The midgame Smithing grind was the worst offender in the game, and this update tears it down. Metal bars no longer need logs as fuel. You smelt with ore, plus coal from steel on up, and nothing else. Forging tools, weapons, and armor no longer needs planks at all. If you want a chestplate, you need bars, full stop. No side trips through Woodcutting and Crafting just to start smithing. On top of that, smelting a bar is now a single action and grants far more experience, so it is finally worth doing on its own. Start to finish, the smelt and forge loop is several times faster than before.
Cooking, Crafting, and Woodcutting all had their experience rates raised to sit in line with the rest of the skills, so no single skill feels like a slog next to its neighbors. Cooking also burns less food while you are still learning a new fish, so more of your catch makes it to the plate.
Cooking no longer eats a matching log for every single fish. Instead you choose which log keeps your fire going, and a higher tier log burns far longer before it needs replacing. A single elder log now fuels dozens of cooks. Your woodpile goes much, much further, and a new readout on the skilling bar shows the log you are burning and how many cooks it has left.
Fletching arrows now starts with arrow shafts, carved from whatever logs you have on hand. A better log yields more shafts per cut. It is a cleaner supply chain, and it means arrows no longer demand one specific log tier. Pick your wood, cut your shafts, fletch your arrows.
The Astral rune joins the Runecraft altars at level 54, filling the long stretch between Nature and Death with its own animated altar. It powers Vengeance, a new passive that turns part of every blow you take back onto your attacker. Keeping a passive active now also trains your Magic as you fight, so the runes you spend in combat are never wasted.
Your companion is livelier than ever. Bigger celebrations burst out on level ups, rare drops, pets, and nest opens. Combat hits now land with their own impact effects, distinct for melee, ranged, and magic. Subtle ambient touches drift around you while you skill, themed to whatever you are doing. And an optional Session Pulse panel tracks your live experience per hour, your session total, and the time to your next level. Combat impacts, ambient effects, and Session Pulse can each be switched on or off in Settings.
If you have already put time into Smithing, Woodcutting, or Cooking, you are not left behind. The first time you load in, your stored experience in those skills is scaled up to match the new rates and your levels are recalculated to fit. Leaderboard scores are normalized the same way, so your standing carries over cleanly. You end up exactly where you would be if these rates had always been in place.
Crafting planks are now a standalone product, and enchanted cloth can be crafted into wizard robes.
Recipe descriptions rewritten to match the new requirements, in every supported language.
Behind-the-scenes balance, economy, and leaderboard tidying.
— Vosk