Bannerlord Update 1.3 Beta Guide: How to Play and Major Patch Notes

Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord update 1.3.0 is available now on the beta branch. It is a large test build covering stealth missions, disguises, diplomacy, settlement management, combat AI, multiplayer, crashes, performance, and modding support.

Bannerlord Update 1.3 Beta Status

Patch 1.3.0 is live in beta, so players can try the new systems before the stable release. The tradeoff is the usual beta warning: bugs, rough edges, and save compatibility issues are possible.

The stable release does not have an official date yet. Console players also cannot join the beta branch and will need to wait for the normal release.

The developers warned that saves may not be compatible with the beta build. If you want to test the update, make a separate campaign save instead of gambling with a long-running file. Calradia already has enough ways to ruin a plan.

How to Play the Bannerlord 1.3 Beta on Steam

1. Open Steam and go to ythe Library.
2. Right-click Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord.
3. Choose Properties.
4. Open the Betas tab.
5. Under Beta Participation, select beta - Beta v1.3.0.
6. Let Steam download the update, then launch the game.

What Update 1.3 Changes Most

The headline additions are stealth and disguise gameplay. Prison breaks and hideouts now use sight, sound, suspicion, alert states, body hiding, distractions, stealth-focused gear, and restricted mission equipment. Hostile towns also get disguise infiltration, contacts, guard suspicion, and consequences if the player is exposed.

The patch also adds slings, morale and retreat logic for battle simulations, deserter parties, patrol parties, random events, alliances, trade agreements, parley, supporter recruitment, caravan controls, revised settlement projects, many economy changes, and a wide set of AI improvements for armies, parties, formations, cavalry, ranged troops, shields, sieges, and pathfinding.

Below is a rewritten version of the source patch notes that keeps the actual section coverage and bullet detail while avoiding a straight copy of the original dump.

Full Patch Notes: Singleplayer

Art

Changes

• Introduced a new main menu video for each culture - 6 in total.
• Introduced 4 new armor pieces: Blackened Boots, Blackened Armor, Blackened Cape, and Blackened Hood. These have a high stealth factor.
• Introduced 4 new shields: Sturgian - Druzhinnik Kite Shield, Reinforced Leaf-Point Kite Shield, Leaf-Point Kite Shield; and Vlandian -
• Angular Kite Shield.
• Introduced 6 new sword scabbards for existing blades.
• Scene Atmospheres

The update moves away from an automated interpolation of atmospheres based on time of day and instead introduced a greater range of custom environments that are tailored to cover specific times. The developers further fine-tuned atmosphere values in general and improved the skybox textures.

• Introduced and improved existing global illumination for various towns, castles, and keeps.

Fixes

• Minor fixes (including siege-related) across town, castle, and tavern scenes.
• Minor clipping fixes for the Rural Headdress and Palatine Guard Helmet.
• Minor fixes for Battania helmets.
• Corrected a visual issue with the Arbalest crossbow handle texture.
• Resolved an issue where allowed players to leave the training field mounted area on horseback.

Animations

Changes

• Refined idle animations for guards.
• Corrected party rotation visuals on the campaign map , parties in map events now face their opposing leader rather than the midpoint of the event.
• Adjusted beggars’ animation speeds for smoother movement.

Fixes

• Resolved an issue where caused some parties to play a running animation while stationary on the campaign map.
• Resolved a problem where the battle animation would not play for a party raiding a village during a raid.
• Corrected a bug where sitting beggars would not turn to face others while speaking.
• Corrected a bug where a character seated on a throne could slide out of position when a conversation began.
• Resolved an issue where caused idle animation issues for female companions in civilian scenes.
• Corrected an animation bug that caused the barmaid to get stuck in the beer-pouring animation.
• Resolved an issue where caused NPCs to sit or float in mid-air in civilian scenes.

Campaign Map

• Corrected specular issues affecting the appearance of settlements on the world map.

Audio

Changes

• Game music now ducks when the player gets near town musicians.
• A new music track & sound set for stealth missions.
• A new sound set for “The Retreat” ending.
• New sound sets for Settlement Build, Recruit and Kingdom Decisions panels.
• A new ambient sound set for Slow Motion/Order mode.
• A new sound set for Formation Targeting.
• A new sound for the Banner Bearer's movement.
• A new sound for fast movement of the Campaign camera.
• A new sound for hideout battles and raids on the Campaign map.
• A new sound set for weather events on the Campaign map.
• Introduced ambient village scene sounds to scenes that were missing them.
• Optimized the footsteps to free up audio resources in crowded situations.
• Balanced the in-game UI notification volumes.
• Revised the bodyfall physics sounds.
• Redesigned the campaign ambients to have more consistency.
• Refined the sound of campaign armies.
• In-combat AI yelling behavior now reacts to close engagement and chasing situations.
• The arena audience now better reacts to fights.

Fixes

• Resolved an issue where caused the background music to stop when switching culture in the Character Creation screen.
• Resolved an issue where caused some combat music to have the wrong transitions and mood jumps.
• Resolved an issue where caused order and dialogue voiceovers to play on the Loading screen.
• Resolved an issue where prevented the in-game Master Volume setting from impacting the intro sound.
• Resolved an issue where caused the character’s voice type to reset every time the Character Creation screen was opened.
• Resolved an issue where caused the wrong voice to be assigned to the character on the Character Creation screen.

UI

Changes

• Introduced a new heir selection popup. The new popup presents information in a clearer, more visual format similar to the marriage popup, and shows the player’s relation to each candidate.
• Refined the town management popup:

Pressing outside the Reserve popup now cancels instead of confirming. Resolved an issue where caused the “Add to queue/Remove from queue” button to always display as “+”.Introduced tooltips to the “Add/Remove” and “Set as active” buttons. You can now reorder items on the right-side queue via drag-and-drop, or click to manage an item directly. Resolved an issue where caused minor visual flaws.

• Introduced a visual for the banner-bearer count on Order of Battle formation cards.
• Introduced controller hotkeys to the Order of Battle screen.
• Introduced “Culture” to hero tooltips in the Manage Town menu.
• Introduced a tooltip to the Party Troop Wage icon.
• Introduced additional warning menus for “Force Recruit” and “Force Goods” hostile actions to indicate that the action may cause war.
• Introduced a tooltip warning of possible death when accepting corporal punishment.
• Introduced an influence gain message to the log when donating prisoners.
• In a hero's encyclopedia page, the friends/enemies lists have been shortened to 3 rows, and the overflow is now displayed via a tooltip.
• The message log is now temporarily hidden (instead of cleared) when opening fullscreen menus, entering Photo Mode, or starting a conversation.
• Made several improvements to the “Upgrade Troops” popup regarding horse requirements.
• Disabled saves are now also selectable in the “Saved Campaigns” screen (they cannot be loaded).
• Disabled quicksave-related options when the save limit is reached and added a tooltip explaining why. Previously, a non-specific error would appear.
• In Custom Battle, the Siege Engine selection popup can now be exited without making a selection.
• Clarified “Party Wage/Party Expenses” texts and refined clan tier bonus descriptions on the Clan screen.
• Time now resumes to its previous state after a marriage offer is closed.
• Made troop tiers more visible on the Manage Troops screen before hideout battles.
• Moved the pregnancy icon on the Clan screen to be more visible.
• Updated journal quest highlighting: clicking a quest now hides its highlight, while updated/new stages remain highlighted until clicked a second time.
• Items plundered during raids are now grouped before being displayed.
• Restructured the troop list in the in-game encyclopedia into two main groups: Culture (regular faction troops) and Outlaw (bandits).
• Refined encyclopedia search to include results with diacritics.
• The “Transfer All” button when trading with a settlement now transfers goods only up to the settlement’s gold; pressing it again transfers the remaining goods.
• The “Toggle Camera Follow Mode” button no longer appears in Photo Mode when visiting scenes like the Tavern.
• Made unavailable items clearer to distinguish in the Crafting → Refine window.

