Eternium

Eternium for Windows: A Diablo-Like ARPG That Respects Your Time

Dream Primer and publisher Making Fun Inc. bring you Eternium—a free-to-play action RPG that distills the loot-and-slash formula into a compact, touch-friendly experience, originally designed for mobile but now natively ported to Windows through the Microsoft Store. Its main selling points: no energy bars or stamina systems, a fully manual skill targeting system (no auto-aim), hand-painted environments, and a deep gear customization loop that rewards smart choices over grinding. If you love games like Diablo or Torchlight but have a schedule that won't let you commit to hour-long sessions, this is the dungeon crawler you can pick up for ten minutes and actually feel satisfied.

First Impressions: “Wait, This Was Made for Mobile?”

Let's be honest—when I first saw Eternium on the Microsoft Store, I braced for a lazy port with oversized buttons and clunky controls. Instead, the Windows version greets you with a crisp, painterly art style that looks surprisingly at home on a 1080p monitor. The main menu is clean, almost minimalist, with a single “Play” button that gets you into action within five seconds. No endless loading screens, no forced tutorial videos. You create a character (Mage, Warrior, or Bounty Hunter), and before you know it, you're tapping on a skeleton's head to teleport your hero straight into combat. The whole onboarding takes less than a minute. That's the kind of respect for player time I wish more games had.

Touch & Click: Two Control Schemes, One Smooth Experience

The biggest surprise is how well the touch-based controls translate to a PC environment. You can play entirely with a mouse: click to move, click to attack, and click-drag to aim your spells. It feels like a point-and-click adventure crossed with an ARPG. Alternatively, if you have a touchscreen laptop or a Surface, you can tap directly on enemies and drag your finger to cast area-of-effect skills. The game switches between input methods seamlessly—no awkward menu diving. I tested both, and the precision of mouse aiming for the Mage's fireball actually made me prefer it over traditional keyboard-based WASD movement. The learning curve is gentle: new players can rely on auto-attack for the first few levels, then gradually experiment with the skill wheel that sits at the bottom of the screen. Veteran ARPG fans will appreciate the manual targeting, which adds a layer of skill beyond “click and wait.”

No Energy, No FOMO: The “Play How You Want” Philosophy

This is the feature that sets Eternium apart from almost every other free-to-play action RPG on PC. There is no stamina bar, no daily log-in bonus treadmill, no “you can only enter this dungeon three times today.” You can grind the same level ten times in a row if you want, or you can play for three minutes and close the game without feeling like you wasted a resource. The game respects your schedule the way a good book does—you can stop at any chapter. For players burned out by Diablo Immortal's monetization or Genshin Impact's resin system, this is a breath of fresh air. The only “gate” is your own desire to keep killing monsters. The skill system is also refreshingly straightforward: you unlock abilities as you level up, and you can freely reassign skill points at any time (yes, respec is free!). This encourages experimentation without punishing you for a bad choice.

How It Stacks Up Against the Big Guys

Compared to heavyweights like Path of Exile or Grim Dawn, Eternium is simpler and shallower. The skill trees are linear, the story is forgettable, and there's no multiplayer trading. But that's not a bug—it's a feature. The game deliberately avoids complexity for the sake of complexity. Where PoE expects you to spend hours in a build planner, Eternium lets you pick up a sword and feel powerful in five minutes. The wireframe-style animations for enemies (when they die, they crumble into a satisfying pile of bones) add a whimsical, almost cartoonish charm that contrasts with the grimdark tone of most PC ARPGs. If you're looking for a deep narrative or endgame crafting, keep looking. But if you want a polished, responsive, and low-commitment dungeon crawler that runs on any Windows machine (even an old tablet), this is a rare gem.

Final Call: Who Should Download This

I'd recommend Eternium to two types of players: first, ARPG veterans who are tired of mobile-like restrictions and want a “comfort food” game they can play in short bursts on their PC. Second, newcomers to the genre who find Diablo intimidating and just want to hack some skeletons without reading a wikipedia entry on passive skills. The game is free (with cosmetic and convenience microtransactions—none of which are pay-to-win), so there's zero risk in trying. Stick to the campaign and the bounties; skip the optional “Celestial” subscription unless you really want the extra stash tabs. One tip: if you play on a touchscreen laptop, enable “One Tap Mode” in settings to cast your primary skill automatically on the nearest enemy, making combat feel like an idle-tapping delight. For everyone else, the mouse-and-click control is already buttery smooth.

Bottom line: Eternium isn't trying to reinvent the wheel. It's just making the wheel smaller, friendlier, and available whenever you have a spare moment. And sometimes, that's exactly what you need.

FAQ

How do I start playing Eternium and choose my class?

After downloading, tap 'New Game' to select Mage, Warrior, or Bounty Hunter. Each class has unique starting abilities. Follow the tutorial quests to learn basic combat and movement. No account needed initially.

Is there a way to reset my skill points or change my build later?

Yes, you can respec your hero at any time for free. Open the abilities screen, tap 'Reset' to reassign all skill points. This allows experimenting with different tactics without penalty.

How do I unlock and use companions in battle?

Companions are unlocked by progressing through the story. Rescued companions (tank, healer, ranger) join automatically. Tap companion icons on the left side of the screen to activate their special abilities during combat.

What are Champion Levels and how do they work?

Champion Levels start after reaching hero level 70. Each level grants steady stat upgrades and is shared across all your heroes. New characters inherit these bonuses, making leveling faster. Champion levels have no cap.

How can I craft and upgrade rings and amulets?

Collect gemstones from enemies and chests. Open the crafting menu to socket rings/amulets with gems. Fuse three identical socketed rings or amulets to create a higher-quality version. Higher gem rarities yield better stats.

What is the Trials of Valor mode and how do I access it?

Trials of Valor is an endless dungeon mode with procedurally generated levels. Unlock it by completing Act 1. Access from the main menu to earn bonus loot, XP, and test your build against increasingly tough enemies.