• Added more hairstyles for the human male.
  
• Added more one-handed blunt animations.
  
• You can no longer sell items that you currently have equipped.
  
• Updated and fixed several human and dwarf NPC models and added some more variety.
  
• Trade and friend requests are no longer allowed from players that are being ignored.
  
• Rogue poisons applied to weapons are no longer shown as buffs on the player.
  
• Environment screen effects now transition in/out more quickly.
  
• The Control key must now be held when right clicking to equip/unequip an item, and right clicking on an equipped item will now use/activate it, if the item supports that. Worn clickies ftw!
  
• Items that are untradeable or are quest items now show a sell confirmation dialog when the player tries to sell them.
  
• Reduced the height at which you start taking falling damage and increased fall damage a bit so that it's not as trivial as it was previously. You've been warned.
  
• Some improvements to first person camera mode, including the camera position moving when the player sits.
  
• The feet and legs of male and female humans should now visually adjust to the terrain they are walking/standing on. Other races will come later.

• The Smoldering Trenches and Ashbreather Enclave are now open for all players. These areas are designed for high-level adventuring beginning around level 35, and feature new NPCs, new items, and new quests to explore.

We are labeling this release “Part 1” because we intend to release “Part 2” in the coming weeks. Part 2 will include additional quest and Lore content, and a way to open the Imposing Stone Doors, for players keen enough to figure it out!

• A few crash fixes.
  
• Fixed rendering issues on some of the newer human male beards.
  
• Fixed an issue where quests that awarded stackable items were giving a full stack of the item instead of the correct amount.
  
• Unique schematics that are provided upon acceptance of a crafting work order should now show up properly at crafting stations and be usable to craft their intended items.
  
• The work order “Metal Brackets” now properly gives the schematic when it is accepted, instead of the finished item.
  
• The work order token purchase for the Kagaekin Jerkin is now correctly named when offered.
  
• The Soryn War Shield will now properly accept a novice shield brace in its construction.
  
• Fixed a potential client disconnect after deleting a character.
  
• Fixed an issue where poisoned weapons that weren't equipped still had a chance to do poison damage during combat.
  
• Numerous ability and buff fixes
  
• Summoned/temporary items can no longer be salvaged.
  
• Fix for NPCs getting stuck evading when in a place where they can't navigate.
  
• Fixed some places in Avendyr's Pass where NPCs were stuck in the evading state.
  
• Fixed a spot in the goblin caves where an NPC was stuck evading.
  
• Fixed an issue with equipping shields on the level 12+ necro pets.

• The craftspeople of Kingswatch have opened their shops and facilities to passing adventurers. Crafting stations and trainer NPCs may now be found throughout the village.
  
• Additional merchants have arrived in the village of Kingswatch and now offer their wares to those in need.
  
• Adventurers seeking to acquire new skills or traits may now find trainers for their class within the village of Kingswatch.
  
• Fiber harvesting nodes have been activated in the Ironroot Slopes region of Wild's End.
  
• Food harvesting nodes have been activated in the Ironroot Slopes region of Wild's End.
  
• Alchemy harvesting nodes have been activated in the Ironroot Slopes region of Wild's End.
  
• Treasure chests in the open world now require keys to be used to open them. These keys are rarely dropped by many humanoid or undead NPCs in the same level range as the chests they open. Tougher NPCs have a higher chance to drop keys, and rare or named NPCs have a very high chance to drop a key when defeated. Keys are consumed when used and are level restricted.
  
• Treasure chests in Halnir Cave, Mad Run, and Hanggore now require keys to be used to open them. These keys are dropped by NPCs and creatures within their respective areas. Rare or named NPCs have a higher chance to drop a key. These keys are specific to the dungeon where the chest is located, are consumed when used, and are level restricted.

• A hidden thread of adventure winds through the Ashbreather Enclave for those perceptive enough to find it.
  
• The Goblin Relic questline is now able to be completed. Adventurers who finish the quest will be rewarded with an Empowered version of the Ghaldlasii necklace.

• Vendor sell prices for many dropped weapons, accessories, and armor pieces have been adjusted and normalized based on the item's level and rarity.
  
• Vendor sell prices for crafted storage boxes have been adjusted.
  
• Bonewoven cloth armor may now only be equipped by monks.
  
• Several dropped armor pieces that were incorrectly using monk visual appearances have been switched to regular cloth armor visuals.
  
• Ghaldassi Ward Necklaces have had their stats adjusted based on the newer itemization goals. The boon will remain on the lesser version until next patch. After that, you'll need to finish the quest to restore the boon.

• Armored and Resistant trait mitigation bonuses reduced
  
• NPC Siphon Life abilities now trigger their cooldown timers when interrupted

• Fixed numerous issues regarding attributes and their impact on combat.
  
