5 Best Bannerlord 2 Mods That Add Animations For Realism

This article solves the problem of stale animations in Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord by providing five mods that significantly improve the realism and immersion through enhanced animations.

Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord, while a fantastic sandbox RPG, can sometimes feel a little stiff. The animations, while functional, often lack the fluidity and impact to truly sell the intensity of medieval combat. Luckily, the modding community has stepped up to address this, and there are now several fantastic options available to overhaul the animation system. Let’s dive into five of the best bannerlord 2 mods that add animations, focusing on what they bring to the table and how they improve your gameplay experience.

Animation mods are essential for Bannerlord 2 for a few key reasons:

• Increased Immersion: Better animations make combat feel more impactful and believable, pulling you deeper into the game world.
• Enhanced Visuals: Polished animations simply look better. They add a layer of visual fidelity that the base game sometimes lacks.
• Improved Gameplay Feedback: Clear and responsive animations make it easier to read enemy movements and react accordingly. This is especially important in Bannerlord’s demanding combat system.

Combat Realism Through Animation Upgrades

The goal of any animation mod is to make the combat and movement within Bannerlord 2 feel more believable and impactful. When animations are stiff or unrealistic, it detracts from the overall immersion. Mods that address this do so by overhauling existing animations or adding new ones altogether. This can include everything from sword swings and blocking to horse riding and even character idle animations.

How Animation Mods Enhance Immersion

Immersion is key to a good gaming experience, and animation mods contribute significantly to this. Imagine the difference between a clunky, robotic sword swing and a fluid, powerful strike that visibly impacts your opponent. The latter instantly feels more visceral and engaging. By replacing the game’s default animations with more realistic and nuanced ones, you can create a much more convincing and immersive medieval world.

Here are five of the best bannerlord 2 mods that add animations, each offering unique improvements to the game’s visual fidelity and combat feel.

1. Realistic Battle Mod (RBM)

Realistic Battle Mod (RBM) is not just about animations, but it significantly impacts them. While it overhauls combat mechanics, weapon stats, and AI, it also includes animation changes to make battles feel more grounded.

• More Realistic Attacks: Expect to see more deliberate and weighty attacks, with less of the “swinging for the fences” feel of the vanilla game.
• Improved Blocking: Blocking animations are refined to better reflect the impact of incoming blows.
• AI Behavior: The AI is tweaked to use these new animations more strategically.

RBM is essential if you want a complete combat overhaul, and the animation improvements are a vital part of that. It is crucial for enhancing realism and difficulty in the game.

2. Combat Animation Enhancement (CAE)

Combat Animation Enhancement (CAE) focuses specifically on improving the quality of combat animations.

• New Attack Animations: This mod introduces a variety of new attack animations for different weapon types, adding much-needed visual diversity.
• Better Transitions: Animation transitions are smoothed out, making combat feel more fluid and responsive.
• Improved Footwork: Characters move more realistically, with better foot placement and weight shifting during combat.

CAE is perfect if you’re mainly concerned with the look and feel of combat itself, providing a noticeable upgrade to the vanilla animations. From my experience, CAE drastically improves the immersion in duels and larger battles.

3. Legolas Animation Overhaul

Legolas Animation Overhaul is a popular choice for those seeking to add a touch of flair and agility to their characters’ movements.

• Inspired by Lord of the Rings: As the name suggests, this mod draws inspiration from Legolas’s acrobatic fighting style in The Lord of the Rings.
• More Fluid Movement: Expect to see more dynamic and graceful animations, including leaps, dodges, and stylish attacks.
• Compatibility: This mod can be used with other animation mods to create a unique combat experience.

If you’re looking for something a bit different, the Legolas Animation Overhaul adds a unique and engaging style to combat. My personal experience with this mod is that it is a fun deviation from the more traditional combat styles.

4. Improved Horse Riding Animations

Improved Horse Riding Animations, as the name implies, improves the animations when riding horses.

• More Believable Posture: Riders sit more naturally on their horses, with improved posture and weight distribution.
• Smoother Movement: Horse animations are refined, resulting in a smoother and more fluid riding experience.
• Better Combat on Horseback: Combat animations while mounted are also improved, making horseback fighting feel more impactful.

This mod is essential if you spend a lot of time on horseback, improving the overall experience. The details in the horse riding animations make the world feel much more alive.

5. NPC Animation Overhaul

NPC Animation Overhaul adds new animations for NPC.

• New Idle Animation: New and various idle animations can make NPCs feel more diverse and life-like.
• Smoother Movement: Movement animations are refined, resulting in a smoother and more fluid city experience.
• Fix animation Errors: Can fix animations that looked bugged.

This mod is essential if you want to see much more detail when talking to NPC and improves the overall experience. The details in the animations make the world feel much more alive.

One of the great things about Bannerlord 2’s modding community is that you can often combine mods to create a truly customized experience. When it comes to animation mods, this can be particularly effective. For example, you could combine Realistic Battle Mod’s combat overhauls with Combat Animation Enhancement’s visual improvements for a comprehensive upgrade.

Load Order Considerations

However, it’s crucial to pay attention to load order when combining mods. Animation mods, in particular, can sometimes conflict with each other. A general rule of thumb is to load more general mods (like RBM) before more specific ones (like CAE). Experimentation may be required to find the optimal load order for your specific setup. It is recommended to utilize tools like the Bannerlord Mod Launcher to manage your load order efficiently.

Testing and Troubleshooting

After installing animation mods, take the time to test them out in-game. Jump into the training arena or engage in a few battles to see how they feel. If you encounter any issues, such as animation glitches or crashes, try adjusting your load order or disabling conflicting mods. The modding community forums are also a great resource for troubleshooting.

As someone who has spent countless hours playing Bannerlord 2, I can confidently say that animation mods are among the most impactful changes you can make to the game. They address one of the core weaknesses of the base game and elevate the overall experience to a new level.

My Personal Experience

I’ve personally experimented with many different animation mods over the years, and I’ve found that they can drastically change how I perceive and interact with the game world. The difference between a clunky, lifeless battle and a fluid, visceral one is night and day. Animation mods can truly make you feel like you’re a part of the action.

The Future of Animation Modding

The Bannerlord 2 modding community is constantly evolving, and I’m excited to see what new animation mods emerge in the future. With each new release, the potential for creating an even more immersive and engaging medieval world grows. If you’re looking to take your Bannerlord 2 experience to the next level, I highly recommend exploring the world of animation mods.

Here is a table summarizing the mods discussed:

Here are some frequently asked questions regarding bannerlord 2 mods that add animations: