Ways of the Gods

Unofficial mod. Ways of the Gods is a fan-created Valheim modification and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Iron Gate Studio or Coffee Stain Publishing. Use it at your own risk. See LICENSE.md and NOTICE.md included with this distribution.

⚔️ Join our Discord — news, bug reports, suggestions and release announcements.

Ways of the Gods adds a multiplayer-ready RPG class system to Valheim. Build the Temple of Classes, pledge yourself to one of seven ways, choose a branch and sub-class, then shape your build through a unified talent tree.

New in 3.4 — Ascendant Paths

Progression now follows Valheim's world instead of rewarding endless farming in the safest biome.

• Maximum class level increased to 70.
• Eight abilities per class: seven path abilities unlock at levels 1 / 10 / 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 / 60, while a class-wide ultimate is earned through the level-70 Ascension.
• One endgame Ascension replaces intermediate trials: survive ten escalating waves in an isolated arena to unlock your class's final power.
• 72 new path spells: every one of the 36 sub-classes receives a unique level-30 omen and level-50 mythic ability, with thematic vanilla-compatible effects.
• Expanded talent trees contain 100–106 ranks along each selected path. At level 70 you can complete roughly 66–70%, so builds still require meaningful choices.
• Native-biome XP limits stop early creatures from carrying a character through the entire game.
• Starred enemies reward explicit bonuses: no stars ×1, one star ×2, two stars ×3.
• Temple XP offerings now accept boss trophies only.
• Abilities respect your equipment: every branch has an appropriate weapon profile, so a martial technique cannot be cast through a bow or an unrelated tool.
• Magic has a complete early-game progression: Mage, Necromancer and magical hybrid paths use Eitr, supported by new catalysts and Eitr foods from Meadows through Plains.

Native-biome progression

The creature's native biome decides its XP bracket, even during raids or when it appears somewhere else.

The Ocean Serpent belongs to the Mountain bracket and stops granting class XP at level 40.

Fighting ahead is possible, but deliberately inefficient: a creature one bracket above you grants 25% XP, two brackets above grants 6.25%, and each additional gap applies another ×0.25. Any qualifying kill still grants at least 1 XP.

The seven ways

Choose one of three exclusive branches at level 1. At level 10 that branch forks into two exclusive sub-classes. The whole build is shown on one talent screen.

Druid shapeshifting

The Wild Shape branch transforms the Druid into a real wolf, bear or raven. Raven form can fly: Space to rise and Ctrl to dive. Flight consumes stamina, forces a controlled landing when exhausted and blocks weapon attacks and other class abilities until you return to human form.

Weapons, Eitr and early magic

Abilities now follow the identity of the selected branch. Berserker techniques require their intended melee weapon family, Einherjar spear paths require spears or polearms, Guardians fight around shields, and Mage, Necromancer and magical Druid paths cast through compatible staves or catalysts. Wild Shape attacks require the matching animal form.

The ability bar displays the effective resource cost on every unlocked slot: E means Eitr and S means stamina. An ability dims when the currently equipped weapon cannot cast it; hover the slot to see the exact requirement.

Magic no longer has to wait until Mistlands. Each biome from Meadows through Plains adds three new craftable catalysts:

The matching food progression is Dew-Kissed Berries, Seer's Jam, Guckroot Stew, Frostmind Cream and Cloudberry Insight Pudding. Mage and Necromancer also receive a small innate Eitr reserve; magical hybrid branches receive a smaller reserve so their first abilities remain usable while food improves the full build.

How to play

1. Build the Temple of Classes with the hammer under Misc: 20 Wood and 20 Stone.
2. Interact with the temple (E) and choose your class.
3. Gain class XP by killing monsters in the appropriate progression bracket or by offering boss trophies at the temple.
4. Open the Talent Panel with T, choose your branch, then choose its sub-class from level 10.
5. Cast abilities with Shift+1 through Shift+8 by default. Every keyboard shortcut is configurable.
6. At class level 70, begin the Ascension at the Temple. Survive all ten waves to unlock the eighth, class-wide ultimate.

Changing class preserves progress separately for every class. Returning to a class restores its XP, path and talents.

Controller and handheld PCs

Native controller input uses Valheim's logical mappings, so it works through Steam Input on Steam Deck, ROG Ally and Xbox-style controllers.

