Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord is no stranger to total conversion mods and Lord of the Rings fans now have something to look forward to, in the shape of the Kingdoms of Arda mod. When it launches, the mod will bring Middle-earth alongside many of its factions and characters to TaleWorlds Entertainment’s latest release.
The team behind Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord’s Kingdoms of Arda mod aims to provide an experience playable in both single-player and multiplayer. Beginning two years prior to the Fellowship of the Ring leaving Rivendell, players will encounter popular characters from the books and movies, even having the option of joining the Fellowship on their journey towards Mordor.
Its separate story mode will then focus in on scenarios centered on battles like those at Helm’s Deep or Pellenor Fields, which can be played from either the perspective of a hero or a regular soldier.
The Elves, Dwarves, Dúnedain, Orcs, Hobbits, Goblins, and Uruks count among Kingdom of Arda’s playable races. It’s safe to say that Bannerlord’s LotR mod won’t limit you to playing as the good guys. You’ll be able to kill “pretty much everyone” but don’t expect a Nazgûl to be destroyed while Sauron’s big eye watches over Mordor.
Trolls, Ents, and Mumakils are also part of the modding team’s plans, as are “25 major factions with a large spattering of minor factions.” As much as the vision is there, Kingdoms of Arda is “very early within development” at the moment. Even if the launch of official modding tools – which part of the team tested – helped speed things up, a playable version is “far off”.
“The current release plan will have us wait until the mod reaches a point of high polish in our first set of factions: Gondor, Rohan, Isengard, Mordor, Harad, and Dunland. This means that the campaign needs to reach a satisfying smoothness and balance, but many of our features may not be implemented fully like Story Mode, multiplayer, quests, and other mechanics,” reads a post from October 2020. Another, from earlier in the year, details planned troop trees.
You can learn more about Bannerlord’s Lord of the Rings mod over on its Mod DB page. Our list of the best Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord mods also has quite a few picks to tide you over until Kingdoms of Arda’s currently unannounced release date rolls by.
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