Explorer's Eve - Wither Storm Modpack

Well, this took way longer than I meant it to, but perhaps that's for the best. This is now the second-biggest update this pack has ever gotten, second only to 1.4 which added four new dimensions. Everything's been adjusted to be less punishing and more interesting.

1.6
Added Xaero's Minimap, Fair-Play Edition. The map is disabled by default, but enabling it is simple if you prefer to use it!
Added Xaero's World Map. It's only usable if the player has an Amulet on their hotbar.
Added Patchouli.
Updated Cracker's Wither Storm to 3.5.1.
Updated Forge to 45.3.0.

Reimplemented and improved the Patchouli guidebook. Chapters unlock based on progress, and players who join late or miss key events will have their progress synced.
Removed the chat-based guide. Some of its less-useful advice is gone, and other functionality has been added to the Patchouli guide.
Added a new challenge mode, Withering Apocalypse! Mobs that can be sickened are always sickened, and they have bowels buffs.
Reworked the Draconic Temperament challenge. Instead of changing chase duration or runaway attempts, it makes the Wither Storm 50% faster when not chasing, reduces head escape time to 30 seconds, makes tractor beams pull faster, and replaces most normal flaming skulls with fast blue skulls.
Challenge modes cannot be enabled while the Wither Storm exists. They can still be disabled if the player needs to lower the difficulty.
Reworked endgame progression:
-All Command Block tools are now created using a Smithing Table.
-Infected Steel ingots are crafted at a Withered Beacon (no supports).
-Resummoning the Wither Storm now only takes three Wither Skeleton Skulls at the Withered Beacon.
-Every Withered Phlegm Block looted by a player after defeating the Resummoned Withered Symbiont can contain one Witherite Ingot.
-Upgraded Arcs are crafted using the Withered Beacon instead of the Mechanical Fusion Anvil. They still need Witherite.
-Withered Support Beacons require Witherite Ingots instead of Star Flares.
-Overpowered items have been removed from the Mechanical Fusion Anvil.
-Elytra are now uncraftable and are still exclusive to the true final battle.

Remade the Wither Storm's death mercy system. The Wither Storm now always gets distracted when the player dies, but this mercy distraction ends once the player collects gear. The gear required to end the distraction changes based on the Wither Storm's phase.
Wither Sickness takes longer to infect players.
Disabled Tainted Phlegm from spawning on player deaths due to incompatibility with Corpse.
The Wither Storm's heads animate when shooting a custom skull. Thanks to Tainted for making me aware that this is possible!
Overhauled the Wither Storm's phase 0-3 evolution to no longer rely on consumed entities.
Players gain Saturation while withered in early Wither Storm phases.
The Wither Storm's early charge attack no longer leaves behind block drops and doesn't try as hard to cut the player off.
If the Wither Storm gets stuck in its early phases, it will turn blocks above it into a cluster instead of summoning TNT.
Nerfed the Wither Storm's default chase duration from 10 minutes to 7.
The Wither Storm picks up fewer big clusters and many more single blocks.
The Wither Storm can get distracted from much, much farther away.
Nerfed the Wither Storm's phase 5+ bite damage (10 -> 8).
The Wither Storm's consumed entities stat is now locked instead of its phase being constantly reset.
The Wither Storm's digging attack now uses blue skulls.
The Wither Storm can now randomly stroll in between digging attacks and holds still while digging.
The Wither Storm no longer rapidly ascends upon entering the Aether, as this was added just to prevent it from getting stuck.
The Wither Storm now deletes block clusters when it teleports and always uses its scattershot attack after teleporting.
The Wither Storm's heads heal every time it teleports, just in case.
The Wither Storm's phase 6 quake attack can no longer create a solid ring of clusters around the player.
The Wither Storm no longer takes longer to enter the End, Everbright, or Everdawn.
The Wither Storm's heads are easier to injure in the Everbright and Everdawn due to a lack of ways to hurt them.
Added a failsafe to the Wither Storm's teleporting to make the sure player has adequate warning.
Remade which mobs are summoned when the Wither Storm catches up with a player.
Added additional modded blocks to the tractor beam distraction tag.
Enabled the counterclockwise cluster chance by default.
Summoned dragon fireballs related to the Wither Storm now use Wither clouds instead of normal damage clouds.
Block clusters cannot place Deep Aether liquid poison.
Cave rumbles are more frequent and more powerful, and they don't affect leaves.
All players have their Wither Sickness cured when the Wither Storm is exploded by the Formidibomb rather than when the Withered Symbiont is defeated.

The Wither Storm's bowels tunnel no longer heals, and the Wither Storm will no longer summon a Withered Symbiont after one has been defeated in phase 7 before.
The Wither Storm no longer uses its scattershot attack during the Withered Symbiont fight, unless it's been resummoned.
The Withered Symbiont no longer becomes invincible when Flaming Wither Skulls are nearby. Instead, it has massive resistance to explosions at all times. Other bosses with this behavior have been changed as well.
The Withered Symbiont's healing is now always 2 hearts instead of a percentage of its health. This is a nerf.
The Wither Storm won't shoot additional skulls while the first Withered Symbiont is summoning mobs.
The Withered Symbiont now takes a little bit longer to recharge due to its various buffs.
Defeating the Withered Symbiont additionally scatters some Tainted Dust Lamps around.
Tainted Dust Lamps drop dust unless broken using Silk Touch.
The Withered Symbiont now only uses enhanced attacks when the Wither Storm is resummoned.
The resummoned Symbiont looks much cooler in its second phase, and health per phase has been redistributed.
The resummoned Symbiont's arrows can no longer apply Blindness.
The resummoned Symbiont's smash attack creates a smaller explosion, and it no longer leaves behind TNT.
The resummoned Symbiont's levitation clouds last half as long.
Changed the resummoned Symbiont's fang attack buff due to the fangs being so much better now.
The resummoned Wither Storm attacks slightly less frequently.
Potions of Decay convert many blocks into tainted variants. As such, removed Tainted Dust recipes for convertable blocks.
Additional blocks can be tainted, namely, all logs (including hyphae), holystone, and Blue Skies stone.
Some "base" tainted blocks like logs can be easily crafted at the Withered Beacon. 8 untainted blocks in the beacon -> 8 tainted blocks.
It's now possible to set a spawn point in the Wither Storm bowels dimension again.
Sickened mobs in the bowels no longer drop regular loot.
Many additional mobs can become sickened mobs, including Iron Golems.
Sickened Zombies in the bowels move at a normal zombie speed, making them less overwhelming. They also can rarely wield a trident.
Nerfed bowels Pillagers to not use Piercing.
Added buffs for the new sickened mob types in the bowels:
-Cats are faster.
-Wolves are more armored and damaging.
-Vindicators use custom weapons.
-Bees drop Decay potions on death.
-Pigs carry mobs on their backs.
-Parrots buff nearby sickened mobs.
-Snow Golems are a bit healthier and faster.
Reworked the Command Block battle:
-In the first phase, four "cysts" (tainted dust lamps) must be broken to remove the first barrier.
-The Withered Symbiont in the bowels no longer consumes mobs, heals, or uses its bombing, arrow, or fireball attacks, and it takes longer to recharge when resting.
-The Command Block no longer launches fireballs or summons non-sickened mobs.
-The Command Block's summoned minions take significant damage whenever the block is hit.
-The Command Block's spawners have a delay before they spawn mobs, and they activate from a shorter range.
-The Command Block's spawners spawn Pigs instead of Cows and can additionally spawn Vindicators.
-Certain elements of the Command Block battle now only activate when the Wither Storm is resummoned.
Made many changes to the true final battle to make it more enjoyable.
The new sickened mobs can be summoned with the rest during the true final battle.
The Empowered Wither Storm now uses the instant chomp config instead of a high damage attribute, preventing it from ruining armor.

