The field guide

Everything in Idleville

The front page is the short version. This is the long one: the strip, the battles, every zone, the loot, the town and the legends, drawn in the game's own art. Wander in anywhere.

Counted, not guessed

The world in numbers

  • 17,723adventure lineshand-written, goose-approved
  • 21skillseach one a road to 99
  • 32places19 zones, 4 gathering spots, 8 fighting grounds, 1 town
  • 226enemiesmost of them rude
  • 26veteransgrizzled, and proud of it
  • 125gemsskills come cut and polished
  • 10followerstwo fit in a party
  • 1,345itemsfrom turnips to starmetal
  • 38uniquesone of a kind, each
  • 25petsone talent each

Chapter I

The Strip

In which a very small hero takes up a very thin residence at the edge of your screen, and you decide how much they chatter.

The strip

Where every legend walks

Forty pixels tall by default, along the edge of your screen, over whatever you're working on. Your hero walks it with up to two followers at their heels, and when a pack blocks the way the strip turns into a battle of gauges. Pick a hero, pick a zone and watch: the game's own art and adventure lines, playing right here.

Dewdrop MeadowAdv 1–9 zone
Travel
Hero

    This is the real thing, more or less. In the game the strip is a transparent, always-on-top window. Click your hero and the adventure panel pops up. Tea not included.

    • Party left, pack right

      You, Pip and Wren stand on the left with their weapons out. Up to five enemies wait on the right; this little demo sends two or three.

    • Gold means go

      Every actor has a gauge over their head. Whoever's fills first acts, everyone else waits, and a full gauge glows gold.

    • Skills say their name

      Now and then a skill fires and its name flashes over the caster. Every skill comes from a gem socketed in their gear.

    A friendly little companion

    Company for your workday, not another job

    Heroes of Idleville is built to sit quietly at the edge of your attention: a small, warm window into a world where the biggest threat is a goose with opinions.

    • Short, medium or long

      Pick the strip's length, the screen edge it hugs (bottom or top), and left, centre or right along it, with a gap if a panel of your own lives there. It's Slim, 40 pixels tall, by default; Tall (64) and Grand (96) add sky above the road and room for more lines, and the hero stays the same size. Turn on Reserve space and maximized windows keep clear of it, like a taskbar.

    • Fight, Flee, or leave it to Auto

      With Auto on, your hero steps whenever the cooldown allows and takes on whatever blocks the road. Turn Auto fight off in Settings and they wait instead, with Fight and Flee beside the pack (fleeing wins you nothing). Auto off, the step button says Step and every step is yours to take.

    • It carries on without you

      Send your hero on an expedition before lunch, or on an eight-hour job shift before bedtime. It keeps going with the game closed and pays out when you're back.

    • 17,723 bits of nonsense

      Hand-written adventure lines that never repeat within 30 steps. Signposts that just say 'Probably'. Snails that overtake you and don't look back.

    • Fair, always

      No pay-to-win and no energy bars. The planned Supporter DLC is cosmetics only, so the only way to a better sword is to earn one: find it, craft it, trade for it (or a gem to socket in it).

    • Polite to your desktop

      A tray icon to hide, show or reset the strip. If the game ever hangs, the tray still offers a restart, no task manager required.

    For new heroes

    One thing at a time

    A brand-new hero doesn't get ten tabs and forty buttons at once. The panel starts with your Hero, the Bag, the World tab (just Travel, for now), Mail and Settings, and grows as you go: each new tab or section arrives with a little fanfare and glows softly until you've had a look. Heroes who were around before keep everything they had.

    1. TownFirst Steps' trip to the quarry, or Adventuring 3
    2. Skillswhen First Steps sends you mining, or Adventuring 3
    3. Workshopsin Town: First Steps' first forge, or Adventuring 4
    4. Questsin World: First Steps done, or Adventuring 4
    5. ChatAdventuring 3, or a friend request
    6. Bankin Town: Adventuring 6, or 500 gold to your name
    7. Marketin Town: Adventuring 8
    8. Homein Town: Adventuring 9
    9. GuildAdventuring 10, or an invitation
    10. Partywhen your first follower joins
    11. Raidsin World: the first world raid you see rise

    In a hurry? Show everything now, the first row of Settings (or that quiet link under the tabs), opens it all at once.

    A tour you can't miss

    Your hero shows you around the strip, then walks you through First Steps, a short quest with a starter kit. Each step's card stays put until it's done, and a thick gold outline with marching dashes and a bouncing arrow sits right on the button to press, in the panel or on the strip. Skip it or replay it any time in Settings → Tutorial.

    Never locked out

    Your account comes with a product key, a hero name and a password; an email is optional, but a very good idea. Add one in Settings → Account and confirm it with the eight-character code we mail you. Then Forgot password? on the login screen mails a code to set a new one, and you can change your password in the same Account page any time, which logs out your other sessions. There's also a box to tick for the occasional newsletter, with a one-click way out of it.

    Letters from us come from the Idleville Post, dressed like the game. And in chat, a little crown or shield marks someone from the Idleville team.

    The path ahead

    A peek down the road

    Your party's next three steps are decided a little early, so the strip can show them coming: standing in the scene ahead, each a little hazier than the last, and as three small icons at the stage's far end. Every step, the queue moves up a spot, the goose you saw coming waddles in, and something new appears in the distance.

    • an enemy or a pack
    • a boss
    • something to gather
    • someone to meet
    • a thing to see
    • a find
    • gold
    • a lesson
    • a quiet stretch

    • No peeking for free

      The queue is rolled with exactly the odds a step always had, and only once per zone. Looking, resting or a skilling session never reshuffles it: a fresh queue costs a trip somewhere else, and the trip back. So no fishing for the rare boss by staring at the road.

    • Dungeons too

      In a dungeon the lane shows the next three rooms, a trap looking like its prop. Between rooms your hero walks the corridor, the next room's foe coming into view as they go.

    • Only on the road

      Nothing's ahead on a trip, in town or at the raid, and a hero met on the way is always a surprise. Rather have an empty road? Things ahead and Ahead icons are two separate switches in Settings.

    Steering from the strip

    Your strip, your rules

    Most of what you'd open the panel for is one click from the strip, and how much your hero chatters is up to you. Loud and proud, or a quiet little companion that only pipes up for the good stuff.

    The arrow beside the step button

    What next?

    The step button over Auto tells you what your hero is up to (Go!, Trip 1h12m, Job 42m, Rest 0:42) and the little arrow beside it, or a right-click, opens What next?: what they're doing now with the way to stop it, and every other thing they could be doing, one click each.

    Again rows repeat your last gathering spot, recipe (with its batch) and job (with its shift). A spot in another zone says how far it is: your hero walks to the nearest zone that has it and starts there, no teleporting. The last row reopens While you were away, the summary of what your hero got up to, with ‹ › back through the last five.

    Settings · Chattiness

    Chatty, Normal or Quiet

    • ChattyThe hero tells you everything. The default.
    • NormalBig moments always; small talk at most once every 50 seconds.
    • QuietOnly the big moments: level-ups, rare loot, quests, raids, friends.

    Nothing is lost at any level: every line still goes to the adventure log. The speech bubble is one neat line, at most two-fifths of the stage wide, so the scenery shows around it; a longer line pages through instead of piling up. Dungeon rooms say their line once.

    Settings · Text

    Or give the words a band of their own

    Prefer your scenery bubble-free? Switch Show text as to Text band and every line goes to a slim dark band attached to the strip, newest at the bottom, rarities in their colours. A ≡ in its corner opens the full log. Or keep the bubbles and make them your own: bigger, more lines, to the side of the stage.

    Show text as
    Bubbles in the scene · Text band
    Position
    Band: above, below, left or right of the strip, or inside it. Bubbles: over the hero, or at either end of the stage
    Text size
    70% to 200%
    Lines
    1 to 5 (bubbles also Auto: 1, 2 or 3 by the strip's height)
    Band width · length
    80 to 480 px beside the strip · 25% to 100% along it
    Background
    0% to 100%
    Fade after
    Once read, 3 to 30 seconds, or keep the last lines
    Timestamps
    On or off, for the band

    And a few more knobs

    A tidy tray, and a new coat of paint

    The focus timer, the Mailbox, What's new and the raid skull sit in a tray between Auto and Menu, and the chevron beside Menu folds it away, with a gold dot when something inside is waiting.

    Curious about what's next for the look? Settings → Look → New UI (preview) switches on a first go at the new interface: framed panels, chunky pixel buttons with icons, clearer sections. It changes live and switches back just as easily, and it's still being polished, so tell us what you think through the Mailbox. Tabs hogging the panel? Menu tabs, right under it, shrinks them to small icons beside their names, or to one slim row of icons.

    Resting

    Sit down, warm up, walk on

    HP comes back in ticks of 20%: every 5 minutes while your party walks and fights, and every 30 seconds while they rest, work a shift, skill or wait for you with the game closed. Followers heal with the same ticks and mana comes back ten times faster by the fire. And resting has become a little event of its own, with a campfire, a snack and a reward for doing it properly.

    Resting by the campfire: +20% in 0:12 (resting: every 30s). Up at full HP, in 1:12The status line under the fire, the HP bar filling tick by tick and a thin warm bar counting to the next one.
    • A breather, on its own. With Auto on, a hero under 35% HP that can't eat (no food, or auto-eat set lower) pitches a campfire and the whole party sits until they're full, then walks on. Pick Rest in What next? to sit down any time, and Get up (or a click on the step button) to go again at once.
    • A snack at the fire. Every tick at the camp grills one raw food from your bag, the best single-ingredient recipe you have the Cooking level for: a raw minnow becomes a grilled one, a crabapple a baked crabapple. Half the recipe's Cooking xp, and it never burns. In town your hero rests on a bench instead, so nothing gets grilled.
    • Well rested. Rest at least 1 minute and get up at full HP, and a sleepy moon joins your buffs: +5% xp for 10 minutes, about the walk to your next rest. A quick top-up doesn't count, and neither does being knocked out.
    • Auto-eat, on for everyone. Below 70% HP your party eats from the shared bag before a battle, a dungeon room, a tower floor or a raid swing: food, or a healing potion that mends a share of max HP (a Minor one 10%, Grandma's Emergency Soup all of it). It picks what fills the gap best, the cheaper of two that do. Mid-battle, each of them takes one bite in place of a turn, so food helps you through a scrape without making bosses easy. Change the line, or the fireside snack, in Hero → Cape & habits.
    • Knocked out? Only a party wipe ends a battle: a fallen member lies down until it's over, then gets up on their own feet. If the whole party goes down, your hero rests back to full at the camp's pace, 2½ minutes from the last hit point. Travel, gathering and jobs still work meanwhile; fights wait until they're back up.

    Chapter II

    The Battles

    In which the hero acquires friends, gems and a gauge, the goose acquires a gauge too, and something enormous rises every few hours.

    The rules of the ring

    How a battle goes

    A party of the hero and up to two followers against up to five enemies: 226 kinds of enemy, 26 of them Veterans, 80 enemy skills between them. Here's the short version, then the details.

    1. 1

      The gauges fill

      Everyone has one, filling at the speed of its owner.

    2. 2

      Someone's full

      They pick a basic attack or a skill, and everything else waits.

    3. 3

      It plays out

      A swing, a cast, a heal; damage numbers; a small gasp.

    4. 4

      Round again

      Until one side has nobody standing. Usually the goose's.

    • Speed is everything

      A hero's speed is 100 times the speed of their main weapon plus whatever the gear adds. It sets how fast the gauge fills, so a dagger acts often and a greataxe thinks about it. Every gauge pauses while someone is mid-action.

    • Mana, earned by swinging

      Skills and spells cost mana, and there's no waiting for it to trickle back mid-fight: every basic attack restores some. Out of battle it returns on its own, faster while resting.

    • 286 skills, one turn in four

      145 offensive, 39 defensive, 56 utility, 38 healing and 8 summons. Every skill has a fixed chance, nudged up as its gem levels, and there are no sliders to turn. A turn rolls once, and all the skills together take at most a quarter of the turns; the rest are basic attacks.

    • Sockets and linked pairs

      Weapons, armor and off-hands roll between none and four sockets by rarity, some linked in pairs so a Support gem can reach its partner. Helmets, boots and accessories carry at most one. Gems earn AP in battle, grow through five levels, and a mastered one buds a fresh copy.

    • Two hands, or one and a shield

      A main hand and an off-hand: a shield, an off-hand dagger, a tome, an orb or a quiver. Two-handers take both. Every weapon type has its own fighting pose.

    • Four tactics

      Aggressive, Balanced, Defensive or Support, per character. They colour what the AI chooses when a gauge fills, so the healer heals and the barbarian, on being asked to heal, has feelings.

    • Down, but not out

      The hero falling doesn't lose the battle; only a party wipe does. A fallen hero or follower stays down until a Revive lifts them, or until the fight is won, and then they get up with a little health and a lot of dignity to recover.

    • The server plays it, you watch it

      The whole battle is decided by the server in one go from a single seed, and your strip replays the timeline: every step, swing and number. What you see is what happened, which is more than can be said for the goose.

    Socket & spark

    Every skill is a jewel

    No skill trees, no spellbooks: your hero fights with whatever gems are socketed in their gear. 125 gems in five rarities, each earning AP in battle and growing through five levels, and a mastered gem buds a fresh copy. Yes, it's materia, and we're not sorry.

    1. Common

      25 gems

      Axe Arts · Bow Arts · Brawling

    2. Uncommon

      27 gems

      Arcana · Barrier · Berserker

    3. Rare

      39 gems

      All · Blade Dance · Bulwark

    4. Epic

      24 gems

      Archmage · Assassin · Axe Throwing

    5. Legendary

      10 gems

      Clean Bill · Falling Sky · Heart of Idleville

    Spell 23

    Fire, ice, lightning and Revive. Works with any weapon, even a spoon.