Fixes

The singleplayer UI fix list covers character creation history buttons, inventory prisoner conformity resets, Lord's Hall fight completion, wrapped link styling, stale alley leader thumbnails, shield sigil display, tutorial pause layering, militia and garrison information mismatches, encyclopedia controller navigation, destroyed kingdom cutscene names, army location text, execution cutscenes, perk popups, Custom Battle sliders, Kingdom screen access, raid-end information, off-screen cursor tooltips, clan banner buttons, invisible attribute-point text, duplicate banner effects, inventory capacity with horses, army icon button states, alternate item-use buttons, empty fief buttons, non-Latin layout alignment, repeated prisoner donation tooltips, settlement and party banner inconsistencies, disabled kingdom decisions, party priority dropdowns, missing quest highlights, Manage Army button display, kingdom clan sliders, party speed tooltips, siege overlay duplicates, tooltip wrapping, army overlay display, army member tooltip behavior, neutral troops on scoreboards, Order of Battle Esc behavior, ultrawide dialogue nameplates, ultrawide tooltip placement, invisible party and inventory shortcuts, campaign option availability, tutorial raider tracking, encyclopedia search with on-screen keyboards, governor arrival notifications, controller focus after settlement entry, marriage notifications, workshop purchase explanations, paused siege engine tooltips, missing Charge to the Gate icons, village noble display, and broken persistent mission notifications.

Stealth & Disguise

• Introduced the stealth system - used in prison breaks (from a dungeon) and hideouts.

Enemies detect the player through sight and sound, reacting to movement, noise, bodies, or their alarmed allies. Their vision is influenced by elevation , enemies see more clearly when looking down, but struggle to spot movement above them.light exposure , shadows and night offer concealment while areas lit by torches make you stand out. Natural hiding spots such as tall grass and dark corners provide concealment; crouching reduces visibility further. Enemy alertness states: Neutral → Cautious → Searching → Fully Alarmed. Introduced distraction mechanics with thrown objects and noise-making; some enemies resist being diverted. Stealth attacks deal bonus damage to unaware targets with certain weapons allowing crouched melee and ranged strikes. Players can drag bodies to conceal them and reduce raising alarms. Ythe roguery skill will now also impact the damage dealt via stealth attacks as well as how fast you move and the noise you make while crouched. Redesigned the bandit hideout scenes and mission to accommodate stealth gameplay. Instead of diving straight into the fight, you’ll need to clear out sentry camps surrounding the main hideout first. Once you’ve eliminated these outer threats, you’ll have the option to call for an all-out assault on the main camp, leading to the final boss fight. Redesigned dungeons and the prison break mission to accommodate stealth gameplay. Breaking someone out won’t be as simple as waltzing in and cutting their shackles , you’ll now need to sneak ythe way in, locate the prisoner’s cell, and then escort them out without raising suspicion. You can’t fight ythe way in, but once you reach the cell, guards will start to sense that something is off and begin patrolling. At that point, you’ll have to decide,do you attempt a stealthy escape, or fight ythe way out? 6 new dungeon scenes have been added designed for stealth gameplay.

• Introduced a third equipment layout which will be utilized in stealth missions.

Certain armor pieces now modify ythe visibility and audibility, offering bonuses for stealth-oriented gear. This is indicated with a stealth bonus entry on the item tooltip. Selected daggers now have an alternate backstabbing attack. Daggers, certain swords, short bows, composite bows, light crossbows, and select throwing weapons will be usable in stealth missions. The range of available weapons remains subject to change. Introduced Bag of Rocks for creating distractions and diverting enemy attention.

• Introduced the disguise system - used when sneaking into hostile towns.

The first infiltration of a town requires setting up a contact inside the settlement. The town mission, however, now has increased guard presence and surveillance, requiring you to disguise yourself and find the contact person within the mission. Disguise relies on inconspicuity , suspicious actions such as running, drawing weapons, or hiding will raise guard suspicion. High suspicion triggers guard investigation. If you break line of sight, they eventually return to their posts. Being identified blows ythe cover, placing all guards on full alert and initiating pursuit. Escape requires leaving the settlement and capture results in imprisonment. If you establish a contact successfully, you can then explore the town in disguise, including in any future entries. If you prefer the campaign menu, you may still use the skill roll option to sneak into the settlement each time , but only after you’ve established a contact there.

• Introduced a tutorial quest for stealth that is added at the end of the campaign tutorial (also when skipping).
• Introduced a new difficulty option for stealth and disguise.

The selected difficulty option (normal, veteran, challenging) affects the sight and hearing abilities of enemies in both gameplays.

Battles and Sieges

• Introduced a new ranged weapon with a high force of impact and great range - Slings.

They are used with a single hand, and can be used alongside shields.3 different types and ammos were added: Wool, Braided and Reinforced SlingsStone, Chiseled and Lead Sling Bullets Adjusted the "Throwing Competitions" perk to "Slinging Competitions” which now enables head armor penetration with sling weapons (personal effect). It also gives +1 militia recruitment in the governed settlement (governor effect). Sling weapons were given to Looters, Mountain Bandits, Desert Bandits, Empire, Aserai, Battania Villagers, and Hidden Hand Troops. Lowered the throwing stone range to a smaller value than slings.

• Introduced morale & retreat to battle & siege simulations.

Lord parties now lose morale after losing rounds in simulations when they suffer heavier casualties than their opponents. When a side loses too many rounds in a simulation, it may attempt to retreat. During the retreat phase, the opponent continues to strike for fthe additional rounds. If the retreat succeeds, the side escapes the battle with its remaining troops. When a side’s morale reaches 0, it automatically loses the battle. Parties above 50 morale are less likely to take casualties, while parties below 50 morale are less likely to inflict casualties. This allows a small party of elite troops to stand against a numerous but less trained force and come out on top if their party morale was high. Players (and AI) can thus preserve their high tier troops by keeping their party morale up. Parties without a leader (such as looters and other bandits) do not retreat to avoid having to hunt them down repeatedly.

• Campaign/Sandbox

Removed the defender advantage factor from siege battles. Troop count ratios for attackers and defenders now reflect only the actual party troop counts on the campaign map. Previously, defenders could spawn up to 1.5x more troops than attackers in equal-troop sieges. Refined besieger AI to ensure at least one siege tower and one ram are built, with additional siege engines constructed as needed. Raised the Devastate and Show Mercy influence costs in the post-siege menu to reduce them from being unrealistically low. The player now gets kicked out of the siege if they choose not to participate in the parent army’s attack. Fixed a bug with siege commitment scores that caused parties to abandon sieges after starting them. Fixed a bug causing caravan parties to leave their settlements while under siege. Resolved an issue where prevented siege engines and weapons from being installed during sieges. Resolved an issue where caused the stash to disappear in a conquered town. Resolved a problem where the player could become siege commander (and take all loot, including the settlement) when joining a siege started by another faction. Fixed the “0-troop” continuing siege bug after a failed sally out. The settlement will now correctly be taken by the besiegersResolved an issue where caused the player and allied parties in their army to enter a settlement twice after winning a siege. Resolved an issue where allowed the player to enter a settlement instead of joining the battle when there was an active sally out. Fixed incorrect battle reward calculations when a settlement was captured during an active sally out. Fixed a commitment score calculation issue for sieging that caused parties to sometimes abandon the siege after starting it. Resolved an issue where caused incorrect menu text to appear when an enemy army encountered the player during a siege, while the settlement garrison sallied out against the player.

