The Realm

Last updated: Patch X.34.1.0 (June 2020)
The Realm
Music: Odyssey

The Realm is the overworld of the game. Each server has multiple Realm portals at the northern end of the main Nexus building.

Realms have a limit of 85 players, including all players both in the overworld and in dungeons entered through the overworld. Attempting to enter a full realm will place the player in a queue. As long as the player is within the vicinity of the realm portal (about 2 tiles away in all directions), they will automatically enter the realm once they reach the front of the queue. However, if a player leaves the queue and rejoins, they will be reset to to the end of the queue. Note that players can join multiple queues for seperate portals provided they are close enough to the player.

Mechanics

Each Realm is a large island consisting of multiple biomes of varying difficulty. All players will initially spawn in the Shoreline, a relatively harmless area. More powerful enemies will appear as players move further inland.

Upon entering the realm, all players will be assigned a nearby Quest Monster appropriate for their level. Defeating the quest monster will cause another one to be assigned. Some quest monsters will populate certain setpieces within the realm. Most setpiece quest monsters are classified as Heroes of Oryx. Each time a Hero of Oryx is defeated, there is a 25% chance for a powerful quest enemy called an Event Boss to spawn somewhere in the realm, usually with its own unique arena. Oryx the Mad God will announce in the chat whenever an Event Boss spawns and when one is defeated.

Once all Heroes of Oryx and any active Event Bosses (with some exceptions) are defeated, Oryx will close the realm, meaning that it can no longer be entered from the Nexus. After two minutes pass, Oryx will transport all players in the realm to Oryx’s Castle, and the realm will reset and become accessible again. (Note that any players currently in dungeons will not be transported to Oryx’s Castle. They will enter the reset realm upon leaving the dungeon through the Portal of Cowardice or Realm Portal dropped by the dungeon’s boss.)

Maps

The world map is one of several preselected maps. After Oryx summons the players to battle him, the server changes to a different map. Different game servers will be using different maps at any given time.

This map shows the outline of one of the current worlds (World 13 to be exact) and all 3 roads:


The maps are large, continent-sized islands which include:

  • Terrain types: Beaches, grasslands, forests, savannas, deserts, rocky land, and snow. This is in order of lowest difficulty to highest - beaches have the easiest monsters; rocky and snowy areas have the hardest. More difficult areas tend to be “drier” but aren’t always.
  • Oceans and lakes: Oceans surround the island, and are impassable. Lakes are in the interior of the island, and are also often impassable. Both oceans and lakes have some shallow water near the edges, which can only be walked through slowly.
  • Roads: They increase movement speed by 33% and make circles around the island. There are three circular main roads in each map, which may cross or form loops. Roads guide you to areas with monsters of the same difficulty.
  • Rivers: They decrease movement speed and run from mountains to the coast. Rivers guide you to areas with monsters of higher (or lower) difficulty.
  • Vegetation: Plants, trees, and rocks, depending on the kind of terrain you’re in. Each monster type prefers certain types of terrain and vegetation. With the exception of small bushes, they can’t be passed through.
  • Quest areas: Groves of trees, graveyards, towers, castles, lava fissures, and other quest areas are located all over the map. The typical pattern is a boss in the center surrounded by henchmen and minions. After defeating the boss there is a treasure chest with loot. Some event bosses (Like Hermit Gods, Pentaracts, etc) do not have treasure chests.
GraveyardGroveDead ForestHermit God SetpiecePentaract/Skull Shrine Setpiece

Different areas

Shoreline

In this area, the enemies pose minimal threat. They don’t hit hard and their attacks are easy to dodge. Beach is the only biome found in this area. This area includes a single type of wandering quest enemy (the Bandit leader) along with a “stay in place” quest enemy (the Scorpion Queen).

Lowlands

In this area, enemies are relatively easy but are more numerous. In certain locations, swarms of enemies can be seen. This biome is divided from driest to wettest into desert, grassland, forest, and swampland. All quest enemies found in this elevation are wandering quest enemies.

Midlands

In this area, the enemies are the most erratic, and it can be very hard to dodge their attacks. Being careless in this region can be fatal for lone low-level adventurers, but it’s still acceptable to fight enemies here with basic equipment. Reasonably well-equipped level-20 players will have little trouble in this area. This area includes both wandering quest enemies and quest area enemies. Biomes in this region (from driest to wettest) are desert, savanna, grasslands and forests. Desert biome is rather rare in this area.

Highlands

While the attacks of the enemies in this area are not as erratic as in midlands, and though they can be dodged with some care, it’s still easy to die here. Attacks here pack a lot of punch, and proper equipment is recommended to travel alone. All quest enemies in this area are located in specific structures. Biomes in this region are the same as in midlands, except that desert is rarer. Lesser gods spawn in this area and drop Snake Pits, a good source of speed potions and the elusive Bulwark Wand. Also, Urgles, infamous for their ability to armor break, spawn here. Players should be aware of Urgles, especially when eventing in the midlands.

Mountains

This area is most commonly called Godlands by players. This area harbours the strongest monsters (mainly Gods) found in the main Realm. Travelling alone or with poor stats may lead to death without caution. Many enemies in this region have elaborate bullet patterns. The mountains include a snowy area and a rocky area sometimes known as the Godlands. Lava fissures are present in this area with chests in the middle of each fissure.


Notes:

Build 106 uses 13 maps (currently in use) accessible here.

Build 104 features newer maps than build 100. Terrain features are generally smoother and less angular, with a more gradual transition between different terrain types. The shape of the landmasses is more complex, with more bays and peninsulas. Roads and rivers are improved. The world maps are generated every few months, and every time Oryx destroys the world one of the 20 maps is randomly chosen for the new world.

The creation of geographical features (but not quest areas, vegetation, terrain types, or monsters) for build 100 and up is described in these blog posts:

Build 92 through 99 had twenty maps in rotation. Earlier builds had a single map. These maps were created using Perlin Noise. See amitp’s post on map creation for more information.