Soulrend Modpack Guide: How to Start

What is Soulrend?

Soulrend - Dark Fantasy RPG Soulslike is a modpack that adds soulslike combat, race and class selection, a skill tree, schools of magic and dozens of bosses to Minecraft. The pack is made of 417 mod files (jars), but you do not need to learn them one by one: a quest book runs the progression and walks you to the next goal step by step.

Six systems set the pack apart from regular Minecraft. Each has its own page in the series; here is just what to expect:

• Combat: Epic Fight (the animated, stamina-based combat mod). You get Lock On, Roll, Step, Guard and parrying; 33 bosses can only lose a limited share of their health per second. Details: Combat and equipment.
• Character: on first login you choose from 19 races and 26 classes; some races can only take certain classes. Details: Races and classes.
• Levels: filled by the damage you deal to mobs, not by XP. Each level gives 1 skill point; attribute points stop after level 180.
• Mob levels: a newly spawned mob takes the Soulrend level of the nearest player, averaged with players within 60 blocks; in other words, the world grows stronger with you. Fixed-level bosses are the exception.
• Magic: 12 schools through Iron's Spells 'n Spellbooks and its add-ons. The pack has toned spells down (power ×0.58 on 64 spells). Details: Magic.
• Equipment: Apotheosis affixes and gems. The normal recipes of 757 items were removed and replaced with 857 upgrade recipes; upgrading keeps gems, enchantments and affixes.

Bosses are the backbone of the pack: the boss catalog lists 65 entries in Act order. Health values are deliberately left out there, because they could not be calculated exactly from the files.

Roadmap: from Prologue to Act V

The quest book's main line is called The Exalted Path. The order is fixed: the Prologue, then five Acts. Each Act ends with a transition quest whose reward is a button to the next Act. The quest itself is the lock, not the button: the next Act's first quest depends on it, and since the book is linear you cannot skip an Act. Act and quest names are plain English text in the quest book, and this guide uses them exactly as written.

What each stop asks for and which page covers it:

1. Prologue (17 quests): teaches the interface and the core mechanics; no bosses. → Prologue and Act I
2. Act I - Awakening (15 quests): you build a base and gather your first gear. Act II requires killing 3 zombies. → Prologue and Act I
3. Rise of the Champion (side chapter, 46 quests): opens from the Forging Your Path quest in Act I and covers four armor paths. → Prologue and Act I
4. Act II - First Steps (85 quests, the largest Act): the goal is Seal of the Underworld (the reusable seal that opens the way to the Nether). → Act II: Nether seal
5. Act III - Into The Flames (72 quests): Nether structures, the Wither, eight Cataclysm bosses (the Eight Sins) and the eyes for the End portal. → Act III: End portal
6. Act III-b - Deeper and Darker (11 quests, optional): a side line that opens from the Otherside quest in Act II. It unlocks nothing at the end. → Act III: End portal
7. Act IV - Beyond Reality (13 quests): the Ender Dragon, then the End Highlands biome. → Acts IV–V: Final bosses
8. Act V - Duties (11 quests): you descend into the Past with the Emblem of the Past and defeat the two final bosses. → Acts IV–V: Final bosses

The reference pages are not tied to the order; open them when you need them: Races and classes · Combat and equipment · Magic · Boss catalog.

Your choices on first entry

When you first enter the world, the pack's own selection screen opens. The choice goes in order: first I RACE, then II CLASS; some races add a third step.

1. Race (I RACE) 19 races are available. Each has strengths and weaknesses; Human, for example, gives neither a bonus nor a penalty. A summary of every race: Races and classes.
2. Class (II CLASS) 25 classes sit in five tabs: Melee, Ranged, Fusion, Mage and Other. The pack's 26th class, Wildheart, is not in the tabs; it is open only to the Feral Beast race. Your class decides your starting kit; kit weapons and books are soulbound (for the few exceptions see Races and classes).
3. Path (III PATH) A third step only appears for races with an extra layer. The pack has a single case: the High Elf picks an Arcanist, Pyromancer or Cryomancer sub-path. Whether this step shows up as PATH on the selector has not been tested Unverified.

You can change your choice once later: the Origin and Class quest in the Prologue gives you an Orb of Origin (the orb that lets you re-pick race and class). The quest text says it plainly: it can only be used once. When you pick a new class with the orb, you also receive that class's starting kit.

