In RuneScape: Dragonwilds, your first priorities are keeping food and water up, following the tutorial, and turning nearby resources into basic tools, cooked food, and a small base. When either survival meter gets too low, your health drops and will not recover until you address it. The steps below follow Jagex’s official beginner guidance for Ashenfall, documented on October 4, 2026; controls and mechanics can change with updates.
What should you do first in Dragonwilds?
Complete the tutorial if this is your first time playing. The Wise Old Man introduces the setting and points you to Doric, Vannaka, and Zanik, who teach survival, scavenging, crafting, combat, cooking, mining, and magic. You gather or craft your own supplies; the tutorial does not direct you to buy equipment from a vendor. See Jagex’s official tutorial guide.
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- Watch your food and water meters. Doric marks two ponds where you can collect Dirty Water. Pick redberries you find along the way for early food.
- Gather basic materials. Collect Ash Logs and Stone around Temple Woods as the tutorial directs.
- Make a Crafting Table and Stone Club. Open Build mode, place the table, then use its crafting interface to make the club.
- Learn combat, cooking, and water treatment. Vannaka’s tutorial has you kill rats for Raw Rat Meat, cook two Roast Rats at a Campfire, and boil Dirty Water into Clean Water when you have enough Ash Logs. After the cooking task, Vannaka rewards you with a Stone Axe and Dagger.
- Improve your gathering options. Zanik directs you to chop Ash Logs with the Stone Axe, mine Rune Essence beneath floating rune rocks with a Pickaxe, craft Air and Astral Runes at a Rune Altar, and learn Axtral Projection.
The tutorial’s quantities are for its assigned tasks, not universal targets for an optimized route. Follow its objectives and use nearby resources as needed.
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Start with nearby essentials, then use an appropriate tool on a suitable resource node. Jagex’s tutorial specifically says chopping with the Stone Axe gathers wood faster than scavenging; it identifies the Pickaxe as useful for Rune Essence, boulders, and mineral deposits. It does not establish universal yields or a fastest farming route.
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Build and use a Crafting Table
Press B to enter Build mode, then select the Crafting Table from the Basic Survival category. Interacting with the table opens inventory and crafting views; the interface shows recipe requirements and item information. Use the quantity slider to craft multiples. Jagex explains these functions in its Crafting help article.
Repair tools and check recipes
Tools wear out and eventually break. At a Crafting Table, switch to Repair mode to restore them. Recipes you have discovered can be checked in the Journal rather than reconstructed from memory.
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Use the Journal as your field reference
Press J to open the Journal. Its World section records information about gatherable resources, plants, fauna, factions, and enemy weaknesses and resistances. The Recipes section lists discovered recipes and their required materials. The feature is described in Jagex’s Journal guide.
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How do you build a stable starter base?
Build mode lets you place pieces for bases, shelters, workstations, furnishings, and other structures. You start with basic Tier 1 (Brynmoor) pieces. Select a piece to see its resource requirements and placement preview: green indicates a valid position, while red means placement is blocked. A red preview can indicate a collision, a lack of connection to the ground or another piece, or insufficient materials.
Start low and add supports as you expand
Begin close to the ground, where buildings are more stable, and add beams and pillars as the structure grows or becomes more complicated. Jagex’s Build mode guide specifically recommends using beams and pillars to support a build. It does not prescribe a particular starter layout, so treat the placement preview as the immediate check rather than assuming a design is stable.
Plan with Ghost mode; fix with Repair mode
Ghost mode lets you place material-free blueprints that you can complete later, making it useful for planning before you spend resources. Repair mode can fix damaged or incomplete structures.
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How do skills improve as you play?
Skills improve through related actions: chopping logs advances Woodcutting, building advances Construction, and cooking or eating food advances Cooking. Skill-tree milestones can unlock abilities, spells, traits, or buffs. Check the tree as you play and vary ordinary activities across gathering, food, and construction; Jagex’s Skills guide does not establish a fastest leveling route or a recommended beginner build.
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Keyboard or controller: which should you use?
Jagex documents both keyboard and controller inputs in its Controls guide. Choose whichever feels more comfortable; neither is presented as a requirement. Because bindings can change, check the current in-game settings if an input differs from the guide.
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