Guide Returning Players, Read This [ 2.0 / Updated For 1.17 ]

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Imagine this: you once played a Minecraft server, kind of like World of Warcraft, but left due to the lack of updates. Now, years have passed, and you remember that server. What was it called? Windcraft? Then you remember: Wynncraft, the Minecraft MMO. On a whim, you search the game up and see a completely different experience than from when you left. So much has happened, you may be feeling completely lost...

...which means you're in the right place! My name is DrakeM1, and this is Returning Players, Read This, my ultimate guide for those returning to Wynncraft after a hiatus. For those of you wondering why I'm making another one of these, the original thread was locked due to inactivity -- which means I am unable to edit it with information from the new update. Fortunately, this gives me the opportunity to clear up any errors from that original post.

For those seeing this for the first time, this guide will be split into two sections: first, I'll break down the major parts of each update starting with 2015's Gavel Expansion all the way to 2017's Dungeons and Discoveries Update. The other part will contain simple tips to help returning players get back into the flow of Wynncraft! So, without any further ado...

Spoiler: What You Missed

Let's start with what you missed. If you haven't even played the Gavel Update, read "What You Missed - Gavel" and everything afterwards. If you haven't played Gameplay Update, read "What You Missed - Gameplay Update" and everything afterwards, and so on.

Spoiler: The Gavel Expansion

Read the OFFICIAL CHANGELOG for more information!

This was probably the biggest update in Wynncraft's history. It added so much stuff, and I will try to go over everything important.

First of all, they added the GAVEL PROVINCE, a new landmass across the ocean from Wynn. You start at the quartz city of Llevigar and make your way through the province's varied environments, completing various quests and exploring. The level cap was raised to 100, so don't worry about wasted XP. Gavel has everything, from volcanoes to swamps to floating islands and is a very nicely built area.

There's also an official resource pack that auto-downloads when you join. It adds custom models for all weapons and other textures. I find that it really adds to the experience of playing Wynncraft!

The item system was completely revamped. Now, when you get a non-normal item, it is Unidentified and unusable. You must go to an item identifier and pay a small fee to identify the item. It will then be Identified and usable, although some items have skill point requirements (as in, you need [x] amount of skill points to use the item) or quest requirements. For a full list of identifications, or attributes your item gets upon identification, visit here.

There is a new tier of items, known as Mythic Items. Your chance of getting one is roughly 1 in 150,000 so...it is pretty hard (or tedious) to find one. However...that feeling when you see Unidentified Item - Mythic in your inventory? It's amazing.

There's also elements. Each weapon can do neutral damage and elemental damage. Neutral damage can't be blocked by mobs, but elemental is a different story.

If a mob has a tag like [❉ Weak], that means it is weak to water damage and will take more water damage than your weapon normally deals. If it says [✹ Def]. that means it takes less fire damage than your weapon normally deals. If it says [✦ Dam], that means it deals thunder damage. The full list of elements is:
Earth ✤
Thunder ✦
Water ❉
Fire ✹
Air ❋


You may notice that your armour says "Earth Defense: +120" or "Thunder Defense: -50". Elemental Defense is an attribute most armour has, and it works like this. If you have 100 defense in a certain element, then you take 100 less damage from that element.

For more on playing in the Gavel Update, read this thread.

Spoiler: The Gameplay Update

Read the OFFICIAL CHANGELOG for more information!
The Gameplay Update redid all the dungeons and added higher-leveled "corrupted" dungeons. To gain access to a dungeon now, you need to find and kill a mob called "[Dungeon Name] Key Guardian" which will drop the key. When you complete a dungeon, you will gain items that can be used to purchase pretty good items that are around the dungeon's level. Sometimes (ahem...Corrupted Witherhead's Bow), these items are quite overpowered and useful, so keep your eye out!

Corrupted dungeons are a bit complicated, so I'll just put Hippie's video on it below:


Visit this link (it is a wiki page) for more information on all dungeon-related things.

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Powders were also redone. There are powders for each element and six tiers of said powders. On weapons, they decrease neutral damage but increase elemental damage (based on the powder you're adding, the amounts are different. If you add two Tier 4 (or higher) powders of the same element to the same item, you gain a powder special. Powder specials are like secondary spells, they charge up as you damage mobs and will notify you when they are fully charged. Then you shift + attack to cast them. You cannot have more than one powder special per weapon.

On armour, they increase elemental defense in one element and decrease it in another. I assume you already know how elements work, because you did play Gavel. If you put two Tier 4 (or higher) powders of the same element on the same armour piece, you gain an armour Powder Special. These are passive buffs. Again, you can only have one per armour piece.

Visit this link (it is a wiki page) for more information on all powder-related things.

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The Gameplay Update also added the VSS Seaskipper, which lets you travel the ocean at ease. For more, visit here, if you're interested.

Oh yeah, there's also boss altars. You sacrifice junk items and fight a boss that has a chance to drop pretty good items. Visit here for more.

You can also re-identify items if you got terrible identifications. It costs 5X what the previous IDing cost you, but you can get better items.

XP Bonus also no longer affects quests -- neither do XP bombs (a purchasable item). Also, the special XP buff for YouTubers was removed.

Lastly, sprinting doesn't affect your mana anymore. Instead, it affects your Sprint Bar (shown between health and mana) which, when it runs out, basically destroys your mana bar. Your Sprint Bar recharges over time.