• LB + D-pad Up / Right / Down / Left casts abilities 1–4.
• LB + RB casts ability 5.
• LB + A casts ability 6.
• LB + B casts ability 7.
• LB + R3 casts the Ascension ultimate (ability 8).
• LB + Y opens the Talent Panel.
• LB + X dismisses your permanent class summons.
• In the Temple and Talent panels, navigate with the D-pad or left stick, confirm with A, and close with B.

The ability bar automatically switches between keyboard and controller labels based on the last active input. Set Controller.Enabled = false to disable controller shortcuts.

Summons

Permanent class summons:

• never grant class XP;
• never drop vanilla loot;
• cannot be damaged by players or butcher knives;
• can be dismissed with U or LB+X;
• remember their owner in multiplayer.

The dismissal command affects only permanent summons. Temporary armies, packs and legions expire normally.

Multiplayer

• Install the mod on the server and every client. Major.Minor versions must match; vanilla clients cannot join.
• Kill XP is shared with eligible players within 64 m, then evaluated against each player's level and the creature's native biome.
• Progression rules, difficulty and costs are enforced by the server.
• Domes, blessings, heals, buffs, taunts, abilities, summons and capstone auras are synchronized.

Progression and difficulty

Ability power follows both world progression and class level. Damage, healing and summons scale from Meadows to the endgame; tooltips show current effective values.

Set ProgressionScaling = false for classic level-only ability scaling.

Server admins can optionally add another class-level gate:

• LevelGate = Off (default) — native-biome XP rules apply without an additional world gate.
• LevelGate = Bosses — class caps follow defeated bosses; the default caps are 10 / 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 / 70.
• LevelGate = WorldAge — unlocks one additional class level every WorldDaysPerLevel days.

These optional gates never remove levels already earned and do not bank XP beyond a locked cap.

Configuration

Configuration is stored in BepInEx/config/gianl.waysofthegods.cfg.

Available settings include keyboard hotkeys, controller support, XP multiplier, HUD position and scale, talent UI scale, progression scaling, difficulty, optional level gates and their caps.

Balance.EquipmentRestrictions is server-enforced. Branch is the intended default, Class accepts a broader class-level weapon identity, and Off disables equipment checks.

Under Costs, TalentResetCost defaults to 100 coins and ChangePathCost defaults to 200 coins. Set either to 0 to make that action free. Open the inventory to drag or resize the ability bar; position and scale are saved automatically.

Community and support

⚔️ Discord: discord.gg/QwthPaNAME

• 📣 News and changelogs
• 🐛 Bug reports — please attach BepInEx/LogOutput.log
• 💡 Suggestions for classes, abilities and features

Credits

Built with Jotunn.

Designed, tested and maintained by Hadorn96.

Changelog

3.5.2 — A Temple, Not a Ward

• The Temple no longer draws a ward circle: the white dotted border of a guardian ward stayed painted on the ground around every Temple, for good. The Temple is built on the ward's frame and inherited its area marker, which nothing ever turned off once the ward itself was removed. The marker is gone, on new Temples and on the ones already standing in your world.

Multiplayer: 3.5.2 changes no network payload, and version strictness is Major.Minor — 3.5.2 clients and 3.5.0/3.5.1 servers still play together.

3.5.1 — The Hall Gives Everything Back

• Dying in the Ascension no longer costs you anything: the rite is fought in a pocket hall that is rebuilt every time and saved nowhere, so a tombstone dropped inside it was equipment deleted outright — thousands of metres above the world, in an arena that stops existing seconds later, with a death marker pointing at open sea. You can no longer die inside a hall at all: defeat returns you to the temple you entered from, alive, healed and carrying everything. Failing simply means facing the ten waves again.
• Graves already lost inside a hall come back: entering the Ascension recovers any tombstone stranded in your hall from an earlier version and places it at the temple, with its map marker.
• A second attempt starts clean: echoes left behind by a disconnection are real creatures and survived while the arena did not, so a new rite could open with a late wave already alive and alerted on a player still loading. The entrance now clears them for as long as the area takes to load, every wave removes anything that is not part of your rite, and loot left on the floor by a previous attempt is swept away.
• Ten seconds of victory: the final wave no longer teleports you away on the spot. The hall stays open long enough to catch your breath and pick up what is on the ground before the gods return you.
• Eitr no longer doubles when you load in: the class reserve was being written into the character file and added a second time on loading, so the pool read double until the next moment your food ticked, and a save landing inside that window kept the inflated number. A level 19 Templar was showing 52 Eitr instead of 26.
• A line in the talent tree now means a prerequisite, and nothing else: talents that do not require each other were connected exactly like ones that do, and builds were being planned around locks that did not exist.
• Everything aims where you look: projectiles have always followed the camera, but ground effects, dashes and leaps followed the direction your character happened to face — so half of every kit landed somewhere you were not aiming. All of them now aim with the camera, in every class.
• Level 30 and 50 abilities describe themselves properly: their text was flavour plus a bare number, saying nothing about where the effect lands or what shape it takes — Winged Lunge read like a thrown spear and is a burst around you. They now state placement, radius, damage type, pulses and what they do for allies and summons, with your talents already counted, like every other tooltip.