    Skill 69

    A weapon's whole bag of tricks. Needs the right weapon to open.

    Support 10

    Socketed in linked pairs: it changes what its partner does.

    Stat 15

    No fireworks: just more of what you already like.

    Summon 8

    A friend for one big turn, one to three times a battle. Some of them are geese.

    Where gems drop best

    Any enemy you beat might drop one: a regular now and then, Veterans and elites more often and rarer, bosses and raids most of all. On the seven gem grounds, the fighting grounds other than the Sparring Paddock, gems drop three times as often and up to a rarity rarer, Veterans and elites turn up twice as often, and Slayer task kills count double. The Paddock itself drops nothing: its sparring partners grow to each fighter's weapon level, which makes it the place to train one.

    Spell · Common · item level 1

    Fire

    Handle with oven gloves.

    Ember · Blaze · Wildfire

    Five levels · full growth at 9,000 AP

    The party

    Ten friends, two seats

    You and up to two followers take the field; the rest wait in Idleville, gossiping. Each has a name, a weapon and an opinion, and you choose their gear, cape, gems and tactics. They level from the fights they're in, and none of them has ever once been on time.

    1. Seat oneYou
    2. Seat twoA follower
    3. Seat threeAnother follower
    4. The bench8 more, resting in Idleville

    • Pip Puddlefoot

      Stable-hand, Reader of Adventures

      sword

      In 'The Dragon Who Wasn't', the hero rested here too. Then: dragon. Let's rest carefully.

    • Wren Hollowbough

      Ranger of the Whistling Timberland

      longbow

      Hear that? A blackbird. He says rain by teatime, and mind the puddle on your left.

    • Sir Honksalot

      Goose Knight of the Soggy Order

      spear

      A knight must always be vigilant. HONK. That was a vigilant honk.

    • Bartholomew "Plink" Plinkett

      Retired Lighthouse Keeper

      crossbow

      Red sky at night, shepherd's delight. Red sky at morning, someone's burnt the toast.

    • Sister Marigold

      Battle-Nun of the Cheerful Cloister

      mace

      Isn't this a lovely day? Even the clouds look like they're trying their best!

    • Zephyrine the Mostly Adequate

      Wizard, Mostly Adequate

      wand

      I turned a toad into a prince once. He was furious. He'd been very happy as a toad.

    • Fennel Quickfingers

      Reformed Pickpocket, Mostly

      dagger

      Found a spoon. No idea whose. Spoons wander, you know. Very restless cutlery.

    • Mortimer Grimsby

      Apprentice Necromancer, Very Sorry

      staff

      The skull on my staff is Gerald. Say hello, Gerald. He's shy. He's also dead.

    • Ragna Two-Breakfasts

      Barbarian of Frostfang, Always Peckish

      greataxe

      Is it lunch? It feels like lunch. My stomach says lunch and my stomach is a warrior.

    • Grizzle Ironbrow

      Smith of the Forgotten Forge

      maul

      Who sharpened this? A goat? Was it a goat? Tell me the truth.

    Together, or higher

    Up the tower, out to the raid

    Two ways to find out how strong the party really is: a tower with no top, and enormous things that rise from the world every four hours and would like to be fought by everyone at once.

    The Endless Tower

    A ladder that resets every Monday

    Climb as far as the party can: 3 attempts a day, a boss on every 5th floor, packs that swell and enemies that toughen 1.2% a floor. Your best floor of the week goes on the leaderboard, and when the week ends the ladder pays tower tokens, as does every boss floor you clear for the first time that week. Nothing else does. They buy a weekly gem box, the Rampart set, dungeon keys and three avatars that no shop in Idleville will sell you.

    1. Floor100The Rampart set may drop, and once in a blue moon the Knights of Idleville. Bring snacks.
    2. Floor50Clear it once and the Tower Champion's look is yours to wear.
    3. Floor25Another boss floor. The gargoyles are taking notes.
    4. Floor10Boss floor. A Warren Key sometimes falls out of it.
    5. Floor5The first boss. Keep your gauges full.
    6. Floor1Goose, slime, sheep. Gentle. Enjoy it.

    Sold only in the tower shop:

    World raids

    Enormous, and scaled to you

    A raid boss is one huge fight for the whole server. It grows to the heroes who join, so its xp, gold and loot are yours at any level, and everyone who lands 25 blows gets the full reward, the strongest hero or not. Each raid's own trophy, its boss title and three legendary gems are only ever found here.

    • Colossal Crab

      From level 18 · a 30-minute window

      Every kill drops Colossal Crab Shell; top damage earns the Crab Cracker

    • Ancient Turnip

      From level 26 · a 30-minute window

      Every kill drops Ancient Turnip Seed; top damage earns the Turnip Uprooter

    • Sky Whale

      From level 34 · a 30-minute window

      Every kill drops Whalesong Pearl; top damage earns the Whale Wrangler

    • Auditor-General

      From level 42 · a 30-minute window

      Every kill drops Red Stamp of Approval; top damage earns the Auditor's Auditor

    The bestiary

    226 ways to be interrupted

    Every adventure zone has its regulars, its packs, its boss and its Veterans. Every one of them has a size and a speed, and nearly all have skills of their own: 80 enemy skills in all. Nobody in Idleville has ever finished the list, though several have tried.

    Five sizes, five temperaments

    • Tiny 7

      Fast, fragile, annoying.

      Speed
      ×2
      HP
      ×0.6
      Hit
      ×0.9

    • Small 104

      The everyday pests.

      Speed
      ×1.45
      HP
      ×0.75
      Hit
      ×0.9

    • Medium 71

      Fair fights.

      Speed
      ×1
      HP
      ×1
      Hit
      ×1

    • Large 37

      Slow. Hits like a wardrobe.

      Speed
      ×0.37
      HP
      ×1.6
      Hit
      ×1.55

    • Huge 7

      Very slow. Very, very hard.

      Speed
      ×0.2
      HP
      ×2.2
      Hit
      ×2.1

    Veterans

    26 of them have seen things

    A Veteran is a regular who grew up and stayed: tougher, meaner and with more skills than is polite. They drop rarer gems than the regulars, and more often, which is the only reason anyone forgives them.

    • Grizzled Goose
    • Grey-Muzzled Wolf
    • Old Salt Crab
    • Kobold Foreman
    • Bullfrog Bouncer
    • Skeleton Sergeant
    • Teenage Yeti
    • Ashen Knight
    • Tomb Guardian
    • Silverback Howler
    • Faceted Golem
    • Imp Taskmaster
    • Clockwork Sergeant
    • Boiler Golem
    • Toadstool Templar
    • Nine-Tailed Fox
    • Deep Angler
    • Spire Moray
    • Fledged Griffin
    • Thunder Ram
    • Obsidian Champion
    • Shadow Mastiff
    • Void Watcher
    • Rift Stalker
    • Astral Paladin
    • Supernova Hound

    Chapter III

    The World

    In which the road goes on and on, geese are ridden, and things grow beside it.

    19 zones, Adventuring 1 to 84

    From Dewdrop Meadow to the edge of the cosmos

    Every zone has its own far hills, ground and scenery (and, above ground, weather), its own locals (226 enemies in all, 26 of them Veterans, from tiny to huge), its own jokes and a boss who takes it all very personally. Walking trains Adventuring, and your Adventuring level opens the road to the next one. Add the 4 gathering locations, the 8 fighting grounds and Idleville, the town (safe, open to all, and not an adventure zone: no monsters, no gate), and that's 32 places to wander. Getting there takes 20 seconds, by time tunnel, catapult, goose or cheese: see the journeys below.

    Follow the road →

    1. Stop 1 of 19

      Dewdrop Meadow

      Rolling hills, gentle breezes, and a turnip population with a superiority complex.

      Boss: Smug Turnip King Cb 10

      Locals: Entitled Field Mouse, Rowdy Rooster, Goblin King, and 7 more (11 enemies, 1 Veteran, tiny to large)

      By the road: Foraging 6%, Mining 4%

    2. Stop 2 of 19

      Whispering Woods

      The trees whisper constantly, mostly unkind remarks about your haircut.

      Boss: Litigious Elder Treant Cb 19

      Locals: Bureaucratic Goblin, Judgmental Owl, Rotten Oak, and 7 more (11 enemies, 1 Veteran, small to huge)

      By the road: Woodcutting 15%, Foraging 12%

    3. Stop 3 of 19

      Saltwhisker Shore

      Sun, sand and seagulls with the manners of pirates. The crabs walk sideways out of spite.

      Boss: Captain Clawbeard Cb 21

      Locals: Sideways Sand Crab, Salty Tidepool Slime, Barnacle Brute, and 6 more (10 enemies, 1 Veteran, small to large)

      By the road: Fishing 20%, Mining 3%

    4. Stop 4 of 19

      Old Mines

      Abandoned by dwarves after a dispute over the break room coffee, but not by monsters.

      Boss: Relentless Dwarven Auditor Cb 33

      Locals: Echoing Bat, Cave Spider, Ledger Golem, and 7 more (11 enemies, 1 Veteran, small to large)

      By the road: Mining 30%

    5. Stop 5 of 19

      Bogwater Marsh

      A foggy swamp where the fireflies give bad directions and the frogs give worse advice.

      Boss: Bog Hag Mildred Cb 31

      Locals: Bloated Bog Toad, Frog Prince (Allegedly), Not-a-Log Crocodile, and 6 more (10 enemies, 1 Veteran, small to large)

      By the road: Fishing 15%, Foraging 10%

    6. Stop 6 of 19

      Gravewind Hollow

      A graveyard where nobody rests in peace, mostly because of all the noise complaints.

      Boss: Count Bonechill Cb 36

      Locals: Well-Fed Crypt Rat, Weeping Ghost, Professional Mourner, and 6 more (10 enemies, 1 Veteran, small to large)

      By the road: Woodcutting 10%, Foraging 6%

    7. Stop 7 of 19

      Ashen Wastes

      A scorched land where retired dragons go to complain about the weather.

      Boss: Retired Elder Dragon Cb 51

      Locals: Sarcastic Ash Imp, Dust Devil, Ember Wyrm, and 8 more (12 enemies, 1 Veteran, small to huge)

      By the road: Mining 12%, Foraging 5%

    8. Stop 8 of 19

      Frostfang Peaks

      Mountains so cold that even the yetis wear scarves. Bring mittens. Bring two.

      Boss: Grand Yeti Cb 44

      Locals: Sniffly Snow Goblin, Snow Goblin Shaman, Brittle Ice Elemental, and 6 more (10 enemies, 1 Veteran, small to huge)

      By the road: Mining 20%, Foraging 5%

    9. Stop 9 of 19

      Sunscorch Dunes

      Endless dunes, ancient ruins and a sun that takes its job far too seriously.

      Boss: Pharaoh of Sand Cb 49

      Locals: Pinchy Dune Scorpion, Unraveling Sand Mummy, Dune Burrower, and 6 more (10 enemies, 1 Veteran, small to large)

      By the road: Mining 8%, Foraging 6%

    10. Stop 10 of 19

      Emerald Canopy

      A jungle so green it hurts. Everything here is colorful, loud or trying to eat you.

      Boss: Queen of Thorns Cb 54

      Locals: Neon Dart Frog, Heckling Howler Monkey, Hugging Python, and 6 more (10 enemies, 1 Veteran, tiny to large)

      By the road: Woodcutting 18%, Foraging 15%

    11. Stop 11 of 19

      Crystal Caverns

      Glittering caves where the walls sparkle, the bats glow and the slimes refract.

      Boss: Shardmother Cb 59

      Locals: Refractive Prism Slime, Gem-Polishing Gnome, Glittering Gem Golem, and 6 more (10 enemies, 1 Veteran, small to huge)

      By the road: Mining 30%, Foraging 5%

    12. Stop 12 of 19

      Cinder Caldera

      The inside of a volcano. Warm, cozy and full of things that are on fire on purpose.

      Boss: Caldera King Cb 64

      Locals: Bubbly Magma Slime, Magma Crab, Simmering Lava Serpent, and 6 more (10 enemies, 1 Veteran, small to huge)

      By the road: Mining 15%, Foraging 5%

    13. Stop 13 of 19

      Gearwhistle Works

      A clockwork factory still running shifts nobody scheduled. Everything ticks. Some things tock.

      Boss: Chief Engineer Sprocket Cb 69

      Locals: Ticking Cog Spider, Sprocket Beetle, Wheezing Steam Golem, and 7 more (11 enemies, 2 Veterans, small to large)

      By the road: Mining 8%, Fishing 4%

    14. Stop 14 of 19

      Fae Hollow

      A fairy glade where every flower has terms and conditions and every mushroom has a riddle.

      Boss: Dreaming King Cb 74

      Locals: Pixie Prankster, Wandering Will-o'-Wisp, Valiant Mushroom Knight, and 7 more (11 enemies, 2 Veterans, tiny to large)

      By the road: Foraging 15%, Woodcutting 10%

    15. Stop 15 of 19

      Sunken Spires

      The towers of a drowned city, surfacing at low tide and sulking at high tide.

      Boss: Drowned Admiral Cb 79

      Locals: Wobbly Jelly Drifter, Tollbell Hermit, Coral Golem, and 7 more (11 enemies, 2 Veterans, small to large)

      By the road: Fishing 20%, Mining 4%

    16. Stop 16 of 19

      Cloudreach Isles

      Islands adrift in the sky. Mind the edges; the clouds are not load-bearing.

      Boss: Storm Roc Cb 85

      Locals: Fluffy Griffin Chick, Headstrong Cloud Ram, Coiling Sky Serpent, and 7 more (11 enemies, 2 Veterans, small to huge)

      By the road: Fishing 6%, Woodcutting 6%

    17. Stop 17 of 19

      Obsidian Citadel

      A fortress of polished black stone, very dramatic and in desperate need of better lighting.

