The world of Hytale is vast, filled with fantastic locations to explore, creatures to discover, and deadly enemies lurking in the night. It can be overwhelming at first, especially when you’re just starting out and unsure where to go, what to do, or what loot to look out for.
We’ll cover everything you need to know: from surviving your first nights on Orbis to taking down entire enemy camps when you’re properly equipped. If you need to understand what gear to aim for, what Zones are, where to find new biomes, or just need help deciding what to do next, this article is for you.
Hytale is in Early Access , so some ores and gameplay mechanics haven’t been implemented yet, and the information below may change in the future. We’ll update this article as we receive new information and as game updates are released.
First Steps and Exploring Zone 1
Once you spawn in the world in exploration mode, you ‘ll find yourself in a special safe room . Collect some rubble around the area and then head outside.
You always start in one of the three biomes in Zone 1—the Drift Plains . It’s a fairly safe place. Many passive mobs spawn here , such as chickens and cows, and the main enemies that appear at night are skeletal warriors .
The world is divided into different Zones, each of which contains several biomes with their own enemies, animals and resources .
- Zone 1, the Emerald Wilds, includes the Drift Plains, Sprout Forest, Marshlands, Autumn Forest, and Azure Forest.
- Zone 2, Howling Sands, consists of the Golden Steppes, Badlands, and Desert Basin.
- Zone 3, Whispering Ice Frontiers, includes the Boreal Expanse, Ice March Tundra, and Permafrost.
- Zone 4, the Blighted Lands, consists of the Charred Forests and the Ash Wastes.
To start, gather some sticks and some other rubble from the nearby ground , break down a few different bushes to get some plant fiber , and be sure to pick all the wild berries you can – they will be your first line of healing .
Use sticks and rubble to create the first tools in the crafting section of your inventory : a crude sword, a crude axe, and a crude pickaxe. Also, build a campfire —it allows you to cook raw wild meat obtained from animals, turning it into a more nutritious food called cooked wild meat .
The spawn room can accommodate workbenches and items, making it a great temporary base during the build phase, especially since it will always be marked on your locator bar at the top of the screen.
Now you can safely cut down a few trees and mine some stone in the area, and also start building a small base for protection, since at night everything becomes much more dangerous .
You’ll also need to use the wood and stone you find to create your first workstation: a workbench . This unlocks access to crafting a wider variety of items and other workbenches.
Once you get your first weapon, you’ll be able to block enemy attacks . This will help you defeat even more dangerous opponents, like bears, early on if you manage your stamina .
Setting up the first base
While you don’t necessarily need to use it forever, you’ll want a small base to start with, enough room for workbenches , a few chests, and a crude sleeping bag or bed for respawning or waiting out the night .
The most common wood species found in Zone 1 biomes are birch, beech, oak, and ash. Birch is especially common, and ash trees tend to be the largest.
All of these are great for base building, as is any found stone for decoration. This is where the crafting table comes in handy . By placing most blocks in its inventory , you can transform them into other options : for example, wood into planks , and stone into stone bricks, as well as create simple decorative and structural elements like windows, doors, and fences.
A rough sleeping bag can be crafted at a workbench. Interacting with it sets a respawn point, which is automatically marked on the world map, making any base containing your bed easy to find .
Your base doesn’t have to be large or complex , unless you want it to be. A 5×10 block structure is enough for a basic sleeping bag or bed, a few double chests , and the first four basic crafting benches .
If you don’t want to build a base , you can use any existing structure , such as one of the abandoned houses or camps that spawn in Zone 1 , and simply fill in the missing blocks. You might have to fight respawning enemies , but it’ll be a free and easy home.
To create a proper bed, as well as other furniture, you’ll need a furniture workbench. It allows you to craft a wide variety of chests, lighting fixtures, and other decorative items .
Copper equipment
Once you ‘ve settled in , it’s time to find a cave and start mining copper —the first important ore in the game and your path to better weapons and armor .
