- Choose an online character for server-managed progression, the leaderboard and the Steam Market. Choose Singleplayer/offline for a private run without the game-server dependency.
- Official 1.0.0h requires your own copy for Online Mode. Steam Family Sharing, Free Weekend and PC café licenses can still play Singleplayer; that restriction is different from a connection failure.
Make the choice before investing in a hero
Read the selected mode on the character-creation screen before confirming. The September 28 launch hotfix changed the default to Online Mode, so accepting the default is not the same as deliberately choosing disconnected play. The official 0.1.13 announcement introduced the option to create an online hero and described important online data as server-managed. ApolloTrail’s launch-through-h guide says both modes play the same single-player game, with the leaderboard and Market added online.
Evidence: [Hot Fix] Steam connection fix and minor improvement · [0.1.13] New Talents, Online Mode, Leaderboard and Anti-cheat! · Deskrawl Online vs Offline Characters: Steam Market, Trading and Connection Fixes
| Requirement | Useful mode | What to inspect |
|---|---|---|
| Selling spare tradable drops | Online | Owned license, Auctioneer unlock and Steam Market eligibility |
| Leaderboard participation | Online | The ranking screen and its current event/rules |
| Travel or unreliable server connection | Singleplayer/offline | Offline creation choice and the intended save slot |
| Family Sharing, Free Weekend or PC café license | Singleplayer under h | The account/license used to launch |
| Testing another build without abandoning a main | A separate slot | Mode and hero identity before continuing |
Evidence: [Patch 1.0.0h] Hunter/Monk Buffs and other improvements · Deskrawl Online vs Offline Characters: Steam Market, Trading and Connection Fixes · [0.1.13] New Talents, Online Mode, Leaderboard and Anti-cheat!
Online does not establish cooperative combat. The mode announcement talks about a foundation for social and trading systems; it is not a promise that another player joins your farming strip. Likewise, a Cloud-enabled offline save is not an online hero. These labels describe different services. Decide based on the feature you need, rather than assuming any internet-related setting supplies every online feature.
Evidence: [0.1.13] New Talents, Online Mode, Leaderboard and Anti-cheat! · Deskrawl Online vs Offline Characters: Steam Market, Trading and Connection Fixes
Check ownership before treating an error as a fault
Official h explicitly separates owned copies from Steam Family Sharing, Free Weekend and PC café access. The latter licenses can use Singleplayer. If online creation is blocked under one of those licenses, repeatedly changing a password, deleting a character or reinstalling the game does not address the stated restriction. First identify how this Steam account is entitled to launch Deskrawl.
Evidence: [Patch 1.0.0h] Hunter/Monk Buffs and other improvements
For an owned copy, record the exact message and distinguish connection, account and game-progression problems. The launch hotfix fixed an online connection failure affecting very old Steam clients, while still recommending a current client. That gives a specific first action for an old-client error. It does not mean every STEAMID N/A report has the same cause, or that a shared-license restriction will disappear after an update.
Evidence: [Hot Fix] Steam connection fix and minor improvement · Deskrawl Online vs Offline Characters: Steam Market, Trading and Connection Fixes
Identify the account and license
Check which Steam account launches the game and whether access is owned or shared. Do this before creating an extra hero to work around an error.
Record the chosen mode
Write down the hero name, class and Online/Singleplayer label. Confirm that the intended slot is selected.
Update an old Steam client
For an eligible owned account with a Steam-connection error, apply the relevant client and game updates, then retry the same creation or loading operation.
Keep the exact result
Record the full displayed text, version and whether character creation, loading or Market opening failed. Different failures need different evidence.
Use a separate offline session if appropriate
If you elect to farm offline while connectivity is unavailable, keep that hero distinct. Do not assume its progress will later merge into the online main.
Evidence: [Patch 1.0.0h] Hunter/Monk Buffs and other improvements · [Hot Fix] Steam connection fix and minor improvement · [0.1.13] New Talents, Online Mode, Leaderboard and Anti-cheat!
Slots preserve choices; they do not prove conversion
Multiple-character save slots arrived in official 0.1.13. The same announcement says characters that already existed were automatically converted to offline when Online Mode was introduced. That was a historical transition for the pre-existing test characters, not an ongoing command to promote an offline retail hero to online. The captured launch guide finds no described offline-to-online conversion and recommends a new online character for trading.
Evidence: [0.1.13] New Talents, Online Mode, Leaderboard and Anti-cheat! · Deskrawl Online vs Offline Characters: Steam Market, Trading and Connection Fixes
Keep a main and a comparison hero recognizably different: name, class, mode and a progress marker. Verify them when reopening or changing machines. A similar-looking low-level hero can make loading the wrong slot resemble a rollback. Character creation, character deletion and Steam Cloud synchronization are separate operations; do not use deletion to diagnose a mode or connection problem. Official i strengthened the deletion confirmation, but the safe decision still starts with knowing which hero is selected.
Evidence: [Patch 1.0.0i] Various Improvements
There is no source-supported merge procedure here for inventories, talents or Market access. If a guide promises conversion, check the patch and the exact menu it describes before following it. This article preserves the known create-versus-convert difference, without asserting that a future patch can never add such a feature.
Three meanings of offline
| Phrase | Meaning in this guide | Consequence |
|---|---|---|
| Offline/Singleplayer character | A character mode | Does not gain online leaderboard/Market access |
| Game application closed | No live farming process | Expedition Camp governs reported closed-game XP/gold |
| Steam client Offline Mode | Steam itself is disconnected | Cloud synchronization is a separate client concern |
Evidence: Deskrawl Online vs Offline Characters: Steam Market, Trading and Connection Fixes · Offline Rewards
An online hero may have Expedition rewards calculated by the game server, while Wikily describes Singleplayer rewards calculated locally. That report concerns the closed-game reward system, not permission to trade. Similarly, playing a Singleplayer hero with Steam connected does not turn it into an online hero. Choose the character mode for the run you want, then inspect expedition and synchronization behavior separately.