      Boss: Obsidian Warden Cb 93

      Locals: Herald Raven, Citadel Jailer, Brooding Dark Knight, and 7 more (11 enemies, 2 Veterans, small to huge)

      By the road: Mining 8%, Woodcutting 4%

    18. Stop 18 of 19

      Abyssal Rift

      The place where the world ran out. The void stares back and asks what you want.

      Boss: Hollow One Cb 102

      Locals: Null Slime, Rift Crawler, Echo Wraith, and 7 more (11 enemies, 2 Veterans, small to large)

      By the road: Mining 6%, Fishing 5%

    19. Stop 19 of 19

      Astral Expanse

      The cosmos itself, where stars twinkle on schedule and someone keeps very careful accounts.

      Boss: Cosmic Accountant Cb 110

      Locals: Star Jelly, Cosmic Auditor, Meteor Golem, and 7 more (11 enemies, 2 Veterans, small to large)

      By the road: Foraging 6%, Mining 6%

    8 fighting grounds

    For heroes who would rather fight than walk: the Travel list's Fighting tab. A ground has no locals of its own. It borrows its neighbours' and puts them in a ring, a fight on most steps. The Sparring Paddock is the xp ground: one sparring partner steps up for each of your fighters, at that fighter's weapon level, and pays xp and gold like any foe of its level but drops nothing. The other 7 are gem grounds: gems drop three times as often and a rarity rarer, and every Slayer task kill counts double.

    • The xp ground

      Sparring Paddock

      A fenced field behind the meadow where turnips train for their big day. The referee is a goose. Nobody argues with the goose.

      Meets: a partner per fighter, grown from any zone to its weapon level (below Cb 3, the Belligerent Goose)

    • Gem ground

      Brambleback Ring

      A ring of thornbushes where woodland brutes and shore crabs settle their differences. The crabs bring folding chairs.

      Meets: the locals of Whispering Woods and Saltwhisker Shore

    • Gem ground

      Gloomdrift Pit

      A flooded mine shaft turned fighting pit. Mine monsters on one side, bog things on the other, and a bookie in waders.

      Meets: the locals of Old Mines and Bogwater Marsh

    • Gem ground

      Frostbite Colosseum

      An ice arena where the ghosts, dragons and yetis take turns being the main event. The seats are cold. So is the crowd.

      Meets: the locals of Gravewind Hollow, Ashen Wastes and Frostfang Peaks

    • Gem ground

      Sunward Arena

      A sun-baked amphitheatre with a crystal roof, a jungle in the cheap seats and a mummy selling lemonade at the gate.

      Meets: the locals of Sunscorch Dunes, Emerald Canopy and Crystal Caverns

    • Gem ground

      Clockwork Coliseum

      A coliseum that winds itself up every morning. Fire imps, gear golems and fairies compete for a trophy nobody has read the rules for.

      Meets: the locals of Cinder Caldera, Gearwhistle Works and Fae Hollow

    • Gem ground

      Skyhook Proving Grounds

      Fighting platforms hung from an airship's anchor chains. Spire things climb up, sky things drop in, and the audience brings umbrellas.

      Meets: the locals of Sunken Spires and Cloudreach Isles

    • Gem ground

      Voidwatch Bastion

      The last fortress before nothing at all, where champions duel the worst the cosmos has to offer. The scoreboard counts in stars.

      Meets: the locals of Obsidian Citadel, Abyssal Rift and Astral Expanse

    Trips

    Twelve ways to get there, none of them sensible

    A trip to another zone takes 20 seconds (a travel-speed pet or guild perk shaves it a little), and the strip makes an occasion of it. Every trip picks one of twelve journeys that fit it (boats to or from the water, minecarts to or from the mines), and your hero narrates the whole way, from the setting off to the landing. Open the game half way through and the journey joins in at the right moment.

    A goose, drawn from memory. It is not explained.

    • Journey 1 of 12

      Through a time tunnel

      1. The sprint: the hero runs off, the zone rushing by, dust puffs at their heels and speed streaks in the air, while a portal swirls open ahead.
      2. The warp: the portal swallows the strip into a time tunnel with rings and star lines rushing out of its mouth and its colours drifting; the old zone stretches and dissolves, pocket watches and a goose tumble by, and half way the new zone starts showing through.
      3. The arrival: the tunnel closes in on the hero and pops, and the hero drops out into the new zone and lands.

    • Journey 2 of 12

      By catapult

      1. The launch: a catapult drops in behind the hero, who climbs into its bucket; a countdown, and the hero is flung up out of the strip.
      2. The arc: the camera catches up with the hero tumbling over the clouds, past a flock of gulls, upright for a moment at the top to take in the view, overtaking the goose from the time tunnel, then down again, faster and faster.
      3. The landing: head first into the new zone, legs kicking, and out again.

    • Journey 3 of 12

      On a giant goose

      1. The pick-up: the hero whistles, a giant goose swoops in low from behind and scoops them onto its back, runs a few steps and takes off.
      2. The flight: up over the clouds, flapping, honking, and for a while flying the wrong way round until the hero sets it straight.
      3. The landing: down into the new zone, a waddling touch-down, and the goose bucks the hero off and flies away honking.

    • Journey 4 of 12

      By a bunch of balloons

      1. The lift: the hero blows up balloon after balloon until their feet leave the ground, and drifts up, legs pedalling the air.
      2. The drift: slowly over the clouds; a pigeon lands on the balloons and pops one, and later another.
      3. The landing: a gentle touch-down in the new zone, and the hero lets the rest of the balloons go.

    • Journey 5 of 12

      By pigeon post

      1. The posting: a parcel drops over the hero, who is now in it (it jiggles), and a team of pigeons flutters in and lifts it off.
      2. The post round: over the clouds with the parcel swinging under the pigeons; one of them goes off after a crumb and the parcel hangs crooked until it is back.
      3. The delivery: the pigeons drop the parcel in the new zone with a thud and fly off, and the hero bursts out of it.

    • Journey 6 of 12

      Inside a runaway wheel of cheese

      1. The roll-in: a giant waxed cheese with its middle eaten out rolls up, and the hero hops inside and starts running like a hamster in a wheel.
      2. The roll: faster and faster through a blur of other zones, bouncing over bumps, with a pack of crypt rats chasing the cheese for a while.
      3. The stop: the wheel slows down in the new zone, wobbles, tips over flat and the hero tumbles out, dizzy.

    • Journey 7 of 12

      By ferry

      1. The crossing: a river floods in over the path with a leaky rowing boat on it, and its grumpy ferryman holds out his palm for the fare before the hero may climb in.
      2. The river: he rows, then stops mid-river on a break, arms folded, while the hero fishes out an old boot; he rows on through a bank of mist, a gull on his hat.
      3. The landing: the river ebbs away and leaves the boat on the new zone's path, the hero hops out and the ferryman rows off across dry land, grumbling.

    • Journey 8 of 12

      By bathtub

      1. The bath: a clawfoot bathtub drops out of the sky, the hero hops in and turns on the tap, and the water floods the whole zone until the tub floats.
      2. The voyage: the towel sail fills, the rubber duck squeaks, a shark fin circles the tub (a small fish holding up a cardboard fin), and the steam gets thick.
      3. The drain: the hero pulls the plug, the river gurgles away, and the tub settles in the new zone and goes in a puff.

    • Journey 9 of 12

      In a runaway minecart

      1. The ride in: a minecart rolls up on rails laid along the path, the hero climbs in, and it starts rolling by itself, downhill, faster and faster.
      2. The runaway: it jumps a gap in the track, the brake throws sparks and comes off in the hero's hand, and the cart plunges into a pitch-dark tunnel, its lantern on the outside.
      3. The end of the line: the cart slams into a buffer stop in the new zone, the hero flies out, hangs in the air a moment and drops to the ground as the cart rolls away.

    • Journey 10 of 12

      By sheep balloon

      1. The pump-up: a sheep in a harness trots up, a wicker basket drops round the hero, and the hero pumps the sheep up until it is a round woolly balloon and lifts off.
      2. The flight: up over the clouds, the sheep snacking on a cloud, then letting out a tremendous bleat of air behind and shooting forward.
      3. The landing: it lets the air out slowly, the basket bumps down in the new zone, and the sheep, back to its size, trots off.

    • Journey 11 of 12

      On the Snail Express

      1. The express: a giant racing snail (saddle, go-faster flames) zooms up at a startling speed, the hero climbs into the saddle, and it sets off..
      2. The long haul: a small ordinary snail overtakes them; days and nights flicker by while the hero's beard grows down to their knees.
      3. The arrival: the snail stops in the new zone and the hero climbs down, very much older and not much wiser, and the snail creeps on.

    • Journey 12 of 12

      By turnip-powered donkey cart

      1. The carrot, but a turnip: a donkey pulling a cart trots up, chasing the smug turnip dangled from a stick in front of its nose; the hero climbs into the cart.
      2. The chase: the turnip smirks, the donkey loses its temper and sprints, and the cart vanishes into its own dust cloud.
      3. The catch: the string snaps, the turnip bounces ahead, the donkey lunges for it and the cart shoots out from under the hero, who drops onto the path in the new zone while the donkey chomps away happily.

    Nine transitions

    …and a curtain for every change of scene

    Whenever the strip changes scene, to work a node, clock in at a job, set off on an expedition, open a story, go down a dungeon, up the tower or into a raid, and back again, a short cartoon plays over it. Each change picks a style that fits where the hero is going, never the one it played last. It's only for show: the change itself happens at once underneath, and nothing waits for it.

    • Pan 1.4 s

      For gathering, jobs, expeditions and zones

    • Iris 1.8 s

      For gathering, workshops, expeditions, stories, dungeons, the tower, raids and zones

    • Curtain 2 s

      For gathering, workshops, jobs, stories, the tower, raids and zones

    • Smoke 1.75 s

      For gathering, workshops, jobs, dungeons, raids and zones

    • Gates 1.85 s

      For workshops and jobs

    • Page 1.4 s

      For stories and zones

    • Descent 1.8 s

      For dungeons

    • Ascent 1.8 s

      For the tower

    • Map 2 s

      For expeditions

    Gathering

    Ore by the roadside, fish on the way

    Every zone has things to gather along the road, true to its theme. Your hero stops at a rock, a tree, a pond or a patch of herbs and works it on the spot, then walks on. Or, if the node wants a higher level, says so and walks on anyway. 798 lines tell you which.

    On the road · Old Mines, Mining 30%

    A little skilling between steps

    When your skill is high enough, the hero gathers one to three actions' worth right there, with your best tool counting as it does at a node: a treat worth half a minute of dedicated skilling. At Mining 18 in the Old Mines:

    “You tap the Iron Rock politely. It coughs up 2 Iron Ore.”

    “The Coal Seam glitters at you, but it wants Mining 20 and you're Mining 18. You wave. It doesn't.”

    The Old Mines and the Crystal Caverns lean to mining, the woods and the Emerald Canopy to woodcutting and foraging, the Saltwhisker Shore, the Bogwater Marsh and the Sunken Spires to fishing. Every zone has at least one skill to gather; a node is picked from the zone's own, mostly around your level, with now and then one to aim for.

    Gathering chances

    What grows where

    Each zone has its own chance per step of meeting a node, up to 60% in all, taken from the other kinds of step so fights and finds keep their shape.

    • Dewdrop MeadowForaging 6%
    • Whispering WoodsWoodcutting 15%
    • Saltwhisker ShoreFishing 20%
    • Old MinesMining 30%
    • Bogwater MarshFishing 15%
    • Gravewind HollowWoodcutting 10%
    • Ashen WastesMining 12%
    • Frostfang PeaksMining 20%
    • Sunscorch DunesMining 8%
    • Emerald CanopyWoodcutting 18%
    • Crystal CavernsMining 30%
    • Cinder CalderaMining 15%
    • Gearwhistle WorksMining 8%
    • Fae HollowForaging 15%
    • Sunken SpiresFishing 20%
    • Cloudreach IslesFishing 6%
    • Obsidian CitadelMining 8%
    • Abyssal RiftMining 6%
    • Astral ExpanseForaging 6%

    4 gathering locations

    One for each gathering skill, open from Adventuring 1 and on the Travel list's Gathering tab. Each has every node of its skill, so a dedicated gatherer can go from level 1 to 99 without leaving. The locals are weak and turn up on only a tenth of the steps. Pick a node in the Skills tab or in What next? and your hero works it right where they stand if the zone has it, or walks to the nearest zone that does (an ordinary 20-second trip, with the plan on the strip) and starts on arrival.

    • Mining location

      Grumblestone Quarry

      A big friendly pit where the rocks grumble about being mined, then grumble louder about being left alone.

      Steps: Mining 55%, Foraging 5%, enemies 10%

      Nodes: all 31 Mining nodes, levels 1 to 95

      Locals: Hard-Hat Mole, Pebble Golem, Gravel Beetle, Clay Slime, Grumbling Boulder and Push-Up Lizard

    • Woodcutting location

      Whistling Timberland

      The pines whistle when the wind blows and hum along when nobody is listening. Great for logs, terrible for secrets.

      Steps: Woodcutting 55%, Foraging 5%, enemies 10%

      Nodes: all 30 Woodcutting nodes, levels 1 to 95

      Locals: Acorn Bandit, Sticky Sap Slime, Nosy Woodpecker, Overworked Beaver, Crabapple Sprite and Woodworm Grub

    • Fishing location

      The Lazy Lagoon

      Warm, shallow and in no hurry at all. The fish bite eventually, right after their nap.

      Steps: Fishing 55%, Foraging 5%, enemies 10%

      Nodes: all 30 Fishing nodes, levels 1 to 98

      Locals: Sunbathing Crab, Bubble Jelly, Fish-Thief Heron, Napping Otter, Boot-Dwelling Eel and Lounging Toad

    • Foraging location

      Wildroot Meadows

      Knee-high herbs, very loud bees and a mushroom that tells fortunes, mostly wrong ones.