Reworked the Lich:
-Removed the smoke-covered clone. Shadow clones only exist while shields are active.
-Buffed movement speed and number of summoned minions.
-Nerfed melee damage.
-The Lich does not heal when shields reform.
-A minion spawns every time one of the Lich's shields break.
-Minions move faster after the first phase.
-Potions are thrown much faster in the final phase.
-The Lich no longer heals when it kills a player.
Reworked the Harbinger:
-Removed the Ancient Factory. The Harbinger is now summoned by crafting and using a Redstone Beacon on an active beacon in the Overworld.
-The Harbinger occasionally calls down towers to shoot at players.
-Destroy the End Crystal on top of each tower to disable it.
-When all towers are disabled, lure the Harbinger near one and press the button to stun it and deal massive damage.
-Towers explode after enough time passes.
-Unnerfed the Harbinger's wither smoke clouds.
Reworked the Nameless Sorcerer:
-Ethereal lightning no longer spawns Vexes.
-Ethereal lightning will not strike while the boss is nearby to prevent damaging it.
-Ethereal lightning will not strike near the Withered Beacon to prevent destroying it.
-Alchemy potions inflict Weakness I instead of Weakness II.
-Changed teleporting logic. Now, when a player approaches the Nameless Sorcerer, it will teleport in 2.5 seconds to ensure that the player has time to hit it.
-The Nameless Sorcerer teleports away when a projectile gets too close instead of instantly destroying the projectile.
-Clones no longer spawn on every hit. Instead, they spawn in waves for every 50 health that the Nameless Sorcerer loses. Waves get more intense below half health.
-Clones despawn if they're too far away from the Nameless Sorcerer.
-The Nameless Sorcerer additionally drops the Runic Arc, used to empower all other worn arcs. It no longer drops Star Flares.
-If the Nameless Sorcerer despawns, it drops its summon materials.
Buffed Alpha Yeti ice crystal melee damage significantly and nerfed their health to half a heart.
Instead of Ominous Flares, the Knight Phantoms occasionally will place a Wraith spawner that should be broken before Wraiths spawn. The spawner will self-destruct after spawning and drop no experience.
Nerfed Dragonsbane's resistance to projectiles and health, made combos less damaging, and added a hint to use a shield when appropriate.
Dragonsbane is much less persistent, can no longer escape during a lunge or digging attack, takes longer to appear after fleeing, and drops several enchantment bottles.
The Wither no longer has special behavior when Super TNT or a Formidibomb is lit nearby, no longer constantly breaks nearby blocks, and explodes less often.
Defeating the Ender Dragon summons a Redstone Heart over the End Portal. Nearby players receive a message so they don't miss it.
The Ender Dragon drops absurd amounts of experience on repeat fights.
The Ender Guardian drops 6 Coruscant Panels instead of a Redstone Heart.
The Ur-Ghast's minions now spawn from the boss instead of spontaneously appearing above the towers.
Ur-Ghast fireballs explode and scatter fire if the player tries reflecting them. This prevents them from oneshotting the Ur-Ghast.
The Slider uses Holystone falling blocks instead of Carved Stone, no longer becomes completely invincible and heals slower while resting, and no longer summons Sentries.
Victory Medals have warning lore.
The Valkyrie Queen is less likely to teleport near the player.
The Valkyrie Queen's lightning bolt attack is now limited on how steeply it can travel vertically. It's hard to explain, but it looks better now.
The Valkyrie Queen no longer summons Thunder Crystals. Instead, she summons a long-lasting electric column.
The Valkyrie Queen always drops a full set of armor.
The Sun Spirit no longer denies Ice Crystals in phase 2, shoots slower fireballs, refuses to shoot fireballs if the player is too close, is less likely to use the laser attack, and has a telegraph for the fire crystal wall attack.
Blue Skies bosses and the Sun Spirit melt ice bombs to prevent their arenas from becoming unusable.
The Netherite Monstrosity converts obsidian into Unstable Obsidian during phases 2 and 3, and it drops much more Netherite Scrap.
The Netherite Monstrosity and Ender Guardian deal less melee damage, and the Ender Guardian gains resistance in phase 2.
Ignis now takes minimal damage from falling blocks.
The Alchemist and Summoner no longer try to flee from the Wither Storm.
The Alchemist dissolves its potions when it's nearby and inflicts Darkness instead of Blindness.
Removed the Summoner's spike attack. It now occasionally summons potions atop the grass platforms in the arena. They damage players and heal the Summoner's golems!
Replaced the Arachnarch's predictive spit attack with a non-predictive variant that leaves a cloud of Deadly Venom.
Unnerfed Deadly Venom.
Arcs dropped by Blue Skies bosses have had their effects adjusted to be more worthwhile, and the bosses no longer drop Enchanted Golden Apples.