• Siege Mission

Refined the aiming behavior of boulder-throwing agents in gatehouses. They now drop boulders through murder holes instead of onto the floor. AI troops now position and aim more effectively when attacking targets such as castle gates and siege machines. Refined AI handling when moving toward enemies outside navigable areas. Refined ladder queue behavior so agents now respond to new orders instead of staying locked in their scripted position. Fixed various movement issues around siege engines and barricades, including ladder-related problems. Resolved a problem where some agents waited too long to climb ladders due to incorrect scripted movement assignments. Resolved a problem causing agents to be teleported into the air when attempting to use siege ladders. Resolved an issue where caused AI troops to stop moving while climbing stairs. Fixed a ladder-climbing behavior issue where troops would climb down one siege tower ladder only to climb up another on the same tower. Agents no longer rotate excessively while attacking siege machines with melee weapons. Resolved an issue where prevented attackers from opening castle gates from the inside in certain situations. Resolved an issue where prevented ranged troops from attacking castle gates when ordered to do so. Resolved a problem where attackers used both side siege engines while attacking via a single line. Resolved an issue where prevented agents from spawning at strategic positions such as castle walls or siege engines. Resolved a problem where attack orders on siege weapons were not registered if the order flag was placed on non-navigable terrain. Fixed a bug where agents falling from siege towers could end up beyond the terrain boundaries. Resolved a problem where defender formations abandoned castle walls when siege tower gates were dropped. Fixed a bug causing agents to spawn outside deployment boundaries. Fixed several AI pathfinding issues.

• Order of Battle Phase

Refined the Reset Deployment button so it correctly reverts any arrangement orders given to formations. Refined agent fall prevention near edges during the deployment phase. Refined the boundary projection algorithm so troops are teleported correctly to the nearest deployment boundary when given orders outside it. Resolved an issue where caused player formations to be incorrectly placed when joining an encounter as a third party (e.g., caravan battles). Fixed a bug where the warning icon failed to appear when moving the cursor outside the deployment boundaries. Resolved a problem where a newly created formation’s troops were placed incorrectly when their formation was teleported for the first time. Resolved a problem where formations loaded from a previously saved battle configuration became widened during deployment. Resolved an issue where caused siege weapons on the player’s side to remain unused by troops after auto-deployment.

• Resolved an issue where caused pack mules to immediately flee from battle during caravan missions.
• Resolved a problem where companions could spawn with a different banner color than the player’s.
• Resolved an issue where caused the player’s troops to spawn inside the castle during sally out ambush missions.
• Resolved a problem in ambush missions where some reinforcements on the player’s side remained inactive until ordered.

Character Development System

Changes

• Introduced Import/Export hero cheats.

Campaign.export_main_hero [filenamewithoutextension]: Exports main hero as a file to the Game Saves folder. Campaign.import_main_hero [filenamewithoutextension]: Imports a character from a file in the Game Saves folder. Campaign.export_hero [filenamewithoutextension] | [nameofhero]: Exports a hero as a file to the Game Saves folder. The files can be edited manually once inside the Game Saves folder. The import/export actions concern equipment, perks, skills, attributes, traits, unspent focus and attribute points, body(age, build, weight, race, face), name, culture, gold.

• Clarified the descriptions of the following perks: Rapid Development, Tradeyard Foreman, Show Of Strength, Braced, Keep At Bay, HardKnock, HammerBolts, StoutDefender and Knock Off.
• The Empire cultural bonus that reduces garrison wages by 20% is now applied based on the culture of the settlement’s owner instead of the settlement’s own culture.
• Updated adolescence option texts in character creation.

Fixes

• Resolved an issue where caused settlement perk effects of governors to not work in castles.
• Corrected a bug where the Leader of Masses perk applied its bonus to all troops regardless of whether the party had the perk.
• Resolved an issue where caused the Moral Leader and Natural Leader perk effects to not apply correctly during persuasion.
• Resolved a problem that allowed focus points to exceed 5 during child education.
• Resolved an issue where prevented crime rating from increasing when taking bribes from villagers or caravans.
• Resolved an issue where prevented the player from gaining Roguery XP when looting animals during village raids.
• Resolved an issue where prevented the player from gaining Trade XP from player-owned workshops.
• Corrected a bug where executing devious lords incorrectly reduced the honor trait and applied improper relation changes. Executing devious lords now no longer affects honor, and the negative relation penalty is smaller than when executing an honorable lord.

Clan and Party

• Introduced a new bandit faction called “Deserters”.

Deserter parties can be created after lord battles and roam around nearby villages. As a consequence, they will proliferate in war-torn regions but remain rare during peace time. As these parties are made up of trained soldiers rather than bandits and looters, they can be a bit more of a challenge. They can also merge when certain conditions are met, creating larger and stronger forces that can threaten even clan parties.

• Introduced a new party type called “Patrol Parties”.

One patrol party is automatically generated in towns when the “Guard House” settlement project is built. Each Guard House level then enables the party to field stronger troops. Patrol parties do not incur wages. While a Patrol Party is active, it provides a security bonus to the town. Patrol Parties patrol their bound town and its bound villages, favoring hunting bandits and helping villages under raid. If a patrol party has suffered losses, it can return to town for reinforcements. If it is defeated, it takes some time to create another one.

• Introduced Random Events.

You may now encounter up to 100 different events presented through pop-up menus as you play. These appear based on ythe actions , for example, entering a town or participating in a siege. Each event tells a different story and offers choices that can affect ythe character’s traits, skills, party, items, or gold.

• Introduced the ability to edit party and caravan leading clan members' equipment and inventory through dialogue.
• Adjusted certain aspects of Sturgia to make them more distinct & in-line with their historical inspirations.

The first Sturgian culture bonus has been changed from “Recruiting and upgrading infantry troops is 25% cheaper.” to “Village grain production is increased by 10%.”The second Sturgian culture bonus has been changed from “Armies lose 20% less daily cohesion.” to “Armies are gathered with 50% less influence.”.Round shields have been removed from Sturgia troops, nobles, and tournament equipment. They have been replaced by 3 new shields (mentioned under Art). Kite shields have also been distributed among Vlandia, Empire, and Sturgia. Removed certain Nord-inspired weapons and head armors from Sturgian troops. Replaced certain Nord-inspired banner sigils used by Sturgia with existing suitable icons.

• Wanderers now spawn younger. In addition, the age at which they leave the game due to aging has been increased, allowing them to remain in the game longer.
• Prisoner heroes and troops are now healed over time. Prisoner heroes’ health is capped at 20%, and one prisoner troop recovers daily.
• Party food consumption will now always be at minimum 0.01.
• Noble and companion parties from factions or clans without settlements (such as minor factions) will now patrol around towns, castles, and villages they are neutral with. Combined with increased enemy detection for patrolling parties, this makes it more difficult for bandit parties to roam and pillage freely near settlements.
• Party AI Movement Improvements & Fixes

Lowered the campaign map movement speed of all parties by 20%. As a result, the “Cavalry” and “Footmen on horses” campaign speed bonuses now also provide a smaller boost. Adjusted party evasion behavior so that faster parties will circle around stronger enemies to reach their target location instead of fleeing in the opposite direction. Parties will no longer try to flee to a settlement if the party they are fleeing from is also in that settlement. Parties will now flee to a suitable point instead of trying to flee to a settlement if the party they are avoiding is static (in a map event, in a siege, etc.). Modified engagement behavior so parties no longer target enemies unless they have higher movement speed and are within engagement radius. Parties are now more likely to visit those settlements with sufficient food supplies when they need to replenish. Parties now require at least 6 days of food to begin patrolling. Parties will no longer have an immediate contributing factor to visit a settlement simply because some troops are wounded , this now only occurs if wounded troops exceed 20% of the party. Adjusted the wounded score for visiting settlements so parties will not wait for 100% wounded recovery. Resolved an issue where caused parties to flee from weaker enemies instead of the most powerful nearby enemy. Fixed a flee behavior bug that caused some parties to stand still. Fixed a bug in the party visit score calculation for garrison support, which caused parties to avoid settlements if they could not take troops from the garrison. Resolved an issue where caused parties to attack stronger parties in certain scenarios. Resolved an issue where caused nearby non-lord parties to override other possible lord targets. Resolved an issue where prevented allied parties from joining nearby sally out events. Resolved an issue where caused parties called to an army to immediately leave a settlement even if it was under siege. Resolved a problem that caused some minor factions’ parties to become stuck on villages. Resolved an issue where allowed an unrelated party to join a battle while the player was already engaged.

