RuneScape: Dragonwilds Review – Jagex Found a New Way to Make Me Grind

RuneScape: Dragonwilds brings the world, fantasy, and, of course, likeness of the Old School RuneScape universe into a brand new genre, blending several core survival craft mechanics that keep players coming back for more but sprinkling in some of that classic RuneScape magic. If you are looking for a brand new survival craft game, Jagex’s take on the genre will not disappoint.

Trees to Chop, Dragons to Slay

Overall, RuneScape: Dragonwilds is much more than your typical survival crafting game. It combines simple but strategic combat with the satisfying loop of hunting, gathering, crafting, and building, all while adding its own unique RuneScape twist. So, let’s start from the beginning and break down what makes Dragonwilds stand out.

Easily one of the biggest aspects that sets Dragonwilds apart from other games is its Rune system. Is chopping those trees taking too long? Level up your woodcutting skill and gain the Axtral Projection spell, allowing any player to cut down a few trees in one swoop.

Or is mining those ore deposits taking forever? Level up your Mining a bit and gain the Rocksplosion spell, which instantly mines a chunk of that ore vein for you. Even the more simplistic tasks usually have a spell you can unlock. From Fishing to Farming, Dragonwilds offers a unique way to ease up the fun, yet repetitive nature of resource farming.

Just like Old School RuneScape, Dragonwilds has a plethora of skills for you to level up and master. Become a jack of all trades, or lean into a few specific skills and become the best chef or lumberjack for your friends.

The Almighty Grind for 99

But what about combat, you might say? Combat is primarily split into three different types: Attack, which is melee; Ranged, which is archery; and, of course, Magic. Much like any other skill, you can mix and match your combat styles, wield all three types with deadly prowess, or, what I found the most fun was, gather a party of 3 other friends and make the classic dungeon-crawling party, with one ranger, wizard, warrior, and a tank.

Naturally, combat runs on Stamina. Every swing, every spell cast, and every arrow you fire will cost you Stamina. It does keep you from completely overpowering your enemies at first, but getting too crazy in combat will leave you wide open. This ultimately establishes a good ebb and flow: get your swings in, don’t get overly greedy, and have enough Stamina to dodge, block, or parry.

Play how you want! The more you level up a combat skill, the better your scaling gets and the more spells you unlock. That’s right, even traditional non-magic-based combat does get a slight magical touch through the rune system. Level up your Attack enough, and you can cast a Tempest Shield on yourself, giving you some extra shielding for a short duration.

Hit ’em Where It Hurts

All in all, this is what makes RuneScape: Dragonwilds progression addicting. Every action grants you XP, giving you small rewards every step of the way as you grind all the way up to 99.

Plus, there are a handful of old school elements in combat that Dragonwilds is proudly keeping around. From small things like enemy weaknesses and resistances to ammo for Magic and Ranged users. From food buffs that help you in combat to what gear you wear, it all feels interconnected. Plus, even the more common annoyances, such as always needing to craft arrows, are relatively easy, as each craft gives you a ton of arrows, so it’s not like you will ever struggle for ammo.

Even taking damage has weight and drastically shifts how you approach combat. Healing isn’t fast without certain items or skills, so depending on your playstyle or build, you might go down in just a few swings. So stay on your toes, and be resourceful.

Lore & Lots of It

For narrative and story enthusiasts, there is a lot of worldbuilding in Dragonwilds. Even when stepping into Ashenfall for the first time, there are tons of lore books, some NPCs, and little bits of story everywhere, found both in and out of quests.

Speaking of quests, let’s talk about some of the main story and side quests you can find along the way. Dragonwilds isn’t procedurally generated; it’s a handcrafted world that houses adventure and secrets around every corner. If you could guess by the title of Dragonwilds, your goal is to slay dragons. And honestly, your foes are more than mere bosses waiting for you behind a door. They are active in the world and clearly do not want you in Ashenfall.

For example, the first major dragon that you will encounter, General Velgar, doesn’t simply wait for players to come slay them. They fly around, monitor players, and sometimes attack them by dousing the lands in poison. This small detail already makes your foes feel way more memorable, as they interfere with your daily life, no matter when. Even if you are sneaking through a camp, or tending to your garden, the General is watching.

Good Ol’ Exploration

As for side quests, not all of them are actually handed out or easily found. One of the first side quests you might encounter is the Restless Ghosts in Brynmoor. By searching a crumbling well in a ruined village, you can find the ghostspeak amulet. This quest item allows the player to see spirits around the nearby area, but only during the night.

This quest doesn’t tell you where these spirits are, which encourages you to wander Brynmoor during the more dangerous hours. This invokes a sense of old-school exploration, driving you to visit corners or small places you otherwise might never have gone to. It makes the world feel alive, even in the smallest places.

