Balrond Absolute Overhaul 2.0 — BETA

A complete Valheim progression, crafting, equipment, Alchemy and world overhaul

Balrond Absolute Overhaul (BAO) expands the familiar Valheim journey into a much deeper, interconnected survival and progression experience. Rather than simply adding isolated items, BAO links new resources, crafting stations, recipes, production chains, equipment systems, Alchemy, building, exploration and quality-of-life improvements across the game's biomes — including Deep North.

BAO 2.0 is the core content and gameplay overhaul of the Balrond mod ecosystem. For the expanded creature, spawn, raid, taming and boss-combat experience, pair it with the separate Balrond Monster Mayhem mod.

BETA RELEASE — ACTIVE TESTING & FEEDBACK REQUESTED

Balrond Absolute Overhaul 2.0 is currently in BETA, not a fully validated stable release. This is a major overhaul with many interconnected systems, so bugs, balance issues, multiplayer desynchronization, missing recipes/assets, conflicts and unexpected behavior are possible.

Community testing is essential. Please report problems even when you have found a workaround. We especially need detailed feedback from dedicated-server operators, multiplayer groups, new-world playthroughs, late-game progression and players using different mod combinations. The most useful reports include steps to reproduce, logs and the relevant config changes.

Back up characters/worlds before installing or updating, and consider a separate test profile until your setup has been validated. Report problems and give feedback on Balrond's Den.

Balrond's Den — Discord · All Balrond mods · Support on Ko-fi

What BAO adds and changes

• Deeper progression and crafting — new and reworked stations, station extensions, crafted station bundles, equipment tiers and extensive recipe changes.
• New resources and materials — additional ores, metals, alloys, scraps, stone, wood, plants, magical components and biome-specific resource chains.
• Expanded production — more meaningful smelting, recycling, cooking, fermentation, milling and specialized processing through dedicated stations and conversion routes.
• Alchemy — discover reagents and catalysts, prepare mixtures and create powerful consumables and weapon oils through the dedicated Alchemy system.
• Equipment overhaul — new weapons, armor, shields, belts, rings and accessories, plus revised equipment classifications, properties and upgrade mechanics.
• Forge of Potential — a special equipment-refinement progression involving tiered idols and its own crafting rules.
• Food and survival — expanded meals and ingredients, Perfect Meals, food-related bonuses and changes to environmental and recovery mechanics.
• Exploration and travel — runestones, map and location improvements, movement assistance, path travel, thrown-weapon recovery and fishing enhancements.
• Farming and building — additional crops and resources, watering and pollination interactions, build pieces, station utilities, terrain tools and area repair.
• World content — additional locations, vegetation, points of interest, treasure content and Deep North integration.
• Combat and quality of life — revised combat handling, equipment information, status presentation, crafting interface improvements and configurable gameplay conveniences.

BAO contains a large number of custom items, objects and changes to existing Valheim content. A full list would be impractical to keep up to date on a Thunderstore page; the package includes a detailed PDF player handbook with progression explanations, tutorials, catalogs and reference tables, plus a separate CONFIGURATION_GUIDE.md explaining every BAO configuration entry.

Important before installing

This is an overhaul, not a lightweight item pack

BAO changes how many vanilla resources, recipes, crafting stations and progression milestones fit together. Some recipes and stations may become available later or require different materials than in unmodded Valheim.

A new character progression and a new world are strongly recommended for the intended experience. Existing worlds can be used, but already generated areas may not automatically receive every new location or vegetation placement. Back up your world and character before adding or removing a major overhaul.

BAO and Monster Mayhem are separate mods

Balrond Absolute Overhaul provides the core items, stations, equipment, recipes, locations and player-side gameplay systems.

Balrond Monster Mayhem is the companion that manages the expanded creature experience: monster stats and resistances, spawn changes, creature drops, raids/events, taming, growth, mutations and boss-combat systems. Monster Mayhem has hard dependencies on BAO and Balrond Humanoid Randomizer; BAO does not require Monster Mayhem to load.

The included combined handbook covers both projects. Monster Mayhem features apply only when Monster Mayhem is installed and enabled. Check the actual Thunderstore dependency list for the release you install.

Progression at a glance

Station bundles are important: if placing a station requires a single Bundle item, that bundle has its own crafting recipe and station-level requirements. The displayed hammer cost is not the complete cost of obtaining it.

Multiplayer and ServerSync

BAO is a server-authoritative gameplay mod using ServerSync.

• Install BAO on the dedicated server or host and on every connecting player/client. Client-only and server-only BAO installations are not supported.
• Use the same compatible release on the server and clients. BAO's ServerSync implementation requires its configured plugin version and identifies BAO as a required mod.
• Gameplay settings registered with ServerSync are synchronized from the server to connected clients.
• [00 - Server] Lock Configuration = true is the default. When locked, synchronized gameplay options are controlled by the server; players cannot override them locally during multiplayer play.
• Local interface, input and diagnostic preferences are not automatically server-locked. They remain client-side where appropriate.
• When changing settings that register world content, recipes, spawns or other structural data, restart the server and reconnect clients rather than expecting every change to apply live.

For server administrators: edit the server's configuration to define shared gameplay behavior. Do not distribute different gameplay configs expecting each player to retain a separate balance profile; synchronized entries are governed by the server.

Configuration

BAO creates its normal BepInEx configuration file after the first successful launch:

BepInEx/config/balrond.astafaraios.BalrondAbsoluteOverhaul.cfg

The configuration is grouped by system. Depending on the release, available sections include:

Not every individual item, recipe, drop, stat or building cost has a config option. Core authored content and progression are designed as a connected experience. Only settings intentionally exposed in the .cfg file are user-configurable.

