Runeteria Townhall Recap: Guilds, Classes, Combat & More Coming Soon

Runeteria, the most voted and most populated Hytale server on HytaleCharts, recently held a community townhall to outline the next phase of development. What was revealed goes far beyond routine bug fixes. This is a ground-up expansion of the server's RPG systems, touching everything from how players organize into guilds to how combat works at a fundamental level. For a server that already built an MMO-style dungeon system within three weeks of Hytale's launch, even earning praise from Hypixel founder Simon Collins-Laflamme himself, the ambition on display here is staggering. Led by Ren and the team at Float Studios, Runeteria is pushing Hytale's modding capabilities further than anyone expected this early in the game's life. Here's a comprehensive breakdown of everything announced, what it means for the server, and why it matters for Hytale as a whole. Inside Runeteria: The Info Hub Beyond the headline features, the townhall also showcased the depth of Runeteria's in-game systems. The server features a fully built-out Info Hub accessible to all players, covering everything from server rules and travel commands to a searchable FAQ and achievement tracking. The Guild System: From Simple Claims to Full-Scale Organizations The centerpiece of this update is a completely overhauled guild system that replaces the existing Simple Claims (SC) plugin with something far more structured. This isn't just a name change. It's a fundamental rethinking of how players organize, claim territory, and interact with each other on the server. Finding and Joining Guilds New players can now use a /g command to browse a directory of public guilds. This shows a list of available guilds along with information about each one, like their focus, member count, and activity. From there, players can request to join any guild that interests them. It's a simple quality-of-life feature, but it solves a real problem: new players joining a server and having no idea where to start or who to play with. Territory Control and Access Guilds gain proper territorial control. Guild leaders can restrict access to their claimed areas, either blocking all non-members or whitelisting specific outside players. You can also set market spawns, which are designated locations where non-guild visitors get teleported to when they enter your territory. Think of it as a front door: outsiders can visit your shops and trade areas without having free access to your entire base. Leveling and Guild Quests Guilds aren't static. They level up over time to unlock more member slots and additional land claims. Progression comes through guild quests: collaborative objectives like accumulating playtime, racking up PvP kills, or defeating PvE enemies. If a guild quest requires 10 player kills, every member's contribution counts toward the total. Personal quests will exist alongside guild-wide objectives, giving individuals their own progression track within the larger group. Guild Wars PvP-oriented guilds can declare war on other guilds. If the opposing guild accepts (and it has to be a mutual agreement), both sides enter a timed war state where members can freely PvP each other. The team emphasized that wars are for fun and carry no territorial risk. Your claims are safe regardless of the outcome. Leaderboards and cosmetic benefits will track war performance, but the system is explicitly designed so that losing a war never negatively impacts your guild's progress or territory. Transitioning from Simple Claims For existing players worried about losing their builds, the team confirmed a transition period where both Simple Claims and the new Guild system will run simultaneously. Players will have a set window to migrate their claims to the new system. It's a smart approach that avoids the panic of a hard cutover, and it shows the team is thinking about the player experience beyond just features. Solo Players The guild system is designed primarily for group play, but solo players aren't left behind. Solo players can still claim areas and progress through the game, since chunk unlocks are tied to individual levels, not guild membership. That said, the team was upfront that group play is generally encouraged and will unlock the most content. Quests: Cross-Server and Always Visible The quest system is getting a major usability upgrade. Quests now work across servers, so you can start a quest on the NA realm and continue progressing on EU. More importantly, you can pin a quest to your screen as a persistent HUD element. If your active quest is "Catch 10 Fish," a progress bar appears on screen and updates in real time as you fish, without needing to open any menu. Completing quests also earns in-game currency, giving players a steady income stream beyond just grinding resources. Chat Channels: Staying Connected Across the Server Communication is getting a proper overhaul with multiple chat channels: Global Channel: Server-wide chat for general conversation Local Channel: Proximity-based chat within a 30-50 block radius, perfect for immersive interactions Roleplay Channel: A dedicated space for in-character communication Trade Channel: For buying, selling, and advertising shops Guild Chat: Cross-server guild communication Private Messages: Direct player-to-player chat Players can toggle individual channels on or off, so if you only want to see trade chat and guild chat, you can mute everything else. A /ignore command lets you block specific players from appearing in your chat entirely. The current implementation uses commands, but a proper UI is planned for a future update. Parties: Cross-Server Grouping Party invites now work across servers, so you can group up with a friend on the EU realm while you're on NA. Party members get their own private chat channel, making coordination seamless regardless of which server everyone is on. Combined with the cross-server quest system, this means a group of friends can meaningfully play together even when spread across different regions. Skills: A RuneScape-Inspired Progression System The new skills system draws heavy inspiration from RuneScape, but with a twist. Rather than mimicking RuneScape's specific skill categories, the team is building something that feels more natural in Hytale's sandbox environment. Skills span multiple categories like combat, archery, crafting, and more, and they level up organically as you engage in the corresponding activity. Mine ore and your mining skill increases. Shoot arrows and your archery skill grows. Every five skill levels, you earn a skill point that can be invested in passive stat improvements. This creates meaningful character progression beyond just equipment, because your character gets