      Steps: Foraging 55%, Woodcutting 5%, enemies 10%

      Nodes: all 32 Foraging nodes, levels 1 to 98

      Locals: Herb-Nibbling Rabbit, Prickly Thistle, Bossy Bumblebee, Fortune-Telling Mushroom, Speeding Snail and Grumbling Grumbleweed

    Artisans in town

    The workshops of Idleville

    Smithing, Crafting, Cooking and Alchemy are done in Idleville's workshops. The Town tab has a Workshops page with their recipes (the artisan tiles in the Skills tab lead there too); start a recipe in town, and the session plays on the strip there, at the station, with the pose, until you stop it.

    • Smithing at the Smithy's anvil · 76 recipes

    • Crafting at the Carpenter's workbench · 122 recipes

    • Cooking at the Tavern kitchen's stove · 47 recipes

    • Alchemy at the Apothecary's cauldron · 53 recipes

    The World tab

    When you fancy more than a stroll

    Open the panel and the World tab has somewhere to be: trips that run while the game is closed, little stories with choices, dungeons behind locked doors, a tower with no top and a world boss every four hours. Every fight in them is the same battle as on the road: your hero and up to two followers against up to five enemies, a gauge each, and skills from whatever gems you socketed.

    19 expeditions

    Pack a basket and close the game

    Send your hero off for 15 minutes, an hour, four hours or eight. The whole trip is paid when you come back to claim it, so it carries on while your computer sleeps, and calling them home early pays half. Meanwhile the strip shows the trek: backpack on, diary lines as they happen, and a sit by the campfire now and then. They return with xp, gold, that diary and a haul of the zone's materials, seeds and dungeon keys, more of them than an hour of walking there would drop. Each trip needs the zone's Adventuring level.

    • Meadow Picnic (Dewdrop Meadow) Pack a basket, find a hill, and let the sheep do the talking.
    • Night Shift (Gearwhistle Works) Nobody scheduled you, but the factory clocked you in anyway. Please try to look busy.
    • Fairy Revel (Fae Hollow) You are invited to a fairy party. Eat nothing, promise nothing, and absolutely do not dance.
    • Low Tide Dive (Sunken Spires) Explore the drowned city while the tide is out. The tide is very punctual about coming back.
    • Cosmic Stargazing (Astral Expanse) Look at the stars through a telescope. Some look back, and a few are filling out forms about you.

    23 stories

    Small tales with big choices

    Branching stories with choices, and d20 checks against your skills, from Strength to Thieving to Farming. Each one pays about what a story at your own level would, whichever ending you pick, so every one is worth its cooldown at any level. Between choices your hero reads the map at a signpost.

    • The Cosmic Audit. The universe's books are short exactly one star, and the Cosmic Accountant has picked you to find it.
    • The Retirement Party. Grizelda the dragon is retiring after nine hundred years of hoarding, and everyone in the Ashen Wastes is invited.
    • The Overdue Book. An owl librarian insists you owe the Whispering Woods Library a book. Four hundred years overdue.

    4 key dungeons

    Dungeons behind a locked door

    Keys drop while you adventure, and the Slayer shop and the tower shop sell them too. Each run is a string of rooms, fights, traps, chests, shrines and a spot to rest, and a boss waiting at the end. Every room trains Dungeoneering, which brings better chests, more keys and nimbler feet around traps. Any dungeon can be entered Heroic: same key, but the whole place grows to your level. Every boss pays its own trophy, and the top dungeon's boss even drops a legendary gem.

    • Goblin Warren Combat 6+

      A burrow of tunnels under the meadow where the goblins keep everything they have borrowed forever.

    • Hollow Oak Combat 15+

      An ancient oak so big there is a whole dungeon inside, and so old it has started to rot a little.

    • Ledger Vaults Combat 24+

      The dwarves' deepest vaults, where every coin is counted twice and every intruder is counted once.

    • Ember Crypt Combat 38+

      A smouldering tomb beneath the Ashen Wastes where an old wyrm guards the embers of a forgotten kingdom.

    The Endless Tower

    One floor at a time

    3 attempts a day, and every floor is a real battle: a pack of the local band's enemies, one more of them every 12 floors, and a boss every 5 floors from a cast of 23, with milestone loot (floors 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50 and 100, gems among it). Clear floor 50 first and you unlock the Tower Champion avatar. Your best floor of the week goes on a ladder that resets every Monday and pays tower tokens, which buy avatars, a weekly gem box, the Rampart set and dungeon keys. Falling off costs no gold, only pride.

    World raids

    Everybody against the Sky Whale

    Every four hours a world boss rises for half an hour and the whole server chips in: the Colossal Crab, the Ancient Turnip, the Sky Whale and the Auditor-General. Each attack plays a twenty-second battle, your whole party against the boss. It grows to the heroes who join it and pays at their level, so a late hero is paid as well as an early one, and its health grows with every party that joins. Land 25 blows and you're in: everyone who's in gets the same full reward, and the top damage dealers a little extra gold. Raid uniques, the Raid Hero avatar, boss titles and three legendary gems drop nowhere else.

    1. Colossal Crab Huge · Cb 18+ · 30 min

      A crab the size of a lighthouse, furious that the tide went out without it. Pinches first, asks never.

    2. Ancient Turnip Huge · Cb 26+ · 30 min

      The root of all smugness. It has grown under the meadow for a thousand years and finally has something to say.

    3. Sky Whale Huge · Cb 34+ · 30 min

      A whale that swam up instead of down. It rains fish wherever it sulks.

    4. Auditor-General Large · Cb 42+ · 30 min

      Head of the Dwarven Revenue Service. Arrives with a warrant, a ledger and a very long list of everything you ever found.

    Chapter IV

    Loot

    In which things drop, roll their affixes, grow sockets and have opinions about it.

    Rolled loot

    No two Colanders of Protection are quite alike

    859 item bases in 8 material tiers, from cloth and wood to starmetal, with sixteen weapon families, shields, tomes, orbs and quivers for every tier. Every piece of equipment rolls its rarity when it drops, and with it up to four affixes from 80 prefixes and suffixes, each with its own tiers, and up to four sockets for gems. 26 gear sets, each from its own zone, boss, dungeon, raid or the tower, pay a bonus for wearing 2, 4 and all 5 pieces together. Then there are 38 hand-made uniques from bosses, elites, dungeons, raids and the tower, some of them celestial, a rarity nothing else rolls; a Heroic dungeon run drops its uniques at your own level. Every boss also pays a trophy of its own, and trophies pay for the finishing touches: reforging a set piece one rarity up, or tempering a unique once with one extra affix. Plus 32 tools, 46 dishes, 43 potions, 23 kinds of seed and 234 materials with strong opinions.

    Mighty Stale Baguette Blade of the Magus

    Rare one-handed sword

    Item level 6 · Requires Attack 5

    • +4 Attack
    • +2 Melee power
    • +2 Melee power
    • +2 Magic power

    2 sockets, 1 linked pair, empty

      Crunchy, lethal, and pairs nicely with soup.

      Sells for 45 gold

      Roll a drop as

      Uses the game's real affix table and rules: common 0 affixes, then one more per rarity up to four, no more than two prefixes or two suffixes, no stat twice; the dots beside an affix are its tier. Sockets follow the server's rule too: weapons, armor and off-hands roll 0 to 4 by rarity, helmets, boots and accessories at most one, and each full pair is linked on a coin flip. Click a socket to set a random gem in it, as on the Gems page.

      Sockets: where the skills live

      In Combat 2.0 nobody learns a skill: they socket it. Every spell, technique, support, summon and passive comes from a gem set into a socket of a worn piece of gear, as materia did in another famous game. Swap gems in and out for free, anywhere outside a battle.

      Red Pen of Final Audit

      Legendary unique one-handed wand

      4 sockets, 1 linked pair

      32
      • Fire · Common · level 3 · linked to All
      • All · Rare · level 2 · linked to Fire
      41
      • Wand Arts · Common · level 4
      • Mana Saver · Rare · level 1 · Not linked to a gem: it does nothing here.

      All widens Fire to every enemy, because they are linked. Mana Saver would help too, if only it were.

      How many sockets?

      It rolls with the rarity, when the piece drops.

      RarityWeapon, armor, off-handHelmet, boots, accessory
      common0 to 10
      uncommon10 to 1
      rare20 to 1
      epic2 to 30 to 1
      legendary3 to 41

      Uniques count as legendary. Each full pair of sockets is linked on a coin flip, and a support gem only works in a linked pair. A linked pair is drawn joined, like the first two on the bench.

      • Spell 23 gems

        Spells, with any weapon in hand.

      • Skill 69 gems

        Weapon techniques, but only with their own weapon.

      • Support 10 gems

        Nothing alone. In a linked socket it changes its partner.

      • Stat 15 gems

        A passive stat, quietly getting on with it.

      • Summon 8 gems

        One big summon, one to three times a battle, with its own full-strip show.

      Gems earn their keep

      Every socketed gem earns AP from the battles you win, your followers' gems too, and climbs from level 1 to 5: another skill, a stronger rank, a bigger stat. A gem at level 5 is mastered, and buds one level 1 copy into your bag, so gems multiply. A common one is mastered at 9,000 AP, a legendary at 90,000.

      • common 25
      • uncommon 27
      • rare 39
      • epic 24
      • legendary 10
      • 1Lv 1
      • 2Lv 2
      • 3Lv 3
      • 4Lv 4
      • 5Mastered
      See all 125 gems

      Every gem, its kind, rarity, skills and how much AP it takes to master, in the jewel box.

      A few of the uniques

      • Crown of the Goblin King

        Legendary unique helmet

        Item level 6 · Requires Defence 9

        • +12 Attack
        • +7 Armor
        • +36 Max HP
        • +5.5% Gold find

        1 socket

        Three sizes too big and absolutely full of itself. Coins seem to find their way to whoever wears it.

      • Red Pen of Final Audit

        Legendary unique one-handed wand

        Item level 25 · Requires Magic 38

        • +34 undefined
        • +54 Attack
        • +22 Magic power
        • +4% Critical chance
        • +8% Gold find

        3 to 4 sockets

        The Auditor General's own pen. Every stroke is a deduction from your enemy's hit points.

      • Halo of Infinite Naps

        Celestial unique helmet

        Item level 28 · Requires Defence 39

        • +17 Armor
        • +276 Max HP
        • +36% HP regeneration

        1 socket

        Grants the wearer the power of a perfect nap, anywhere, anytime.

      • Starforged Spatula of Destiny

        Celestial unique one-handed mace

        Item level 30 · Requires Attack 41

        • +67 Attack
        • +38 Melee power
        • +6.5% Critical chance
        • +11.5% XP gain

        3 to 4 sockets

        Flips pancakes and fates. Forged in the heart of a dying star, for breakfast.

      • Orb of Cosmic Whimsy

        Celestial unique accessory

        Item level 30 · Requires Combat 50

        • +46 Attack
        • +108 Max HP
        • +23% Critical chance
        • +23% Dodge chance
        • +11.5% Gold find
        • +11.5% XP gain

        1 socket

        Hums softly. Sometimes it tells jokes. Mostly they're good.

      • Thornqueen's Longbow

        Legendary unique two-handed bow

        Item level 32 · Requires Ranged 47

        • +48 Attack
        • +30 Ranged power
        • +6% Dodge chance
        • +10% HP regeneration

        3 to 4 sockets

        Strung with a living vine that sulks if you forget to water it.

      • Lullaby Wand

        Legendary unique one-handed wand

        Item level 44 · Requires Magic 63

        • +57 undefined
        • +66 Attack
        • +40 Magic power
        • +8% Critical chance
        • +6% Dodge chance

        3 to 4 sockets

        Every spell it casts ends in a small, apologetic yawn. Enemies find it contagious.

      • Astral Orrery

        Celestial unique accessory

        Item level 61 · Requires Combat 101

        • +282 Max HP
        • +64% Critical chance
        • +47% Dodge chance
        • +29% Gold find
        • +22% XP gain

        1 socket

        A clockwork cosmos the size of a walnut. The planets are always right.

      And the stuff in your pockets

      • Smug Turnip It knows something you do not, and it wants you to know that.
      • Opinionated Wool Soft, warm, and deeply critical of your knitting.
      • Goblin Paperwork Form 27-B, to be filed in the wrong cave.
      • Dwarven Tax Receipt Proof that someone, somewhere, paid too much.
      • Whiskered Pearl A pearl with a tiny, dignified moustache.
      • Wisp in a Jar It glows politely and asks to be let out.
      • Golden Clover Nature's lottery ticket, slightly pollen-scented.
      • Dragon Pension Slip Redeemable for one lifetime supply of gold and naps.

      Chapter V

      The Town

      In which our hero walks home to shops, an honest job, a crowded square, folk with favours to ask and a well that grants wishes. Mostly.

      Idleville · the town at dusk

      Idleville, a short walk away

      A place of its own: a 20-second trip from anywhere, safe from every monster, and lit for the evening. Shops, a gemcutter, a bank, a well, a market, a job board and a home to come back to.

      • A place, not a tab

        Idleville has its own card at the top of Travel and a Go to Idleville row in the What next? picker: 20 seconds from wherever you are, like any zone.

      • Safe as houses

        No monsters, nothing to gather, no pockets to pick: just the town going about its business around your hero.

      • Everything's here

        The shops, the gemcutter, the pawnbroker, the bank, the well, the market, the workshops, the job board and your home work here, and only here.

      • Looking is free

        Out in the world the Town tab still shows you everything, with a one-click “Travel to Idleville?” on top. Other heroes stroll past on your strip, and the quest folk wait in the square.

