diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 57acd97..8b8c098 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -68,10 +68,10 @@ Contributions are welcome! Please open an issue or pull request if you'd like to
 ## general roadmap
 | Task                                                        | Status |
 |-------------------------------------------------------------|--------|
-| stablish good sharding support with buckets                 | ✅     |
+| stablish good sharding support w buckets and worker threads | ✅     |
+| finish multi threading                                      | ✅     |
 | finish the event coverage roadmap                           | ✅     |
 | proper error handling                                       | ✅     |
-| use the priority queues for handling ratelimits (half done) | ❌     |
 | make the library scalable with a gateway proxy              | ❌     |
 | get a cool logo                                             | ❌     |
 
diff --git a/src/core.zig b/src/core.zig
index 4d897dc..79b9dbb 100644
--- a/src/core.zig
+++ b/src/core.zig
@@ -37,6 +37,10 @@ connect_queue: ConnectQueue(Shard),
 shards: std.AutoArrayHashMap(usize, Shard),
 handler: GatewayDispatchEvent(*Shard),
 
+/// where we dispatch work for every thread, threads must be spawned upon shard creation
+/// make sure the address of workers is stable
+workers: std.Thread.Pool = undefined,
+
 /// configuration settings
 options: SessionOptions,
 log: Log,
@@ -64,6 +68,10 @@ pub const SessionOptions = struct {
     shard_end: usize = 1,
     /// The payload handlers for messages on the shard.
     resharding: ?struct { interval: u64, percentage: usize } = null,
+    /// worker threads
+    workers_per_shard: usize = 1,
+    /// The shard lifespan in milliseconds. If a shard is not connected within this time, it will be closed.
+    shard_lifespan: ?u64 = null,
 };
 
 pub fn init(allocator: mem.Allocator, settings: struct {
@@ -78,6 +86,7 @@ pub fn init(allocator: mem.Allocator, settings: struct {
         .allocator = allocator,
         .connect_queue = try ConnectQueue(Shard).init(allocator, concurrency, 5000),
         .shards = .init(allocator),
+        .workers = undefined,
         .shard_details = ShardDetails{
             .token = settings.token,
             .intents = settings.intents,
@@ -92,6 +101,7 @@ pub fn init(allocator: mem.Allocator, settings: struct {
             .total_shards = settings.options.total_shards,
             .shard_start = settings.options.shard_start,
             .shard_end = settings.options.shard_end,
+            .workers_per_shard = settings.options.workers_per_shard,
         },
         .log = settings.log,
     };
@@ -147,6 +157,13 @@ fn spawnBuckets(self: *Self) ![][]Shard {
 
     self.logif("{d} buckets created", .{bucket_count});
 
+    // finally defihne threads
+
+    try self.workers.init(.{
+        .allocator = self.allocator,
+        .n_jobs = self.options.workers_per_shard * self.options.total_shards,
+    });
+
     return buckets;
 }
 
@@ -163,6 +180,7 @@ fn create(self: *Self, shard_id: usize) !Shard {
         },
         .run = self.handler,
         .log = self.log,
+        .sharder_pool = &self.workers,
     });
 
     try self.shards.put(shard_id, shard);
diff --git a/src/shard.zig b/src/shard.zig
index 4472c33..f5176af 100644
--- a/src/shard.zig
+++ b/src/shard.zig
@@ -89,7 +89,8 @@ session_id: ?[]const u8,
 sequence: std.atomic.Value(isize) = .init(0),
 heart: Heart = .{ .heartbeatInterval = 45000, .lastBeat = 0 },
 
-///
+// we only need to know whether this shard is part of a thread pool, and if so, initialise it with a pointer thereon
+sharder_pool: ?*std.Thread.Pool = null,
 handler: GatewayDispatchEvent(*Self),
 packets: std.ArrayListUnmanaged(u8),
 inflator: zlib.Decompressor,
@@ -151,6 +152,7 @@ pub fn init(allocator: mem.Allocator, shard_id: usize, total_shards: usize, sett
     options: ShardOptions,
     run: GatewayDispatchEvent(*Self),
     log: Log,
+    sharder_pool: ?*std.Thread.Pool = null,
 }) zlib.Error!Self {
     return Self{
         .options = ShardOptions{
@@ -181,6 +183,7 @@ pub fn init(allocator: mem.Allocator, shard_id: usize, total_shards: usize, sett
             settings.options.ratelimit_options.ratelimit_reset_interval,
             Self.calculateSafeRequests(settings.options.ratelimit_options),
         ),
+        .sharder_pool = settings.sharder_pool,
     };
 }
 
