We’re back with another round of Desert Treasure II improvements!
Changelog August 9th
[expand="more" type="show"] Desert Treasure II
Quartz received from the Desert Treasure II bosses can now be used to open a chest in the Ancient Vault's basement.
Dying or teleporting away on the same tick that a boss dies should now correctly add to players’ Kill Count total.
Vardorvis
The Prayer Projectile is now coloured green to indicate that it’s a Ranged attack.
At least one spike will always spawn when Vardorvis uses his Jump/Dash attack.
Players will no longer experience two consecutive ‘Blood Captcha’ attacks.
The Whisperer
Hitsplats now appear for Sanity damage.
The Whisperer will now do the correct number of normal attacks.
The Whisperer's entrails will spawn even if players are no longer in the arena when the boss is defeated.
This boss should now correctly drop Clues.
Slightly decreased the respawn timer.
Fixed some issues that would cause a Perfect Kill to fail.
The Leviathan
Players will no longer receive the "Your melee attacks can't reach the lure!" message when trying to Autocast in Melee range.
We've adjusted the colour of the Melee projectiles to be clearer for players with visual impairments.
Casting Shadow Spells should now grant the default cast XP.
Fixed some issues that would cause a Perfect Kill to fail.
Duke Sucellus
The preparation phase has been changed to feature more predictable rotations.
Soulreaper Axe:
The Soulreaper Axe now requires at least 5% normal special attack to be used.
If a Phoenix Necklace’s healing effect procs, it will reset 'Mighty stacks'.
Players can no longer pull up an interface to stall the 'Mighty stack' timer.
A number of rewards have been given 'inspect' options, hinting at what players should do with them.
A new music track has been added for The Stranglewood.
We've made it clearer that players need to read a tablet before burning a boat inside The Scar.
We've made it clearer that players need a Key to unlock chests inside Lassar.
Other Changes
Ancient Icons can now be ground into 5,000 Ancient Essence using a Pestle and Mortar.
Players can no longer kill Apprentice Tamara during the Guardians of the Rift minigame.
Bounty Hunter is now accessible after 12 hours of login time, rather than 48, provided the player satisfies the other requirements.
PvP Rota
The PvP rota has moved to Period B:
560 - (UK) - PvP World
319 - (US) - Bounty Hunter World
579 - (US) - High-Risk PvP World
561 - (UK) - Free-to-Play PvP World
580 - (US) - LMS Competitive
World 390 (AUS) for LMS Competitive has been de-activated with this rota.
World 569 (AUS) for Bounty hunter has been activated with this rota.
The PvP Arena is using 'Main' loadouts in Ranked Duels and Tournaments this week. [/expand]
Desert Treasure II: Further Changes
We’re kicking this week’s round of Desert Treasure II changes off with a new loot system!
We’ve seen players getting extra Quartz after their first chunk and having nothing to do with them, so we’ve introduced a new way to use them. A mysterious new chest has appeared in the basement of the Ancient Vault, where you can exchange your spare Quartz for Dragon Plateskirts, Dragon Dart Tips, Soul Runes, and more!
Now for the bosses…
Vardorvis
The Prayer Projectile is now coloured green to indicate that it’s a Ranged attack.
At least one spike will always spawn when Vardorvis uses his Jump/Dash attack.
Players will no longer experience two consecutive ‘Blood Captcha’ attacks.
The Whisperer
You will now see Hitsplats for Sanity damage.
The Whisperer will now do the correct number of normal attacks.
The Whisperer's entrails will spawn even if you're no longer in the fight arena when the boss is defeated.
This boss should now correctly drop Clues.
The respawn timer has been decreased slightly.
Fixed some issues that would cause a Perfect Kill to fail.
The Leviathan
You'll no longer receive the "Your melee attacks can't reach the lure!" message when trying to Autocast in Melee range.
We've adjusted the colour of the Melee projectiles to be clearer for players with visual impairments.
Casting Shadow Spells should now grant the default cast XP.
Fixed some issues that would cause a Perfect Kill to fail.
Duke Sucellus
The preparation phase has been changed to feature more predictable rotations.
We’ve also made some small adjustments to the mighty Soulreaper Axe!
The Soulreaper Axe will no longer prevent you from using its special attack if you don't have enough regular special attack energy.
If a Phoenix Necklace’s healing effect procs, it will reset 'Mighty stacks'.
Players can no longer pull up an interface to stall the 'Mighty stack' timer.
And last but not least, a few miscellaneous changes:
A number of rewards have been given 'inspect' options, hinting at what players should do with them.
A new music track has been added for The Stranglewood.
We've made it clearer that players need to read a tablet before burning a boat inside The Scar.
We've made it clearer that players need a Key to unlock chests inside Lassar.
Other Changes
Ancient Icons can now be ground into 5,000 Ancient Essence using a Pestle and Mortar.
Players can no longer kill Apprentice Tamara during the Guardians of the Rift minigame.
Bounty Hunter is now accessible after 12 hours of login time, rather than 48, provided the player satisfies the other requirements.
PvP World Rota
The PvP rota has moved to Period B:
560 - (UK) - PvP World
319 - (US) - Bounty Hunter World
579 - (US) - High-Risk PvP World
561 - (UK) - Free-to-Play PvP World
580 - (US) - LMS Competitive
World 390 (AUS) for LMS Competitive has been de-activated with this rota.
World 569 (AUS) for Bounty hunter has been activated with this rota.
The PvP Arena is using 'Main' loadouts in Ranked Duels and Tournaments this week.
Adjustments have been made to the post-quest Desert Treasure II boss drop tables. More information on this is given later in the post.
A chest has been added to Kasonde's hideout in the Stranglewood. Stink bombs can be taken from it. When set off, a stink bomb will attract the nearest Strangled to the coordinate it was set off on.
New bits of scenery have been added to Lassar and the Stranglewood that when interacted with, provide a stamina boost.
Improved pathing to Salt deposits within Duke Sucellus's room. You should now be able to click from the upper floor to a deposit with ease!
Vents within Duke Sucellus's room will now correctly despawn when the encounter ends.
Resolved an issue that could prevent the Duke Sucellus encounter from starting.
Female Sanguine Torva has the correct assets.
Both body type versions of Sanguine Torva now have the correct inventory models & chatheads.
Torva has been replaced with reworked version that was shared in the Poll 80 newspost.
Players are no longer able to feed Abyssal leeches items with a "destroy'' option.
The leeches in the Persten wight fight will now always target the player.
Ketla and her clones were not doing the right amount of damage, this has been changed so they are closer to what we had intended.
The Amulet of the Eye will no longer be lost on death.
The bandit in the Ancient Vault will now sell you multiple rings. In addition, the ring now has a charge option to make charging easier. This option also tells you which runes are needed if you don't have the right ones.
Some puzzles within the Ghorrock Prison have been improved to make the solution clearer.
The gates in Ghorrock Prison are now clearly named to show what gem their lock is.
Damage should no longer carry over to Kasonde once the fight has ended.
Various minor balancing changes have been made to the quest versions of the Desert Treasure II bosses (the difficulty of these bosses should remain very close to how they were last week). Their respective combat levels have also been increased to better reflect their difficulty.
Some temple walls within the Stranglewood can no longer be walked through.
Awakener's orbs have been added to the Collection Log. As the orbs are tradeable, any gained before this update will not appear.
Boss slayer tasks for the four new bosses could be given before completing DT2. This is now fixed.
Slayer tasks no longer apply to the Awakened versions of the Desert Treasure II bosses.
Vardorvis has had some clickbox improvements.
It is no longer possible to safespot the Mysterious Stranger.
Wearing the Ring of Shadows will correctly show the hidden ghosts inside the Sepulchre.
Some scenic Braziers within the throne room of the Lassar Undercity have been removed.
Progress while in a Scar maze will now save, so if you need to leave and return, you don't need to redo already completed challenges.
Boss information has now been added to the Combat Achievements interface, alongside Monster Examine being enabled.
Hotfixes Now Cold
Issues with stairs in the Lassar area have been resolved.
Fixed an issue that prevented pillars from being destroyed during The Whisperer encounter.
Fixed an issue that caused the Soulreaper axe to hit higher than intended.
A bug has been resolved that means the Leviathan is less likely to use Melee to prevent players from bypassing all mechanics of the encounter.
Leviathan, if enraged during the spin lightning special attack, would carry on doing it. It should stop.
[/expand]
Desert Treasure II - Week One Tweaks
Since last week's release, tens of thousands of you have taken it upon yourselves to undergo the epic adventure that is Desert Treasure II - The Fallen Empire.
Before we get into talking about what we're changing, what we're likely to change in future and what we're still waiting for info on, we'd like to take another moment to say thank you to each and every one of you. The response to Desert Treasure II and everything that's come with it has been overwhelming and we're beyond grateful for all of the kind words you've shared with us.
With all that said, we'd like to make a handful of changes this week to improve players' experiences with the quest itself, as well as cementing some of the hotfixes we've implemented since the quest's release. You might not see as many changes as you anticipate this week, since our focus is on quest improvements and bugfixes first and foremost. The remaining feedback changes will be coming in next week's game update, so you won't have too long to wait!
Ring of Shadows
Let's kick things off with something we know you'll appreciate! Have you ever fallen afoul of multiple axes simultaneously while fighting Vardorvis, prepared yourself for the walk of shame to re-gear, and only then realised that your Ring of shadows is stuck in your gravestone and you'll have to run from half the world away? Us neither, but it's happened to a friend of ours...
Today, you'll be able to Trade with the Mysterious bandit in the Ancient vault to purchase multiple Rings of shadows, for a mere 75,000 coins. Perhaps now you'll be able to leave the Witch's plant pots alone, she worked hard on those and your grubby hands are starting to disturb the soil.
Stamina-Boosts
All of the areas added alongside Desert Treasure II are pretty hefty, and will absolutely put your cardiovascular systems through their paces. While Stamina potions do exist, some players pointed out that it felt unusual to be provided with stamina-restoring items in Ghorrock prison and the Scar, but not in either of the remaining areas.
Anybody starting (or continuing) the quest this week should keep an eye out for shrines in the Stranglewood and rejuvenation pools around Lassar, which we've added to help you keep topped up while navigating these sections of the quest.
