Rite Of Returning

Core Shadow Symbiote system

Added Shadow Symbiote as a bindable creature/entity.

• Shadow Symbiotes spawn in darkness.
• They are invisible/dark shadow creatures.
• They flee normal players.
• They are attracted to spirit-form players.
• Spirit players can right-click a symbiote to bond with it.
• Once bonded, the symbiote becomes permanent on that player.
• The symbiote is stored per-player using persistent NBT.
• Symbiote owners gain access to passive and active symbiote powers.
• Symbiote users are treated differently by some mobs/systems.

Spirit bonding

Spirit-form players can bond with Shadow Symbiotes.

• Symbiotes move toward spirit-form players.
• Symbiotes create stronger particles near spirit players.
• When a symbiote gets near a spirit player, the player receives:

This symbiote wants to bond with you, right click to accept it

• The bonding prompt has an 8-second cooldown so it does not spam.
• Right-clicking the symbiote while in spirit form binds it to the player.
• The symbiote entity disappears after bonding.

Symbiote restrictions

Players with a Shadow Symbiote cannot use the Lich Ritual.

• If a player has a bound symbiote, the Lich Ritual cannot start.
• If the ritual is already starting and the player somehow gains a symbiote, the lich startup is cancelled.
• Lich form does not activate.
• The player receives a warning message that the symbiote rejects the lich ritual.

Passive symbiote benefits

Symbiote owners gain passive combat/survival bonuses.

• Symbiote owners receive bonus absorption hearts.
• The absorption hearts regenerate over time.
• Symbiote owners get diamond-level natural armor.
• Symbiote owners get a +3 attack damage bonus.
• The symbiote keeps the owner fed/connected through feeding mechanics.
• The symbiote has starvation/feed tracking through its state data.

Defensive symbiote system

The symbiote protects its host when the host is attacked.

• When the owner is attacked, the symbiote can respond aggressively.
• Nearby enemies can be targeted by defensive tentacles.
• Defensive tentacles are triggered on a cooldown.
• At low health, the symbiote can trigger emergency defensive effects.
• The defensive burst can blind nearby enemies.
• The owner receives speed/regeneration-style survival help during defensive activation.

Passive tentacles

Symbiote owners have passive tentacle attacks.

• Passive tentacles scan for nearby valid enemies.
• Tentacles avoid tamed mobs.
• Tentacles target different enemies when possible.
• Tentacles extend from the player instead of spawning from random spots.
• Tentacle origin follows the player.
• Tentacles retract if they do not find a target.
• Tentacles were optimized to reduce lag and particle spam.
• Tentacles were made thinner and more shadow-like.
• Smoke-heavy particles were removed from the tentacle visuals.

Active ability wheel

Added a full Shadow Symbiote ability wheel.

Controls:

3 = Symbiote Ability Wheel / cycle selected ability
R = Cast selected symbiote ability
6 = Symbiote Climbing

The wheel no longer takes up the whole screen.

Current wheel GUI:

• Compact top-center GUI.
• Shows selected ability.
• Shows previous/next hint.
• Shows position pips.
• Does not spam purple actionbar text anymore.
• The old full-screen/huge text wheel was removed.

Current symbiote ability list

Symbiote Tentacles
Symbiote Shield Wall
Shadow Grapple
Predator Pull
Symbiote Web Prison
Black Tendril Slam
Host Armor Mode
Devour Burst
Shadow Tunnel
Symbiote Wings
Apex Form

Symbiote Tentacles

Main active tentacle attack.

• Cast with R when selected.
• Sends symbiote tentacles at enemies.
• Uses shadow/tendril particles.
• Works separately from passive tentacle attacks.

Symbiote Shield Wall

Creates a temporary living shield wall.

• Creates a wall in front of the player.
• Blocks incoming projectile-style attacks.
• Uses a curved living wall particle shape.
• Visuals include:
  • vertical tendrils
  • cross-thread particles
  • soul/shadow wall glow
• Designed to look like a defensive symbiote barrier.

Shadow Grapple

A movement/grapple ability.

• Grapples toward a target or block.
• Pulls the player forward.
• Clears fall distance when used.
• Uses hooked tether particles.
• Visuals include:
  • spiral thread trail
  • endpoint burst
  • dark grapple line

Predator Pull

Pulls prey toward the player.

• Targets a looked-at mob or nearest valid enemy.
• Pulls the target toward the player.
• Damages/slows the target.
• Visuals include:
  • dark rings wrapping the target
  • pull-line particles
  • soul particles showing the target being dragged

Symbiote Web Prison

Traps enemies in a dark web cage.

• Creates an area trap where the player is looking.
• Slows enemies inside.
• Weakens enemies inside.
• Deals small magic damage.
• Visuals include:
  • full cage/web structure
  • circular web rings
  • vertical prison strands
  • smoky trap particles

Black Tendril Slam

Heavy ground-slam attack.

