Development is permanently on hiatus, as I am busy working on other mods. However, any bug reports will be fixed as soon as possible.
1.10.2 Version has been released, from constant badgering by other devs. 1.10.2 version is just a straight port, and may be a bit buggy. Description is for MC 1.7.10, but should apply for later versions.
My first ever Minecraft Mod, now in beta!
Enchant a sword with the Essence Ripper enchantment to start getting Shards of Essence. Use these Shards of Essence to create and upgrade powerful weapons, armor, and baubles. All items are expensive to create, yet are unbreakable and upgradeable, often in multiple ways.
Once you have your first shards, you'll want to upgrade a Diamond Sword into an Essence Blade. The Essence Blade is the exact same as a Diamond Sword, even keeping the enchantments of the original, but has a multiplier on the drop chance and number of Shards of Essence. However, the Essence Blade is not upgradeable in the Essence Infuser, so you will want to switch over to using other items as soon as you can.
To upgrade Essence Armory's items, you will need to place them in an Essence Infuser, and surround the Essence Infuser with Essence Pylons. Similar to Thaumcraft infusion, the Essence Pylons can be placed anywhere in an area around the Essence Infuser, and if they are filled with the correct items, the infusion process will begin.
Weapons:
Essence Infused Sword: Crafted using two Essence Infused Ingots and an Essence Infused Stick in the normal sword pattern. This weapon starts off slightly stronger than a Diamond Sword, at only +10 damage. Each upgrade gives an additional +1 damage, as well as giving special effects, such as extra fire damage, slowing enemies on hit, or even ignoring parts of their armor.
Essence Infused Bow: Crafted using three Essence Infused Ingots and three Essence Infused String in a normal bow pattern. The upgrade system works similarly for the bow as it does for the sword, with additional upgrades for range and draw speed.
Armor:
Each piece of armor gives a large amount of protection, giving a total of 96% damage reduction when wearing the entire set. Upgrades allow even more damage reduction, with an upgrade akin to the Resistance effect, up to 20% additional damage reduction, per piece, as well as a set of upgrades to reduce damage further depending on the type of damage taken. In addition to the damage reduction upgrades, there are upgrades that give increased maximum health and even a recharging absorption shield which doesn't interfere with normal absorption effects.
Trinkets and Baubles:
Essence Infused Amulet: The Essence Infused Amulet has several upgrades, from allowing creative flight to vastly multiplying Shard of Essence drops, and even allowing you to heal off harmful potion effects.
Essence Infused Belt: The Essence Infused Belt is more combat-oriented than the amulet, with upgrades that cause attacks to deal damage in an area, allow you to periodically knock enemies away, and even multiply your health total.
Essence Infused Ring: The Essence Infused Ring, unlike the other two, is no more than a way to get permanent potion effects. However, unlike most permanent potion effects, the Essence Infused Rings don't interfere with the potions themselves, allowing the rings and normal potions to stack together.
Mod Compatibility:
Baubles (Required)
Ars Magica 2 (1.7.10 only)
Botania (1.7.10 only)
Draconic Evolution (1.7.10 only)
Extra Utilities (1.7.10 only)
Thaumcraft (1.7.10 only)
Tinkers' Construct (1.7.10 only)
Travellers' Gear (1.7.10 only)
If you do get a crash upon loading the mod, see if adding these mods in fixes it. There do seem to be some issues with the optional code getting run when it shouldn't.
Configurability:
Almost everything in this mod is configurable, from the strength of each upgrade to how it affects the items. While individual upgrades can't be removed, support for each mod can be separately disabled.