Ghorrock Prison
Many of you seem to have really enjoyed your prison break from this icy hellhole, while others have found yourself broken instead. Two puzzles in particular stand out as perhaps a little unclear for some of you, so we've updated a handful of the notes throughout this section of the quest in the hopes that the correct solutions feel more intuitive to any budding escape artists!
Additionally, we received reports that some of the locked gates throughout the prison were difficult to discern for players with various forms of colourblindness, so we've renamed the gates to reflect their associated gem key.
The Strangled
For those of you struggling to navigate your way through the Stranglewood (you're definitely just spam clicking the minimap, aren't you?), we've got a stinky addition to help you sneak past the hungry Stranglers.
A chest has been added to Kasonde's hideout in the Stranglewood. Within this chest you'll find some Stink bombs that can be taken from it. When set off, a Stink bomb will attract the nearest Strangled to the coordinate it was set off on, keeping them far enough away from you to make your great escape. Nice.
Awakened Boss World Firsts
It's been exhilarating watching you all take on the awakened forms of the Desert Treasure II bosses. For those of you who missed it, here are the first ten completions we saw since they were released on Friday, 28th July.
Good luck to all of you still chasing for the infamous Blood Torva!
Whilst we're on the topic of Blood Torva, we accidentally included the old models with last week's game update. This week, we've added the refined versions following your feedback. Check out the blood dripping look below!
Desert Treasure II - Drop Rates
Let's take a step back from the enigmatic and thrilling battles of Desert Treasure II, it's time to turn our attention to a burning issue that has been the talk of Gielinor - the hotly-debated drop rates. We've seen the speculation, and your fervour hasn't fallen on deaf ears.
In response, we're pulling back the curtain on the drop tables. It's time to dispel the rumours, clarify the odds, and equip you, our intrepid adventurers, with the knowledge you need to brave the challenges of this exciting new update.
Rates to hit the unique table before today's update:
Vardorvis - 1/180
Duke - 1/108
Leviathan - 1/120
Whisperer - 1/77
Note: the Awakened variants of these bosses have 3x the chance to hit the unique table.
Weightings:
Virtus 1/8
A separate 1/3 roll then determines which piece is awarded
Vestige roll 3/8
Rolling this will increment a variable by one, the third time this is hit, drop the vestige and reset the variable
Chromium Ingot 3/8
Axe Piece 1/8
Untradeable Unique rates
These drops get more common with your KC until you get it for the first time, then they are flat rate as per the below:
Teleport tablets - 1/25
Ancient Elemental Quartz - 1/200
Awakener's Orb rates:
Vardorvis - 1/80
Duke - 1/48
Leviathan - 1/53
Whisperer - 1/34
Clue rates
Equal chance to roll for any Easy/Medium/Hard/Elite clue
Trate is 1/40 for a specific clue mentioned above
Pet rates
Vardorvis - 1/3000
Duke - 1/2500
Leviathan - 1/2500
Whisperer - 1/2000
Drop table order
Roll for tradeable unique
If not, roll for Awakener's orb
If not, roll for untradeable uniques
If not, roll 1/5 for supply drop
If not, roll for resource drop
Additionally roll for clues & pets
Let's take a moment to dive into the drop rates for the Virtus set that's been catching everyone's eye. Finding that sweet spot between Ahrim's and Ancestral's price has been key, so the rarity of Virtus had to be dialed in just right. We made the decision to include Virtus as drops for all four separate bosses, encouraging you to grind all of them for their unique drops. You still have the option to focus on one boss if that's your thing, but we wanted to make sure that if you were going for each of the respective rings, you'd eventually get Virtus passively along the way
We did toy with the idea of having just one boss drop the whole Virtus set at a more common rate, which could have made target farming the set much easier. Implementing it this way could also prevent a potential crash in the set's value, as it wouldn't be coming into the game as quickly as it will when all four bosses are being farmed simultaneously by those hunting for their Vestige. Ultimately it all boils down to a delicate balance of rarity, demand, and the effort required to obtain them. We feel like the current implementation is the best option for the long-term grind, but understand why some of you may feel frustrated if you're exclusively seeking out Virtus.
As for general drop rates, we feel much more comfortable erring on the side of caution, especially for the initial few day. We'd much rather avoid a situation where too many uniques are entering the game vs not enough. It's much healthier for us to correct too few uniques entering the game vs too many.
With all this in mind, now that we have more information, we're changing the tradeable unique rates to be approximately 20-30% more common, depending on the boss (Vardorvis and Leviathan have received the biggest improvement). This means the following rates will now apply:
Vardorvis - 1/136
Duke - 1/90
Leviathan - 1/96
Whisperer - 1/64
Note: the Awakened variants of these bosses have 3x the chance to hit the unique table.
Keep in mind that we might fine-tune the drop rates even further down the line. Our goal is to ensure that the long-term value of items remains balanced, but we're also considering how these items fit into each player's progression journey, taking into account the time and difficulty of each encounter. So, stay tuned for any updates in the future as we continue to optimise your experience.
Other Changes
As Raiding dungeons can now contain banks, players protected by the Deadman Mode PvP protection are no longer permitted to enter them. You can speak to the Doomsayer to cancel your protection early.
Various spelling mistakes during Desert Treasure II dialogue have been resolved. Thankfully most of you spacebar spammed and didn't notice, but we fixed them anyway.
Improved pathing to Salt deposits within Duke Sucellus's room. You should now be able to click from the upper floor to a deposit with ease!
Vents within Duke Sucellus's room will now correctly despawn when the encounter ends.
Resolved an issue that could prevent the Duke Sucellus encounter from starting.
Female Sanguine Torva has the correct assets.
Both male & female sanguine torva has correct inv models & chatheads.
Torva has been replaced with reworked version shared in the Poll 80 newspost.
Players are no longer able to feed Abyssal leeches items with a "destroy'' option.
The leeches in the Persten wight fight will now always target the player.
Ketla and her clones were not doing the right amount of damage, this has been changed so they are closer to what we had intended.
The Amulet of the Eye will no longer be lost on death.
Damage should no longer carry over to Kasonde once the fight has ended.
Various minor balancing changes have been made to the quest versions of the Desert Treasure II bosses (the difficulty of these bosses should remain very close to how they were last week). Their respective combat levels have also been increased to better reflect their difficulty.
Some temple walls within the Stranglewood can no longer be walked through.
Awakener's orbs have been added to the Collection Log. As the orbs are tradeable, any gained before this update will not appear.
Boss slayer tasks for the four new bosses could be given before completing DT2. This is now fixed.
Slayer tasks no longer apply to the Awakened versions of the Desert Treasure II bosses.
Vardorvis has had some clickbox improvements.
It is no longer possible to safespot the Mysterious Stranger.
Wearing the Ring of Shadows will correctly show the hidden ghosts inside the Sepulchre.
Some scenic Braziers within the throne room of the Lassar Undercity have been removed.
Progress while in a Scar maze will now save, so if you need to leave and return, you don't need to redo already completed challenges.
Boss information has now been added to the Combat Achievements interface, alongside Monster Examine being enabled.
PvP World Rota
The PvP rota has moved to Period A:
539 - (US) - PvP World
318 - (UK) - Bounty Hunter world
548 - (Germany) - High-Risk PvP World
577 - (US) - Free-to-Play PvP World
559 - (UK) - LMS Competitive
World 390 (AUS) for LMS Competitive has been activated with this rota.
World 569(AUS) for Bounty Hunter has been activated with this rota.
Desert Treasure II – The Fallen Empire | July 26th
After months of anticipation, Old School's most ambitious quest to date is finally here. Get ready for Desert Treasure II – The Fallen Empire!
Desert Treasure II – The Fallen Empire
We’ve already covered a lot of this information in our recent ‘Get Ready for Desert Treasure II’ newspost, but we’ll repeat it here so that everyone has a chance to see it before they play the quest.
This week sees the launch of Old School RuneScape’s biggest (and hopefully best) quest to date. Before you head to the desert to get started, there are a few things we’d like you to know.
Firstly, we have an ominous warning. If you are a Hardcore or Group Hardcore Ironman, we strongly advise that you play through the queston a non-Hardcore account first. We’re not just building hype here: Desert Treasure II is a dangerous quest. Everything from the bosses we’ve spoken so much about to the environment itself can and will kill you.
Consider this your last warning. We expect Death’s Office to be full to bursting by the end of the day…
Secondly, we aren’t kidding when we say this quest is our biggest yet. Desert Treasure II will take you on an epic journey across Gielinor, from familiar locales to places you’ve never seen before. You’ll fight four tough bosses – Duke Sucellus, Vardorvis, the Leviathan and the Whisperer – and encounter plenty of other challenges along the way. You’ll run into familiar faces, and be introduced to new characters with their own stories, secrets and motivations.
In short, if you were planning to spacebar through the whole thing in two hours, we’re afraid you might have to adjust your schedule. You can of course play through the quest exactly as you want (yes, even you cheeky spacebarrers), but for those happy to go at a slower pace, we'd highly recommend you take your time and really savour our most ambitious quest to date. It’s absolutely dripping with lore, answers to unanswered questions, and ties to loose ends.
There’s so much to explore, and plenty of secrets tucked away for our most eagle-eyed players to find. The music and audio is some of the best we’ve ever heard from the Audio Team, so you’ll want to turn your volume up too. Basically, this is Old School storytelling at its very best, and we’re thrilled beyond words for you to finally experience it.
Don’t believe us? Hear it from Mod Ed himself:
"When you think about RuneScape's most iconic quests, there's a pretty good chance the Mahjarrat story will be one of the first to come to mind. While Guthix Sleeps, Ritual of the Mahjarrat, and indeed, Desert Treasure, are regularly considered some of the finest quests ever made. Now, all these years later, we're finally revisiting those epic stories with our own take on the legendary Mahjarrat.
Earlier this year, we made our first foray into the Mahjarrat storyline with Secrets of the North, but that was nothing compared to the might of this next instalment. This is a story we've been wanting to tell for years, and it's only through your tremendous support for our past storytelling efforts that we're now finally able to do so. We've made sure to honour the deep legacy of the Mahjarrat storyline, whilst also pushing the boundaries for storytelling in Old School like never before. Whatever you might be expecting, you're probably not ready for this. This is the one where everything changes. So, from myself and the rest of the team, it's an honour to be able to finally share Desert Treasure II – The Fallen Empire with you."