Multiplayer: 3.5.1 changes no network payload, and version strictness is Major.Minor — 3.5.1 clients and 3.5.0 servers still play together.

3.5.0 — Know Before You Choose

• The Class Codex is browsable: every branch and every calling of a class can be read before choosing anything. Tabs for the three branches and their two callings show the complete ability progression — levels 1 / 10 / 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 / 70 — with real damage, cooldowns, cast times and resource. Your own calling is marked and opens selected.
• The Training Hall: from the Codex, step into an isolated hall and actually cast a calling's abilities against harmless targets before committing to it. Every path ability up to level 60 is free to cast there; the level-70 Ascension ultimate stays sealed. Nothing inside the hall touches your character — no experience, no drops, no path written — so leaving, crashing or quitting changes nothing. Switch calling from inside to compare them side by side.
• The hall cannot be abused: it refuses to open with enemies nearby, during a raid, in flight, or with an Ascension running, and your real cooldowns are restored when you leave.
• Changing class keeps your progress — now stated on the class selection screen, where it matters. Level, talents and calling are archived per class and return when you do.
• No more falling out of the sky: logging out or crashing inside the Hall of Ascension left the character thousands of metres above the world with no floor, and the echoes stranded up there for good. Characters are now returned to the temple they left from, and leftover echoes are cleared. This also recovers characters already stuck from 3.4.1.
• The Druid is no longer chained to a staff: every Druid path can now channel with a nature focus, with claws, or bare-handed — the rule Wild Shape already used. Fenrir claws and the new Druid claws count as Druid weapons.
• Five tiers of Druid claws: Thornbound Claws, Greydwarf Talons, Rootbound Talons, Frostfang Claws and Wildfang Talons, one per biome from the Meadows to the Plains, each crafted from native materials and deliberately weaker than the vanilla Fenrir Claws.
• You can see which weapon belongs to which class: every weapon, shield and catalyst in the game — vanilla ones included — now carries a class badge in the corner of its icon, in the colours of the classes that can channel abilities with it. Items added by the mod also get a class-coloured line in their description and an icon recoloured to match the weapon you actually hold: the fifteen catalysts no longer all wear the Staff of Embers icon, and the five crossbows are no longer five Arbalests. Turn it off with Hud / ClassEquipmentMarks.
• Every weapon tooltip tells you if you can cast with it: any weapon or shield states which classes it belongs to, and whether it channels your calling's abilities or exactly what your calling requires instead.
• Casters can afford their own abilities: ability costs were written for stamina and reused unchanged for Eitr, so a level 1 Necromancer had a 25 Eitr reserve and a 30 Eitr Summon Skeleton — unusable until an Eitr meal was active. The class reserve now grows with your class level, and the focus you wield carries its own pool, from +10 in the Meadows to +30 in the Plains. Eitr food is a boost again, not a licence to cast.
• Upgrades are no longer free: every catalyst, crossbow and set of Druid claws could be taken to quality 4 at no cost, because their upgrade materials were never declared. Upgrading now consumes materials like a vanilla weapon, and asks for a higher station tier at each quality.
• Everything the mod adds is crafted at a station: the three Meadows catalysts, the first crossbow with its bolts and the first Druid claws could be made bare-handed from the inventory, which is why nobody could find them. They now require a Workbench, like the vanilla weapons of their tier, and Dew-Kissed Berries are made at the Cauldron with the other Eitr foods.
• A path you have not chosen no longer restricts you: before picking a branch, class abilities only ask for your class's broad equipment. A branchless Berserker was being asked for a spear.
• Evasive Shot and Quickstep actually move you: both dashes set a single burst of velocity, which Valheim's ground movement overwrote before the character travelled anywhere. They are now driven across several physics ticks, like the Berserker's Charge: Evasive Shot throws you back out of melee, Quickstep carries you forward.