• Strength now adds extra damage to melee auto attacks.
  
• Dexterity now adds extra damage to ranged weapon auto attacks.
  
• Dodge, block, and parry are now capped at 1, and are just used to indicate whether you have the skill or not.
  
• The dodge and parry skill levels no longer increase dodge and parry percent.
  
• The attacker's hit percent now works to reduce the defender's chance to block, dodge, or parry an attack.
  
• Fixed a bug with CC immunity granted by stuns and knockdowns
  
• Silence and interrupts now provide an immunity buff similar to hard CC
  
• Most melee classes have gone through the attribute scaling adjustment process. Some caster classes are waiting on an upcoming mana and mana regen pass to begin a similar process along with additions to completing their ability kits through level 40. Expect some balance disparity until that process is complete.
  
• Agility, instead of constitution, is now factored into AC. Dexterity now factors into parry rating, and hit rating is now using constitution instead of dexterity.

• Expel, Dismiss, Revile, Banish, and Abolish Undead spells added to vendor
  
• Ward and Halt Undeath increased to 30m range
  
• Castigate line cast time reduced from 3s to 2.5s
  
• Ward Undeath line cast time reduced from 2.5s to 2s
  
• Writ line Readiness generation increased

• Technique damage now scales with Dexterity
  
• Haunted Slash base threat increased
  
• Lifetap base damage and INT scaling increased
  
• Lifetap line normalized to 200 Essence cost, INT scaling at highest ranks reduced slightly
  
• Lifetap healing from damage ratio increased to .8 > .85 > .9 > .95 per rank (up from 0.75, > 0.75, > .80, > .85)
  
• Corrupt Blood line changed from DD stat scaling to DoT scaling (reduction)
  
• Splatter now scales with DEX
  
• Doubled the amount of essence gain from taking hits and capped it to only happen at most once per second.

• Verdanfire direct damage line now scales with INT
  
• Bee Hive line damage increased significantly and scales with STA. Debuff unresistable. Mana cost increased.
  
• Call Lightning now scales with INT, modifier rule damage increased slightly.
  
• Hirode's Flame line now scales with WIS

• Reworked the damage of Flux and added additional upgrades to this line starting with Scintillating Flux at level 10.
  
• Added several race and creature illusion spells starting with Illusion: Human at level 8
  
• Added new spell line starting at level 10. "Lyrith's Animation - Animate magically resonant daggers to attack your enemy and keep its attention for 30 sec or until the animation is destroyed." *Note, this spell will eventually require a reagent.
  
• Added upgrades to the Ghaven's Wild Display spell line starting at level 12
  
• Added upgrades to Erudite Mind starting at level 25
  
• Added upgrades to Stab and Rend the Mind starting at level 26
  
• Added upgrades to Mind Vice starting at level 28
  
• Added additional rank of the Whisper line at level 30
  
• Added additional rank of mez at level 36
  
• Added Grand Shielding at level 40
  
• Made adjustments to the duration of mesmerize spells across the various ranks.
  
• Adjusted Illusion Graft haste line to increase both melee and spell-casting speed. These abilities are no longer limited to a single target. Added upgrades to this line starting at level 24.
  
• Adjusted Illusion Graft slow line to decrease both melee and spell-casting speed. These abilities are no longer limited to a single target. Added upgrades to this line starting at level 28.
  
• Reduced the amount of Mana drained via "Mez Tax"
  
• Whisper of Enshire tooltip updated to reflect 3 mana per tick

• Iron Palm, Concussive Strike, Flurry, Scorpion Kick, Sweep, Downward Thrust, Gusting Wind Pole, and Precision Hand Strike now scale with DEX
  
• State altering techniques had their attribute scaling increased
  
• Martial Slap, Wheel Kick, Elbow Attack, and Wandering Fist now scale with CON
  
• Chi Impact damage increased and now scales with WIS
  
• Resonating Strike, Soul Shuriken, and Chi Spear now scale with WIS
  
• Form Quickening line now scales with DEX, damage increased

• Sicken, Heat blood, and Life Leech lines initial debuffs cannot be resisted (each tick can still be resisted). Curse (snare) line can still be resisted on initial cast.
  
• Sicken line now scales with Stamina. Damage and mana costs adjusted
  
• Heat Blood line now scales with Dexterity. Damage and mana costs adjusted
  
• Curse line now scales with Charisma. Damage and mana costs adjusted
  
• Lifetap line now scales with Intellect. Damage and mana costs adjusted
  
• Wrack Bones line now scales with Charisma. Damage and mana costs adjusted
  
• Grave Pyre added to vendors
  
• Life Leech now scales with Intellect. Damage and mana cost increased, duration reduced to 60 seconds
  
• Life Leech II added to vendors
  
• Veil of Undeath line has a 60 minute duration, tick rate reduced to 3 seconds, mana regen increased
  
• Pet health and mitigation increased

• Technique damage now scales with Dexterity
  
• Condemning Blow base threat increased
  
• Wrathful Aegis scaling was changed from DD scaling formula to DoT formula (reduction) and now scales with Dexterity.
  