Keybind card

Combat runs on Epic Fight, and the Prologue's Epic Combat quest teaches the first keys. The table below collects the default keys. Rows marked "quest book" come from the pack's quest text; rows marked "keybind file" come from the pack's default keybind settings.

How does the quest book work?

In Soulrend, the quest book decides what you do and when. If you know its three rules from the start, most "why won't this quest complete?" questions answer themselves.

The third rule is inferred from the files: it was found by reading the quest mod's code.

One more thing: the quest text is a design note, not a mechanic. When the text and the pack's config files disagree, the config wins. You will find these differences on the series' progression pages in "The quest book says / In practice" warning boxes: for example, Prologue and Act I corrects the backpack, Act II: Nether seal the Warden's drop chance and the seal recipe, and Act III: End portal the Act IV lock.

Know before you start: 10 traps

These are ten points from the pack's files that can cost you time. Each one is covered in detail on the linked page.

1. Levels fill with damage. XP does not raise your level; the damage you deal to mobs does. Damage is credited per hit to whoever dealt it, and it does not matter who lands the kill. Hitting a target dummy, PvP, overkill damage on the killing blow and a trident thrown from more than 3 blocks away do not count. Pet and summon damage is not credited to you either (inferred from the game files). → Prologue and Act I
2. The Orb of Origin works once. You can change race and class only once. Faded only gets mage classes, Feral Beast only gets Wildheart. → Races and classes
3. You start without dodge or guard. These skills come from the 4 skill books in the Prologue. The books are Parry, Guard, Soul-like Dodge and Step. → Prologue and Act I
4. Only plain zombies count for Act II. Act I's lock is killing 3 minecraft:zombie. Husks and drowned look like zombies but do not count. → Prologue and Act I
5. The seal needs 4 essences, spiders are useless. The Seal of the Underworld recipe needs 4 Bottled Nether Essence; the quest book does not say so. Essence only fills from nine undead types; the quest text mentions spiders, but spiders do not count. → Act II: Nether seal
6. All four shards share one name. All four pieces are called Mysterious Shard in game; you tell them apart by the quest subtitle (Top-Left, Top-Right…). The Top-Right piece is not in Frostmaw's loot; it is the reward of the Frostmaw quest. → Act II: Nether seal
7. The End portal needs 12 different eyes. The Act IV lock asks for 5 of the 16 eye quests, but you must place 12 different eyes in the portal's 12 frames. The same eye cannot go in twice, an Eye of Ender cannot go in at all, and a placed eye cannot be removed. → Act III: End portal
8. The amount is in the task, not the icon. The amount an item task wants is its count field; 1 string is enough for the first backpack. This is inferred from the files. → Prologue and Act I
9. Dying to a boss can heal it. If a Cataclysm or Soulslike Weaponry boss kills you directly, its health is set to half its maximum; difficulty and death count do not matter. Below half, that is a heal; the code also pulls health above half down to half (not observed in game). Also, 33 bosses have a damage budget; a Cataclysm fight lasts at least 20 seconds. → Boss Ultimatum
10. No Mending, no Unbreaking. These two enchantments are disabled, along with others for a total of 29. You upgrade gear through the new recipes; upgrading keeps affixes, gems and enchantments. Removing gems (Sigil of Withdrawal) keeps the item, but each gem has its own 50% chance to be destroyed; the rest return to your inventory. → Combat and equipment

Progress checklist

The list below is the shared checklist for the whole series: the locks and main steps of each Act. Tick what you have done; the marks are stored in this browser only and nothing is sent to a server. The lists on the other pages of the series use the same record, so a step you tick on one page shows as ticked on the others.

Mini glossary

Terms used throughout the guide, written as they appear in the game.

Progression

• The Exalted Path: the quest book's main-line group; the Prologue and the five Acts live here.
• Act: a part of the main line. It ends with a transition quest that the next Act's first quest depends on.
• Rise of the Champion: a side chapter opened from Act I that covers the armor paths.
• Seal of the Underworld: the seal that opens the way to the Nether. It is not consumed; for who in a team should use it, see Act II: Nether seal.
• Mysterious Shard: each of the seal's four pieces; all four share the same name.
• Bottled Nether Essence: a bottle you fill by killing undead; the seal needs 4.
• Nether Crystal: the crystal at the center of the seal. Picking one up unlocks 21 skill nodes.
• Eight Sins: the eight Cataclysm bosses of Act III, each in its own dimension.
• Legendary Eye: the eyes that go into the End portal frames; there are 16 kinds and you need 12.
• Heart of the Deep: the item that opens the optional Otherside portal.
• Emblem of the Past: the emblem that takes you down into the Past dimension in Act V.