• Removed main hero’s parents in Sandbox mode.
• Resolved an issue where spawned the main hero's parents alive in Campaign mode.
• Resolved an issue where prevented the player from selecting the main hero’s sister as an heir.
• Corrected several bugs that caused troop XP progress to reset, such as when opening the party screen or transferring troops.
• Resolved a problem where courtship failure displayed incorrect text while in an army.
• Resolved an issue where caused grown-up heroes to have negative skill points.
• Resolved an issue where caused AI parties to lose almost all their members after their leader died.
• Corrected inconsistencies in the home settlements of the player’s siblings immediately after character creation.
• Resolved an issue where removed alleys from the main hero after an heir was selected.
• Resolved an issue where teleported the hero to a target settlement or party while they were a prisoner.
• Resolved an issue where caused the player to pay wages for family members when they were part of their party.
• Resolved an issue where caused party wages to become a profit instead of a cost when using cheats.
• Resolved an issue where caused a new ruler’s clan to retain the player’s clan banner after the player left their own kingdom.
• Resolved an issue where caused enemies to refuse to release imprisoned companions after the player left the kingdom.

Armies

Changes

• Overall, there are a lot of improvements on both the army and party level to make their actions less self destructive and more deliberate and consistent. These changes intend to avoid suicidal attacks of small armies against targets they can not best as well as a better overall readiness in individual lord parties so they can provide a more robust defense.
• Armies will now disband if their average party size ratio drops below 40%.
• Raised the maximum influence AI can spend when creating an army, resulting in larger and more effective armies.
• Lowered influence costs for AI armies when boosting cohesion and adjusted influence decay to make large armies more sustainable.
• Adjusted the strength ratio required for attacking a settlement. Armies now only target settlements they can realistically capture or take with heavy losses.
• Refined army cooperation through code changes, allowing armies to support each other more effectively during campaigns.
• Armies that have lost troops and fallen below the strength needed to capture settlements now disband after a period of inactivity, allowing them to reform later as stronger forces.
• Non-attached army members now ignore bandits while traveling to join their armies, enabling them to reach their destination without delay.
• Corrected strength calculations for sieges. Army strength is now measured as besiegers in siege battles rather than as attackers in field battles.
• Army assembly points are now placed near the closest enemy town or castle instead of enemy villages.
• Raised the minimum food required for AI parties to join an army from 3 to 12 days.
• Disabled army raiding and raid defense features to reduce armies from wasting time on raids and ensure focus on strategic offensive and defensive objectives.
• Armies now ignore enemy parties (not armies) that are weaker than half their strength.
• Armies will no longer attempt to siege settlements already under siege if the attackers have a 5x strength advantage.
• Armies will not form if they don't have at least 12 days of food.

Fixes

• Resolved a problem that caused armies to wait indefinitely during assembly. Armies now depart if 90% of the called parties gather within 3 days, or if 75% arrive after 3 days. After this point, the requirement decreases by 1% per hour.
• Resolved an issue where caused the army leader’s visit score to include the wounded score of unattached members.
• Resolved an issue where caused only the army leader to buy food when entering a settlement.
• Corrected an exploit that allowed players to gain influence by inviting their own clan members to their army without paying cohesion upkeep. Clan members no longer generate influence for the army leader.
• Resolved an issue where prevented the “Leave Army” option from appearing while raiding a village as an army member.
• Resolved an issue where caused enemy armies to help the player raid a village when the player was an army member.
• Resolved an issue where caused army members to leave when defending in a siege.
• Resolved an issue where caused army members to remain marked as disorganized indefinitely in the army menu.
• Resolved an issue where prevented non attached army member parties from leaving tracks on the campaign map.

Kingdoms and Diplomacy

Changes

• Introduced Alliances

Depending on relations between rulers, shared or separate wars, existing tribute payments, ruler traits, and other factors, kingdoms can now decide to form an alliance through a kingdom decision. Alliances are between 2 kingdoms. Every kingdom can have 2 alliances. Alliances end after 1 in-game year (84 game days) or when one ally declares war on the other. The duration is extended when there is an ongoing Call to War obligation. Forming an alliance cancels any existing tribute payments between the kingdoms. Allied kingdoms are less likely to declare war on each other and more likely to wage war against their ally’s enemies. Kingdoms can request that their allies join their wars through Call to War agreements, which may include a gold payment to secure support. This kingdom decision automatically occurs when an alliance is created and the members have an unshared war or when a new war begins for one of the allies. It cannot be requested again during the war - but allies are incentivized to join the war themselves. Players can call the ally to war through dialogue - but have to pay the required gold themselves in this case. A kingdom that accepts a Call to War is bound to the conflict for a minimum of two in-game seasons (42 game days), after which it may return to its own diplomatic course.

• Introduced Trade Agreements

Depending on relations between kings, between clans and the opposing king, and on the number of bordering settlements, kingdoms can decide to improve trade relations through a kingdom decision. Once a trade agreement is signed, the likelihood of caravans visiting the other kingdom is increased. If war is declared, the trade agreement is immediately broken. Kingdoms can hold up to two trade agreements at the same time. Each trade agreement lasts for one in-game year. It becomes harder for kingdoms to sign a new agreement after a recent war.

• Redesigned War, Peace & Tribute Decision Scoring

The war and peace scoring pass focuses on three goals: reduce illogical war and peace declarations and tributeslimit the number of very short wars that are breaking the flow of the sandbox and the player experienceproperly assess the current state of wars and use that to affect the peace decisions. Kingdoms will now choose opponents more wisely, avoiding wars against overwhelmingly stronger factions. They will also be more resilient and less eager to declare peace once they are at war. This will result in fewer but more impactful wars. Introduced a more precise war effort system in which successful sieges, raids, and casualties determine which side holds the upper hand. This system carries greater weight in how kingdoms decide when to offer or accept peace - and should stop losing kingdoms from demanding and winning kingdoms from paying tributes. It should also enable kingdoms to focus their peace pursuit on the wars that they are losing. White Peace treaties, where no tribute is exchanged, will also take war efforts into account.

Fixes

• Resolved an issue where caused clans from a destroyed kingdom to be removed from the game prematurely.
• Resolved an issue where caused peace proposal notifications to appear repeatedly.
• Resolved an issue where prevented successful raids from appearing on the kingdom’s diplomacy screen.

Economy and Trade

Changes

• Introduced a new dialogue to player-owned caravans, which allows players to change the caravan’s home settlement and restrict trade with settlements of specific kingdoms.

Caravans are incentivized to return to their home settlement as time passes.

• Introduced two new trade goods.

Felt has been added and is produced by Wool Weavery workshops. Planks have been added and are now produced by Wood Workshops instead of tools.

• Raised the town trade commission rates by 5x to rebalance tariff income. This diversification of town income sources means you will now need to more carefully consider trade routes and town projects to achieve decent income. On average, a third of a town’s income may arise from tariffs.
• Raised village taxes by 30%, town and castle taxes by 130% to support the larger AI garrisons, strengthen clan wealth, and improve player income.
• Raised village hearth recovery rates (from 0.6 to 4.0 for poor villages, and from 0.2 to 1.2 for medium-wealth villages) to allow settlements to recover more quickly from raids.
• Grain and fish can now substitute for each other in town consumption at a 90% rate. This means that if towns run short on grain, they will spend most of their grain budget on fish instead, ensuring a steadier food supply and reducing the risk of shortages.
• Caravan Behavithe Changes

Raised the chance for caravans to return to their hometown after visiting several cities, so they now return more frequently. Raised caravan trade volume; beyond small sales, they can now conduct larger bulk transactions. Together, these changes slow the distribution of local goods to distant markets and allow players to engage in more profitable trade.

• Adjusted the production output of 15 villages to improve the game’s economy.
• Workshops in rebellious towns (loyalty < 25) will no longer produce items but will still incur workshop expenses. Introduced a tooltip to display that in the Clan - Workshops screen.
• Refined the AI notable workshop type selection algorithm so notables are less likely to open workshops that compete with existing ones in the same town.

