Welcome everyone to the first TMIA - This Month In Ashenfall! This is going to be a regularly scheduled piece from us with the aim of checking in with the community. It's a look back at what we've done so far, tell you what we've heard from you (Spoiler: it's a lot.), and a chance to show you where we're going.

Over a month ago now (can you believe it?!), we launched RuneScape: Dragonwilds into Early Access. So, let's take a look into what's been happening!

Update When?

In June, we're hoping to launch the first of what we consider "quarterly updates".

The intention is to always deliver an update at the end of a quarter - so, what is a quarter? At the end of every 3 month cycle, you can expect an update from us. These are consistent targets we aim for that you can expect to land in your update box on Steam. These aren't necessarily tied to seasons, and aren't seasonal updates.

We want to make sure that we're setting a reasonable and transparent expectation of when we're delivering updates. These are "Spotlight", or "Showcase" or "Tentpole" updates that will be hitting major targets on our roadmap. On the subject of roadmap, we've been hard at work, listening to your feedback and ingesting a lot of data. I'd like to invite you to sit down with our EP, Mod Dutch, to talk all about our Roadmap once 0.8 is released, and we'll be able to take a broader look ahead at what's coming. We'll share more about when that will be at the end of June. Right, that's a lot of talking about the future. Now, to the past!

What Have We Done?

We released what we've been internally calling "0.7" as our Early Access build of RuneScape: Dragonwilds. This is the heart, the foundation, of what we're aspiring to build with the game. Dragon-slaying, skill-spelling, survival-crafting goodness. We've had so much feedback, some of it really useful and insightful.

We launched the game into Early Access with 0.7.1, and hotfixed a boatload of issues thanks to Mod Bakes and the QA Team. That put us at 0.7.1.4, before we launched 0.7.2. 

0.7.2 toned down Velgar attacks, base raids and "Hunted" events, as well as fixing a bunch of crashes, bugs and shenanigans that were surfaced by you lovely lot getting to grips with the game.

0.7.3 added Cloud Saves, fixes to Velgar Meteor attacks, Quest Inventory fixes and a long list of adjustments to particular elements and issues we saw raised in the Discord and on our socials. Phew!

And that brings us to here! So, next question from you will obviously be:

What Are We Doing?

0.8, of course!

We're working on a structure of releases that gives our (very small!) team time to focus in on the important stuff - we're currently aiming to have quarterly updates building towards larger-scale Major Updates (in this case, 0.10 - Fellhollow!). We'll try and get these major updates out every six months. That sounds like a long time to wait between "content" updates but we consider these as expansion-sized updates, with quarterly beats between these to add things like Skills, building pieces, additional features and QOL fixes.

Just as importantly, though, we're listening. We've heard loads of feedback, from amazing players across the world! Maxed out 'Scapers to total noobs who have never stepped foot into Gielinor. It's been truly humbling to see so many of you diving in to Ashenfall and building amazing homes, self-imposing huge challenges and throwing down the gauntlet to face off against General Velgar. There's so much for us to take in, and our little team is humbled by what we've seen. For now, let's talk what we're up to, and then we can talk what we're hearing.

It's a Kind of Magic

The Magic Skill is coming. And it’s bringing new ways to dominate combat in Ashenfall! I’m Mod Pointy, Senior Game Designer, and I head up the Skills and Spells team as well as Player Combat on Dragonwilds!

I’m here to give you a sneak peek at what charming delights the team has been working on for our first new Combat focused skill line, Magic! The Magic skill line has been one of the most anticipated features in Dragonwilds. And we’ve been pouring a lot of time into making it feel powerful, enticing, and fun to master while you level it using Spells in Combat. With all new Utility Magic to learn, and new items that empower your weapon to craft, the new Magic skill line is designed to reward everyone who enjoys using magic to destroy their enemies. But… that’s not all! We’re also introducing a whole new type of perk unlock as part of this update: Spell Upgrades! More on that in a bit, first lets talk about the new spell, "Surge"."Surge” is the first Spell you unlock and it upgrades your dodge, turning it into a teleporting dash. 

