Aetherial Endeavors

Aetherial Endeavors expands Outward Definitive Edition with new classes, magic, quests, equipment and crafting options. It's for players who want more to discover in Aurai, more ways to build a character and useful improvements to inventory management, travel and co-op.

The goal is to add variety and keep the game challenging. Alongside the new content, the pack reworks existing skills, weapons and combat mechanics, so expect some things to work differently from vanilla Outward. It is intended for both solo and co-op play.

What the pack adds and changes

• More character builds. Additional trainers and skill trees include Crusader, Dragon Knight, Necromancer, Martial Artist, Juggernaut and Kazite Blademaster. Champions of Elatt adds Paladin and Cleric, while Mendicants adds the Itinerant Scholar and its Ki-based skills. Classfixes also changes existing skill trees, giving familiar builds different options.
• More magic and support skills. Rune and sigil changes, mana weapons, runic equipment and scrolls expand the magic available. Supportive Rune Sage and Crusader add options for players who want to heal and support their co-op partner.
• More equipment to find and craft. New knives, crossbows, weapons previously used by NPCs, armor, backpacks, tents and enchantments give you more gear to choose from. Elemental Armory adds craftable elemental weapons, including options for Stormcancer's weapons. WeaponBalancePatch and the equipment mods also change some existing items.
• More quests and recipes. Champions of Elatt adds a questline, a boss encounter and holy relic weapons to restore. Quests of Aurai adds more quests, while the cooking, alchemy and crafting mods expand the meals, potions, bombs and equipment you can make. AntiAlchemyAbuse is included to limit profit from potion crafting.
• Clearer information and easier inventory management. CombatHUD, improved item descriptions, stash filters, crafting categories, enchantment previews and water skin improvements help with the everyday parts of playing. The Swamp Map shows the missing bridges on the Hollowed Marsh map. Instant Take Items removes the need to hold the pickup button, and Hold to Aim Bows lets you aim by holding the button and stop aiming when you release it.
• Travel and recovery. Soroborean Travel Agency adds caravan travel options, travel potions help you get around, and meditation restores health, stamina and mana. Press Fn + F5 while in-game to change available mod settings. Find SkilledAtMeditation in that menu to adjust how quickly meditation restores your stats.
• Co-op features. Share recipes, use the host's stash and help each other with support skills. To change the difficulty, player limit or shared quest rewards, press Fn + F5 while in-game and find Raid Mode. Everyone should use the same pack version and gameplay settings.

New in 2.4.0

More classes and quests with Champions of Elatt, more weapon crafting with Elemental Armory and its Stormcancer addon, plus Crafting Materials. Mendicants returns with an experimental compatibility fix. This update also adds a clearer swamp map, instant item pickup and hold-to-aim bow controls. See the Changelog tab for the full list.

Aetherial Endeavors Fixes 0.1.15 installs automatically with the pack. It fixes problems with trainers, skills, items and some mod interactions. It runs when the game starts; there is nothing extra to set up.

The pack and fixes are still experimental. Mendicants' new compatibility fix needs more in-game and co-op testing. Back up your saves and mod profile before updating an existing playthrough.

Changing mod settings: Fn + F5

While in-game, hold Fn and press F5 (Fn + F5) to open the mod settings. If your keyboard uses the function keys directly, press F5 on its own.

Find the mod you want to adjust in that menu, then read the descriptions beside its settings. For example, Raid Mode has options for the number of players, difficulty and shared quest rewards. SkilledAtMeditation has options for how much health, stamina and mana meditation restores.

You can change the options shown here while in-game without editing mod files yourself. Not every mod has settings, and the options available depend on the mod. You can leave the supplied settings as they are if you just want to install the pack and play.

For co-op, agree on gameplay settings with your group and keep them consistent on everyone's game. Changing a setting on your computer does not guarantee it changes for the other players too.

The included gameplay settings

The pack includes these Raid Mode settings:

• Up to two players, with Raid Mode's default difficulty adjustment for the number of players. Its extra Hard Mode option is off.
• The stability rework is enabled, changing when enemies stagger and fall down.
• Reviving a teammate burns 40% health and stamina, reducing those maximum stats until the burnt portion is recovered. A healing item isn't required to revive someone.
• Skills awarded by story and side quests are shared with the group. The options that give every player a separate copy of an artifact item are off.

To change these, open the menu with Fn + F5 once you're in-game and find Raid Mode. You can also increase the player limit there if you want a larger group. Other mods use their own settings unless you have already changed them in your profile.

Bank of Aurai interest is set to 0%. Deposited silver won't earn extra money over time.

Known issues

Some extra mods may conflict with this pack. If you add any, install and test them one at a time. I've chosen the mods I feel add the most content and variety while keeping balance in mind.

• Mendicants: the included patch addresses the Jinx conflict with NPC Weapons and Classfixes, but the combination is still experimental. Other skills and co-op interactions need more testing.
• Champions of Elatt: its author reports occasional enemy syncing issues in co-op.
• NPC Weapons: with Classfixes, some weapons may not count as the weapon type a skill expects. Its author also reports that some weapons fire more projectiles than intended. The fixes patch does not cover these issues.
• Crossbow Master: use Crossbow Shot only with crossbows. The author warns that using that skill with a normal bow is gamebreaking.

I may continue to adjust the balance and add fixes or mods as the pack develops.

Thanks and feedback

Thanks to all the mod creators and the Outward modding community. I couldn't put this pack together without your work. Enjoy the pack! <3

For feedback or bug reports, message mr_strain on Discord. Include the pack version, what happened and whether you were playing solo, hosting your own world or joining someone else's. If you have the game's log file, include it too.