The better mods for us and for you ?

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Nawari

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As we said on another thread, we have tested many mods. We share the ones that caught our attention and that we tried (hardly) to make work together:



Realistic battle mod:

We tested, we did not appreciate. Why ? It was not "bad", but the strange reactions of the troops left us somewhat speechless. Certainly the usual battles are not very realistic in the original game. The troops rush into it and that's it, until death. Realistic battle tries to make the troops less "suicidal" and therefore a bit more "tactical". But sometimes, some troops just don't attack at all or wander around the battlefield strangely for no apparent reason. We are always wary of "realistic" mods because a game is not "realistic", a game is a game and it has rules. When you play a table game, you apply the rules and too bad if they seem unrealistic, that's what the game is based on. I'm afraid this mod is an illusion....

Sometimes it's nice to play it, because the fights are admittedly a little more difficult, and sometimes it's painful, because the troops are messing around and the battles are too long. For once, I have more confidence in the TW teams to improve this complex function of the game than in the modders who sometimes obey fantasies... Sorry for them, I know it's a lot of time and work. So "Realistic Battle mod", you can try it without fears, but expect long but not breathtaking battles with sometimes strange behaviors on the battlefield. At the same time, that men don't want to fight, I really like that!


The "Adonnay" mod suite:

"Adonnay" is a system for creating mods to customize the game. It has the particularity of touching little on the "gameplay", this is not its objective. It is above all a question of improving or modifying the "look" of the troops, of the weapons, of bringing new troop trees without changing the rules of the basic game. So normally, these are reliable mods respectful of the stability of the game and therefore, of the player.

It is :

"Adonnay troop Changer": this is the basic mod which allows the introduction of other customization mods. It is necessary to install the others and make them operational.

"Adonnay Exotic Weapony": just new weapons to play war.

etc you can easily find them on the Nexus site by typing "Adonnay" or "ATC" in the search bar.

It makes the game a little more pleasant to play because it diversifies the troops available, the "looks" of the troops, can allow to have "female warriors" for example. Great progress... women in war, men in the kitchen... Humanity is progressing... towards its final destruction...

Additional Quest:


Additon of new VAnilla quests. Some cause the game to crash.
Problems: "Vanilla" quests are often done (especially in villages) to help start the game when one is "poor".
The quests of this mod cannot be done at the beginning of the game, they are too demanding. Also sometimes they spam the game instead of the original quests and as a result you have to go further afield to find simple "doable" quests.
That's a shame.

"Banner Colore Persistence", "CCs Banner", "Vexillium" :
This brings more banner themes, and banner carriers into battles. It's more "aesthetic" than "gameplay".



The "Role Play" dimension of the game:

Many mods were under development to improve this immersive and "Role Play" dimension of the game but are temporarily abandoned. Too many game releases have discouraged many modders.

But, exist in version 1.8.0:

"Life in Calradia": allows you to have a house in a village or a city, but beware, still a lot of crashes with this mod whose "release 1.8.0" is very fresh.

"Fourberie - Roguery"
: undoubtedly one of the most successful to date in the "RPG" field with "Life in Calradia". This mod allows you to pursue a bandit career, it is still very imperfect, but it is interesting.

"Friendly Lords": is not up to date for 1.8.0, but the modder promises to work on a new version.
This is the only mod currently that tries to offer an "AI" to the npcs in towns and villages to accentuate the interactions between the npcs themselves and us. The idea of the modder, very ambitious, is to make a kind of "Sims" in the cities and villages. It's very interesting and would add a lot of life to the games.

These three mods seem very complementary to me. Perhaps one is missing to develop merchant activities more consistently. These mods could, in the future, allow us to play "survival" in the middle of war with a small group. Defend his village, his city, as simple inhabitants, and not as a "soldier" , raise his family, protect it, like simple peasants...These mods could offer new possibilities...

Many other mods we tested, but we are too lazy to make a full list. We have crashed many times.

Of all the combinations we've made, we often have a mid-game crash. Mods, in such a precariously balanced game, mods that affect gameplay can quickly come into conflict.
Until there is a stable release of the game, it will be difficult to mod the game with a list of tested and approved mods.

Conclusion :

That said, no mod, no combination of mods could compensate for the lack of "gameplay" of the native game.

In truth, the game is so incomplete that we are always tempted to add an "additional mod", and bingo! Big crash!

