Guide
12 sections · from the Dragonwilds Wiki
New to RuneScape: Dragonwilds? This guide introduces the core gameplay systems, survival mechanics, and activities you'll encounter in Ashenfall. It provides an overview of essential topics – including quests, skills, exploration, combat, crafting, and progression - to help new players get started and build a strong foundation.
To get started on your adventure, you must first purchase the game from your preferred platform. Here is a list of places where you can buy the game:
PC/Desktop · Console
All links, unless otherwise specified, automatically link to the UK storefronts.
Once you have purchased the game, launch the game and you'll be able to create your character, create a new world save, and modify settings. To create a character, go to "Characters" and decide which character mode you want to be. Know that you will be able to still create a character if you first clicked on play and entered whether on solo or online. Currently, there are three character modes:
After creating a character and world, or joining a friend's world, you'll automatically begin the tutorial quest First Steps. Now, you can skip the tutorials, and the quest will have you meet the Wise Old Man in Bramblemead Village, but it is advised that new players go through the tutorial to learn the basics of the game. Once you complete the tutorial (or skip it), you will then be able to start the first Quests, Dragon Slayer.
RuneScape: Dragonwilds is a game built on Unreal Engine 5 developed by Epic Games. Unlike its older predecessors, who use a custom game engine, this game uses real-time mechanics to run everything. Every in-game day is roughly 24 minutes, with a majority of that time (~19 minutes) being daytime. Actions in the game take different lengths of time to accomplish. For instance, freshly cut trees (if the stump remains) take roughly three in-game days (~72 minutes) to respawn.
To navigate the continent, there is a compass in the top-middle section of your HUD/UI. This will show you nearby Dragonkin Vault, Kebbit Burrow, claimed beds, and player markers (both placed on the World Map and player indicators). All distances in the game are indicated as "meters" or "XXXXm" to inform you of how far you are from specific points, including your claimed bed.
To access your Map, use the (default: M) key or (default: view) button. This shows all the locations you have discovered while leaving the rest covered in grey fog.
To travel fast throughout the continent, and even access newly discovered regions, players must unlock the building recipe for Lodestone. To unlock this recipe, players must first acquire a Vault Core in a vault.
After creating your first character and world, you will appear inside of a ruined temple in the temple woods sub-region of Brynmoor. The Lodestone (Inactive) behind you is inactive until you either place your first lodestone or discover another lodestone. Aside from you in this temple, there is one other person there: the Wise Old Man. Speak to him to continue the tutorial quest or skip it entirely and meet him in the nearby Bramblemead Village. It is highly recommended for first-time players of this game to continue the tutorial instead of skipping it as it will help you get used to the game mechanics.
For combat, there are small kebbits, swift deer, violent goblins, and beefy cows in this region that you can kill. For skilling, interact with special hotspots (Fishing/Agility), build plots (Farming), or chop trees (Woodcutting) to gain experience.
Quests can help you understand the game's story and explore, like First Steps and Dragon Slayer, which help you adventure deeper into the continent of Ashenfall or unlock special mechanics like The Wild Hunt. There are three types of quests that can be completed in the game: Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary. Both Primary and Secondary quests offer tutorials (ex: First Steps and Shrimp Catcher, respectively), but Tertiary quests can only be completed during Primary quests. The only quest, before the full release, to feature Tertiary quests was Icthlarin's Little Helper.
Lore Scraps help you understand and learn Ashenfall's history, as well as Gielinor's. These scraps can be found in the Journal interface, where you can read all the items and lore scraps you find.
Skills are essential in the game as they give the character passive Perks (ex: less stamina used during sprinting), unlock skill-specific recipes (ex: angler's hat), or enable usage of powerful skill spells (ex: windstep). While skills do not actively allow you to gain access to specific regions of the game (like Fellhollow), they do allow you to access fast travel outside of lodestones.
Players will start with the basic adventurer's tunic and adventurer's leggings as their armour and a simple torch as their off-hand.
The tutorial gives players their own weapons and starter tools made from loose stones and teaches them what they must do. In Brynmoor, the starting region, players can only acquire up to power level 2 gear before needing to head northward towards Ghornfell and unlock bronze and iron (power level 3 and 4, respectively) gear. Players who greatly explore the continent of Ashenfall will also come across Sanguine Urn, which can be interacted with to increase the player's total health pool by 10 points. While exploring the continent, you will learn over time the stories that take place here, or, if you like skipping dialogue, all the various monsters Ashenfall has to offer.
To start building, players will need a form of wood as their primary resource, as well as any other basic items that building structures, furniture, and decorations will require. Certain structures cannot be placed due to certain restrictions mentioned below.
Players cannot build:
Structures built with ash logs as the primary ingredient have 100 building health, whilst structures built with oak logs and willow logs have higher building health. Defensive structures, such as the pallisades gates and pallisade walls, have at least 2000 and 6000 health, respectively.
Ashenfall is full of creatures, some hostile, others friendly. From kebbit to Dragon, killing monsters provides combat experience and useful loots. Certain monsters have a power level tied to the Ashenfall they are in. For example, Ghornfell is a power level 3 - 4 region, where monsters, such as the garou, have a power level of 3 or 4. Here, you also have your own power level that greatly depends on the armour you are wearing. During and after the tutorial, your character will start with power level 0 armour and power level 1 weapons, like the Adventurer's Tunic and Stone Club, respectively.
Killing monsters will level up the specific combat skill you used to kill, which is Attack, Magic, and Ranged. Here, the combat system relies on your movement (default: W,A,S,D) keys or joystick (if using controller), your primary action (default: primary left button) mouse or controller (default: RT) button, secondary action (default: secondary right button) mouse or controller (default: LT) button and evade (default: CTRL) key or controller (default: B) button.
This game, while not purely multiplayer like its predecessors, does allow multiple players (4-6 players) to play the same world. Players can open up servers to the public, and some who join may not be completely good actors, so here are some tips to help you stay safe:
Text from the wiki, licensed CC BY-NC-SA 3.0.