Forsaken Ascension

Beta 0.0.28 — repeated boss victories, stronger permanent blessings.

Return to Valheim's bosses for harder challenges, earn upgraded trophies and offer them at the sacrificial stones to strengthen your blessings. All earned blessings can remain active together.

This beta covers Eikthyr, the Elder, Bonemass, Moder, Yagluth, the Queen and Fader. The final Deep North boss is excluded. It was developed around two-player Hard difficulty with optional Creature Level & Loot Control and Epic Loot.

What it adds

• Seven boss tracks, each with a normal tier and five starred challenge tiers.
• 42 trophy variants, with tiered names and appearances.
• Permanent, configurable blessings that combine by default; an optional single-blessing mode is available.
• Five cumulative move unlocks per boss. Five-star challenges can use every earlier unlocked move.
• Boss tier appearances, progression-based health/damage scaling and repeatable beaten tiers.
• A challenge selection menu, trophy offering flow and an F8 progression panel.
• Configurable offering costs, rewards, participation requirements and passive values.

Install with Gale

For a published package, install through Gale's Valheim mod browser. For a private beta ZIP, select Valheim and a test profile, then use Gale's local mod import option. Required dependencies are declared in the manifest. Launch Valheim through Gale afterward.

Every player and the host/server need the same Forsaken Ascension version. Disable Passive Powers: it conflicts with this mod's blessing system. Epic Loot and Creature Level & Loot Control are optional; neither is required to use the progression and challenge system.

When moving from a manually installed beta to a manager-installed package, close Valheim first, back up the config/progress folder, and move the old manually installed ForsakenAscension.dll outside BepInEx/plugins. Keep only one active copy. Preserve your existing config and progression data.

The DLL belongs under BepInEx/plugins/ForsakenAscension. The main config is BepInEx/config/thema.forsakenascension.cfg. Mod progression and recovery data belong under BepInEx/config/ForsakenAscension; keep that folder with your world/character backups.

Progression loop

1. Defeat the normal boss and offer its trophy at the sacrificial stones.
2. Use that boss's summoning altar to choose an unlocked challenge tier and confirm its offering.
3. Defeat the challenge, collect its upgraded trophy and offer it at the sacrificial stones.
4. Upgrade that blessing and continue through five stars. Beaten tiers can be refought.

World altar upgrades and challenge unlocks are shared. Personal blessings depend on eligible participation; newcomers do not automatically receive everyone else's earned benefits. Eligible players can claim an already offered tier through the progression interface. Lower tiers never downgrade a stronger earned blessing.

The first naturally generated Queen uses a separate normal-encounter path; higher repeat challenges use the challenge system. Her dungeon behavior remains an important beta test area.

Blessings

These are default normal-to-five-star values, configurable by the host:

These features are implemented, but live balance and all sailing/adrenaline interactions are not fully validated. Native regeneration restrictions and defense handling remain relevant.

Cumulative boss moves

Each column is the new move unlocked at that star. Normal fights keep native attacks. Specials occur on cooldown, rather than on every attack.

Break Elder's linked ward roots to remove protection. Break Moder's crystals before their bursts. Breaking Yagluth's emberstones weakens or cancels his ritual nova. Temporary special guards are capped, untameable and loot-free. Hazards have finite lifetimes.

After updating, choose fresh starred challenges to test the latest moves. Already accepted challenges and existing bosses retain their saved difficulty and moveset.

Configuration and difficulty

The packaged defaults use automatic world progression, not a creative-test override:

[Challenges]
ProgressionScalingEnabled = true
ChallengeStrength = 1
ProgressionStageOverride = -1

Starred rematches scale from each boss's own native stats and the highest defeated boss in the host's world. Later bosses have a native progression floor. Hard and applicable native difficulty rules remain relevant; enchantment strength is not automatically measured.