• Valiant Cross line damage reduced, threat increased
  
• Oathflame Wrath cost reduced to 300
  
• Oathflame line base healing increased, WIS scaling reduced slightly
  
• Burst of Light line healing reduced
  
• Smite line now scales all damage with CHA. Base damage reduced, base threat increased.
  
• Bright lance line now scales with STR, cooldown increased to 30 seconds.
  
• Doubled the amount of wrath gain from taking hits and capped it to only happen at most once per second.

• Added additional ranks of Swift Shot starting at level 10
  
• Changed the name of the Ranger healing line to Faerie Glow starting at level 6. Added additional rank of Faerie line at level 36
  
• Added additional upgrade to Aim to Kill line at level 36
  
• Most bow attacks now scale with DEX
  
• Most melee attacks now scale with STR
  
• Most mobility and beckon skills now scale with AGI
  
• Fractal Arrow line DD and DoT damage scales with AGI and properly use ranged weapon damage
  
• Stat scaling on most techniques increased

• Technique damage scaling changed to AGI.
  
• Stat scaling on all techniques increased, except for Hidden Swing.
  
• Corrosive Brew IV tooltip updated to 40%
  
• Explosive Trap damage increased and now scales with INT.
  
• Explosive Decoy, Toxic Elixir, Shadow Planning and Elixir of Opportunity reduced to 4 second cast times
  
• Shadowfall damage now scales with DEX.

• Fang line now scales with INT (old modifier was 0.1 of stats, switched to scaling up to 2.0x at highest rank). Mana cost increased, base damage increased.
  
• Strike of the Snake minimum damage increased, damage now scales with CON
  
• Sting of the Hornet minimum damage increased, mana cost increased, damage now scales with CON
  
• Sting of the Great Scorpion minimum damage increased, mana cost increased, damage now scales with CON
  
• Crown of Ashes minimum damage increased, damage now scales with CON
  
• Crown of Flames minimum damage increased, mana cost increased, damage now scales with CON
  
• Crown of Lava minimum damage increased, mana cost increased, damage now scales with CON
  
• Parched Throat maximum damage increased, damage now scales with STA
  
• Choking Thirst minimum and maximum damage increased, mana cost increased, damage now scales with STA
  
• Mark of the Fireclaw resist and Fire bonus reduced at each rank

• Pet health and mitigation increased

• Battle points are no longer gained when expending readiness.
  
• Technique damage now scales with Agility
  
• Mocking Blow base threat increased
  
• Kick, Cleave, Smash, Storm, and Close the Gap now scale with AGI
  
• Hammering Blow, Shield Throw, and Shield Slam now scale with CON
  
• Punish and Retaliate now scale with STR

• Additional gatherable plants have received updated visual effects, in preparation for eventually disabling the default visibility of nameplates on all gathering nodes to help reduce screen clutter. Please note that what you see may vary depending on your monitor and settings.

• Work order tokens are now stackable in inventory.

• The Jungle Naturalist's Bracers now require a Celestium Dust of Insight in their construction, instead of a Celestium Dust of Might, and provide the appropriate stat benefit.

• It is now possible to salvage most low-level dropped metal armor.

PAL

• Updated color palette for all vfx
  
• New vfx for group heal and Unleash abilities

WIZ

• New vfx for Ember Arrow
  
• Unified the color palette for shock-based spells
  
• Improvements to the elemental stances to address lag spikes with the shader
  
• Minor improvements to familiar vfx
  
• Shielding line split into visual progression tiers (this also applies to all classes that use this spell line)

by Chris ‘Joppa’ Perkins

I’ve always been intrigued by story-telling in video games, especially in MMOs. The MMO genre, with its perpetual nature, has amazing potential to create unique and open-ended narrative experiences. But with all the evolutions and improvements the MMORPG genre has enjoyed over the last few decades, when we sit down to play, do we feel more like adventurers, or less?

How do we get back to those roots? Is it possible to design a world, quests and characters that create the opportunity for players to make genuine discoveries? Where those discoveries have social impact, and you find yourself returning to this world because you long to explore? I truly believe this is possible, and we hope to achieve it through the Perception system.

The common trend in MMOs is to deliver story and quest content to players in a highly linear and directive way. This familiar format generally goes something like: travel to a new area, find the NPC hub where quests are dispensed and gather them all, follow your minimap to various quest objectives and do as many as possible in one run before returning back for the grand turn-in. Continue until you are directed to the next hub, rinse and repeat. This rhythm is often the best way to progress and gear up on your way to max level.

