others are finding good returns from a Smithy almost everywhere, we assume to the constant need for weapons from various factions within the game.
We will be spending the next while experimenting with different workshops in different areas, and seeing exactly what types make good investments in different cities. We will update the guide with some recommendations as soon as we are confident they will get you good returns.
There also seems to be a limit on how many workshops you can buy that are tied to your Clan tier level. At the moment, this is hard to confirm, but we will once again update this article when we know more.
