I'm replaying Wynncraft (yet AGAIN), here's my thoughts

Hello everyone. I'm a long time Wynncraft player who's logging in for the first time since Rekindled World dropped, and I decided to do a new 1-106 playthrough. I found out that I have a LOT to say about this game, so I'm going to share my feedback as I progress through this journey. Given that Wynncraft is this weird hybrid between a minecraft creation and a full-fledged game, I'll try and critique it as such.

Keep in mind that while I do have many hours in this server, meaning I don't have the true new player perspective, I'm out of the loop on anything post-2024, so I don't know what "Burger" is or what the community loves/hates. I do want to try and replicate the new player experience to the best of my ability though.

[LATEST FEEDBACK]

Class Selection:
I love the class selection screen. Amazing first impression with visuals and music.

People don’t give this part of a game enough credit. As a new player, you get a glimpse into the game’s setting, and each archetype has an enticing description (shadestepper can oneshot? riftwalker controls time?) I can absolutely see a player easily picking a class/archetype based on what sounds coolest, rather than going off of stats/name like in 2015.

Tutorial & First Impressions:
King's Recruit was fine. I feel like it will teach new players all the basic mechanics. But that's it. It's just... fine.

First, I don't think the quest actually gives an impression of how Wynncraft plays. There's no exploration, minimal loot collection, a loot cave that gives off the wrong impression, and not enough combat. I've played a few other minecraft MMORPGs, and their first slice of gameplay perfectly showcased how the rest of the server would play.

This could theoretically be alright; lots of games don't focus too much on core gameplay in their first fifteen minutes. The difference is that those games have some sort of a different hook to get the player invested, such as worldbuilding or interesting characters. Wynncraft has even less of that. The world it presents at the start is generic, and honestly too similar to vanilla Minecraft in terms of the mobs it has. Aledar and Tasim both talk like stereotypical AAA characters ("ok w, amadel has the elemental crystals and you KNOW what that means")

For a server that cares so much about player retention, it's crazy how bland the tutorial feels. Yes, the models and builds are amazing, especially that zombie miniboss, but they can't carry the introduction alone. Any minecraft server can look nice. I want to see standout writing and gameplay; something that truly sets Wynncraft apart within the first 5 minutes.

At the end of the day though, this isn't the biggest issue, since king's recruit is only like 5-10 minutes long. And it's still leagues better than that profession-centric tutorial we had once.

The king giving me a teleport scroll was nice. The king telling me to visit the shitty website map if I'm lost was not.

Crate Advertisement in Ragni:
I despise the crate/store advertisement in Ragni. Breaks immersion, and how many new players are gonna want to immediately buy something? Would they even know or care what a silverbull share is? Kinda funny how the advertisement feels as prominent as the bank across the street.

While in Ragni, I encountered a bunch of players with pets and cosmetics, one even opened a crate. New players seeing people with cool stuff, and then asking them how to get it, feels like a way more natural way of introducing them to the store. There’s already an advertisement in the character info menu too!

Keep in mind, this is the first thing you'll probably notice once you leave the throne room and talk to Tasim: an advertisement for a store of a game you've barely played. What impression would that give new players? That Wynncraft cares about money above all else? I just can't think of anything this advertisement accomplishes, but maybe there's internal data I'm just missing.

Enzan's Brother:
I’ll always be a fan of the concept behind Enzan’s brother. The Emerald Trail is a great tutorial for what Wynncraft is actually like as a game, and this quest gives every new player an excuse to travel through it.

The mushroom miniboss was a playsession highlight. It growing took me by surprise and I loved its kick attack animation. Made up for Therck's overly quirky dialogue.

I love how the end of Enzan’s Brother organically leads you to more content. The NPC tells you to return to Ragni, and the ring tells you to seek out a cook… but he also tells you to climb the stairs, where I found a mysterious key, which I really hope leads to something cool. If you want guidance, you have that with the first option (Cook Assistant does this too!). If you want a mystery, you can try to find out what this key does, and why it was here (hopefully).

Cook Assistant:
Cook Assistant is so much better now. I’m not kidding; the replacement of that fetch quest has probably increased player retention by 10%. Now it’s a funny 1-minute quest that highlights the importance of teleportation scrolls. It’s also a good showcase of the Katoa Ranch surroundings, and it made me want to check out what that structure [decrepit sewers] was sometime in the future.

Champion Rank Experience:
Holy shit, thank you so much for not spamming my chat with the “you have 4 unspent ability points!” message if I choose not to spend my champion-exclusive bonus points. I want to see what the server is like unmodded before I download wynntils or anything similar, and I was worried I’d have to break that rule to get rid of annoying spam.

Misc. Complaints:

• There’s a cave in front of Ragni that’s supposed to be blocked according to the npc and a sign, but you can just walk in until the npc tps you back out. Might be more immersive to have a boulder blocking it until you beat Tunnel Trouble.
• In the time it took the reward chest cutscene to play in the Pigman Barbecue loot cave, every mob respawned and immediately killed me in a swarm.
• The ring you get from Pigman’s Barbecue should be called something other than “Blank”. That name makes it feel like a bug prevents an actual name from showing up lol.

[CONTINUED]

 

that tutorial almost got me to quit wynn permanently within five minutes of logging on for the first time.
the thing I miss was that cutting down the tree caused it to fall, which I thought was really immersive

yeah that needs to change. that dialogue hasn't been updated since 2020. the nice thing about it now is that the teleport scroll sticks around (which I thought it would when i started playing, only to lose it and be like, seriously, i gotta buy a new one every time?!), so it makes more sense.

yep

the stairs gimmick makes it so much better than it was. The concept was implemented a lot worse back when i started playing. I kept dying and losing my stuff trying to find therck (i hadn't figured out how to attack properly yet, left-clicking wasn't introduced as a feature in the tutorial back then), and he was alllll the way back at the nivla gate. And he just gave me some powder. First Steps, the key, it's so much better now.

yep
grooks are such pesky birds

 

Builds:
The world looks beautiful while at the same time not distracting. I love all the waterfalls and ruins in the background of the emerald trail. I felt the same way about the tutorial area too; its models add a lot to the ambience.

Ternaves is probably my favorite town/city so far. It is brimming with detail and personality thanks to not only custom models, but the builds themselves. Something like a central church and market suggest a tight-knit religious community, while the courier office shows how they contribute to the war.

My favorite build (so far) is a ruined church right next to the “Scorched Trail” guild banner. It lacks any loot or xp sources, yet serves a vital purpose in making you think about the wider world your character inhabits, as well as serving as a respite from Wynn’s dangers. The pews have custom models and a dove spawns on the altar. Beautiful.

Infested Plants:
Pretty fun little quest! Ope seeming shady came off as authentic here and got some chuckles out of me, and Tasim’s dialogue felt more natural as well. Hey, wait, maybe this should’ve been the quest that introduces Loot Caves rather than King’s Recruit!

It turns out you can talk to Mayor Alvin after the quest, and you get to ask him stuff! Including what Ope’s deal was, which definitely made me rethink what he was like as a character. Cool bit of worldbuilding!

Nivla Woods & Alekin:
I forgot how great this area is. It contrasts perfectly with the Emerald Trail, and not just because it has a bunch of trees. The area just feels way more hostile. Spiders can swarm you if you aren’t careful, and an infested pit guardian spawning will force you into flight or fight mode; I actually like that they spawn here because of this.

This all leads to Alekin feeling like the perfect safe haven. I like how it incorporates custom blocks and models into its build. It’s also conveniently close to Infested Pit. A shame that there’s another store advertisement here, come on! Detlas is the only city that should have this.

Mushroom Man:
Does a decent job of incorporating a world event tutorial and an excuse to visit Detlas. I liked the miniboss fight and how it’s balanced around you now having a movement ability. Introduces a story arc too, and I’m interested to see how it plays out. Aledar returning at the end makes the world feel more connected.

Potion Making:
The first quest I found to be mediocre. I’m not a fan of quests making you farm items, we already have slaying posts for those. There’s a good chance that this is the first quest outside of the “spider storyline” (enzan’s bro, cook, infested plants, yahya, etc.) that new players will do, and it could give them a poor impression. The Essren boss was fun. Other parts of the quest are a bit clunky; it’s unclear at first why you get mushrooms, and Essren just respawns right after you beat him.

Stable Story:
I wasn't expecting to get my first death here! In my defense, it’s pretty frustrating how the duo boss will charge at you right as you enter their arena. It’s a fun and solid fight otherwise! I’m completely fine with this quest being above-average in difficulty (compared to what you’ve done so far), considering it has a well above-average reward.