Caves are common in Zone 1 biomes. Find one, craft some torches from sticks, tree resin, and plant fiber , head inside, and look for glimmers of light in the darkness . Every type of ore in the game glows, making it easier to find in the dark .
Be sure to collect the wheat growing near the cave entrances . This is one of the first ways to obtain Life Essence , a key resource, as well as wheat itself for crafting and food.
While mining copper, collect mushrooms —they can be used for cooking after crafting a cooking stove. Also, kill rats , as they drop raw wild meat and are a great source of light hide , which is needed to craft light leather , which is essential for many early armor sets and for upgrading some workbenches.
If you go deep enough, you’ll likely find iron , which you can mine with a crude pickaxe . Once you return to the surface, use the stone you found to create a smelting furnace and begin smelting copper using wood or sticks as fuel .
Copper ingots will allow you to craft an armor workbench, a blacksmith anvil , and a cook stove at a workbench . You can even do some farming by making a farming workbench .
Where to go after receiving copper equipment
With copper tools and armor, you should start digging deeper .
and collect as much iron ore as possible , as this is the next level of equipment required for the first workbench upgrades.
You can find a fair amount of iron in the biomes of Zone 1. But even without iron gear, you can venture further into the world and begin to more easily deal with enemies like wolves and skeletal warriors.
Look for completed structures , such as ruined houses and the Abandoned Tower , which are full of loot and skeletons . These can drop Linen Scraps —this is the earliest way to get an alchemy table without digging deep into the world for gold ore.
Also, be sure to find the Azure Forest . It appears on the world map as a blue forest zone and contains glowing mushrooms, making it easier to find at night if you’re nearby.
Collect at least 100 wood from azure trees —it’s needed to upgrade the armor workbench to level 2. Also, pick up any azure kelp and blood roses you come across .
Azure Kelp is a rare resource that grows in the waters of the Azure Forest and is needed to craft teleporters after unlocking the Wizard’s Workbench. Blood Roses are used to craft Lesser Healing Potions . They appear on the ground in this location and throughout Zone 1 , glow red , and are useful both in their whole form and when struck to break them into bloody petals .
Mastering farming and cooking
Around the same time you equip copper gear, you’ll gain access to a farming workbench and a cooking stove . Farming is extremely important, as it not only provides a large supply of food and ingredients .
but also allows to produce a lot of Life Essence .
Craft a watering can and a crude hoe at the Farmer’s Workbench . If you haven’t found them in chests yet, use your Life Essence to craft bags of wheat and lettuce seeds in the Seeds tab of the Farmer’s Workbench.
Lettuce is the more useful of the two crops, but both are required to upgrade the Farmer’s Workbench to level 2, so it’s worth growing both . The Cooking Stove allows you to transform ingredients like lettuce and raw wild meat into dishes that restore more health and provide better bonuses .
Opening of memories
Besides searching for structures to loot, you should also visit the Forgotten Temple Gate —a special structure that appears on your map as a round, silver building with walls and towers surrounding it. One of these always appears near your spawn point . When you get close, you’ll see a rotating symbol on your locator bar .
Inside the temple, descend to the second floor where you’ll encounter an Earth Golem . This enemy can deal significant damage , but you don’t have to fight it to pass through the portal. It’s quite slow, and its attacks have a long buildup if you decide to engage.
Each Forgotten Temple Gate complex has at least two chests on the second floor. These can contain useful items such as seed sacks, food, and wood from other biomes.
Go through the portal and you will find yourself in the Forgotten Temple .
Here you will meet the Root Vegetable Merchant , who trades various items and recipes for Life Essence, and the Heart of Orbis , which unlocks the Memories system upon first interaction with it.
The Memories system allows you to automatically record data on every creature you see, and turning these records in to the Heart of Orbis unlocks various rewards upon reaching certain milestones.