Multiplayer: 3.5.0 adds no network payload, but the version strictness is Major.Minor — every player on a server must run 3.5.0.

3.4.1 — Ranger & Casting Hotfix

• Ranger abilities finally fire: bows and crossbows are equipped in the left hand, so the equipment check never saw them and every Ranger ability failed with "Requires a bow", whatever the tier or upgrade level.
• Ability hotkeys no longer disturb the hotbar: casting with a modifier binding such as Shift+2 no longer equips or unequips the matching hotbar slot. Channelled casts, like the Templar's, no longer lose their shield halfway through and fail.
• The Forsaken power is no longer spent by your abilities: casts that borrow the guardian-power animation no longer activate the power itself, nor put it on cooldown.
• Stable Eitr bar: the class Eitr reserve is now added to the real Eitr pool instead of the displayed maximum, so the bar no longer fills and empties every second and the reserve can actually be spent.
• Elder trophy offerings accepted: the Temple was matching the wrong item name for the Elder trophy and refused it with "You have no boss trophies to offer".

Multiplayer: 3.4.1 changes no network payload and remains compatible with 3.4.0 servers and clients.

3.4.0 — Ascendant Paths

• Level 70 progression: the class cap rises from 50 to 70.
• Eight abilities per class: seven path abilities unlock at levels 1 / 10 / 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 / 60, followed by a class-wide Ascension ultimate at level 70.
• The Ascension: at maximum class level, enter an isolated Hall of Ascension and survive ten escalating waves. Victory permanently unlocks a powerful, visually distinct ultimate for that class. Earlier progression trials and trophy requirements have been removed.
• 72 new path spells: all 36 sub-classes receive a unique level-30 omen and level-50 mythic ability with themed vanilla-compatible visuals and mechanics.
• Expanded talent trees: every selected path now contains 100–106 spendable ranks; a level-70 character can complete roughly 66–70%.
• Talent Constellation: the full-screen panel now presents the initial paths as three vertical trees with separate entry anchors, illustrated thematic backgrounds, specialization watermarks and explicit selection buttons. After selection, class path and each calling receive their own artwork and neutral, unobtrusive frames while alternatives move to a discreet summary. All seven classes, paths and callings now have unique illustrated scenes. Dynamic row spacing and safe margins keep every node and action visible.
• Native-biome XP brackets: Meadows 1–10, Black Forest 10–20, Swamp 20–30, Mountain 30–40, Plains 40–50, Mistlands 50–60 and Ashlands 60–70. Creatures stop granting class XP at their native biome's cap, including creatures encountered in raids.
• Brave, not optimal: enemies above the player's intended bracket grant 25% XP per tier of difference, with a minimum reward of 1 XP.
• Predictable stars: no-star / one-star / two-star creatures grant ×1 / ×2 / ×3 XP without counting their health scaling twice.
• Ocean Serpent: assigned to the Mountain bracket and stops granting class XP at level 40.
• Boss offerings only: coins and ordinary trophies no longer grant class XP at the Temple; boss trophies grant 500 XP.
• Weapons now define your fighting style: class abilities require equipment appropriate to the selected branch. A Berserker can no longer spin with a bow, Guardians need their shield, and magical paths need a compatible catalyst. The server can choose Branch (default), Class or Off.
• Eitr-powered magic from the Meadows onward: Mage and Necromancer abilities now consume Eitr; magical Druid, Einherjar and Guardian paths do the same, while martial and Wild Shape paths retain stamina.
• Pre-Mistlands caster progression: 15 new craftable magical catalysts — one for Mage, Necromancer and Druid in each biome from Meadows through Plains — bridge the gap before vanilla endgame staves.
• Five new Eitr foods: Dew-Kissed Berries, Seer's Jam, Guckroot Stew, Frostmind Cream and Cloudberry Insight Pudding provide a biome-by-biome Eitr progression before Mistlands.
• Clear ability HUD: every unlocked slot shows its effective Eitr (E) or stamina (S) cost. Abilities dim when the equipped weapon is incompatible, and their tooltip explains what is required.
• Complete controller talent allocation: D-pad/left stick navigation now highlights every talent node clearly, A spends a rank directly, and focus stays on the same node while the constellation refreshes.
• Optional capstone aura visuals: the local Accessibility.CapstoneAuraVisibility setting can show all auras, hide only your own obstructive aura (OthersOnly), or disable every capstone visual (Off) without changing talent bonuses or other players' settings.
• Eight-slot controller layout: abilities 6 and 7 use LB+A and LB+B; the Ascension ultimate uses LB+R3.
• Reliable controller flight and LB+A: Raven Form now rises and dives through Valheim's remappable jump/crouch actions, while ability 6 consumes the jump input before vanilla movement can react.
• Non-repeating legal notice: existing installations no longer receive the unofficial-mod message at every login; fresh installations acknowledge it once and persist that choice.
• Unified mod page: Thunderstore and Nexus now use the same fully updated description.

