Fire and Water is a free-to-use mod for the long-running game Mount & Blade: Warband. It adds a huge volume of content to the already expansive action role-playing game (RPG), from extra units to the various existing kingdoms to new equipment. Customize your mount, wield new weapons, or don new pieces of armor as you roam the lands of Calradia. Even the leadership roles get an overhaul, with changes to NPC behavior and spawn rates.

For new Warband players, Fire and Water is a good starting mod. If you’re looking for more content, check Full Invasion 2 or Warlord Mod.

A general game add-on

The greatest strength of Fire and Water as a Warband mod is that it offers customized content for almost all aspects of the game. From the equipment options alone, there is over 400 custom content such as armor, horses, and weapons available. Among the particularly interesting additions to the massive RPG are custom armor sets. They give you the incentive to collect parts and see their effects when worn together.

For the AI, there are changes in the capacity of bandit and peasant factions throughout the game. Villagers, in particular, receive an additional unit that can provide them with a new strategic advantage. Even bounty units are granted a Bounty Chief, with revamped mobs. Their AI behavior and wayfinding methods are also improved, making them a bit more challenging and offering more strategic possibilities.

The only shortcoming in this mod compared to others is that it doesn’t have a single thematic concept that binds all content together. Some mods are based on a TV show, a video game, or a book—and this mod doesn’t have it. It feels disjointed and random at some points during the game. Additionally, it also suffers from certain compatibility issues with some base game versions.

Good start for Warband mods

Fire and Water remains a good mod despite lacking a sense of continuity and coherence. If you’re new to the Warband modding scene, it’s a good place to start because it keeps you connected to the base game without any drastic changes. Also, it has a lot of content that covers every aspect of the game—from weapons and armor to the NPC factions you find throughout the game.