Bannerlord Levels Up With War Sails
Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord just got one of its biggest overhauls yet. Alongside the new War Sails expansion, which finally adds fully simulated naval battles, the base game has received a massive patch that changes how wars, diplomacy and even stealth work.
If you have been waiting for a reason to return to Calradia on PC or to try Bannerlord for the first time, this update is a strong excuse. The expansion focuses on sea warfare and Viking style raids, while the free patch completely reshapes how you play on land.
War Sails itself lets you command longships and wage war across the water. Think screaming sailors, ships reduced to splinters and warriors thrown into icy seas. It is chaotic, cinematic and clearly built for players who like large scale battles with a fresh twist.
But the surprise is that the base game patch might be even more exciting. Taleworlds has packed in so many mechanics and tweaks that the patch notes run to more than 17,000 words. Instead of a simple content drop, this feels like a mini relaunch of Bannerlord’s core systems.
New Stealth, Disguises and Smarter Campaign Systems
The headline addition is a full stealth system that almost turns Bannerlord into a medieval Thief or Hitman. You can now sneak into hostile areas, free prisoners and tackle hideouts using shadows and silence instead of brute force.
Guards react to light, sound and movement. That means your position, your speed and even the environment matter. You are encouraged to:
- Create distractions to pull guards away from patrol routes
- Eliminate targets quietly to avoid raising the alarm
- Hide bodies so a successful takedown does not ruin the whole mission
On top of that there is a disguise system. You can operate inside enemy towns without immediately starting a fight, but if guards become suspicious you still risk being exposed. For players who enjoy roleplaying, infiltration and planning heists or rescue missions, this adds an entirely new way to approach Bannerlord’s world.
Outside of stealth, the campaign layer has been upgraded in several smart ways:
- Alliances and trade agreements between kingdoms give diplomacy more depth and allow more controlled long term politics.
- Reworked war, peace and tribute scoring makes the AI act more logically. When wars start or end, it should feel more believable and less random.
- Battles now have lingering consequences. Deserters and survivors can form roaming bands after a major clash, changing the map even after the fighting stops.
- Random narrative events appear on long journeys that can have positive or negative effects, adding some story flavor to the campaign grind.
- Fast Mode speeds up the game clock so you can more easily explore multi generation dynasties, succession and long term campaigns.
These changes push Bannerlord closer to a living strategy RPG hybrid where your actions ripple through the world for years, not just a few battles.
Combat, AI and Quality of Life Upgrades
Of course, Bannerlord is still all about the fights, and patch 1.3.4 delivers plenty there as well. Taleworlds has overhauled army and party AI with targeted improvements to melee, ranged and cavalry behavior. Expect units to act a bit smarter on the battlefield and feel more distinct in their roles.
There are also new tools in your personal combat toolkit:
- Slings add another ranged option to your arsenal.
- You can fire and reload while crouched with several ranged weapons, letting you play more tactically behind cover.
- If you get knocked out in battle, you can take control of other troops so you stay involved instead of just watching the rest of the fight.
Campaign management has been polished too. You can negotiate more directly through parley with enemies, exert more control over caravan trade routes and recruit nobles as supporters to shore up your political power.
There is even a refreshed main menu with a style that will feel familiar to Dragon Age Inquisition fans. It is a small touch but helps the game feel more modern and polished when you boot it up.
Put together, these updates make Bannerlord feel denser and more reactive without demanding players learn a completely new set of systems. Existing fans get fresh depth to master, while new players can jump into a more refined version of the original vision.
For PC players, there is another bonus: the base game is currently half price on Steam and War Sails has a launch discount, both running until December 10. If you skipped early access or bounced off the initial release, this updated version might be the best time to give it another try.
Whether you are interested in storming beaches from a longship, sneaking through dark alleys in disguise or managing a dynasty over generations, Bannerlord’s War Sails update gives you plenty of reasons to set sail for Calradia again.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/mount-and-blade-2-bannerlord-gets-free-patch-alongside-war-sails-dlc-thats-so-big-the-17-000-word-update-run-more-than-twice-the-length-of-age-of-empires-2s-legendarily-long-patch-notes/
