Back in April, out of nowhere, Jagex released their very well-received fantasy survival game Runescape: Dragonwilds. They are now getting ready to release their first major update next month and have revealed some exciting details about what we can expect.

We will be getting a brand new combat-focused skill line for magic. This highly anticipated addition won’t just be for fighting foes. Upon learning how to use magic, the very first spell you unlock is called Surge. After casting, it replaces your dodge, and you gain the ability to dash three times. This will teleport you farther and keep you invulnerable for longer. While not as powerful as its RuneScape MMO counterpart, Surge should still allow you to evade enemies more easily and move faster through the world. Another skill is going to be Afterimage, which creates a ghostly distraction and causes enemies to attack it for a brief period of time. Spell upgrades are something the developers plan to introduce to both existing and upcoming skill lines in the future. In addition to spells, you’ll be able to craft consumables like the Magic Focus, which boosts your attacks with the staff, or a Magic Potion, which increases your chance to land a critical hit.

Base defense will be getting a boost. Most of the structures are receiving a health upgrade to withstand more hits from raiding goblins. Some will see a 150x increase, which makes me wonder what the devs are planning if we need buildings this strong. Alongside this, you can construct Palisade walls and gates for even more defense around your base. It will also become a lot easier to build in the coming update with a new feature called coziness. If you’re within a 20-meter radius of your bed, your hunger, thirst, and fatigue will decay at a much slower rate. This will allow you to focus on building without needing many breaks.

For those looking for a challenge, it is coming your way. Update 0.8 will bring Hard mode. This can be selected when creating a world and includes many staples you would expect from a higher difficulty. Hunger and thirst will kill you, unlike in normal mode where they leave you at 1% HP. Enemies deal more damage and have more health, and dying twice has become much scarier. If you die on your way back to your gravestone, it will be deleted and you will lose all your items.

This, along with a few QoL features, is coming in the next patch for RuneScape: Dragonwilds.

What are you most looking forward to in the upcoming update? Let me know in the comments.