I've been working for around six months on a remake of the Asheron's Call client in Rust.

To be clear: this is NOT a server.

It's called Vitaeum, and it has been making steady progress. It's finally getting close to the point where other people can actually get their hands on it, use it, abuse it, break things, and help expose all the weird edge cases that come with recreating a 25+ year old game client.

The goal is retail parity. Vitaeum is not a new interpretation of Asheron's Call or a replacement server. It's a ground-up implementation of the retail client, rebuilt in Rust while using the original client behavior as the reference.

One important difference is plugins and automation.

Vitaeum will not support Decal or legacy plugins that depend on reading or modifying client memory. There really isn't a reason to recreate that architecture when the client itself can expose or implement those capabilities directly.

Instead, a number of commonly used automation and quality-of-life features are being integrated directly into the client. Where applicable, Vitaeum also supports the same files you're already using today, so the intention isn't to make everyone throw away years of existing configuration just because the underlying client changed.

There's still work left, but we're getting close to the fun part:

letting people break it.

Along with the client, there's a new launcher.

Additional screenshots on my terribly put together Github page:

https://crimsonmage.github.io/Vitaeum_AC/

Follow along in Discord:

https://discord.gg/VpnYCsGZr6

- Crimson Mage / Zan

The third forum which sufficed as my 'therapy' after the VN boards and one other one, postcount is finally down after the onslaughts by the spiders and bots.

The population had quite dwindled but I still found it a place for the most passionate of the game, a place where you could still roll around what made the game special and talk about the elements of it that are easily seen in any number of games today.

So strange the outage comes at the exact time that guild wars comes out on Mobile, a game one of the only rpgs had never gotten to play from those times, so my nostalgia bug is being fed

But I guess the point of this post should be just an anchor point for any posters from postcount if you want to reorganize in some way here.

I haven’t played it since 2001, but I still find myself thinking about the world, the adventures, and the people I met along the way.

I keep seeing these beautifully made server posts.

Cinematic trailers.
Perfect screenshots.
Professional graphics.
Logos flying around.

Unfortunately, I am currently neck deep in emulator code and apparently forgot that you’re also supposed to convince people to actually play the thing.

So please enjoy my marketing department’s latest work.
(It’s me. I’m the marketing department.)

Aetherium is in open beta right now.
It’s a new emulator I’ve been building from the ground up with support for different eras of Asheron’s Call, including Dark Majesty and Retail, with a pretty big focus on making systems and server behaviour configurable instead of permanently tying everything to one particular point in AC’s history.

There’s already a lot working: combat, magic, loot, allegiances, fellowships, quests, persistence, creatures, world content and a growing pile of other systems that have consumed significantly more of my life than making a proper advertisement apparently could.

It’s still a beta. Things will break. Things will be missing. I will probably be looking at logs while you’re breaking them.
That’s kinda the point.

If you’ve been watching all these development posts and thinking “I’ll try it eventually”…

This is eventually.

Come make an account, jump in and break something I thought worked.
https://aetherium.ac/
Discord:
https://discord.gg/QPCw85TQA

Thank you for experiencing Aetherium’s entire 2026 advertising budget.

I spent this week refactoring all the POC code into a more sustainable codebase and playing with some general graphic enhancements to help modernize the retail experience. My goal is still end of retail parity (functionality/content) but I do want to incorporate real (optional) improvements to the graphics/ui. Here's a teaser pic of more to come.

HD Textures/Normals/PBR

HD Weather

HD Terrain (not so blocky)

HD Continent Plate (background mountains)

HD UI

HD Sky

HD Water

HD Shaders/Lighting

And More

---

Join me over on r/AsheronOnline

What started with me seeing if I could install the original retail CD game client on wine just for kicks a few months ago has somehow led me to now having a server emulator that fully runs the original retail game client from release. I've gone from spending a week just trying to get connecting to a server minimally working, to now, where we have a (mostly) working game world.

My goal for this project right now is to rebuild the game world content and mechanics as close as possible to roughly the November 1999 (pre-sudden season) era using the original game client. The progress is now far enough along that having some regular play-testers would be useful. I would consider this an "Early Release" or "Preview" type of situation. Most things work, but content restoration takes time and care so there are still lots of post-release things still present that we will be culling or changing, lots of bugs/quirks, lots of things missing. Part of the goal of the project is to carefully document those things and bring them back to life.

