Strange Aeons: Sword and Sorcery

Major Progression and Balance Update

I've summarized all of the changes made to the version for Minecraft 1.20.1, as this will likely be the last major update made and should be considered complete. Overall, there have been substantially reworked progression, balance, and cross-mod integrations throughout the pack.

Progression and World Integration Reworked progression so major systems unlock through exploration, boss fights, and advancement through other mods rather than being available immediately. Restricted Botania Mystical Flowers to the Twilight Forest. Changed Floral Fertilizer to require an existing Botania petal, so Botania progression begins through exploration rather than bypassing flower discovery. Gated advanced Vampirism and Werewolves progression behind materials from Botania, Dimensional Doors, and other progression systems. Moved naturally spawning Ice and Fire dragons out of the Overworld and into appropriate Astral Dimension biomes. Reworked Dragonforge Core recipes to require Witherite obtained through Cataclysm progression. Changed Dragonsteel production to use Manasteel rather than ordinary iron. Added a custom late-game vampire ascension requirement involving a drop from the Ancient Remnant. Disabled Iron’s Spells ’n Spellbooks’ Spectral Hammer. Combat and Equipment Balance Removed Apotheosis. Its affix equipment and other high-power systems ultimately overwhelmed the progression and balance of the rest of the pack. Increased the health, damage, healing, and overall threat of Cataclysm bosses so they remain meaningful late-game encounters. Buffed the physical armor and toughness of Mana and Artifice Tier 5 faction armor so that endgame faction equipment is no longer physically inferior to much earlier gear. Preserved the distinct Mana and Artifice faction bonuses and identities rather than making all four sets identical. Cross-Mod Crafting and Custom Mechanics Removed Forbidden & Arcanus. Replaced one of its most useful late-game functions with a new Dimensional Doors integration. Added a custom Fabric of Finality system: Stable Fabric + a damageable item + Fabric of Finality can now be combined in a Smithing Table to fully repair the item and make it permanently Unbreakable. The Fabric of Finality upgrade preserves enchantments, custom names, durability-related data, and other mod-specific NBT. Added a custom KubeJS fix for Spartan Fire upgrades so adding dragon blood to weapons such as dragonbone longbows preserves the original item's enchantments, custom data, and other NBT instead of replacing it with a fresh item. Added conversion recipes between the Werewolves and Ice and Fire versions of silver blocks. Silver blocks can now also be crafted using mixed compatible silver ingots. Blacklisted Dimensional Doors blocks and dragons from Carry On to prevent problematic interactions. Questlog and Player Guidance Added introductory lore and a populated Main quest branch explaining the overall design and major mods in the pack. Added an overview comparing the two primary magic systems: Iron’s Spells ’n Spellbooks provides more immediate and accessible combat magic. Mana and Artifice has a slower and deeper progression system, with custom spellcrafting, rituals, constructs, factions, Eldrin infrastructure, and greater late-game flexibility. Added dedicated Questlog guidance for Mana and Artifice, Vampirism, Corail Tombstone, and Dimensional Doors. Added Mana and Artifice tips for several poorly explained mechanics, including Eldrin generation and progression. Added Vampirism guidance for newly infected players. Added Corail Tombstone guidance covering Knowledge of Death, enchanted Grave’s Keys, graveyard souls, and other less-obvious mechanics. Added Dimensional Doors guidance for Rift Signatures, the Tesselating Loom, Fabric of Finality, and the new indestructible-item system. Added a Tesselating Loom quest directing players to the Dimensional Doors recipe documentation, since Loom recipes are not well exposed through JEI. Added warnings that many recipes, equipment statistics, boss values, and progression requirements differ from the original mods. Mods Added Dynamic Lights TrashSlot Tom’s Simple Storage Mods Removed Apotheosis Forbidden & Arcanus Technical Changes Updated and synchronized client, single-player, and dedicated-server configuration files. Added and revised KubeJS scripts for custom progression, cross-mod crafting, and item-data preservation. Fixed several mod compatibility issues. Fixed dedicated-server configuration and recipe problems. Fixed or adjusted several world-generation issues. Cleaned up obsolete recipes and configuration references associated with removed mods.

The overall goal of these changes is not perfect numerical balance. Different progression paths are still intended to feel very different, and powerful cross-mod combinations remain part of the experience. The goal is to make the major mods feel like parts of the same world, keep exploration and boss progression relevant, and prevent late-game equipment and magic from trivializing the rest of the pack too quickly.