We are officially calling this the gear and crafting update.
During our last Community Update, we introduced the long‑awaited RPG overhaul - a milestone that brought custom mob levels, player progression, base stats, and a complete redesign of every creature in Aetherion, including friendly NPCs and critters.
Today, we’re building on that foundation with another essential pillar of the Aetherion experience: gear optimization and advanced crafting. This update focuses on enhancing player choice, refining equipment progression, and expanding the depth of the crafting system to support a more meaningful and strategic gameplay journey.
First, we are introducing a new workbench to Aetherion: The Loom. While this workstation has technically existed in the game for some time, it was previously non‑functional. It is now fully operational, and its primary role is to convert various fabric scraps into Spools, a key material required for crafting multiple items throughout the world of Aetherion.
Next, we move to the Tailoring Bench. In a previous update, we introduced Violet’s Plushie Workbench, which allowed adventurers to decorate their homes with adorable creations such as Trork, Kweebec, and Cactee plushies, among others.
This bench has now been refined and transformed into the dedicated Tailoring Bench. All plushies are still available and neatly grouped together, but you will now also find four brand‑new crafting categories. Similar to the Armor Bench, these categories are divided by gear slot - Head, Chest, Legs, and Hands - representing every type of cloth armor available in the game. The Tailoring Bench will serve as the primary station for crafting cloth armor, a vital gear set for mages, healers, and other ether‑focused builds.
Armor progression in Aetherion has now been fully structured into three primary categories: Cloth, Leather, and Plate - each designed to support distinct playstyles and class archetypes.
Cloth Armor is crafted exclusively at the new Tailoring Bench and has been rebalanced to strongly benefit caster-oriented builds. These pieces provide significant mana‑focused bonuses, making them ideal for mages, healers, and ether‑wielding adventurers.
Leather Armor forms the second tier and is best suited for Rangers and Rogues. This gear emphasizes Dexterity, granting increased stamina and mobility. Previously unavailable for crafting, Leather Armor can now be created through the Armorer Workbench, giving agility-based players a clear and consistent progression path.
Plate Armor, the third and heaviest tier, is designed for tanks and heavy melee combatants. These pieces boost Strength and Vitality, enabling players to withstand substantial damage - though at the cost of reduced output compared to pure DPS builds. As part of the update, all Plate Armor sets have received a minor overhaul to better align with the new RPG progression system. We’ve also introduced a brand‑new plate tier: Bronze Armor, which now serves as the final armor set available in Zone 1 and marks a natural endpoint for early‑game heavy gear progression.
Aetherion has expanded its resource pool with the addition of two new mineable materials now found across all zones: Coal and Tin.
Coal serves as a powerful combustible resource, offering nearly four times the efficiency of charcoal. While its primary use is currently fuel-related, several upcoming crafting recipes are already planned to take full advantage of its improved performance and versatility.
Tin is a light, silvery metal - brighter than iron - and functions both as a standalone material and as a key component in alloy creation. When combined with copper, Tin can be smelted into Bronze, a significantly stronger alloy that can be crafted into various weapons, tools, and armor pieces. Beyond that, Bronze will play an even more important role in future updates, where it becomes essential in the construction of mechanical components and other advanced crafting systems.Please Note: The ore will unfortunetly not be present in regions that have been already generated, but will only spawn in newly generated zone - ie Unexplored zones.
Before going into detail on gear and weapons, one needs to first understand how character builds are created. Aetherion uses a classless progression system, meaning players are not locked into predefined classes like “Mage” or “Warrior.” Instead, your stats, gear, and playstyle naturally shape the type of character you become.
By investing points into Strength, Vitality, Dexterity, or Intelligence, and equipping gear that reinforces those attributes, your build evolves organically - allowing for pure archetypes or unique hybrids.
Want to be a plate-wearing Battlemage, a stealthy archer‑rogue, or a healing monk‑style caster? The classless system makes this possible. Your identity is defined by your choices, not a menu selection.
Can I reset my Stats and therefore change my Build?
The short answer is Yes. Aetherion uses a flexible respec system that allows players to completely re‑shape their build at any time. By using Reset Tokens - purchasable in‑game for a small gold fee - you can reassign all of your stat points and instantly pivot to a new playstyle.
Whether you want to transition from a sturdy tank into a nimble rogue, or swap from melee combat to spellcasting, a respec simply requires adjusting your stats, gear, and weapon choice. This gives every player the freedom to experiment and refine their character without starting over.
How many times have you been fully engaged in a challenging fight - chasing down a powerful creature - only to have another player swoop in and claim the final blow? To address this frustration, we have introduced a shared XP system. Under this system, all players who successfully land a hit on the targeted NPC will receive experience points.
It is important to note that you must land at least one hit to qualify for XP. Simply standing nearby, following the creature, or participating passively will not grant any rewards. Only players who actively contribute to the encounter will share in the experience gained.
One of the key issues we identified with the previous tooltip system was the lack of clear, actionable information. Players struggled to compare weapons and gear effectively because tooltips rarely displayed damage values, bonuses, or defensive properties. Some items showed health or mana bonuses, while others listed projectile or physical damage protection - resulting in inconsistent and incomplete information.
To resolve this, we have implemented a comprehensive tooltip overhaul, ensuring every item now provides the detail players need to make informed choices:
A complete breakdown of all gear types and weapons - including their stats, requirements, and progression paths - will be released in a dedicated post at a later date.
We have received several reports regarding limitations and issues with our previous land‑claim system. After reviewing the feedback, we made the decision to transition to a more robust and widely supported solution: Simple Claims by Buuz135.
Over the weekend, the system was thoroughly tested, and we’re pleased to confirm that it offers a range of reliable, user‑friendly features - each designed to improve protection, usability, and overall player experience. This new system is now fully implemented and ready for our community to explore.
Claiming is very simple and straightforward. Simply use the command /claim to open up a window showing the area around you, and left click the area you wish to claim. You can claim up to 25 chunks, so you have plents of space to expand.By using the command /scp you can then change the details of the claimed area, such as the name of your little kingdom, as well as who has access to your claimed zone.
Please Note that Claiming remains restricted in the Everbuild Expanse Only!
The following are further bug fixes deployed during the last week...
As a final note, please keep in mind that all of these new systems and updates are still undergoing active refinement. As Hytale continues to evolve, we will likewise update and improve our plugins, logic, and internal frameworks to stay aligned with the game’s development.
This means that certain gear stats, item information, recipes, and crafting mechanics may continue to change over time. While the current implementation is stable, nothing is fully final—your feedback will help shape the polished versions of these systems as they mature.
As always, if you have suggestions, ideas, or comments, please share them with us on our official Discord server. Your input helps shape the future of Aetherion.
Happy exploring! 🌿✨
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