Icarus Online (formerly Riders of Icarus) finally launched just a few hours ago. As a content creator who has been with the game since the old version, I jumped in on day one and recorded roughly five hours of footage, which I'll be editing and uploading piece by piece. This article is aimed at players who are just getting started, covering the essentials of the early game while weaving in some practical advice on Icarus Online Gold, gear enhancement, and mount collecting.
1. An Old Game Reborn: Why It's Worth Your Time
Let me start with the bottom line: this is an "old game" with dated graphics, but it's genuinely entertaining. The environments are lovely, and the beasts and mounts are spectacular. I've said repeatedly in my videos that I came back and made new-player content because this game brought me a lot of joy and helped my channel grow — I once collaborated with Acceso 5 to support the Latin American community.
One caveat: launch day didn't go smoothly. The game was scheduled for 6 UTC but was delayed by about three hours due to an issue on the developers' end. There was also some lag after launch. During recording, my game froze two or three times, and the worst crash happened when I opened my inventory and tried to click an item — I had to hard-restart my PC, which cost me the audio recording. That's why the opening of my video was recorded separately afterward. My advice to new players is to be patient with early technical issues and to be mindful of potential inventory-related bugs.
2. Story and Prologue: Don't Skip the Intro
The game opens in a dungeon where Crow frees your character, and you fight your way out past bug-type enemies. I strongly recommend new players watch this entire sequence — it sets up the story (including the princess's kidnapping) and doubles as a mini-tutorial teaching you how to fly, sprint in flight, and attack. Better still, the game now has Spanish subtitles and localized quest text, which is a big plus for Spanish-speaking players.
The story is one of the game's strongest points. I'll admit I never finished the final map back in the day because of a bug, and I'm still curious about how the story plays out — that should tell you something about how engaging it is.
3. Early Pacing and Which Quests to Take
Once you reach the first map, Brakarr Forest, the pace slows down noticeably. I'll be blunt: it really is slow. But pre-registration rewards — mounts, pets, companions — speed things up considerably. My recommendations:
• Prioritize gold quests (main story) — solid rewards and experience.
• Do blue quests (repeatables with a small circle) when you're stuck — for example, when you're 10–15% short of a level-up.
• Green quests (daily/repeatable) appear later on a quest board; do them as needed.
If you missed pre-registration (roughly 20,000 people signed up), don't worry. Just progress steadily with quest and dungeon gear: common first, then blue, then yellow gear from dungeons. I also noted that the developers later ran events handing out mounts and a pumpkin-shaped carousel, among other rewards.
4. Dungeons, Gear, and Icarus Online Gold
Dungeons are at the heart of the game. Each one starts in story mode; clearing it unlocks elite mode, then heroic, and eventually legendary. Legendary requires level 45 and solid gear, and is usually done in a group — though once you're well-equipped, soloing is entirely possible.
Dungeon rewards are rich: coins, materials, enhancement stones, and up to five repeat runs per day across different difficulties. Dungeons are also the main source of heroic gear and the materials to enhance it. On Icarus Online Gold, my advice is simple: save early. Whether it's bag space or enhancement and crafting costs, gold drains fast. Unless you plan to pay for Premium, frugality and accumulating Icarus Online Gold are a must through the early and mid game. Premium comes in 15-day and 30-day versions that stack — three 30-day purchases give you 90 days — which is good value and saves you a lot of gold.
5. Mounts, Pets, and the Wardrobe
The game's biggest draw is beast collecting. Mounts come in ground and flying varieties, and pets (companions) can be converted into mounts and vice versa — most of them, anyway. Press B to open the wardrobe, which is organized by map, collection, and special categories. Completing each wardrobe line grants rewards, so I highly recommend finishing them.
I also noticed a player-friendly change: some beasts that used to require a "mark" item to tame no longer do — for example, the spider on the first map, the wind bird outside the fortress, and the fire dog in the lava cave. Higher-tier heroic and legendary beasts may still have requirements, and some marks can be obtained through events, drops, or crafting. When taming, make sure the target's health is low enough.
Captured beasts are registered in the wardrobe permanently, so you can release them to free up space — and releasing certain beasts completes other achievements. What really matters is a beast's "seal": using a stone to turn a beast into a seal and socketing it into your gear, which becomes a key power boost later on.
6. Skills, Life Skills, and PvP
Press K when you level up to allocate skill points — a small arrow appears next to skills that can be upgraded. Core skills are free, but some must be bought from class-specific skill books. I main an archer and know other classes less well, so if you have questions, ask in the comments or join a guild — that's where you really learn the game.
For life skills, leveling gathering lets you craft potions and food, which are genuinely useful for dungeon progression; weapons and armor mainly come from dungeons.
On PvP: this is a single-faction game with no racial or faction conflict. PvP happens only in specific locations and daily events, such as sieges and guild wars. The upside is that you can quest and gather without worrying about being ganked. I remember the community fondly — after sieges and fights ended, everyone was friendly and helped each other out. Low toxicity, at least back then.
7. Mindset: Take Your Time, Don't Rush to Max Level
One point I keep repeating: don't rush to max level the way you might in Aion 2. The fun here is in questing, collecting, taming, and running dungeons at your own pace. Once some players are geared up, you can get power-leveled and then focus on yellow quests to unlock maps — but you'll still need to explore each region, since quests lead you through every zone.
To wrap up, I'd encourage you to give the game a try: "The graphics are old, but it's fun, the beasts are spectacular, and you'll have a great time." I'll keep uploading one or two videos a week — quest guides, dungeon walkthroughs, PvP — without abandoning the channel's original podcast focus (vampire series, TV show content, and so on).
If you're about to start Icarus Online, I hope this helps you avoid a few detours. Remember the key points: push the main story patiently, save your Icarus Online Gold, complete your wardrobe, and join a guild early. The rest, leave to the beasts.
