Mystvale is a free dark-fantasy PvP arena that runs in your browser — no download, no installer. Open mystvale.org, pick a champion, and fight. This guide takes you from your first click to your first win.
The controls
Movement and aim are decoupled — the most important thing to learn: you move with WASD (or arrow keys) while you aim with the mouse. That lets you strafe, kite, and back-pedal while still striking where you want. Prefer click-to-move? Toggle it in Settings.
- Left-click — basic attack, aimed at your cursor.
- 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 — your abilities, including an ultimate.
- Spacebar — dodge: a brief burst of invincibility on a cooldown. Dodging through a heavy hit is how you survive.
Your first match
Start in Training to feel out your champion against a dummy, then try vs AI for a real fight with no pressure. When you're ready, queue Ranked 1v1 — it's fully server-authoritative, so there's no host advantage and no lag exploits, just the fight.
Pick a champion you'll enjoy
Six champions are free from the start — Warrior, Archer, Sentinel, Inquisitor, Hexblade, and Necromancer — and the rest unlock through play. For your very first games the Warrior is the most forgiving: durable, simple, hard to delete. See the best beginner classes for the full breakdown.
Three tips that win early fights
Crits are earned, not random — you crit when you strike a stunned target, so landing a stun and following up is your biggest burst. Keep your spacing: every champion has a range where it's strongest, and most losses come from sitting in the wrong one. And save your dodge for the enemy's heaviest move, not their poke.