Fixes

• Resolved an issue where prevented looted and quest items from being marked as having “good or bad prices” with the necessary trade perks.
• Resolved a problem that caused average prices to be displayed incorrectly.
• Corrected a rare bug that caused workshops to have no owner.
• Resolved a problem in older saves where some workshops had deceased owners.
• Resolved an issue where allowed trading settlements with minor faction heroes.

Crafting

• The most recent crafting hero is now restored when opening the Smithy.
• Made unavailable items clearer to distinguish in the Crafting → Refine window.
• Resolved a problem where the crafting screen displayed invalid damage types for invalid weapon usages.
• Corrected clipping and offset issues for crafting pieces.

Settlement Actions (Town, Village, Castle and Hideout)

Changes

• Introduced the Parley feature.

You can now start a parley with enemy-held settlements that have a noble inside from a distance by holding Left-ALT, and Left-Mouse-Clicking on the settlement. You can then select who you wish to speak to from the present nobles. The target settlement must be within line of sight, and ythe clan tier must be at least 3.

• Town & Castle Project Changes

The update adds new and modified existing town projects to improve the balance between projects with impactful effects and those with limited or situational effects. This should allow for better control over the management of ythe fief. For all the details, check out the forum thread. All settlement projects and their levels across the world have been updated. Settlements now also start the game with a military, economic, or balanced focus.

• Introduced a dialogue option to recruit notables as supporters.

To gain a notable’s support, the player must achieve sufficient relations with them and provide a one time payment. Notable Supporters are an existing mechanic in the game, which previously automatically happened when clans met certain conditions. A supported clan receives daily influence for every supporter. They also receive a loyalty bonus if the notable is one of their owned towns - and reduce loyalty if they are in a town that is owned by an enemy of their supported clan. If relations with a supporter drop too low, the notable may withdraw their support.

• Redesigned certain bandit hideout mechanics.

From now on hideouts are attackable both day and night time. If you attack hideouts in daytime, you get a penalty for stealth since you are more visible in the daylight. Needed troop count for entering a hideout is updated. The minimum needed troop count is 25 and maximum is 40 (+1 if ""Small Unit Tactics"" perk is enabled).“Send troops" option has also been added for hideouts. The clearing hideout process is completed after 6 hours once initiated. After that the main party gets regular rewards as clearing the hideout via mission but neither the main hero nor troops get any experience in this case. Updated the minimum needed troop count to initiate the mission to 25 with maximum at 40 (+1 if "Small Unit Tactics" perk is enabled). From now on, the main party gets some additional trade good items as loot.

• Raised the number of effects that boost the veterancy rate , the chance for militia troops in governed settlements to spawn as veteran militia.

The Battanian cultural bonus now increases the veterancy rate by 20%.The Drills, Citizen Militia, and Seven Veterans perks each now increase the veterancy rate by 10%.Introduced a new kingdom policy, Land Grants for Veterans, which increases the veterancy rate by 10% and reduces village tax by 5%.As well as the town project changes mentioned above.

• Raised the number of Militia spawned after successful sieges.
• AI nobles now check a settlement’s food and wage conditions before donating troops to reduce garrisoned units from dying unnecessarily. They also cannot donate troops if the town or castle already has more than 750 or 500 units, respectively.
• Civilian agents now avoid each other more effectively.

Fixes

• Resolved an issue where caused the companion to spawn far away from the taken over alley.
• Resolved an issue where caused civilians to get stuck if they strayed from their intended path.
• Corrected a bug where hideouts remained visible on the map after being cleared.
• Resolved an issue where allowed players to abandon the same alley twice.
• Corrected an exploit that allowed players to recruit troops from alleys without clearing them first.
• Resolved an issue where allowed players to visit the keep without bribing the guards.
• Resolved a problem where the tavern keeper in a rebel-controlled town had no dialogue option to ask about companions.
• Resolved an issue where could cause influence gains to be miscalculated when donating troops.
• Resolved a problem where the bribe condition was not displayed when the player lacked enough gold when speaking to a keep or dungeon guard.
• Resolved an issue where allowed the player to occupy two alleys by clearing the first one and initiating a fight in the second one without leaving the mission.
• Resolved an issue where caused some hideouts to become oversized, preventing new hideouts from appearing on the map.
• Resolved a problem where raid messages were sometimes not shown, and corrected some raid messages displaying incorrect text.
• Resolved an issue where allowed players to ask tavern keepers for information about themselves.
• Resolved an issue where allowed players to leave companions in villages.
• Resolved an issue where caused relations with notables to improve after taking over their alley.

Quests & Issues

• General

Updated the “Recruit Troops” and “Purchase Grain” tutorial quests so menu options are unlocked in sequence: recruit troops first, then purchase grain, with both options locked initially and enabled only after their respective quests are completed. Players can no longer activate the “Lord Needs Tutor” and “Family Feud” quests if at their companion limit. These quests now also get canceled if the companion limit becomes insufficient. Introduced a requirement of 25 healthy troops for the “Associates Captured by Bounty Hunters” and “Bandit Base Near Settlement” quests. Fixed a bug preventing hideouts from being spotted in “Dragon Banner Piece” quests. Fixed a bug where the “Talk to the Headman” tutorial could appear in the wrong village. Resolved a problem where two numbers could overlap in some quests’ completion bars on the Quests screen. Resolved a problem where the red exclamation mark for quest updates could remain even without updates. Fixed a bug where quest logs were not updated when quests were canceled due to the player’s death or retirement. Resolved a problem where canceling a quest could incorrectly apply a negative relationship penalty with the quest giver.

• Scout Enemy Garrisons

Upon successfully completing the quest, players are now informed via log entry that scouting reports were sent to the quest giver. Fixed a bug where very distant enemy cities could be targeted. Fixed a bug where the same settlement could be counted twice if scouted and captured.

• Revenue Farming

The quest can no longer be taken if the player is the king of the quest giver. Fixed a missing quest log entry. Fixed a bug where notable relationships could increase instead of decrease.

• Raid Enemy Territory

Resolved a problem where no reward was given despite successful completion. Resolved an issue where prevented raids from counting toward the quest’s progress.

• Escort the Caravan

Fixed a bug where the caravan did not recruit troops when entering a settlement.

• Unify the Empire

Fixed a bug related to settlement owner tracking.

• Base of Operations Discovered

Resolved an issue where caused hideouts to spawn on the wrong side.

• Bounty Hunters

Resolved an issue where allowed sending tier 1 troops despite restrictions.

• Locate and Rescue Traveller

Lowered the frequency of the Recruit Troop pop-up notification to every 4 hours.

• Headman Needs Grain

Resolved an issue where canceled the quest when a raid began in any village.

• Smugglers

Fixed a bug where the quest did not cancel when the player changed kingdoms.

• Associates Captured by Bounty Hunters

Fixed a bug where a very distant hideout could be targeted.

• Family Feud

Removed the incorrect release notification for quest targets after being taken prisoner.

• Spy Among Us

The quest log now displays the reward upon completion with a companion.

• Lesser Noble Revolt

The quest no longer fails if the player chooses not to attack the noble’s party and leaves.

• Caravan Ambush

In the quest, raiders are now marked with a blue quest icon. Resolved an issue where caused the battles to never end.

• Company of Trouble

Fixed a bug where failing the quest did not apply a relationship penalty.

• Special Weapon Order

Fixed an exploit where players could craft more daggers than required and receive extra gold per dagger.

• Landlord Needs Access to the Commons

Fixed a bug where quest parties were not destroyed after completion.

• Headman Needs Grain

Raised the occurrence rate of the issue quest.

• Army Needs Supplies

Fixed a bug where the quest was not canceled after the quest giver’s army was disbanded.

• Artisan Can't Sell Products

Adjusted rewards and penalties for the quest.

• Lord Wants Rival Captured

The target rival hero in the quest is now marked with a blue quest icon.

• Overpriced Raw Materials

Resolved a problem in the quest where it could give more gold than the sale price in the quest giver’s settlement.

• Landlord Needs Manual Laborers

The quest now features a progress bar for delivered prisoners and total ransom value in the trading page. The quest log also updates when the requested number is met.

• Nearby Bandit Base

Fixed a bug where the quest did not fail if the player raided the quest village.

• Rival Gang Moving In

Quest henchmen are no longer listed in the encyclopedia and now have correct cultures.

• Notable Wants Daughter

Fixed a bug where a different name could appear after acceptance.

• Snare the Wealthy

Fixed a missing notification.

• Escort Caravan Quest

Fixed a bug where donkeys, camels, and goods failed to appear during defense battles.

• Rival Gang Moving In

Fixed a bug in the Rival Gang Moving In quest where the game could get stuck after defeating the rival gang.

• Rescue Ythe Family

Resolved an issue where made the hideout infested by looters.

• Extortion by Deserters

Resolved an issue where caused the deserter party to endlessly run from the player.

• Army of Poachers

Resolved an issue where prevented the player from acquiring loot and troops after completing the quest.

Conversations & Encounters

Changes

• Introduced new dialogue options with villager and caravan parties that let you start a battle even if they surrender.'
• Introduced tooltips showing the consequences of choices in villager and caravan dialogues.
• Disabled talking to party members during encounters (battles, conversations, etc.).

Fixes

• Resolved an issue where prevented villager, caravan, and bandit parties from surrendering when overwhelmed.
• Resolved an issue where caused NPCs to forget prior conversations and introduce themselves again.
• Resolved a problem where Mountain Bandit dialogue appeared empty.
• Resolved a problem where siege conversations showed normal options instead of siege-related options.
• Resolved an issue where caused agents to loop the turn-back animation when a conversation started behind them.
• Resolved an issue where caused the agent following the player to move in circles after speaking with an NPC.
• Resolved an issue where showed incorrect dialogue options when speaking to villager parties after taking hostile actions against them.
• Corrected the simulation context tooltip on Send Troops showing incorrect information when loading a save during an encounter.
• Resolved an issue where displayed incorrect text during marriage persuasion.
• Corrected a bug where relations did not increase after releasing a prisoner via dialogue.

Save & Load

Introduced the ability to delete corrupted save files. Resolved an issue where could cause crafted weapons to lose their properties after loading a save.

Localisation

• Localisation improvements for Turkish.
• Minor localisation improvements for English.

Other

Changes

• Defined hair, beard, and tattoo variations for all NPCs generated with random facekeys based on faction (including minor factions and bandits). For example, Battanians more often have moustaches, while Empire and Vlandia men tend toward clean-shaven, shorter styles.
• Organized campaign player cheats: standardized names, removed unnecessary entries, and added precondition checks. Also added the “campaign.add_building_level” and “kill_hero” cheats.
• Party leader heroes now appear in the encyclopedia wearing their battle outfits.
• Grandchildren now appear on a hero’s encyclopedia page.
• Disabled agent and object interactions while in Photo Mode.
• Introduced helmets to equipment sets for ladies who lacked them.
• Vlandian Pikeman now uses the Pike instead of the Fine Pike.
• Renamed the stat label from “Length” to “Weapon Reach.”
• Updated minor factions’ and bandit factions’ banner colors to match their cultures.

Fixes

• Corrected training field targets incorrectly changing color as if hit during Mounted Archer training when the player was unmounted.
• Corrected incorrect statistics being shown after a game ends.
• Resolved an issue where caused all arena spectators to spawn in white clothing.
• Corrected a visual bug where musicians used irrelevant instruments or had none while a track was playing.
• Resolved an issue where allowed two NPCs to sit on the same chair simultaneously.
• Corrected the “Best Served Cold” achievement not unlocking.
• Corrected encyclopedia descriptions: the player is now properly identified as a ruler when applicable, and dead heroes no longer display incorrect text.
• Resolved an issue where caused nobles to equip gear intended for the opposite sex.
• Corrected the “CanPenetrateShield” icon displaying on Bound and Heavy Crossbows.

Performance

• Refined memory usage and performance in regards to localisations.
• Resolved an issue where caused certain deployment initializations to run more than necessary, leading to performance drops and occasional spawn issues.

Crashes

The singleplayer crash pass is broad. It covers item tooltip hovers, settlement overlay exits, save loading, party disbanding, board game exits, menus opening during encounters, older save files, dropped banners, hideout boss conversations, post-siege army detachment, controller keyboard requests without Steam, troop percentage changes after auto-deploy, javelin pickup edge cases, mercenary joins, eliminated-kingdom mercenary offers, menu closing, saving, town and tavern entries after army captures, allied army siege choices, low-troop sally outs, prisoner and freed lord conversations, army attacks on towns or castles, defender siege losses, empty hideout enemy sides, heir selection, cinematic notifications, notable guide requests, workshop purchases, daily ticks, fortification capture prisoner talks, alley clearing, sally out cleanup, encyclopedia garrison sorting, party screen drag-and-drop, lord persuasion, deleted tournament prizes, siege preparation, new campaign creation, auto-tracked settlements, peace during village raids, null on-screen keyboard results, destroyed bandit party calculations, peace during multi-faction sieges, clan encyclopedia hovers, leaving sieges, Caravan Ambush saves, Revenue Farming interruption by deserters, Rescue Family state problems, Army of Poachers battle starts, Rival Gang Moving In completion, canceled Smugglers caravan inventory access, older siege saves, and older quest party data.

Several quest-specific crashes were also addressed, including Caravan Ambush, Revenue Farming, Rescue Family, Army of Poachers, Rival Gang Moving In, Smugglers, and other quest battle cleanup cases.

Full Patch Notes: Multiplayer

Art

• Corrected a bug in Tsagaan Castle that enabled an exploit.
• Corrected a bug at Ayzar Stronghold that allowed players to climb a cliff.

Design & Balance

• Adjusted mirrored-faction voting: a mirror match now triggers only if at least 70% of votes select the same faction.

Server & Network

• Server now waits for reconnection if a player disconnects during warmup, instead of canceling the game immediately.
• Dedicated Servers

The map voting screen at the end of matches now supports horizontal scrolling for custom servers with more than 6 maps. Fixed a bug where the custom server web panel allowed logins with an empty password when AdminPassword was not set. Fixed the "disable_map_voting" config to work as intended , it now selects a random map from the automated battle pool.

UI

Changes

• Introduced new weapon icons to the armory that display weapon effects.
• Introduced UI checks to reduce spamming server list refresh requests.
• Reflected friendly-fire damage is now shown in the combat log and next to the health bar, like any other damage source.
• The server list now remembers both the last sorted-by field and the sort order.
• Refined visibility of the current game type selection on the MP Lobby page and Leaderboard pop-up.

Fixes

• Resolved a problem where the defender team always used the secondary color set.
• Corrected mismatched clan and culture banner colors in the lobby clan overview.
• Resolved an issue where caused non-Latin characters to not display in a player’s name while spectating.
• Resolved a problem where some multiplayer lobby texts did not refresh after changing the language from the MP Options menu.
• Resolved an issue where made the multiplayer scoreboard slider unclickable.
• Corrected a bug where the “Filter by favorites” option was not saved in the MP server browser.
• Resolved an issue where prevented the “Friendly Troops Banner Opacity" setting from taking effect on teammates.
• Resolved an issue where prevented a notification on the Friends List button when receiving a Bannerlord friend request from a Steam friend.

Other - Miscellaneous

• Resolved an issue where allowed players to rejoin a matchmaking game they’d been kicked from.
• Resolved an issue where prevented the Pointing taunt from being used while a bow was equipped.
• Resolved an issue where caused the “Banned Until” and “Ban Reason” texts to be empty in non-English languages.
• Resolved an issue where prevented cheering agents from moving.