      Open till late

      7 shops, a pawnbroker and a bank

      • Old Marta Pennywhistle

        General Store

        Food, basic potions, seeds and starter tools. The shelves lean, but they've never fallen on anyone important.

        27 things on the shelves, some with a daily limit, at 4× their sell value.

      • Brunhilde Ironapron

        The Anvil & Apron

        Metal weapons and armour, plain as a Tuesday and twice as sturdy.

        116 bases, sold as plain common rolls at 4× their sell value, up to your skill + 10.

      • Quill Featherby

        The Pointy End

        Bows, crossbows, staves and wands. Fletcher by day, wandwright by night, napper by afternoon.

        33 bases, sold as plain common rolls at 4× their sell value, up to your skill + 10.

      • Madame Bobbin

        Threads & Thimbles

        Cloth and leather armour, hats with opinions and boots that mostly match.

        113 bases, sold as plain common rolls at 4× their sell value, up to your skill + 10.

      • Pim Oddfellow

        The Curio Cart

        A creaky cart of rarer materials, seeds and essences. The stock changes at midnight, and the cart pretends it always sold that.

        4 picks a day from 24 rarer things, the same for everyone, 3 each per hero, at 6× their value.

      • Ottoline Plumpcushion

        The Furnisher

        Furniture for heroes with a home and taste, or at least a home. Pieces you can't make yourself, at prices you'll talk about for years.

        6 things on the shelves, some with a daily limit, at 4× their sell value.

      • Silas Tallyhook

        The pawnbroker

        Sells your spare loot to the game at its sell value, one item at a time or in bulk. Filters do the sorting: all the common and uncommon gear you're not wearing, or every material worth less than you'd bother carrying. What you wear, what you've locked and your keys are never touched.

      • Beryl Facetwhistle · new in Combat 2.0

        The Gemcutter's Nook

        Freshly cut gems for your sockets: weapon arts, the basic spells, a little extra health and a bubble to hide in. The rarer ones you'll have to take from something bigger than you.

        27 basic gems on the shelf, one of each a day, at 150 to 600 gold apiece. Most of your heroes' skills come from a gem like these.

        • 25 common
        • 27 uncommon
        • 39 rare
        • 24 epic
        • 10 legendary

        23 spell · 69 skill · 10 support · 15 stat · 8 summon. Rarer ones drop from monsters, bosses, dungeons, the tower and raids.

      • Barnaby Coppervault · since 0.5.0

        The Bank of Idleville

        Deposit and withdraw whenever you're in town. A lost fight out in the world takes 10% of the gold in your pocket and never a coin of what's in the vault. Every sale, at the pawnbroker, from the bag or on the Market, is paid straight into the bank; shops, the well and the market spend your pocket first, then your savings. The Gold ranking counts both.

      The wishing well

      Toss a coin, make a wish

      10 tosses a day, from 10 gold up to 10% of your purse. Every toss rolls a personal wish, and bigger tosses are luckier:

      • A ripple. “The water ripples politely. Nothing else happens, but it was a lovely ripple.”
      • A coin shower: 1.5× your toss comes back up.
      • A 30-minute buff of +5% to one of combat xp, gold find, skill xp or hp regen.
      • A lucky trinket: Lucky Penny, Four-Leaf Clover, Lucky Horseshoe or Golden Wish Frog.
      • Very rarely (0.5% of tosses of 1,000 gold or more), the Well Wisher avatar: “The well gasps, gurgles and hands back a hat full of coins and a wand that goes 'plink'. You're a Well Wisher now!”

      The shared pot

      When the well overflows

      Every toss also fills the community pot. When it reaches the goal, the well overflows: a world event, and a server-wide blessing for 2 hours, +10% combat xp, +10% gold find and +10% skill xp for everyone. Then the pot starts over and the next goal is 10% higher.

      The wishing well overflows, thanks to Fern! Everyone is blessed for 2 hours: +10% combat xp, gold find and skill xp.

      43 jobs on the board

      A shift of honest work

      In town, pick a job, choose 1, 2, 4 or 8 hours and close the game. The hero works in town the whole time, sweeping, hauling and pouring, and the pay waits at the end of the shift: 1.05× for a 4-hour shift and 1.1× for 8. A job pays more coin than walking the road at the level its tier opens, with no risk and no loot, so it's the choice for when you'll be away. Quitting early pays nothing. Half the jobs train a skill as you work. The board keeps them on tabs by kind, each kind's jobs by tier.

      • Stable Hand Odd Jobs

        1,350 gold an hour

      • Market Porter Steady Work

        4,240 gold an hour

      • Barkeep Respectable Positions

        8,400 gold an hour

      • Dragon Sitter Royal Appointments

        14,840 gold an hour · needs Hitpoints 70

      • Labour

        Honest sweat: hauling, herding and mopping. Your back will remember it.

        • Stable Hand1,350 gold · 300 Farming xp an hour · Odd Jobs
        • Lamp Lighter1,512 gold an hour · Odd Jobs
        • Goose Herder1,350 gold · 300 Farming xp an hour · Odd Jobs
        • Market Porter4,240 gold an hour · Steady Work
        • Log Splitter4,000 gold · 900 Woodcutting xp an hour · Steady Work · Woodcutting 20
        • Dungeon Janitor8,320 gold an hour · Respectable Positions
        • Siege Engine Oiler14,560 gold an hour · Royal Appointments · Strength 70

      • Tavern

        Kitchens, cellars and the Tipsy Turnip's bar. Mind the stew.

        • Dish Washer1,350 gold · 300 Cooking xp an hour · Odd Jobs
        • Turnip Peeler1,350 gold · 300 Cooking xp an hour · Odd Jobs
        • Tavern Cook4,000 gold · 900 Cooking xp an hour · Steady Work · Cooking 20
        • Cheese Cave Turner4,160 gold an hour · Steady Work
        • Barkeep8,400 gold an hour · Respectable Positions
        • Brewer's Mate8,000 gold · 1,500 Cooking xp an hour · Respectable Positions · Cooking 40
        • Royal Taster14,000 gold · 3,000 Cooking xp an hour · Royal Appointments · Cooking 70

      • Crafts

        Benches, forges and ink pots: making, mending and polishing things.

        • Candle Dipper1,350 gold · 300 Crafting xp an hour · Odd Jobs
        • Smithy Apprentice4,000 gold · 900 Smithing xp an hour · Steady Work · Smithing 20
        • Scribe's Assistant4,000 gold · 900 Crafting xp an hour · Steady Work · Crafting 20
        • Apothecary's Helper8,000 gold · 1,500 Alchemy xp an hour · Respectable Positions · Alchemy 40
        • Rune Polisher8,000 gold · 1,500 Runecrafting xp an hour · Respectable Positions · Runecrafting 35
        • Royal Armourer14,000 gold · 3,000 Smithing xp an hour · Royal Appointments · Smithing 70
        • Crown Jeweller14,000 gold · 3,000 Crafting xp an hour · Royal Appointments · Crafting 70

      • Guard

        Gates, doors and walls. Mostly standing about looking stern.

        • Gate Guard1,593 gold an hour · Odd Jobs
        • Bouncer4,240 gold an hour · Steady Work · Strength 25
        • Watchtower Lookout4,160 gold an hour · Steady Work
        • Night Watch8,000 gold · 1,500 Thieving xp an hour · Respectable Positions · Thieving 30
        • Harbour Watch8,400 gold an hour · Respectable Positions
        • Throne Room Guard14,700 gold an hour · Royal Appointments · Defence 70

      • Court

        The palace, the treasury and the town's official shouting.

        • Town Crier1,593 gold an hour · Odd Jobs
        • Pigeon Post Sorter1,512 gold an hour · Odd Jobs
        • Royal Herald4,320 gold an hour · Steady Work
        • Tax Collector's Assistant4,240 gold an hour · Steady Work
        • Royal Gardener8,000 gold · 1,500 Farming xp an hour · Respectable Positions · Farming 40
        • Royal Nap Supervisor8,400 gold an hour · Respectable Positions
        • Treasury Clerk14,560 gold an hour · Royal Appointments
        • Dragon Sitter14,840 gold an hour · Royal Appointments · Hitpoints 70

      • Oddities

        The jobs nobody else will take. Hazard pay not included.

        • Map Folder1,512 gold an hour · Odd Jobs
        • Scarecrow Stand-in1,350 gold · 300 Farming xp an hour · Odd Jobs
        • Bard's Roadie4,160 gold an hour · Steady Work
        • Toll Collector4,000 gold · 900 Thieving xp an hour · Steady Work · Thieving 20
        • Mimic Feeder8,560 gold an hour · Respectable Positions · Hitpoints 45
        • Wizard's Tower Duster8,320 gold an hour · Respectable Positions · Magic 40
        • Potion Taste Tester8,000 gold · 1,500 Alchemy xp an hour · Respectable Positions · Hitpoints 50
        • Golem Babysitter14,000 gold · 3,000 Runecrafting xp an hour · Royal Appointments · Runecrafting 70

      Odd Jobs from combat 3 · Steady Work from combat 20 · Respectable Positions from combat 45 · Royal Appointments from combat 75

      Behind the counter

      The workshops and the Market

      Where the gold sinks and the bars get made: two windows of the Town tab, and the fine print that goes with them.

      The workshops · compact since 0.5.2

      What can I make right now?

      Smithing, Crafting, Cooking and Alchemy are worked at the Smithy, the Carpenter, the Tavern kitchen and the Apothecary, and gear takes its runes at the Runic Font. Pick a workshop and its recipes answer the only question that matters: one tidy row per recipe, on tabs by what they make, sorted into what you can make now, what's missing ingredients (the short ones in red, with how many you're short), and what's still locked, starting with the next level's.

      Flip on Only what I can make and the rest step aside. Make one, ten or all you can: your hero works at the station on the strip until the batch is done or you stop it, with xp and bars floating up the moment each action lands.

      The Smithy's tools, for a hero at Smithing 16
      The Market's Browse page

      The Market

      Trade with the whole server

      List anything tradeable you're not wearing at a fixed price: rolled gear keeps its affixes, gems keep their level and AP, and stacks can be sold a few at a time. Your item waits in escrow for up to 7 days (20 listings at a time). When someone buys, you're paid at once, even offline, straight into the bank: 95% of the price, because the 5% sale tax is the game's gold sink.

      Search by name, filter by type, slot, rarity, requirement and item level. To sell, pick the item in your bag and press Market: a price guide there shows the median, low and high of the last 20 sales of the same item. Capes, Slayer shop buys, story rewards and keys bought with points stay with their owner. Browse from anywhere; listing, buying and cancelling happen in town.

      The square · neighbours and quest folk

      Neighbours, and folk with a favour to ask

      Stand in Idleville's square and it's busy. Other heroes in town amble past in their own gear, up to 6 at a time with friends and guildmates first, and a little +N for the crowd. Hover for a name, click to whisper or add a friend. And by the fountain wait the quest folk: a ! over their heads when they have a tale for you, a ? when you've something to hand in.

      The tracker on the target pill, taking turns with where you are (“Town · safe”), always says what's next: “Defeat Opinionated Sheep ×6 · 2/6”, “Go to Whispering Woods”, or who to hand in to. Pick the chain it follows with Track in the journal.

      1. Take it from a person

        Click a quest giver and they tell you their tale, with their portrait and an Accept. A chain starts and ends with them in town; every step between is turned in wherever you happen to be, and whenever a character speaks, they walk onto your strip in person to say it. Up to three chains at a time.

      2. Done means done

        Steps that only ask you to be somewhere, like the woods at night or the Frostfang Peaks under an aurora, count the moment you're seen there and stay done until you hand them in, even if the dusk ends while you read the journal.

      3. The prey comes to you

        While a step wants six sheep, sheep count three times over in the draw wherever they live, and enemies come by a quarter more often there. Your Slayer task works the same way. Six Opinionated Sheep used to take some 18 minutes of walking; now it's about 7.

      Who to talk to

      The quest folk of Idleville

      • The Smug Turnip King

        Monarch of the Meadow (self-appointed)

        “Ah, a commoner. You may bask in my presence. Briefly, basking is rationed.”

        • The Turnip Succession 7 steps · Adventuring 1The Smug Turnip King has agreed, under protest, to name an heir. Three claimants have appeared at once, and one of them is a sheep.

      • The Cosmic Accountant

        Auditor of All Things

        “Nothing is owed to you at present. I checked twice, and once more for fun.”

        • The Great Audit 9 steps · Adventuring 65The Cosmic Accountant is auditing the entire world, and he has deputised you. Bring a pencil. Bring a spare pencil.

      • Granny Bramble

        Retired Adventurer, Active Knitter

        “Hello, dearie! Nothing needs doing just now, so have a biscuit.”

        • The Great Sock Shortage 6 steps · Adventuring 10Every sock in the Whispering Woods has vanished overnight. Granny Bramble is on the case, and knitting replacements faster than is strictly safe.
        • Sister Act 7 steps · Adventuring 18Sister Marigold of the Cheerful Cloister went into the Whispering Woods to bless a tree and never came back. Nobody at the cloister seems worried. Granny Bramble finds that very worrying.

      • Sir Reginald Puddleworth

        Knight of the Soggy Order

        “Hail, friend! No quests at present. Lancelot and I are guarding this puddle.”

        • A Knight to Remember 8 steps · Adventuring 18Sir Reginald needs one heroic deed for his official portrait and ballad. The ballad is written. The deed is your job.
        • Reginald Rides Again 7 steps · Adventuring 42Emboldened by a portrait mostly of someone else, Sir Reginald rides out to pull a legendary blade from a stone on Frostfang Peaks.
        • A Knight Most Fowl 7 steps · Adventuring 13A goose in armour has arrived in Idleville, seeking a quest worthy of his plume. Sir Reginald would very much like him to seek it somewhere else, ideally with you.

