Table of Contents
Hytale drops you into the world of Orbis with almost no hand-holding. You spawn, you look around, and within minutes, something is already trying to kill you. Without a game plan, you'll burn through resources, lose gear to avoidable deaths, and wonder why everything feels so punishing. This guide walks you through everything you need to go from confused newcomer to confident explorer.
Choose Your Game Mode
Players can choose how to play. Hytale offers two modes in Early Access. Exploration is the survival experience, involving gathering, crafting, fighting, and pushing through increasingly dangerous zones. Creative mode removes all threats and provides unlimited resources with the ability to fly, making it perfect for testing base designs before committing materials in survival.
If you're brand new, start with Exploration. The progression loop is what makes the game click.
Build a Real Base
The spawn building works for a night or two, but you need a proper setup. Flat clearings or empty existing structures work best since enemies spawn almost anywhere, and building in the open invites trouble.
Your base requires a Workbench (4 tree trunks and 3 stones), a Furnace, and at least one Wooden Chest. Crafting stations should be placed indoors with chests nearby, as stations automatically pull materials from chests within a 14-block horizontal and 6-block vertical range. You can stash resources in a basement and craft upstairs without the need to run back and forth.
Set a Crude Bedroll as your respawn point. Dying without one sends you all the way back to the original spawn, and that trek can be brutal.
If you're playing with friends, running your own dedicated server makes the experience far smoother. Looking into Hytale server hosting gives your group a persistent world that stays online even when everyone logs off, so progress is never lost between sessions. This also allows for seamless collaboration, as the world remains active at all times.
Your First 10 Minutes After Spawning
Resist the urge to wander. Your starting area is relatively safe, and the spawn building doubles as a temporary shelter.
Pick up sticks and rubble from the ground. Break bushes to gather plant fiber. Grab every wild berry you find, as those are your only healing items for now. Open your inventory with Tab and use Pocket Crafting to make your first set of tools.
Here's your immediate crafting checklist:
- Crude Sword: your only defense against early enemies
- Crude Hatchet: for chopping trees into usable wood
- Crude Pickaxe: for mining stone in caves and from rubble
- Campfire: Cook raw meat near the spawn building for better healing
- Crude Torches: enemies get aggressive after sundown, and nights are dark
One critical detail most beginners learn the hard way: you lose half your consumables and resources when you die, plus 10% durability on all equipment. Taking precautions during the initial hour yields significant benefits.
Understand the Crafting Tiers
Hytale doesn't let you build everything from one table. Pocket Crafting (your inventory menu) only handles crude-tier basics. Station Crafting happens at placed workbenches, and each station has upgrade tiers that gate what you can make.
| Station | What It Does | Priority |
| Workbench | Hub for basic tools and unlocking specialized stations | Build first |
| Furnace | Smelts raw ore into usable ingots | Build second |
| Blacksmith's Anvil | Crafts swords, axes, daggers, bows, and crossbows | Upgrade first |
| Armorer's Workbench | Crafts helmets, chest plates, gauntlets, and greaves | Upgrade second |
| Farmer's Workbench | Unlocks seed bags and sustainable food farming | Build mid-game |
Raw ore is useless at the bench, so keep your Furnace stocked with fuel, such as sticks, wood blocks, or charcoal, and process materials as you gather them. Prioritize upgrading the Blacksmith's Anvil first, as better weapons make a bigger difference in survival than improved armor early on.
Combat Tips That'll Keep You Alive
Every weapon type plays differently in Hytale, and the system rewards movement over brute force. If you've spent time with online strategy games, the emphasis on positioning and stamina management will feel familiar. Understanding this dynamic is key to mastering combat.
Always fight with actual weapons, not tools. Weapons have special attacks that charge as you land hits. Press Q when the bar fills to unleash them. Swords and daggers are the most beginner-friendly options because they're fast and keep you mobile.
Craft a shield as soon as possible. Blocking is critical, especially against tougher enemies. Your stamina drains while blocking but not while attacking, so the rhythm you want is sustained pressure with well-timed defensive pauses. Use the Z-slot wheel (accessible through your inventory) to assign shields, torches, or food for quick mid-combat swapping.
Unlock the Memory System Early
Most beginners skip this, and it's a mistake. The Forgotten Temple Gateway appears on your map (press M), marked by a pinwheel icon. Head there once you have a basic weapon and food.
Inside, you'll fight a golem guardian. Beat it, and you unlock the hub world where the Memory System activates.
From that point forward, every creature you encounter generates memory tokens that are traded for rewards. Much like prioritizing your hand in online card games, deciding which token rewards to chase first shapes your entire build. This secondary progression track grows passively as you explore.
Go Caving Prepared
Mining fuels your crafting progression. Iron, copper, and eventually rarer ores come from cave systems spread across Hytale's progression zones, each with its resource pool and difficulty curve. Before heading underground, make sure you've packed:
- Plenty of torches: place them on the right wall going in, so you always know the way out
- A fresh pickaxe: durability matters deep in cave systems
- Cooked food: your only healing source, and caves have tough enemies
- A weapon and shield: underground mobs hit harder than surface ones
Target iron ore first. It's found in Emerald Wilds caves (Zone 1) and represents a massive upgrade over crude gear. Smelt it into ingots and craft iron weapons and armor at your upgraded stations.
Food, Farming, and Healing
There are no health potions early on. Cooked food heals significantly more than raw ingredients, so always cook meat, carrots, and mushrooms at your campfire before eating them.
For a sustainable supply, harvest mature wheat for Essence of Life, then use that essence at a Farmer's Workbench to buy seed bags. You can't just plant raw seeds.
This limitation trips up many new players. The farming system is still being refined during Early Access, so skimming the latest Hytale patch notes before planting a large crop keeps you ahead of recipe and balance changes. Once your farm is running, craft dishes at a Chef's Stove for the strongest healing items available.
FAQ
How much does Hytale cost?
The Standard Edition is $19.99 USD. Supporter and Cursebreaker (Founder's) editions cost more but only add cosmetic bonuses. No edition offers gameplay advantages.
Can you play Hytale with friends?
Yes. Hytale supports multiplayer through both public and dedicated servers. You can join friends directly or set up a persistent world for groups who play on different schedules.
What happens when you die in Hytale?
You lose half your consumables and resources, and all gear takes a 10% durability hit. You respawn at your bedroll, or at the original spawn point if you haven't placed one.
Is Hytale available on Steam?
Not right now. It's only available through the official Hytale launcher. The developers haven't confirmed a Steam release during early access.
What are zones in Hytale?
Zones are distinct world regions with unique biomes, enemies, and resources. You start in Zone 1 (Emerald Wilds) and progress through Howling Sands, Whisperfrost Frontiers, and the Devastated Lands. Each zone is significantly harder than the last.
Can you ride horses?
Yes, and it's easy. Walk up to any adult horse and press F with no taming required. Horses make reaching distant landmarks and the Forgotten Temple much faster.
Key Takeaways
- Use Pocket Crafting immediately after spawning to make crude tools and a weapon before doing anything else.
- Build a proper base with a Workbench, Furnace, and chests early; use the proximity auto-pull system to keep things organized.
- Head to the Forgotten Temple Gateway as soon as possible to unlock the Memory System.
- Always fight with weapons (not tools) and use the Q special attack when fully charged.
- Place torches on the right wall in caves so you always know the way out.
- Cook food before eating it, as raw ingredients heal much less than prepared dishes.
- Store valuables in chests since death costs you half your loose resources.