Multiplayer: 3.4 changes the kill-XP RPC payload. The server and every client must use the same 3.4 version.

3.3.2 — Handheld & Summon Hotfix

• Talent Panel now fits handheld screens: the complete tree automatically scales to the available resolution, keeping branch descriptions and confirmation buttons visible at 1280×720 and similar layouts.
• Reliable controller actions: LB combinations no longer leak into Valheim's vanilla hotbar, and controller focus moves directly to CONFIRM or Learn after selecting a branch, calling or talent.
• Dismiss permanent summons: press U on keyboard or LB+X on controller to dismiss only your own permanent class summons. Temporary armies, packs and legions keep their normal duration.
• No summon farming: class summons no longer grant class XP or drop vanilla loot, and players can no longer kill them with the butcher knife or other attacks.

3.3.1 — Controller & Wild Shape Hotfix

• Native controller and handheld support: cast all five abilities with LB combinations, open Talents with LB+Y, and navigate the Temple/Talent panels with D-pad or left stick, A and B. HUD labels switch automatically between keyboard and controller.
• Werebear balance and consistency: Bear health talents and capstone damage reduction now work, hidden capstone armor was removed, form weapon bonuses are melee-only, and Primal Bond healing has a shared cooldown.

3.3.0 — Temple Covenant

A clearer and more configurable Temple of Classes.

• English Temple localization: the Temple name, build-menu description and interaction prompt now stay in English when Valheim is set to Italian.
• Configurable talent reset cost: new server-enforced TalentResetCost setting under Costs (default: 100 coins).
• Configurable path-change cost: new server-enforced ChangePathCost setting under Costs (default: 200 coins).
• Set either cost to 0 to make that action free. The Talent Panel always displays the active configured price.
• New Temple recipe: 20 Wood and 20 Stone. Fine Wood and Surtling Cores are no longer required.

Multiplayer: the mod must match Major.Minor on the server and every client — everyone updates to 3.3 together.

3.2.0 — Gates of Fate

Server-controlled progression, tailored to every world. All new progression rules are disabled by default.

• Optional level gates: LevelGate supports Off, Bosses and WorldAge modes.
• Boss progression: configure eight level caps through BossLevelCaps, covering the world before any boss and every victory from Eikthyr through Fader.
• World-age progression: WorldDaysPerLevel controls how many world days unlock each additional class level.
• No forced deleveling: existing characters never lose levels when a gate is enabled. XP stops at the active cap instead of being banked for an instant jump later.
• Safe temple offerings: trophies and coins are not consumed while progression is gated.
• Optional weak-enemy XP scaling: ReduceWeakEnemyXp lowers rewards from enemies far below the strength expected for the player's class level. WeakEnemyXpPerTier controls the penalty and WeakEnemyXpFloor guarantees a configurable minimum reward; strong enemies and bosses remain worthwhile.
• Clear feedback: the HUD and Temple show when progression is gated and what requirement unlocks it.
• All progression settings are server-enforced in multiplayer.

Multiplayer: the mod must match Major.Minor on the server and every client — everyone updates to 3.2 together.

3.1.0 — Clear Sight

A focused accessibility and balance update.