Mod Ed
If you'd like to hear more from the team, and even a couple of playtesters, check out our recent Dev Diary!
If you can’t see the video above, click here to watch it!
As a heads-up from us, we want as many people as possible to be able to experience Desert Treasure II spoiler-free. Of course, you're welcome to seek out discussion from other players if you'd like, but we won't be posting or sharing anything that divulges information about the quest until next week.
We'll still be keeping an eye on all of your feedback and fixing any bugs or making small tweaks for QoL purposes during the first week as per usual. However, unless something is clearly miles away from our expectations (and our own experiences testing the bosses), we don't plan on making any balancing changes until at least the second week following the release.
The bosses are supposed to be challenging. We want to give you time to learn their mechanics, put together gear setups and get familiar with the bosses so that overcoming them feels like an accomplishment, rather than knee-jerk any changes and deprive players the feeling of a hard-fought victory.
Now for every spacebar warrior's worst enemy...
Backstory
During Gielinor's Second Age, the world was dominated by an empire the likes of which had never been seen. The areas now known as Asgarnia, Misthalin and even the Wilderness all once flourished under the banner of the Empty Lord. With the grand city of Senntisten at its heart, this civilisation washed over Gielinor like an unstoppable tide, pushing the boundaries of magic and science, while crushing any who stood in their way.
Fast forward to today, the Fifth Age, and you won't find much trace of this ancient empire. Indeed, Saradominists and Zamorakians alike have spent many lifetimes purging all remnants of it. However, small fragments of this fallen empire remain, for those who know where to look.
Perhaps you’ve already encountered some of these remains. Maybe you’ve met the monstrous Nex, sealed behind the Frozen Door for millennia. Or perhaps you’ve visited the bandits of the Kharidian Desert, the final human followers of the Empty Lord. You might even have encountered some mysterious Mahjarrat hidden away beneath those same sands. However, there are other parts of this forgotten empire that even you won’t have encountered yet. For example, this story begins deep in the desert, within a mysterious vault…
(If you're looking for even more backstory, check out this video made by PoisonedPotion to get you up to speed!)
Requirements
You’ll need to brush up on your Mahjarrat knowledge before you start Desert Treasure II, so you’ll need to complete the following quests:
Desert Treasure I
Secrets of the North
Enakhra's Lament
Temple of the Eye
The Garden of Death
Below Ice Mountain
His Faithful Servants
You'll also need to be sufficiently experienced in a number of skills to stand any chance at gaining access to the contents of the ancient vault:
75 Firemaking
75 Magic
70 Thieving
62 Herblore
60 Runecraft
60 Construction
As a reminder, none of these requirements are boostable. We hope you enjoy having the cold of the Wintertodt seep into your bones!
To start the quest, get yourself over to the Ancient Vault, which can be found north-east of Nardah, south of the Ruins of Uzer.
If you need a visual, here's where you can start the quest!
Rewards
At this point you should be familiar with these, but just in case, let’s have one more look at the quest rewards!
Ring of Shadows
The Ring of Shadows serves as a one-stop-shop for various unlockable boss teleports and some offensive stats for players who are being particularly cautious with their GP.
Since the ring is untradeable, you'll be able to reobtain it for a fee if you ever misplace it, whether that's through sheer forgetfulness or an untimely PvP death.
The rest of the rewards in this section will come from the bosses unlocked upon quest completion. Starting with...
Four New Rings
The Fremennik Rings have remained the best style-specific rings since the ancient era of 2005. Duke Sucellus, Vardorvis, the Leviathan and the Whisperer will each drop upgrade components used to create the powerful new Bellator, Magus, Ultor and Venator rings, which should shake up this age-old meta.
The completed Rings are all tradeable, but require completion of Desert Treasure II - The Fallen Empire to equip.
The bosses will also drop untradeable Vestiges, specific to each boss. To make these tradeable, you'll have to do a spot of handicrafts – to do so, you’ll need 90 Magic and 80 Crafting (both boostable). We'll give you a quick breakdown of how this works, should you be lucky enough to snag a Vestige on release day!
Each boss drops a specific, untradeable vestige. Depending on the boss you're killing, this will be a Bellator, Magus, Ultor or Venator Vestige.
Each boss drops tradeable bars. These are non-specific - all of the bosses can drop the exact same bars, or you can buy them from other players.
Fremennik Rings can be broken down to provide their respective Icon. You'll want the Icon that corresponds to the Ring you're trying to make:
Warrior Icon for Bellator Ring
Seers’ Icon for Magus Ring
Berserker Icon for Ultor Ring
Archers’ Icon for Venator Ring
Combine your Vestige, three bars, and your Fremennik Icon to create your brand-new Ring!
Of course, crafting like this hasn't occurred on Gielinor for a very long time. Perhaps it might be worth seeking out a particularly knowledgable Fremennik to learn a little more about these rings before getting started?
Now, what are the Mahjarrat without a spot of Ancient Magicks? You guys have Ancients, right?
Virtus Robes
Virtus Robes are making a return, offering massive increases to Ancient Magicks damage while serving as a middle-ground between Ahrim's Robes and Ancestral when using Standard spells or powered staves.
Each piece of the Virtus Robes set is tradeable and does not require completion of Desert Treasure II - The Fallen Empire to equip.
Each of the bosses has a chance to drop a piece, so if you wind up enjoying one of them more than the other three, you'll be able to farm it to your heart's content while hunting the full set!
Maybe Magic isn't your thing? Perhaps you prefer the simplicity of hitting things with a really big axe? Boy, do we have news for you…
Soulreaper Axe
The Soulreaper Axe is a hefty 2-handed weapon that’ll really give you the edge in combat… for a price.
Before we get much deeper into the details though, we'd love to shoutout Deztroyer, who has already made a massive version of the Soulreaper axe in the real world! Check it out here.
Attacks with the Soulreaper Axe will damage you for 8 Hitpoints and grant you a 'Mighty Stack'. Each Mighty Stack gives you a +6% Strength level boost (additive with bonuses from Prayers) and stacks up to five times, for a total of 40 Hitpoints lost and a +30% Strength boost. Once you're fully stacked, you'll stop taking extra damage and be free to slap your foes silly with one of the scariest Slash weapons in Gielinor.
Alternatively, if you're looking for a quick extra heal, you can use the Soulreaper Axe's special attack Behead. Behead consumes any Mighty Stacks you have, and for each stack consumed you’ll increase your accuracy by 6% and heal for 8 Hitpoints – coincidentally the same number of Hitpoints you exchange for a Mighty Stack! The best part is, you’ll get your healing even if the attack itself misses. Any Mighty Stacks that you have will be lost if you switch weapons, or if you go 10 ticks (6 seconds) without attacking.
The Axe is made up of four untradeable components (one from each boss) but can be traded to other players in its completed form. You'll need to have completed Desert Treasure II to equip it.
While 'hit things with big axe' has been a fun diversion, we're heading back to the arcane arts to wrap up our rewards section!
Ancient Sceptre Upgrades
Remember that Ancient Icon you went dry on for ages before upgrading it into an Ancient Sceptre? It's time to imbue that Sceptre with the power of the Ancient elements themselves…
Each of the post-quest bosses will drop an untradeable Sigil that coincides with their Ancient element: blood, ice, shadow and smoke. These Sigils can be combined with an Ancient Sceptre to create the Blood/Ice/Shadow/Smoke Ancient Sceptre.
These upgrades retain the +5% magic damage and +10% to Ancient Magicks effects, but will imbue the Sceptre with new effects depending on the element:
Blood Ancient Sceptre: Blood magic can now overheal you by 10% of your Hitpoints.
Ice Ancient Sceptre: Ice magic gains 10% accuracy on unfrozen, freezable targets.
Shadow Ancient Sceptre: Shadow spells also drain Strength and Defence in addition to the target's Attack level.
Smoke Ancient Sceptre: Smoke spells reduced healing received by 20% for 10 cycles on hit if the target is poisoned.
Upgraded Ancient Sceptres have an increased Magic requirement compared to their predecessor, requiring 75 Magic as well as the usual 60 Strength and 50 Attack to equip.
Alongside these, we'll be tweaking the Ancient sceptre and its upgraded variants to behave similarly to other untradeables on death in PvP, and attaching a repair cost to boot.
But wait, there's more…
Awakened Bosses
Over the last week, you've been voting on whether or not you'd like to see harder, aspirational, Awakened variants of the post-quest bosses enter the game. That poll closed earlier this week, and we’re beyond excited to say that we will be developing these Awakened variants.
This means that in a few weeks (exact date TBD), you'll be able to challenge an Awakened version of each of the four post-quest bosses. To access them, you'll need to consume an Awakener's Orb. These are tradeable 'keys' of sorts and can be obtained as a drop from the regular bosses.
Although the Awakened bosses themselves won’t be available at launch, you'll be able to start receiving Orbs from today, giving you the chance to stock up while you prepare yourself for the challenge ahead.
Following their release, defeating the Awakened variant of all four bosses will reward you with the much-requested Blood Torva kit, in the form of an item you can use on all of your Torva pieces.
Here's a lovely turnaround showing off the new Blood Torva from all angles!
We have a bunch of ideas for these encounters, but we'll be keeping quiet until we get them out in front of you. In the meantime, good luck, have fun, and enjoy pondering your Orbs!
Wrapping Up
We've had a fantastic time working on and realising our newest Grandmaster quest, and we hope you're excited to experience all of the passion and work that's been poured in to Desert Treasure II - The Fallen Empire.
All that remains is to wish you all good luck. After all, you’ll need it…
Other Changes
Given the sheer size of Desert Treasure II, we only have a small handful of other changes for you this week:
In case you missed it, you're now able to re-order your characters on the Jagex Launcher if you're using a Jagex Account. Nice!
Players no longer need to enter their bank PIN after hopping worlds, assuming they have the relevant setting toggled. For players on the C++ client, you will be required to re-enter your PIN if you close and re-open the client, and we're working on a fix for this.
Your hairstyle will no longer lose volume if you died wearing certain headgear.
Leaves pruned off Farming patches are now tracked in the Loot tracker on the C++ client.
We've recently added our New Official Client to the Jagex Launcher! Check out this post for more information!