Evidence: Offline Rewards
Trading has a second set of requirements
ApolloTrail reports an Auctioneer unlock at level 5 for 500 gold. Treat the displayed level, prerequisite and cost as the authority before spending; the figure is a launch report rather than a reproduced unlock screen. After you meet that in-game requirement, Steam account eligibility and the selected item’s tradable status remain separate checks. An online hero is the starting condition, not a guarantee that an account can list every item.
Evidence: Deskrawl Online vs Offline Characters: Steam Market, Trading and Connection Fixes
For the menu itself, official i adds Buy Items to the Auction House and opens both auction buttons inside Steam rather than the external browser. If following a screenshot from h, expect that navigation to differ. ApolloTrail’s October 1 market snapshot names Legendary Reins, Black Mist gear, Divine gear and Rune Set runes; it does not establish the full current catalog or a profitable farming strategy. Inspect the item tag and live confirmation for the actual item you intend to list.
Evidence: [Patch 1.0.0i] Various Improvements · Deskrawl Online vs Offline Characters: Steam Market, Trading and Connection Fixes
Do not decide between modes using a launch-week asking price. A listing is not a completed sale, and a rare item may also be your next minion unlock or build component. Keep the gameplay decision and any sale decision distinct. The dedicated leaderboard-and-market article covers the transaction checks; this page answers the earlier question of which hero to create.
If Online Mode still fails
| Observed problem | Best evidence to keep | Next check |
|---|---|---|
| Online choice unavailable | Account/license type and exact notice | Apply h ownership rule |
| Steam identity or connection failure | Client version, error and OS | Old-client hotfix; on Linux also inspect Proton separately |
| Only Auction House access fails | Hero mode, unlock and Steam message | In-game unlock versus Steam account restriction |
| Repeated in-session disconnects | Times, game version and same operation | Retry after connection stabilizes; do not infer a corrupted hero from one disconnect |
| Wrong hero appears | Name/class/mode/progress marker | Slot/account/Cloud check before playing further |
Evidence: Deskrawl Online vs Offline Characters: Steam Market, Trading and Connection Fixes · [Hot Fix] Steam connection fix and minor improvement
Q: Can Family Sharing players create an online hero?
Official h requires an owned copy for Online Mode and permits shared/free-weekend/café licenses in Singleplayer.
Q: Can I move my established offline hero into Online Mode?
The reviewed sources describe creation of a new online hero and a historical conversion to offline in 0.1.13. They do not supply an offline-to-online transfer procedure.
Q: Does an offline hero lose Cloud support?
ApolloTrail describes offline saves with Steam Cloud backup. Cloud availability and successful synchronization are separate from the game’s character mode.
Q: Does an Online hero earn items while the application is closed?
Mode is separate from Expedition Camp. Wikily reports only XP and gold for expeditions, not item drops; see the dedicated reward guide for its conditions.
Evidence: [Patch 1.0.0h] Hunter/Monk Buffs and other improvements · [0.1.13] New Talents, Online Mode, Leaderboard and Anti-cheat! · Deskrawl Online vs Offline Characters: Steam Market, Trading and Connection Fixes · Offline Rewards
Sources and scope
Source-reviewed guide for Deskrawl: Idle ARPG retail app 4623570. Historical demo/beta announcements are labeled by version; secondary mechanics and individual player reports retain attribution. Source review expanded the article; no game session, Steam Deck or Linux hardware test was performed. Current implementation and identified gaps still require gameplay confirmation.
- Review status
- verified
- Game version
- Retail identity: Steam app 4623570. Official news captured through 1.0.0i; any earlier 0.1.x announcement is historical, not a current installed-version observation.
- Checked
- Method
- Bounded first-release dossier review, including source roles, preserved conflicts and explicit limits. Recomputed retained source hashes, exact excerpts and line ranges and signed reader content. No installed-client or live-server verification.
- [0.1.13] New Talents, Online Mode, Leaderboard and Anti-cheat! first-party
Official June 27 introduction of online creation, legacy offline conversion, multiple save slots, Combat Settings, item Lock and Reset UI only. Its Treant leaderboard rules belong to that test build.
Checked
- [Hot Fix] Steam connection fix and minor improvement first-party
Official September 28 hotfix for very old Steam client connection failure, Online creation default and more detailed errors.
Checked
- [Patch 1.0.0h] Hunter/Monk Buffs and other improvements first-party
Official 1.0.0h Hunter, Monk and Sorcerer changes, own-cast counting, Frost Dragon chest chance, minion capacity, online license rule and talent scrolling.
Checked
- [Patch 1.0.0i] Various Improvements first-party
Official 1.0.0i ability coefficients, Flare radius, Violet Skybow condition change, Legendary Rein pickup exception, deletion/salvage confirmations and in-Steam auction buttons.
Checked
- Deskrawl Online vs Offline Characters: Steam Market, Trading and Connection Fixes secondary
Freshly read launch-through-h guide for mode comparison, reported level-5/500-gold Auctioneer unlock, October 1 tradable groups and player-reported mail entry. Market prices and account eligibility were not checked live.
Checked
- Offline Rewards secondary
Wikily report of Expedition Camp cost, whole-minute timing, town collection, cap upgrades, included rewards, stage selection and mode-specific calculation. No installed-client or code verification was performed.
Checked