MMORPG with friends in your browser: guilds, duels, trading and chat

An MMORPG without friends is just a big single-player game. The whole point of the genre is the people around you: some you run dungeons with, some you test yourself against in a duel, some you just chat with. Here’s how to play a browser MMORPG with friends, using Zarhold as the example: what it offers for playing together, how to form a party, found a guild and challenge a friend to a duel.

Invite a friend: one link is enough

Zarhold runs in the browser, so inviting a friend couldn’t be simpler: send them a link to the game. No downloads, no installs — they can sign up and create a hero in a couple of minutes, on a computer or a phone. If your friend needs help getting started, send them our beginner’s guide.

Bringing a friend to Zarhold also earns rewards through the Invite a Friend programme: your friend gets the Sworn Brother frame, the Goldhorn mount and two Wanderer’s Satchels at once; you get 200 coins in your website account for every friend who counts plus trophies no shop sells, and in group runs together you both get +20% experience. Different levels? The higher hero comes along as a mentor. A friend counts once their hero reaches level 20 and they have played on at least 5 different days. Second accounts and farms don’t count: a Game Master reviews a shared device.

Friends and who’s online

The game has a friends list. Send a request, and your friend shows up in your list as soon as they accept. The tabs cover friends, applications, who’s online right now and your ignore list. Next to each friend you can see whether they’re online, and buttons let you inspect their hero, invite them to your party or send a private message. There’s no limit on the number of friends.

You can also look up any player’s hero — gear, stats and professions — on our site, in the Armory.

Chat: world, trade, guild and party

Chat has five kinds of channels:

• World — general talk;
• Trade — buying and selling;
• Guild — members only;
• Party — appears when you’re in a party, on a run or in a team fight;
• private messages — in their own tabs.

Clicking a name opens a menu: private message, party invite, trade, duel, friend request. An @mention sends the person a notification. To keep chat pleasant, every channel has spam protection, and moderators can mute rule-breakers. The rules are collected on our Rules page.

Parties of up to five

Forming a party is easy: invite a friend by name — the first invite creates the party. You can even invite someone who’s offline: they’ll see the invite when they log in. A party holds up to five heroes and has a leader, who can pass on the lead, remove a member or disband the party.

Where you can go as a party:

• dungeons — as three: a tank, a healer and a damage dealer;
• raids and world bosses — as five;
• the team arena at 2v2, 3v3 and 5v5, and the 5v5 battleground.

The leader queues the party, and in combat everyone plays their own hero: you all act at the same time with your own cards, with 60 seconds per party turn. If there are fewer people than slots, allies — world residents of the right role — fill the free slots.

And everyone gets their own rewards:

• in dungeons and raids — experience and gold for everyone in full, with no splitting;
• loot is rolled for: an item for your class takes priority, then a roll from 1 to 100 decides;
• in the arena and on battlegrounds everyone has their own rating, arena points and Honor, within their own weekly caps.

How dungeons work is covered in “Dungeons and raids”, and the arena in “PvP in a card game”.

Friendly duels: which of you is stronger

The most direct way to test yourself against a friend is a friendly duel. Challenge them from their name menu, the party frame or the hero inspection window. Your opponent has to be online, and the challenge waits a minute for an answer. If your friend accepts, a live one-on-one fight begins: you take turns, a minute per turn.

The duel rules are simple and fair:

• no consumables and no swapping your opening cards — just your deck, talents and gear;
• three missed turns in a row is a loss;
• if the fight drags on for 45 minutes or each side has taken 60 turns, it’s a draw.

It’s a friendly duel: there’s no rating, Honor or rewards, so losing doesn’t sting, and you can challenge your friend again straight away. All your bouts are saved in your duel history.

Guilds: your own club inside the game

A guild is a permanent crew: its own chat, a shared treasury and its own history. Founding a guild in Zarhold is free and open at any level — all you need is an available name 3 to 24 characters long. Whoever founds the guild becomes its leader.

What a guild has:

• ranks with permissions — who can invite and remove, promote and demote, change the message of the day and take gold from the bank;
• a bank — the shared treasury: any member can deposit gold, while only those who are allowed can withdraw, within a daily limit;
• an event log — who joined, who left, who got promoted;
• guild chat and a message of the day for all members;
• a guild level from 1 to 25, which grows as members earn experience and win in PvP.

You can join a guild by invitation or by application: an open guild accepts you straight away, while in a closed one officers review your application.

Every guild has a page on our site, in the Guilds section, showing the leader, the number of members, the average level, the founding date and the full roster with links to each hero in the Armory.

Trading and mail: sharing with a friend

There are two ways to give a friend an item or gold.

A face-to-face trade. Offer a trade from their name menu — your friend gets a card with “Accept” and “Decline” buttons. Each of you puts items and gold into your half of the window, and the deal goes through only when both of you have pressed “Ready” and then “Trade”. Any change in the window clears both “Ready” marks, so nobody can swap an item at the last second. You can hand over up to 12 items from each side at a time. Heirloom, personal and unique items can’t be traded.

Mail. The text of a letter is free, and a letter with an attachment — items or gold — costs 1 silver. A letter is kept for 30 days, and the attachment can be collected at any point in that time.

Where to find company

• World chat — the fastest way to find companions right now.
• The [forum](/forum) — looking for a group, discussing tactics and breaking down fights.
• Your own friends — invite them with a link: Zarhold opens in the browser, nothing to download.

Playing with friends FAQ

Can I play together with a friend?

Yes. Add your friend and invite them to your party — then head into dungeons, raids, the team arena or a battleground together. In combat everyone plays their own hero, and everyone gets their own rewards.

How do I challenge a friend to a duel?

From their name menu, the party frame or the hero inspection window. Your friend has to be online and accept within a minute. It’s a friendly duel — no rating and no rewards.

How much does it cost to create a guild?

Nothing: you can found a guild for free at any level — you just need an available name of 3 to 24 characters.

Can I give a friend gold or items?

Yes — by trading when you’re both online, or by mail at any time: a letter with an attachment costs 1 silver. Heirloom, personal and unique items can’t be traded.

Can we play together if my friend only has a phone?

Yes: Zarhold runs both in a phone’s browser — held in landscape — and on a computer.

The bottom line

Zarhold isn’t just cards and bosses — it’s people: friends, your guild, duel opponents and chat partners. Invite a friend, form a party, challenge them to a duel — and see which of you plays their hand better. You can play Zarhold right in your browser, and it’s more fun together.

Playing as a pair — with a partner or a friend in another city? Dedicated tips are in “Browser games for couples”.