We don't find the native game "bad", we find it incomplete and it lacks a lot of things for immersion, for diplomatic strategies, for the consequences of a marriage, for the trade, for the RPG choices, etc.

And we don't believe in modders to make up for all that.

In short, this game will always be a badly tinkered thing... for 50 Euros... it's nice...
 
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Here's the mods I'm using and why
I am also now try these updated mods:
https://www.nexusmods.com/mountandblade2bannerlord/mods/355 I can (usually) target what I want with troops with this! But will I remember I added it?
And this one to fix the defection Bug TW didn't actually fix https://github.com/azakhi/BannerlordMods/releases/tag/OldGeoCalculation.v1.0.0
And this one so I can stop Malding over the Election System
And this one to maybe help get more wanderers? Not sure if it does this. https://www.nexusmods.com/mountandblade2bannerlord/mods/1033?tab=description
And now this too, hopefully help parties not overburden themselves with food. https://www.nexusmods.com/mountandblade2bannerlord/mods/4376?tab=description
Will they all join forces to crash the game? LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
 
I have no high expectations towards the game and it's intended mechanics for late game.

I. It's fun to play for a while. During this restricted time mods can help to improve your experience a bit.

1. For a better gameplay I use this:
- Diplomacy (better than nothing)
- Improved Garrisons (at least some nice features, like patrols)
- Party AI Overhaul and Commands (a bit more control)

2. Adonnay's replacer mod is not only for a bit more pleasant troops, it can change the whole game, with mods like "True Armies of Calradia" (great because also available for non-RBM gameplay) or "De Re Militari" (sadly connected to RBM combate module) which make much more convincing troop trees than the vanilla over-armored nonsense.

3. I use RBM mod with disabled combat module and disabled posture system, sometimes the AI really behaves strangely, that's true, but overall it's better than vanilla often (sometimes it's worse). I like RBM AI module foremost because it makes the AI block better.

4. To give more variety to the early game I liked mods like Calradia at War and Scum and Villainy which added a lot of groups, sadly not updated.

5. The absolute minimum. A few mods for me personally are mandatory, without which I would not play:
- Detailed Character Creation or Character Reload (to battle the ugliness of companions)
- Character Manager (to solve the "I'm useless and I don't wanna level" companion syndrom)
- Spear Rework (TW's spears always were and are an insult)


II. My greatest concerns at the moment are that
a) cavalry cannot hit with lances and spears: it's almost gamebreaking because it takes out a big chunk of combat possibilities
b) foot archers cannot hit horsearchers: see a)
c) cavalry rides straight through dense infantry formations: momentarily not such a problem because poor riders cannot hit the broadside of a barn, has to be changed if they could because cavalry normally never could break through dense unwavering heavy infantry from the front

Compared to this the much debated "paper armor" poblem is vanishingly small because easily solved with a few xml edits.
 
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Thank you too much for all !
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Here's the mods I'm using and why
I am also now try these updated mods:
https://www.nexusmods.com/mountandblade2bannerlord/mods/355 I can (usually) target what I want with troops with this! But will I remember I added it?
And this one to fix the defection Bug TW didn't actually fix https://github.com/azakhi/BannerlordMods/releases/tag/OldGeoCalculation.v1.0.0
And this one so I can stop Malding over the Election System
And this one to maybe help get more wanderers? Not sure if it does this. https://www.nexusmods.com/mountandblade2bannerlord/mods/1033?tab=description
And now this too, hopefully help parties not overburden themselves with food. https://www.nexusmods.com/mountandblade2bannerlord/mods/4376?tab=description
Will they all join forces to crash the game? LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
 
I reread what I said above, I should add that the modders are really doing a great job!
And to be completely fair, the TW programmers too, because after 200 hours of 1.8.0 "native", we only have two or three small bugs. We were able to go up to the third generation of children without noticeable problems. Big progress compared to the first release of the game in EA.

Even though I often crash in the middle of the game, I have a lot of fun before because modes like deceit make you forget to even go to war.
I just find it a shame that one of the essential ways to make a fortune is to hunt men in this game. It would have been nice to have had another path than "hunting men". In many games, when you "loot", you "hunt" monsters. In Bannerlord, we hunt the poor. It's a bit sad. Sniff.

