The End Update
A lightweight vanilla+ expansion mod for the End dimension. Quality-of-Life improvements, new biomes, and better uses for under-utilized vanilla features.
Mirelands Biome & Stellarith Crystals w/ Ethereal Orbs
The Mirelands adds a new grass equivalent to end stone, similar to nylium for netherrack. It can spread to neighboring end stone, or grow the flora seen above. The biome is inspired by mold. Mold blocks spread like moss, but have less restrictions.
Ethereal Wood Family
The Mirelands biome features a new green wood type, allowing us to create a full rainbow in Minecraft, made entirely of differently colored wood variants.
The Shadowlands Biome.
The Shadowlands biome features a vast, eerie, dark land scape for the player to explore. Shadow claws are a new type of plant that functions as a sapling when placed in a 3x3 grid. The trees grow (usually) as massive Shadow Claws (hands reaching upwards).
Stellarith Crystals.
Large crystals now generate at varying angles throughout the end. If they're inside the Mirelands biome, they'll spawn a pack of Ethereal Orbs at their tip. The stellarith crystal drops shards, which craft into nuggets, then ingots, then to blocks.
Nebula Vents
Occasionally, throughout the End, you'll find ash stone craters with round "nebula vents" inside of them. These vents will sporadically shoot out purple nebula dust that launches players in the air, allowing flight after obtaining elytra, w/out rockets.
Blue Ice Rivers.
Blue Ice Rivers now form all throughout the end, an excellent source for obtaining blue ice.
Mold Crawl.
Mold Crawl is the Mirelands' version of the nether biomes' respective vines. (Warped vines go up, Crimson go down.) These go sideways. They're capable of flipping their orientation if their tip is supported, but their base is removed. Great for void gaps.
Ethereal Orbs.
Feed an Orb a Voidstar Nugget to light up its bulb. Use a brush on the lit bulb to obtain spectral debris. Breed Ethereal Orbs with Voidstar Blocks, babies eat Nuggets. Baby orbs' bulb can be sheared. Ethereal Orbs will hover around blue/pink crystals.
Ethereal Bulb.
Shearing the bulb off of a baby Ethereal Orb will stunt its growth, keeping it as a baby. It also drops a glowing button that can be placed on some unique surfaces like fences, walls, chains, etc. It stays pressed for quite a while, too.
Void Blooms
Void Blooms now spawn naturally on fully matured chorus flowers. They can be crafted into void sap, which can be smelted into the new "Ethereal" wood type's sapling. They're also pottable & compostable.
Void Sap.
"Grind" a Void Bloom into Void Sap by crafting it, shapelessly. Void Saps are sticky, like honey, but only about half as strong. Smelt Void Sap to create the sapling type for the Ethereal wood set.
The "Tendril" Saplings.
These are the saplings that you get from smelting Void Sap in a furnace. They grow in three stages, all three of which are stunt'able with shears at any point.
The Shadow Wood Family.
A 3x3 formation of shadow claws will produce a massive shadow tree. The wood family from that tree look like this.
The Shadow Altar.
Roughly 1 out of every 256 shadow trees that spawn in the world should feature a hollow base with a shadow altar inside. Locate the structure by crafting a Shadow Hunter's Tracker with a recovery compass, surrounded by 8 shadow claws.
The Shadow Creaking
If you light the Shadow Altar on fire, it will make a particle trail towards where one of these gentlemen will pop up out of the ground. Be careful, though. Because this is a new boss mob in the game. And he's not just tough, he's difficult to cheese.
King Phantom
(See Membrane Block entry for how to spawn.) New boss type that circles the players head, sporadically doing damage. Two phase fight, switching at half health. Drops 12 "King Phantom's Essence," used to make "Potion of Phantom Ward" to keep phantoms away.
Membrane Blocks.
Craft 9 Phantom Membranes into a Membrane Block. Place Membrane blocks in the manner shown in the attached screenshot, then light all blocks in the formation on fire to spawn the new King Phantom boss.
Tetherling
Tetherlings are ghost-like passive mobs that float around between end islands. Lock eyes with one for 5 seconds and it'll come and grab you. Once it grabs you, walk backwards and aim your camera, you'll get violently sling-shotted (hopefully across void!)
Void Tardigrade
Tardigrades spawn over the edge of end islands & like to hover above the void. They will eat Ethereal Orbs, spitting out a "tard shell bit," a new armor trim that increases armor toughness. Kill a tardigrade while it's hunting an Orb to tame the Orb.
Ash Stone Block Family.
Ash stone now generates in craters around Nebula Vents throughout the end. Craft/cut it into stairs, slabs, walls. It even has all those same variations in "smooth ash stone" forms.
Spectral Block
Craft a 3x3 of Spectral Clusters to obtain a Spectral Block. It's a new light block which is quite bright.
Spectral Trims.
Use a brush on a lit Ethereal Orb's bulb to get Spectral Debris. Craft that into Spectral Clusters. Both the debris & cluster are trimmable, but the debris takes up less room on the armor. The particles scale with the amount of trimmed pieces worn.
Gravitite Ore.
Find Gravitite Ore by blowing up the end, it's immune to explosions. Smelt it to get Gravitite Essence, craft Essence in a 3x3 to create Pure Gravitite. Pure Gravitite is an armor trim material that also attracts nearby items, scaling w/ more armor pieces
Gravitite Trim.
Apply Pure Gravitite as an armor trim. It will attract nearby blocks to you, scaling with the amount of trimmed armor pieces you have on, capping at around 8 additional blocks of reach. Use this trim with a chopping axe to decimate large trees.
Quantum Gateway.
Craft 1 Netherite Ingot, with 4 Beacons & 4 Voidstar Blocks to create 1 Quantum Gateway. Place a Gateway on an active Beacon to make the new spiral particle beam. (toggleable w redstone.) Add a Recovery Compass + Diamond Block in GUI to TP from anywhere.
Chopping Enchantment.
Upon defeating the 4 tiny shadow creaking variants, one will drop an Enchanted Book Cover, one will drop Enchanted Pages. Craft them to create a chopping book. Chopping boosts efficiency on an axe (nothing on its own) enough to insta-mine wood at eff 5.
Wooden Cones.
Upon defeating the last 4 Tiny Shadow Creakings, two of them will drop Wood Chips. Craft them like a stick to make a Wooden Cone. Use the cone on a cow to get an Ice Cream cone, or on a mooshroom to get a strawberry one. Both give 30 second sugar rushes.
Ender Chrysanthemums.
Ender Chrysanthemums close up during end flashes! They spawn on small end islands. Spiders & Cave Spiders will retreat from them, even if it's in a flower pot. Use it in a brewing stand with an awkward potion to make a weaving potion.