Malum guide for FTB Skies 2: Aero 1.0.3 to 1.8.0

Same as in the FTB Skies 2: Aero 1.10.0 guide

Malum is a dark magic mod built around spirit arcana, a study of soul magic. You work through it with spirit infusion, spirit focusing and totem magic, and it gives you new gear such as trinkets, armor, tools and weapons. It also adds Runewood trees and its own ores, and it lets you pick your own order of progress instead of forcing one path.^[1]

This pack ships Malum 1.8.2. Its quest book has a "Malum" chapter in the "Magic Mods" group, chapter 19 of 31 in the book, with 40 quests. The notes below only describe what those quests ask of you and how the book orders them, not everything the mod can do.^[2][3]

How the Malum chapter is laid out

As the book lists them, five quests have no earlier quest: "Soulstone" quest, "Runewood" quest, "Brilliance" quest, "Cthonic Gold" quest and "The Weeping Well" quest. The other quests shown here are listed after one or more of the quests around them.^[3]

• "The Reaping of Souls" quest asks you for the Crude Scythe and is listed after Soulstone. "Spirit Altar" quest asks for the Spirit Altar and a Runewood Obelisk, and is listed after both Soulstone and Runewood.^[3]
• "Hex Ash" quest, "Rocks of Taint and Twist" quest and "Spiritual Metallurgy" quest are each listed after both the Scythe quest and the Spirit Altar quest. "Spirit Crucible" quest is listed after Rocks of Taint and Twist.^[3]
• "Weaver's Workbench" quest and "Runeworking" quest are listed after Spiritual Metallurgy. "Soulwoven Silk" quest is listed after the Spirit Altar quest, and "Soulhunter Set" quest is listed after that.^[3]
• "Totemic Rites" quest is listed after Runewood and another quest, Aspects of the Soul. "Brilliant Obelisk" quest is listed after Brilliance.^[3]
• "The Well's Returns" quest and "Spirit of Sacrifice" quest are listed after The Weeping Well. "Malignant Pewter" quest, "Mnemonic Hex Staff" quest and "Conscious Weapons" quest are listed after The Well's Returns, and "Encyclopedia Unveiled" quest is listed after Spirit of Sacrifice.^[3]

The quest book holds 16 more quests in this chapter whose text is not covered here, so check them in the book as you go.^[3]

Same as in the FTB Skies 2: Aero 1.10.0 guide

Malum is a magic mod about spirits. In this pack its quest chapter sits in the Magic Mods group, chapter 19 of 31 in the book. The first quest tells you to find or form Soulstone, then use it to make the two keystone items: the Spirit Altar and the Crude Scythe. Here is the order I'd follow.^[3]

First, get soulstone

The "Soulstone" quest quest asks for Raw Soulstone and Refined Soulstone. Refined soulstone goes into both the scythe and the altar recipes, so get a good supply. The pack adds a Create haunting recipe that turns soulstone into a Block of Raw Soulstone. Washing crushed soulstone gives you 2 refined soulstone plus some Hex Ash.^[3][4]

Block of Raw SoulstoneAdded by the pack

Haunting (create)

• Soulstone

Recipe id: ftb:create/haunting/soulstone_to_raw_soulstone

This haunting recipe is added by the pack.

2× Refined Soulstone, Hex AshMod recipe

Splashing (create)

• Crushed Soulstone

Recipe id: malum:create/washing/crushed_soulstone

Washing crushed soulstone gives Hex Ash and 2 Refined Soulstone.

Next, craft the Crude Scythe

With soulstone in the blade, the Crude Scythe tears through body and soul when it slays creatures. Spirit forms and is drawn to you. It also sweeps across multiple targets. Make it early, because collecting spirit is the heart of the mod. The pack changed this recipe, so use the one below rather than the mod's default.^[3][4]

Crude ScytheChanged by the pack

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

Iron Ingot	Iron Ingot	Refined Soulstone
Empty slot	any wooden rod	Iron Ingot
any wooden rod	Empty slot	Empty slot

Recipe id: malum:crude_scythe

This recipe is changed by the pack.

Then, find runewood

The "Runewood" quest quest wants a Runewood Sapling or Azure Runewood Sapling, a Runewood Log and Runic Sap. The quest says you might find these trees on floating chunks of land, or you can trade for a sapling in the Market. The Market recipe for the azure sapling is below.^[3][4]

Azure Runewood SaplingMod recipe

Market (farmingforblockheads)

Recipe id: malum:market/azure_runewood_sapling

A Market trade for the azure sapling.