But this approach has changed us. Over the years, the grand worlds we inhabit as players have become less things to be explored and more of a curated conveyor belt of content. The world, narrative, and characters serve only as a quiet backdrop while our minimap hurries us along the progression line. And if the points of progression are already determined and revealed to us, what are we actually discovering? This is exactly what we’re endeavoring to change.

In Pantheon, your actions, conversations and curiosity matter. We won’t be handholding you. In fact, we are quite comfortable with players missing out on something because they didn’t bother to look hard enough. Didn’t consider talking to the cook’s assistant humbly working away near a stove in Demith? Maybe that’s one of the decisions that led to your friend being offered a quest to hunt the traitorous wind nomad in Silent Plains! Every chest you open, enemy you slay, conversation you have, dialogue you choose and location you visit may play a role in shaping your unique adventure through Terminus.

The upcoming Smoldering Trenches and Ashbreather Enclave will be an opportunity to experience the powerful Perception system at work.

So now, go forth and explore, Adventurers!

by Nephele

Have you ever had a moment in a game where you discovered something that you weren’t expecting? Maybe it was a secret area, or a tidbit of lore, or potentially even a hidden encounter, but if you’re like me, it probably caused you to spend hours and hours looking for more of those things, just to try and find what you might have been missing up until that point.

Over the years we have talked a lot about the Perception system in our game – and for good reason. There is a lot to it. Under the hood, Perception is a system of character flags, checks, and triggers that let us make things happen in response to what you’ve done or discovered in the game, or even what you have not done or discovered. However, what it lets us do is much more interesting.

• With perception, we can give you discoveries to find in the world – some easy, some hard. Hidden treasure, obscure quests, even secret encounters with powerful foes.
• With perception, we can allow things to happen in response to your presence and your actions. Perhaps you’re investigating a theft for the local merchant’s guild, and someone ambushes you to try and stop your efforts. Or maybe you’ve found an item in the world, and NPCs interact with you differently because you’ve found that item.
• Perception also allows us to bring the lore and secrets of the world to life so that you can explore them organically. What starts off as simply fighting the local bandits might cause you to stumble into clues about an ancient mystery or an insidious plot.

The best thing about the perception system is that it gives us room to help make each character’s journey through the game more unique to them. One of the problems that has plagued MMOs since their inception is the challenge of how you scale your content to thousands of players who are experiencing the world side-by-side. As gamers, we talk a lot about “firsts”, because once something is known, it often ends up fully described in a video walkthrough somewhere or on a website somewhere, and that sense of discovery can rapidly be lost as a result. Perception helps us swing that pendulum back to a place where one character’s journey might be significantly different from another’s, and that sense of discovery still exists for players who come into the game later.

As mentioned above, Perception in our game is ultimately powered by a system of character flags and triggers that allow us to set up decision flows within the game. Did you find that quest and did you finish it, or is it still running? Did you kill that NPC? Do you have that item? Did you loot the treasure box in the ruins, or did you miss it? Have you visited that area of the world? The system allows us to make decisions based on any of these parameters, either alone or in combination. It’s very powerful, but it also makes using it quite a bit more involved than setting up a simple quest.

For our upcoming Ashbreathers content release, much of the work we have been doing with Perception is expanding that system of flags and triggers to cover the different scenarios that we need to support. For example, we’ve added functionality that allows us to check the status of individual quest objectives, rather than just the overall quest itself. We’ve also added functionality that lets us detect whether specific NPCs are spawned in an area or not. These are just two examples – there are many more. Most of our Perception development time has gone into these types of things, so that we can use the system to start making the game more dynamic and responsive to our players.

What might be more interesting is how we’re using it.

The Ashbreathers Enclave and the Smoldering Trenches have some significant lore and backstory associated with them. These areas were directly impacted by the events of the past and are connected to things happening elsewhere in Terminus as well. Lore like this is much more fun when you discover it though, rather than having it told to you. To achieve that, many of our quests in the area, as well as some other things, use the Perception system.

Before anyone panics, I am not going to spoil these quests in this blog post. But suffice to say that as you adventure through the area, you may stumble across various discoveries that lead to something greater. Answers that lead to more questions, and places that you visited before that now have greater meaning, or that you may want to revisit.

For the process of creating these quests and events, most of the credit must go to Roenick and Istuulamae, who created the NPC dialogue and outlined the lore, secrets, and plots that are in motion in the area. With help from several others on the team, I then worked to place these into the game in a way that allows you to experience them, rather than simply follow them. That is not only reflected in quests that you might discover and unlock, but also in the names of things and places, in the visual models that they use, in the flavor text you see on items, and of course in the events that may occur as you adventure through the area.

