Whip bannerman build

This backline bannerman carries the Battle Whip for control and emergency damage. Prioritize Resolve for Rally while keeping enough melee attack to land Disarm and fatigue for repeated use. About 100 Resolve at level 11 with Fortified Mind and a Sergeant’s Sash is our goal, not a cutoff. About 80 HP after Colossus is a practical backline target. For Nimble, keep combined body and helmet fatigue penalties close to 15.

Gear and leveling

Battle Whip

Carry the banner, a whip, and utility such as nets or bandages. Use light armor and stay behind the front. The banner’s Resolve aura applies only while it is equipped; Rally the Troops can be used without holding it. Early on, a banner plus a polearm is useful even before the whip or its mastery is available.

Immediate combat

Level	Perk
2	Colossus
3	Fortified Mind
4	Rally the Troops
5	Cleaver Mastery
6	Quick Hands
7	Nimble
8	Recover
9	Gifted
10	Pathfinder
11	Bags and Belts

For a recruit protected while leveling, take Student at level 5 so the early Colossus, Fortified Mind and Rally picks stay in place. Make the listed swaps and keep other levels unchanged; at 11, spend the normal and returned points. Student and Gifted.

Student route	Perk
5	Student
6	Cleaver Mastery
8	Quick Hands
9	Recover
11	Bags and Belts + Gifted

Combat loop and limits

Rally and Disarm each cost 5 AP, so they cannot both fit in a 9-AP turn. To keep the Resolve aura, start with the banner equipped, use Quick Hands for a free switch to the whip, Disarm for 5 AP, then spend the remaining 4 AP to re-equip the banner. This leaves no AP to move that turn. Cleaver Mastery lowers Disarm’s fatigue from 30 to 23 and its hit penalty from −20% to −10%; it still only prevents weapon skills for one turn. A disarmed target can move and use non-weapon skills, and unarmed targets cannot be disarmed. Recover costs a full 9 AP and is useful for repeated Disarms during a long fight when allies can cover the bannerman; Rally alone does not make it essential. The whip is weak against armor. If a dangerous enemy reaches the bannerman, use control or ask an ally to Rotate him out; an ordinary move from Zone of Control can draw a free attack.

See the weapon-build index, Battle Whip reference, Cleaver Mastery and combat guide.

Sources

Turtle225 and Abel’s In-Depth Perks Guide; community bannerman builds; developer whip notes; weapon and perk records. Further viewing: bannerman build video.