      • Professor Quillsby

        Cartographer of Everything, Mostly

        “Nothing to map for you today, I'm afraid. Footnote one: I checked.”

        • The Frozen Footnote 7 steps · Adventuring 34A footnote in an old map claims the world has an edge, somewhere cold. Professor Quillsby means to measure it, receipts permitting.
        • The Orrery of Everything 8 steps · Adventuring 84Professor Quillsby is building a working model of the entire universe. First he has to measure it, and the Cosmic Accountant insists every star be counted and filed.
        • Mostly Adequate 7 steps · Adventuring 23Professor Quill's least-expelled former student has cast a spell to tidy her tower. The tower is now extremely tidy. It is also upside down, and in Bogwater Marsh.

      • Madame Fizzwick

        Inventor, Occasionally on Purpose

        “Mind the smoke, it's friendly. Nothing to test on you just now.”

        • The Perpetual Kettle 8 steps · Adventuring 54Madame Fizzwick is building a kettle that never stops boiling, so Idleville never runs out of tea again. Every prototype explodes, which she calls testing.

      • Pip Puddlefoot

        Stable-hand, Reader of Adventures

        “Oh, hello! I'm halfway through 'The Knight Who Napped'. It's gripping. He's still asleep.”

        • Pip's First Adventure 6 steps · Adventuring 1Pip, the stable-hand at the Idleville tavern, has read every adventure book ever written. Now he would like to be in one, and you look like a hero with room for a sidekick.
        • The Book Pip Wrote 4 steps · Adventuring 3Pip is writing an adventure book of his own, and it needs research. Mostly sea, a quarry, and something stealing his pencil.
        • Great-Grandad's Diary 4 steps · Adventuring 8Pip has found an old map in the tavern attic, signed by a great-grandfather he never knew was an adventurer. There is an X on it. Books with X's always end in treasure.

      • Wren Hollowbough

        Ranger of the Whistling Timberland

        “Pim says good morning. I say it too, just quieter.”

        • The Missing Chorus 4 steps · Adventuring 12The dawn chorus in the Whistling Timberland has gone silent. Wren wants to know why. Pim wants someone to blame.
        • Hollowbough 4 steps · Adventuring 20An old rook called Mags raised Wren in a hollow bough in the Whispering Woods, and now she has sent for her. Mags would like to meet the tall one.

      • Sir Honksalot

        Goose Knight of the Soggy Order

        “HONK. Well met, citizen. The pond is secure. I checked it personally. I swam in it.”

        • The Swan Affair 4 steps · Adventuring 15Sir Honksalot has never forgiven Swanhilde, the swan who called his plume 'a bit much'. He demands satisfaction. She demands he stops shouting.
        • The Holy Pond 4 steps · Adventuring 25Every goose knight seeks the Holy Pond, where the water is sweet and the bread floats. Legend places it in Bogwater Marsh. Legend is wrong about most things.

      • Bartholomew "Plink" Plinkett

        Retired Lighthouse Keeper

        “Ahoy! Fair winds today. Well, fair-ish. I licked me finger and it came back salty.”

        • The Light Goes Out 5 steps · Adventuring 16Saltwhisker Light, which Plink kept lit for forty years, has gone dark. There is music coming out of it. Crab music.
        • Message in a Bottle 4 steps · Adventuring 24For forty years Plink has swapped letters by bottle with 'M', who keeps a lighthouse across the sea. Now M is coming ashore, and Plink has ironed his oilskin.

      • Sister Marigold

        Battle-Nun of the Cheerful Cloister

        “Hello, hello! Isn't it a glorious day? I've already blessed the well, the bakery and a very surprised cat.”

        • Pies of Penance 4 steps · Adventuring 20Marigold grew up in Dewdrop Meadow, where goblins stole the festival pies every year. That is why she learned to hit goblins. Then she learned to pray about it.
        • Hold the Lantern 4 steps · Adventuring 30The Weeping Ghosts of Gravewind Hollow have been crying for a hundred years. Sister Marigold thinks that's quite long enough.

      • Zephyrine the Mostly Adequate

        Wizard, Mostly Adequate

        “Good day! I've only set fire to one thing this morning, and it was on purpose. Mostly.”

        • The Twenty Percent 4 steps · Adventuring 25Zephyrine keeps a list of every spell that went wrong. It is a long list. She would like to cross some things off it.
        • Just Adequate 4 steps · Adventuring 35'Mostly Adequate' is not a title. It is Zephyrine's exam grade. Archmage Wimbleton lives in Frostfang Peaks, and she is retaking the exam.

      • Fennel Quickfingers

        Reformed Pickpocket, Mostly

        “Evening. Nothing to see here. My hands are where you can see them. Both of them. Mostly.”

        • Returns Policy 4 steps · Adventuring 26Fennel 'borrowed' a few things in the Ledger Vaults before he got locked in. He would like to return them, mostly because they're heavy.
        • One Last Job 4 steps · Adventuring 34The Guild of Quick Fingers wants Fennel back for one last job. It's always one last job. Nobody has ever done one last job.

      • Mortimer Grimsby

        Apprentice Necromancer, Very Sorry

        “Oh! Hello. Sorry, I was just talking to Gerald. He's fine. He's a skull, but he's fine.”

        • Gerald 4 steps · Adventuring 30Gerald, the skull on Mortimer's staff, would like to visit his old grave. Mortimer would like to be supportive. And not too frightened.
        • No, Master 4 steps · Adventuring 38Mortimer's master, Vorlath the Grim, has set his final exam: raise an army of the dead in the Ashen Wastes. Mortimer would rather not. He has never said no to anyone.

      • Ragna Two-Breakfasts

        Barbarian of Frostfang, Always Peckish

        “Hah! Hello! Have you eaten? You look like you have not eaten. Nobody ever eats enough.”

        • The Great Cheese 4 steps · Adventuring 36Ragna has been banned from her clan's feast hall for eating the ceremonial boar. To win her way back in, she must bring a tribute. And recover the Great Cheese.
        • Three Breakfasts 4 steps · Adventuring 44A barbarian calling herself Brunhild Three-Breakfasts has appeared in the south. THREE. Ragna cannot let this stand.

      • Grizzle Ironbrow

        Smith of the Forgotten Forge

        “Hmph. Show me your weapon. No. Put it away. I've seen enough.”

        • Frost and Fire 4 steps · Adventuring 40The old forge-songs say the forgotten kingdom quenched its blades in Frostfang snowmelt and heated them in the Ashen Wastes. Grizzle means to test both.
        • The Forgotten Forge 4 steps · Adventuring 48The old maps from the Ember Crypt point to the Crystal Caverns, where the forge of Grizzle's forefathers has lain cold for a thousand years.

      New heroes begin with First Steps, 7 steps told by your own hero: a starter kit, three brave fights and a rock collection, then off to Idleville's anvils for a first Bronze Bar. Finish it and the journal opens; the chains above wait for you by Adventuring level, from 1 to 84.

      Combat 2.0 · a tale with a friend at the end

      Some rewards walk beside you

      Four of the 10 followers join your party as a quest's reward. The first free party slot takes the newcomer (you fight beside up to two at a time); the rest wait in the Idleville tavern.

      • Pip PuddlefootPip's First Adventurefrom Pip, at the tavern
      • Sir HonksalotA Knight Most Fowlfrom Sir Reginald
      • Sister MarigoldSister Actfrom Granny Bramble
      • ZephyrineMostly Adequatefrom Professor Quillsby

      Chapter VI

      Legends

      In which skills reach ninety-nine, capes are worn with enormous dignity and a small friend trots along behind.

      The trades · 21 skills

      21 skills, every one a road to 99

      Your hero has a trade, or 21. Every skill climbs from 1 to 99 on RuneScape's xp curve, doubled for the long haul. The combat skills make a combat level from 3 to 126, and all of them add up to a total level of 2,079. Walk, mine, fish, forage, smith, cook and brew while the strip ambles along: 163 rocks, trees, ponds and pockets to work, and 302 recipes to make.

      Adventure

      • Adventuring
      • Dungeoneering

      Combat

      • Attack
      • Strength
      • Defence
      • Hitpoints
      • Ranged
      • Magic
      • Prayer

      Support

      • Slayer

      Gathering

      • Mining
      • Woodcutting
      • Fishing
      • Foraging
      • Farming
      • Thieving

      Artisan

      • Smithing
      • Crafting
      • Cooking
      • Alchemy
      • Runecrafting

      Adventuring

      The skill that opens the world

      Every step trains it, finds and gathering stops a little more, and expeditions and stories pay it too; fights don't. Zones, expeditions and stories ask for an Adventuring level (“Reach Adventuring 10 first.”), while dungeons still ask for a combat level. The zone gates:

      1. Dewdrop Meadow1
      2. Whispering Woods10
      3. Saltwhisker Shore13
      4. Old Mines18
      5. Bogwater Marsh23
      6. Gravewind Hollow27
      7. Ashen Wastes30
      8. Frostfang Peaks34
      9. Sunscorch Dunes38
      10. Emerald Canopy42
      11. Crystal Caverns46
      12. Cinder Caldera50
      13. Gearwhistle Works54
      14. Fae Hollow57
      15. Sunken Spires61
      16. Cloudreach Isles65
      17. Obsidian Citadel72
      18. Abyssal Rift78
      19. Astral Expanse84

      That leaves Adventuring 85 to 99 as a long goal.

      Dungeoneering

      Better at dungeons, one room at a time

      Trained by every dungeon room resolved, every dungeon boss and every tower floor cleared. It gates nothing; its perks grow with every level, up to:

      • +50% magic on chests and boss loot
      • ×2 key drops, wherever keys drop
      • Trap dodging with a third of your Dungeoneering or Thieving, whichever is higher

      A day's work

      Hard at work on the strip

      • Mining

        Copper Rock

        Level 1 · 7 xp every 4.5 s

      • Fishing

        Duck Pond

        Level 1 · 7 xp every 4.5 s

      • Smithing

        Bronze Bar at the anvil

        Level 1 · 7 xp every 4.5 s

      • Alchemy

        Bandage Brew at the cauldron

        Level 3 · 7 xp every 4.6 s

      Farming

      Plots that wait for you

      Plant seeds from Foraging or enemy drops and they grow in real time, 20 minutes to 8 hours, beside whatever your hero is up to. A grown crop waits to be picked and never withers. You start with 2 plots and work up to 6; 23 crops bring herbs for Alchemy, vegetables and fruit for Cooking and fibres for Crafting. The page shows what you can grow: the crops your level allows, the seeds you own but can't plant yet with the level they need, and the way to the General Store for more.

      1. Empty
      2. Seedling
      3. Growing
      4. Ready

      Skill capes

      Ninety-nine, and a cape to show for it

      Reach 99 in a skill and its cape is yours, with a world event to match. Capes are cosmetic: pick one and it's drawn over whichever avatar you wear, on the strip, in chat and in the ranks. Take all 21 skills to 99 for the Max Cape.

      • Attack Cape
      • Magic Cape
      • Thieving Cape
      • Adventuring Cape
      • Max Cape

      • Up to a day away

        Start a session at a rock, a tree or a stove and close the game. When you're back, every action finished in the meantime is counted, for up to 24 hours. Each action's xp and haul float up the moment it lands. The best tool you own is used by itself: 32 pickaxes, hatchets, rods and sickles in 8 tiers.

      • Slayer masters and their shop

        5 masters, from Old Bramble at combat 3 to The Nameless Huntress at combat 90, hand out tasks: kill 15 to 60 of one enemy, on the road, in dungeons or in the tower. Tasks pay Slayer points (5× for every 10th in a row) to spend on keys, boosts, skips and the Slayer Helmet (150 points). While a task is on, its enemy turns up more often wherever it lives.

      • Prayer and blessings

        Enemies drop bones and ashes; bury them for Prayer xp. 42 blessings come in seven tiers, from Thick Skin at Prayer 1 to Enlightenment at 99. Wear one from each tier, swap them any time, and they never drain.

      • Pickpocketing on the way, if you like

        Tick Pick pockets on the road (in Hero → Cape & habits, or on the Thieving page; it starts off) and when a step meets a traveller, merchant, wizard, bard or knight, your hero tries their pockets: Thieving xp, a little gold and now and then a trinket. Or: “The merchant catches your hand in their pocket and gives it a firm, disappointed slap.” The strip tells you on a line of its own, with a little hand and a coin. During a Thieving session HP ticks come 4 times slower, so getting caught adds up: bring food.

      • Alchemy rerolls your gear

        Not fond of an affix? Reroll it for another of the same kind, paid in Murky Essence, Shimmering Essence or Radiant Essence (by item level) plus gold. Or try to raise it a tier: the odds grow with your Alchemy level, and a miss only costs the ingredients.

      • Weapons set the style, gems set the moves

        Your main hand picks how a hero fights: a bow or crossbow shoots, a staff or wand casts, a sword swings. What they do beyond a basic attack comes from socketed gems: weapon skills need their weapon in hand, spells work with anything. Ranged and Magic are tuned so every style reaches the zones at the same pace as a good sword.

      31 avatars

      Pick a hero. Earn a few more.

      Start as one of 4 heroes, then unlock the rest from monster and boss drops, lucky finds while gathering and on expeditions, dungeon hoards, the Endless Tower and its shop, world raids and, very rarely, the wishing well. On your strip they walk, swing, shoot, cast, mine, fish, stir the cauldron, sweep the stables and pour at the bar, with any cape you've earned on their back; here they are just breathing.

      The starters

      • Squire

        Starter

        Polished armor, borrowed sword, unshakable optimism.

        Chosen at registration, or unlocked at Adventuring level 5

      • Apprentice Mage

        Starter

        Has read nearly half of a spellbook. The easy half.

        Chosen at registration, or unlocked by brewing your first Alchemy product

      • Hooded Rogue

        Starter

        Sneaks everywhere, including places with an open door.

