QUENCHING THE STEEL IN THE BLOOD OF YOUR FOES
Version 0.5.27 public release - 2026-10-27

Both material payment and the current target-level quest must be complete.
The Steel Sword level-2 counts and post-10 endpoints/cap follow the approved
progression. The ladder is shared across the equipment lines; intermediate
post-10 goals round to whole kills.

Target   Objectives (AND within a row; any listed subtype qualifies for its pool)
2        10 wolves + 2 cultists
3        15 wolves + 2 cultists
4        12 fulings + 1 fuling berserker
5        18 fulings + 2 fuling shamans
6        10 seekers + 1 seeker soldier
7        14 seekers + 2 seeker soldiers
8        12 charred foes + 2 asksvin
9        18 charred foes + 1 morgen
10       20 Deep North foes (GoblinDeepNorth or Skeleton_DeepNorth)
11       20 eligible Ashlands/Deep North foes + existing battle idol
12       22 from that pool + existing battle idol
13       23 from that pool + existing battle idol
14       25 from that pool + existing battle idol
15       26 from that pool + existing battle idol
16       28 from that pool + existing battle idol
17       29 from that pool + existing battle idol
18       31 from that pool + existing battle idol
19       33 from that pool + existing battle idol
20       34 from that pool + existing battle idol
21       36 from that pool + existing battle idol
22       37 from that pool + existing battle idol
23       39 from that pool + existing battle idol
24       41 from that pool + existing battle idol
25       42 from that pool + existing battle idol
26       44 from that pool + existing battle idol
27       45 from that pool + existing battle idol
28       47 from that pool + existing battle idol
29       48 from that pool + existing battle idol
30       50 from that pool + existing battle idol
31+      50 from that pool per new target level + existing battle idol

Late pool: asksvin, charred melee/archers/twitchers, morgen, GoblinDeepNorth,
Skeleton_DeepNorth. Start at 20 for target 11; increase linearly to 50 at target 30,
rounding to the nearest whole kill, then retain 50 forever. Formula:
20 + round(30 * clamp(target level - 11, 0, 19) / 19).
Counts are per new level, not cumulative totals. The endpoints and cap are the
user's explicit request; intermediate rounding is the chosen whole-kill rule.
Levels 1-10, the enemy pool and one-idol payments are unchanged. No boss kills
or trophy luck. Native prefab IDs were checked against the installed game;
encounter availability and pacing still need a live-world check.

Weapons: any accepted positive health damage followed by the victim's death.
Different physical weapons that each damaged the same victim may each qualify.
The damage captures that weapon's then-active next stage; old damage cannot pay
a future weapon stage after an upgrade. Native burning/spirit/poison ticks retain
source identity. Misses, zero-health-damage hits, mining, PvP and tamed allies
grant no progress. Kills are per victim, not per hit. Previous kills are not inferred.

Shields: enemies the player helped damage count for the currently equipped
physical shield when the death notification is processed. No block/parry needed.
Damage may come from an Arsenal, vanilla or other weapon, including unarmed.
Nearby deaths without that player's accepted damage contribution do not qualify.

Persistent progress is attached to each item's native custom-data dictionary.
Clones used by native inventory moves retain that physical identity; a newly
crafted weapon receives a fresh identity. Ordinary upgrades transfer GUID/stages
to the native replacement item. Potential upgrades already modify the same item.
Completion is permanent for that target level; a failed/unchanged/downgraded idol
attempt does not consume it. A blocked attempt spends no material or idol.

UPGRADING FROM 0.5.19 OR 0.5.20
Exact previous post-10 partial counts and already-counted death IDs carry over,
clamped to the new requirement. For example, 19/50 at target 11 becomes 19/20;
25/50 becomes ready at 20/20. An old completed 20/20 stage at target 12 stays
complete under its new 22-kill goal. Completed quests never need to be re-earned.
The item's identity and per-stage keys remain unchanged. A completed stage
can discard its victim history because completed counts reject further credit.
The larger reader limits remain in place to load valid 0.5.20 histories safely,
including histories from its former 500-kill cap. New quests require at most 50.
Unknown signatures grant no inferred progress; future-stage kills are not banked.

KNOWN TEST LIMITS
All multiplayer participants need this version. The custom RPC forwards native
damage handling rather than extending native serialization. Live transport and
Harmony installation in Unity were not exercised by managed tests.
Offline contributors cannot receive routed death credit. A weapon put in storage
before delayed death gets a bounded player-save credit (up to256 pending entries)
when returned to that player's inventory. Trading before delayed death/pickup
does not move the old owner's pending mailbox to the buyer. Already-earned item
progress does transfer. Contributor ledgers are bounded at128 entries per victim;
client pending-victim evidence is bounded at2048 victims.

IN-GAME SMOKE CHECKS
1. Check startup for patch errors; verify normal attacks still damage enemies.
2. Equip a Steel Sword: tracker shows wolves0/10, cultists0/2 to the right of the hotbar.
3. Damage one wolf repeatedly, finish it with another weapon: sword adds exactly1.
   Damage a wolf without killing it: no count. Compare a second physical sword.
4. Shoot the bow, switch weapons before impact/death: credit stays on the bow.
   Also check thrown spear and native poison/fire/spirit damage.
5. Use a vanilla weapon with an Arsenal shield: a contributed enemy death counts.
   Remove the shield before death: it does not gain credit. Blocking is unnecessary.
6. With materials present, attempt a locked upgrade: materials remain untouched.
   Finish the quest, upgrade, save/relog/drop/trade: item identity/progress survives.
7. Check level10+ quest plus idol gate; failed/unchanged/downgraded outcomes retain
   completion, while a successful new level starts its next quest at zero.
8. Check hotbar location at your UI scale, menus/HUD-hidden, one weapon+shield,
   and two-player owner migration; ensure one enemy never grants duplicate credit.
9. Load 0.5.19 and 0.5.20 partial/completed post-10 stages: progress survives,
   counts at or above the new requirement are ready, and completed stages stay
   ready. Check 11=20, 20=34, 29=48, 30+=50 and save/reload near completion.

0.5.23 INTERFACE
Locked craft label: Steel needs Quenching. Detailed counts remain in the tracker.
N shows/hides the tracker during gameplay and saves the preference; progress
continues while hidden. Typing, inventory, menus and console do not toggle it.
Font15/width400UIunits keeps the tracker a little smaller. Position stays right
of the hotbar. Test N while moving, typing, after relog and after HUD recreation.
Armour Fang Y mode switching and both new weapon lines are included in this release.