When the area first arrives on June 11, you will be able to experience this content for yourself. I personally can’t wait to see you all talking about the discoveries you make in the area. While there will be a fair amount of content available for you on the 11th, more is coming, and we plan to do an update in a few weeks that brings you the final, epic conclusion of one of the main storylines, as well as additional quests and events in the area.

Ultimately, we want this place to feel like a very rich experience where it might take you many trips to fully uncover all its mysteries. And as we move forward into other areas of content big or small, we’ll be taking these new tools and leveraging them there as well.

Once mere whispers from Kingsreach's shadowed mountains, the Ashbreathers were spoken of as pale devotees of a dead dragon. After a terrible conflict shattered their mountain tomb, they were unleashed like ravenous beasts, consuming the ashes left by war... an act that awoke a terrible, primal power. Over centuries, these ashen terrors have evolved from a feral horde into an unnervingly ordered host, their society stratified by the ash they inhale.

Please visit the Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen website[www.pantheonmmo.com] to view preview screenshots of this new high-level content.

On June 11th[www.pantheonmmo.com], head to Silent Plains and discover the Smoldering Trenches and the nearby Ashbreather Enclave to learn about this civilization, its history, inhabitants, and its dark secrets.

June will be an exciting month for Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen as we update with new content. Higher-level players and groups, this is what you have been waiting for! Keep reading to find out what the team is up to.

You may find the roadmap here[www.pantheonmmo.com]. Bookmark that page and check back for more updates as the Pantheon team continues work on the world of Terminus.


Smoldering Trench & Ashbreather Enclave (Release Date: June 11, 2025)

• Two new very large playable areas in Silent Plains including both indoor and outdoor areas.
• Designed for levels 35-45
• Roughly a dozen named and epic encounters, including a main boss. Access to the final encounter is coming later in the phase.
• New Quests
• New perception triggers and storylines, linking perception triggers to some quests.
• New equipment and items, including distinct rare and epic items.

• Final Ashbreather’s boss will be unlocked later in this phase.
• More quests and perception triggers will be added to Trench & Enclave, as well as existing and upcoming areas.
• Ashbreather crafting items will be made available later in this phase.
• Level 30 gathering and crafting will start to come in during this phase.
• Updated crafting station models will be added to crafting areas during this phase.
• Iconic abilities will continue to be added, including animations.
• Ongoing updates to combat mechanics and class abilities up to level 40.

• Black Rose Keep terrain: 70% complete, set dressing progressing
• Mounts and Taming:
• --Mounts are working
• --Taming systems are being engineered
• Badia de Cara lore complete.

Hi everyone,

Recently, we opened applications for a new testing program to help us ensure that we are catching more bugs and generally reaching a higher level of quality with our updates and the new content that we are adding to Pantheon. We are now in the process of kicking off that program and welcoming our first groups of testers. In the interest of transparency, we are pleased to share more information about how this testing program works, as well as our overall plan for future testing.

There are some big changes that could affect you even if you didn’t apply to be a tester, so read on!


To make sure that a game as complex as Pantheon works well for all our players on our regular servers, there are two different types of testing that we need to be able to do. We call these focus testing, and organic testing.

Focus Testing could entail evaluating individual changes to combat mechanics or class abilities, mechanical testing of a new gameplay system to make sure it works properly, or limited testing of new content to help us do initial tuning prior to a broader release. During focus testing, our Focus Testers are asked to do specific things, often over and over, and VR staff are in attendance to gather data and reproduce bugs in real time so that we can make fixes and adjustments immediately. Focus Testers are chosen through an application process. To facilitate focus testing, we have updated and renamed our Advanced Tester Program as the Focus Tester Program.

Organic Testing is when we open up a set of changes to a larger group of testers who play the game normally. We will monitor the effect of those changes over a period of several weeks to confirm all is working well before we push the changes out to everyone. This type of testing includes balance changes to experience and level pacing, economic changes, or really anything that might benefit from passively watching how players interact with it across the breadth of the entire game. This will take place on a Public Preview Server. Anyone with a Pantheon account in good standing can join a Public Preview Server. We encourage feedback on your experiences on Public Preview Servers.


What to know about the public preview servers:

• The server will not always be open. When it is open, it will typically only be available for weeks at a time.
• Each time we open the preview server it will be a fresh server, and you’ll have to create a new character to play on it.
• Depending on the changes we are testing, we may place NPCs that allow you to boost your level or obtain gear to get started quickly. However, this is not guaranteed.
• The preview server may receive additional updates during the testing period, if needed.

The goal of the preview server is to allow us to gather data on how a change is working out before we push it out to all of the normal servers. This helps keep our normal servers more stable and allows us to try to make sure that the impact of changes is more fully understood before we push them out everywhere.


