The Game Loop
Everything in Grinweld hangs off one short cycle. Master it and the rest of the wiki is just optimization.
move → pick a target → Auto (fights on its own) → kill → loot → next fight →
↑ │
└──────────────── level up, buy gear, go somewhere harder ──────────┘
By default your character fights on Auto: pick a target and the server runs the fights for you, round after round, while the tab is open. If you chose manual at creation, you instead press Attack / Cast to resolve each round yourself.
A single round
Whether a round is resolved for you on Auto (about one every two seconds) or by your own press of Attack / Cast in manual play, the server resolves it the same way:
- You act. Each equipped weapon (Attack) or spell (Cast) resolves independently. With two weapon slots filled, both swing; with a Fire spell and a Heal spell equipped, a Cast does both — it burns the enemy and heals you.
- Doublehit may trigger per slot, giving that slot a free second action.
- The monster acts, possibly multiple times if it's fast (see Monsters).
- HP, gold, XP and mastery changes are saved.
On Auto the rounds tick on their own; if you're playing manual there's no waiting between rounds beyond a small anti-macro rate limit (about six actions every two seconds) — click as fast as you like; the server paces it.
Attack vs. Cast. Your two weapon slots fire on Attack; your two spell slots fire on Cast. They're separate buttons, so a pure hybrid can alternate — but most builds lean one way and use the other slot type for utility (a heal, a drain, a shield).
Winning a fight
Kill the monster and you collect, on that single kill:
- XP toward your next level.
- Gold on hand (spendable, lootable, lost on death).
- A roll on each of four independent drop channels: gems, shadow items, purses, resources (see Drops & Bonus Time).
- Mastery ticks on successful hits / on being hit (see Masteries).
On Auto the next fight starts on its own against the same target. Playing manual, you begin the next fight yourself after a tiny breather (~0.75s) — the trade-off being that manual kills pay +25% rewards over Auto ones, so hands-on grinding is worth more per kill.
Leveling up
Cross your XP threshold and the game prompts you to choose a stat (see Leveling & XP). You either pour into one stat (a big chunk) or spread a smaller amount across all five. This choice, repeated hundreds of times, is your build.
Spending the loot
Gold buys:
- Better Weapons & Spells, Armour & Shields, and Accessories at zone shops.
- Enchanting — socketing Gems & Enchanting into your gear.
- Travel — shrine teleports, ranking up, mastery testing, fusion, mythics.
Going somewhere harder
When same-tier monsters die fast and reward little, climb the zone's tier ladder or
move to a higher-min_level zone via the hub at Lanternwatch Cross. The
The World page maps every zone and how they connect.
The long arc
Stacked on top of the minute-to-minute loop are the slow systems that keep you playing for months:
- Ranks — permanent stat & mastery-cap boosts at level milestones.
- Clans & Kingdoms — group power, treasuries, taxed territory.
- PvP — hunting other players for their carried gold.
- Quests — directed objectives with bonus rewards.
- Reincarnation — eventually, beginning again from a stronger base.