Revamped the Aurora Palace with a totally new build by Gearsaw Studios. This one changelog line does not do it justice. It's a big deal.
Many Twilight Forest monsters deal much less damage.
Phantoms are now disabled from typical spawning by running gamerule doInsomnia false every reload.
Made drops for certain mobs more interesting, including Witches, Wraiths, Mist Wolves, King Spiders, and Sentries.
Added specific, thematic enchanted books to various structures, mostly replacing randomly-enchanted ones.
Simplified some earlygame recipes.
Saddles and horse armor are now craftable.
Removed saddles from some irrelevant structures.
Buffed horses to always have great stats. They also can now spawn in Twilight Forest clearing and savanna biomes.
Woodland Mansions are more common.
A patrol captain spawns on top of Pillager Outposts.
Drowned in the Warped Garden are half as likely to wield a Trident.
Emerald Ore is more plentiful in mountains.
Beehives can generate in Golden Oak, Canopy, and Twilight Oak trees.
Added amethyst stalactites to hollow hills.
Added Phantoms and Endermapteras to the Final Plateau.
Druid Hut chests will now always contain either a saddle or a dart shooter.
Magic Maps spawn in a couple more easy Twilight Forest structures.
Maze Map Focuses in loot are replaced with the Maze Map itself for convenience.
Meef Stroganoff grants incredible saturation and some regeneration.
Moved Ignited Revenants from the Soul Prison to the White Castle and made them drop Burning Ashes instead of the Netherite Monstrosity.
Added bundles to various chests, generally in optional locations like hollow hills.
Charms of Life are rarer.
Reanimated Ruins maps are now guaranteed in Catacombs Tomb chests and Abandoned Mineshaft chests.
Miner rooms in Abandoned Mineshafts are rarer, and Catacombs generate less often.
All bastion variants now have a guaranteed Flaming Gemstone, instead of it being randomly found in chests.
Star Flares generate more frequently in the End for aesthetics.
Updated some Book of Lore entries.
Moas unsit when mounted.
Sterling Aerclouds are more common and generate lower.
Changed the Stratus Ingot recipe to a Falsite Ingot, two Chromatic Aerclouds, and two Enchanted Pink Aerclouds.
White Apples now provide some saturation.
Aether treasure chests are now immune to the Wither and Wither Storm.
Bronze Dungeons are less likely to contain exposed Gravitite Ore.
Bronze Dungeons now can drop a white Moa egg instead of a saddle.
The Slider no longer drops Super TNT. Instead, it drops an IOU for 1 Reanimated Ruins Explorer Map. Use it in the Overworld to claim your map!
In accordance with the above, Bronze Dungeons are much more common, and Platinum Dungeons no longer contain maps.
The Silver Dungeon no longer contains regular chests. Instead, Valkyries drop additional items on defeat.
Ruined Everbright and Everdawn portals generate in their specific dimensions.
Added another new dungeon, the Everdawn-exclusive Spider Nest! Everdawn Cartographer chests always have a map leading to one.
Lunar Stone Bricks generate in the Frozen Bunker.
Blinding Dungeons are no longer dependent on biomes (except for oceans and rivers).
A damaged anvil generates in Blinding Dungeon studies.
Frozen Bunkers have a bit less loot to encourage caving.
Charoite can no longer be found in dungeon chests, and it now generates much more frequently and in smaller veins.
Coruscant Panels are no longer found in chests in the End. The Tainted Gem will only point towards Ruined Citadels, and Eyes of Ender will only point towards End Cities.
Echo Shards are more plentiful.
The Tainted Gem can now locate non-Twilight Forest sources of Echo Shards by placing certain blocks in the dust ring.
Crafting Charoite now requires Lapis Lazuli instead of Raw Iron, and it no longer needs to be smelted.
Ancient Debris is now much more common.
Tainted Flesh Blocks are craftable.
Tainted Flesh Veins no longer drop in the bowels. They're craftable instead.
Moonworms no longer drop anything to prevent inventory clutter.
Added scutes and more prismarine to shipwreck, buried treasure, and Warped Garden chests.

