Wildhearth

Wildhearth is a Norse fantasy MMORPG set on a cold northern island shared by hundreds of players. You wake in a cell, where a guard captain asks who you are; nobody knows how outsiders arrive. The world continues while you are away, and you choose how to make a life there, from hunting bosses with a party to fishing alone, running a shop in Hearthvik or living on the road in a tent.

The island

The island ranges from the home fields of Hearthvale to the snowy Northern Winds. In Wyrmwood, giant firs surround caves where trolls guard their hoards; the Marches follow the old kingdom’s last war front, with broken forts along the way. The Crownlands hold the dead capital, whose houses remain as their people left them, while dozens of named places lie off the roads. Old barrows conceal crypts where the dead wake. Weather comes in from the west, and the north is cold, so you can wear furs or stay near a fire.

Townsfolk follow their own routines, working, meeting at the inn and walking home together at night. Four seasons each bring their own events and visitors.

Skills and combat

Skills improve as you use them, with no points to spend. You can farm and cook, or mine and smith your own gear; other skills include Forestry, Fishing, Runecarving and Riding. Runecarvers cut spell stones at rune altars and bind several runes into one. Combat and armour skills also grow through fighting, and mastering a craft opens its trade guild hall to you.

Combat is in third person, with swords, axes, spears, bows, staffs, crossbows, guns and more. Foes telegraph their attacks, giving you time to step back or raise your guard to parry. Each kind of foe has its own weak points, and each armour type withstands different blows. You can fight at the front with sword and shield or cast from the back with a staff. In the caves of Vevmor’s Deep, a spider queen waits for a party to challenge her.

World bosses dwell in lairs across the island, from the home fields to the far north. Their attacks are marked on the ground before they land, and each boss drops its own armour set. Great beasts also roam the wilds, including Ironhide the boar and Grimpaw the bear.

Build a life

You build a house piece by piece with a builder’s hammer, using foundations that step down slopes. Roofs can be made from shingle, thatch, turf, clay tile or slate, and you can lock doors to people you choose. You can also till farm beds, breed new seed strains and keep hens and bees.

Rent a stall or a whole shop in town and set your own prices. Your wife can mind the counter while you are away. After the opening, the town gives you a wife to guide you. You choose her kind, including wolf, fox, snow leopard, hyena and dragon, then shape her with sliders. She fights beside you and trains her own skills; she also works with you at trees, rocks and anvils. Make a bed your home and she cooks and keeps house there. Your relationship develops gradually, from a wave to a kiss, and stays gentle, with hugs, kisses and cuddles.

Multiplayer

Hundreds of players can share the island at once. You can form a party to hunt a world boss, found a guild with its own banner, and trade face to face or through stalls and shops. Townsfolk remember each player by name, and duels take place only when both players agree.

Optional subscription

Every region, skill, task and boss is open to everyone, as is the wife character. An optional supporter subscription helps keep the servers running and provides conveniences and cosmetic options, but nothing it adds makes a character stronger. It includes 400 bank slots instead of 200, 10 bank tabs instead of 3, free barber visits and new names for you and your wife, and up to five characters instead of one. Subscribers can also choose their walk style, design tabards and kite shields, use their guild’s banner as a cape, avoid weekly land upkeep, and display a small star on their name plate and their shop’s mark on the map.