Players are no longer able to use kept-on-death Keys to drop items that are not usually dropped on death (such as Ironman Armour) into Gravestones.
PvP World Rota
This week marks the first week that we're including Bounty Hunter as part of the PvP World rota. If you have any feedback about the rota going forward, let us know and you'll look to make changes or tweaks where necessary!
The PvP rota has moved to Period B:
560 - (UK) - PvP World
319 - (US) - Bounty Hunter world
579 - (US) - High-Risk PvP World
561 - (UK) - Free-to-Play PvP World
580 - (US) - LMS Competitive
World 390 (AUS) for LMS Competitive has been de-activated with this rota.
World 569 (AUS) for Bounty Hunter has been activated with this rota.
The PvP Arena is using 'Zerker' loadouts in Ranked Duels and Tournaments this week.
We’ve made further changes to Forestry Part One before suspending operations for a week to launch Desert Treasure II!
Changelog July 12th
[expand="more" type="show"]
No Update Next Week
There will be no Game Update next week as we’re all busy preparing for the launch of Desert Treasure II.
Forestry: Part One Changes
Box Traps, Fires and Flowers will now be removed from any tile part of a Forestry event spawns at.
In a similar vein, Dwarven Multicannons on Forestry Event tiles will autodecay. You can reclaim your cannon from Nulodion.
For players with a Bee on a Stick, we've significantly increased the amount of Bark received at the end of the Flowering Tree event and have increased the amount you receive for each action.
The bushes in the Flowering Tree event now come in different colours. Names have been changed to include the colours to help colourblind players enjoy the event.
The Flowering Tree event will now scale on the number of people with a Bee on a Stick cutting a tree rather than just the number of people cutting a tree.
The Magic Root now changes position more frequently during the Rising Roots event.
Ultimate Iron Players may now deposit logs with the Friendly Forester. This is a one-way transaction, and you will not be able to get these logs back.
Ultimate Iron Players may no longer sell items back to the Forestry Shop.
Random events no longer spawn in range of Forestry events.
The Collection Log for Forestry now includes the Lumberjack Outfit.
The Collection Log is now in alphabetical order once more.
The description of the Funky-Shaped Log is now more readable.
Jagex Accounts
Jagex Accounts characters will receive an additional 20 Bank Slots!
Other Changes
Giant Seaweed now has a different Inventory icon and model.
(STEAM/MOBILE ONLY) Players may now set the maximum number of items shown on their Ground Items list from the Settings menu.
(STEAM/MOBILE ONLY) Players may now right-click a source in the Loot Tracker to ignore it.
PvP Rota
The PvP rota has moved to Period B:
560 - (UK) - PvP World
579 - (US) - High-Risk PvP World
561 - (UK) - Free-to-Play PvP World
580 - (US) - LMS Competitive
World 390 (AUS) for LMS Competitive has been de-activated with this rota.
The PvP Arena is using '1 Def Pure' loadouts in Ranked Duels and Tournaments this week.
[/expand] As we’re busy preparing for the launch of Desert Treasure II on July 26th, there will be no Game Update next week. Check the new Desert Treasure II - Living Newspost to get ready for the epic continuation of the Mahjarrat Storyline!
Forestry: Part One
We’re back with more changes to Forestry!
First up, we’re making Forestry Events less cluttered. Box Traps, Fires and Flowers will now automatically be removed if they’re on a tile where Forestry Events could spawn. In addition, Dwarven Multicannons will auto-decay when placed on tiles occupied by Forestry Events. You can claim a new cannon from Nulodion.
Random events will also no longer spawn in range of Forestry events – sorry, sandwich lovers!
We’ve also made a few changes to Forestry events themselves, starting with Flowering Tree. As of today’s update, bushes that spawn during this event will come in a variety of different colours to make matching them easier. Don’t worry – their flashy new colours have been incorporated into the names of the bushes, so colourblind players need only right-click to see which bush is which.
Alongside making the visual changes, players that have a Bee on a Stick consumed when a Flowering Tree event spawns will receive significantly more bark for their final reward and more bark per action. We've also made scaling work so that the difficulty scales based on the number of people with a Bee on a Stick cutting the tree rather than how many people are cutting the tree. As always, we will continue to monitor this event and discuss any major feedback concerns.
We’ve also made the Magic Root from Rising Roots change position more frequently, making the event a bit more interactive to justify its high XP rates.
Now, over to the Forestry Shop, where Ultimate Iron players may now deposit logs via the Friendly Forester. Be warned though that this is a one-way transaction – you can’t get those logs back! We’ve also disabled sell-back options for Ultimate Iron players in this specific shop.
Unfortunately, due to time constraints, we’re unable to rollout this change to all players.
Also in the Forestry Shop, we’ve changed the description for the Funky-Shaped Log to make it more readable.
Lastly, we’ve made some improvements to the Collection Log, which now lists Forestry in the usual alphabetical order, and includes the Lumberjack Outfit in the Forestry section.
These are all the changes we have for Forestry at present, although we’ll be keeping an eye out to make sure everything is going smoothly. Roll on Part Two!
Jagex Accounts
This week brings another great reason to upgrade to a Jagex Account, in the form of 20 new Bank slots for Jagex Account characters!
Those of you who haven’t added an authenticator yet will actually get a whopping 40 Bank slots when you upgrade – after all, the Jagex Account already has a built-in authenticator, so you’re killing two birds with one stone!
Upgrading is simple and gets you safe, secure access to all your Old School RuneScape characters from one simple login. What are you waiting for? Go check it out!
Other Changes
Giant Seaweed now has a different Inventory icon and model.
(STEAM/MOBILE ONLY) Players may now set the maximum number of items shown on their Ground Items list from the Settings menu.
(STEAM/MOBILE ONLY) Players may now right-click a source in the Loot Tracker to ignore it.
PvP World Rota
The PvP rota has moved to Period B:
560 - (UK) - PvP World
579 - (US) - High-Risk PvP World
561 - (UK) - Free-to-Play PvP World
580 - (US) - LMS Competitive
World 390 (AUS) for LMS Competitive has been de-activated with this rota.
The PvP Arena is using '1 Def Pure' loadouts in Ranked Duels and Tournaments this week. You can also discuss this update on our official forums, on the 2007Scape subreddit, the Steam forums, or the community-led OSRS Discord in the #gameupdate channel. For more info on the above content, check out the official Old School Wiki.
Foresters will be glad to hear that this week’s update contains a bunch of Forestry Feedback Changes!
Changelog - July 5th
[expand type="showmore"] Forestry: Part One Feedback Changes
All players participating in Forestry events will now receive the final XP drop and other rewards.
Forestry items have been added to the collection log! All untradeable items will unlock automatically in your log if you have already purchased them. Otherwise, purchase any of the items directly from the forestry shop to unlock them!
Last week we introduced a number of hotfixes designed to fix crashing issues.
The Forestry Kit can now be obtained for free from the Forestry Shop.
As of today’s update only the Funky-Shaped Log and the Log Basket can be sold back to the Forestry Shop.
Struggling Sapling:
Reduced the overall experience per event by 30%, putting it closer to the XP gained from Rising Roots.
Final XP drop now scales based on how long the player was participating in the event.
The 100% Mulch combination now gives roughly 2x the XP of the 70% Mulch combination.
Leprechaun:
The Leprechaun will now deposit Teak, Mahogany and Arctic Pine Logs.
This event will no longer interrupt activities like Fletching when it spawns.
Rising Roots:
We fixed an issue where this event was spawning even if players chopping did not have a Forestry Kit.
Fixed an issue where some trolls on the Fremennik Isles weren’t dropping Noted Arctic Pine Logs.
The ice trolls in the caves, which only drop Bones, have been renamed Frenzied Ice Trolls to avoid confusion.
Added the Forestry Kit to the Woodcutting Skill Guide.
Updated the messaging displayed when players do not have the required resources to craft Forestry items.
We've added some new themed worlds:
World 312 (DE) - Group Skilling
World 313 (US West) - Group Skilling
World 388 (AUS) - Forestry
World 398 (DE) - Forestry
World 434 (US) - F2P Forestry
Other Changes
Players who die in Bounty Hunter will no longer be assigned new targets for a minute, so that they have more time to retrieve dropped items.
Players are no longer prevented from moving when making an unsuccessful log out or world hop request.
Fixed an issue where some Teleport Crystal ops appeared in Free-to-Play.
The Wise Old Man and friends will now check your Inventory for free space before handing out rewards.
(STEAM/MOBILE ONLY) Clue Scrolls obtained from the same location now stack in the Loot Tracker.
(STEAM/MOBILE ONLY) Seed Packs are now correctly tracked by the Loot Tracker.
(STEAM/MOBILE ONLY) NPCs without drops have been removed from the Loot Tracker.
(STEAM/MOBILE ONLY) Wintertodt is now spelled correctly in the Loot Tracker. Apologies to WinterToad fans!
PvP Rota
The PvP rota has moved to Period A:
539 - (US) - PvP World
548 - (Germany) - High-Risk PvP World
577 - (US) - Free-to-Play PvP World
559 - (UK) - LMS Competitive
World 390 (AUS) for LMS Competitive has been activated with this rota.
The PvP Arena is using 'Zerker' loadouts in Ranked Duels and Tournaments this week. [/expand]
Forestry: Part One Feedback Changes
It’s been one week since Forestry: Part One launched, and you know what that means – feedback changes!
As always, our previous newspost has a breakdown of your feedback and what steps we’re taking to address it. For now, though, let’s see this week’s changes!
First up: all players participating in events will now receive the final experience drop and other rewards from completing the event. We’ve also implemented a bunch of hotfixes which should fix the crashing issues some players were experiencing.
Next, some changes to the Forestry Shop. Our newspost editor has been vindicated at last, as the Forestry Kit is now 100% free! We’ve also made adjustments to the items that can be sold back to the shop in exchange for various bits and bobs – to keep things fair, only the Funky-Shaped Log and Log Basket can be returned.
We also heard all of you Collection Loggers out there about wanting one for Forestry! Forestry items have been added and all untradeable items will unlock automatically in your log if you have already purchased them. Otherwise, purchase any of the items directly from the forestry shop to unlock them!
We’ve also made several changes to two of the events.
We fixed an issue where the Rising Roots would spawn even if players did not have a Forestry Kit on them.