• Raven Form balance fix: flying now drains stamina and automatically ends when exhausted. Weapon attacks and other class abilities are blocked in Raven Form; cast Raven Form again to land before fighting.
• Talent Panel accessibility: new local TalentUiScale option enlarges the complete talent interface, including text, icons, buttons and click areas (0.75–1.75, default 1.0).
• Resizable ability bar: open the inventory and drag the new lower-right resize handle to scale the complete ability HUD. Size and position are saved automatically; AbilityBarScale can also be edited in the config.

Multiplayer: the mod must match Major.Minor on the server and every client — everyone updates to 3.1 together.

3.0.0 — The Reforging

The entire roster reworked. Every class abandons the old class-tree + spec system for a single, unified talent tree.

• One tree, three branches, six sub-classes — for all six classes. Pick 1 of 3 exclusive branches at level 1; at level 10 it forks into 2 exclusive sub-classes. Five hand-picked abilities per sub-class at levels 1 / 10 / 20 / 35 / 45 — the roster changes with your path.
• New max level: 50 (was 80). A full build reaches ~67% of its tree: every build is a real choice, no two Vikings alike.
• The whole tree on one screen: three branch columns, the level-10 divider, six sub-classes below. Change your path for 200 coins; full respec 100 coins.
• All six ways reforged:
  • 🔮 Mage — Fire (Pyromancer/Flame Summoner), Frost (Cryomancer/Frostwarden), Lightning (Stormcaller/Tempest).
  • 🪓 Berserker — Crushing (Juggernaut/Earthshaker), Rending (Reaver/Ravager), Hunting (Lancer/Warhound).
  • 💀 Necromancer — Plague (Pestilent/Blightcaller), Spirit (Reaper/Banshee), Bone (Bonelord/Death Knight).
  • 🌿 Druid — Wild Shape (Werewolf/Werebear + a flying Raven form, real animal models), Warden (Skald buffs / Beastmaster companions), Restoration (Lifekeeper/Grovekeeper).
  • ⚡ Einherjar — Storm (Thunderer/Stormherald), Spear (Spearmaster/Valkyrie Knight), Valhalla (Valkyrie/Herald of the Slain).
  • 🛡️ Guardian — Bulwark (Warden/Sentinel), Vanguard (Crusher/Warbringer), Paladin (Templar/Lightbringer).
• New: Druid shapeshifting — Wild Shape turns you into a real wolf, bear or raven; the raven flies (Space rise / Ctrl dive).
• Dozens of new abilities across the roster and new capstone Avatars for each of the 36 sub-classes.
• Automatic migration: existing characters are refunded their talent points on first login — "The gods reforged your path!" Open the talent panel (T) and choose your branch.

Multiplayer: the mod must match Major.Minor on the server and every client — everyone updates to 3.0 together.

2.1.0 — The Specialization Update

• Sub-specializations: from level 10, choose one of 2 specializations for your class (12 in total). Your spec shapes your passive, reworks part of your kit (same slots, same hotkeys) and unlocks its own talent tree. Existing characters are automatically assigned the "classic" spec — no forced reset, you keep playing exactly what you know.
  • 🔥 Mage — Destruction (the classic caster) / Runeweaver (support: Empowering Nova buffs allies, Greater Rune Shield energizes everyone inside, Storm of Runes recharges stamina and eitr).
  • 🪓 Berserker — Slaughter (single-target executioner) / Ravager (area carnage: Endless Whirlwind, Fault Line, Cataclysmic Slam with a second shockwave).
  • 💀 Necromancer — Plague (the classic caster) / Overlord (minion commander: Summon Revenant, Bone Pact, Endless Legion — minions hit +50% harder and are +25% tougher).
  • ⚡ Einherjar — Stormcaller (the classic storm warrior) / Chosen of the Valkyries (group support: Valkyrie's Blessing, Aegis of the Host, Honor Guard).
  • 🛡️ Guardian — Bulwark (the classic living shield) / Vanguard (offensive tank: Skull Crusher, Shattering Shout, Rupture, Shield Storm, Battle Frenzy).
  • 🌿 Druid — Lifekeeper (the classic healer) / Thornweaver (pierce & poison damage: Thorn Sap, Poison Bloom, Nature's Fury).
• Talent trees completely rebuilt: a web of multi-rank nodes with prerequisites and depth gates, drawn as a real tree with icons and connecting lines. 1 talent point per level = 80 in total (40 for your class tree, 40 for your spec tree). Trees hold more ranks than you have points — every build is a real choice, no two Vikings alike.
• New capstones: each spec crowns its tree with its own Avatar talent and aura (Avatar of Destruction, Avatar of the Runes, Avatar of Slaughter, Avatar of the Ravager, Avatar of Ragnarök, Avatar of the Valkyries, Avatar of War, King of Bones, Avatar of Thorns, Avatar of Pestilence, Heart of Yggdrasil, Skjaldborg Eternal).
• Synergies become spec Masteries — notable talents of your chosen path: 12 new ones for the new specs (Runebinder, Wardkeeper, Bloodwhirl, Groundbreaker, Deathlord, Soulbinder, Lightbringer, Warbanner, Breaker, Shockwave, Sanctuary, Venomancer) alongside the 12 you know.
• Change your path at the temple or in the talent panel for 200 coins (class tree stays, spec talents are refunded). Full respec still 100 coins.
• Automatic migration: your old talent picks are refunded as points (1 per level, ready to spend) the first time you log in. Open the talent panel (T) — "The gods reforged your talents!"