Character

• Orb of Origin: lets you re-pick race and class once.
• Attribute point: goes into one of six stats (Constitution, Strength, Agility, Intelligence, Luckiness, Focus); at most 30 per stat.
• Passive Skill Tree: the passive skill tree opened with [O]; 985 nodes made for this pack.
• Amnesia Scroll: resets the skill tree with no penalty.
• Wisdom Scroll: gives +1 skill point; every Sin boss rewards one. The Bottom-Left and Bottom-Right shard quests in Act II also give one each.

Combat

• Combat Mode: Epic Fight's combat mode; the quest book says [R] switches to it, but the key is unbound by default (Keybind card).
• Guard and Parrying: defensive skills.
• Stamina: Epic Fight's endurance value; per the pack files, a Roll costs 4 and a Step 3.
• Estus Flask: restores 25% of your max health; the Huge Estus Flask 75%.
• Damage budget: the share of health a boss can lose per second (details).
• Boss Ultimatum: a boss that kills you directly has its health set to half its maximum (details).

Equipment and world

• Affix: a random extra property on gear; its rarity depends on the dimension.
• Gem: a stone that goes into a gear socket.
• Reforging: the chain of tables from Simple Reforging to Esoteric Reforging; each table reaches a higher rarity.
• Warp Stone: teleports you to a Waystone you have discovered; 5-minute cooldown.
• Past: the Act V dimension; it is permanently stormy, and the quest text introduces it as "your greatest challenge".

About this guide

You will see the source of each fact in three forms. Anything written plainly was seen in the pack's files. Items marked "inferred from the game files" were reasoned out from the files. Items marked "according to the wiki" come from the pack's wiki and were not confirmed in the files. Facts that affect your decisions but could not be verified carry the Unverified badge. Nothing is written from memory.

If something is different in your game, let us know through the contact page; we will correct it and update it with its source.

Frequently asked questions

Which Minecraft version does Soulrend run on?

Version v8.5.2, which this guide covers, runs on Minecraft 1.20.1 with Forge 47.4.26. The pack contains 417 mod files (jars).

Why is my level not going up in Soulrend?

Your level fills with the damage you deal to mobs, not with XP; damage is credited per hit to whoever dealt it. Damage to a target dummy, PvP and overkill do not count, and pet and summon damage is not credited to you either (inferred from the game files). Each threshold is larger than the last: the first level takes 50 damage, while going from 199 to 200 alone takes 50,000,000. Every level gives 1 skill point; attribute points stop after level 180.

Can I change my race or class later?

Yes, but only once. The Origin and Class quest in the Prologue gives you an Orb of Origin, and the orb is single-use. Faded can only pick mage classes, and Feral Beast can only pick Wildheart.

How do you open the Nether in Soulrend?

In Act II you craft and use the Seal of the Underworld. The recipe needs four Mysterious Shards, four Bottled Nether Essence and one Nether Crystal. The seal is not consumed when used. Step by step: Act II: Nether seal.

How many eyes does the End portal need?

You need 12 different Legendary Eyes for the portal's 12 frames. The pack has 16 kinds of eye; an Eye of Ender cannot be placed, and a placed eye cannot be removed. The Act IV quest asks for 5 eye quests, but that is not enough for the portal.

Why won't a quest complete?

There are three likely reasons: the quest it depends on is not done yet (the book is linear), the amount needed differs from the one on the icon (the amount is written in the task), or you are killing the wrong target; for example, husks and drowned do not count for Act I's zombie quest.

Is Act III-b required?

No. Deeper and Darker is optional and unlocks nothing when you finish it. The quest book says so too: "This act is optional".

This guide is unofficial and is not affiliated with the makers of the Soulrend v8.5.2 pack. The content was prepared by inspecting the files of the installed pack (Minecraft 1.20.1 · Forge). Minecraft © Mojang Studios; this page is not approved by or associated with Mojang Studios or Microsoft. The Soulrend pack belongs to Apotheotic_Studios; the mods and images in it belong to their respective authors; names are trademarks of their respective owners. Credits: credits.json. Textures used on this page: End Remastered (Team Remastered), dungeons and combat (Tohirogosu, MCreator), Origins (Apace), Nether Remastered (Jmods), Waystones (BlayTheNinth). If you are a rights holder and want an image removed, tell us through the contact page and it will be taken down.