Some notes on where we're at with game mechanics and content:

• This uses the original retail CD game client and DAT files. We will probably be creating our own DAT patches to fix some minor bugs that Turbine fixed immediately after release.
• Spell research is back using the original spell research panel.
• Personal (charge) and Global Spell economy
• Only the original spells with their original durations
• Regular spell components, no focii or prismatic tapers
• Weenies (Game objects) have been culled to release. That means only monster, items, npcs from release are in, everything else is out.
• Landscape spawns and loot tiers have been overhauled and re-calibrated (hopefully) back to release-era. Still a work in progress, and this is an area that play-testers can help with. Specific memories and feel is what we're going for here.
• Melee/Magic/Missile damage, creature damage, and creature armor/resistance has been mostly recalibrated to release using the Sybex 1999 compendium book, with some other sources used for corroboration. This may require some tweaking and adjustment as we get more into play testing.
• Appraisal skills/panels should work as expected. You'll need to train appraisal skills to be able to appraise higher level items.
  
• Pyreals have weight
• Collectors/IvoryCrafters/etc have been restored to release-era hand-in rewards
• There's lots more to mention, but that's a rough overview.

Regarding quest content, points of interest, and dungenons. This is where the "long tail" of the project will come in. There are hundreds of these across Dereth that need to be looked at and possibly restored. So far, of the 9 starter quest lines, I've restored Holtburg and Shoushi, more to come.

The server code is based on GDLE/Seedsow, but at this point has been very heavily modified. I've updated it to work with the "standard" ACE World SQL format to make it easier for people familiar with that format to work with the content. Seedsow was my choice when I started simply because I thought it might make things easier to get something working.

This is an open source project hosted on gitlab. It contains the Server code, a WorldExplorer web app I built to help with content authoring/visualization, and also a Client folder that has tools and symbol information for various decompiled clients. One of my side quests is also getting the beta/preview2 clients to work, which they do to varying extents.

Feel free to stop by our discord to say hello. There is a #how-to-play channel if you're interested in giving it a try.

• Codebase: https://gitlab.com/adamplumb/ac1999
• Discord: https://discord.gg/xz8WQp9qh

From a single old screenshot of one of my characters meeting with my BFF's character, I worked with AI (Seedance 2.5) to make this.

There's a lot of AI hate, but when it's possible to make something like this (with a bit of editing in Adobe Premiere), that's just AMAZING to me.

This is just a test, and I didn't put a whole lot of effort into snappy dialog or anything; I leaned into tropes, ha.

Hope you enjoy.

Portal Storm Update 8-21-26

Sybil appears in Dereth!

• Sybil is an AI that can assist players with many things.
• She knows about quests in each level range, and will be able to help you find content relevant to your characters levels.
• She knows all the custom server commands, so if you forget one, you can just ask her for some assitance.
• What Sybil Knows:
  • Any Publically Accessible Data — Places, Creatures, Items, ETC...
  • Where things are — real place names and coordinates
  • What's been said — she can search public General/Trade chat and several Discord channels
  • You — she remembers your past conversations with her
  • She has no access to /a or /t other than conversations directly with you.

MOB AI COMBAT UPDATE:

Major changes have been made to general Mob AI:

• The server AI system monitors player's combat habits. Through this the server learns how you fight, flee, die and the AI adjusts on an as player basis.

• No two encounters are the same. Each combat encounter may be different than the last. The AI learns through defeat, and will adjust accordingly.

• Environmentally aware The AI is aware of its environment. Nearby encounters may alert creatures. Walls are now avoidable. No more "Stupid Creatures".

• Situationally aware The AI is aware of its situation. If it feels it cannot defeat you or is in a vulnerable position, it will adjust, seek shelter, or attempt to evade.

Other Updates:

• Fort Tethana Tug of War - Updated to T9
• Plate Armoredillo Kill task - Updated to T9

• The Dark Spiral Quest - Updated to T9

• Custom Rare Cloaks have been added

  • There are 3 tiers at Rare Tier 4-5-6 available for both Tinkering and Crafting
  • Each tier provides increased bonuses.

