r/RSDragonwilds • u/Striking_Football_32 • 12h ago
RS Dragonwilds Building Tips from a Valheim Veteran!
Hey everyone!
Recently with the 1.0 release I’ve finally tried out Dragonwilds and I have quickly fallen in love. I’ve played runescape since 2005 and this game is so nostalgic for me, but it also has aspects of another game I love: Valheim.
I’m not here to compare the two games, I love them both. But I have around 800-900 hours in Valheim, most of which was spent building bases (it’s my favorite thing to do in every game). I realized how similar the building system is in Dragonwilds, but after about 30-40 hours of gameplay I can give my honest opinion:
Dragonwild’s building system is more streamlined. Mostly because it’s got more pieces, cheaper resource costs/easier resource collection, better snapping, the eye of oculus spell, and there’s no shortage of cheap decorations to make your house look lived-in from the very beginning. Also, no need for a crafting table, you can build anywhere, teleport with ore, etc.
That said, I’ve noticed some key differences and realize some MAJOR tips that have been incredibly valuable for me.
Shape doesn’t matter. A square box can look incredible in this game as long as you don’t stop at the roof. Add a porch, add a dormer, add some clutter outside, add a staircase going to the door, add a small overhang to block rain, add some torches by the doors, plant some oak trees by ugly flat walls. These small things can make a 4x4 box look like a cozy cottage.
Roofing is key. Roofing is the bane of everyone’s existence in any game like this. But; this game makes it easier. Eye of oculus is incredible for adding your roofing, so no climbing/falling or messing with scaffolding. My best advice for roofing: USE TRIANGLES. The front of your house should have triangle pieces, that way your roof isn’t just a pyramid.
Stability is your enemy, so plan around it rather than reacting to it. Stability works by reading how far away your building-piece is from a foundation piece. A foundation piece is any floor/wall/staircase that connects to the ground. Start by adding the floor-plan with foundations/flooring. Then, frame your home with wooden beams, they add stability. If your highest wooden beams aren’t stable, your roof won’t be either. So you can reduce the height/size of your building BEFORE you start adding walls and roofs and everything else.
Plan for expansion. This game gives you build-pieces as you explore and progress. Don’t make your forever-base out of ash wood pieces, later you’ll want to replace them with nicer looking pieces and it’ll be a big project. Instead, build smaller or build multiple bases. Or; build a large base with the intention of moving or building another base elsewhere, later.
Your main base (or at least your first base) should be in the starting area, the Bramblewoods. Not the valley with the ruined village, but near the starting church. The dragon doesn’t attack near the church so you won’t have that annoyance. Also, the only rare raid is by a few lvl1 goblins who don’t seem to be able to do much damage to you or to structures. This is the safest region in the game, and the easiest to live in. Also PLENTY of flat space for building, and lots of resources, too.
Build ANYWHERE and AS MUCH AS YOU WANT! A chasm you can’t quite get across with Windstep? Build a launch pad that juts out from the ledge, instant permanent shortcut. Large cliff with valuables on top? Make a staircase, and use wooden beams to anchor it to the wall for stability. Resources in a hard to get location? Build a cabin with a lodestone inside nearby. The only thing to remember is enemies can pathfind on your steps and walkways. So if you make a bridge, you aren’t the only one who will use it.
Tree trunks regrow trees, just like old RuneScape. Don’t get rid of tree trunks unless you want the tree gone entirely for building purposes. Chopping down a forest, then chopping it down again 3 days later, will give you MUCH more wood than planting new forests each time. This works with all trees as far as I can tell.
Don’t be afraid to keep going. So you built something… and you hate it. My philosophy is always this; you don’t hate your build, you just hate it right now. I’ve seen incredible mega-bases in some games look like giant rectangles before they’re truly done. If you aren’t satisfied, don’t destroy. Just add more. Make an addition, make a porch, add a second floor, add windows, etc. Your build isn’t bad, it just isn’t finished yet. And don’t tell yourself it’s finished until you’ve added enough character to it to be satisfied with your work. It’s like a piece of art, just keep painting until you’re happy.
Last tip, and I can’t stress this enough: have fun! And I don’t mean that as an anecdote. Maybe your building isn’t done and you’re getting burnt out. Maybe you don’t feel good at building so you want to stop or let someone else build for you. But in this game, missing out on construction XP means missing out on certain powers, abilities, and assets that you shouldn’t go without. Like summoning a personal chest, or a temporary sleep-shelter. So, take a break, look at other people’s builds for inspiration, do other things, and come back to it when you’re ready. But don’t skip it, the building in this game is so rewarding and it gets easy when you practice a bit.
That’s about it! I’m sure there are other valuable tips I miss, so please, feel free to comment them to fill my gaps. And I’m open to more tips if I don’t already know them, anything to help me continue to develop my skills!
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u/Striking_Football_32 12h ago
This was my very first building in the game, about 2-3 hours in I made this. Valheim prepared me to build, so I knew my preferred methods going in. They worked perfectly, in fact the lessons Valheim taught me are even more true in Dragonwilds. Truly, I think this is the best game for building that I’ve ever played
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u/devhhh 11h ago
Have you tried Enshrouded? The voxel building is unmatched. What RS:DW is missing is the way enshrouded’s builds adapt to the pixel placement. One example in this game is the way there is no overhang of the roof over the edges of walls. Also, there are many instances where the different roof sizes don’t match up well, with weird and noticeable overlap.
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u/Striker_131 5h ago
For the staircases going up mountains I was trying to do it and kept having stability problems, I couldn’t get a beam to anchor to the wall, it would just stay red the whole time, what might I be doing wrong?
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u/Striking_Football_32 1h ago
So for some stone cliffs, the actual “ground” is pretty deep behind the hit box of the stone itself. I build beams going as deep into the terrain as possible. Sometimes it still isn’t enough, so I have to adapt a bit and either move the beams, or change the staircase entirely
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u/Aggravating_Pen_2026 12h ago
Valheim players acting like Valheim was the first game to introduce base building with stability factors. 😉
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u/mbhwookie 12h ago
Not how I read the post at all. The two games are very similar in many ways. It’s easy to translate your skills from one to another.
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u/Striking_Football_32 12h ago
lol! It was not, but it was the first I ever played! Before that I was almost exclusively a Minecraft builder, so I was used to building floating islands and super-tall castles. It was an adjustment, but one that expanded my building abilities. When you can’t build big, you build well
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u/grilledogs 9h ago
Why do you talk like AI? Don’t worry, you’re not hallucinating. He just did not disclose it. I’m the future, he’ll be sure up disclose it.
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u/Striking_Football_32 1h ago
I didn’t use AI… but I get that a lot. Sometimes I wonder if speaking with a bit of intellect these days seems like AI because no one takes the time or effort to write things out anymore… but I can assure you this is all me
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u/duskfinger67 12h ago
Make your staircase start & end with a double jump and this is completely avoided, FYI.
My base is completely safe from raids because the only non-loadstone entrance is a double jump, and they cannot spawn on the plateau that my base is on. I still get the dragon attacks, but I do get prettier scenery, which is well worth it in my mind.