Horses:
Yeah, I know Horses are useless in the endgame. So Wynncraft should lean into this, and make them more accessible in the level 15-95 range. Make it much easier to breed a black and chestnut horse, with a white horse remaining as a vanity item. New players should be able to realistically have a 35/35 chestnut horse by the time they reach Cinfras, without wasting a ton of money on gambling. An unleveled horse should also be faster.

Also, unless I’m blind, there’s no explanation ingame on how you breed horses??

Supply and Delivery:
It’s great that we get a tutorial for the trade market, and the dialogue was good, but the rest of the quest feels incomplete. I don’t mind a 2-minute trip to Alekin, but the fact that it’s 60% of the quest’s playtime sticks out. There should’ve been an ambush on the road, or Ope comes with you, or something like that.

I honestly just want more Ope. He’s my favorite character so far, and I think a man who lost family to the Corruption would contrast well with the not-yet battle hardened soldiers (you Aledar and Tasim). He’s shady, but he’s by no means malicious either. Ope vanished from Detlas after doing the quest, and I wonder if he shows up somewhere else.

Other Quests:
Tunnel Trouble was good, a lot less vital for new players with the TP scroll changes. The cow segment feels disjointed but it is the most fun part. Absurd to the point it was kinda funny. I assume this quest is the setup for Cowfusion’s punchline?

Sewers of Ragni was great. The creepy atmosphere was enhanced by the new witherhead model, and the sewer minidungeon itself was enjoyable. Thank you for removing the “did you just open THAT?!” dialogue at the end.

Taking the Tower, Elemental Exercise, & Arachnid’s Ascent were good quests.

Infested Pit:
The non-boss section felt like a loot cave with One Piece pacing. I did not enjoy it, and was terrified of dying to the boss because it meant that I’d have to play it again. There should be mobs with unique abilities and ambushes and stuff. Fighting here should feel like a fight for survival, not killing a checklist of opponents to open a door.

But the boss was excellent enough for me to do the dungeon twice. She was tough, even on Shaman I had some close calls. You really need to have a grasp of how your spells work to survive. The boss model and animations were great, resulting in well-telegraphed attacks.

Decrepit Sewers:
Played this after Infested Pit. The pre-boss half was mediocre, and the boss was good, especially in terms of animations. The fact that it’s the “first dungeon” is no excuse for the first half’s mediocrity, considering the Sewers of Ragni sewers were more elaborate than this. If I’m entering a dungeon with a unique key I want a unique experience in the entire dungeon.

Early-Game Leveling Speed:
You gain XP pretty fast at the level 1-15 range, and I don’t have an issue with this. It’s just a symptom of low-level players actually having more content to do than just killing zombies outside Ragni, which you can still do if you want to! Yes, most people will probably be overleveled for some content as a result of gaining too much XP, but you can always start a new class if you want to do something at-level.

If the devs did want to nerf just one source of XP, the “Objectives” you get in the early game (ex. kill 80 lvl 10+ mobs) feel redundant and don’t need to give that much xp.

Misc positives:

• Whoever came up with the teal color for legendaries back in 2013 deserves more credit. As soon as you see that first blue box pop up you realize you’ve found something special.
• The spider death animations feel appropriately creepy! Mooshrooms look adorable!
• I like how I can delete low-level potions from my potion stack. Was this always a feature?
• One cool thing I noticed: after completing the barracks quests, Ragon said to return later and the Admiral would be waiting for me. I assumed that meant I’d have to seek him out upstairs when I was the right level, but no, he actually spawns in the lobby when you reach level 14! Cool detail.
• You can talk to Aledar and Tasim in the barracks after Infested Pit, and you even get drunk with them lol.
• Super convenient how you can change just a few of your skills points at any time in a town, no item needed.

Misc Complaints:

• There’s no indication that you can use the Corroded Key to access the Corrupted Passageway. New players won’t think to randomly click on an iron door.
• The game should make it clearer that you can do /toggle beacon. They’re helpful, but there are moments like the journey to Detlas where they don’t feel too necessary, and mostly just ruin the pretty views. Definitely not something for everyone.
• I still think it is crazy that mob eledefs are a flat value rather than a percent. The latter seems like it would be much easier to balance.