Each Challenges.<Boss> section provides separate health/damage, offering and reward curves. Each Movesets.<Boss> section enables or disables special moves for new challenges. Restart the host after edits. Accepted challenges keep their saved settings.

Epic Loot integration adds opportunities through its existing tables; drops are not guaranteed. Epic Loot's own configuration determines whether those tables produce equipment or materials. This package does not include or replace Epic Loot or CLLC configs.

Beta status and known issues

• Fader: Ashen Judgment's final green guide is at 11m, but the damaging band reaches inward to approximately 9.8m on flat ground. Stay well inside the guide while testing. A boundary-alignment fix is pending.
• Elder: ward-root health may make ignoring the protection more efficient than destroying both roots, especially solo. Balance refinement is pending.
• Several projectile fans/sweeps share geometry. Further differentiation is being considered.
• Live attack timing, uneven-terrain readability, Queen dungeon navigation, multiplayer ownership/transport, save/restart recovery and dedicated-server gameplay need broader validation.

The core suite passes 14,318 assertions. Isolated Unity/Mono checks cover scoped hooks, all thirty new remaining-boss scheduler paths, native attack clones, guard prefab spawning/caps, destructible props and Queen navigation on a controlled navmesh. Checks also pass without Epic Loot/CLLC. These are not completed live beta sessions or a guarantee of error-free gameplay. No real ten-player beta panel has been conducted.

Reporting a problem

Include the mod/game versions, boss and star tier, whether the challenge was freshly summoned, host type, solo/co-op, relevant equipment and what happened. Attach the affected profile's BepInEx/LogOutput.log. For progression/recovery issues, preserve the mod's config/progress folder so the saved evidence can be inspected before attempting a refund or reset.

Credits and development

Designed through player requests and developed with substantial AI assistance. Package artwork is AI-generated. Public Thunderstore listings should include the AI Generated category. BepInEx and Jotunn are external dependencies; game assets are provided by the installed Valheim game at runtime. The package does not redistribute the game or dependency DLLs.

Changelog

0.0.38 — summon camera shake fix

• Removes continuous camera shake from the local summon sound copies before they start. Native buildup and arrival audio remain enabled for every boss.
• Uses the sound prefab's native cleanup time instead of extending every sound object to at least 30 seconds.
• Retains the server summoning and trophy behavior from 0.0.37. Server and all clients must update to 0.0.38; preserve configuration and progression.

0.0.37 — summon atmosphere and reward diagnostics

• Restores native preparation and arrival sounds locally for nearby players, including single-player and dedicated-server challenges. Sound cues cannot create network objects, damage effects or another boss.
• Keeps native visual/gameplay effects on the host and retains referenced summon assets for their lifetime.
• Logs why a death earns no Ascension trophy when nobody meets the participation requirement. Kill commands alone do not earn progression; weapon damage and other configured participation still do.
• Reward checks cover every boss and tier in local-host and remote-owner paths, including exact trophy identity, duplicate death reports and altar upgrades.
• Server and every client must update to 0.0.37. Preserve existing configuration and progress.

0.0.36 — remote altar summoning

• Summoning can read the native altar definition from saved world data without loading its arena on the server.
• The summoning client checks native terrain and clearance; the server checks altar identity, proximity, offering, unlocked tier and spawn bounds before creating the challenge.
• The initialized boss uses normal network ownership on the nearby client. Duplicate requests reconcile the existing boss instead of creating another.
• Mounted offerings can be read from saved ritual stands. A disconnect before spawning cancels the ritual and keeps offering recovery available.
• Server and every client must update to 0.0.36. Preserve existing configuration and progress. Live dedicated-server validation remains in progress.