Crashes

• Corrected a crash that occurred in Captain Mode when the player died immediately after taking control of an AI agent.
• Corrected a crash that occurred at the end of Captain Mode matches.
• Corrected a crash that occurred due to party invites on PlayStation.
• Corrected a crash that occurred in the multiplayer lobby on Steam clients.
• Corrected a crash related to multiplayer voice chat.

Changes Shared by Singleplayer and Multiplayer

Art

• Introduced 9 new holsters for all shortbows and corrected physical issues with other holsters.
• Resolved an issue where caused terrain textures to appear tiled at a distance.

Audio

Changes

• Replaced selected ambients with Quad-Surround versions.
• Redesigned ambient sounds on many scenes.
• Redesigned siege related destruction events to have more consistent distancing.
• Redesigned all gamepad vibrations to reflect in-game actions better.
• Revised the camel vocalisations - Humphrey will be angrier now :).

Fixes

• Resolved an issue where prevented debris from making sounds during sieges.
• Resolved an issue where prevented the end-of-battle scoreboard from playing a sound.

UI

Changes

• Introduced a new option to show agent head banners only while holding the Show Indicators key.
• Introduced the ability to toggle walk mode when using a controller.
• Introduced an ability to close the keybind popup by pressing the already-selected keybind.
• Made agent banners slightly smaller and decreased their opacity when close to the camera.
• The launcher will now scale with the screen resolution, staying at the same visible size.

Fixes

• Made minor fixes and improvements to text input boxes:

Fixed a bug where Ctrl+Del worked the same as Ctrl+Backspace instead of acting properly. Fixed a bug where typing or deleting while dragging over text behaved unpredictably. Fixed a bug where pressing and releasing the left mouse button in the same frame, while text was selected, failed to reset the selection as expected. Fixed a bug with editable text boxes that could place the cursor on the wrong side of a letter, shift the visible text to the right after reselecting, or reset the text shift to 0 on arrow-key press even when the cursor was centered. Fixed a bug where Ctrl+A in text boxes did not select all text. Fixed a bug with console text inputs where the first input was not registered.

• Resolved an issue where caused shortcuts to be invisible and buttons to remain enlarged in the Order menu.
• Resolved an issue where disabled D-pad navigation when a DualShock 4/DualSense controller detected a touch on the touchpad while the touchpad mouse option was disabled.

Animations

Changes

• Removed female-specific movement animations; all characters now use the same movement set.
• Refined the shield-movement animation by refining its motion and the direction the shield faces.
• Updated the rider’s couched-lance grip to align with historical references. This is largely cosmetic but may slightly affect combat due to the change in passive shield stance.

Fixes

• Resolved an issue where prevented the player's stand/crouch stance from being restored after actions such as climbing a ladder.
• Resolved an issue where caused agents to stagger after successfully pushing a ladder with a fork; the animation now plays only when pushback fails.
• Resolved an issue where caused camel idle animations to not play properly.
• Corrected a bug where alternative weapon mode-switch animations did not play correctly for some weapon types.
• Resolved an issue where caused a leg animation glitch when frequently changing direction.
• Corrected a bug where the character did not hold the reins when using the Horse Light Harness.
• Resolved an issue where caused the wrong animation to play when an agent was hit by an arrow.

Combat

• Players can now fire and reload while crouching with short bows, light crossbows, and throwing weapons.
• Mounted AI

Refined cavalry AI charging behavior and aiming skills, with additional refinements to their tournament combat behavior. Refined the behavithe of mounted troop AI when rotating toward their targets. Resolved an issue where prevented AI troops from mounting nearby available mounts.

• Mounted Ranged AI

Refined movement of mounted ranged AI troops to reduce excessive zig-zagging. Resolved a problem where the target points given to horse archers were overly randomized. They now attempt to use the first valid target point directly when possible. Their turning behavior has also been refined: softer turns when circling inside, harder turns when moving outward. Resolved a problem where the banner bearer of mounted ranged formations would charge the enemy alone; they now stay with their formation.

• Melee AI

Overhauled troop AI to improve melee aiming and reduce stuttering. Adjusted melee combat AI target selection to reduce infantry from ignoring nearby mounted enemies. Resolved an issue where caused melee troops to keep excessive distance from mounted enemies, resulting in missed attacks.

• Spear-related Improvements

Spear bracing animation now blends between two states instead of switching, offering more freedom while aiming. This increases the effectiveness of spear bracing, making cavalry charges deadlier. Refined spear bracing targeting for AI. Instead of always aiming at the chest or head, AI can now also target the rider’s abdomen with vertical randomization, preventing horses from bypassing. Resolved a problem that caused spear bracer troops to have their weapon stutter when knocked by a mounted enemy. Resolved an issue where caused spearmen to immediately switch to their swords at the start of battles. They will now correctly hold their spears unless switching to swords is advantageous during close combat.

• Ranged Troop AI

Refined the accuracy of ranged troops against moving targets. Ranged AI troops will no longer continue advancing toward enemies once they are within effective range when under a “Targeting” order. Refined AI friendly-fire avoidance, allowing higher firing rates from behind allied troops. Resolved an issue where caused ranged troops to keep moving when having their vision blocked by friendly troops.

• Shield AI

Refined AI shield direction choice for troops with smaller shields, offering better protection against missiles. Resolved an issue where caused troops to defend against non-incoming missiles. Resolved an issue where caused certain troops (e.g., Battanian Mounted Skirmisher) to ignore incoming missiles.

• Formation AI

Formation arrangements now appear more natural: lower-tier troops will form more loosely while higher-tier troops remain more aligned. Resolved an issue where prevented troops with the “Engage” order from rearranging their formations properly. Resolved an issue where caused troops to constantly change positions under the “Engage” order. Resolved an issue where caused the number of ranks in formations to change unexpectedly during arrangement changes. Resolved a problem where troops remained in a previous arrangement due to target charge orders not being canceled properly.

• Other

First-person camera no longer restricts the player more than third-person view while climbing ladders. Refined movement of both player and AI agents on stairs. Speed now depends on slope and movement direction, with minimal penalty when moving sideways. Refined collision avoidance of troops around trees. Refined AI pathfinding by further optimizing found paths. Resolved an issue where caused troops to attempt to pick up unreachable items. Resolved an issue where caused the player to perform an action or swap weapons when pressing a button as the weapon wheel opened. Resolved a problem where longer weapons could collide with forward facing shields even when attacking directly from behind. Attacks from behind will no longer be blocked in this way.

Other

• Resolved a problem that caused the controller to keep vibrating even when playing with mouse and keyboard.
• Refined animal behavior for wandering.

Performance

• Optimized visibility checks for ranged AI units to improve performance.

Crashes

• Corrected a crash that occurred when using the Column formation.
• Corrected a crash that occurred when the launcher failed to close properly.
• Corrected a crash that occurred when a UI button was activated by a mouse click and its hotkey in the same frame.