Surge covers more distance, gives you a longer period of invulnerability and more importantly, stops your robes getting covered in dirt! After casting "Surge", you get three teleport charges, with one being used each time you use dodge until they run out. Using “Surge”, you can create a lot of distance between yourself and any enemies that are trying to interrupt you and your Spell fuelled fun. You’ll have to be mindful with how you use your charges though, as once they’re gone it’s a bit of a wait before "Surge" can be cast again! Unlocking “Surge” is only the beginning though, as the Magic Skill also contains our newest perk type, Spell Upgrades! Spell upgrades enhance existing spells, improving their effects or even adding whole new ones! As you gain more levels in the Magic skill line, you will unlock the “Afterimage” upgrade for “Surge”. “Afterimage” causes you to leave behind a ghostly distraction when you dodge for the first time after casting “Surge”. This "Afterimage" will cause nearby enemies to attack it for a short time, taking the pressure off you!

Spell upgrades are something we’re planning on bringing to all old and new skill lines going forward. and we’re always open to any ideas you have for them too, just head over to our Discord to share your suggestions! Alongside Spells and Upgrades, other things you can look forward to unlocking include:

• The “Magic Focus”, a craftable consumable item that enhances the power of your staff for a limited time.

• The “Magic Potion” which temporarily increases your chances of landing Critical Hits with magic.

Lastly, with the introduction of the Magic skill line, some abilities that long-time players may be familiar with will now unlock gradually as you level up. This might be surprising if you’ve grown used to having access to everything by default, but this shift brings Magic in line with other skill lines and lets us craft a more accessible sense of progression. For new players, it means a clearer and more structured entry into the skill. For everyone else, it opens up room for us to build meaningful and impactful upgrades as we further develop this skill into the future. That’s all the information I have for you today! We’re so excited to see your builds, feedback, and crazy Surge moments when the Magic Skill update goes live! Until then, see you in Ashenfall!

- Mod Pointy and the entire Skills and Spells team.

He wrote all that by himself, I'm very proud. But there's more!

De-fence-sive Line

Your base has been raided a fair few times, to say the least. Survival is a constant battle, and when those contemptible Goblins (or worse...) come a-knockin', then there's no time to hesistate. Dig in, and hold your ground! 

We have rebalanced all building structure health values from their old 100, to 1500 in some cases - sorry to that one ‘Scaper who’s foundation got deleted by a kebbit that one time…

We've added two new buildable constructs for you - Palisade Walls and Palisade Gates. These have two tiers, Ash and Oak, and are a way to fortify your humble abode. Keep those raiders at bay by slapping down an extra layer of defensive structure! This is just the start of where we want base defences to go as we continue developing the system. Those Cannons you love dropping down in Falador might have a new home in the future...

The gates work like doorways, and you can slap two doors in each gateway that function as normal. The walls are beefy (no additional cow hunting required) and will withstand a significant amount of abuse from Goblins, Garou or anything else that starts with a G. The other letters, we're not sure on yet. These should allow you to build some additional protective countermeasures to deter any undesireables from breaking and entering.

And that's not all! When your structures get damaged to 50% health, you can expect that structures will be visibly showing signs of damage. As part of this, we have updated Oak (Tier 2) building pieces with new colours and materials to bring them in line with the Ash (Tier 1) building pieces.

Bless This Mess

That's not all - we've also got a new system feature: Coziness!

When you're 20 meters from your currently claimed bed, your hunger, hydration and fatigue decay rates will be massively reduced. The intended goal for this is to mean that you're going to be able to get building, crafting, cooking or whatever you may desire while you're safe indoors, and it gives you a chance to wind down while you're recuperating.

Where this system goes in the future is still to be determined, and we're going to be drawing heavily from your feedback around these systems to shape it.

Speaking of feedback and tidying up - We've also done a complete pass on Item Weights which means that things will weight different values now. No more pining for a pack yak! 

All fuel items have had their burn times adjusted to help you avoid losing the occasional log or fuel source while you’re cooking or crafting. 

