Arcane Ward 1.2.0 Experimental

Separate Thunderstore package: this experimental build publishes as ArcaneWard_Experimental and uses the separate BepInEx plugin identity torvios.arcaneWard.experimental. It is intended for playtesting independently from the stable Arcane Ward listing.

Use a separate Thunderstore/r2modman profile. Do not enable stable Arcane Ward and Arcane Ward Experimental at the same time. The two packages intentionally share many in-game prefab IDs so characters/worlds can move between stable and experimental builds, and co-loading them can cause duplicate registrations.

This experimental branch exists for playtesting new features, mechanics, balance changes, and redesigns while Arcane Ward is actively developed and matured. Features in this package may change substantially before they reach the stable release. Back up important worlds/characters and report anything that feels broken, exploitable, unclear, or simply unfun.

Focus redesign

Arcane weapons now get their magical identity from the equipped Focus rather than from a particular weapon or Ward.

• Fire Focus — Fire empowerment; Fire parries train Elemental Magic. Fire bubble/VFX palette is now orange.
• Frost Focus — Frost empowerment/control; Frost parries train Elemental Magic.
• Lightning Focus — Lightning empowerment/discharge; Lightning parries train Elemental Magic.
• Blood Focus — attacks restore a small amount of HP; parries restore more and train Blood Magic. Blood uses the original red bubble palette.

Focus weapon effects are funded per enemy hit. Physical damage always lands regardless of Eitr. Each enemy that receives Fire/Frost/Lightning/Blood empowerment costs Eitr independently; if Eitr runs out partway through a cleave, remaining enemies receive physical damage only and no Focus VFX/effect.

Blood defaults to +2 spirit damage and +1 HP per funded enemy hit, doubled to +4 damage / +2 HP for two-handed melee. Successful Blood parries restore 5 HP, or 10 HP with a two-handed melee weapon. Blood uses vanilla vfx_BloodHit on funded enemy hits. Bows and crossbows do not receive the two-handed multiplier.

Durability and Eitr repair

Arcane weapons retain normal Valheim durability wear on weapon use/hits. While an Arcane weapon is equipped and damaged, it slowly repairs itself using Eitr. The experimental default is 1 durability for 1 Eitr every 2 seconds; repair stops when the weapon is full or Eitr cannot fund the next point.

Parry protection

Successful Arcane parries trigger the equipped Focus's full parry effect. Most Arcane weapons also gain a 3-second 360-degree Focus-colored protection bubble after a successful parry. The bubble is intended as a short defensive reward, not permanent protection.

Arcane blocking now uses both normal stamina and Eitr by default. The old Eitr-replaces-stamina behavior remains available as a compatibility config toggle.

Arcane Nord shields

Three Deep North shield variants are included:

• Arcane Nord Buckler (ArcaneNordBuckler) — successful parry gives +20% movement speed for 3 seconds instead of a bubble.
• Arcane Nord Shield (ArcaneNordShield) — balanced shield; parry gives the standard 3-second 360° bubble.
• Arcane Nord Greatshield (ArcaneNordGreatshield) — 180° frontal block arc; parry gives a 6-second 360° bubble. Its equipped model is reduced to roughly half the stock Greatshield scale so it remains large without dominating the character model.

Shield blocks continue to train Blocking. Focus parry effects train the appropriate magic school.

Weapon changes

• Arcane Blade / sword: native sword MMB lunge restored. Direct spellcasting is no longer assigned to the knife/sword secondary.
• Arcane Spear: retains the Nord spear throw as its MMB; the throw is empowered by the equipped Focus.
• Arcane Hammer: returning short-range MMB throw remains, with heavier gravity than the spear; its magic now comes from the Focus.
• Arcane Sledge: MMB Groundbreaker uses pickaxe-style terrain damage beneath the impact while the normal sledge attack remains the combat AoE.
• Other supported Arcane weapons inherit Fire/Frost/Lightning from the equipped Focus. Blood Focus replaces elemental augmentation with its sustain effect.

Wand casting

The former Ward/Staff-of-Protection visual items are repurposed as main-hand Arcane Wands. Standing MMB casting uses the equipped Focus to select the ranged spell instead of treating the Arcane Knife as a wand. The knife keeps its native weapon identity.

Testing priorities

Please pay particular attention to multiplayer/ZNet behavior, per-target Eitr funding, physical-only hits at low Eitr, Focus VFX stopping when a target cannot be funded, Blood multi-target lifesteal/VFX, passive Eitr repair, parry detection, bubble timing/directionality, shield arcs, Greatshield model scale, Groundbreaker terrain damage, and Focus empowerment on thrown/projectile weapons.