        Chosen at registration, or unlocked after 250 steps

      • Lumberjack

        Starter

        Owns one axe, four flannel shirts and zero regrets.

        Chosen at registration, or unlocked by chopping 25 logs

      Common · 4

      • Sleepy Shepherd

        common

        Counts sheep for a living, which explains the yawning.

        Very rarely dropped by the Opinionated Sheep in Dewdrop Meadow

      • Lazy Angler

        common

        Has been waiting for a bite since Tuesday. Doesn't mind. Brought snacks.

        Very rarely found while fishing in the Lazy Lagoon

      • Quarry Miner

        common

        Knows forty words for gravel and uses all of them before breakfast.

        Very rarely found while mining in Grumblestone Quarry

      • Timberland Forester

        common

        Knows every tree in the timberland by name, and most of them by nickname.

        Very rarely found while chopping in Whistling Timberland

      Uncommon · 6

      • Scarecrow Knight

        uncommon

        Stuffed with straw and courage in equal measure. The crows remain unimpressed.

        Very rarely dropped by the Unemployed Scarecrow in Dewdrop Meadow

      • Beekeeper

        uncommon

        Speaks fluent buzz. The bees call them 'the tall one with the honey'.

        Very rarely dropped by the Bossy Bumblebee in Wildroot Meadows

      • Shore Pirate

        uncommon

        Owns a ship, technically. It's more of a raft. It's more of a plank.

        Very rarely dropped by anything you fight on Saltwhisker Shore

      • Mountain Monk

        uncommon

        Meditates on the peaks because the queue at the bottom was too long.

        Very rarely dropped by anything you fight in Frostfang Peaks

      • Gravedigger

        uncommon

        Digs holes for a living and is very good at it. The residents never complain.

        Very rarely dropped by anything you fight in Gravewind Hollow

      • Turnip Knight

        uncommon

        Wears the crown of a vanquished vegetable. It still whispers smug remarks.

        Dropped by the Smug Turnip King; rarely awarded by the Turnip Rally's vegetable council

      Rare · 3

      • Slime Squire

        rare

        Adopted by the slimes after they stopped being grumpy for one whole afternoon.

        Very rarely dropped by the Grumpy Slime, or found on a long Meadow Picnic

      • Treant Warden

        rare

        Bark armor, leafy cloak and a pending lawsuit against every lumberjack.

        Dropped by the Litigious Elder Treant, or very rarely found on a Mushroom Forage

      • Goblin Raider

        rare

        Pointy ears, pointier helmet and a sack of things that were definitely not stolen.

        Rarely found in the Goblin King's hoard (Goblin Warren)

      Epic · 8

      • Bony Boi

        epic

        Nothing but bones, a helmet and an alarming amount of free time.

        Rarely dropped by the Bored Skeleton Knight, or gifted for finding a certain missing boot

      • Dwarven Auditor

        epic

        Carries a ledger, a quill and the right to question every coin you own.

        Dropped by the Relentless Dwarven Auditor, or very rarely met on a Mine Survey

      • Oak Druid

        epic

        Speaks fluent tree and only slightly broken squirrel. Smells of moss, in a good way.

        Rarely found at the heart of the Hollow Oak after beating the Rotten Oak

      • Vault Keeper

        epic

        Guards the vaults with a key ring, a stern look and an unreasonably thick ledger.

        Rarely found in the Ledger Vaults after beating the Ledger Golem

      • Well Wisher

        epic

        Robes the colour of deep well water, a hat full of coins and a wand that goes 'plink'. Every wish granted, eventually.

        Very rarely granted by the wishing well for a toss of 1,000 gold or more

      • Steeplejack

        epic

        Harness, rope, lamp helmet and a grappling hook. Takes the stairs only to be polite.

        Bought in the Tower shop with tower tokens

      • Tower Bellringer

        epic

        Rings the tower bell every time someone reaches the top. Hasn't had to yet. Practises anyway.

        Bought in the Tower shop with tower tokens

      • Gargoyle Warden

        epic

        Guarded the tower's gutters for three hundred years, then asked for a promotion. Got a spear.

        Bought in the Tower shop with tower tokens

      Legendary · 5

      • Phoenix Knight

        legendary

        Bursts into flames on the bad days and comes back fabulous.

        Dropped by the Molting Phoenix, or very rarely found on an Ash Pilgrimage

      • Dragonsnooze Knight

        legendary

        Clad in scales the dragon shed during a very long nap.

        Dropped by the Retired Elder Dragon

      • Ember Lord

        legendary

        Crowned in cinders, cloaked in smoke, still not allowed to sit near the curtains.

        Very rarely found in the Ember Crypt after beating the Ember Wyrm

      • Tower Champion

        legendary

        Climbed fifty floors of the Endless Tower and has the calves to prove it.

        Awarded for first clearing floor 50 of the Endless Tower

      • Raid Hero

        legendary

        A cape stitched from every raid banner in the realm. Crabs, whales and auditors all flinch at it.

        Rarely won by a hero who's in on a defeated world raid

      Celestial · 1

      • Starforged Paladin

        celestial

        Armor hammered from a fallen star that is still a little bit sulky about it.

        Very rarely dropped by the Retired Elder Dragon

      Combat 2.0 · 10 followers

      And a few who'll walk beside them

      Recruit followers from quests, discoveries, bosses and dungeons and they join the hero's party, on the same rig as any avatar, with their own weapon and fighting style. Battles take the hero and up to two of them.

      • Pip Puddlefoot

        Stable-hand, Reader of Adventures

      • Wren Hollowbough

        Ranger of the Whistling Timberland

      • Sir Honksalot

        Goose Knight of the Soggy Order

      • Bartholomew "Plink" Plinkett

        Retired Lighthouse Keeper

      • Sister Marigold

        Battle-Nun of the Cheerful Cloister

      • Zephyrine the Mostly Adequate

        Wizard, Mostly Adequate

      • Fennel Quickfingers

        Reformed Pickpocket, Mostly

      • Mortimer Grimsby

        Apprentice Necromancer, Very Sorry

      • Ragna Two-Breakfasts

        Barbarian of Frostfang, Always Peckish

      • Grizzle Ironbrow

        Smith of the Forgotten Forge

      25 pets

      A small friend at your heels

      Every hero has a slot for a pet that trots along behind them on the strip, sits by the campfire and hops into the backpack for the journey. Gear keeps all the power: a pet has no combat stats, just one talent that changes how you play, and it grows with you.

      Your pet keeps a step behind, hops over the fire at camp, flinches when you're hit and cheers when either of you levels up.
      Starter

      Every hero's first friend

      Pebble the Pet Rock

      Lv 1 → 20+1% → +4.8% gold find

      A rock with googly eyes. It has never once complained, run off or been any trouble, and it finds the odd coin simply by being underfoot.

      Loves Mashed Potato

      Levels 1–20

      • The pet you wear earns a tenth of every xp point you gain, in every skill. Level 2 comes within minutes; level 20 takes 148,200 pet xp, 1,482,000 of yours.
      • Its talent grows with every level. Find a pet you already have and it gains a whole level instead, with a line of its own.
      • Pets aren't items: they can't be sold, traded or lost. Everyone sees yours on your profile.

      The Petdex

      24 more to find: ten from the trades (Mining, Woodcutting, Fishing, Foraging, Thieving, Farming, Smithing, Crafting, Cooking and Alchemy), one from each of six zone bosses, and eight that hatch from eggs.

      1. Digby the Mole

        Lv 1 → 202% → 7.7% faster Mining actions

        Digs faster than you do and is extremely smug about it. Wears tiny goggles he found in a mineshaft.

        Found while Mining 1 in 3,000 actions

        Loves Woodear Mushroom Soup

      2. Chompers the Beaver

        Lv 1 → 202.5% → 10.1% double products when Woodcutting

        Considers every tree a personal challenge and every log a small victory. Has opinions about dams.

        Found while Woodcutting 1 in 3,000 actions

        Loves Baked Crabapple

      3. The Duckling of Contempt

        Lv 1 → 20+12% → +50% rare finds when Fishing

        Small, fluffy and disappointed in you specifically. Somehow the fish bite just to prove it wrong.

        Found while Fishing 1 in 3,000 actions

        Loves Grilled Minnow

      4. Truffle the Pig

        Lv 1 → 202.5% → 10.1% double products when Foraging

        Has the finest nose in Idleville and the worst table manners. Snorts twice when something good is buried nearby.

        Found while Foraging 1 in 3,000 actions

        Loves Celestial Truffle Risotto

      5. Sticky Fingers the Raccoon

        Lv 1 → 205% → 20.2% less likely to be caught Thieving

        A masked professional. Keeps watch while you work and coughs loudly whenever a guard looks your way.

        Found while Thieving 1 in 3,000 actions

        Loves Stolen Baguette

      6. Caw-nstable the Crow

        Lv 1 → 20Crops planted grow 4% → 13.5% faster

        Deputised by the scarecrows to guard the crops, and takes it far too seriously. The plants grow faster just to avoid a citation.

        Found while Farming 1 in 300 harvests

        Loves Pompous Pumpkin Pie

      7. Ember the Salamander

        Lv 1 → 20+2% → +7.7% Smithing xp

        Naps in the forge and keeps it at exactly the right temperature. Occasionally sets your eyebrows to the wrong one.

        Found while Smithing 1 in 3,000 actions

        Loves Lava Eel Kebab

      8. Page the Bookworm

        Lv 1 → 20+2% → +7.7% Crafting xp

        Has eaten three crafting manuals cover to cover and now corrects your stitching from inside your pocket.

        Found while Crafting 1 in 3,000 actions

        Loves Gossip Cabbage Stew

      9. Chef Squeak

        Lv 1 → 20+2% → +7.7% Cooking xp

        A rat with a tiny hat and very big dreams. Pulls on your hair to tell you when the stew needs salt.

        Found while Cooking 1 in 3,000 actions

        Loves Royal Onion Soup

      10. Burble the Toad

        Lv 1 → 20+2% → +7.7% Alchemy xp

        Lives in the cauldron between brews. Nobody has told the customers, and nobody ever will.

        Found while Alchemy 1 in 3,000 actions

        Loves Pan-Fried Trout

      11. Sprout, Heir to the Turnip Throne

        Lv 1 → 20+2% → +7.7% gold find

        The Smug Turnip King's only son, sent to learn about the world from a commoner. Collects coins as a royal tax.

        Found by defeating Smug Turnip King in Dewdrop Meadow 1 in 250 kills

        Loves Stubborn Carrot Cake

      12. Honkwell the Guard Goose

        Lv 1 → 2010% → 32.8% chance to block the first hit in each fight

        Mildred's old guard goose. Has decided you are the new Mildred and attacks anything that comes near you, first.

        Found by defeating Bog Hag Mildred in Bogwater Marsh 1 in 250 kills

        Loves Coconut Curry

      13. Snowball the Yeti Cub

        Lv 1 → 20+20% → +67.5% hp regen while recovering from a defeat

        The Grand Yeti's cub, who wandered off for a snack and stayed for the company. Gives the warmest hugs in the Peaks.

        Found by defeating Grand Yeti in Frostfang Peaks 1 in 250 kills

        Loves Smoked Salmon

      14. Magma the Newt

        Lv 1 → 204% → 13.5% chance to strike after each of your hits

        Small, hot-headed and convinced it is a dragon. Bites whatever you just hit, for emphasis.

        Found by defeating Caldera King in Cinder Caldera 1 in 250 kills

        Loves Seared Tuna

      15. Nimbus

        Lv 1 → 20Trips take 5% → 16.4% less time

        A little cloud that follows you around and gives you a tailwind. Rains on people it doesn't like.

        Found by defeating Storm Roc in Cloudreach Isles 1 in 250 kills

        Loves Cloud Koi Souffle

      16. Ledger the Imp

        Lv 1 → 20+2% → +7.7% job pay

        The Cosmic Accountant's intern, poached by you. Reads your job contracts and finds the clauses that pay extra.

        Found by defeating Cosmic Accountant in Astral Expanse 1 in 250 kills

        Loves Buttered Lobster

      17. Glint the Magpie

        Lv 1 → 20+2.5% → +10.1% magic: rarer loot

        Only steals shiny things, and only the shiniest of those. Points them out to you first, as a courtesy.

        Hatches from a Mysterious Egg 30% of hatches

        Loves Swordfish Steak

      18. Fortune the Lucky Cat

        Lv 1 → 20+0.1 → +0.48 luck at the wishing well

        Waves one paw at the wishing well and the coins land a little luckier. Waves the other paw at nothing, mysteriously.

        Hatches from a Mysterious Egg 25% of hatches

        Loves Void Ray Sashimi

      19. Goo-dwin the Healing Slime

        Lv 1 → 20+20% → +67.5% hp regen while recovering from a defeat

        Wobbles onto your bruises until they feel better. Leaves a faint smell of mint and a less faint layer of goo.

        Hatches from a Mysterious Egg 20% of hatches

        Loves Sulkberry Pie

      20. Tick-Tock the Clockwork Owl

        Lv 1 → 20+2% → +7.7% job pay

        Keeps perfect time and reminds your employers of it. Every shift ends exactly on the tick, and overtime gets billed.

        Hatches from a Mysterious Egg 15% of hatches

        Loves Monkfish Meditation Bowl

      21. Echo the Dungeon Bat

        Lv 1 → 20+10% → +32.8% dungeon key drop chance

        Hears a key jingle through three walls and a closed chest. Hangs upside down on your backpack, judging your map.

        Hatches from a Mysterious Egg 10% of hatches

        Loves Moonberry Tart

      22. Snappy the Tiny Mimic

        Lv 1 → 20+3% → +12.1% magic: rarer loot

        A treasure chest the size of a lunchbox. Sniffs out the good loot by tasting it, and only bites the bad loot.

