Turkish studio TaleWorlds Entertainment has released version 1.5 of Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord and version 1.3 of its War Sails expansion on PC. The console release is planned once the release process concludes.
According to information Oyun Günlüğü obtained from TaleWorlds, the update, which has been in public beta since August, went live on November 11 as War Sails 1.3.7 and Bannerlord 1.5.7. Alongside changes that make naval progression smoother, it brings new starting options to the sandbox campaign and introduces a blood feud system.
Ship mooring and village ferries arrive in War Sails
War Sails players can now moor ships they cannot yet crew in town ports instead of selling them. If the town owner goes to war with the player, those moored ships become inaccessible until hostilities end. The new ferry feature lets smaller player parties reach, and escape, areas that would otherwise be hard or impossible to get to without a ship.
Coastal castles now have ports, bringing embarking, disembarking and blockades to them. The update also adds 39 new random naval events, the ability to cut boarding ropes in combat, improved world map visuals and better decision making for naval parties.
Blood feuds and personality traits that matter
With the new blood feud system, which applies to both the base game and War Sails, executing a member of a clan now starts a blood feud with that clan. During a feud, a captured player character is always executed. Personality traits now have direct effects on areas ranging from wages, captures and ransoms to raid loot, siege speed, morale and rebellion chances.
New scenarios and starting options for sandbox
In sandbox mode, players can now choose from campaign scenarios such as United Empire, Invasion and Last Stand. World modifiers that enlarge bandit parties, raise rebellion chances, cause recruit shortages or speed up map movement can be set at the start of a campaign along with a seed code. Characters can begin as a king, vassal, mercenary, trader, outlaw or beggar.
The update also leaves battle sites and shipwrecks on the world map after land and naval battles. Instead of the old broad party stances, clan parties now have direct toggles for raiding villages, donating troops to garrisons, joining other armies and, in War Sails, owning a fleet. Four new battle terrains have been added, two south of Ortysia, one southeast of Quyaz and one south of Baltakhand, while smaller pirate parties, reworked troop reinforcements and a fast mode on consoles are also part of the update. Hostile actions against villages now only trigger a war if the village resists and the player chooses to attack.
Formation targeting and streamer mode for multiplayer
On the multiplayer side, Captain Mode gains formation targeting, allowing captains to issue targeted charge orders to infantry, ranged and cavalry formations. The new streamer mode, added to clan matches and all custom server modes, brings new displays for player stats, perks and equipment along with camera controls while spectating. The mode is not available in Duel.