As mentioned, we have updated our focus testing program:

We’re making these changes for a few reasons:

Preventing Tester Burnout and Maintaining Coverage: We experienced a high burnout rate in our old program and sometimes ran into situations where we didn’t have enough testers available to form full testing groups. In our new program, we are planning to operate a larger pool of testers overall. We hope that this will put less pressure on individual testers and will in turn reduce the burnout that they experience over time.

Better coordination: Our old format utilized general group playtests that sometimes did not have specific objectives. While organic play and feedback will remain an important part of testing, our game has also grown to the point where we need to start asking our testers to focus on specific aspects that really need to be thoroughly tested. This allows our team to gather focused bug reports and feedback quickly whether we are looking at a gameplay mechanic or system, or a new or updated content area.

Things that have not changed: Our test server uses a separate database from our production game servers. This means:

• Testers will not be able to log into Production Servers with Test Accounts or vice versa
• Testers are not able to transfer items between Production Server accounts and Test Accounts

In our last round of applications, more than 1,000 players applied to join the Focus Testing Program. To help get testing up and running for our upcoming high-level content, the first group of testers were blindly selected from this pool based on data relevant to our initial testing needs.

Here’s how our selection process will work for additional groups of testers moving forward:

1. We remove any invalid applications. These can be applications that have missing information, along with duplicates from the same person applying more than once.
2. We remove any applications where the player’s account has had a warning or suspension against it recently.
3. We remove any applications where the player has not logged in to the game within the last 90 days.
4. Once all three of the above steps are complete, we sort the applications by time zone, and we select testers based on trying to maintain coverage so that there are always multiple testers available to support scheduled focus tests.

As we start to fill out our overall tester pool, we will select randomly from the applications that make it through the filtering process above.

For any number of reasons, Advanced Testers may be retired or cycled out of the program, at which point we will select new testers from the pool based on the above parameters.


Our testers are interacting with extremely unfinished systems and content that may be changed multiple times before they are publicly released. What our testers experience during focus tests is usually the earliest possible version of what eventually makes it out to the wider game.

To be part of the program, our testers sign a non-disclosure agreement and pledge not to share any details of their testing activities publicly. There are two reasons for this: First, this is meant to help prevent confusion among our larger community about what is coming to the game. Secondly, this helps protect our testers from any potential online harassment that might occur if their status was publicly known. As part of this, we also require our testers not to use the same character names as their main play characters, and to not share that information (including their guild affiliation) with other testers.

It's important to stress that this NDA applies to anyone – family, friends, guildmates. If a tester violates the NDA, they will be removed from the program, and further action may be taken if necessary.

• In addition to following the NDA, to continue participation in the Focus Testing Program, we request: Participate in at least two feedback discussions each month.
• Inactive testers will be removed from the program.

Finally, we ask our testers to adhere to a strict code of conduct when interacting with each other and with VR staff. It is extremely important that everyone is treated with respect, both in-game and in feedback discussions.

• Failure to meet any of these requirements, or violation of the NDA, will result in the immediate removal of testing privileges and potentially being banned from the game.

Thank you to all the Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen players who have stepped up to participate in Advanced Testing!

- Nephele, and the Testing Team

Hey everyone,

This update’s a bit of a personal one for me. The Ashbreathers have been a faction I’ve wanted to help bring to life for quite some time, and it’s been one of the more rewarding creative processes I’ve contributed to as part of this project. These beings, rumored to have emerged from the very cracks of the Roan mountains, have a depth that’s been fascinating to explore.

The initial idea for the trench area actually came after a trip to Ypres, Belgium. The city is marked by haunting World War I battlefields and trench systems. My visit left a strong impression and fit perfectly with the scorched, scarred, and solemn tone that JN’s Ashbreather lore established: beings whose very essence is tied to ash and cinder.

A few years back, I was shown some early story concepts for the faction – hinting at their transformation from something primal to their current, eerily organized state – and it was clear there was something special here; something worth building on through atmosphere, gameplay, and world detail.

Working closely with the team, I’ve been involved in a number of areas to help shape this part of the game:

Visual World-Building

I’ve spent a lot of time concepting the props you’ll see throughout the Ashbreather trench and enclave. From charred altars that whisper of ancient, almost desperate rituals, to ash-filled urns suggesting a complex reverence for what, or who, has been consumed, each asset is designed to tell a story, not just fill a space. I usually create the initial concept, and then work closely with Rob to bring it to life. Rob deserves a special shoutout here. He’s been incredibly helpful in taking our designs to completion. I can’t say enough about how valuable his contributions have been to this process.

