Many players have been waiting for nearly a decade to get their hands on Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord, after the major success of the other Mount & Blade games. Bannerlord gives players the ability to completely lives out their life in its medieval setting however they wish. Players can become an arena champion, work as a mercenary or bandit, or even take control of the entirety of the known world. One of the best aspects of this game though is its dedicated community of modders.
Modding in Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord is intriguing in that players have been able to completely redefine what the game is about and add in brand new mechanics for the community to play around with. Unlike its predecessors, Bannerlord was created with modders in mind, so there are already more than 2000 mods available to sort through. This guide shows players the best ones available and how to install them.
Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord – How to Install Mods
Mount and Blade II: Bannerlord is actually a very simple game for players to mod because its developers created it with modding in mind. This means that adding mods to the game is pain-free and players won’t have to spend a lot of time messing around with game files. The first step to start modding this game though is for players to make their way over to the Nexus Mods website where they are able to set up a free account. This will enable you to download any of the mods featured on the Nexus Mods site and gain access to any of the forums that hold modding tips and info.
Once this has been done players are going to want to pick up a mod manager to make their lives a thousand times easier. Luckily for them, Mount & Blade II just happens to be one of the few games that are compatible with Nexus Mods’ multi-game manager Vortex. Vortex will allow players to easily download a mod and quickly install it within the game’s files without having to dig through files or anything like that. All players have to do is download Vortex from the site and install it on their computer. From here they can set it up to run with Mount & Blade II.
For those who don’t want to install Vortex or can’t get it to work on their computer for some reason, installing mods is still a pretty easy process. Almost all of the mods on the Nexus website will come with their own installation guides and walkthroughs that are incredibly simple to follow. Most of them boil down to downloading and installing the mod into the same folder that the game’s .exe program resides. Keep in mind though that this method may alter or replace some files, so keeping a backup of save files is always a good practice.
Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord – Best Mods Available
Bannerlord Tweaks – Since Bannerlord is still technically in Early Access there are still a lot of problems and issues that the game is currently dealing with from bugs to gameplay inconsistencies. This mod will add a slew of completely configurable tweaks to the game that allows players to alter gameplay how they wish. There are nearly thirty different tweaks added to the game and several bug fixes as well.
Detailed Character Creation – One issue that many players have with Bannerlord at this time is that the character creator isn’t as robust as it could be. This mod will allow players to have more options when creating their character at the beginning of the game like their age, weight, build, and other in-depth options. This also allows the player to modify any of the NPCs that they may encounter in the game.
Tournaments Xpanded – While tournaments in the game are already pretty great, this mod expands upon the idea and makes them even better. With this mod in place, players are given more choice over what kinds of rewards they are given for completing a tournament and these rewards will now scale to the player’s level more effectively. The types of tournament competitions have now been randomized as well to give more variety in them.
Dismemberment – This is an incredibly simple mod, but it really beefs up the game’s already very realistic mechanics. With this mod installed, whenever a player deals fatal damage to an enemy with a horizontal attack there is a chance that they will completely decapitate that enemy. There is also the option to make the game trigger slow motion when this happens as well as alter the likelihood of it happening.
Diplomacy Fixes – One of the most important aspects of exploring the world of Bannerlord is ensuring that the player’s kingdom can stay on good terms with the other kingdoms around it. This mod adds many different updates and new mechanics to the Diplomacy menu that allow the player to keep the peace or declare wars all within the same menu.
Cultured Start – This mod alters the beginning of the game by allowing the player to start out in different ways. This will essentially allow them to begin the game with several different economic and status backgrounds. Players have a choice between the default start or playing as a merchant, exiled noble, mercenary, looter, vassal, or as a ruler. They can also choose what part of the world to begin in.
Just Let Me Play – This is another mod that alters the beginning of the game considerably, but this time by skipping all those pesky quests. Essentially this mod will completely remove all of the main quests and tutorial aspects of the game and allow the player to immediately found their own kingdom. This is perfect for the players who have made their way through the game several times at this point.
Distinguished Service – Players who are good at managing their armies may eventually realize that they have been running around with the same soldiers for the majority of the game, but have no way to reward their loyal soldiers properly enough. With this mod installed soldiers who meet a certain threshold can be nominated to ascend to a new level. If this is done enough times players can make them into a companion an even reward them with cushy government jobs.
Entrepreneur – One of the few things missing from Bannerlord is the ability to purchase property and become an investor in pieces of land. This mod fixes this issue by allowing players to use their extra cash to purchase acres of land. These acres will in turn accumulate money that pays out to the player every single day. Players are also able to buy land cheap and resell in order to turn a profit.
Bannerlord Cheats – Bannerlord already has a set of cheats built into the game, but this mod adds to that list with more than forty more options for players to choose from. These cheats are all able to be accessed from a menu from within the game and will apply instantly without having to restart or reload anything.
Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord can be played on PC.