Finally, build the Spirit Altar

In the quest book the Spirit Altar comes after both Soulstone and Runewood. It holds a focus item and anchors the spirits used on it, while other focus materials go on pedestals within 4 blocks. Once everything is in place, crafting starts by itself. Up to four Runewood Obelisk blocks in that range speed it up. The pack changed this recipe too.^[3][4]

Spirit AltarChanged by the pack

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

Empty slot	Refined Soulstone	Empty slot
Gold Ingot	any runewood plank	Gold Ingot
any runewood plank	any runewood plank	any runewood plank

Recipe id: malum:spirit_altar

This recipe is changed by the pack.

Where to go next

Once the altar is up, the quest book opens several branches. "Hex Ash" quest and "Spiritual Metallurgy" quest both come after the scythe and the altar, and "Soulwoven Silk" quest follows the altar. Soulwoven silk is a spirit infusion recipe.^[3][4]

4× Soulwoven SilkMod recipe

Spirit Infusion (malum)

• 2× any string
• 2× any wool

Recipe id: malum:spirit_infusion/soulwoven_silk

Soulwoven silk is a spirit infusion recipe.

Silk leads on to the "Soulhunter Set" quest and the "Soulwoven Pouch" quest, which funnels spirit and certain other drops into itself. The "Aspects of the Soul" quest quest says Arcane spirit is the most essential aspect, and a reliable supply of it is all but mandatory for further creations.^[3]

Good to know

The option codex.enableCodexDrop is set to false in this pack, so one of the first undead enemies you slay will not drop the Encyclopedia Arcana for you.^[7]

Same as in the FTB Skies 2: Aero 1.10.0 guide

The quest book gives Malum its own chapter, called Malum. It sits in the Magic Mods group (chapter 19 of 31) and lists 40 quests. Malum items also appear in two other chapters, covered at the end.^[3]

Where the chapter starts

The book lists no prerequisite for five quests, so these are the entry points:^[3]

• "Soulstone" quest asks for Raw Soulstone and Refined Soulstone. Its text points you to Soulstone for the Spirit Altar and the Crude Scythe.^[3]
• "Runewood" quest asks for a Runewood Sapling (or an Azure Runewood Sapling), a Runewood Log and Runic Sap.^[3]
• "Brilliance" quest asks for Raw Brilliance and Refined Brilliance.^[3]
• "Cthonic Gold" quest asks for Cthonic Gold.^[3]
• "The Weeping Well" quest has an observation task plus an Encyclopedia Esoterica. The Weeping Well branch is listed after it, described below.^[3]

The spirit branch

Most of the chapter is listed after Soulstone and Runewood. This is the order the book gives:^[3]

1. "Brilliant Obelisk" quest is listed after Brilliance and asks for the Brilliant Obelisk.^[3]
2. "The Reaping of Souls" quest is listed after Soulstone and asks for the Crude Scythe.^[3]
3. "Spirit Altar" quest is listed after Soulstone and Runewood and asks for the Spirit Altar and a Runewood Obelisk.^[3]
4. "Aspects of the Soul" quest and the untitled quest a quest in "Malum" are listed after the scythe quest. "Hex Ash" quest (Hex Ash), "Rocks of Taint and Twist" quest (Tainted Rock and Twisted Rock) and "Spiritual Metallurgy" quest (Hallowed Gold Ingot and Soulstained Steel Ingot) are listed after both the scythe and the altar.^[3]
5. "Soulwoven Silk" quest is listed after the altar. "Soulhunter Set" quest (the four Soulhunter pieces) and "Soulwoven Pouch" quest are listed after it.^[3]
6. Five quests are listed after Spiritual Metallurgy: "Weaver's Workbench" quest, "Runeworking" quest (asks for the Runic Workbench), "Malum Trinkets" quest, "Soulstained Equipment" quest (asks for the Soulstained Steel Scythe and Tyrving) and "Soulstained Armor" quest.^[3]
7. "Spirit Crucible" quest is listed after Rocks of Taint and Twist and asks for the Spirit Crucible and an Alchemical Impetus. Three quests are listed after it: "Repair Pylon" quest, "Spirit Catalyzer" quest and "Crucible Augments" quest.^[3]
8. "Totemic Rites" quest is listed after Aspects of the Soul and Runewood and asks for the Runewood Totem Base. "Unchained Blight" quest (Soulwood Log and Soulwood Sapling) and "Automating Spirits?" quest (a checkmark quest) are listed after it, and "Large Strange Crystal" quest is listed after Unchained Blight.^[3]
9. "Soulbinding Pacts" quest is listed after Spiritual Metallurgy, Runewood and Rocks of Taint and Twist. It asks for the Soulbinding Brazier and the Paracausal Flame.^[3]

