Mordhau patch notes & future content - Patch 7 analysis, new weapons, new map
Crossroads has too many horses
Sharpen your Billhooks everybody, because the largest content update for Mordhau since the game's release is now out, bringing with it two entirely new weapons and one entirely new map alongside a huge variety of balance tweaks and fixes. We'll walk through it all in our Mordhau patch notes and future content guide - and we'll also give you a glimpse of everything that's coming soon to this marvellous medieval brawler.
If you're scratching your head and asking what all this Mordhau stuff is all about, then you'd better check out our Mordhau guide guide, where you'll find some rather useful beginner's explanations alongside advanced tips to get you to the top of the leaderboards in no time. You'll also find links there to every other section of our guides series, from stats and opinions on the various Mordhau weapons to my in-depth exploration of the Mordhau melee combat system, and much more.
Mordhau patch notes & future content guide
Whether you're interested in what's next for Mordhau in terms of future content, or if you're just looking to check up on the recent Mordhau patch notes, everything you're after is a simple mouse-click away. Click any of the links just below to skip ahead to a specific section.
Mordhau Patch #7 - full patch notes
Okay, before we dive into the main plot points of this massive update, perhaps you'd like to check the full patch notes just below. Just click on the box below to expand its contents out, like opening up a hapless enemy with your Executioner's Sword.
Done? Cool. Let's get into the major changes for this patch.
Crossroads - new Mordhau map
The new Crossroads map is.... not my favourite. It focuses heavily on the things that I consider to make the game a little less fun - namely, unblockable one-shots.
It's a fairly small map built for Frontline as well as the smaller modes, and it's comprised of a central fort area and then just tonnes of surrounding plains through which you can gallop. Yes, gallop. Have you see how many horses spawn on this goddamn map?
I'm fairly good on horseback, but that doesn't stop a cold shiver running down my spine whenever I load into Crossroads. Like I said, I hate unblockable one-shots in Mordhau, and that means horses as well as siege weapons - two things which are very much present in Crossroads. You see that little raised platform at the very top of the central fort area? Yeah, that black rectangle is a Mortar - a new siege weapon unique to Crossroads, which can one-shot anything with a massive slow arcing shot. Thankfully it reloads extremely slowly, but still. There are so many horses speeding around anywhere at any given time, I've pretty much been able to close my eyes and fire this Mortar, and it'll kill someone.
If you like that kind of stuff, you'll love Crossroads. Personally, it's not my kind of thing.
Javelin & Heavy Handaxe - new weapons added
Two new weapons! Huzzah! Patch #7 has brought the first additions to Mordhau's weapons roster since the game first released. The Javelin is a 3-cost throwable that does some stonking damage to anyone it hits, while the Heavy Handaxe is a 3-cost upgraded Axe with an alt-attack that can be used to build and repair structures.
Need more information? Fine. The Javelin is definitely the strongest throwable in the game so far, as it should be for a 3-coster: able to one-shot unarmoured torsos and up to Level 2 helmets. And anything else will die in two bodyshots. Which is great, because you get two Javelins to throw. They're slow to draw, but very quick when hurtling through the air towards an enemy's face. Everyone's using them right now, so be prepared.
The Heavy Handaxe is... probably a little too powerful to be a 3-cost weapon. The alt-attack building/repairing is nice to have for Frontline matches, but with that out of the way, it's a very decent, hard-hitting weapon on strikes as well as thrusts. It's very slow - only slightly quicker than the Maul - but all this means is a decent fighter can make use of drags and accels to really punish unprepared players with the Heavy Handaxe. And all for just 3 points, allowing you to spend more on Perks or Armour or throwables... It's a very good weapon for what it costs, and I think it may need a small nerf with the next patch.
