Ways of the Gods

Unofficial mod. Ways of the Gods is a fan-created Valheim modification and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Iron Gate Studio or Coffee Stain Publishing. Use it at your own risk. See LICENSE.md and NOTICE.md included with this distribution.

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Ways of the Gods adds a multiplayer-ready RPG class system to Valheim. Build the Temple of Classes, pledge yourself to one of seven ways, choose a branch and sub-class, then shape your build through a unified talent tree.

New in 3.4 — Ascendant Paths

Progression now follows Valheim's world instead of rewarding endless farming in the safest biome.

• Maximum class level increased to 70.
• Eight abilities per class: seven path abilities unlock at levels 1 / 10 / 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 / 60, while a class-wide ultimate is earned through the level-70 Ascension.
• One endgame Ascension replaces intermediate trials: survive ten escalating waves in an isolated arena to unlock your class's final power.
• 72 new path spells: every one of the 36 sub-classes receives a unique level-30 omen and level-50 mythic ability, with thematic vanilla-compatible effects.
• Expanded talent trees contain 100–106 ranks along each selected path. At level 70 you can complete roughly 66–70%, so builds still require meaningful choices.
• Native-biome XP limits stop early creatures from carrying a character through the entire game.
• Starred enemies reward explicit bonuses: no stars ×1, one star ×2, two stars ×3.
• Temple XP offerings now accept boss trophies only.
• Abilities respect your equipment: every branch has an appropriate weapon profile, so a martial technique cannot be cast through a bow or an unrelated tool.
• Magic has a complete early-game progression: Mage, Necromancer and magical hybrid paths use Eitr, supported by new catalysts and Eitr foods from Meadows through Plains.

Native-biome progression

The creature's native biome decides its XP bracket, even during raids or when it appears somewhere else.

Native biome	Intended class levels	Stops granting XP at
Meadows	1–10	10
Black Forest	10–20	20
Swamp	20–30	30
Mountain	30–40	40
Plains	40–50	50
Mistlands	50–60	60
Ashlands	60–70	70

The Ocean Serpent belongs to the Mountain bracket and stops granting class XP at level 40.

Fighting ahead is possible, but deliberately inefficient: a creature one bracket above you grants 25% XP, two brackets above grants 6.25%, and each additional gap applies another ×0.25. Any qualifying kill still grants at least 1 XP.

The seven ways

Class	Branches and sub-classes
🔮 Mage	Fire: Pyromancer / Flame Summoner · Frost: Cryomancer / Frostwarden · Lightning: Stormcaller / Tempest
🪓 Berserker	Crushing: Juggernaut / Earthshaker · Rending: Reaver / Ravager · Hunting: Lancer / Warhound
💀 Necromancer	Plague: Pestilent / Blightcaller · Spirit: Reaper / Banshee · Bone: Bonelord / Death Knight
🌿 Druid	Wild Shape: Werewolf / Werebear · Warden: Skald / Beastmaster · Restoration: Lifekeeper / Grovekeeper
⚡ Einherjar	Storm: Thunderer / Stormherald · Spear: Spearmaster / Valkyrie Knight · Valhalla: Valkyrie / Herald of the Slain
🛡️ Guardian	Bulwark: Warden / Sentinel · Vanguard: Crusher / Warbringer · Paladin: Templar / Lightbringer
🏹 Ranger	Marksmanship: Deadeye / Arbalist · Skirmishing: Pathfinder / Volley Master · Wilderness: Trapper / Falconer

Choose one of three exclusive branches at level 1. At level 10 that branch forks into two exclusive sub-classes. The whole build is shown on one talent screen.

Druid shapeshifting

The Wild Shape branch transforms the Druid into a real wolf, bear or raven. Raven form can fly: Space to rise and Ctrl to dive. Flight consumes stamina, forces a controlled landing when exhausted and blocks weapon attacks and other class abilities until you return to human form.

Weapons, Eitr and early magic

Abilities now follow the identity of the selected branch. Berserker techniques require their intended melee weapon family, Einherjar spear paths require spears or polearms, Guardians fight around shields, and Mage, Necromancer and magical Druid paths cast through compatible staves or catalysts. Wild Shape attacks require the matching animal form.

The ability bar displays the effective resource cost on every unlocked slot: E means Eitr and S means stamina. An ability dims when the currently equipped weapon cannot cast it; hover the slot to see the exact requirement.

