December update goes live in Pantheon with mounts, taming and double XP

Visionary Realms shipped the December 2025 update for Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen on December 19, closing out the year with a temporary experience bonus, the first version of the game's mounts and taming system, and a broad sweep of fixes and world changes.

The studio switched on a double experience bonus, framed as thanks to players taking part in Early Access, and said it will stay active until the Combat and Progression Update, currently targeted for spring 2026. The team attached one caveat: some encounters cap the experience earned, such as a player soloing an NPC carrying a high group experience modifier.

Mounts arrive at level 20. Players learn the taming skill and pick up a first horse by visiting the stables in Demith village and speaking to Stablehand Phosy, who will also replace a lost ability scroll. The team described this as an initial implementation with additions planned later. A Use Mount binding, on the H key by default, calls an active mount, dismounts, or mounts a nearby one, and walking can now be toggled with the period key; both are remappable from the Input tab in settings. Falling damage was also reduced.

Changes across Terminus

Global lighting was adjusted to make nighttime more legible, though the studio said night remains dangerous. The abandoned village of Hiryth Hill in the Silent Plains has been filled with NPCs and is aimed at small groups around level 30. Demith received a set dressing pass that shifted some NPCs and crafting stations, while most furnishings were temporarily stripped from houses in Availia, a change the patch notes present in-fiction as the work of a Thronefastian ministry. Halnir Cave gained a magical artifact near its entrance, rumored to have a twin deeper inside, plus an NPC who claims to collect the bones of the dead. General Goods vendors picked up an unexplained item, and the team is testing time-of-day music in the Availia tavern.

Fixes and tuning

The most consequential fix addresses a set of class buffs that were not applying their benefits at all, among them Enchanter Runeskin, Monk Wheel Kick, Rogue Ambidextrous and Dire Lord Bloodfiend. Pets that stopped taking commands after killing a target now behave, and several crafting work orders and schematics that pointed at the wrong item or refused valid materials were corrected. On the NPC side, Wildmound Cradle received tuning and Tel'Daedras now returns after ten hours rather than twelve.

Item and effect adjustments round out the patch: better drop rates on several special items in Black Rose Keep, more frequent Whisperwind Asp scales, saddlebags stocked by General Goods vendors, and off-hand access to the Wild Mindblade for Rogues. A named list of Druid spells can now trigger the Tooth of the Apex effect, which no longer fires from untargeted area spells. Wizards also get a new icy comet visual, with the studio acknowledging a slight mismatch between the effect and damage timing.