With Easter fast approaching, it’s only fitting that this update brings a touch of egg‑themed fun. In this patch, we share new details about our upcoming dungeon release, introduce the brand‑new Collections feature, and address several additional bugs and improvements.

Collections

No self‑sustaining MMO would be complete without the joy of personal companions - loyal little friends who follow you across the world and keep you company on your adventures. In Aetherion, the Collections system brings this fantasy to life, offering a growing catalogue of collectible companions, mounts, and battle-ready allies. To see your collections, use the /collections command. Please also note that you can only collect one of each unique pet, mount, etc ... so you cannot have 2 black cats in your collection.

Collections are divided into three primary categories: 

• Pets 
• Mounts 
• Companions 

 Let’s take a closer look at each one...

Pets

Pets are passive companions who accompany you on your travels. They do not engage in combat and are completely invulnerable, meaning you never have to worry about losing them - even if you take an unexpected tumble down a cliff. 

While their main purpose is to keep you company, some pets offer light utility. For example, the Magic Lantern pet can illuminate dark caves, helping you see clearly while exploring underground.

HOW TO OBTAIN PETS 

There are three primary ways to add pets to your collection: 

• Vendors
Merchants scattered throughout Aetherion may occasionally offer unique pet eggs for sale.

• Creature Drops
Some critters in the wild - such as mice, parrots, and squirrels - have a small chance of dropping an egg containing their corresponding pet when defeated. Pet eggs may also be available in the future, as part of a dungeon boss loot.

• Achievements
Future achievements will reward special pets. For example, collecting 20 pets may unlock an exclusive bonus companion.

Mounts

Mounts are powerful, majestic creatures you’ve tamed or obtained, allowing you to travel the world more quickly. Unlike pets, mounts can be killed in combat. If your mount falls, you’ll need to wait for a short cooldown before you can summon it again.

HOW TO OBTAIN MOUNTS

There are three primary ways to add mounts to your collection: 

• Taming
Some animals in the wild can be tamed. Successfully taming one permanently adds it to your mount collection.

• Drops
Certain NPCs - especially powerful dungeon bosses - may drop unique mounts when defeated. Rare mounts may also appear inside chests.

• Achievements
Just like pets, completing specific achievements may reward special or rare mounts.

Companions

Companions are far more than friendly pets - they are invaluable allies in combat and the key to a hunter’s survival. Unlike pets and mounts, companions actively assist in battle, can be killed and scale with your level. If you are level 10 when you summon your wolf companion, your wolf will also be level 10. 

TYPES OF COMPANIONS 

Different playstyles offer different companion options: 

• Magic Users can summon mystical Familiars. 
• Hunters can call upon fierce beasts such as wolves, bears, and sabertooths. 
• Necromancers can raise skeletal minions to fight by their side. 

This system is still under development, and we will share more details as we approach its full release.

Dungeons

We are excited to announce that the dungeon framework is now fully complete, and the memory issues affecting our current dungeon have been resolved. This marks a major milestone for Aetherion, enabling smoother, more efficient, and more scalable dungeon experiences moving forward. 

A key addition in this update is the introduction of boss loot tables and instance level scaling, both designed to ensure that every dungeon run feels rewarding, balanced, and appropriately challenging for players of all levels.

Instance Level AND DIFFICULTY Scaling

Instance scaling ensures that dungeon difficulty matches the strength of the players entering it. The system works as follows: 

• The first player to enter a dungeon becomes the Instance Owner. 
• All mobs that spawn inside the instance will scale to match the Instance Owner’s level. 
• Difficulty and rewards scale together - meaning tougher enemies will also grant increased XP to maintain a fair and satisfying progression curve. 
• The dungeon will become more challenging if more players join the instance.

This mechanic allows adventurers of different levels to enjoy challenging and meaningful gameplay without out-leveling dungeon content.

AVAILABLE DUNGEONS 

At launch, two dungeons will be available for adventurers to explore:

THE LOST TEMPLE 

Our very first fully custom, hand‑crafted dungeon. 

Descend into the depths of an ancient temple and uncover the secrets hidden within its crumbling halls. But beware: the Scaraks have infested the ruins, turning the temple into their own hive. Expect tight corridors, dangerous encounters, and a mix of exploration and combat as you venture deeper into this treacherous stronghold.

Please be aware that we are actively refining this dungeon and introducing new features. As a result, its content is subject to change in future iterations.

TOWER OF SHIVA 

The Tower of Shiva is a custom dungeon created by Adathan and available publicly on CurseForge. We have integrated this dungeon into Aetherion to test how our scaling system performs with structures designed by the broader community. 

This experiment will help us evaluate compatibility, identify improvements, and open the door to adding more high‑quality community dungeons from CurseForge into our ecosystem - all while continuing to use our unified dungeon framework.

Welcome Screen

In response to ongoing requests from our community, we have introduced a welcome screen designed to give players a clear overview of available server features and recent updates. This screen appears whenever a player logs into the server. 

We have also implemented a new guide, accessible through the /guide command, offering a concise list of essential commands for our community members.

BUG FIXES AND UPDATES

The following are further bug fixes deployed during the last week:

• Added the new collections UI which can be accessed with the /collections command.
• Added 16 pet eggs and added a number of these to existing drop tables for mobs.
• Taming horses, rams or skeleton horses will add them to your mount collection.
• Fixed an issue with a number of custom furnishings from the violet pack which used a defunct interaction.
• Temporarily changed the large keg in the brewing mod to just a decoration as the asset is missing some animation for brewing. The regular keg can still be used for brewing.
• Temporarily removed the tabletop games mod as it broken and has not been updated in a while.
• Fixed the player UI to match the updated styling like the one used in the collections UI.
• Fixed the player UI to show a bit more info on the stats screen, and also added a new Guide tab.
• Fixed an issue where one could not sit or interact with anything at the Olde Goat in the Everbuild Expanse.
• Fixed an issue when interacting with the new Hops crop.
• Fixed an issue where some players where being kicked out of the Everbuild Expanse and Shattered Vein due to a small bug with copper veins.
• Fixed an issue where dungeons where giving an out of memory exception and were crashing the whole server.
• Fixed an issue where goblins were not spawning.
• Introduced scaling to dungeons so they match the dungeon owner's level. Higher level players can join such dungeons, but they will receive considerably less XP.
• Added damage bonuses to intelligence and dexterity base stats.
• Added a new welcome UI screen for when a player joins the server for the first time.
• Added a new guide UI with some essential commands to assist players.

Please Note:

• The Healing Totem is currently experiencing issues as it is not healing. We are working on our own custom healing routine.
• We were due to introduce our new spell framework as part of this update, but due to a number of features breaking as part of the update we had to postpone the spells framework integration.