A mod projects this desolation into a downright surreal dimension by transforming the "looters" and "refugees". This mod is called "Bandit variety". So I save all the refugees by taking them in my troops or by putting them in my hideout (thanks to the "Fourberyie - Roguery" mod). There are so many who have found refuge in my hideout that the game crashes. (By Elsewhere, the increasing number of bandits, with the Fourberie- Roguery mod crashes the game in the middle of the game, I think... to be checked.) My troop is filled with "refugees", men and women. But by "happiness" , thanks to "Fourberie - Roguery" I will be able to try to assassinate certain Lords. (I'll try restarting my game to clear the hideout of all the extra refugees to see if it still crashes, normally the limit is "20 lads" and I have... a hundred...)

Namely, the modders of "Fourberie - Roguery" and "Bandit Variety" are working together to try to make their two very complementary mods compatible.

It would also be good for them to work with "Life in Calradia", because the latter, by making it possible to buy a house and a tavern, also brings another way than war for war. And I fear conflicts and crashes between this mod and the other two for various reasons. But maybe I'm wrong.
And I would really like to be able to test "Friendly Lord", but it is only available for the moment for version 1.6.5. and so "ambitious" that I dare not imagine the crashes to come and the conflicts with other mods. But if it works, it will be too good

"Life in Calradia" and "Fourberie - Roguery" offer us good reasons to venture into towns and villages, which is not nothing. "Friendly Lord" would offer us even more by allowing many new possible interactions (if I understood the goal of the modder correctly).
 
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Well, I just found the only mod that tries to fix their map, which's Calradia Expanded - haven't tested it because it's currently discontinued due to the creators throwing a tantrum at the game getting patched :lol: :lol: :lol:
But one can roll-back a few patches and fiddle with it, I know I wouldn't though.
The fact's that I believe that BL's map needs a "total makeover" to fix balance + place the proper settlements in their proper zones with their proper names. This mod does some of it but at the same time makes some questionable decisions with "creative liberty", but at least it's a "start" :lol:

For now I'm dodging RBM and solely using Warbandlord. The author from Warbandlord, though, seems to have been working on means to make his mod compatible with RBM which should make a lot of ppl happy. I particularly prefer Warbandlord because it makes both numericals and some gameplay meta much more close to Warband (where there were no low tier damage sponges), it hooked me from the moment I played it. It does have it's issues, though, like rusty weapons having negative dmg values :lol:

I use Levelling Adjuster + Better Attributes and make so I get 1 attribute per 2 levels instead of 3 (never understood TW's math, and never will). But if I'm feeling the game's dragging on too long I also crank up focus points to 2 per level (only if I'm feeling like "cheating" though, issue with that is that the game doesn't support so many focus pts and you'll eventually have some spare sitting in your character screen). I also turn off extra HP and all other combat modifiers from Better Attributes (makes it cheating if using with Warbandlord).

The list's longer than that, so I'll update later
 
Well, I just found the only mod that tries to fix their map, which's Calradia Expanded - haven't tested it because it's currently discontinued due to the creators throwing a tantrum at the game getting patched :lol: :lol: :lol:
But one can roll-back a few patches and fiddle with it, I know I wouldn't though.
The fact's that I believe that BL's map needs a "total makeover" to fix balance + place the proper settlements in their proper zones with their proper names. This mod does some of it but at the same time makes some questionable decisions with "creative liberty", but at least it's a "start" :lol:
Calradia expanded has a 1.8 version on their discord channel
 
Single best mod for me at present is: "Character Reload Fix" which allows you to completely edit (i.e. overhaul) ANY character in the game - stats/appearance/gear (new feature) - so you NOT have to be stuck with companions who have traits not suitable to your character, or a giant/dwarf of a spouse, or clan members with hideous dress sense -> this is the GOAT for me.

Improved Garrisons is fantastic in making you able to have your garrison have a function - send patrols to guard your settlements, send reinforcements from an established fief to a newly taken one, etc. Great and immersive, great interface, being able to customize what your garrison does, how it recruits, etc. is great.

Party AI Overhaul is another excellent mod that gives you control over what your (otherwise stupid) clan party commanders do - so you can send them on patrols to safeguard a region, have them follow you (insta-army, even as mercenary), and even to the fine detail of guiding their recruitment policies.