        Hatches from a Speckled Egg 45% of hatches

        Loves Shark Steak

      23. Flicker the Firefly

        Lv 1 → 205% → 16.4% chance to strike after each of your hits

        Glows brighter the angrier it gets, and zaps whatever you just hit to make a point.

        Hatches from a Speckled Egg 45% of hatches

        Loves Spiced Tuna

      24. Toast the Dragon Whelp

        Lv 1 → 20+2.5% → +9.2% xp gain

        A real dragon, currently the size of a loaf. Watches everything you do very closely, and learns twice as fast for both of you.

        Hatches from a Speckled Egg 10% of hatches

        Loves Sardine on Toast

      Feeding

      Give any pet you own a food from your bag and it's well fed for 2 h, or 4 h for its favourite, stacking up to 12 h ahead. A fed pet's talent is ×1.5. Past 10 h it politely refuses, so no meal goes to waste.

      Every pet has its own favourite, and no two share one:

      • Mashed Potato, Pebble's favourite
      • Woodear Mushroom Soup, Digby's favourite
      • Baked Crabapple, Chompers's favourite
      • Grilled Minnow, The Duckling of Contempt's favourite
      • Celestial Truffle Risotto, Truffle's favourite
      • Stolen Baguette, Sticky Fingers's favourite
      • Pompous Pumpkin Pie, Caw-nstable's favourite
      • Lava Eel Kebab, Ember's favourite
      • Gossip Cabbage Stew, Page's favourite
      • Royal Onion Soup, Chef Squeak's favourite
      • Pan-Fried Trout, Burble's favourite
      • Stubborn Carrot Cake, Sprout's favourite
      • Coconut Curry, Honkwell's favourite
      • Smoked Salmon, Snowball's favourite
      • Seared Tuna, Magma's favourite
      • Cloud Koi Souffle, Nimbus's favourite
      • Buttered Lobster, Ledger's favourite
      • Swordfish Steak, Glint's favourite
      • Void Ray Sashimi, Fortune's favourite
      • Sulkberry Pie, Goo-dwin's favourite
      • Monkfish Meditation Bowl, Tick-Tock's favourite
      • Moonberry Tart, Echo's favourite
      • Shark Steak, Snappy's favourite
      • Spiced Tuna, Flicker's favourite
      • Sardine on Toast, Toast's favourite

      Feeding, swapping pets and tending the nest work during every activity.

      Eggs & the nest

      Eggs drop from dungeon boss chests, raid rewards and tower milestones. Your nest holds one at a time and hatches it in real time, even while you're away; hatch it and see who's been knocking.

      • Mysterious Egg hatches in 4 h

        Dungeon bosses 1 in 10Raids 1 in 15Tower milestones 1 in 8

        • 30%
        • 25%
        • 20%
        • 15%
        • 10%

      • Speckled Egg hatches in 8 h

        Dungeon bosses 1 in 30Raids 1 in 45Tower milestones 1 in 24

        • 45%
        • 45%
        • 10%

      Chat, whispers & leaderboards

      An MMO that mostly says hello

      Everyone shares one world. The Chat tab carries the talk and, in its Events view, the news as it happens; the rest is up to you: say congratulations, compare goose stories, or just watch the feed scroll by.

      Inspect: another hero's gear, pet, levels and records. Nothing private.

      Windows & Linux

      At home on your desktop

      The strip is a transparent, always-on-top window that's only as wide as its content; Settings moves it to the top or bottom edge and sets its length, gap and offset.

      Reserve space keeps tiled and maximized windows clear of the strip, like a taskbar, using whatever your desktop speaks, on whichever monitor the strip lives on (and it makes room for a text band too). The reservation goes away when the game quits, even if it crashes. Hyprland is happy with a classic hyprland.conf as well as the newer setups.

      It keeps itself up to date. When a new version is out, the game fetches it from the server by itself and restarts into it, so you only ever download it once.

      • Hyprland, Sway, KDE Plasma (Wayland), niri, river, COSMIC and other wlroots desktopslayer-shell exclusive zone
      • X11 window managers with EWMH: i3, bspwm, awesome, xmonad, KDE and GNOME on X11dock window with a strut
      • WindowsAppBar, so maximized windows stop above the strip

      GNOME on Wayland doesn't allow reserving space; Settings tells you so, and everything else works.

      The strip along the edge, the work window below it, and the tray icon's menu: your way back when the strip is hidden, lost or stuck. The tray runs as its own little helper, so even if the game hangs it notices, says "not responding" and still offers Restart game and Quit.

      Questions

      Frequently asked, cheerfully answered

      Everything Pip has been asked so far. He has read the answers twice.

      When can I play?

      Right now, in Early Access. The Windows and Linux download is open to everyone; to play, you register in the panel with a product key, and for now the keys are handed out a few at a time: ask for yours with Request Early Access Key on the front page. Once you're in, the game keeps itself up to date.

      What is Heroes of Idleville, exactly?

      An idle MMO RPG that lives on your desktop. A small pixel hero walks, finds loot and fights in a thin strip along the edge of your screen, with up to two followers at their heels, and a pop-up panel holds your character, your party, inventory, the World and Town tabs, your skills, chat and rankings. Everyone plays in the same world.

      Won't it distract me from work?

      It's designed not to. The strip is 40 pixels tall by default, sits at the top or bottom edge and never pops up on its own. Hide it from the tray icon whenever you need the room, and turn on Reserve space so it never covers your other windows.

      Is it pay-to-win?

      No. Power comes from playing: drops, crafting, gems, dungeons, the tower and raids. The planned Supporter DLC is cosmetics only.

      How does a battle work?

      Like a classic turn-based RPG with a clock in it. Your hero and up to two followers face up to five enemies, and every fighter has a gauge that fills at its speed; when it's full, that fighter acts. While someone acts, every gauge waits. Each turn is a basic attack (which also refills mana) or, now and then, a skill or a spell. The server plays the whole battle out and the strip replays it. Only a party wipe loses a battle. And the bigger your party, the bigger the pack that turns up: a lone hero meets at most two enemies, a full party the whole pack.

      Where do skills come from?

      From gems, and only from gems, like materia. Every skill and spell your hero or a follower uses comes from one of the 125 gems socketed in their gear: spells (they work with any weapon), weapon skills (they need their weapon in hand), support gems (linked to a partner, they change what it does), stat gems and a few summons, once a battle each, with a full show. Gems come common to legendary, earn AP in the battles you win and grow from level 1 to 5, and a mastered gem buds a fresh level 1 copy. Weapons, armour and off-hands roll 0 to 4 sockets by rarity, some of them linked in pairs; helmets, boots and accessories at most one. You don't set the skills' chances: you pick each fighter's tactics (Aggressive, Balanced, Defensive or Support), and skills take at most a quarter of their turns.

      Who fights beside my hero?

      10 followers: Pip, Wren, Sir, Bartholomew, Sister, Zephyrine, Fennel, Mortimer, Ragna and Grizzle, each with a story, a favourite weapon and opinions. Two of them join the party at a time; the rest wait in the Idleville tavern. You find them by quest, by discovery on the road, by beating a boss or clearing a dungeon. You choose their gear, their gems and their tactics; they level from the fights they're in, and they eat from the same bag and heal at the same campfire.

      What am I fighting?

      226 enemies, 26 of them Veterans (tougher, with a signature move of their own), in sizes from tiny to huge: a huge one lands its blows heavily and a tiny one is mostly attitude. Most come in packs. Zone bosses bring friends; dungeons hold their own rooms, and a Heroic mode for the brave; the 8 fighting grounds range from the Sparring Paddock, whose packs match your party's weapon levels, to gem grounds where gems drop three times as often; the Endless Tower is a weekly ladder of floors, a boss every 5th and bigger packs as you climb, paying tokens for its shop; and the 4 world raid bosses scale to the heroes who show up, so a latecomer still gets a fight worth having.

      Does my hero make progress while the game is closed?

      Yes. Skilling keeps going for up to 24 hours: start a mining, fishing or smithing session, close the game, and every swing, catch and bar is counted when you're back. Farm plots grow in real time, expeditions send your hero off for up to eight hours, and a job shift runs its 1 to 8 hours whether the game is open or not. The adventuring and the battles on the strip happen while the game is running.

      What does Adventuring do?

      It opens the world. Since 0.4.0, zones, expeditions and stories ask for an Adventuring level (the Whispering Woods at 10, the Astral Expanse at 84), and you train it simply by walking: every step, every find and every gathering stop, plus expeditions and stories. Fights train your combat skills instead, and dungeons still ask for a combat level. Heroes from before 0.4.0 got the Adventuring that keeps every place they could already enter open.

      How do jobs pay?

      At the end. Travel to Idleville, pick a job on the board in the Town tab and a shift of 1, 2, 4 or 8 hours; your hero works in town until it's over, and then you claim the pay (a little extra for the 4 and 8 hour shifts). Quitting early pays nothing, so pick a shift that fits the time you'll be away. A shift pays better in coin than walking the road at the level its tier opens, with no risk, but no loot and no fights; half the jobs also train a skill as they go.

      Why can't I buy things out in the world?

      Because the shops are in Idleville, and so are the gemcutter, the bank, the pawnbroker, the well, the market, the workshops, the job board and your home. The town is a place now: a 20-second trip from anywhere. Out in the world the Town tab still shows you everything, prices included, with a one-click trip to town on top. Loot filters keep selling your junk as it drops, wherever you are.

      Where do I get quests?

      From the quest folk in Idleville's square: the Turnip King, Granny Bramble and friends wear a ! when they have a tale for you and a ? when you've something to hand in. Click them to accept. You bring each chain's last step back to them in town; the steps between are turned in wherever they happen. The tracker on the strip's target pill always says what to do next. New heroes start with First Steps, which needs no giver.

      How do I heal?

      HP comes back 20% at a time, for every member of the party: every 5 minutes while they walk and fight, every 30 seconds while they rest. With Auto on and no food to eat, a hero under 35% sits down by a campfire until full; pick Rest in What next? (the ▾ beside the step button) to sit down any time. Food heals at once: auto-eat is on at 70%, and mid-battle anyone under their share trades a turn for a bite, from the party's shared bag (one bite each, per battle). Healing gems help too, but a campfire is free.

      Can I make the strip quieter?

      Yes. Settings → Chattiness has Chatty (the default: your hero tells you everything), Normal (routine chatter at most every 50 seconds) and Quiet (only what matters: level-ups, rare loot, quests, friends and things you need to act on). Everything still lands in the adventure log. You can also move the words out of the scene into a Text band above, below, beside or inside the strip, pick the text size, lines and fading, or hide the things ahead on the road.

      What happened to my level?

      It became skills. In 0.3.0 the character level and stat points made way for 18 skills (21 today, with Adventuring, Dungeoneering and Runecrafting since). The xp your hero had earned was converted as if it had been earned in the new world: spread over Attack, Strength and Defence, with a third on top for Hitpoints, which gives your combat level. You keep all your items; their requirements now name a skill, like Requires Attack 40.

      What happens if I lose a fight?

      Only a party wipe loses, when every member is at 0 HP. Until then a fallen hero or follower just stays down for the rest of the battle while the others fight on (a revive can lift them), and gets back up afterwards on a sliver of health. A lost battle pays nothing: out in the world, in a dungeon or in a story your hero drops 10% of the gold in their pocket and sits by a campfire until they're back to full HP; gold in the Bank of Idleville is never touched. In the Endless Tower and in a raid a loss costs no gold at all.

      Which systems does it run on?

      Windows and Linux, on 64-bit PCs. On Linux the tray icon needs a StatusNotifierItem tray (KDE, waybar, xfce, LXQt, GNOME with the AppIndicator extension, and friends).

      Do I need an account?

      Yes, it's an MMO: on first launch you register in the panel with your product key. Then pick one of four starter heroes and off you go. An email is optional, but add one in Settings → Account and confirm it with the code we send, so a forgotten password is never the end of the road.

      I forgot my password. Now what?

      Click Forgot password? under the password on the login screen and enter your hero name or email. If your account has a verified email, a code arrives there (it's good for 30 minutes); type it in with your new password and you're back. No email on file yet? Once you're in, add one in Settings → Account, where you can also change your password.

      Can I start over?

      Yes, once a week. Settings → Account → Danger zone → Start over gives you a brand-new hero with the same name: levels, items, gold and bank, quests, pets, home, jobs and the rest go, and the tutorial greets you again. Your login, email, friends and product key stay, and two tick boxes let you keep your avatars, capes and titles, and your achievements. Type your password and your hero's name to be sure it's really you (a Steam account without a password just needs the name). Guild leaders hand the guild over or disband it first. There's no undo.

      How do I delete my account?

      Settings → Account → Danger zone → Delete my account, with your password and your hero's name. It happens 7 days later, for good: your hero, everything they own and your friends list go, and your name is free for someone new. Changed your mind? Log in before then and choose Keep my account, or cancel it in the same card. With a verified email you get a letter when it's set and when it's done.

      Can I play with friends?

      You share the world with everyone: global chat, leaderboards, the Market where heroes buy and sell each other's loot (gems too), a wishing well whose overflow blesses the whole server, and world raids where everyone's party takes on one boss. Closer to home there's a friends list that shows who's online, private whispers, @Name mentions that nudge a friend even when their game is tucked away, and guilds of up to twenty with their own chat, bank and hall in town.

      That's the whole guide

      Everything past this point is in the game. Your party is packed, and the goose has already gone ahead.

      Get the gameBack to the opening

      Request an Early Access key

      Keys go out a few at a time while the world grows. Leave your email and yours comes by goose as soon as there's room at the inn.

      Like the game's newsletter: news, events and the odd surprise. Letters come from noreply@heroesofidleville.com, and your address goes nowhere else.

      Questions? support@heroesofidleville.com