After three years of steady updates,Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlordis preparing to receive its first major expansion,War Sails, later this year. While the core game has long attracted praise for its deep land-based strategy and combat,War Sailsintroduces a sweeping set of changes that will take players to sea in what looks to beMount and Blade 2: Bannerlord’smost ambitious DLC to date.
WhenMount and Blade 2: Bannerlordlaunched in 2022 after two years in early access, it offered a massive sandbox full of medieval combat, kingdom-building, and RPG storytelling, but the game remained rooted firmly on land. Over time, developer TaleWorlds Entertainment has gradually enriched theMount and Blade 2: Bannerlordexperience with quality-of-life updatesand content expansions. However, naval gameplay has been among the most heavily-requested additions toMount and Blade 2: Bannerlordby fans.
WithWar Sails, TaleWorlds will finally realize those requests come early fall 2025, that too in a major way. At the heart of the expansion is a full-blown overhaul ofMount and Blade 2: Bannerlord’s world. TaleWorlds is adding a large northern coastline, including thenew region of Nordvyg, the icy Jumne river valley, and the desolate Island of Beinland. The playable map is not only larger, but will also be reshaped, with wider rivers to facilitate ship travel, towns moved closer to the water, and bridges reworked to keep land routes relevant alongside growing maritime trade networks.
Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord War Sails DLC Will Introduce In-Depth Naval Gameplay Mechanics
Naval travel and combat will be core mechanics ofMount and Blade 2: Bannerlord’sWar SailsDLC, with players able to purchase, upgrade, and command ships, form fleets, and even usenaval blockadesas part of coastal sieges. The blockades particularly feature lots of intriguing mechanics, like if a player is attacking a coastal settlement with ships, they can cut off reinforcements and trade by sea, while defending forces can attempt to break the blockade with their own fleets or reinforcements.
Ships are subject to wind and current mechanics, and sailing into storms or pushing overloaded cargo can damage vessels - even destroying them entirely if not carefully managed. TaleWorlds has also modeled storm systems that move across the seas, allowing for daring maneuvers around or through hurricanes, depending on the ships' seaworthiness. Clearly, then,War Sailsseems far more than just a bolt-on naval combatexpansion forMount and Blade 2: Bannerlord. TaleWorlds looks to be expanding and rethinking the game’s entire sandbox to supportWar Sails, and fans will hopefully enjoy the DLC once it drops in the latter half of 2025.