• Sends a large tendril forward.
• Damages enemies in an area.
• Knocks enemies back/up.
• Applies mining fatigue-style slowdown.
• Visuals include:
  • bigger arcing tendril
  • heavier impact burst
  • ground shockwave rings

Host Armor Mode

Toggleable armor-shell mode.

• Toggles on/off.
• Gives protective effects while active.
• Adds fire resistance when enabled.
• Uses armor-like symbiote particles.
• Visuals include:
  • shell rings around the player
  • body-wrapping tendrils
  • darker armor-form particles

Devour Burst

Area burst that feeds/heals the symbiote host.

• Damages nearby enemies.
• Heals the player based on enemies hit.
• Marks the symbiote as fed.
• Visuals include:
  • expanding dark rings
  • soul-drain lines from nearby enemies
  • particles pulling back into the player

Shadow Tunnel

Short-range shadow teleport.

• Teleports the player to a safe aimed location.
• Clears fire.
• Clears fall distance.
• Gives brief invisibility.
• Visuals include:
  • entrance portal ring
  • dark tunnel trail
  • exit portal ring

Symbiote Wings

Temporary flight ability.

Current behavior:

• Lasts 2 minutes.
• Can be toggled off early.
• Press R while Symbiote Wings is selected to activate.
• Press R again while active to fold the wings immediately.
• Turning wings off bypasses cooldown.
• Turning wings off does not start a new cooldown.
• Flight is removed safely unless the player has another valid flight source.

Current visuals:

• Solid player-attached particle wing group.
• No movement trail left behind.
• Layered tentacle wing bones.
• Upper/middle/lower tendrils.
• Web-like membrane strands.
• Smoky shadow membrane particles.
• Darker glowing wing tips.
• Stronger wing core on the player’s back.
• Shoulder anchor particles so the wings look attached.

Apex Form

Temporary empowered symbiote form.

• Gives stronger combat/survival buffs.
• Forces aggressive symbiote behavior during the form.
• Speeds up defensive/aggressive tentacle response.
• Has a long cooldown.
• Visuals include:
  • dark vortex around the player
  • halo effect
  • back tendrils
  • heavier soul/shadow particles

Symbiote Climbing

Separate toggle ability on key 6.

• Press 6 to toggle Symbiote Climbing.
• Uses tentacles to attach to nearby blocks.
• Gives slow controlled movement/flight while anchored.
• If the player moves too far from the anchor, they fall.
• It can re-anchor when close enough to another surface.
• Visuals use player-rooted tentacle lines.

Symbiote GUI/keybind changes

Old wheel key: Z
New wheel key: 3

• Z was replaced with 3.
• R casts the selected ability.
• 6 toggles climbing.
• The original big/ugly GUI was replaced.
• The compact GUI was moved from bottom-center to top-center.
• Purple selected-ability popup was removed.
• Ability selection now relies on the compact GUI.

Particle overhaul

Most new abilities received custom particles matching their names.

Upgraded visuals for:

• Symbiote Shield Wall
• Shadow Grapple
• Predator Pull
• Symbiote Web Prison
• Black Tendril Slam
• Host Armor Mode
• Devour Burst
• Shadow Tunnel
• Apex Form
• Symbiote Wings

Also fixed a compile issue where the particle helper methods were called but not included.

Restored helpers included:

horizontalLook
spawnParticleRing
spawnGrappleParticles
spawnPredatorPullParticles
spawnWebPrisonParticles
spawnTendrilSlamParticles
spawnHostArmorParticles
spawnDevourBurstParticles
spawnShadowTunnelStartParticles
spawnShadowTunnelEndParticles
spawnApexFormParticles

Spawn egg

Added Shadow Symbiote spawn egg.

• Symbiote can be spawned directly with its spawn egg.
• Creative tab/search visibility was included in the later item visibility work.

Interaction with Spider Pals

Spider Pals were updated separately but are part of the shadow/symbiote ecosystem now.

• Spider Pals now spawn across overworld biomes.
• Spawn settings were set to match cow-style spawning:

weight 8
minCount 2
maxCount 4

• Spider Pals use normal solid-ground spawning instead of old shadow/warped-only logic.

Compatibility / safety fixes around symbiote systems

Several fixes were added to keep symbiote powers from breaking other systems.

• Preserved other valid flight sources when disabling symbiote flight.
• Added checks so wings/climbing do not incorrectly remove creative/lich/spirit flight.
• Fixed missing helper methods after the particle upgrade.
• Kept symbiote powers from interfering with lich ritual rules.
• Kept R/F socket behavior working while letting R cast selected symbiote abilities.
• Kept tamed mobs ignored by symbiote tentacles.

Current final control layout

3 = Open/cycle Symbiote Ability Wheel
R = Cast selected symbiote ability
R again = toggles Symbiote Wings off if Wings is active
6 = Toggle Symbiote Climbing