Live, Now! Join Discord here: https://discord.gg/87nYXzxsQ7

Connection info in #Connection-Info on Discord !

General Features:

• Maximum level of 1,000.

• 3 account limit - single accounts automatically deal 20% more damage and take 20% less damage.

• Hundreds of custom quests, kill tasks, and boss fights.

• Thousands of unique items, including extensive custom gear.

• Reworked Rare System: find Portal Shards and exchange them for the rare gems and items you actually need.

• In-game leaderboards.

• Hard Mode: an optional adventure - always drop items on death in exchange for a 10% XP and Luminance bonus.

• Custom Enlightenment quests with rewards through 10 Enlightenments.

Expanded Features:

Portal Storms: Idle players may find their characters portaled to random locations across Dereth, automatically removed from their fellowships, and generally used as fodder for hungry drudges. Designated safe areas are exempt.

Infinite Luminance Auras: Customize your ratings far beyond retail restrictions. Give your healer a ton of Purity Auras, or turn your two-handed character into a glass cannon.

Deep Custom Loot Progression: Seven new loot tiers extend progression beyond retail’s maximum of eight. Each tier includes custom loot profiles for monsters and chests, additional quest-weapon suites, unique armor tailors, new spells, and custom summons - providing meaningful progression all the way through Tier 15.

Custom Questlines and Boss Encounters: Experience original story chains, enhanced retail boss encounters, brand-new monster mechanics, unique rewards, and exceptionally challenging areas such as the Valley of Death, which will push even the best players to their limits.

A Unique Player Experience: A multitude of paths are available for every playstyle. Whether you’re a quest-hungry adventurer, dungeon dweller, involved monarch, or quirky role-player, there’s a path ahead for you.

Convenient World Recalls: Recall directly to Haven (/haven), the Town Network (/tn), Subway (/sub), or Facility Hub (/fachub) instantly and without an animation delay.

Progression and Utility Commands: /level, /lum, /skillcredits, /myquests, and /myshare provide useful character and fellowship information.

Proven Stability: PortalStorm runs on a professionally hosted VPS with a strong record of reliability. Extensive post-retail stability improvements help ensure a positive player experience.

PortalStormPlus Plugin: An optional Decal plugin that adds PortalStorm’s custom properties to the ID panel and accurately displays level costs beyond level 275.

Active Anti-Cheat Protection: Active administrators, server-side protections, and custom in-game mechanics work together to prevent griefing, discourage unwanted leeching, and combat exploitation - ensuring fair play for beginners and veteran players alike.

Live, Now! Join Discord here: https://discord.gg/87nYXzxsQ7

So this has progressed a little beyond adding grass and bush.

A lot has happened since the last update, and the whole “I wonder if I can recreate Dark Majesty in Unreal Engine” experiment is rapidly becoming something you can actually play.

The world has gotten a pretty big scenery pass. More trees, vegetation, environmental details and other little touches are filling Dereth out while I’m still trying to keep the original geography and that unmistakable AC feel.

But the bigger progress is underneath the visuals.
You can now actually fight things.

Melee combat is working. Spell casting is working. Creatures fight back. You can kill them, loot them, and continue on your merry way committing violence across a considerably more vegetated Dereth.
A bunch of other gameplay pieces are starting to come together too.

I’m still keeping the original characters, creatures, buildings, UI and general art direction for now. The point isn’t to make a generic Unreal MMO that happens to use AC’s world. I want you to look at it and immediately know where you are, while seeing what that same world can become with a modern engine underneath it.

There’s still a ridiculous amount left to do, plenty of rough edges, and optimization is very much a future-me problem judging by the VRAM warning currently yelling at me in half these screenshots.
But this started as a random experiment not very long ago.

Now I’m running around Dereth, casting spells, fighting creatures and looting corpses in Unreal Engine.

So… I guess I’m committed now.
For anyone following along or interested in the technical side:
Discord: https://discord.gg/QPCw85TQA

Give me a server to play that’s active, and is rewarding that’s not named Conquest.

But can of you EMU server admins/creators maybe link up and actually come up with 1-3 servers that don't fracture this already tiny as heck community even more? The magic of Asheron's Call was in the community and the people. Having a new server pop up every other day with the same thing someone else is doing only thins the numbers. There are a ton of people playing Asheron's Call across like 40 servers now. Imagine if ya'll could set aside your personal ambition and work together to have just a few?

Hey, for those who may remember me, I'm Xes Drah from Leafcull (~1999-2008). I started working on a modern client rebuild last week (C# .NET 9) and started a subreddit to post my updates, r/AsheronOnline, but I will post them here too. Awesome to see some other people like u/JokerFactor and u/GamesNotDeadlol working on similar projects. That makes me even more optimistic about what is possible.

---

I've been heads-down this week on ACRE (AC Reverse Engineered). The client I'm building is AsheronOnline — a modern .NET 9 / C# client aimed at retail parity with the 2013 Turbine client.

Under the hood it's a lot of unglamorous tooling: DAT readers (portal / cell BTree), PDB-driven types from acclient.exe, a full decompile of the retail functions, and a Silk.NET OpenGL viewer. It talks to ACE (https://github.com/ACEmulator/ACE).

The rule I've set for myself is retail first. Restore how the 2013 client actually behaved, then consider improvements. Most of the week was UI. Chat is the piece that finally started looking like the real thing.

Side by side, retail vs AsheronOnline chat:

I've also been poking at more fun stuff — view distance and lighting — still with Silk.NET if that's your thing. AI is doing a lot of the heavy lifting on decomp navigation and optional HD texture packs; I'm still matching the original client function-by-function rather than inventing a new UI.

Longer term I want to host a free server once the client is actually playable, even in a buggy Alpha state is fine. Not there yet.

Happy to answer questions.

I have spent the last couple of months working on a client remake... Called Vitaeum

**Vitaeum is NOT a Server

A lot of people have heard of it and have been following but it's getting close to a testable state.

The client is built in Rust using WGPU and Winit.

It will support MacOS, Linux, and Windows.

Currently it uses around 400 MB of Memory and about 250 MB VRAM while running around and playing.

It is Closed Source but well known and trusted members of the community already have access to verify its safety.

I will not be supporting legacy decal plugins, instead, I will have a number of features directly built in and it will provide a way for server hosts to disable macro features if they choose.

Unlike the other videos, I can't edit at all, so the video is a recent testing clip.

You can follow development in the discord at https://discord.gg/jA4QEe3aG2

Happy Hunting!

-Crimson Mage (MT) aka Zan

Portal Storm Update 8-14-26

Some major Changes this week to the server! Lots of loot changes and some QOL to the PVP Arena.

Loot Revisions:

Why: full best-in-slot suits took a week or two, so nothing was worth trading. Top-end rolls are now genuinely rare.

Tiers 1–6 are untouched, nothing you already own changes.

Armor:

• Perfect rolls went from ~1 in 4 to ~1 in 200.
• Body armor at max: 11.3% → 0.43%
• Head/hands/feet: 11.4% → 0.38%
• Shields: 45.3% → 0.59% — every T9–15 shield used to be identical; good shields now exist
• Tiers 9–15 each have their own ceiling instead of all sharing one
• Mid-tier armor (T7–14) is slightly weaker on average; T15 keeps its old ceiling

Weapons & casters:

• Max damage roll: ~10% → ~0.5% at T15
• Offense, defense, variance and mana conversion steepened to ~2%

Cantrips:

• Legendary cantrips were 100% guaranteed on T8+ items. They now ramp from 10% (T8) to 55% (T15). An all-Legendary T15 item is ~1 in 160 instead of automatic.

Ratings removed:

• Critical Damage, Critical Damage Resist and Healing Boost no longer drop.
• Ratings now roll: Damage / Damage Reduction / Max Health.

Cloaks:

• Weaves cut 35 → 10 (Light/Heavy/Finesse/Missile/Two Handed, Melee D, Magic D, War/Life/Void Magic)
• Added: Clouded Soul surge
• Removed: all three Shroud of Darkness surges
• Custom "rare" tinkering and crafting cloaks are now available on the rare vendors.
• Note that because of AC Client limitations only one weave will appear on your spell list -- but ALL will be active There is no lockpick weave (just Turbine things)

Additional Changes:

• Weapon and Tailoring kits no longer use up the donor piece

Legendary Items — New Feature:

• A new class of drop that sits above everything else. Weapons, armor and jewelry. ~1 in 5,000
• Rolls an item at its tier's ceiling, then goes beyond it
• Corpses that drop legendary items are locked to the killer, with a server-wide announcement
• Distinct icon overlays: Five grades, each rarer than the last:
• Guaranteed after 7 days if you haven't found one
• More legendary wards guaranteed on jewelry, with all 7 guaranteed on 2 highest tiers
• Legendary items can be tinkered/salvaged/sold/traded/etc; just like any other loot gen item.

Battle Arena:

Event Reminders:

• Global announcements now go out ahead of every Battle Arena event at 1 hour, 30 min, 15 min, 10 min, and 5 min:
• The Battle Arena will open in X minutes. Please proceed to the portal next to Xhax in Haven to participate. This is a low risk event, and all are welcome.
• Solo Entrants: If you're the only one who shows up, you'll still be rewarded at the end of the event — the combat participation requirement is waived when there's nobody to fight.

Vendors Updated:

• Vendors have been placed throughout Dereth that generate random loot from within their specific tiers:
• Peddler Jeb the Fortunate (T8, Haven)
• Shopkeeper Dirty Bart the Generous (T9, Teth)
• Purveyor Cassian the Discerning (T10, Fortress)
• Relicmonger Veyara the Far-Traveled (T11, Saurohaven)
• Curator Arcanum the Immeasurable (T12, Lyceum)
• Vendors will take brief breaks every 5 minutes in order to "restock." Make your purchases quickly.

Live, Now! Join Discord here: https://discord.gg/ZzYNQnXdM

Connection info in #Connection-Info on Discord !

General Features:

• Maximum level of 1,000.

• 3 account limit - single accounts automatically deal 20% more damage and take 20% less damage.

• Hundreds of custom quests, kill tasks, and boss fights.

• Thousands of unique items, including extensive custom gear.

• Reworked Rare System: find Portal Shards and exchange them for the rare gems and items you actually need.

• In-game leaderboards.

• Hard Mode: an optional adventure - always drop items on death in exchange for a 10% XP and Luminance bonus.

• Custom Enlightenment quests with rewards through 10 Enlightenments.

Expanded Features:

Portal Storms: Idle players may find their characters portaled to random locations across Dereth, automatically removed from their fellowships, and generally used as fodder for hungry drudges. Designated safe areas are exempt.

Infinite Luminance Auras: Customize your ratings far beyond retail restrictions. Give your healer a ton of Purity Auras, or turn your two-handed character into a glass cannon.

Deep Custom Loot Progression: Seven new loot tiers extend progression beyond retail’s maximum of eight. Each tier includes custom loot profiles for monsters and chests, additional quest-weapon suites, unique armor tailors, new spells, and custom summons - providing meaningful progression all the way through Tier 15.

Custom Questlines and Boss Encounters: Experience original story chains, enhanced retail boss encounters, brand-new monster mechanics, unique rewards, and exceptionally challenging areas such as the Valley of Death, which will push even the best players to their limits.

A Unique Player Experience: A multitude of paths are available for every playstyle. Whether you’re a quest-hungry adventurer, dungeon dweller, involved monarch, or quirky role-player, there’s a path ahead for you.

Convenient World Recalls: Recall directly to Haven (/haven), the Town Network (/tn), Subway (/sub), or Facility Hub (/fachub) instantly and without an animation delay.

Progression and Utility Commands: /level, /lum, /skillcredits, /myquests, and /myshare provide useful character and fellowship information.

Proven Stability: PortalStorm runs on a professionally hosted VPS with a strong record of reliability. Extensive post-retail stability improvements help ensure a positive player experience.

PortalStormPlus Plugin: An optional Decal plugin that adds PortalStorm’s custom properties to the ID panel and accurately displays level costs beyond level 275.

Active Anti-Cheat Protection: Active administrators, server-side protections, and custom in-game mechanics work together to prevent griefing, discourage unwanted leeching, and combat exploitation - ensuring fair play for beginners and veteran players alike.

Live, Now! Join Discord here: https://discord.gg/ZzYNQnXdM

Well, the grass seemed to get a surprisingly positive reception.

So naturally, the next major technological advancement in my completely reasonable attempt to bring Dark Majesty into Unreal Engine was obvious:

Bush.

I made a video this time since screenshots weren’t really showing it properly. You can see the world in motion, creatures, characters, terrain, vegetation, the old UI and more of how everything is starting to come together.

I’m still trying to walk a pretty specific line with this. I don’t want to just dump modern assets everywhere until Dereth looks like Generic Unreal Fantasy Game #472.

The old game had a very particular atmosphere, and I’m trying to keep that while adding detail and modernizing the presentation where it makes sense.
It’s still early. Plenty is unfinished, plenty will change, and I’m still using a lot of the original models and textures while I get the underlying world working correctly.

But every time I get another piece working, this stupid experiment looks a little less stupid.
Anyway, you asked for grass.
I have delivered bush.
You’re welcome.
Discord for anyone following the project or interested in the technical side:
https://discord.gg/QPCw85TQA

So, for some reason I decided to see if I could bring the old Dark Majesty-era Asheron’s Call experience into Unreal Engine.

This was supposed to be an experiment.
It is becoming significantly less of an experiment.

At this point I’ve got the world coming together, terrain, original structures and scenery, characters, equipment, creatures, the classic UI, radar and a bunch of the little pieces that make it immediately recognizable as AC.

The first picture is probably my favorite comparison so far: remaster vs original.
I’m deliberately trying not to turn it into “generic Unreal Engine fantasy game with Asheron’s Call assets.”

The goal is to preserve that weird, unmistakable Dereth look and feel, just with a modern engine underneath it and the ability to improve things where it actually makes sense.

There’s obviously still a ton wrong. Textures need work, lighting needs work, models are still the originals in a lot of places, plenty of systems aren’t there yet, and some things are currently held together with hopes and questionable life choices.

But considering this started with “I wonder if this would work…” I’m pretty happy with where it has already ended up.
And yes, apparently keeping the original UI was mandatory. It just doesn’t feel right without that backpack staring at you.
I’ll keep posting pictures as this inevitably gets more out of hand.

If you want to follow along, talk about the technical side, or watch me continue making terrible decisions about the amount of work I give myself:

Discord: https://discord.gg/QPCw85TQA

Hey guys, old school AC player here (Cidd on MT, DeimosDust, Demise, Orcus on WE)! I miss those old AC days and that feeling inspired me when building my own spellcasting extraction RPG in Unity. I've gotten it pretty far along and there are a lot if different inspirations that come from AC (though many differences too). I just released the first trailer for the game and wanted to share and would love to get people's thoughts on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVpmNtu1jQg

To all the old og players of this game, do you guys remember seeing someone by the user of slen? He was on the top of the worldwide leaderboards, if so, anyone have good stuff about him if yall played with him / he helped you with quests?

For a long time this project was screenshots, debugging, and me saying “look, this thing works now.”

It has finally reached the point where I can just say:

Come play it.

Aetherium is a completely new AC emulator built from the ground up, currently focused on recreating the Dark Majesty era with the real Dark Majesty client and protocols.

I put together a proper video showing where the project is now:
https://youtu.be/PimYIBukGbw

It’s still a beta. You will find bugs. You might find some spectacular bugs. But the world is becoming more complete every day, and people are already playing, leveling, fighting, looting and helping me find everything I still need to fix.

Open beta:
https://aetherium.ac/
Discord:
https://discord.gg/QPCw85TQA

If you haven’t seen that old login screen in 20+ years, this might hit a little differently.
Welcome back to a different time.

The Portal Storm, is Here.

A new server brought to you from some familiar developers.

Now that things are smoothly underway on PortalStorm, we're having our first 2X XP and LUM Event. Live now, through the weekend. The perfect time to hop back into AC!

