Hardcore Mode
Hardcore Mode, or Hardcore Death Penalty, is an option available for players seeking an additional challenge. To turn on or turn off Hardcore Mode, find the signpost next to the well in the town of Serbule Keep.
While Hardcore Mode is active, characters will begin to accumulate XP in the Hardcore Living skill.
Hardcore Death Penalty
When death occurs to a character in Hardcore Mode, in addition to being presented with the Respawn options that character has unlocked, some items in the inventory of that character will be marked as broken. Broken items will not be usable until fixed, and are marked in the inventory with a red line. Equipment and consumables can both become broken, but Quest items will not break. To repair an item, it must be taken back to the location where it was broken, such as the character's tombstone.
If a character with broken items is unable to reach its tombstone before the tombstone vanishes, the items can still be restored to working order at that spot! If a broken item is clicked on, it will display a value of how far away from the character's current point the item was broken.
- The death Fell off the World will not cause items to break.
- If a character consumes , their items will not break.
- If a character is resurrected by another character, their items will not break.
Hardcore Mode Bonuses
Characters who have opted to participate in Hardcore mode will receive additional bonuses and abilities not attainable by normal characters. Some pieces of Equipment can only be worn by Hardcore characters. Certain interactable objects across Alharth will only respond to Hardcore characters.
- Hardcore Mode grants access to the Level 0 Teleportation recipe Recall Beginnings (hardcore). This recipe allows teleportation to the start of a zone without the need for any ingredients.
Hardcore Interactable Objects
- Hardcore Mode characters can accept the blessings of Tast through an altar at the center of Gazluk City, granting a 10% buff to max health and max power. The buff is lost only on death.
Hardcore Mode Equipment
Hardcore Mode grants the use of Equipment often considered to be mildly stronger than regular armor of the same level, as it provides a higher armor value.
- Winter Court Armor
- Often seen between Levels 35 and 80, Winter Court Armor is known for having high Max Armor and Electricity Damage (Direct & Per-Tick).
- Not every piece of Winter Court armor requires Hardcore Mode. The Level 75 Winter Court Battle set does not require Hardcore Mode, although the Level 80 equivalent, the Winter-Court Murder set, does require Hardcore Mode.
Hardcore Equipment Dropping Enemies
- Torgan's Weapon Bartering
- The exiled Orc blacksmith Torgan offers barters for Level 70 Hardcore Mode weapons that have a high +% Base Damage.
- Toolcrafting Belts
- Health boosting belts crafted through Toolcrafting.
List of Items Usable Only in Hardcore Mode
Indestructible Equipment
A small number of items are Indestructible Items, which will not break in Hardcore Mode.
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Hardcore Guilds
Members of Guilds granted permission to access their Guild settings have access to a setting related to Hardcore Mode characters. A guild can set membership of Hardcore Mode characters to Allowed, Disallowed, or Required.
- If a guild has Hardcore Mode set to Allowed, any character (Hardcore or not) can join the guild.
- If a guild has Hardcore Mode set to Disallowed, characters will need to turn off Hardcore Mode before requesting an invite to that guild.
- If a guild has Hardcore Mode set to Required, the guild will receive a bonus to earned Guild Credits at the completion of quests.
Hardcore Skill Advice
All skills can be used while playing in Hardcore Mode, but consideration should be given to the death penalty. If a Fire Mage is carrying only one fire staff and it breaks, all of their fire abilities will be disabled.
Skills that do not rely on item-based ability activation may be more beneficial for a Hardcore Mode character. Skills that have Indestructible Equipment are also recommended.
- No Item-Based Acvitations
- Psychology
- Mentalism
- Animal Handling
- Unarmed (some abilities may need claws)
- All Beast Forms
- Warden
- Skills with Indestructible Items
Additional Challenges
Players seeking out additional challenges or restrictions beyond Hardcore Mode may wish to explore the self-imposed challenges accessed through the Behavior Report.
