Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord gears up for multiplayer duels
En garde, bannerlords
Golly, look at the time. Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord has been in early access for close to a year now. TaleWorlds are prepping for more updates to their early access RPG including multiplayer duels, a sandbox mode, new siege maps, and other additions. They've given a look at all of the upcoming features in a new development video.
Big on the list are the online duel servers for getting all up close and personal with your rivals. TaleWorlds say that they duel map is made of of various arenas to make matches between various class types interesting, whether it's an open field for melee folks or a location with a bit of cover for the archers. Duels will take place over multiple rounds, with the first to snag a win in three rounds being the winner.
Duels are still wrapping up internal testing, TaleWorlds say, but will be included in the next major update to the beta branch so long as all goes well. Also headed to the beta branch are four new cities and two castle maps for sieges.
As for things that are coming to the main early access branch, there's the new sandbox mode that lets you begin a game without worrying about Bannerlord's main story.
"While creating your sandbox character, you will also need to select an age group, which will determine the number of skill points that you start with," they say. "Furthermore, your character’s culture is linked to your starting position on the world map, allowing you to decide where your adventure begins."
You can get the rest of the details, including the new pillage option and the battle terrain system, in TaleWorlds' development update post.
It's still in early access, but Bannerlord was one of RPS's best RPGs on PC in 2020.