What Is Back To The Sky?
Back To The Sky is a skyblock modpack that takes the classic floating island survival concept and supercharges it with powerful mods. You begin on a tiny platform with nothing but a single tree and a block of dirt. From that humble start, you can build an empire in the sky, harnessing the forces of alchemy, technology, or pure magic. The pack is designed to give you freedom: you decide whether to become a technomancer surrounded by machines or a mage wielding arcane power. The progression feels rewarding because even though resources are scarce at first, the mods included let you generate almost anything from nothing.
Core Mods That Shape the Experience
Back To The Sky relies on a trio of mods that transform the skyblock formula. These aren't just add-ons; they are the foundation that lets you turn a single dirt block into a sprawling factory or a mystical garden.
ProjectE: Alchemical Mastery
ProjectE introduces an Energy-Matter Covalence system, letting you assign EMC values to almost every item. Once you learn an item's EMC, you can transmute one resource into another using a Transmutation Table. This means that after some initial grinding, you can duplicate rare materials effortlessly. The pack balances this by requiring you to first obtain the item legitimately, but once you do, the sky is literally the limit. You can generate diamonds from cobblestone, create endless food, and even produce complex machine components without mining.
Ex Nihilo: From Nothing to Everything
Ex Nihilo is the engine that drives early-game resource generation. You start with a tree, but you can turn wood into barrels, crucibles, and sieves. By composting organic materials, you produce dirt. By hammering cobblestone into gravel, sand, and dust, and then sieving those, you obtain ore pieces, seeds, and other essentials. Lava can be created in a crucible, and water is infinite once you have a source block. This mod ensures that no resource is truly out of reach, even in a void world.
Magical Crops: Farming Your Way to Power
Magical Crops lets you grow essences that can be crafted into resources like iron, gold, redstone, and even diamonds. Combine this with automated farming, and you have a renewable source of nearly every material. The mod adds a satisfying agricultural layer to the pack, making your sky island feel alive with colorful magical plants.
Choose Your Path: Tech or Magic
One of the standout features of Back To The Sky is the branching progression. After establishing basic resource generation, you decide whether to pursue technology or magic. Both paths are fully fleshed out and can be mixed, but specializing often yields faster results.
The Technic Route
If you love machines, automation, and complex processing chains, the tech path is for you. Mods like Thermal Expansion, Ender IO, and Applied Energistics 2 let you build automated sieving arrays, ore processing lines, and digital storage networks. You can create a fully automated factory that sifts gravel, smelts ores, and crafts components without you lifting a finger. The tech path rewards careful planning and efficient power management.
The Mage Route
For those who prefer spells, rituals, and mystical artifacts, the magic path offers a different kind of power. Mods like Thaumcraft, Botania, and Blood Magic let you harness vis, mana, and life essence. You can create magical flowers that generate resources, perform rituals to alter the world, and craft powerful wands and armor. The mage path is often more exploratory and less about strict efficiency, but it can be just as potent when mastered.
Progression and Goals
The pack doesn't hold your hand with a strict questbook, but it does provide a clear sense of progression through the mods themselves. Early game is all about survival and basic resource generation. You'll spend your first hours expanding your platform, creating your first cobblestone generator, and sieving for ores. Mid-game is where the pack truly opens up. With ProjectE's Transmutation Table unlocked, you can focus on building complex machinery or delving into advanced magic. Late-game goals might include automating every resource, creating a massive ME storage system, or crafting the ultimate magical artifacts.
One of the joys of this pack is the sheer flexibility. You can switch between tech and magic at any time, or blend them together. For instance, you might use tech mods to automate the production of magical essences, or use magic to power your machines. The choice is always yours.
Tips for Getting Started
- Prioritize cobblestone generation. A simple cobblegen is your first step toward infinite resources. Use it to create gravel, sand, and dust for sieving.
- Compost everything. Excess saplings, seeds, and organic materials can be turned into dirt, which you'll need for expanding your platform and farming.
- Rush a Transmutation Table. Once you have ProjectE's table, the grind lessens dramatically. Focus on learning EMC values for common resources first.
- Automate sieving early. Even a basic water wheel and auto-sieve setup will save hours of manual clicking.
- Experiment with both paths. Don't lock yourself into one style too early. Try a few magic mods and a few tech mods to see what clicks.
Managing a modpack like this can sometimes feel overwhelming, especially when you're juggling dozens of mods and their interactions. Many players find that using a dedicated launcher simplifies the process. For example, the foxygame.net launcher offers a streamlined way to install and update modpacks directly from its menu, making it easy to jump into Back To The Sky without wrestling with manual file configurations. It's a modern tool that keeps your modded experience smooth and hassle-free.
Why Back To The Sky Stands Out
There are many skyblock modpacks, but Back To The Sky carves its own niche by balancing overpowered mods with a genuine sense of progression. ProjectE could easily break the challenge, but the pack's design forces you to earn your EMC knowledge step by step. Ex Nihilo keeps the early game engaging, while Magical Crops adds a farming dimension that many skyblocks lack. The tech-versus-magic choice isn't just cosmetic; it shapes how you approach every problem. Whether you're automating sieves with conveyor belts or growing resources with mystical flowers, the pack respects your playstyle.
Final Thoughts
Back To The Sky is a modpack that respects both your time and your creativity. It removes the tedious grind of traditional skyblock without removing the sense of accomplishment. Starting with a single tree and a block of dirt, you can build a floating fortress powered by alchemy, technology, or magic. The pack's flexibility, combined with the depth of its core mods, makes it a standout choice for players who want a skyblock experience that evolves with their ambitions. Whether you're a seasoned modded player or new to the genre, Back To The Sky offers a journey that is as unique as the island you build.