2.0.0 — The Fellowship Update

• MULTIPLAYER! Ways of the Gods now works in co-op: shared kill XP for everyone nearby, abilities and auras visible to your fellows, group-wide domes, heals and buffs, summons that respect their owners. The mod is required on the server and on every client (matching version).
• New class: 🛡️ Guardian, the living shield — Shield Bash, Challenge, Shield Wall (skjaldborg), Guardian's Leap, Iron Bulwark, Ground Slam, Living Fortress and Gjallarhorn. Taunts work on every client.
• New class: 🌿 Druid, nature's keeper — Regrowth, Thorn Burst, Forest Blessing, Healing Bloom, Wind's Grace, Grasping Roots, Forest's Embrace and Wrath of Yggdrasil. Blessings heal and empower every ally in range.
• 48 new talents and 4 new synergies (Shieldbrother, Earthshaker, Lifebloom, Thornlord) with their own capstone auras.
• Channeled casting — the mightiest spells now have a cast time (shown in tooltips and at the temple): press the hotkey, a golden cast bar charges above your ability bar, then the spell erupts. Moving, getting hit or staggering interrupts the cast — no stamina spent, no cooldown triggered. Mage: Lightning Storm 1.5 s, Wrath of the Gods 2.5 s · Necromancer: Toxic Cloud 1.5 s, Putrid Rain 2 s, Army of the Dead 2.5 s · Einherjar: Judgement 1.5 s, Ragnarök 2.5 s · Druid: Healing Bloom 1.5 s, Wrath of Yggdrasil 2.5 s. Berserker and Guardian stay fully instant — steel waits for no one.
• Progression scaling — ability power now follows the world, not just your class level. Damage, heals and summons scale with the bosses your world has defeated (the same progression keys vanilla uses), from ×1 in Meadows up to ×8 after Fader, with your class level ramping you toward each tier's ceiling (×0.55 → ×1.0 at level 80). No more one-shotting Ashlands mobs with level-20 skeletons — and no more grinding chickens in Meadows for endgame damage. Summons' health and damage are rescaled the same way. Ability tooltips always show your current effective numbers. Set ProgressionScaling = false in the config for the classic level-only behaviour.
• New difficulty setting (Difficulty in the config, server-enforced in multiplayer): Saga ×1.25 (relaxed power fantasy), Midgard ×1.0 (intended balance), Jotunheim ×0.75 (abilities support your weapons instead of replacing them), Ragnarök ×0.5 (class flavour and utility, the game stays hard).
• Balance pass for multiplayer:
  • Necromancer: summoned skeletons cap is now 2 baseline, up to 5 with the full summoner build (was 9); Army of the Dead is temporary — the fallen return to the earth after 60 s.
  • Berserker: passive melee scaling softened (max ×1.6, was ×1.8); Fury grants +30/45% (was +40/60%).
  • Guardian: Iron Bulwark, Living Fortress and Shield Wall no longer stack on you — rotate your shields, one at a time.
  • Druid: Healing Bloom heals ~half as much per second; Forest's Embrace regeneration slightly reduced.
  • Einherjar: Storm Herald's second bolt strikes at 60% damage.
• Talents now always arrive with their ability — some talents boosted abilities you hadn't unlocked yet. Rearranged tiers for Necromancer, Einherjar and Mage — with new talents Stormlance (Lightning Bolt +30%) and Blazing Ring (Ring of Fire +25%). ⚠️ If you had talent points in the rearranged tiers, use Reset talents (100 coins) to fix your picks.
• Class selection at the temple redesigned to fit six ways; long ability descriptions no longer get cut off.
• Fixed ghost shield bubbles littering the world in multiplayer (orphaned network fx that respawned forever). Shockwave visuals also fade faster.
• Thanks to our beta testers for two months of sharp eyes and broken shields! 🍻