Improved Combat AI - I think this does have an effect on how the (otherwise stupid) troops behave. Certainly have seen NPCs block better in tournaments, and cavalry seem to understand which way the pointy end of their lance should go. An improvement over vanilla, without groundbreaking changes (like some of the other "realistic" mods that cause you to get knocked down endlessly without reason)

The "True" suite of mods - changes how relation developes, gives NPCs their own opinions, let your companions/clan/spouse develop relation with you over time. Great addition as there are things the vanilla game has in that never shows when you have low relation (like your spouse changing what they say to you at high relation)

Surrender Tweaks - no longer does every NPC party leader have a death wish. When they are heavily outnumbered they may offer a bribe to be left alone. Really nice change from idiot having their troops slaughtered needlessly.

Realistic Weather - it now may rain/be foggy/ etc. in Calradia. Cool mod

Land of Sika - very promising looking total overhaul quite similar in feel to PoP from Warband. Very cool features like being able to build your own settlement
 
and solely using Warbandlord.
The issue with all these overhauls is they all nerf weapon damage into the ground, and add things like knockdown (which only seems to affect the player), I do not mind if a weapon can kill you outright - that IS realistic. What maybe needs to be done is armor (especially body part) getting buffed to counter the stupidly high damage from arrows. I made a simple mod for myself where I just added 10 body protection to every armor, and it had a very visible effect on infantry survival against arrow damage
 
Calradia expanded has a 1.8 version on their discord channel
I won't add spyware to my machine to get access through a discord channel 🤷‍♂️
Haven't used discrod for ages now and I can't even remember my PW - besides that's rather counter-intuitive and counter-productive for most ppl won't even know about a discord, and many are like me who wouldn't bother
The issue with all these overhauls is they all nerf weapon damage into the ground, and add things like knockdown (which only seems to affect the player), I do not mind if a weapon can kill you outright - that IS realistic. What maybe needs to be done is armor (especially body part) getting buffed to counter the stupidly high damage from arrows. I made a simple mod for myself where I just added 10 body protection to every armor, and it had a very visible effect on infantry survival against arrow damage
you clearly have no idea what Warbandlord does do you?
Warbandlord doesn't nerf anything, it actually buffs everything by lowering values.
 
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you clearly have no idea what Warbandlord does do you?
Warbandlord doesn't nerf anything, it actually buffs everything by lowering values.
Not so, go have a look at the xml file - it reduces weapon damage, character health, and even horse health. It is meant to bolster different armor types, but I guess the game code does not allow enough distinction. This is the auther's response to my question about the damage and health reduction -"Otherwise it'll take more time to balance weapon damage and the mod will not be named of Warbandlord"
 
Not so, go have a look at the xml file - it reduces weapon damage, character health, and even horse health. It is meant to bolster different armor types, but I guess the game code does not allow enough distinction. This is the auther's response to my question about the damage and health reduction -"Otherwise it'll take more time to balance weapon damage and the mod will not be named of Warbandlord"
I'm holding myself to not push a meme into the discussion because it'd be too offensive. Instead I'll try to be patient, yet I refuse to explain, just download the mod and try it out - want to make a fast test run download levelling adjuster and crank xp gain to actually get a feeling of how late-game plays out. Link's there
I won't add spyware to my machine to get access through a discord channel 🤷‍♂️
Haven't used discrod for ages now and I can't even remember my PW - besides that's rather counter-intuitive and counter-productive for most ppl won't even know about a discord, and many are like me who wouldn't bother

you clearly have no idea what Warbandlord does do you?
Warbandlord doesn't nerf anything, it actually buffs everything by lowering values.
"Warbandlord doesn't nerf anything, it actually buffs everything by lowering values." - also, this means exactly what is stated: Nerfs aren't "lowered values" but relative lowered efficiency. The mod does the exact opposite, by lowering values it buffs everything. In fact that was a suggestion for Game Design I gave in some lost feedback in 2020 to TW in these same forums: to lower HP and dmg and mimic Warband's dmg and HP buffs through their perk-system. It was never done. Warbandlord does much more than just mess with armor, read the description, it's all there.
 
@xdj1nn - push any meme you want.
I downloaded the mod, tried it, didn't like what it did to health, horses and weapon damage.
Sigh...had a look at the details in the xml file, and there is ... weapon damage reduction. "It buffs everything by lowering values" really?

Use the mod. I don't, for personal preference.
Meme away.
 
