Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord Development Update – Perks and Maps

TaleWorlds Entertainment brings us a new early access development update for their sandbox RPG Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord. To start things off, we get a quick overview of the recently released modding tools. Afterwards, the update spends some time talking about the newly implemented perks and singleplayer scenes before listing a good deal of fresh quality of life improvements.

Here’s the video part of the update:

And here’s the transcript:

INTRO
Greetings warriors of Calradia and welcome to Development Update #4!
In this video, we’ll be taking a look at the progress we’ve been making on perks before having a quick peek at some of the new maps that are being added to the game.
MODDING TOOLS BETA
But before we move on to look at the upcoming changes to the game, we just want to remind you all that we recently released the first batch of modding tools alongside some documentation to get you up to speed. Currently, you will need to own the game on Steam in order to access this beta version of the tools. This is something we hope to rectify in the future by making the tools available to everyone who owns the game, regardless of where they bought it. To access the tools, you need to head to your Steam library, select Tools from the filter, and search for Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord – Modding Kit. You will need to ensure that you have the game installed alongside the tools and that the version numbers match between the two for the tools to work. Then, you can simply launch the modding kit and press CTRL+E at the main menu to open the editor.
To keep up to date with the latest announcements regarding the tools, or to leave feedback or seek assistance, we encourage you to head on over to our modding forums or to join the modding Discord. Links can be found in the description below.
https://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php?pages/modding/
https://discord.com/invite/ykFVJGQ
PERKS
Perks have been a work in progress for quite some time now, to the point that community member Gregorio246 made a useful website for checking which perks are implemented and working in-game.
https://www.bannerlordperks.com
Thankfully, this is something that we’ve made great progress on as of late, with many skill trees now almost fully implemented, and the remaining few being actively worked on. You can expect to see Crossbow, Throwing, Trade, and Scouting completed very soon, with others to follow shortly after.
NEW EMPIRE VILLAGES
Another part of the game that we are starting to make progress on is singleplayer scenes, with 5 new Empire village maps being added to the game, bringing some additional variety to the world. Scening will be an ongoing long-term process, so you should expect to see new scenes added to the game over time, and well on into the distant future.
SAVE CATEGORIES
A new structure for organising save files has been added to the game. This new structure groups saves from the same playthrough under a single header, making your save files easier to navigate.
TOWN QUICK-TALK
A quick talk button has been added to the town menu, allowing you to talk to settlement notables without needing to load the entire scene. This works in the same way as conversations on the world map and massively reduces dead time.
CLASSIC CROSSHAIR
A three-part crosshair has been added to the game allowing ranged veterans of the series to use something a little more familiar when hunting their prey.
CRAFTING POP-UP
The weapon crafting pop-up has been reworked to display a weapon’s stats more clearly, as well as to show which weapons are classed as civilian, meaning that they can be used in town scenes.
CAPTAIN MAPS
And finally, two new maps are almost ready to be added to the multiplayer Captain mode map pool.
The Cliffs of Akkalat is a map from the early days of the multiplayer beta that has been reworked and made ready to reintroduce to the game. This map pitches players against each other amongst canyons and over steppes, with a wide front line that gives plenty of opportunities for flanking and intercepting manoeuvres.
Ebereth Hillfort is a walled settlement in the Battanian highlands. Both teams start outside of the walls and will have to push to secure valuable positions within the settlement. The map’s close quarters approach lends itself to ambushes and crossfires, while the asymmetrical layout will demand that teams constantly have to adjust their tactics.
OUTRO
And that’s it for development update #4! Please be aware that most of these changes are not currently on the live branch just yet, and will be arriving in upcoming beta patches.
Make sure to leave a reply in the comment section below to let us know what you think, and as always, thank you for watching and we hope to see you again next time!