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One thing we've heard a lot since adventurers took their first steps into Ashenfall is:
"High tier weapons should have level requirements."
So, we've been ruminating on this feedback and have been experimenting with three potential options for how we address this within RuneScape: Dragonwilds.
Mod Pointy, Senior Game Designer, has this to say:
It’s clear that many of you want more meaningful unlocks from Skill Trees—something that better mirrors how skilling works in RuneScape and gives you more reasons to actively engage with these systems in-game. As a long-time player of both Old School and RS3, I completely understand—and agree! That’s why we’re taking our first steps toward improving how we design Skills to reflect that desire.
What Makes RuneScape Skilling Special?
Before we jump into how we plan to evolve our systems, let’s first understand what makes RuneScape’s approach to skilling so unique. From my perspective, it comes down to three key pillars:
Progression Through Mastery Skilling in RuneScape is all about growing stronger through experience. The more you train a skill, the more features and tools you unlock. To be better, you have to get better.
Meaningful Unlocks Skills offer a wide variety of rewards—new gear, better tools, and access to brand-new content and mechanics. These unlocks naturally become personal goals that keep players engaged.
Multiple Training Methods Skills can be trained in different ways, whether through classic skilling methods or by using tools that enhance efficiency. You’re free to choose the path that suits your playstyle and available resources.
It's important to remember that RuneScape: Dragonwilds is both a Survival game and a RuneScape RPG. Our goal is to bring Skills to life in a way that honors both identities. We want to avoid leaning too far into one genre at the expense of the other. Thankfully, the Survival and MMO genres aren’t usually at opposite ends of a spectrum. It’s not always a case of sacrificing one to strengthen the other, and there are many ways we can successfully blend both. One approach I’d like to discuss today is the “Proficiency System”. This system is our current vision for how to introduce skill requirements for equipment—similar to how RuneScape does it—without losing the survival gameplay loop that lets players craft and equip anything they can gather resources for.
If we were to use this system, for example, every Ranged weapon would have a level requirement to use it effectively. We're still deciding whether to group weapons by their Power Levels or individual skill levels for each weapon instead. Penalties for using gear you’re not proficient in—like reduced damage or increased stamina costs—are also still being nailed down.
How This Ties Back to RuneScape Skilling
Let’s apply the “What Makes RuneScape Skilling Special” framework to this concept:
Progression and Mastery: If you want to use stronger ranged gear, you’ll need to become a more skilled Ranger—not only gather higher-tier materials.
Meaningful Unlocks: New gear becomes a goal, earned through effort and progression.
Multiple Training Paths: You’ll need to discover effective ways to train your Ranged skill and make sure you have the resources to do so.
We believe this direction could give the Ranged skill tree that missing sense of depth and progression you have been asking us for.
The big question is: Is it enough? Does this bring the feeling of RuneScape skilling that you’ve been asking for?
We need your thoughts to know if we’re on the right track and delivering the kind of game you want to play. Your feedback is what helps us grow and improve.
Thanks for reading, and I can’t wait to hear what you think. Until next time—happy adventuring, and I’ll see you soon!
— Mod Pointy
Thanks, Mod Pointy. So there it is - we could introduce Proficiency as a way to reward grinding without stopping you from crafting equipment you scavenge together in your fight for survival in Ashenfall.
Alternatively, we could have Unlock Requirements that need you hit a certain level to wield the weapon at all!
But there's always also option 3: Keep It As-Is: No changes. You can use any weapon as soon as you craft it. No skill milestones, no restrictions. You like the freedom and don’t want to grind skills to use gear.
At first glance, this might seem like a simple “Just do it like RuneScape” decision, but it’s a lot more nuanced than that. We’re trying to strike the right balance between classic survival game conventions and the systems familiar to RuneScape MMO players. What feels great to one group could be off-putting to another, and we’re very aware of the trade-offs on both sides. That’s why we want your honest thoughts. If this approach lands well, we’re planning to extend it to Attack and Magic too. So your feedback now will help shape the future of the game's skill progression.
We'll monitor your feedback closely and deliver more meaningful changes based on the initial reception of the experiment. We may even potentially expand this out to Melee and Magic as we develop the game further, depending on your feedback on how it feels once the desired changes are in-game. This is all subject to change and can accommodate your feedback as we continue to work through Early Access. Your feedback is so crucial to us shaping this game into being the best it can be - we're excited to hear from you! Poll closes Sunday, so let us know over the weekend!
Thanks so much for reading.
Mod Doom