1.2.0 — The Einherjar Update

• New class: ⚡ Einherjar, chosen of Valhalla — 8 abilities: Spear of the Gods, Sky Dive, Battle Blessing, Judgement, Spear Volley, Aegis of Valhalla, Call the Fallen and Ragnarök. Radiant spears leave a bright golden trail; the Aegis wraps you in a visible protective bubble.
• Einherjar passive: lightning/spirit damage grows with level, cheaper jumps, fall damage fades away (none at level 80).
• 24 new talents and 2 new synergies (Stormlord, Spearmaster) with a golden capstone aura.
• Class selection at the temple redesigned to fit four ways.
• The ability bar is now movable: drag it with the mouse while your inventory is open (or set the offsets in the config). Fixes the bar covering the stamina bar on ultrawide (21:9) screens — thanks for the reports!
• Fixed summons exceeding their cap after a relog (returning minions are now always recognized as yours).

1.1.1

• Fixed: Glass Cannon and Archmage boosted every damage type in the game (blunt/slash/pierce included). They now boost spell damage only (fire, frost, lightning, poison, spirit); Warlord likewise now boosts physical damage only. Thanks to our beta testers for the sharp eyes!
• The talent panel now shows active synergies on their own line, with their bonuses spelled out — no more guessing where that extra 10% comes from.
• The aggregated stats line no longer gets cut off at the panel border.

1.1.0 — The Talent Update

• Talent trees: every 10 levels choose 1 of 3 passive talents — 8 tiers, 24 talents per class, 72 total. Open the panel with hotkey T or at the temple.
• Synergies: learn 3 colour-coded talents of the same theme to unlock a set bonus (6 to discover: Flamelord, Frostborn, Bloodrage, Colossus, Plaguelord, Lord of Bones).
• Capstone auras: level-80 talents grant a permanent visual aura (orbiting wisp / sacred flames / spectral mist).
• Living tooltips: ability descriptions and the ability bar now reflect your talents and synergies; the talent panel shows aggregated bonuses.
• Respec at the temple for 100 coins. Talent point notifications on level up and on the ability bar.
• The debug key (F9) is no longer present in official releases — it now lives only in beta builds.

1.0.4

• Fixed: temple braziers were sunk below the platform (fire particles poking through the floor). Parts now rest exactly on the platform surface — thanks for the report!
• Rune Shield is now clearly visible from inside AND outside: a translucent dome marks the protected area.
• Summon fixes: skeletons and Army of the Dead use separate pools, survive relogs correctly, and crumble when you change class.
• Fixed Ice Shards locking the character in the casting pose.

1.0.3

• The Discord server is now mentioned in the mod description and at the top of this page (the "Website" button also leads there). Come say hi: https://discord.gg/QwthPaNAME

1.0.2

• Fixed: the Temple of Classes could not be placed (always red / "invalid placement"). The decorative parts of the temple (floors, pillars, braziers, statue) carried leftover colliders that made the placement check fail everywhere. Decorations are now collider-free and the temple places normally. Thanks to the Discord community for the report!

1.0.1

• Added the official Discord server link (news, bug reports, suggestions): https://discord.gg/QwthPaNAME

1.0.0

• First release.
• Three classes: Mage, Berserker, Necromancer.
• Buildable Temple of Classes (class selection, offerings for XP).
• 8 abilities per class, unlocked every 10 levels up to level 80, damage scaling with level.
• Class XP from kills (bosses give triple) and temple offerings.
• Valheim-style ability bar with icons, hotkeys (Shift+1..8, configurable) and cooldowns.
• Class passives that grow with level.
• Debug key (F9) to temporarily unlock all abilities.