Shields & Archery buffed
For shield-users and archers, two minorities when it comes to the battlefields of Mordhau, this patch is a happy patch. Archers not only enjoy their two main Perks (Huntsman and Ranger) now costing just 1 point each instead of 2, but also a buff to crossbow damage against armoured torsos, a faster draw and projectile speed on the Longbow (though a slightly slower reload), and - perhaps most interestingly - much greater manoeuvrability with the Recurve Bow. As well as having a faster draw and projectile speed, your can now partial-sprint while drawing, releasing, and reloading the Recurve. Like I said, happy days for archers, who already were considered by many to be the bane of your existence in Mordhau.
Plus, leg damage has been increased across the board. Now that's a biggie, and one that obviously affects everyone, but aiming at legs was something of a speciality for archers, and now they're going to be rewarded all the more for it.
As for shields, there are no changes specific to individual shields - simply gameplay-wide alterations to how blocking and shielding works. Not only are the animations for holding and lowering block more responsive now, but you can backpedal quicker than before, and you no longer need to release and re-press the block button after you're hit - as long as the button is held down, your character will raise their block back as soon as they're able. Oh, and that extended kick range against blocking shield-users that Patch #6 gave us has been nerfed a bit as well, so you need to be closer for the kick to connect.
I feel like the shields in particular didn't really need these changes, because if you were good enough with a shield you could already tangle with many of the best players out there. But if it gets more players using shields, then the meta will undoubtedly develop even quicker than before, which can only be a good thing.
For detailed guides on making the most out of both sets of tools, check out our Mordhau archery and Mordhau shields guides.
A tonne of minor weapon stat changes
Jeez, so many little stat tweaks and weapon changes. There's no point in trying to talk in-depth about each one, but I can point out a couple of changes that caught my eye.
First: Zweihander and Greatsword halfswording (alt-mode) has been buffed. Now I always loved halfswording with the Zweihander anyway, because people don't expect you to have that level of speed with a Zweihander. Same with the Greatsword. But now we're probably going to see a lot of people coming round to this way of thinking, particularly in 1v1 situations.
Second: the Billhook and Messer, two of the most powerful weapons in the game in my opinion, now both have a 25ms faster strike. That's pretty scary - but good news for I, who have used the Billhook as my main weapon for a good long while now.
Third: the Poleaxe, which was already an excellent weapon for 7 points, now only costs 6. I mean, wow. I can only imagine that this decision was made not because the weapon was underpowered for a 7-coster (it isn't) but because not enough players were using it. I hope they'll start now, because the Poleaxe is a truly excellent weapon. And now it costs only 1 point more than a Messer.
For full details and stats on every weapon post-Patch 7, check out our Mordhau weapons guide.
Future content for Mordhau - Duel Mode, Feitoria & Castello maps, modding tools
That's all the important stuff from this most recent patch out of the way, but Triternion have promised us much more to come in the future of Mordhau. Perhaps most exciting for all those who frequent the various unofficial duelling servers in Mordhau's server list: there's an official 1v1 Duel Mode in the works, which will hopefully streamline the process considerably so there's less downtime between chopping up your contenders like sashimi.
To sit comfortably alongside the new Crossroads map, we'll be getting two more new maps, called Feitoria and Castello, at some point in the future. We're not yet sure on a timescale for these maps, but for everything we know so far about the maps be sure to check out our Mordhau maps & locations guide.
As for other upcoming additions: it's safe to expect a variety of new weapons and gear, and possibly perks, to bulk out the already sizeable arsenal of choices players have in the game - but that's not all. Triternion have also confirmed the longer-term goal of releasing dedicated modding tools to the community so we can start busying ourselves with creating our own content. We're not entirely sure yet how much freedom these tools will give, whether we can create entirely new weapons and perks and maps, or just reskins of existing creations. But I'm optimistic, and excited, and you should be too.
Mordhau patch notes archive - full patch notes since release
That's all we know so far regarding future updates for Mordhau; but just below you'll also find a full list of all patch notes since Mordhau's release. Simply click on any of the boxes to expand them and view the details of whatever update you choose.
Note: tiny hotfixes that don't introduce new features and significant changes have been omitted.