The Weeping Well branch

These quests are listed after The Weeping Well. "The Well's Returns" quest asks for Null Slate, Void Salts, Mnemonic Fragment and Malignant Lead. Three quests are listed after it: "Mnemonic Hex Staff" quest (the Mnemonic Hex Staff), "Malignant Pewter" quest (Malignant Pewter Ingot and Malignant Pewter Plating) and "Conscious Weapons" quest (Sundering Anchor and Unwinding Chaos).^[3]

Two quests are listed after Malignant Pewter. "Malignant Weapons" quest asks for the Edge of Deliverance, Weight of Worlds and Erosion Scepter. "Malignant Armor" quest asks for the Malignant Stronghold Helmet, Malignant Stronghold Chestplate, Malignant Stronghold Leggings and Malignant Stronghold Boots.^[3]

The other quest listed after the Well is "Spirit of Sacrifice" quest. It asks for the Umbral Spirit plus an item from the Gaze mod. "Weapons of Sacrifice" quest, "Umbral Runes" quest and "Encyclopedia Unveiled" quest are listed after it, and all three ask for Gaze items rather than Malum ones.^[3]

Malum in other chapters

In the Piña Colada chapter (group Main Questline, chapter 6 of 31), "Realized Transcendence" quest asks for Fused Consciousness together with a pack item called Realized Transcendence. Its text mentions farming spirits by hand, or a Malum ritual that automatically harvests low-health nearby mobs. The chapter lists it as a prerequisite of "Artificial Fruits" quest.^[6]

The Gearing Up chapter (group Exploration & Combat, chapter 14 of 31) has "Tyrving" quest, which asks for Tyrving and is listed after the Soulstained Equipment quest. Five of that chapter's 94 quests aren't shown in the sources here, so check the quest book for them.^[8]

Same as in the FTB Skies 2 1.22.0 guide

Malum has a client config, a common config and two structure configs in this pack. The only values the sources explicitly label as matching the mod default are the two Soul Ward multipliers. For every other option the mod default isn't stated, so I can't tell you whether the pack changed it. What follows is exactly how the pack sets each option.^{[9][10][11][12]}

Codex and progression

• codex.enableCodexDrop is false in this pack. When it's true, one of the first undead enemies a player slays drops the encyclopedia arcana, so you shouldn't count on that drop here.^[10]
• progression.hide_recipes is false, so the pack does not hide that part of Malum's content. The option's own description says turning it on is the intended way to play the mod.^[10]

Unverified How you obtain the encyclopedia arcana in this pack, now that the undead drop is disabled, isn't confirmed by the available sources.

Soul Ward, Aegis and staffs

• soul_ward.soulWardMagic is 0.10000000149011612 and soul_ward.soulWardPhysical is 0.699999988079071. Both are multipliers for damage taken while Soul Ward is active, and both match the mod default (range 0.0 to 1.0).^[10]
• soul_ward.soulWardRate is 100 ticks per point of Soul Ward recovered.^[10]
• malignant_aegis.malignantAegisRate is 200 ticks per point of Malignant Aegis recovered.^[10]
• staff_charge.staffChargeRate is 100 ticks per segment of staff charge recovered.^[10]
• magic_damage.magicDamageReducedArmorPiercing is true. Damage types tagged malum:bypasses_half_armor pierce only half of the player's armor stat instead of all of it, and armor takes no durability damage from them.^[10]

Spirits and compat

• spirit.defaults.defaultSpiritValues is true, so entities without spirit JSONs use the default spirit data for their category.^[10]
• spirit.noFancySpirits is false, so dropped spirits keep their normal form instead of becoming plain items.^[10]
• spirit.spawner.lameSpawners is false, so mob spawners do not create soulless mobs.^[10]
• compat.irons_spellbooks.ironsSpellbooksPlayerSpiritDrops and compat.irons_spellbooks.ironsSpellbooksNonPlayerSpiritDrops are both false. Iron's Spellbooks magic damage does not count as Soul Damage, whether a player or something else deals it.^[10]

Weeping Well generation

The Weeping Well is enabled through weeping_well.weeping_well, set to true. Its placement uses weeping_well.spacing = 24, weeping_well.separation = 18 and weeping_well.salt = 546451665.^[11][12]

Client options

• ui.shieldX is 0 and ui.shieldY is 47. They set the offsets for the Soul Ward and Malignant Aegis HUD elements: X from the center of the screen, Y from the bottom.^[9]
• scarf.scarfLength is 30 and scarf.scarfOpacity is 0.4. Length affects every rendered Malignant Stronghold Scarf, not just yours. Opacity is how visible your own scarf is in first person.^[9]
• codex.bookTheme is DEFAULT (EASY_READING is the other allowed value), and codex.scrollDirection is false, so page scrolling in codex entries isn't reversed.^[9]