Exiting through the portal will always return you to the Forgotten Temple Gate , and you can use the portal as much as you like , regardless of whether the Earth Golem is there or not.
Journey to Zone 2
Once you have at least copper or iron equipment , you’ll need to venture further afield to find the next tier of ore – thorium, other resources needed for upgrades , and new types of wood and stone.
Zone 2 biomes always spawn south of the spawn point, while Zone 3 biomes always spawn north .
The primary location for finding thorium ore is the biomes of Zone 2 , the Howling Sands: Golden Steppes, Badlands, and Desert Basin. These biomes are primarily displayed on the world map in gold, pale yellow, red, and brown tones , but they have significantly fewer trees than similar-looking biomes on the map.
Be sure to bring a few antidotes, which are crafted at the alchemy table, as well as a bow and arrow , as Zone 2’s biomes contain a pesky flying enemy that can poison you —the Seeker Scarak.
The caves of Zone 2 will be the main source of Thorium Ore , which is used to craft Tier 3 weapons and armor , as well as several upgrades and new workbenches .
Additionally, many enemies in these biomes drop poison glands , which you’ll need in large quantities.
Enemies of Zone 2
These enemies will be stronger , but the skeletons that inhabit the sands are not much more dangerous than the usual ones; scorpions will have difficulty penetrating iron armor or better , and hyenas and saber-toothed wolves have behavior patterns similar to wolves.
These biomes also contain new prefabricated structures to visit, such as Feran Fortresses and the Klops Residence – an underground home that contains plenty of furniture , several chests with loot, pine cones , potions such as lesser healing potions , and various vegetables such as pumpkins .
Ore generation in the Golden Steppes currently produces much more copper ore than it should, so you’ll want to explore the caves in the Desert Basin and Badlands until this issue is fixed.
While you’re in Zone 2, there are a few different items you should start collecting . Descend deep into the volcanic layer of the caverns to start finding smoldering skeletal warriors and mages . They drop Crimson Cloth and Essence of Fire —two key resources for upgrading your Blacksmith’s Anvil to level 3 and crafting powerful items at the Wizard’s Workbench.
You’ll also start finding new vegetables , such as onions and chili peppers . In the Desert Basin , collect all the Bloodcap mushrooms you can, as they’re used in high-tier healing potions .
Cobalt Ore and Zone 3 Biomes
Once you have enough Thorium for a full set of armor, tools , and weapons of your choice , plus some extra for a few workbench upgrades and a Sorcerer’s Workbench, you ‘re ready to explore the biomes of Zone 3 .
Zone 3 is located north of the spawn point and consists of the Boreal, Permafrost, and Ice March Tundra biomes . New mobs spawn here , such as Frost Skeletons , Polar Bears, and Wolves, and the largest deposits of Cobalt Ore are found here .
Fight all the Ice Skeletons you encounter as they drop Ice Essence , which is needed to craft the Ice Crystal Staff and upgrade the Blacksmith Anvil to level 3 .
As in Zone 2, you’ll want to start by searching caves and finding cobalt ore , as it’s used to craft the next tier of gear and is required for several subsequent workbench upgrades . Also, look for completed structures around the map .
These new structures often take the form of ruined castles , home to Ice Skeleton Warriors, Archers, and Mages . Chests there contain loot such as sacks of tomato seeds , iron weapons and armor, and scraps of shadow cloth —a key resource for cobalt gear.
You’ll also encounter a new hostile faction—the Forsworn . Their camps and settlements are another good source of Shadowweave Scraps . They contain numerous chests with a variety of loot: Essence of Frost, Cobalt Bars, Lesser Energy Potions, and Thorium Ore. The Forsworn also have a chance to drop armor and weapons from their set .
Zone 3 also has a higher chance of finding Blood Roses , as they are easily visible against the snow and ice blocks . However, the bulk of the valuable loot in this region will come from Forsworn and Ice Skeletons .