Beyond the props themselves, I’ve been collaborating with the World Building team to figure out how these assets are placed and what role they play in the environment. We’re hinting at a society where even the quality of ash one is permitted to be near dictates their place in the world. I’ll often sketch rough draw-overs of rooms and send them to our world building team, or hop into meetings to discuss shared ideas and what players might discover as they move through these spaces, perhaps even glimpsing the strange order that has arisen from the collective Ashbreather fervor.

Narrative and Encounter Design

I’ve also had a hand in helping define the themes, NPCs, and boss encounters you’ll find here. From naming conventions that echo their unique beliefs to placement and behavior, the goal has always been to keep everything cohesive. We want to make sure every character, every prop, every corner of the zone feels like it belongs to the same fanatical culture, one that has clawed its way from a primal, ravenous state to a new, unsettling order under an unseen influence.

Weapons, Armor, and Reward Identity

Another part I’ve really enjoyed has been helping shape the loot and gear visuals for the Ashbreather content. The weapons and armor found here aren’t just functional; they feel ritualistic, scorched, and ceremonial, almost as if imbued with the very essence that sustains these enigmatic beings. Some pieces might even bear marks reminiscent of an unceasing, burning brand. They truly reflect the culture they come from.

Bringing it All Together

A lot of this work has involved coordinating the tone and overall feel of the area, from prop placement to boss theming to environmental storytelling. Our goal throughout has been to make it feel like you’re stepping into a forgotten, obsessive culture, one that exists in a state of fervent devotion, perhaps even a waking “dreamare” shaped by a power beyond their full understanding.

The result is a space that doesn’t just tell a story; it invites players to uncover it. This has been a deeply fulfilling part of the project, and I’m excited for players to step into the ash and see what we’ve built.

– Convo, Pantheon Game Designer.

(Note to community, itemization changes will be making their way into the game, starting with the next patch. The process will be ongoing.)


Greetings from your friendly neighborhood Artificer.

This message is to inform everyone of the plans for itemization. Recently, I have taken on the role of managing, solidifying and refining how we approach it as a whole. The upcoming content should showcase this, and we highly encourage feedback on it that keeps the following points in mind. Older itemization will be addressed in following updates.

To set the stage, it must be stated that we are itemizing this content in the game with 1.0 and beyond in mind. We want to avoid making and distributing items in the game in a way that does not move towards that goal, just to address issues in the now that would be solved organically as development continues.

1. Item distribution in Pantheon. Items not only provide your character power and progression, they are also an essential part of the game for driving player traffic through the world, helping it feel alive, and encouraging a more interesting/healthier player experience and bigger adventure. Many of you have noted that the amount of items available for a specific class/archetype in a level range feel rather thin, and this is intentional with our distribution model. As more content comes online that has a similar level range, this aspect of our itemization vision should feel much better.

2. Keeping stat inflation down, but making equipment acquisition feel satisfying. For launch, we wanted to keep our stats on the smaller side, so they don't go crazy soon after when more content comes online, however, Pantheon characters have a lot of gear slots! To avoid either watering them down per-piece, or inflating them overall, we're going to consolidate *most* stat bonuses to armor slots. This means accessory slots (which include waist and back as well for this purpose) are going to be offering ratings, resists, and non-stat bonuses (some of which have yet to be seen in game) to characters primarily, and will be less focused on stats.

3. Stat variety on items and "soft specs". With class abilities finally changing to utilize a wider array of stats per-class, we need to offer more gear that has a wider variety of stat bonuses. Those changes also give us a great avenue for horizontal progression, collecting layouts of gear that focus on different stats for a class to accentuate different abilities and playstyles. The total number of stats on items will be rising in general, but will also be more spread out. Like our item distribution, this will start to feel better as more content becomes available to hunt for items with different stat focuses in.

4. Making resists matter more. The itemization side of this involves increasing their availability, so that content can be created with more of an emphasis on utilizing them. Part of the planned system for resists, and utilizing them as a minor route of horizontal progression, is to use a bonus/penalty system. For example, a lower level or quality item might offer some fire resistance, but have a higher penalty to nature resistance. A higher level or quality item might offer slightly more fire resistance, but much less of a penalty to nature resistance, a different resistance, or perhaps none at all in the case of the best ones. The goal here is to offer resistances in amounts that matter, without inflating them too much, so rather than the amount of resistance always rising with an upgrade, one way the item can be an improvement is to have less of a penalty, or a different one that the player feels is less detrimental.

Solidifying and adhering to the above, is a large piece of the puzzle as the team works towards the unified vision of the game.

- Codeman, QA/Designer.