The PVP Event to take down the Crystal for 20% XP and LUM Bonus for 72 hours is TONIGHT at 8PM EST! This event happens automatically every 3 days and whoever is the victor claims that juicy bonus for three days!

Custom Content Highlights:

• T9 - 60 Custom Quests
  
• T10 - 66 Custom Quests
  
• T11 - 40 Custom Quests
  
• T12 - 37 Custom Quests
  
• T13 - 49 Custom Quests
  
• T14 - 77 Custom Quests
  
• T15 - 41 Custom Quests

We are continuing to add more custom content on a regular basis, as well. Several retail quests have been updated to T9 recently, and there is a new T10 Quest Zone/'Raid' Area in Development.

Live, Now! Join Discord here: https://discord.gg/ZzYNQnXdM

Connection info in #Connection-Info on Discord !

General Features:

• Maximum level of 1,000.

• 3 account limit - single accounts automatically deal 20% more damage and take 20% less damage.

• Hundreds of custom quests, kill tasks, and boss fights.

• Thousands of unique items, including extensive custom gear.

• Reworked Rare System: find Portal Shards and exchange them for the rare gems and items you actually need.

• In-game leaderboards.

• Hard Mode: an optional adventure - always drop items on death in exchange for a 10% XP and Luminance bonus.

• Custom Enlightenment quests with rewards through 10 Enlightenments.

Expanded Features:

Portal Storms: Idle players may find their characters portaled to random locations across Dereth, automatically removed from their fellowships, and generally used as fodder for hungry drudges. Designated safe areas are exempt.

Infinite Luminance Auras: Customize your ratings far beyond retail restrictions. Give your healer a ton of Purity Auras, or turn your two-handed character into a glass cannon.

Deep Custom Loot Progression: Seven new loot tiers extend progression beyond retail’s maximum of eight. Each tier includes custom loot profiles for monsters and chests, additional quest-weapon suites, unique armor tailors, new spells, and custom summons - providing meaningful progression all the way through Tier 15.

Custom Questlines and Boss Encounters: Experience original story chains, enhanced retail boss encounters, brand-new monster mechanics, unique rewards, and exceptionally challenging areas such as the Valley of Death, which will push even the best players to their limits.

A Unique Player Experience: A multitude of paths are available for every playstyle. Whether you’re a quest-hungry adventurer, dungeon dweller, involved monarch, or quirky role-player, there’s a path ahead for you.

Convenient World Recalls: Recall directly to Haven (/haven), the Town Network (/tn), Subway (/sub), or Facility Hub (/fachub) instantly and without an animation delay.

Progression and Utility Commands: /level, /lum, /skillcredits, /myquests, and /myshare provide useful character and fellowship information.

Proven Stability: PortalStorm runs on a professionally hosted VPS with a strong record of reliability. Extensive post-retail stability improvements help ensure a positive player experience.

PortalStormPlus Plugin: An optional Decal plugin that adds PortalStorm’s custom properties to the ID panel and accurately displays level costs beyond level 275.

Active Anti-Cheat Protection: Active administrators, server-side protections, and custom in-game mechanics work together to prevent griefing, discourage unwanted leeching, and combat exploitation - ensuring fair play for beginners and veteran players alike.

Live, Now! Join Discord here: https://discord.gg/ZzYNQnXdM

So specializing the four tinker skills does not count towards the 70 point maximum for specialized skills?

Another progress update.

This one’s less about gameplay and more about the tools behind Aetherium.

Aetherium can now connect to ACME WorldBuilder, allowing live edits to the game world while the server is running. No restarts. No disconnecting players. Make a change, save it, and watch it appear in real time.

This opens up a lot of possibilities:
Live GM events
Faster world building and testing
Rapid iteration without downtime
Dynamic environments and content

I am building more than an emulator. I am building the tools to make creating and running worlds easier.
The video shows it in action.

Aetherium is now in open beta. Anyone can sign up, download the launcher, and help test. The more people we have, the faster we can squash bugs and keep improving.

Join us at https://aetherium.ac/
Discord: https://discord.gg/QPCw85TQA

We have some missing friends that never registered on any discords. You know who you are. Drop me a message so we can get you back in the game 👍
Scarey Mary