Modding Patch Notes

• Introduced audio modding support for FMOD Banks and Events.
• Engine Changes

Introduced a functionality that makes interpolated atmosphere moddable. Modders can override any interpolated atmosphere used on the world map and in missions by placing their files in Module\Atmospheres\Interpolated, which will override the base game version. Important: missions fetch only a slice of the selected atmosphere set (not fully dynamic). For example, Aserai towns and villages use semicloudy_aserai.xml. This also fixes a bug reported by hunharibo where assigning a custom culture to a town and “Taking a walk through that town” caused a crash. Introduced save/load compatibility for campaign map changes. Party positions, map event & siege positions, and party AI targets now adjust appropriately on load if a campaign map change is detected. Fixed a crash that occurred when loading saves created on a different version of a (modded) campaign map; such saves now load without crashing on the default campaign map. Distance Cache data now loads from all active modules (static map info such as settlement data, neighbours, and land ratios used by mobile party AI). This helps with overall campaign map performance. Modders can create a navigation cache for their custom map through the SettlementPositionScript component in the editor - by clicking on the “ComputeAndSaveSettlementDistanceCache” button. The file gets generated under ModuleData\DistanceCaches and is named “settlements_distance_cache_Default.bin”.Introduced automatic cache rebuilding: if a cache is missing or invalid, the game now recreates it on first launch. Introduced a way for modders to mark valid and invalid terrain nodes on custom maps by overriding the PartyNavigationModel. Introduced the ability to store up to 10 RGL logs. In response to the community request by @poheniks. Mission Changes Introduced a new weapon flag that allows attacking while crouched - useful for firearm-focused mods. In response to the community request by @Lucon. Introduced a new capability for modders to alter AI behavior via the agent component system. To use it, create a class that inherits AgentComponent, override OnAIInputSet (AI inputs are passed by reference and invoked each tick after the AI makes its decision), then add the component to the agent. In response to the community request on the Modding Discord by Kemo III. Agents can now continue running to their target (instead of slowing to a walk when close) if the NeverSlowDown flag is set. In response to the community request by @Gotha. Introduced new parameters to weapon selection in the AgentDrivenProperties class to support modding. These allow modders to adjust troop weapon choice behavior by influencing whether AI troops prefer melee, ranged, or polearm weapons in specific situations: AiWeaponFavorMultiplierMeleeAiWeaponFavorMultiplierRangedAiWeaponFavorMultiplierPolearm In response to the community request by @order_without_power. Provided more control over StaticBodyProperties for modders. In response to the community request by RandyOglestein. Introduced support for handling entity callbacks of non-scripted entities via MeleeHitCallback. Resolved an issue where caused an exception when a weapon was removed from an agent upon impact. In response to the community request by @Kommissar here. Campaign Changes Introduced a new general XML merging algorithm. Modules can now add new elements to the XMLs or change attributes during merge using unique attributes and XSD-driven metadata. Introduced missing XSD files (e.g., soln_skins.xsd). Documented unique attributes for each element in existing XSD files and formatted them. Modding documentation covering this new XML merging system will be released at a later point. Introduced a new approach for creating classes that inherit GameModel, enforcing use of the base model rather than inheriting base-model implementations, without breaking mod support. Introduced a new capability for MBObjectManager to create objects from an XML node and type name. Made CampaignTime variables such as CampaignStartTime moddable through CampaignTimeModel. Previously hardcoded, CampaignTime is now exposed as a model with every parameter accessible, allowing modders to override values such as the number and length of days and weeks. In response to the community request by @MitchPTI here. Refined FactionManager moddability by refactoring the class, removing bandit faction checks, and moving related logic to DiplomacyModel. Introduced three overridable methods in DiplomacyModel: GetShallowDiplomaticStance, GetDefaultDiplomaticStance, and IsAtConstantWar. Introduced IFaction. FactionsAtWarWith for easier access to enemy factions. In response to the community request by @Spinozart1 here. Introduced a new ability to set the starting level of buildings in a settlement via settlements.xml. Since all building types must be added to a town or castle, any building without a specified level in settlements.xml is automatically added with its starting level. Introduced a new DefaultHeroAgentLocationModel to manage hero locations at settlements. Introduced a new GetPartyStrength function that accepts parameters to compute a party’s “virtual” strength under specified conditions (e.g., calculating its land-attacker strength while the party is currently flying). Raised the maximum hair type limit from 32 to 64. In response to the community request by @conleyc86 here. Adjusted MobileParty. RemoveParty() from public to internal to reduce misuse that could lead to crashes for modders. In response to the community request by Carter Drake on the Modding Discord. Introduced automatic registration of texts defined in ModuleData/global_strings.xml to the global text manager. Existing GameText variations can now be overridden. In response to the community request by Vombora on the Modding Discord. Introduced a new VillageTradeModel to make TradeBoundDistanceLimit modifiable. In response to the community request by @Alexander Drakos, @svelok, @ClayBullet, and @NPC99 here. Introduced a new ShouldStayInKingdomUntil parameter to control when mercenaries and vassals can leave a kingdom. Introduced a new ability to add a crafting piece to a crafting template via XML. Introduced new callbacks in CraftedDataView , OnWeaponMeshBuilt, OnHolsterMeshBuilt, and OnHolsterMeshWithWeaponBuilt , allowing modders to modify crafted weapon meshes after they are built. In response to the community request by @fedeita here. Introduced an option to override Tier levels of uncraftable items (e.g., quivers, bolts, bows, crossbows, armor pieces, shields) via their dedicated XMLs. Made managed_core_parameters moddable. In response to the community request by @KingKilo here. Made the TradeBound setter public. In response to the community request by @Midnightknight here. Enabled character skills to have multiple character attributes. Introduced a new IsSettlementBusy event to settlements to indicate when they are used by issues or quests. Introduced a new CustomSettlementComponent for settlements. Introduced a couple of functions to PartySizeLimitModel to support clan tier effects. Introduced a new GetModel function to CampaignGameStarter to ease model creation and moddability. Moved the equipment ID used for brides in the marriage scene notification to culture XMLs. Moved SetCustomName from MobileParty to PartyBase, enabling settlements to have custom names. Replaced the CalculateHighCourageProbability function with GetSurrenderChance for surrender and bribe calculations of villager, caravan, and bandit parties. Replaced character creation occupations with objects instead of enums, making the process of defining occupations easier. Updated MapScreen.cs to work with IInteractablePoint instead of PartyBase. Updated kingdom IsBanditFaction and IsOutlaw decisions to derive from the ruling clan’s IsBanditFaction and IsOutlaw checks. Renamed IMapEntity to IInteractablePoint. Split the Clan. Lords property into AliveLords and DeadLords. Refactored mobile party creation functions in clan-related code paths. Refactored the character creation base system. Refactored the HeroCreator class and updated function names for clarity; moved default assumptions to HeroCreatorModel. Refactored party creation and renamed custom party component creation functions. Refactored the building effect system to use increment types (Add / AddFactor) and updated all effect value calculations to use ExplainedNumber for consistent results. Removed companion templates from the culture XSD. Removed the hardcoded CultureCode enum for cultures. CultureCode is no longer required to add a new culture. Removed the RetirementSettlementComponent. Removed TextObject. Empty, and replaced uses with IsEmpty() and a new TextObject. GetEmpty(). Removed traits affecting the skills of the characters, and assigned skill templates to characters instead of removed traits. Resolved an issue where caused troop XP variables to reset in various cases by refactoring the TroopRoster class algorithms. Resolved an issue where prevented defected kingdoms from being shown in the OnClanChangedKingdom event. Resolved an issue where prevented enums with the Flags attribute from loading correctly. Fixed a crash that occurred when a weightless equippable item was added. Modding Toolkit Introduced three new prefabs: crows, seagulls, and a lavender flower. Introduced extensive boundary checks to the scene editor. Resolved an issue where prevented changing an entity’s scale after setting it to 0 in the modding toolkit. Resolved an issue where prevented adding a vertex to an edge in the navmesh in the Scene Editor. Multiplayer Modding Introduced a new IsGameModeAllowChargeDamageOnFriendly on MissionMultiplayerGameModeBase for modding, allowing team bump damage for horses. In response to the community request by @takeoshigeru. Introduced a new OffhandWeaponDefendSpeedMultiplier (shield defend speed) to AgentDrivenProperties. In response to the community request by @takeoshigeru. Introduced a new CalculateRemainingMomentum in AgentApplyDamageModel for modding. In response to the community request by @takeoshigeru. Made GetScoreForKill in MissionMultiplayerGameModeBase moddable. In response to the community request by @takeoshigeru here. Adjusted the WarmupTimeLimit server option to WarmupTimeLimitInSeconds to allow more precise values. In response to the community request by @takeoshigeru here. Made DecideWeaponCollisionReaction moddable, allowing behaviors where weapons don’t get stuck on a player and can, for example, cleave. In response to the community request by @Gotha. Raised the maximum friendly-fire server option limit from 100% to 2000%. In response to the community request by Tark on the Modding Discord. Resolved an issue where caused GetDefendCollisionResults to bypass StrikeMagnitudeCalculationModel, affecting moddability. In response to the community request by @takeoshigeru here.