Aetherwinds

## Aetherwinds SMP — Update Changelog

### New Mods

- **Zeta Registry Race Fix (`zetafix`)** — Fixes an intermittent client crash affecting mods built on the Zeta library (including Quark), caused by a timing race during startup. Players should no longer hit the "Where is minecraft???!" crash on launch.

### Fixed

- **Enhanced Enchanting Patches** — Corrected an overly strict NeoForge version requirement that could cause the patch to fail to load on some builds. Balance changes (banned enchantments, Blood Thirst cap, level cap) are unchanged.

- **Playing Cards / Casino chips** — Fixed the casino chip vending NPC to properly check a player's balance before handing out chips, so it can no longer give chips for free indefinitely. Poker table now allows players to place chips down, regardless of ownership (Playing Cards and Chips bridge)

### New Features

- **Lilian (size adjustment NPC)** — Height and width adjustments are now each strictly one-time use per player. Previously this was only enforced by asking politely; now it's a hard limit. Visiting the size-reset NPC clears both allowances, letting a player revisit Lilian fresh.

### Difficulty & Balance Overhaul

This update raises the difficulty ceiling, particularly for well-geared/high-level players:

- **Dynamic Difficulty** — Mobs now scale much more aggressively based on nearby player strength (levels can climb far higher near strong players, plus a slow passive difficulty increase tied to overall server playtime).

- **Brutal Bosses** — Boss damage and health significantly increased, and bosses now spawn more frequently from structure loot.

- **Relics — several top-end relic abilities nerfed:**

  - **Ring of the Seven Deadly Sins** — adjusted (previously handled).

  - **Glitchy Mantle** — Phasing-through-walls duration and air-walking time drastically reduced at max level; unlocks later; fall damage restored when forced to fall; slower to level up overall.

  - **Clot of Time** — The rewind/invulnerability window cut from ~30 seconds down to 8 seconds at max level, unlocks much later, and costs significantly more to level.

  - **Sphere of Self Sacrifice** — Damage-blocking "salvation" mechanic weakened and pushed further into the leveling curve.

  - **Midnight Mantle** — The moon-phase combat buff (attack damage/speed/health/regen) cut roughly in half at max level, and its duration cut from 2 minutes down to 30 seconds.

  - **Ghostly Mantle** — The spectral escape ability's cooldown floor raised significantly (was becoming available almost every 25 seconds at max level), with reduced duration and counter-damage.

**Bottom line:** relics that let players cheat death or become nearly unkillable have been reined in.

### Behind the scenes

- Various stability and compatibility groundwork for future updates.