Corpses now glow to make them easier to find, and they contain any Arcs the player had equipped.
Added new functionality to the Sickly Teratoma: When used at least 400 blocks away from the Wither Storm, it provokes the Wither Storm into a chase.
The Sickly Teratoma can be crafted with Tainted Dust instead of sickened mob drops.
Improved Resonators: A temporary return portal is created when a Resonator is used, and Resonators can transport players directly between the Everbright and Everdawn. Also updated tooltips.
Charms of Life and the Totem of Undying additionally grant full invincibility for five seconds on use.
Naga Scales are no longer a magical cure ingredient for Golden Apple Stew. Instead, any of the four Twilight Forest magic saplings can be used.
The Zombie and Life Drain scepters are easier to repair.
The Iron Bubble additionally grants Conduit Power and 50% faster swim speed.
The Swet Cape stuns and slows monsters that hit the player.
The Phoenix Cape causes monsters to erupt when slain by melee.
The Soulbound Spear is enchanted with Piercing III by default.
The Summoning Tome's Golem Mode now spawns a small pack of stronger golems.
The Alchemy Scroll's spikes now either drop offensive potions on monsters or toss defensive potions towards the player based on which mode it's used in.
The Venom Sac applies a stun, deadly venom, slowness, and weakness to targets it hits.
The Lamp of Cinders additionally shoots a fireball spread.
Added a new Explorer's Treasure, the Twilight Sundial, obtained from the Questing Ram. Use it to speed up time!
Added Prototype Zeta, a new custom Explorer's Treasure dropped by the Harbinger.
Buffed the Punisher's base damage to make up for Smite not being as effective.
The Punisher is now in a chest instead of an item frame for the sake of my sanity.
The Charm of Keeping is no longer an Explorer's Treasure.
The Crumble Horn is no longer an Explorer's Treasure. It's still unbreakable.
The player is now given a full bonus chest worth of starting supplies on their first visit to the Everbright or Everdawn. Tools and logs change based on which dimension is visited.
The Amulet, Alchemy Scroll, and Summoning Tome can pass through the Curse of Keeping.
The player's spawn point no longer gets lost if they break their bed. A warning message appears if the respawn location may be blocked.
Capes are now equipped in the Charm slots. The Back accessory slot no longer exists.
The Formidi-Blade and Eye of the Storm are now created at a Mechanical Fusion Anvil using an End Crystal and Tainted Dust Lamp respectively.
Removed many excess advancements and adjusted others to make the menu easier to look at and more useful.
Added various advancements for useful and/or obscure things like crossbow pearls, carrying Aerbunnies, or ironwood.
Added a new challenge advancement, An Unbalanced Diet, obtained by eating all 14 effect-giving foods.
Removed Zanite and Skyjade Gloves.
Removed the Better Dungeons Spider Dungeon.
Blocked certain exploitable recipes from the Uncrafting Table.

Made various performance improvements to the datapack.
Fixed the Overworld escape music playing in non-Overworld dimensions.
Fixed the Dark Forest Edge biome not having proper display text.
Fixed Stratus gloves not being wearable.
Fixed the Totem of Vexation being able to hurt players in the right circumstances.
Attempted to fix the Wither sometimes going through the floor. I wasn't able to reproduce this error myself, though.
Fixed the Minoshroom's axe toss not working.
Fixed the Valkyrie Queen's lightning not aiming right.
Fixed Dragonsbane getting stuck in boats.
Fixed the Starlit Crusher changing phases too late.
Fixed Inebriation applying to bosses.
Fixed the Tainted Gem deleting an extra piece of tainted dust if too much is placed.
Fixed Blue Skies key trade toasts appearing despite the Gatekeeper not existing in Explorer's Eve.
Fixed a major inventory wipe bug caused by dying in a Blue Skies dimension without a spawn point before breaking the Curse of Keeping.
Fixed a major inventory wipe bug caused by using commands to teleport to or from Blue Skies dimensions in unintended ways.
Fixed a major inventory wipe bug caused by entering the Wither Storm in a Blue Skies dimension, teleporting it to a different dimension, and then falling into the pit under the Command Block.
Fixed other major inventory wipe bugs related to Blue Skies and the Curse of Keeping. There were a lot of these...
Fixed Resonators being able to teleport the player on top of Blinding Dungeons.
Fixed Resonators being loud if two portals are near each other.
Fixed the Charm of Keeping not disappearing when it's used successfully.
Fixed Arcs not actually being protected on death.
Fixed monsters turning red for a tick before despawning when the Wither Storm is spawned.
Fixed the Wither Storm not always being at full health upon spawning.
Fixed the Wither Storm not always getting distracted when it kills a player. Again.
Fixed it being possible to have Wither Sickness before the Wither Storm reaches phase 4.
Fixed the Wither Storm not entering the Overworld at the correct point if the player flees before it reaches phase 4.
Fixed the Wither Storm rarely teleporting instantly when the player changes dimension.
Fixed the Wither Storm stealing Super TNT before it can be lit sometimes.
Fixed the Wither Storm not always getting exploded by the Formidibomb.
Fixed the Wither Storm not lowering after the third Command Block hit.
Fixed the Wither Storm getting distracted after a Withered Symbiont is defeated.
Attempted to fix the player rarely taking fall damage from a tractor beam when near the Withered Symbiont.
Fixed the Withered Symbiont not glowing before it sees the player.
Fixed the Withered Symbiont not playing its phase 2 theme if it has a fraction of a health point below the amount needed to enter phase 2.
Fixed multiple Withered Symbionts spawning simultaneously if the player relogs during the Command Block battle.
Fixed poison in the Command Block battle not being properly cured.
Fixed the Command Block being weird with how it summons a Withered Symbiont.
Fixed the bowels tunnel not being visible in the Wither Storm's death animation.
It's a bit harder to break the Empowered Wither Storm battle by dealing too much damage to the Wither Storm in its final phase.