Magic no longer has to wait until Mistlands. Each biome from Meadows through Plains adds three new craftable catalysts:

Biome	Mage	Necromancer	Druid
Meadows	Emberwood Wand	Gravebone Fetish	Living Sprout
Black Forest	Corewood Staff	Ancient Bone Crook	Elderbark Branch
Swamp	Guckbound Conduit	Bloodroot Scepter	Rootbound Crook
Mountain	Frostglass Staff	Wraith Lantern	Stormpine Staff
Plains	Blackmetal Arcanum	Deathbound Reliquary	Sunroot Staff

The matching food progression is Dew-Kissed Berries, Seer's Jam, Guckroot Stew, Frostmind Cream and Cloudberry Insight Pudding. Mage and Necromancer also receive a small innate Eitr reserve; magical hybrid branches receive a smaller reserve so their first abilities remain usable while food improves the full build.

How to play

1. Build the Temple of Classes with the hammer under Misc: 20 Wood and 20 Stone.
2. Interact with the temple (E) and choose your class.
3. Gain class XP by killing monsters in the appropriate progression bracket or by offering boss trophies at the temple.
4. Open the Talent Panel with T, choose your branch, then choose its sub-class from level 10.
5. Cast abilities with Shift+1 through Shift+8 by default. Every keyboard shortcut is configurable.
6. At class level 70, begin the Ascension at the Temple. Survive all ten waves to unlock the eighth, class-wide ultimate.

Changing class preserves progress separately for every class. Returning to a class restores its XP, path and talents.

Controller and handheld PCs

Native controller input uses Valheim's logical mappings, so it works through Steam Input on Steam Deck, ROG Ally and Xbox-style controllers.

• LB + D-pad Up / Right / Down / Left casts abilities 1–4.
• LB + RB casts ability 5.
• LB + A casts ability 6.
• LB + B casts ability 7.
• LB + R3 casts the Ascension ultimate (ability 8).
• LB + Y opens the Talent Panel.
• LB + X dismisses your permanent class summons.
• In the Temple and Talent panels, navigate with the D-pad or left stick, confirm with A, and close with B.

The ability bar automatically switches between keyboard and controller labels based on the last active input. Set Controller.Enabled = false to disable controller shortcuts.

Summons

Permanent class summons:

• never grant class XP;
• never drop vanilla loot;
• cannot be damaged by players or butcher knives;
• can be dismissed with U or LB+X;
• remember their owner in multiplayer.

The dismissal command affects only permanent summons. Temporary armies, packs and legions expire normally.

Multiplayer

• Install the mod on the server and every client. Major.Minor versions must match; vanilla clients cannot join.
• Kill XP is shared with eligible players within 64 m, then evaluated against each player's level and the creature's native biome.
• Progression rules, difficulty and costs are enforced by the server.
• Domes, blessings, heals, buffs, taunts, abilities, summons and capstone auras are synchronized.

Progression and difficulty

Ability power follows both world progression and class level. Damage, healing and summons scale from Meadows to the endgame; tooltips show current effective values.

Preset	Power	Feel
Saga	×1.25	relaxed power fantasy
Midgard (default)	×1.0	intended balance
Jotunheim	×0.75	abilities support your weapons
Ragnarök	×0.5	brutal

Set ProgressionScaling = false for classic level-only ability scaling.

Server admins can optionally add another class-level gate:

• LevelGate = Off (default) — native-biome XP rules apply without an additional world gate.
• LevelGate = Bosses — class caps follow defeated bosses; the default caps are 10 / 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 / 70.
• LevelGate = WorldAge — unlocks one additional class level every WorldDaysPerLevel days.

These optional gates never remove levels already earned and do not bank XP beyond a locked cap.

Configuration

Configuration is stored in BepInEx/config/gianl.waysofthegods.cfg.

Available settings include keyboard hotkeys, controller support, XP multiplier, HUD position and scale, talent UI scale, progression scaling, difficulty, optional level gates and their caps.

Balance.EquipmentRestrictions is server-enforced. Branch is the intended default, Class accepts a broader class-level weapon identity, and Off disables equipment checks.

Under Costs, TalentResetCost defaults to 100 coins and ChangePathCost defaults to 200 coins. Set either to 0 to make that action free. Open the inventory to drag or resize the ability bar; position and scale are saved automatically.

Community and support

⚔️ Discord: discord.gg/QwthPaNAME

• 📣 News and changelogs
• 🐛 Bug reports — please attach BepInEx/LogOutput.log
• 💡 Suggestions for classes, abilities and features

Credits

Built with Jotunn.

Designed, tested and maintained by Hadorn96.