Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord left Steam Early access on October 25, 2022, launching into version 1.0 with a huge list of bug fixes and new content. These changes helped to further develop the iconic Mount and Blade gameplay that was pioneered by the original title back in 2008.
Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlordoffers players a huge amount of freedom, allowing them to make their fortune in a medieval world as a mercenary, loyal vassal, merchant, bandit, or even a king or queen. Whichever path players choose, they are represented on the world map by their party, the group of soldiers, companions, and pack animals that accompany them.
What Influences Party Speed in Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord
All parties in the Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord move at their own speed, allowing fast parties to evade slow ones, and allowing small groups to outmaneuver large armies. Players can see a breakdown of their speed at any time by mousing over the arrow in the bottom right of the screen.
The largest factor in a party's movement speed is their size, as larger groups are more disorganized and unwieldy to move. Having a large amount of infantry instead of cavalry in Mount and Blade 2 will also slow a party down, particularly if they don't have any spare horses to carry those soldiers. On top of this, nearing or exceeding the party's carrying capacity also carries a movement speed debuff, as does the game difficulty and terrain effects like snow and forest.
How to Increase Party Speed in Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord
There are a few ways that players can increase their party speed in Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord. One of the most effective, but also most expensive, is to buy additional horses and pack animals to carry both infantry and supplies. Infantry will automatically ride spare horses out of combat in order to remove their movement speed penalty. Additionally, more pack animals means the party will be less burdened by weight. For an extremely fast party, players can choose to recruit only cavalry. However, this is both extremely expensive and can be heavily countered by Mount and Blade 2's defensive formations on the battlefield.
Two of the factions in Mount and Blade 2 Bannerlord come with terrain specialties that let them overcome speed debuffs in their home provinces. The Battanians gain a 50% movement speed boostin forests. Meanwhile, the Aserai ignore all speed penalties from desert terrain. Regardless of culture, any party will move faster while its morale is high, or slower when suffering from low morale. Morale can be raised by winning battles, but players should be aware that their party will also suffer a short-term movement speed debuff after finishing any battle or raid.
As the main character in Mount and Blade 2 Bannerlord gains levels, there are several Perks that can be used to increase party movement speed. These are mostly found in the Riding, Athletics, and Scouting skill trees. The Riding Perks Sweeping Wind and Nomadic Traditions, and the Scouting Perk Uncanny Insight, are particularly effective at raising movement speed.
Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.