[CONTINUED]

 

believe it or not, the tutorial is actually focused on player retention, and is designed meticulously around the attention spans of new players (which is in fact the most vital factor, depressingly). i agree that it doesn't present an interesting story hook, but there's not really an opportunity to in the current lore, so it's difficult to change. i also agree that it isn't really a good introduction to wynn's exploration gameplay, but consider this: the tutorial to wynncraft is not just this one quest, rather, it comes in two parts: King's Recruit, and the earlygame. King's Recruit introduces you to some must-know gameplay systems like item identification, spellcasting, and the ability tree, and is designed to be fairly quick so you can get to the real map. once you leave ragni, the tutorial is still ongoing, it's just somewhat invisible. you're free to do whatever you want, and most of what you can do at that stage is designed to teach you things about the game, for instance, various secret discoveries around the earlygame are deliberately easy to find and feature systems to guide the player in their direction to encourage and reward exploration, and many of the quests feature simple introductions to basic quest mechanics. this is even done in subtle ways, for instance, when you mention that cook assistant showcased Katoa and its surroundings to you, and made you want to check out Decrepit Sewers, you might have figured it out, but this was very intentional on our part. think of the earlygame as an "open tutorial" similar to the one from Breath of the Wild. it's still a tutorial, but it doesn't feel like it, and you have fun doing it. that's the best kind of tutorial, especially for an open-world game.

if you're wondering, in this case, why king's recruit is necessary at all, it's because it's really hard to find ways to teach players certain core systems by just letting them explore themself. the earlygame story quests teach some core systems, but even this is imperfect, because said quests are totally optional, and perhaps even burdened by the fact that they are a linked questline, meaning you can't do the later parts without first completing its earlier steps. in the breath of the wild example, wynn's tutorial is the bit where you go through the shrine of rejuvenation, meet the old man, and then activate the shiekah tower. a fairly short section that you are required to do, which introduces essential gameplay mechanics to the player.

i don't love podiums personally myself, and agree there should not be one in ragni, however i would like to explain the reasoning for their existence. wynn's lobby is kind of.. deprecated. the only role it plays now is for world switching, as you are always automatically put in a world when you join wynn. other servers usually use their lobbies as a space to do advertising in the same way that podiums do, and wynn also did this, but now with lobbies being relatively unused by players, it was not very effective. the philosophy behind podiums was to re-introduce this type of design but fit it into the game's closest equivalent of lobbies: towns.

podium ads are determined depending on the level of your highest level class, with the system tailoring the little ads on it to fit your specific point in progression. since you have multiple endgame classes already, it is showing you shares, but a completely new player would not be shown those.

if this is referring to the goliath, then to be honest, i think this part could use improvements, as the one who made it. it used to be completely decoupled from the quest and existed as a separate little thing, but we noticed a lot of new players were getting killed by it while trying to do Mushroom Man, because they didn't know how to use their movement spell. instead of actually addressing that issue and adding a bit that tells the player to unlock and use their movement spell, we just integrated it into the quest and had tasim assist you against the goliath to give the player some help, with a special respawn in Detlas if you die to the boss. while this is fine, i think it should focus more on telling the player to use their movement spell, and i may go back and make this change at some point

love the idea of having infested pit feel super dangerous

 

Grave Digger:
Does a good job of guiding the player to Nemract. They removed the part where you have to grind rotten flesh! Instead there’s now an awesome labyrinth where zombies are jumping out of coffins and gargoyles are coming to life to ambush you. It’s a great challenge made better by custom models and animations. I liked the boss at the end too. One of my favorite quests so far.

The section with Druckish and alcohol is actually easy as hell. He outright tells you where to buy the item when you talk to him. If this section is made any easier it will be a Dora the Explorer episode. I actually think it should be made harder, as this part doesn’t feel hard to solve without the hint; you’ll find the item just by talking to every merchant. This difficulty increase could lead to a higher average of first-time raiders with basic reading comprehension.

Tempo Town Trouble:
I don’t mind the long walk at the start. It takes you through some parts of Wynn you might not have visited yet, including Elkurn, and you might find a secret discovery on the way. What did annoy me was the scout NPC telling you exactly how to solve a very simple puzzle. The boss at the end has a surprisingly devious spell combo for new players (tp -> multihit), but I think it’s overall fair.

Tempo Town is a concept I don’t mind, it’s cool that you get an amenities outpost in the region now. Powders purchased from Time Troubles could cost way less.

Teleport Scrolls:
These items are insane now that they don’t cost SP. Super convenient and made me much more willing to warp over to Ragni for one quick quest or something. Also a good money sink in the early game, considering you aren’t really buying much. Not a big fan of charges having a cooldown, and I think that should be removed, or max charges could be increased.

However, they are kind of easy to miss, but I know a way to improve that. Each scroll score has an item frame depicting a piece of paper. Instead, it should use the new scroll texture!

Creeper Infiltration:
One way or another, the quest and Pigman Ravines need to be the same level. Because right now, the quest is just you running back and forth in a maze where enemies pose 0 threat. The more Wynncraft becomes its own thing, the more a creeper-centric quest feels like a crossover episode.

You still need the Creeper Mask for ToL, right? If so, Thomas should tell you not to throw it out.

Timelost Sanctum:
This is what a dungeon should be. Solid atmosphere and good variation in gameplay, and I liked how the sanctum crumbled towards the end like how Garoth said. I liked how the boss is really pissed at you instead of bloodthirsty like the other three. My main complaint is the survival section being lopsided; too many mobs spawn at the start, and barely any spawn afterwards.

At first I thought the boss was kind of boring, if not an alright representation of a mage. So it was a genuine surprise when it turned out he had a second phase, and one that perfectly highlights his desperation to kill you.

Also Underworld Crypt is bad. I’d elaborate more but I heard it’s already getting a rework in the future.

Other Quests:
Poisoning the Pest was fine. I one-shot the boss at level 19.

Pit of the Dead & Lost Tower were boring and are just worse loot caves. I don’t think they’ve changed since 2014.

I liked Dwelling Walls. Simple, but the puzzle was a good change of pace.

Dark Descent was also fine. If I remember correctly, other quests do the “spooky atmospheric journey” better.

Deja Vu is excellent. Hilarious, has an interesting plot, and got me curious about Wynn’s wider world. Is Martyn some trickster god?

Misadventure on the Sea is also excellent. I really appreciate all the secrets you can find on this journey. Not every joke landed, but a lot of them sure did.

Secret Discoveries:
I have only found 7 of these so far. They’re pretty well-hidden and despite giving a lot of XP, they feel like a “do at any level” piece of content. I guess knowing about them makes it easier to level up in a repeat playthrough, which is cool. Honestly, the XP doesn’t even matter for me, I just wanna watch cutscenes and learn about the world.

Fableds:
I found my first fabled item (Overreach). Even though it’s not for my class, I still kept it to sell to a player since I can clearly tell it’s something special compared to legendaries, thanks to min-maxed stats and a major ID. A new player would be in awe at finding this.

Worldbuilding:
I like how when you get past level 20 (or whenever you find more secret discoveries), the world of Wynn starts being a bit less lighthearted. Your heroic journey is now contrasted with Ancient Nemract, which shows that the corruption is a legitimate threat. The Elkurn defense section of Recover the Past has a hint of “shit, there are three of us defending this place and if we fail the town is screwed”.

Additionally, the game starts introducing some other concepts, such as the lost Time Valley denizens, Bob, Wynnic Language, and I think Dern in that one mine discovery? And then there’s…

Recover the Past:
This quest got me so much more invested in the world of Wynn. If I was a new player, the reveal that the province we came from is malicious would serve as an interesting twist. As a returning player, the reveal that Tasim is “cursed” was crazy, and makes me want to know more! Very excited to see where Tasim’s storyline goes. This Fruma province is interesting. Do you think it’ll ever be added as an update? That would be cool!

World Events Rant:
I keep getting messages about world events in the chat, and when I click to track them, it shows no coordinates or anything, not even in the quest book. It turns out that because I have beacons toggled off, no marker for the event shows up. I don’t want beacons toggled on for quests, so am I supposed to keep doing /toggle beacon every time I want to find a new world event? It’s not a big deal at all, but like, why not just put the coordinates in the sidebar like how it’s done with quests?

I also think it would be nice if you can discover world events naturally. Like you go to the spot and it says “a world event might be here in the future!”, and then you can keep that spot in the memory. IDK, it just feels like requiring you to follow a beacon to find each world event is heavily at odds with how Wynn otherwise does exploration.

I’ll review World Events as an overall feature later once I’ve done more than two.

Misc. Positives:

• The Nemract Cathedral had a chest at the top, which was a pretty cool find.
• The Timelost Sanctuary bridge looks amazing. Saw it from Tempo Town and it made me go “wow this is cool”.
• I like how loot caves seem to be getting more elaborate as you progress. “The Alcazar” is a good example of this.

 

The Desert & Mesa Storyline:
Level 30 marks a shift in the Wynncraft experience. For one, tutorials are basically over, and the game trusts that you have some idea as to what you’re doing. Second, and more importantly, we get our first 10-level region with a self-contained storyline that all content is based on.

The desert empire half of the story wasn’t that compelling, and it felt like a less mysterious version of the time valley ruins, and a less threatening version of the corruption. I’m sorry, I didn’t find Junes interesting enough to carry this. The bandit half was better, as it showcases a group trying to survive the Corruption in their own way. I like how they too want to protect the desert from Hashr’s return.

The Mercenary:
Didn’t expect to see Aledar again! Was worried he’d be absent until SE. I’m glad he and other NPCs show up, they make the world feel more interconnected. Linton was a highlight in particular. I also loved the dialogue with Aledar at the end, where you reminisce about your journeys, and wonder what Tasim is up to.

Raiding the barracks was fun, and I liked how the enemies there had some unique moves. I thought the story was good, and Takan was an appropriately pathetic power-hungry villain. Goes to show that there’s a lot of figurative corruption in the world too, especially when you look at Amerigo…

Overall, an excellent quest. It’s a really natural introduction to the desert too. This kinda concludes the “New Recruit” arc, and gets you right into the “Desert” arc.

The Desert:
Rekindled improved this place a bit. The spiders are now pretty memorable thanks to their models and frantic movement, and I also like the tiny scorpions on the ground. Sand piles are a fun RNG gimmick.

A Sandy Scandal:
I’m so glad the bank isn’t locked behind this quest anymore. The cutscenes no longer infuriate me now that I don’t have to watch them for a basic amenity. It’s neat that the story unfolds in the background at first before you get sucked into it, and the boss fight at the end is way better than the old survival section.

Meaningful Holiday:
Does this quest want to be about delivering a serious message, or does it want to be an absurd comedy where you beat up homeless guys? The quest needs to make up its mind. Santa’s realm has hilariously outdated mobs, but the parkour is nice. I think it would also fit better at level 39, making it a celebration (like Christmas!) after you’ve beaten Hashr, the Mummy, and all those bandits. Currently it’s a weird distraction.

Santa is kind of a dick in this quest lol

Mesa & Rymek:
The mesa has potential to be an interesting area, but the fact that its elevators are questlocked really holds it back.

I’m glad the neutral mobs no longer interfere with TP scrolls in Rymek. The lore behind it is interesting, and there are so many easter eggs around the town. Gold currency seems like a cool gimmick at first, until you realize how easy it is to convert emeralds to it.

Wrath of the Mummy:
Holds up shockingly well, despite keeping the same overall structure as it did back in 2013. I don’t mind the pink wool segment because there are multiple ways to get that item now, and there’s even a wagon that teleports you to Rymek! The boss is good too. My only complaints are that the puzzle is too basic, and the tomb is ominous enough.

Other Quests:
Lava Springs & Green Gloop were alright. They’re definitely filler, but at least they give XP and aren’t annoying.

Canyon Condor is mostly bad filler. Most of the quest is NPCs trying to extend the quest runtime with random fetch tasks. You should be able to fight the chicken right after speaking with Svin. The chicken is a good boss.

Kingdom of Sand is good, with its mansion segment being my favorite part.

Tribal Aggression is boring, and is a worse version of the nearby discovery.

WynnEx. A has alright gameplay. I’ll expand on my review when I’ve done the whole questline.

Overleveling:
I have done nearly all desert/mesa content (missed a lot of ocean stuff), and I got to level 45. It turns out that even at this stage, you still gain XP extremely fast. Once again, I do not think this is a bad thing. It means players don’t have to grind mobs this early unless they want to.

If you miss doing a piece of content at level, you can do that on a different class. Because of that, for the first time ever, it feels like there can be variation in an early-game playthrough, rather than “I have to do every piece of content in order unless I want to grind llevigar spiders.”

Yes, doing all content in level order makes things really easy until the late game, but that’s fine. For one, new players won’t be doing that. They’re probably following whatever shiny beacon is in front of them (I’m doing that this playthrough), or going off whatever their quest book says, which will list content based on what’s closest to them. The game is easy for repeat playthroughs no matter what, and you can always handicap yourself if you want.

The main flaw of this system is that your daily objective will give you items that are 5-10 levels above the content you’re currently doing. Also, a greater % of the XP you earn should be from quests, as opposed to everything else.

Misc. Positives:
Sundial Sanctum is such a fun cave complex. Lots of unique bosses, several of which were decently tough.

I adore the tumbleweed mob in the mesa.

Rymek Luke:
Rymek Luke seems to be a well-designed boss. His animations (especially in the intro) are amazing, and the fight feels fair. I haven’t beaten them yet, but it feels like a matter of time since I can feel myself improving with every attempt.

My only criticism of this boss is the ingredients needed to enter. It feels really bad when you’re barred from a rematch because you aren’t getting lucky with mobs dropping ingredients.

 

ever since potion stacking became a thing, yes (which was back in like, 2020-2021)

yeah so when they added that, the corroded key spawned inside the house, not on the stairs, and they didn't make it clearer when they moved it to the stairs

honestly they're easy enough to get back and newer players aren't gonna have a lot of storage space (looking at you, bank page prices). I don't think it matters that much. (Also, yes, as far as I am aware they're still necessary, but stuff like the Yahya bowl and the Letter of Recommendation have been removed.)

Merloni keeps moving and the tower exterior got rebuilt, but yeah

God I remember years ago I was grinding firefly dust in the Little Wood for some unknowable reason and I saw blue name tags in the distance and I was like "Those weren't there last time," and then I went and checked it out. I was so surprised (and thank gosh for that fast-travel to Nemract, because the first time I did the quest it took SO long to get back to civilization)

I think Tempo Town Trouble should become the 'dungeon quest' for Time-Lost Sanctum even though they don't do those anymore, but I think it's kind of silly that we just go in and like murder a powerful Olm chronomancer for no apparent reason except haha funny dungeon rewards I guess. LIke it's super interesting, but I think it would be better if like, Garoth was inadvertently causing the Time Troubles or something.

even though I struggled with it so much back in the day (time valley's mobs were always dangerous and the quest used to be lvl 15), it became one of my favorites very quickly and still holds nostalgia for me.

is a quest NPC now? Wow that's a surprise, guess I haven't done the desert stuff in a long time.

 

Bob’s Lost Soul:
What a disappointing quest. I was excited for it because I never really knew much about Bob outside of the Ragni discovery. Turns out it teaches nothing new about Bob’s lore apart from Bob the Zombie being someone else; the Ragni discovery literally mentions his tomb and tells you to visit it! If you haven’t done any secret discoveries and know nothing, then this quest portrays Bob as some random dead guy. Nilrem's Sealed Letter is way cooler than this.

The gameplay is primarily walking around the province of Wynn. Occasionally you have to go back to Nesaak forest to do some random mediocre task. Feels like the longest quest yet by far and it isn’t rewarding at all. The Bob’s tear part especially doesn’t need to exist when you already use that item for a secret discovery.

They could do so much more with a quest about Bob. Contrast him with Theorick! Have us speak to more NPCs who actually knew him, like the owner of that rose! Increase the quest level and reward and have you relive Bob’s journey to get the four weapons!

Ice Barrows:
The best dungeon I’ve played so far, despite its flaws. There’s a decent enough variation in challenges, and I like how they actually add a puzzle for once. The “Run!” portion is the only part that sucks; random barriers make it infuriating on Shaman, but it’s too easy on other classes. Music contributes a lot to the atmosphere here. Theorick was an actually tough yet fun boss fight. Overall, I feel like this dungeon serves as a good climax to the story of Theorick and Nesaak.

This is close to what I think dungeons should ideally be. But rewards should not require nearly as many runs.

Gavel’s Poor Start:
The player’s introduction to Gavel is rough. It’s crazy how the province isn’t really advertised or talked about in Wynn outside of Maltic. You’ll only know it exists through the quest book, seaskipper GUI, or online map, and maybe Aledar mentions it at some point. That’s almost the same amount of fanfare a loot cave gets! Gavel deserves a quest where you sail with Aledar to the province, or at the very least a Nesaak citizen should tell you to visit it.

Then you arrive at Gavel, an entire new and “different” province, and are greeted with no fanfare. The first two quests are basic fetch tasks that tell you nothing about the place. The lore it presents at the surface level is “enemy orcs” which is somehow more generic than “enemy zombies”. King’s Recruit had far less of a story hook than this; we don’t even get interesting NPCs here. Star Thief, of all things, has to carry the burden of getting new players interested in Gavel with a cool intro and some space lore (secret discoveries also do this but are more hidden). Because considering the amount of content in Wynn’s 40-50 range now, I don’t know if players would be compelled to revisit Gavel until they have to.

I wonder if this contributes to midgame fatigue. You’re now embarking on two journeys at once, and one of those journeys might have a worse storyline, worse average content, and even a worse hub town. At level 40, that journey is Gavel’s.

Pre Worm Holes Lari:
I first met Lari on this playthrough when doing the map discovery, and I actually liked her a lot here. She’s confident in her abilities, but also knows her shortcomings. She’s lost her optimism but wants you to keep yours. This characterization, plus the mystery of her strength/age, would make new players excited to see more of her. It was cool to see her in RotQ actually!

Sadly, if my memory serves me well, future encounters won’t live up to this.

A Grave Mistake:
Another tonally inconsistent quest. The scary parts, which often made me laugh rather than be remotely frightened, feel at odds with Mael’s lore. I liked his simple story of a man who didn’t fear the dead, and who devoted his life to helping to calm them. Maybe the quest wants us to overcome our fears like he did, but the scares in the quest are so ridiculous (66666XP, crying blood) and they just don’t fit IMO. If you don’t find the quest frightening, then it’s just very average in the end.

Other Quests:
Underwater is fine. It showcases the tedium of profs accurately, which is either a good or bad thing. Underice was also fine.

Maltic’s Well is great and I wish I did it at level. Genuinely funny and it has a cool boss fight too.

The Corrupted Village was decent. I liked how we got some lore explained, plus it was funny seeing how angry all the npcs were.

Fate of the Fallen has a good story and mediocre gameplay. My opinion of the quest is carried by how insanely detailed past Nesaak forest is. I spent like 5 minutes exploring it.

It’s hilarious how Rise of the Quartron ragebates you. Thank you CT for removing the mandatory profession grinding.

WynnEx B has comically outdated builds & mobs. The puzzle is cool but ruins the pacing.

House of Twain has a really creative concept (one-stage quest), and it executes it fairly well for such an antiquated quest. The second half is definitely less exciting than the first.

Frost Bitten was decent.

Misc. Positives:

• Wynn’s coast might be the most underrated place in the game. Beautiful and full of details. I especially like the lighthouse near Maltic.
• I’m glad the Lonely Spider still has their own cave.
• I liked Shineridge Orc camp! Cool how it presents stealth or aggression as options.
• Dado (Rise of the Quartron NPC) has an interesting reason for disliking humans: we’re just these strange warmongers to him. Nice bit of worldbuilding.
• Another underrated build is the Temple of Time. It has shockingly good music too. However…

Misc. Complaints:

• Why is the Temple of Time so underutilized? We should be able to bring more magical objects here and stuff!
• I started Rise of the Quarton with the tattletale flower in my inventory, but the quest still made me go back to the cave to complete a stage. I shouldn’t be punished for exploring in advance!
• Fate of the Fallen and Rise of the Quartron have you fight waves of mobs, but there’s too much downtime in between those waves.
• It’s becoming increasingly clear that IDs need some sort of guide. I thought lifesteal was simple but then I remembered it scales with attack speed? How is a new player supposed to know that?
• Why are quest helmets still a thing in like, 5 different quests at this point? You shouldn’t have to mess up your build for one stage, and there’s usually not a lore reason why we need a helmet specifically.

 

The best thing that happened was the beast-that-eats-Ragni-guards-for-brunch becoming real.

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that quest... I have not thought about it in so long
there's nothing offensive about it, except how difficult it is to find the quest start area, and the mansion segment was funny, it's kinda bland at times, though

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Did not know about that until just now

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So real. A few years back (when I was committed to not using the wiki for secrets) I found the red gem for one of the wynn plains discoveries, and I was like, "Hey, this is in Time Valley and I haven't figured out a use for it? What else is in Time Valley-- Hey, look, it's a giant door that leads to the time temple." Then I went in and clicked on the altar and got teleported to Past Nesaak.