genuinely better at things the more you practice them. Classes: Five Distinct Paths Five classes were confirmed: Guardian - Tank/defensive specialization Clerk - Support/utility role Fighter - Melee combat specialist Archer - Ranged physical damage Mage - Magical abilities and elemental attacks Classes level up to unlock abilities that can be applied to weapons. Critically, selecting a class does not lock you out of other weapon types. A Mage can still pick up a sword, and a Fighter can use a staff. Classes add to Hytale's combat system rather than replacing it. Each class has a unique stat point, and leveling multiple classes provides a long-term completion goal for dedicated players. Combat: 30 Abilities and Counting The combat system is where the update gets truly ambitious. The team has developed 30 abilities so far, with more planned. Each weapon type brings its own mechanics and playstyle, and class abilities can be layered on top for additional depth. Life Staff (Healing) A dedicated healing weapon. Auto-attacks charge your ability meter, which you can spend on targeted heals or deploy a healing circle on the ground, which works like a buffed totem that provides area healing. The goal is for the Life Staff to eventually replace the standard totem as the primary healing tool, making healers more active and engaged in combat rather than just placing a totem and walking away. Frost Staff (Control) The Frost Staff focuses on crowd control and survival. Its abilities include a short invulnerability window and a charged AOE impact. This makes it both a defensive tool (pop invulnerability to survive a dangerous moment) and an offensive one, with the AOE providing solid area damage against groups. Tanking Tanks get a pull ability that grabs hostile mobs and yanks them to a spot directly in front of you. This is classic MMO tanking brought to Hytale. Gather enemies into a clump so your team's AOE damage can work most effectively. Daggers (Stealth) Daggers introduce a stealth system to Hytale. While stealthed, you're invisible to other players and mobs, but taking damage or using abilities breaks the effect. Dagger abilities include acrobatic moves like front flips and backflips paired with thrown daggers, creating a mobile, hit-and-run combat style that's completely different from the sword-and-shield frontline approach. Resource Islands Resource islands are a new way to farm materials that are normally difficult to gather due to low spawn rates in the open world. The first three will be hunter islands focused on leather farming across three tiers: light, medium, and heavy. These islands spawn packs of animals in concentrated areas and also include small structures with loot, adding points of interest that make the farming experience less monotonous. The concept is similar to the existing Floati Islands system but expanded in scope. Think of them as dedicated farming zones with better resource density than the overworld. Dungeons: Loot Rolls Dungeons are getting a loot roll system, a staple of MMO game design that makes group loot distribution fairer. When a rare item drops from a boss or dungeon chest, it goes into a roll. Each player in the party can choose whether they're interested in the item. If multiple players want it, the system randomly selects a winner from those who rolled. End-of-dungeon chests still exist, but the most coveted drops like unique weapons go through the roll system first. This is a significant improvement over the current first-come-first-served approach and should dramatically reduce loot drama in groups. It also encourages running dungeons with pickup groups since the system handles fair distribution automatically. Other Announcements Server Selector Improvements The server selection menu will now show real-time server status and player counts before you join, so you can see at a glance which realm has the most activity. Monetization Plans To fund ongoing development, Runeteria will launch an online store featuring pets, mounts, and other cosmetic items. The team is deliberately avoiding player avatar cosmetics since Hytale already handles character customization. The focus is on functional cosmetics that add gameplay flavor without creating pay-to-win scenarios. Auction House A server-wide Auction House is coming, but with a twist: it will charge significant convenience fees for features like delivery. The intent is to keep the Auction House as a discovery tool where you can browse what's for sale across the server, while still encouraging players to physically visit shops to get the best deals. It's a thoughtful compromise between convenience and preserving the player-driven economy. Future Food Buffs Custom foods with buffs beyond basic health and stamina regeneration are planned. This should add another layer to preparation and strategy, especially for dungeon runs and PvP encounters. Community Q&A Highlights Several important questions were addressed during the townhall: World wipes: The current 10,000 x 10,000 world border was chosen intentionally. When Hytale releases new world generation, those chunks can be force-regenerated with the updated terrain. Old worlds will remain accessible to legacy players but will be gradually phased out over time, though the team stressed this is very far away. War risks: Guild wars carry zero territorial risk. Claims are completely independent from war outcomes. The team will add leaderboards and cosmetic rewards, but at no point will losing a war negatively impact your guild. Chat cosmetics: Colored titles in chat are being considered, likely as a monetized cosmetic, achievement reward, or a combination of both. Durability: Item durability is staying, but the team acknowledged it needs better handling and improvements are coming. Fishing: Custom fishing rods are on hold until Hytale adds proper fishing mechanics to the base game. A fishing skill will follow once that foundation exists. Timeline and What's Next While nothing is promised, the team hopes to have these features in testing within 2-3 weeks. They're actively taking community feedback before finalizing the systems, which is a good sign. This isn't a top-down decree, it's an iterative process shaped by player input. For a server that already boasts 800+ total players, peaks of nearly 100 concurrent users, cross-server inventory sync across NA and EU regions, and a fully instanced dungeon system, this next phase could cement Runeteria's position not just as Hytale's biggest server, but as a blueprint for what's possible with the game's modding tools. You can join Runeteria at play.runeteria.com:5520, check out their HytaleCharts listing for live stats, or join their Discord to follow development and provide feedback on these upcoming features.