@xdj1nn - push any meme you want.
I downloaded the mod, tried it, didn't like what it did to health, horses and weapon damage.
Sigh...had a look at the details in the xml file, and there is ... weapon damage reduction. "It buffs everything by lowering values" really?

Use the mod. I don't, for personal preference.
Meme away.
okay big-head, let's explain math to you:

if we were messing with in-game economy, some of the most expensive armors are 250k
but than I lowered overall gold income by 10% and reduced the armor value to 150k; not just armor value, but also all in-game expenses across the board - would that be a buff or a nerf?
 
Listen, not trying to pick an argument with you. I stated my opinion, based on inspection of the code.

When you lower (nerf) the damage of a weapon, yes, it does add an indirect buff to the armor. But ALL the armor. I prefer to have the body armor buffed, with more exposed areas (arms, legs) take more damage if hit. That would be consistent with what plate armor would do, as hinges and armor protection on limbs was not as strong as the trunk was protected.
But when you lower the weapon damage value, all damage across all areas are equally lowered, which I think is unrealistic. A sword/axe/etc. should be able to hack off an arm, but have more difficulty penetrating a well protected torso. Yet the torso should be more vulnerable to a crushing blow from a blunt damage weapon (having you plate chest piece caved in could/would lead to real difficulty breathing as it blocked your chest from being able to expand. So the straps had to be cut rapidly to stop knights dying of hypoxic oxygen starvation). To my knowledge, the mod does not buff blunt weapon trauma either.
 
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Listen, not trying to pick an argument with you. I stated my opinion, based on inspection of the code.

When you lower (nerf) the damage of a weapon, yes, it does add an indirect buff to the armor. But ALL the armor. I prefer to have the body armor buffed, with more exposed areas (arms, legs) take more damage if hit. That would be consistent with what plate armor would do, as hinges and armor protection on limbs was not as strong as the trunk was protected.
But when you lower the weapon damage value, all damage across all areas are equally lowered, which I think is unrealistic. A sword/axe/etc. should be able to hack off an arm, but have more difficulty penetrating a well protected torso. Yet the torso should be more vulnerable to a crushing blow from a blunt damage weapon (having you plate chest piece caved in could/would lead to real difficulty breathing as it blocked your chest from being able to expand. So the straps had to be cut rapidly to stop knights dying of hypoxic oxygen starvation). To my knowledge, the mod does not buff blunt weapon trauma either.
I'd guess you never really took it upon yourself to practice martial arts, study anatomy and look up armor tests. That's not how it works, physics, biomechanics and a multitude of other factors come into account. The best you can do to a plate armored arm with an axe is break bones. It'll never cut through, ever. If there's quality discrepancy and you're "lucky" it'll make a shallow cut, but the main driving damage won't be "slashing", it'll be blunt force trauma. If it was so ineffective as you imagine, there weren't going to be any plate armoring for arms, because they are uncomfortable as ****.

what I do have to agree is that the game fails to simulate gaps and small differences in coverage due to having fewer hitboxes than it should, also it doesn't calculate all hitbox parts as we see the armor coverage in image, the game simply looks up plate / chain / etc for the body part and that's it, if the visuals cover hands/fingers/forearms don't matter.

Lastly, achieving full spectrum of realism in a video-game is nearly impossible without destroying any fun-factor in the process and causing severe uncanny valley" effects. I don't even need weapons to be able to disable an armored person, if I survive their attempt to kill me and move close enough I can easily disable them wtih technique, such technique's simply impossible to replicate with limited controls that any video-game platform provides.
 
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I am a specialist in medicine, board certified in three fields (emergency medicine, family medicine, dermatology)...I have a black belt in karate (Goju Ryu, 1st dan)...so wrong mate. Be careful with loose statements. Mace/blunt instruments cause crushing injuries - well documented in medical literature. Don't ever say 'ever' unless you were there. Numerous accounts of amputations in medieval combat caused by cutting instruments hitting armor at the joint hinges. Axemen trained to aim at the shoulder pauldron as cutting through the hinge there would incapacitate an opponent - you're pretty useless if you cannot lift your weapon (because the deltoid was severed), and the next fellow with a mace would brain you through your armor plated helmet. And a halberd is pretty much specifically designed to slash at your hinges and then drive the spike through your gap between chest and axilla
I think I'll move on from this.
 
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