0.0.35 — altar compatibility and loading rollback

• Removed the 0.0.34 server area-loading workaround and preparation retry, which did not resolve the reported dedicated-server altar failure.
• Rejected summons close the menu and release input immediately while offering recovery continues.
• Existing vanilla trophies at the sacrificial stones establish normal blessings and unlock one-star challenges, including in worlds created before installing the mod. Higher earned tiers are preserved.
• Trophy display upgrades no longer overwrite the saved native attachment or affect removable decoration stands.
• Retains the 0.0.33 server progression fix. The original dedicated-server summoning failure remains unresolved; this update restores the earlier behavior rather than claiming a server summoning fix.
• Server and every client must update to 0.0.35. Preserve existing config and progress.

0.0.34 — dedicated server summoning

• Fixed remote summoning altars being rejected as unavailable when their saved objects were not instantiated on a dedicated server.
• Temporarily loads the altar's native static area for spawn and offering checks, with bounded loading and automatic cleanup.
• Retries an unready altar briefly before taking offerings and displays the rejection reason if preparation fails.
• Preserves existing progression, configuration and offering recovery. Server and every client must update to 0.0.34.

0.0.33 — dedicated server progression

• Fixed progression synchronization for dedicated servers where Valheim leaves the connection's legacy player ID unset. F8, challenge selection and trophy blessing descriptions can now receive the server's progression.
• Applied the same character identity fix to summoning, trophy offerings, claims, sailing blessings and boss participation tracking.
• Preserved existing progression and settings; no reset or migration is required.
• Both the server and every client must update to plugin 0.0.33.

0.0.32 — gameplay screenshots

• Added a horizontal screenshot strip showing a five-star Eikthyr fight, challenge selection and a permanent trophy blessing.
• Listing-only update; gameplay DLL and default configuration are unchanged.

0.0.31 — feedback note

• Added a short notice about expected bugs and balance issues, welcoming player reports and feedback.
• Documentation-only update; gameplay and configuration are unchanged.

0.0.30 — listing cleanup

• Shortened the description and removed Beta labels from the listing.
• Focused the README on features, progression, blessings, boss moves and compatibility.
• Removed the detailed install, test results, known issues, reporting and credits sections from the listing.
• Documentation-only package update: gameplay DLL and configuration remain identical to 0.0.29.

0.0.29 — beta testing tools

• Added host-only fa_test spawn <boss> <stars 0-5> [stage 0-7] for all seven bosses with current configured scaling, skins and cumulative moves.
• Added native altar/arena shortcuts, loaded test boss information, location lookup and test boss/guard cleanup.
• Test bosses suppress native/Epic Loot drops, boss defeat flags and progression reports; reload/death handling retains the test tag. Regular altar challenges retain their reward flow.
• Added command argument coverage and 42 real Character Awake spawn fixtures. Live AI, console/terrain placement and co-op still need gameplay testing.
• No balance changes or fixes to the previously documented Fader/Elder beta issues.

0.0.28 — beta

• Added five cumulative move unlocks each for Elder, Bonemass, Moder, Yagluth, Queen and Fader: thirty additional boss mechanics.
• Added destructible roots, wards, crystals and ritual stones, plus capped temporary guards.
• Added warned Queen native rush and waypoint-based emergence with floor/path checks.
• Preserved Eikthyr's existing five unlocks, normal fights and accepted fight snapshots.
• Added six independent boss-moveset config switches.
• Prepared a Gale/Thunderstore package with dependency metadata, icon and automatic-progression defaults. Gameplay DLL matches the previously verified 0.0.28 playtest build.
• Known beta issues remain documented in the README; this packaging pass does not change gameplay.

0.0.27

• Replaced fresh one-star Eikthyr Antler Rush with a warned Antler Sweep.
• Added continuous subtle electrical arcs to storm-touched boars.

Earlier playtest milestones

• Added cumulative Eikthyr mechanics, challenge skins, repeatable beaten tiers and world-progression scaling.
• Added permanent simultaneous blessings, tiered trophies, offering/progression interfaces and optional loot integration.

Earlier development milestones are summarized here; this is the first prepared Thunderstore-format package, not a claim that earlier versions were publicly published.