In Desolation Horde, you are cast into a barren world devoid of any structures or non-player characters (NPCs). This survival-driven variant demands meticulous resource management to stay alive. Carefully managing your health and crafting abilities as they become paramount to your survival. Periodical waves of ferocious, ever-increasing enemies will descend upon you, determined to claim your demise.

So to help you several aspects of the game differ in Desolation mode from the main game.

Farming

All crops will appear in the wild, You just need to search for and collect them. You can then convert to seeds and start the process of creating your garden.

Skill Tree

Skill points are now around half the cost they used to be, This is because you cannot get them for free from NPC's. The skill list differs from the main game as looting is no longer an option.

Base Building

You now need to build yourself a base, Choose the location wisely, Water and food are important to survive.

Horde

Every 15 minutes the Game will spawn a horde in your area, These hordes will get steadily harder and harder. Other creatures will spawn as per normal.

Cauldron

Your cauldron will ask for materials that you can gather, the resulting enchantment scrolls can then be used to make your own enchantments on an anvil.

I strongly suggest playing the "High Adventure" game first before tackling this DLC, A knowledge of how the basics work is required.