The overall XP gained from the Struggling Sapling event has been reduced by 30%, which puts it closer to the XP gained during the Rising Roots event. The exact amount of XP received now scales with the amount of time players participate in the event, and the 100% Mulch combination now gives approximately 2x the XP of its 70% counterpart. Make sure you have the right combo!
The Woodcutting Leprechaun will now take Teak, Mahogany and Arctic Pine Logs to your Bank. We’ve also ensured that his sudden, magical appearance will no longer startle players out of actions like Fletching.
We’re continuing to monitor events to make sure they’re in the best place possible. Whilst we were here, we've added some extra themed worlds!
World 312 (DE) - Group Skilling
World 313 (US West) - Group Skilling
World 388 (AUS) - Forestry
World 398 (DE) - Forestry
World 434 (US) - F2P Forestry
Lastly, some smaller changes:
Fixed an issue where some trolls on the Fremennik Isles weren’t dropping Noted Arctic Pine Logs.
The ice trolls in the caves, which only drop Bones, have been renamed Frenzied Ice Trolls to avoid confusion.
Added the Forestry Kit to the Woodcutting Skill Guide.
Updated the messaging displayed when players do not have the required resources to craft Forestry items.
You can look forward to more feedback changes in next week’s game update. Don’t forget, we hope to begin Community Consultation for Forestry: Part Two very soon!
If you missed the previous Discord Stages call, then don't worry, we've uploaded onto YouTube for you benefit, so watch Mod Sarnie & Squid discuss your feedback!
Other Changes
Players who die in Bounty Hunter will no longer be assigned new targets for a minute, so that they have more time to retrieve dropped items.
Players are no longer prevented from moving when making an unsuccessful log out or world hop request.
Fixed an issue where some Teleport Crystal ops appeared in Free-to-Play.
The Wise Old Man and friends will now check your Inventory for free space before handing out rewards.
(STEAM/MOBILE ONLY) Clue Scrolls obtained from the same location now stack in the Loot Tracker.
(STEAM/MOBILE ONLY) Seed Packs are now correctly tracked by the Loot Tracker.
(STEAM/MOBILE ONLY) NPCs without drops have been removed from the Loot Tracker.
(STEAM/MOBILE ONLY) Wintertodt is now spelled correctly in the Loot Tracker. Apologies to WinterToad fans!
PvP World Rota
The PvP rota has moved to Period A:
539 - (US) - PvP World
548 - (Germany) - High-Risk PvP World
577 - (US) - Free-to-Play PvP World
559 - (UK) - LMS Competitive
World 390 (AUS) for LMS Competitive has been activated with this rota.
The PvP Arena is using 'Zerker' loadouts in Ranked Duels and Tournaments this week.
Forestry: The Way of the Forester - Part One | June 28th
This week we’re logging the hours with part one of our Forestry update! There will be approximately 30 minutes of downtime before the update launches, as we perform essential maintenance. This means the game will be back online at 12:00pm BST.
Changelog - June 28th
[expand type="showmore"] Forestry: Way of the Forester - Part One
Trees will now despawn on a timer that activates after the first cut and regenerates if players stop cutting the tree.
Multiple players chopping the same tree will now receive an invisible Woodcutting bonus which scales with the number of players, up to a maximum of 10.
Forestry Kits are now available.
Four different Forestry events will now appear.
The Friendly Forester’s Forestry Shop is now open for business.
Other Changes
The Pride event is over!
Players can claim Pride-themed goodies from Gilbert, southeast of Barbarian Village.
Players will now see a visible difference when the Escape Crystal is active or deactivated.
Added a parenthesis to further clarify the difference.
The Escape Crystal’s auto-teleport can now be toggled with a right-click option.
Apprentice Cordelia now has a right-click option for more convenient Pouch repairs.
A Chisel now spawns near the cell table in Guardians of the Rift.
Narrative Survey
Whether you’re a verified lorehound or a serial spacebar smasher, take part in our Narrative Survey!
PvP Rota
The PvP rota has moved to Period B:
560 - (UK) - PvP World
579 - (US) - High-Risk PvP World
561 - (UK) - Free-to-Play PvP World
580 - (US) - LMS Competitive
World 390 (AUS) for LMS Competitive has been de-activated with this rota.
The PvP Arena is using 'Main' loadouts in Ranked Duels and Tournaments this week. [/expand]
Forestry: Part One
Grab your plaid shirts and venture into the great outdoors with the first part of our much-anticipated Woodcutting expansion!
We've setup three activity worlds that will help you find some fellow Foresters:
World 444 (US West)
World 487 (US East)
World 510 (UK)
New Tree Mechanics
To help support group play and reduce competition, trees will now despawn on a timer that activates after the first cut and regenerates if players stop cutting the tree before it’s fully chopped.
The length of the despawn timer is based on the average time each type of tree currently lasts:
Oak: 27s
Willow: 30s
Teak: 30s
Maple: 1m
Hollow Trees: 36s
Mahogany: 1m
Arctic Pine: 1m 24s
Yew: 1m 54s
Magic: 3m 54s
Redwood: 4m 24s
In addition, chopping the same tree with other players will give you an invisible +1 Woodcutting bonus for each person at the tree, up to a maximum of +10 for 10 players.
As a reminder, you won’t receive this bonus while cutting normal trees, or within the Woodcutting Guild.
And remember, this part of the update is available for both Free-to-Play players and Old School RuneScape members!
The Friendly Forester and Forestry Kit
The famous pheasant-hunting Friendly Forester is your main man when it comes to Forestry. He’s set up camp in Draynor and Seers’ Village, where you’ll be able to visit him for handy tips, access to the Forestry Shop and your free Forestry Kit.
This new wearable item lets you store a variety of new tools and materials which let you interact with Gielinor’s forests in whole new ways. You can craft new additions to your Kit using existing materials combined with items from the Forestry Shop.
To buy them, you’ll need an untradeable currency only found in Forestry: Anima-Infused Bark. You’ll naturally earn this while participating in Forestry Events – if you have a Forestry Kit with you, it’ll be conveniently stored in there!
While chopping, you’ll also collect leaves, which can also be stored in your Kit.
All the items and components to upgrade your Forestry Kit are tradeable, including leaves!
Here’s what else you can find inside your Forestry Kit:
Leprechaun Charm
These charms attract the attention of friendly Leprechauns. When someone in your group successfully chops a tree, having this charm in your Forestry Kit means there’s a chance a Leprechaun will appear and offer his services!
You can create the Charm with 70 Crafting, 70 Woodcutting and 35 Farming. Buy a Clover Insignia at the Forestry Shop and combine it with an Emerald and a Ball of Wool to create 10 Leprechaun Charms.
Bee on a Stick
These buzzy buddies help pollinate plants. While chopping trees, they have a chance to detect strange bushes that are ready to pollinate and will assist in you doing so!
You can create this with 50 Hunter and 35 Woodcutting. Buy some Powdered Pollen at the Forestry Shop and combine that with a Ball of Wool and some Logs while near a Bee Hive to create 10 Bees on a Stick.
Nature Offerings
Nature Offerings give you a 60-80% chance to receive an additional log while chopping trees. The Offering will be used whether you receive the extra log or not.
You can create this with 50 Farming and 68 Woodcutting. Buy some Ritual Mulch at the Forestry Shop and combine that with one high-tier herb (Avantoe, Kwuarm, Snapdragon, Cadantine, Lantadyme, Dwarf Weed or Torstol) to create 40 Nature Offerings.
Forester's Ration
The go-to snack for Woodcutting enthusiasts, these tasty treats have a 30% chance to restore 20 points of Run Energy when chopping trees with a 1-Handed Axe.
You can make your very own once you've got 35 Cooking and 35 Woodcutting. Simply combine Leaves of any type with a slice of Cooked Meat!
Secateurs Attachment
Want to rake in the Leaves? These handy clippers get you more Leaves when chopping trees – roughly doubling the amount you’ll receive!
Once you've got 35 Smithing and 35 Woodcutting, buy a Secateurs Blade from the Forester and combine it with an Iron Bar to create 50 Secateurs Attachments.
To reiterate, all the Kit upgrades are tradeable and stackable – so you can buy them on the Grand Exchange or trade them with your fellow players!
Events
Please note: Hollow Trees and Redwood Trees do not spawn events!
Forestry brings Gielinor to life with new and exciting events – and four of them arrive today!
These special events can occur any time someone’s cutting a tree with a Forestry Kit somewhere on their person, and there are no other events happening in a 20-tile radius. We estimate that players will see 4-5 events per hour when chopping solo, but a group of 10 players should expect around 7-9 events per hour.
We’ve also balanced events across tree tiers. Oak Trees, with a shorter timer, naturally have a lower chance to spawn events – so to make up for it, they’ll get more rolls on the table. The higher-end trees, like Magic, work the opposite way!
When a tree is first chopped, the game rolls on the Events Table. If the event is set to happen during chopping, the event picks a random point during the tree’s lifecycle to spawn. Otherwise, the event is rolled and executed when the tree falls.
You’ll need a Forestry Kit to spawn an event – although some events have further requirements. Events check every player at the tree for the required item, so as long as someone has it, the event will spawn. If you’re one of the players with the necessary item, you’ll lose it when the event spawns, but you’ll gain bonus rewards and XP from the event as compensation.
So, what events can you take part in?
Rising Roots
Look out! These gnarly roots are trying to protect their woody brethren. Cut them down for some XP and Anima-Infused Bark – and make sure to keep an eye out for the glowing ones!
Flowering Tree
Help the bees find the right two flowers to pollinate! You’ll need a Bee on a Stick for this event to appear, but you’ll be rewarded with XP, Anima-Infused Bark, and some seeds or tasty treats!
Struggling Sapling
Help the poor sapling grow big and strong! Create the right combination of Mulch to feed to the baby tree before it withers away. Get some XP and Anima-Infused Bark in return!
Leprechaun
If you have a Leprechaun Charm, you may attract a friendly Leprechaun who’ll take your Woodcutting resources straight to the Bank. What a helpful chap!
Remember, all events scale in experience and difficulty depending on the number of players present. This means you’ll be well-rewarded for your efforts, even when playing in a group!
Forestry Shop
We’ve already covered the Forestry Kit upgrades you can purchase from the Forestry Shop, but what else is on offer? If you’ve got the Anima-Infused Bark to spare, you can spend it on the following goodies…
Log Basket
This handy lil' basket works much like the Fish Barrel - when open, it can store up to 28 logs of various types. You've got easy 'fill' and 'check' options to make managing your Inventory a breeze!
You can grab this handy upgrade for 5,000 Anima-infused bark, 300 Willow Logs (noted) and 300 Magic Logs (noted).
Log Brace
Don't want to take up additional space in your Inventory with the Log Basket? Simply grab The Log Brace and combine it with the Forestry Kit and Log Basket to create a wearable version with the best bits of both items!
Brace yourself to spend 3,000 Anima-Infused Bark, 300 Maple Logs (noted) and 300 Yew Logs (noted). In order to make the all-in-one Forestry Kit you'll also need 75 Smithing and 75 Woodcutting along with 45 Nails, 2 Ropes and 3 Adamantite Bars!
Lumberjack Outfit
Is Temple Trekking too spooky for you? Fear not (literally!) – you can now buy each part of the Lumberjack Outfit with Anima-Infused Bark. The full set grants you a total of 2.5% more Woodcutting XP, so it’s well worth picking up!
Here's what you'll need to acquire the set:
Lumberjack Hat: 1,200 Anima-Infused Bark, 200 Yew Logs (noted) and 100 Magic Logs (noted)
Lumberjack Top: 1,500 Anima-Infused Bark, 60 Yew Logs (noted), 120 Magic Logs (noted) and 120 Redwood Logs (noted)
Lumberjack Legs: 1,300 Anima-Infused Bark, 160 Yew Logs (noted) and 140 Magic Logs (noted)
Lumberjack Boots: 1,000 Anima-Infused Bark, 200 Yew Logs (noted)
Forestry Outfit
Looking for a more stylish option? Whet your sartorial appetite with this Forestry-themed cosmetic override that will make you feel one with the forests of Gielinor!
Each piece costs 1,250 Anima-Infused Bark, the appropriate Lumberjack Outfit piece, and 60 of the following logs (noted): Oak, Willow, Teak, Maple, Mahogany, Arctic Pine, Yew, Magic and Redwood.
Clothes Pouch
If you’re really attached to your current FashionScape, we have just the product for you! The Clothes Pouch will let you gain all the benefits of the Lumberjack Outfit while wearing whatever outfit you like.
Do note though that other set bonuses will override whatever’s in your Clothes Pouch. If you’re wearing a Graceful Top, the benefit of the Lumberjack Top in your Clothes Pouch will be ignored, and so on.
You can grab this item for 10,000 Anima-Infused bark, 300 Willow Logs (noted) and 300 Maple Logs (noted). You’ll then have to craft it using Thread, Leather, 50 Crafting and 50 Woodcutting.
Funky-Shaped Log
This Log’s too funny looking for Forestry purposes – but feed it to your Beaver pet, and it’ll change colour! Don’t worry, we’re pretty sure this is safe.
The Funky-Shaped Log is a one-time unlock, but once your pet has gobbled it up you’ll be able to change their colour any time you like.
This gnaw-ly item can be yours for 15,000 Anima-Infused Bark and 500 of the following logs (noted): Oak, Willow, Teak, Maple, Mahogany, Arctic Pine, Yew, Magic and Redwood.
You may be wondering what’s happened to that 2-Handed Axes we were talking about. We’ve made the decision to move this reward to the second part of the update so we can correctly address your feedback regarding this hefty new reward.
On that topic…
Forestry: Part Two
Forestry: Part Two is coming in September!
For those of you who missed it, we made the decision to split Forestry into two parts, so that everything in this massive update gets the attention it needs.
This means we’re heading straight into Community Consultation for the second half of Forestry! We’ll be discussing:
Leaves and Tertiary Effects
Campfires and Bonfires
Tea Brewing
New Events
New Rewards (including the 2-Handed Axe)
Balancing and Feedback Changes
Here’s the schedule so far:
Discord Stages Call - Feedback and Part Two: Friday, June 30th - 5pm BST
Foresty: Part Two - Community Consultation Newspost: Friday, July 7th
Discord Stages Call - Part Two Discussion: Friday, July 7th - 5pm BST
Forestry Part Two - Poll: July 12th - 19th
In the meanwhile, check out our previous two blogs (here and here) to learn more about what’s coming in Part Two or watch the video below from the queen of Woodcutting herself Hanannie!
Peepo Plays Forestry
Created by the fantastic WitchCrafty, Peepo decides to try out Forestry and invites a friend to Draynor to chop and chill!
Other Changes
The Pride event has ended, and now nobody is allowed to think about love for a whole year. Just kidding – you can unlock any Pride-themed goodies you’ve missed from Gilbert southeast of Barbarian Village. We’d like to thank everyone who took part in this year’s event and the associated Pride Parade, and we can’t wait to do it all again next year!
In other news, we’ve made a couple of improvements to the Escape Crystal. Firstly, there’s now a visual and textual indication to tell players when the Crystal is active or deactivated. Secondly, a right-click option now allows players to toggle the Auto-Teleport feature on and off. This can be used whether the Crystal is worn or in your Inventory.
Over at Guardians of the Rift, a convenient Chisel has begun spawning near the cell table. In addition, Cordelia now has a right-click option for Pouch repairs, provided you’ve paid 25 Pearls to unlock this service.
Narrative Survey
The Narrative Survey we spoke about in May’s edition of the Gielinor Gazette is still open, and we need YOU to help us determine our future plans for the story of Old School RuneScape.
Quests and narrative are really important to us, and previously, we gathered some great feedback in the Annual Survey. This survey aims to get into the nitty-gritty of narrative, and we want feedback from as many players as possible. Whether you’re a verified lorehound or a serial spacebar smasher, we want to hear from you!
To participate, just click the button below.
PvP World Rota
The PvP rota has moved to Period B:
560 - (UK) - PvP World
579 - (US) - High-Risk PvP World
561 - (UK) - Free-to-Play PvP World
580 - (US) - LMS Competitive
World 390 (AUS) for LMS Competitive has been de-activated with this rota.
The PvP Arena is using 'Main' loadouts in Ranked Duels and Tournaments this week.
In the coming weeks, we'll be looking to experiment with the world rota system for PvP activities to include Bounty Hunter to condense activity a little further, effectively swapping between PvP Worlds and Bounty Hunter for the UK and US each week. Effective 26th July, we're considering a world rota as follows:
Period A (proposed):
539 - (US) - PvP World
318 - (UK) - Bounty Hunter world
548 - (Germany) - High-Risk PvP World
577 - (US) - Free-to-Play PvP World
559 - (UK) - LMS Competitive
World 390 (AUS) for LMS Competitive has been activated with this rota.
World 390 (AUS) for Bounty Hunter has been de-activated with this rota.
Period B (proposed):
560 - (UK) - PvP World
319 - (US) - Bounty Hunter world
579 - (US) - High-Risk PvP World
561 - (UK) - Free-to-play PvP World
580 - (US) - LMS Competitive
World 390 (AUS) for LMS Competitive has been de-activated with this rota.
World 569 (AUS) for Bounty hunter has been activated with this rota.
Let us know how you feel about this proposed rota update, and we might make adjustments as we see fit!
This week we have loads of changes and improvements for you – including some of the ones you voted for in Poll 79! [expand="more" type="show"] Poll 79 Changes
The maximum Swampbark Armour set bonus can now be achieved with just the Helm, Body and Legs as opposed to the full set.
Each outfit piece now increases the duration of Bind spells by an additional tick, so the complete bonus increases the duration to six ticks.
Increased the Magic attack bonus on the Bloodbark Body and Legs.
Each Bloodbark outfit piece now increases healing from blood spells by 2%, up to 10% for the whole outfit. That’s a total of 35% more healing!
Updated the Teleport Crystal with new functionality:
The Teleport Crystal can now be worn in the Ring slot and can be toggled to act as a Ring of Life.
Players may now choose to have the Teleport Crystal teleport them after a specified period of inactivity.
Wearing a Gas Mask, Facemask or Slayer Helmet will now prevent you from being infected by Nex’s virus via other players.
Equipping the full set of Zealots’ Robes will provide a 5% chance (1.25% per piece) to save both Bonemeal and Buckets of Slime while worshipping the Ectofuntus.
Players may now pay 3,000 Numulites for permanent access to the Volcanic Mine.
Players are now 15x more likely to receive the Phoenix pet at Wintertodt when above 200million Firemaking XP.
Ultimate Iron players may now store Abyssal Tentacles, Guardian Boots, and Primordial Boots in S.T.A.S.H. units.
Ultimate Iron players may now use the Spice Rack in a Player-Owned House.
Other Changes
Food can once again be dropped as 1-hour supply piles upon PvM death in the Wilderness. These piles will no longer be saved and follow you if you hop worlds. However, they will continue to follow you if you die outside of the Wilderness.
Rune Pouches now keep their contents when their owner dies outside of PvP combat.
Fixed an issue where the Twisted Bow bonus accuracy stopped being calculated during Phase Two of The Wardens.
The Wardens should no longer delete themselves when bound at the start of Phase Two.
The Dragon and Barrows Gloves are no longer prioritised over Infernal Capes for protection on death.
Fixed the hair colour on the Makeover Mage’s chathead.
(C++ Client Only) Using the Master Volume slider will no longer cut the music.
Merch Shop
Mystery bags containing Angel Scapes designs from past, present and future are now available in the Official Merch Shop!
PvP Rota The PvP rota has moved to Period A:
539 - (US) - PvP World
548 - (Germany) - High-Risk PvP World
577 - (US) - Free-to-Play PvP World
559 - (UK) - LMS Competitive
World 390 (AUS) for LMS Competitive has been activated with this rota.
The PvP Arena is using '1 Def Pure' loadouts in Ranked Duels and Tournaments this week. [/expand]
Poll 79 Changes
We're back with a whole bunch of updates from the latest Quality of Life poll!
Swampbark Armour
First up, we've made it so you don't need every piece of Swampbark Armour to obtain the set effect bonus! From now on you’ll only need the Head, Body and Legs to get the full effect, so you can don your Mystic Gloves and Boots before your next magical battle.
We’ve also increased the effectiveness of the set effect bonus by 1 tick per item, meaning you'll get an additional 6 ticks of duration when using Bind, Snare or Entangle.
Bind: 8 ticks base -> 14 ticks boosted
Snare: 16 ticks base -> 22 ticks boosted
Entangle: 24 ticks base -> 30 ticks boosted
Bloodbark Armour
Bloodbark's biggest benefit is the increase in healing from Blood spells. With today's update, each piece will give an increased 2% effectiveness – up from 1.5% - allowing you to heal an additional 10% of damage inflicted.
We’ve also increased the magic attack bonuses on the Body and Legs:
Body: 21 (previously 18)
Legs: 16 (previously 13)
Teleport Crystal
Players may now enable their Teleport Crystal to teleport them after a specified period of inactivity – and that’s customisable!
'Inactivity’ is defined as any time you’re not actively typing, clicking, or tapping the screen – although in a few weeks we’ll expand that definition to rotating the camera or actively mousing over the screen.
To clarify, this feature will only function when you’d be able to teleport away normally – so the deep Wilderness is out, and you can’t use your Teleport Crystal to wriggle out of a teleblock.
Additionally, you can now affix the Crystal to your finger like a ring, and you can also toggle it to act like a Ring of Life and teleport you to safety if your health drops below 10%. Be warned, though – it will act exactly like a Ring of Life, which means it won’t save you from raids or similar events, even though the usual Teleport Crystal would.
Lastly, a niche case: if you happen to have a Teleport Crystal with the new inactivity teleport enabled on you when you enter the Gauntlet, you’ll find that it will function as expected even though it was supposed to be removed upon entry. You’ll also be unable to configure or turn off this feature while you’re in the Gauntlet, so make sure your settings are set up the way you like them before you enter.
If you have questions about Teleport Crystal functionality, Rick on the 1st Floor of the Wizards’ Tower has all the details – just don’t bring up the pumpkin incident.
Smaller Changes
Wearing a Gas Mask, Facemask or Slayer Helmet will now prevent you from being infected by Nex’s virus via other players.
Equipping the full set of Zealots’ Robes will provide a 5% chance (1.25% per piece) to save both Bonemeal and Buckets of Slime while worshipping the Ectofuntus.
Players may now pay 3,000 Numulites for permanent access to the Volcanic Mine.
Players are now 15x more likely to receive the Phoenix pet at Wintertodt when above 200million Firemaking XP.
Ultimate Iron players may now store Abyssal Tentacles, Guardian Boots, and Primordial Boots in S.T.A.S.H. units.
Ultimate Iron players may now use the Spice Rack in a Player-Owned House.
In Case You Missed It: Ruinous Powers
This isn't a section talking about any content changes for this week, but a reminder to check out our latest blog on the Ruinous Powers, which goes into detail about the prayers, power creep, and our ultimate decision to shelve the Ruinous Powers for now. You can check out the blog for yourself by clicking here.
Some of the other requirements for the quest have been adjusted to compensate, meaning the skill requirements for Desert Treasure II are as follows:
75 Firemaking.
75 Magic.
70 Thieving.
62 Herblore.
60 Runecraft.
60 Construction.
Additionally, while nothing's changing this week, we wanted to give you a heads-up about changes to the requirements of Desert Treasure II - The Fallen Empire. With prayers no longer on the table as part of the quest's release, we'll be removing the 60 Prayer requirement and changing the previously mentioned Prayer XP lamp to a 'your choice' Combat XP lamp. You'll still have the option to pick Prayer XP as a reward from this lamp if you like!
Keep an eye out later this week for the Desert Treasure II - The Fallen Empire Rewards Poll, where you'll have your chance to vote on all of the other rewards on offer from Old School's most ambitious quest to-date!
Other Changes
Food can once again be dropped as 1-hour supply piles upon PvM death in the Wilderness. These piles will no longer be saved and follow you if you hop worlds. However, they will continue to follow you if you die outside of the Wilderness.
Rune Pouches now keep their contents when their owner dies outside of PvP combat.
Fixed an issue where the Twisted Bow bonus accuracy stopped being calculated during Phase Two of The Wardens.
The Wardens should no longer delete themselves when bound at the start of Phase Two.
The Dragon and Barrows Gloves are no longer prioritised over Infernal Capes for protection on death.
Fixed the hair colour on the Makeover Mage’s chathead.
(C++ Client Only) Using the Master Volume slider will no longer cut the music.
Merch Update: Angels Scapes Mystery Bags!
Angels Scapes has been working with us for years to create unique pin and keyring designs based on our games – you might even have picked up a few of them yourself! But where’s the best place to start your collection? And what about those rare, limited edition items that you just can’t get any more?
Luckily, the Merch Store has the solution in the form of Angels Scapes Mystery Bags! Each pin bag will contain either three individual pins, a complete three or four pin set, or a very special large commemorative pin. What’s more, each bag is guaranteed to contain at least one limited edition pin, including items from the Christmas and Anniversary event collections, the Baroo collabs with star artist Prezleek, the Cities of Gielinor collection, and more! Maybe you’ll even take home your very own Tim and Crunchy?
Keyring bags contain three different keyrings, with a good chance to get a limited edition keyring in each bag. Rare goodies on offer include long sold-out Capes, Godswords, the King Black Dragon, the Wise Old Man, and event keyrings from the Runefest, Christmas, and Black Friday lines.
This might be your last chance to get your hands on these Limited Editions – but you can also pick up end-of-line items, and some of the store’s most popular current lines!
Stock is limited, so grab your Mystery Bag while you can!
Crack the Clue
Woox has provided us all with another cryptic clue this week... maybe this will be the last?
PvP World Rota
The PvP rota has moved to Period A:
539 - (US) - PvP World
548 - (Germany) - High-Risk PvP World
577 - (US) - Free-to-Play PvP World
559 - (UK) - LMS Competitive
World 390 (AUS) for LMS Competitive has been activated with this rota.
The PvP Arena is using '1 Def Pure' loadouts in Ranked Duels and Tournaments this week. You can also discuss this update on our official forums, on the 2007Scape subreddit, the Steam forums, or the community-led OSRS Discord in the #gameupdate channel. For more info on the above content, check out the official Old School Wiki.
This week you’ve got the chance to further beta test the Desert Treasure II rewards, plus Bounty Hunter tweaks and some of the fruits of April’s Game Jam… [expand="more" type="show"]
Desert Treasure II - The Fallen Empire, Rewards Beta 2
Adjusted the Ruinous Powers (see the blog for more info).
Removed bonus effects from Virtus robes.
Adjusted elemental bonus effects for Ancient sceptre upgrades.
Increased Strength bonus for Soulreaper axe.
Adjusted 3PC guidelines to allow Prayer reordering plugins.
Bounty Hunter Tweaks
Added a chance for players to obtain Ancient Statuettes when opening Bounty crates
Increased the quantity of Blighted supplies received when opening a Bounty crate.
Added an in-game confirmation message to make our stance on boosting clear.
Overhauled the emblem system to make obtaining Tier 10s feel less punishing.
Adjusted the stats of various Ancient Warrior equipment.
Game Jam April 2023
Grand Exchange Buy offers can now pull coins directly from your bank.
Added a 'Random' button on the in-game Music tab.
Added an improved World Switcher Configuration menu and filtering system.
Other Changes
Re-added the Varrock hair salon (oops).
An in-game message is now displayed to clarify when Abyssal Lanterns grant an extra rune during Runecrafting. It can be blocked by the spammy message filter.
Fixed an issue where players could gain temporary invisibility while stationary via the Leagues III home teleport animation.
Some grammar has been corrected in the Combat Achievements menu.
The Banker outside Nex's chamber now stands still, for your convenience.
Venenatis and Spindel now have a 1/5 chance of dropping a Strange Fruit to help you top up on Energy, or perhaps to cure your poison in a pinch.
You can now slash through webs as long as you have a suitably slashy weapon in your inventory- you won’t need to equip one beforehand.
Wearing Bunny Legs while wielding a Love Crossbow no longer looks quite so, er, dubious.
[/expand]
Ruinous Powers Beta V2
Wanna beta test an updated set of Ruinous Powers? We’d love to hear your thoughts on these destructive Desert Treasure II rewards! Tournament worlds are open once more, so dive in and let us know what you think.
Note:the tournament worlds for this beta won't be accessible straight after today's game update. We'll be waiting until the regular game worlds are running without issue before bringing unlocking the tournament worlds.
The previous Ruinous Powers beta ended early due to the sheer volume of feedback, coupled with a busy schedule for the team, so we thought we’d offer another beta when we were ready to address feedback - that’s today, folks!
Before we get into the adjustments we’ve made to these powerful prayers, a note about how you’ll acquire them: some can be unlocked as boss drops, Annihilate and Vaporise will require the existing Arcane and Dexterous Prayer Scrolls, and others are given at the end of the quest.
In terms of improvements, there were a handful of key issues for us to focus on:
Deflect Prayers' guaranteed chip damage was clearly a non-starter.
Initially we'd considered an increase to the reflected damage, but this wouldn't have gone any way towards cutting down on chip damage when using the Ruinous Powers. For this reason, we decided to switch to Withstand prayers, which grant 100% damage reduction against the corresponding style, but will increase your damage taken by 10%. This means getting your prayers wrong or getting hit off-prayer will punish you more than on the standard Prayer Book, and you'll take slightly more chip damage in places where it already occurs - but won't introduce chip damage into places that don't already have any. It's worth remembering that Old School always rounds down, so if an NPC would hit you for a 19, you'd take an extra 1 damage.
The risk component outweighed the reward for many players.
The changes to overheads go some way to addressing this, but there are specific prayers and other aspects we've tweaked for better balance.
Vindication gave you extra damage for triggering its effect at low Hitpoints, which seemed novel on paper - but a lot of players (especially among skilled PvMers) felt that it encouraged unhealthy play patterns by incentivising people to repeatedly force themselves to low HP and proc Vindication to achieve competitive DPS. Plus, while Vindication was effectively an aggressive spin on Redemption, it had such a low heal amount to be unuseable in places where Redemption normally does the job, such as Vespula's room in the Chambers of Xeric. Our solution? Make Vindication function exactly like Redemption.