Cooking, Crafting, & Building

At the core of a survival crafting game is, of course, the crafting. It’s in the name. And RuneScape: Dragonwilds keeps it simple but very impactful. Even in the early stages of your adventures, crafting is easy and not locked behind a bunch of systems.

But yet again, Dragonwilds has skills for almost everything. The more you craft, the higher your skill gets; soon you unlock spells that improve your crafting efficiency, or even unlock some new build pieces. Although one tiny downside, not every player will enjoy, is that you need materials to repair your gear. While this is annoying to some, it feels appropriate with all the other old-school elements at play.

As for Building, Dragonwilds uses a more popular crafting system found in other games such as Valheim or Enshrouded, using a snapping-point build system. This system makes building relatively simple, but be careful: your house needs proper support, so make sure you have plenty of support beams or stronger foundation materials before you start constructing your mansion.

Like other aspects of Dragonwilds, Building has a skill too. In fact, it is important to level Construction, because you get extra crafting and building recipes for doing so. Plus, you will also get the Eye of Oculus, a spell that lets you build and deconstruct with a floating camera, which makes editing your house much easier.

Also, you can find building patterns and even XP tomes around the world, so there are more recipes in the game than you might initially think.

Skill Impacts the Flavor

Cooking also has its own unique skill. When you start making small meals, you have a high chance of burning your food, but the more you cook, the better you get. Soon you unlock recipes that do more than replenish your hunger and thirst.

Once you unlock the stone range, you can start throwing together a bunch of food and make yourself a proper meal. Elevate your simple Clean Water with Redberries to make a Redberry Infusion, which reduces your thirst drain.

Alternatively, make one of my favorites by combining Fried Cabbage, Baked Potato, & Dried Redberries to make a Sweet Veg Ball, which grants an overall 10% XP boost. Foods also come in a variety of other buffs, some for combat, farming, or homestead usage. So don’t overlook the power of cooking in Dragonwilds.

Closing Thoughts

So, our closing thoughts on RuneScape: Dragonwilds. Jagex has without a doubt made a very addictive and fun survival craft title set in the RuneScape Universe. There are a lot of references and connections made between Dragonwilds and OSRS, but it still gives you the opportunity to understand and pick up on aspects of the universe, such as Gods or other elements from the other games, without needing to play them.

The overarching story does carry that old-school RPG storytelling, where you do feel not quite like an average Joe, but clearly not a god amongst men. Dragonwilds strikes that perfect balance between slow, impactful combat, never letting you feel like you truly outmatch everything around you.

Plus, with the addition of extra players in every world, the game scales up enemy difficulty, so no matter if you are alone or a party of 4, the world properly scales for your party. Speaking of the world, its art style has a unique beauty, keeping things in a more grounded fantasy while still keeping that classic RuneScape touch.

With skill ranks, even the calmer, sparser moments feel like you are always working toward something. Even when you go back and farm extra resources, there are ways to make that grind easier. You are always grinding towards that level 99, so even when you’re mining your 100th rock, you still feel like you’re earning more than just materials.

Final Review

But easily the biggest thing to pay attention to in RuneScape Dragonwilds is that the developers are establishing a narrative. A story, spanning more than just a simple Saga. Everything since the early access launch to 1.0 has been inside one saga.

From the base game to Fellhollow, Dowdun Reach, Umbral Sands, all the way to the brand-new Scorned Wilderness, where players finally get to face off against Kuldra. This is all one Saga. In the coming years, we can expect to see more stories and lands with new and exciting adventures and threats, such as the Blood Crystal Saga coming next year.

With that being said, we give RuneScape: Dragonwilds a 5/5. After an Early Access period heavily shaped by player feedback and with the developers already laying out plans for future Sagas, Dragonwilds feels like a game with plenty of room to grow. Even now, though, it’s incredibly easy to get hooked. Whether you’re crafting, farming, fighting, exploring, or simply working toward your next skill level, there’s always something pushing you forward. The story is engaging, and lore enthusiasts will have plenty to read, discover, and uncover throughout Ashenfall.

Even some of the problems we encountered during Early Access have been largely fixed or greatly improved. Melee users now have running attacks, and animation canceling has finally been added, addressing some of the biggest combat issues we had.

If we had to point to one major problem that still stands out, it would be the god rays and the game’s sometimes overwhelming brightness. It can be distracting, especially when you’re exploring certain areas.

Even with that minor issue, RuneScape: Dragonwilds is a phenomenal experience, and we can’t wait to see where Jagex takes the game next with the Blood Crystal Saga.