Esteemed Pantheon Community,

Imagine a fellowship in Terminus, standing at the edge of a crumbling ruin. A Warrior’s shield locks with another, forming an unbreakable wall against a charging horde. A Druid summons vines to bridge a chasm, while a Rogue’s nimble fingers unlock a hidden vault. In the chaos, a Cleric’s radiant shield holds the line, and a Monk’s daring sacrifice turns defeat into victory. This is Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen—a world where every class shines with a unique identity, and interdependence weaves adventurers into a tapestry of shared triumph. Today, we’re thrilled to unveil a suite of new iconic abilities, each crafted to deepen your role and play style.

Iconic Abilities: Defining Your Role in Terminus

These abilities are the heartbeat of Pantheon’s classes, designed to make each role feel essential and vibrant. They’re not just tools—they’re the essence of your character’s story, ensuring no class feels redundant and every group thrives on cooperation.

Here’s a look at some of these iconic abilities (not a complete list):

• Celestial Aegis: A towering ethereal shield rises at the Cleric’s command, halting enemies and deflecting deadly projectiles. It stands as a divine bulwark, protecting allies and turning the tide when hope falters.
• Coalescence: With a sacred bond, the Cleric aligns their vitality with a wounded ally, raising that ally's health to match their own.

• Call of the Dire: The Dire Lord’s chilling command compels an enemy to abandon all resistance, walking helplessly toward their doom.

• Conjure Storm: The Druid calls forth a tempest, darkening the skies with thunder and rain. This localized storm unsettles foes and empowers allies, marking the Druid as nature’s herald.
• Vinewoven Bridge: Vines twist and grow at the Druid’s will, forming a sturdy bridge across impassable gaps. It’s a lifeline for the group, opening paths where none existed.

• Squee’s Mimicry: With a flicker of illusion, the Enchanter transforms into a nearby object—a barrel, a crate—blending seamlessly into the environment. It’s a playful trick that opens stealthy opportunities.
• Charm and Dire Charm: The Enchanter bends an enemy’s mind, turning foe into ally. Whether a temporary pet or a permanent thrall, this power makes the Enchanter a puppeteer of battle.

• Monk Gates: The Monk opens mystical gates within, unlocking buffs and abilities that shift their combat prowess. Each gate is a step toward mastery, adapting to the fight’s demands.
• Chi Burn: In a blaze of sacrifice, the Monk unleashes Chi Burn, surging with unmatched offensive might at the cost of their own vitality. It’s a daring gamble that can save or doom the group.

• Sense Undead: The Paladin’s senses sharpen, revealing undead with glowing clarity and guiding them to their quarry. It’s a holy calling that marks their crusade against the unholy.
• Lightful Avenger: Consuming corruption from undead foes, the Paladin transforms into a radiant avenger, their strikes blazing with divine wrath. It’s a beacon of justice in the darkest fights.

• Kaylen’s Command: With a commanding call, the Ranger sways a wild beast to become a temporary ally.

• Length of Rope: The Rogue unfurls a rope, letting allies climb treacherous heights. It’s a practical yet vital skill, opening paths only a Rogue’s cunning can provide.
• Lockpicking: With deft hands and a lockpick, the Rogue unravels the secrets of locked doors and chests, revealing treasures and shortcuts for the group.
• Pick Pocketing: In stealth, the Rogue’s fingers dance, pilfering coin or trinkets from unsuspecting foes. It’s a risky art, indeed.

• Veil Walking: Sacrificing their spirit pet, the Shaman gains a fleeting afterlife. Upon death, they roam as a spectral wolf, healing allies and dragging their own corpse to safety.
• Shrink: With a mystic chant, the Shaman shrinks a companion, easing navigation through tight spaces or adding whimsy to the journey.

• Shield Wall: The Warrior channels unyielding resolve, linking shields with another to form a fortified barrier. It taunts foes and halves damage, a defiant stand for the group’s survival.
• Battering Ram: With a mighty charge, the Warrior shatters weakened barriers, clearing paths through ruins or fortifications—a brute force solution only they can deliver.

• Dragonfire Bomb: The Wizard hurls a slow, fiery orb that scorches enemies in its path before erupting in a blazing explosion.

A Fellowship Forged in Terminus

These iconic abilities are at the core of Pantheon’s vision. They are part of ensuring that every class—from the Cleric’s radiant shields to the Rogue’s sly thievery—has a distinct role, making groups more than the sum of their parts. The Druid’s Vinewoven Bridge gets you across a chasm, but the Warrior’s Shield Wall keeps you alive on the other side. The Enchanter’s Charm turns enemies into allies, while the Paladin’s Lightful Avenger purges the undead. Together, they create a world where interdependence isn’t just mechanics—it’s the magic of adventure.

As we introduce more of these iconic abilities over the coming weeks and months, we invite you to hop in game to see them in action and share your feedback.

Thank you for believing in a game where every class matters, and every adventure is shared. Onward and upward—see you in Terminus!

Warm regards,
Chris “Joppa” Perkins
Creative Director, Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen