diff --git a/automation/modpack-uploader-expert.ps1 b/automation/modpack-uploader-expert.ps1
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..46797e6be
--- /dev/null
+++ b/automation/modpack-uploader-expert.ps1
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+. "$PSScriptRoot\modpack-uploader.ps1" -uploadExpertMode
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/automation/modpack-uploader.ps1 b/automation/modpack-uploader.ps1
index 72077d15d..130268de1 100644
--- a/automation/modpack-uploader.ps1
+++ b/automation/modpack-uploader.ps1
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
-param (
-    [string]$mode = "default"
+param(
+    [Parameter(Position = 0)]
+    [string]$mode = "default",
+    [Parameter(Position = 1)]
+    [switch]$uploadExpertMode
 )
 
 [Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12
@@ -17,6 +20,21 @@ function Validate-SecretsFile {
     }
 }
 
+function Switch-DefaultModeTo {
+    param(
+        [Parameter(Position = 0)]
+        [string]$mode
+    )
+    $defaultModeFilePath = "config/configswapper.json"
+
+    # Force the mode.json to be in expert mode for publishing
+    $defaultModeJson = Get-Content -Raw -Path $defaultModeFilePath | ConvertFrom-Json
+    if ($defaultModeJson.defaultmode -ne $mode) {
+        $defaultModeJson.defaultmode = $mode
+        $defaultModeJson | ConvertTo-Json | Set-Content $defaultModeFilePath
+    }
+}
+
 function Get-GitHubRelease {
     param(
         [parameter(Mandatory = $true)]
@@ -53,7 +71,6 @@ function Test-ForDependencies {
     }
 
     $isCurlAvailable = Get-Command $curl
-
     if (-not $isCurlAvailable) {
         Clear-Host
         Write-Host 
@@ -249,8 +266,6 @@ function Push-ClientFiles {
             -F metadata=$CLIENT_METADATA `
             -F file=@"$CLIENT_ZIP_NAME.zip" `
             --progress-bar | ConvertFrom-Json
-       
-
         $clientFileReturnId = $response.id
 
         if (-not $response.id) {
@@ -282,7 +297,7 @@ function Update-FileLinkInServerFiles {
         $idPart2 = Remove-LeadingZero -text $idPart2
         # CurseForge replaces whitespace in filenames with + in their CDN urls
         $sanitizedClientZipName = $CLIENT_ZIP_NAME.Replace(" ", "+")
-        $curseForgeCdnUrl = "https://media.forgecdn.net/files/$idPart1/$idPart2/$sanitizedClientZipName.zip"
+        $curseForgeCdnUrl = "https://media.forgecdn.net/files/$idPart1/$idPart2/$sanitizedClientZipName.zip"        
         $content = (Get-Content -Path $SERVER_SETUP_CONFIG_PATH) -replace "https://media.forgecdn.net/files/\d+/\d+/.*.zip", $curseForgeCdnUrl 
         [System.IO.File]::WriteAllLines(($SERVER_SETUP_CONFIG_PATH | Resolve-Path), $content)
 
@@ -401,7 +416,9 @@ function Remove-LeadingZero {
     return [int]$text
 }
 
+# Script execution starts here
 . "$PSScriptRoot/settings.ps1"
+. "$PSScriptRoot/$secretsFile"
 