@@ -250,24 +253,37 @@ fn readMessage(self: *Self, _: anytype) !void {
             /// The event name for this payload
             t: ?[]const u8 = null,
         };
+
+        // must allocate to avoid race conditions
+        const payload = try self.allocator.create(std.json.Value);
+
         const raw = try std.json.parseFromSlice(GatewayPayloadType, self.allocator, decompressed, .{
             .ignore_unknown_fields = true,
             .max_value_len = 0x1000,
         });
         errdefer raw.deinit();
 
-        const payload = raw.value;
-        switch (@as(Opcode, @enumFromInt(payload.op))) {
+        // make sure to avoid race conditions
+        // we free this payload eventually once our event executes
+        payload.* = raw.value.d.?;
+
+        switch (@as(Opcode, @enumFromInt(raw.value.op))) {
             .Dispatch => {
-                // maybe use threads and call it instead from there
-                if (payload.t) |name| {
-                    self.sequence.store(payload.s orelse 0, .monotonic);
-                        try self.handleEvent(name, payload.d.?);
+                if (raw.value.t) |some_name| {
+                    self.sequence.store(raw.value.s orelse 0, .monotonic);
+
+                    const name = try self.allocator.alloc(u8, some_name.len);
+                    std.mem.copyForwards(u8, name, some_name);
+
+                    // run thread pool
+                    if (self.sharder_pool) |sharder_pool| {
+                        try sharder_pool.spawn(handleEventNoError, .{ self, name, payload });
+                    } else try self.handleEvent(name, payload.*);
                 }
             },
             .Hello => {
                 const HelloPayload = struct { heartbeat_interval: u64, _trace: [][]const u8 };
-                const parsed = try std.json.parseFromValue(HelloPayload, self.allocator, payload.d.?, .{});
+                const parsed = try std.json.parseFromValue(HelloPayload, self.allocator, payload.*, .{});
                 defer parsed.deinit();
 
                 const helloPayload = parsed.value;
@@ -289,7 +305,7 @@ fn readMessage(self: *Self, _: anytype) !void {
                 var prng = std.Random.DefaultPrng.init(0);
                 const jitter = std.Random.float(prng.random(), f64);
                 self.heart.lastBeat = std.time.milliTimestamp();
-                const heartbeat_writer = try std.Thread.spawn(.{}, Self.heartbeat, .{ self, jitter });
+                const heartbeat_writer = try std.Thread.spawn(.{}, heartbeat, .{ self, jitter });
                 heartbeat_writer.detach();
             },
             .HeartbeatACK => {
@@ -312,7 +328,7 @@ fn readMessage(self: *Self, _: anytype) !void {
                     session_id: []const u8,
                     seq: ?isize,
                 };
-                const parsed = try std.json.parseFromValue(WithSequence, self.allocator, payload.d.?, .{});
+                const parsed = try std.json.parseFromValue(WithSequence, self.allocator, payload.*, .{});
                 defer parsed.deinit();
 
                 const resume_payload = parsed.value;
@@ -374,8 +390,6 @@ pub const ConnectError =
 pub fn connect(self: *Self) ConnectError!void {
     //std.time.sleep(std.time.ms_per_s * 5);
     self.client = try Self._connect_ws(self.allocator, self.gatewayUrl());
-    //const event_listener = try std.Thread.spawn(.{}, Self.readMessage, .{ &self, null });
-    //event_listener.join();
 
     self.readMessage(null) catch unreachable;
 }
@@ -408,6 +422,15 @@ pub fn send(self: *Self, _: bool, data: anytype) SendError!void {
     try self.client.write(try string.toOwnedSlice());
 }
 
+pub fn handleEventNoError(self: *Self, name: []const u8, payload_ptr: *json.Value) void {
+    // log to make sure this executes
+    std.debug.print("Shard {d} dispatching {s}\n", .{self.id, name});
+
+    self.handleEvent(name, payload_ptr.*) catch |err| {
+        std.debug.print("Shard {d} error: {s}\n", .{self.id, @errorName(err)});
+    };
+}
+
 pub fn handleEvent(self: *Self, name: []const u8, payload: json.Value) !void {
     if (mem.eql(u8, name, "READY")) if (self.handler.ready) |event| {
         const ready = try json.parseFromValue(Types.Ready, self.allocator, payload, .{