All items also now fall into 1 of 4 max stack sizes: 1, 50, 99 or 999 depending on the item. Nice, tidy numbers - including those 99s we know you love.

Hard Difficulty BTW

We're introducing a new mode for you! This is our first take at creating a distinct mode with permutations to change how you experience the continent of Ashenfall.

You've wanted a challenge, we've got you. Introducing: Hard Difficulty! Here's a little side by side of the differences between these two modes:

This will be a toggle-on option that you can check to opt-into when you create a world. Expect this not to be an easy ride - lock in for this one. 

Death, the concept, will be plentiful - if at first you don't succeed, die, die again. You can starve to death and die of dehydration. When you DO expire from this mortal coil, your XP in any skill since the last level-up will vanish. If you're half-way from level 21 to 22, you'll be reset to level 21. You can't lose a level, but you can lose progress towards the next. Speaking of losing things, if you do find yourself on the wrong end of a Goblin arrow, a poison cloud or a particularly gnarly axe - your gravestone is only there for one life. These items are destroyed on your next death, so there's still an urgent need to dash out to your gravestone and get your clobber back. Provided you survive, that is. Your items will be gone, but you'll come back the same... at least, we hope you come back the same.

You'll also find exacting revenge to be a little harder than usual - enemies will deal double damage to you. You might end up getting splatted for 73 - you wouldn't be the first. Enemies are tankier too - triple their HP from the base game. Got some hecking chonkers in here now. And on top of that, modifiers like resistances are 300% more effective - so your infusions, brews and pots are extra valuable - try not to lose them...

All of this serves to be a first blush at the kind of options we're implementing within the game to bring you more ways to experiment and experience the continent of Ashenfall. Your feedback on this is very helpful to us and we're excited by the potential on what this kind of experiential customization could become in the future!

Bloom: The Dark Ages

We've updated the in-game lighting to better balance bloom levels! Lighting sources should no longer be as garishly bright at specific times of day. This also means that blur in the distance has been adjusted to hopefully provide a sharper image. The in-game settings will now have a Bloom slider and Depth of Field slider to help you tone down those to your personal preferences! 

What Have We Heard?

More RuneScape! More content! More music! All sorts of everything, but one word emerges triumphant. You want more! We hear you, and we understand.

Whether it's Ancient Magicks, Dragon Defenders, trimming armour, One Small Favour or something else entirely, the team are going away, doing our due diligence, researching what we think would or wouldn't fit within the world of RuneScape: Dragonwilds. We recently spoke to you about Steel as a progression step within the game's gear tiers, and the answer was clear - Steel is an important progression step to you, and is iconic armour that you have always held in high regard. And yes, expect to see some full helms in the future.

The team are also working on how we can provide more security features to prevent griefing and securing your posessions in public/shared worlds. It's in the early stages, but we want to be clear that we're hearing your feedback on this and it's something we are very keen to address. I want to take this opportunity to also remind folks out there that the Friendly Fire/PvP setting that we have is very much a highly experimental mode. Part of this is due to us being in Early Access, and throwing out ideas to see how they land, but it's also due to wanting to get feedback and crucial data from the community before we make concrete commitments to where we're heading.

Community Art

We've got an incredibly talented community of artists - both in-game, and out of game.

subwaygd has cooked up an amazing build - a positively palatial piece of positioning and placement.

CherryCake4 has depicted the three combat styles as adorable cats!

NinthCloud has lent their iconic style to bring Surge to life in this gorgeous piece! 

We hope you've enjoyed this first dive into what's going on within the team this month! I'll be heading to TwitchCon Europe with some other JMods to talk about RuneScape as a universe, and we'll be hosting a livestream in a few weeks ahead of our launch of 0.8, so look forward to that! As always, we'll have an Eye On Ashenfall post coming out with the 0.8 update!

Be sure to join the Official RuneScape: Dragonwilds Discord server to show off your best builds, find parties of dragon-slaying adventurers and chat! Be sure to follow us on our socials, too! We're on Twitter, BSky, Reddit, Instagram, Facebook, Twitch, YouTube and TikTok!

Until next time, be good!

We'll see you in Ashenfall.