Spoiler: Hallowynn 2016

Read the OFFICIAL CHANGELOG for more information.

For Halloween, they added a new quest ("A Grave Mistake") and also revamped the shop. Gold Coins are gone, replaced with items you can buy directly from the shop, like bombs and pets. If you still have old gold coins, you can still use them by typing /gold, but no new gold coins can be obtained. You will also get no gold coins from the Nether (you used to get them back when people played PvP gold coins existed). The ranks were redone as well. For more, you can visit the shop page itself.

They added a new quest system and such, but this update was pretty minor.

Spoiler: Craftmas 2016

Read the OFFICIAL CHANGELOG for more information.

The Craftmas Update (1.15) added a new quest ("Meaningful Holiday") and a special holiday fair where you could get special items and such. Again, not much new stuff. It's because the team was all working on...

Spoiler: The Corkus Update

Read the OFFICIAL CHANGELOG for more information.
This is the big update. It added a new island (Corkus, for levels 80-100), new quests, and new dungeons. However, it didn't add much in the way of new gameplay mechanics (although you can trade any Tier 4 or higher powder for another powder of the same tier now).

Do the quest "The Envoy I" to get to Corkus and explore it. It is pretty cool!

There's also LEGENDARY ISLAND, where you fight various bosses in an arena-progression style challenge. You fight a boss, gain a certain amount of loot, and can choose whether to give up and keep what you've earned...or keep going. A difficult--but rewarding--adventure!

Spoiler: The Dungeons and Discoveries Update

Read the OFFICIAL CHANGELOG for more information.

(Between Corkus and this update, the admin JPresent fixed a lot of bugs, including the guild name glitch. Those are linked to in the changelog for this update.)

This update expanded on discoveries, which were prototyped during the Corkus Update. Discoveries are easter eggs -- little secrets in the world of Wynncraft that the player is meant to find. When you find a discovery, you will gain some lore as well as an XP reward or (rarely) an item. If you want to know all the discoveries, go HERE.

There are also territorial discoveries. Every guild territory (as well as major area) will give you some lore and XP the first time you find them. Unlike the secret discoveries mentioned earlier, these are passive and you don't need to do any extra work to find them.

Every dungeon requires that you complete a quest to gain access to it. Basically, this puts level minimums on each dungeon, but the upside is now you gain MORE LORE (in case you haven't figured it out yet, this was lore update).

Every Mythic got rebalanced, so if you have a Mythic you should probably check HERE to see its fate.

The bank got a lot more space -- it can now hold up to 462 slots worth of items! However, you will have to pay a fee for each page you want to unlock, and it gets higher for each page.

The quest book was completely redesigned to be a GUI instead of an actual book. This lets you see many quests at once, and looks like this:

Okay, once you've read those, here's what to do:

Spoiler: Tips for Returning Players

• If you haven't played since Gavel, I would recommend starting a new class. It's a completely different game now, and you'll have a lot of fun experiencing all the new features as a new player. I'm not saying delete your current classes. I'm saying play through the game as a new character. Then you can apply your new knowledge (and items) to the old, original characters.
• If you have played Gavel but haven't played since the Gameplay Update, there's no need to do a new character. Just a few notes:
  • At level 80, do the ??? quest. It was revamped and reset for everyone, and the solution is now publicly available (it isn't bannable to talk about). There's a section on the forums called ??? Hunt. It has the full solution, although you'll need other people to help you. It takes...a while, but it is worth it. You get some of the best XP armour in the game. Nice deal for a few hours of your time. XP BONUS DOES MATTER!
    
  • Don't get too caught up on what you're using for items. We've all used uniques at one point (hell, I sold one for 12 LE) and, at the worst, you can use items from a merchant until you get something good from grinding.
  • Speaking of grinding, there are loads of "grinding guides" that showcase where you should be killing mobs for the most XP. Check them out.
  • That is all for now! Welcome back to Wynncraft and enjoy! If you have any other questions, feel free to ask me or post them on the forums.
• Due to significant item changes and rebalances in recent updates, thanks to the combined efforts of notable community members and CT members, your build may have been changed or no longer usable. I recommend checking your items to see if anything changed and browsing through the Wynncraft Item Database. Multiple websites are now available to view the database easily. Checking the Your Work section of the Wynncraft Community Forums is a good place to find such tools. You can also find an easy-to-view item guide at https://wynndata.tk/items/. [Thanks to @NicBOMB for helping with this part!]

Thank you so much for reading this guide! I'm sure it isn't 100% perfect, so if you have anything that needs to be fixed or added, PLEASE let me know and I will add it. Hopefully we can work together to make this the ultimate guide for returning players!

// DrakeM1

 

*Bookmarks for 90% of threads in question section*

 

?

 

I suggest 3 changes: Due to significant item changes and rebalances in recent updates, thanks to the combined efforts of notable community members and CT members, your build may have been changed or no longer usable. I recommend checking your items to see if anything changed and browsing through the Wynncraft Item Database. Multiple websites are now available to view the database easily. Checking the Your Work section of the Wynncraft Community Forums is a good place to find such tools. You can also find a list here: https://wynncraft.com/help , https://wynndata.tk/items/ , http://wynnapps.tk/item/

 

Fixed / changed. Thank you for the feedback!

 

I haven't played for 8 days. Do I still need to read/do this?

 

Three words :
Get this pinned!

 

Well...



yeah probably

 

Nah I'm fine

 

This guide is actually making me consider coming back to the server...