Pantheon announces December 19 release date for its year-end update

Visionary Realms confirmed on December 16 that the December 2025 update for Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen would go live that Friday, December 19, and used the announcement to preview the contents of what it described as the last update of the year.

Heading the list is a double experience bonus, which the studio said it activated as thanks to Early Access players and will leave running until the Combat and Progression Update, then targeted for spring 2026. The team warned that experience can be capped in some situations, giving the example of a player soloing an NPC with a high group experience modifier.

The update's marquee feature is the first pass at mounts and taming. From level 20, players can tame and ride horses across Terminus after learning the skill and collecting a first mount from Stablehand Phosy at the stables in Demith village. The studio was explicit that this is an initial implementation with enhancements planned. Supporting it is a Use Mount key, bound to H, which summons an active mount, dismounts, or mounts a nearby creature, alongside a new walk toggle on the period key. Both can be rebound in the Input tab of the settings window.

World and content additions

The studio said nighttime lighting has been brightened for visibility while keeping the dark hazardous, and that the abandoned village of Hiryth Hill in the Silent Plains has been repopulated as small-group content for roughly level 30. Demith received a set dressing pass that relocated some NPCs and crafting stations. Two teasers were left deliberately unexplained: an artifact near the entrance to Halnir Cave, said to have a counterpart deeper in the caverns, and an unnamed item that General Goods vendors have begun selling cheaply without saying where it came from.

Class, item and fix pass

Wizards draw the largest share of the class changes. Elemental Weaving was corrected to scale with strength, dexterity and agility, with dexterity replacing constitution, and its mana condition removed. Cold area scrolls were fixed, Electrocute's damage type was set to shock, Evoke Ember's level requirement was revised, and Radiate Heat was added to a vendor. Mana Current now grants 50% spell haste and threat generation for 15 seconds. More broadly, the shared cooldown between mana and focus recovery spells drops from 20 seconds to eight while individual spells keep their own 20-second timer, a change the team said should open up more combination and decision-making.

The preview also listed item work, including a stat revert on the Platinum Inlaid Buckler, higher drop rates in Black Rose Keep and saddlebags that outfitters can craft from schematics sold by leatherworking trainers, plus a run of bug fixes covering crafting work orders, pets that stopped responding after a kill, and quest availability in Availia for characters who had already done similar work in Sorhiryth.