The dragon’s roar echoes across the landscape, sending the local deer population running and startling a chicken or two. I caught a glimpse of the dragon soaring through the sky when I first arrived on Ashenfall. I knew it was a threat at the time, like all dragons usually are, but thought it was one I wouldn’t have to worry about for a while. The dragon’s second visit proved me wrong. Thinking it would be nice to see it again, I looked up. Rather than seeing a scaly beast, though, I found myself drenched in poison. This is how I tasted death for the first time in RuneScape: Dragonwilds – the new survival crafting game from Jagex, which recently saw a surprise Early Access release.
On its latest visit, unsurprisingly, the dragon finds me desperately trying to build a base. After all, bases mean warmth, comfort and not being covered in poison. All’s been going well so far, too. The little building sits on a foundation to help prevent night attacks, has torches for when it gets dark, and a couple of windows for enjoying the scenery. It even has a door. There’s only one thing it’s missing, a very important thing all buildings should have, especially if they’ve been created to defend their occupants against poisonous dragons: a roof.
Shame I’m bad at building roofs in video games. No, scratch that. Shame I’m terrible at building roofs in video games.
I don’t know what I’ve made so far, but it’s certainly not a roof. I’ve seen working roofs in real life and none of them have a great big hole in the middle. It’s my own fault really. I tried to be ‘fancy’. Past-Lottie thought she’d make a quaint entranceway with cornered roof sections and a little overhang above the door. What she’s actually done is waste the precious wood she spent 20 minutes collecting and plastered the walls with random roof tiles. One’s even facing inwards! She hasn’t even touched the main roof – sorry, I mean hole. We should all be thankful that ‘Lottie Lynn’s Roofers’ isn’t a real company.
There’s no point going inside. Even cowering in the corner won’t save present-Lottie from the dragon’s poisonous breath, which means…
Thankfully Dragonwilds considered my attempt at roofing a form of shelter, so I was able to place a bedroll in it – though I do feel somewhat pitied… This is great because, since you respawn at your bedroll upon death, I didn’t have to walk far to reclaim my items.
To be clear, my inability to build a functioning roof is all down to me. Dragonwilds’ building mechanic is great and I could happily spend hours covering Ashenfall in my roofless creations. The snapping mode makes constructing bases an easy process by showing where each piece, be it door or wall, can fit and allows for quick rotations. There’s also a ‘Ghost Mode’ where you place blueprints for objects you want but currently lack the resources for. It’s incredibly helpful for base planning as it lets you figure out whether everything will go and if you need to invest in an extension.
Best of all is the Eye of Oculus spell, which lets you leave the confines of your avatar body to build remotely. It’s perfect for multi-story buildings and, yes, roofs. Even if said roof involves an overly complicated network of beams and floor panels all hidden beneath a mess of cornered roof sections. Just ignore the piece of beam sticking out of the top that makes it look like an unfinished lighthouse. It’s fine. My dragon friend can use it as a perch.
Eye of Oculus isn’t the only useful spell you’ll unlock either. There’s Axtral Projection, which fells multiple trees at once, and Bones To Peaches, which does exactly what it suggests. Not to forget about the collection of combat-oriented spells either. All assist in surviving Ashenfall because, alongside keeping a watchfall eye out for dragons and goblins, you also need to meet a human’s basic needs for life. That means keeping yourself fed, watered and rested.
The first is easy to achieve since food isn’t hard to find, especially the staple RuneScape food group – the cabbage. Water is also easy to come by. Though you might want to boil it first as drinking too much dirty water will make you sick. Rest, however, requires shelter and that in turn requires a roof, hence my desire to build one despite my faults. It’s important to balance maintaining these three stats alongside progressing through the skills to unlock new abilities. Doing so will help you uncover the secrets Ashenfall hides and complete the main quests. Who knows, maybe you’ll even be able to slay the Dragon Queen. (Once she’s been added to the game.)
One thing you don’t need for Dragonwilds is any knowledge of RuneScape itself. Sure certain mechanics, like the skills, are inspired by the MMORPGs, but all a newcomer to the franchise might find themselves confused by is the lore. There’s nothing to worry about, though. While characters might name drop beings like Bandos and the Big High War God (they’re the same person), it doesn’t affect the gameplay at all. RuneScape fans, however, will enjoy finding little nods to the games, such as reorchestrated versions of music tracks and the inclusion of characters like Zanik, who must be on her fourth character model by now.
RuneScape: Dragonwilds shows a lot of promise for an Early Access game and, with its first roadmap already released, it will be interesting to watch the game grow. I can easily see myself sacrificing some time dedicated to RuneScape 3 in favour of Dragonwilds. For now, I need to take another look at that roof. Someone just got hit by poison dragon fire inside her base.