Advanced equipment mapping options are server-synchronized. Incorrect custom prefab IDs or classification overrides can change balance and may interact with other equipment mods; use them only if you know what you are overriding.

Complete configuration reference included

The BAO .cfg is extensive. Instead of duplicating hundreds of individual options on Thunderstore, the release package includes:

CONFIGURATION_GUIDE.md

This dedicated documentation describes all 184 BAO settings across 32 sections in the reviewed 2.0.0 source, including exact section/key names, defaults, allowed ranges, what each setting changes, and whether it is ServerSync-controlled or client-local. It also explains fractions vs percentages, multipliers, time/distance units, advanced equipment tier mappings, Forge of Potential chances, multiplayer configuration workflow, examples and troubleshooting.

Please read CONFIGURATION_GUIDE.md before modifying advanced values or submitting a config-related BETA bug report. The file documents BAO settings only; Monster Mayhem is a separate mod with its own configuration.

ServerSync note: the mod includes ServerSync support in its code. Install all dependencies declared by the specific Thunderstore package or your mod manager; do not assume that copying only the main DLL reproduces a complete release installation.

Complete player documentation included

This README is only a short introduction. The release package includes both the player handbook and the separate configuration reference:

Balrond_BAO_BMM_Ultimate_Player_Guide_2026-10-14.pdf
CONFIGURATION_GUIDE.md

The handbook covers:

• biome-by-biome progression and where to look for new materials;
• crafting stations, bundles, recipes, conversions and production chains;
• a step-by-step Alchemy tutorial, reagents, catalysts and formulas;
• added items, build pieces, equipment and gameplay features;
• combat, survival, farming, exploration, travel and interface changes;
• Monster Mayhem creatures, drops, spawns, events, mutations, taming and boss mechanics;
• searchable reference tables and internal prefab IDs for detailed lookup.

Documentation accuracy: some reference tables are retained as historical snapshots and are marked accordingly. Server configuration, installed companion mods, world state and actual loaded assets may affect which content and mechanics are available in your game.

For detailed progression questions, read the PDF first. For exact settings, sync rules and tuning, read CONFIGURATION_GUIDE.md. The README is deliberately kept concise for Thunderstore.

Installation

Thunderstore-compatible mod manager

1. Install Balrond Absolute Overhaul and allow the manager to install the dependencies declared by its release package.
2. For the full creature/boss experience, optionally install Balrond Monster Mayhem with its required dependencies.
3. Start the game once to generate the .cfg file, then consult the included CONFIGURATION_GUIDE.md before making gameplay changes.
4. For multiplayer, install matching mod versions on the server and all clients; configure shared gameplay settings on the server.
5. Prefer a new world and follow the progression guide included with the package.

Manual installation

Use a working BepInEx installation and copy all required release files into the appropriate plugin location, preserving the package structure. Do not install a source ZIP or assume the main DLL alone contains every needed resource. Refer to the release package's declared dependencies and bundled files.

Compatibility and modpacks

BAO modifies broad areas of Valheim gameplay. Mods changing the same crafting recipes, stations, item stats, equipment classification, world locations, vegetation, movement, combat or UI behavior may overlap or conflict.

• Monster Mayhem and Humanoid Randomizer have specific complementary responsibilities in the Balrond ecosystem.
• Balrond Core Optimizer is optional/recommended where applicable; it is not a hard BAO dependency.
• Configuring custom items, recipes or world content through third-party tools can change the intended progression. Such setups require individual testing.
• Keep all required mod versions consistent across multiplayer participants, and test larger modpack changes on a backed-up world.

Optional browsing tools such as VNEI may help with recipe discovery, but they are not a substitute for the included handbook and are not required by BAO unless a particular release declares otherwise.

Frequently asked questions

BETA testing — feedback is essential

This release needs extensive real-world testing. Testing only whether the mod loads is not enough: please report problems found during normal progression, and help us verify how gameplay changes behave across biomes, solo worlds, co-op and dedicated servers. Particularly useful reports include:

• Gameplay and progression: missing or inaccessible recipes/stations, wrong item requirements, broken production chains, resource availability, balance and quest/boss progression blockers.
• Alchemy and equipment: incorrect formulas, missing outputs or icons, Forge of Potential behavior, equipment stats and interactions with other equipment mods.
• World and survival: world generation, weather, Deep North content, harvesting, building, terrain interaction, movement, food, sleep and status effects.
• Multiplayer and ServerSync: server/client differences, invalid or ignored config settings, desync, reload-related issues, ownership and behavior discrepancies.
• Performance and compatibility: FPS drops, spikes on large bases/farms, game errors and reproducible conflicts with other mods.

A good bug report includes: BAO version, Valheim version, full mod list, single-player vs host vs dedicated server, exact reproduction steps, expected/actual result, BepInEx logs, and the relevant config section/key if changed. Include logs from both server and client when reporting network problems. If possible, confirm whether the problem also occurs with BAO defaults. Sanitize private data before sharing logs or configuration files.

Feedback on the balance and overall experience is just as valuable as bug reports. Tell us which stages feel too fast or slow, which recipes or resources are unclear, and where progression becomes difficult to understand.

Bug reports and support

For questions, bug reports and compatibility issues, visit Balrond's Den on Discord.

Please include the BAO version, Valheim version, BepInEx log, full mod list, and whether the issue happens in single-player or on a dedicated server. For multiplayer reports, provide the versions installed on both the server and affected clients. Include reproducible steps and mention any custom recipe/world overrides.

Support development

Balrond mods are available to the community. If you want to support continued development, maintenance, documentation and compatibility work, visit Balrond on Ko-fi. For custom development or commissioned integrations, contact me through Balrond's Den.

Balrond Absolute Overhaul makes Valheim familiar, but worth learning again. Explore, experiment, build a production economy, master Alchemy and discover how the expanded systems connect across the entire progression.