 $startLocation = Get-Location
 Set-Location $INSTANCE_ROOT
@@ -421,24 +438,45 @@ switch ($mode) {
         . "$PSScriptRoot/$secretsFile"
         Validate-SecretsFile
         Update-BetterCompatibilityCheckerVersion
+
+        if ($uploadExpertMode) {
+            $CURSEFORGE_PROJECT_ID = 882461
+            $SERVER_FILES_FOLDER = "$INSTANCE_ROOT/server_files_expert"
+            $SERVER_SETUP_CONFIG_PATH = "$SERVER_FILES_FOLDER/server-setup-config.yaml"
+            $MODPACK_NAME = "Enigmatica9Expert"
+            $CLIENT_NAME = "Enigmatica9Expert"
+            $CLIENT_ZIP_NAME = "$CLIENT_NAME-$MODPACK_VERSION"
+            $SERVER_ZIP_NAME = "$CLIENT_NAME`Server-$MODPACK_VERSION"
+            $LAST_MODPACK_ZIP_NAME = "$CLIENT_NAME-$LAST_MODPACK_VERSION"
+            $CLIENT_FILE_DISPLAY_NAME = "Enigmatica 9 Expert $MODPACK_VERSION"
+            $SERVER_FILE_DISPLAY_NAME = "Enigmatica 9 Expert Server $MODPACK_VERSION"
+
+            Switch-DefaultModeTo -mode "expert"
+        }
+        else {
+            Switch-DefaultModeTo -mode "normal"
+        }
+
         New-ClientFiles
         Push-ClientFiles
         if ($ENABLE_SERVER_FILE_MODULE -and -not $ENABLE_MODPACK_UPLOADER_MODULE) {
             New-ServerFiles
         }
-        New-GitHubRelease
-        New-Changelog
-        Update-Modlist
+        if (!$uploadExpertMode) {
+            New-GitHubRelease
+            New-Changelog
+            Update-Modlist
+        }
 
         Write-Host "Modpack Upload Complete!" -ForegroundColor Green
         Set-Location $startLocation
 
         pause
         break
-    }
+    }    
     "modlist" {
         New-ClientFiles
         Update-Modlist
         break
     }
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/automation/prepare-for-release.ps1 b/automation/prepare-for-release.ps1
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a60c6283c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/automation/prepare-for-release.ps1
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+[Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12
+
+$secretsFile = "secrets.ps1"
+function Validate-SecretsFile {
+    if (!(Test-Path "$PSScriptRoot\$secretsFile")) {
+        Write-Host "You need a valid CurseForge API Token in a $secretsFile file" -ForegroundColor Red
+        Write-Host "Creating $secretsFile" -ForegroundColor Cyan
+        New-Item -Path $PSScriptRoot -ItemType File -Name $secretsFile -Value "# To generate an API token go to: https://authors.curseforge.com/account/api-tokens `n $CURSEFORGE_TOKEN = `"your-curseforge-token-here`""
+    }
+}
+. "$PSScriptRoot\settings.ps1"
+. "$PSScriptRoot\$secretsFile"
+
+function Close-FixedIssues {
+    $Base64Token = [System.Convert]::ToBase64String([char[]]$GITHUB_TOKEN);
+    
+    $Headers = @{
+        Authorization = 'Basic {0}' -f $Base64Token
+        Accept        = 'application/vnd.github.v3+json'
+    }
+
+    $Body = @{
+        labels = 'Status: Fixed In Next Release'
+        state  = 'open'
+    }
+    
+    $Uri = "https://api.github.com/repos/$GITHUB_NAME/$GITHUB_REPOSITORY/issues"
+    $issues = Invoke-RestMethod -Headers $Headers -Uri $Uri -Body $Body
+  
+    $Body = @{
+        state = "closed"
+    } | ConvertTo-Json
+
+    $issues | ForEach-Object {
+        $IssueNumber = $_.number
+        Write-Host "Closing issue: " -NoNewline
+        Write-Host "https://github.com/$GITHUB_NAME/$GITHUB_REPOSITORY/issues/$IssueNumber" -ForegroundColor Blue 
+        $Uri = "https://api.github.com/repos/$GITHUB_NAME/$GITHUB_REPOSITORY/issues/$IssueNumber"
+
+        Invoke-RestMethod -Headers $Headers -Uri $Uri -Body $Body -Method Patch | Out-Null
+    }
+
+}
+function Merge-DevelopIntoMasterPrompt {
+    Write-Host "Please Merge Develop into Master, and then Master into Develop"
+}
+
+Validate-SecretsFile
+Close-FixedIssues
+Merge-DevelopIntoMasterPrompt
+
+# just closes all `Status: Fixed In Next Release` issues
\ No newline at end of file