Mount & Blade 2’s Naval DLC Will Have Surprisingly Deep Sailing Gameplay

After three years of steady updates, Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord is 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 Sails introduces a sweeping set of changes that will take players to sea in what looks to be Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord‘s most ambitious DLC to date.

When Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord launched 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 the Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord experience with quality-of-life updates and content expansions. However, naval gameplay has been among the most heavily-requested additions to Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord by fans.

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With War 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 of Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord‘s world. TaleWorlds is adding a large northern coastline, including the new 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 of Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord‘s War Sails DLC, with players able to purchase, upgrade, and command ships, form fleets, and even use naval blockades as 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 Sails seems far more than just a bolt-on naval combat expansion for Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord. TaleWorlds looks to be expanding and rethinking the game’s entire sandbox to support War Sails, and fans will hopefully enjoy the DLC once it drops in the latter half of 2025.