Rebuke was our attempt to make Vengeance more appealing, since it's fallen out of favour compared to other Thralls in the Arceuus Spellbook. However, asking players to sacrifice a protection prayer and take additional damage on top made this a pretty unappealing option for many. So, we're going to try removing this bonus damage component and replacing the passive recoil effect with a boost to any active recoil effects like Vengeance or Rings of Recoil. This should make it more rewarding to use in cases where you might risk a juiced-up Vengeance to shave a few seconds off your PB!
The lack of Protect item was intended to add some extra monetary risk in PvP scenarios, since usually players looking to increase their power in PvP are opting in to increased risked wealth. Many of you felt that the reduced defensive bonuses offered by the Ruinous Powers were risky enough on their own and that the lack of Protect Item would put them off of using them in PvP, or would just encourage them to bring cheaper gear instead (thus reducing weapon variety in PvP). With all that in mind, coupled with the decreased strength bonuses offered by the pinnacle offensive prayers, we've decided we’d better enable Protect Item on the Ruinous Powers - simple!
Fumus', Glacies' and Cruor's Vow didn't feel fun to use or give players much room for decision-making.
The Vows were a later addition to the Ruinous Powers than most, and we've given them a little more thought this time around.
Glacies' Vow effectively functioned as a passive <2% DPS increase while active, with the added side effect of giving some extra RNG to KO potential in PvP, through what are essentially added max hits (more on that in just a bit). With Vaporise making the Ruinous Powers the book of choice for Magic users, we decided to rework this as a reliable means of reducing your target's Magic level, and give you a little extra oomph over time. We're aware this one might need toning down in PvP or adjusting outright, so let us know your thoughts on its updated form.
Cruor's Vow gave a 10% chance to heal 10% of the damage you were dealt, which is a fancy way of saying '1% lifesteal while active'. Lifesteal, life leech or sustain effects in general are notoriouslydifficult to strike the right balance with. Too much and you risk something being completely overpowered (we don't want to name names, but we're talking about Soul Split), too little and you risk something just not being worth using at all. We tried to err on the side of caution and opted for a value that was 'too little' in this case, and as a result it didn't feel particularly engaging to use. To fix the problem, we’ve instead made Cruor's Vow function similarly to the Keris Partisan of the Sun, where you'll trade Prayer points for Hitpoints if you kill NPCs with this prayer active.
To say Fumus' Vow wasn't working quite as we intended is an understatement. While we're sure many of you chasing a Twisted Bow would love to kill every enemy in the tightrope room within 10 ticks, it's probably not for the best! We've touched Fumus' Vow up to be a little simpler, and effectively boost your damage with poison weapons, by dealing a poison hitsplat instantly whenever you would apply poison of a higher severity than what's already affecting an NPC.
Some players shared concerns about max hit creep, particularly in PvP scenarios.
We're not looking to dive too deep right now into how different types of power increases impact PvP and PvM differently, or how aiming for consistency in all scenarios between both PvM and PvP can make it difficult at times to move both of these areas forward healthily. That being said, there were valid concerns raised by players surrounding extra max hits in PvP and the increase in KO potential.
We elected to knock the Strength and Ranged Strength boosts on Decimate and Annihilate down a peg and adjust Accuracy to compensate. The hope is that the Ruinous Powers still provide the damage potential many of you liked, but arrive at that DPS increase by a more sensible route.
Ok, here's a compact list of everything that's changed since last time, so you have all the info you need in one place!
Ruinous Powers Beta 2.0 Changelist
Overhead protection prayers have been changed from Deflect prayers to Dampen prayers.
Dampen prayers grant 100% damage reduction against the corresponding style, but increase your damage taken by 10%.
Annihilate and Decimate have had their Ranged strength and Strength bonuses reduced from +30% to +27%.
Annihilate and Decimate have had their Ranged and Melee accuracy bonuses increased from +20% to +25%..
Gambit has been reworked into a 4th pinnacle offensive prayer called Intensify.
Intensify increases your accuracy with all combat styles by 40% when activated, but cannot be used at the same time as any of the other pinnacle offensive prayers (Annihilate, Decimate and Vaporise).
Prayer level requirements for each of the pinnacle offensive prayers have been increased to better reflect their power.
Glacies' Vow has been reworked and will now reduce your target's Magic level by 10% of damage dealt, up to a maximum of 15% Magic level reduction.
Cruor's Vow has been reworked and will now consume 3 Prayer points to heal 3 Hitpoints when killing an NPC.
Fumus' Vow has been reworked. While active, applying poison to an NPC will cause the first poison damage tick to apply instantly.
This means if the poison you're applying has a higher poison severity than whatever poison is currently affecting an enemy, you'll see extra hitsplats. In simpler terms, turn this on for a little extra oomph when using any poison weapons.
Vindication has been reworked to trigger at 10% of your Hitpoints and restore them by 25% of your Prayer level, the same as Redemption.
Rebuke has been reworked and will no longer increase your damage taken or grant passive recoil damage, but amplify the damage that other recoil effects grant by 50%.
Protect Item has been added to the Ruinous Powers.
Prayer point drain rates are lower across the board.
Beyond the Ruinous Powers themselves, there's one more piece of feedback we'd like to address.
Prayer Re-Ordering and Third-party Clients
We had feedback from the initial beta that the new prayers were difficult to get to grips with due to muscle memory. We've changed our guidelines on third party clients to address this.
Back in March, we added Prayer Filtering to Old School, following an 85% 'Yes' vote in Poll 78. Many of you feel our implementation didn't quite meet expectations, and have suggested improvements. We plan to revisit Prayer Filtering in future, but in the meantime we’re granting third-party clients such as RuneLite our blessing to re-enable this functionality.
The best way to play RuneLite and keep your account secure is by using the Jagex Launcher, which can be found here.
We hope this helps in the upcoming beta, freeing up more of your brain to get a feel for the balance of the prayers themselves rather than wondering whether or not you're using the correct offensive prayers at all...
Additional Reward Tweaks
Beyond the Ruinous Powers, we've made a couple of rewards changes that you'll be able to experiment with in the beta.
Virtus Robes no longer provide additional effects to Ancient elements. Many players felt that the Ancient Sceptre upgrades and Virtus Robes shared a little too much, and in some cases would combine in unhealthy ways (such as repeatedly draining Magic levels in PvP interactions when using Shadow spells).
In a similar vein, we've adjusted the 'bonus effects' of the various Ancient Sceptre upgrades
Blood - Blood magic can now overheal you by 10% of your Hitpoints
Ice - Ice spells gain 10% accuracy on unfrozen, freezable targets.
Shadow - Shadow spells also drain Strength and Defence in addition to the target's Attack level.
Smoke - Smoke spells reduce healing received by 20% for 10 ticks (6 seconds) on-hit if the target is poisoned.
The Soulreaper Axe’s Strength bonus has been increased from +115 to +121.
The Soulreaper Axe's stacking buffs now take 10 ticks (6 seconds) of not attacking before they start to decrease.
Have fun in the beta and make sure to let us know what you think of the changes!
Bounty Hunter
Isn’t it great to have Bounty Hunter back? It's still an absolute joy to see so many of you whacking each other around in Daimon's Crater. And we've got some more tweaks on the horizon to keep things spicy…
Earning Potential Additions
Last week, we added an Earning Potential system to the Crater, to add a little extra profit incentive, and help newer PKers recoup some losses. While our heart was in the right place, this fell a little flat for many of you.
To address this, we’ve added the Ancient Statuettes that can be found on the Revenant drop table as RNG-drops from Bounty Crates. While the aim here is to boost the profit incentive a little, we're also hoping it captures some of the excitement that rare drops bring to other areas of Old School. Will you get a token 500k? Will you be struggling under the weight of 16,000,000 GP? Or will you even see an Emblem at all?
Additionally, we've increased the quantity of Blighted supplies you'll receive when opening a Bounty Crate, which should help you stay topped up for future fights and hopefully increase the supply of Blighted items overall, in the hopes of making PvP a little more affordable when you're starting out.
Finally, if you'd like to figure out what your EP value is between fights, just ask one of the Corrupted Warriors in the lobby area! They might look like fearsome fighters, but they're also monstrous mathematicians with mind-boggling memories.
We're still keeping a close eye on all things EP and are keen to make sure we're striking the right balance between incentivising genuine players while ensuring Bounty Hunter remains healthy for the game as a whole.
First-time Entry Dialogue
In a slightly related vein, we've added a new dialogue pop-up for the first time you try entering the Crater after today's update. A corrupted warrior will stop you briefly and remind you that there are some rules inside the Crater.
Those who oversee Daimon's Crater won't be happy with you if you're found to be selling your soul to other players! You’ll be asked to acknowledge that you've read and understood the Crater's terms of engagement before getting stuck in. After that, you’re good to go.
Esoteric Emblem Tweaks
A couple of weeks ago, we included a section in a newspost for the 'Future of Bounty Hunter' where we discussed a handful of proposed changes - one of those being the aforementioned EP system, which shipped last week. Within the section, we discussed a slight rework of the way you level Emblems and earn Bounty Hunter points, which went down a treat with many of you. Those changes ship today! Until now, you needed to score nine target kills in a row to secure a Tier 10 Emblem. Although you could hand them in sooner, it’s not always easy to step back from a winning streak – and losing it all at the last hurdle didn’t feel great. With today's game update, we'll be making the following changes to Esoteric Emblems inside Bounty Hunter:
Killing your target will reward 2 BH points and level your Emblem up by a tier. This behaviour is unchanged.
Kill milestones at 10, 50, 100 and 500 kill increments will also remain as they are.
Killing a target with an Emblem of their own no longer rewards additional bonus points. Meaning if you kill a target who had a Tier 9 Emblem, you won't receive any extra points.
Dying with an Emblem will reduce its tier by 1, rather than deleting it outright. This means that dying with a Tier 9 Emblem will downgrade it to a Tier 8 Emblem. If you have a Tier 1 Emblem, however, you will lose it – there’s nothing to downgrade it to!
We hope these changes can help some of you let loose, rather than feeling like you have to fight tooth and nail to keep your Hitpoints maxed-out at all times in order to protect your streak.
Ancient Warrior Gear Tweaks
We’re also delivering a set of tweaks to Vesta's, Statius's and Zuriel's armour sets this week. We spoke about these in a recent newspost, in a section titled 'The Future of Bounty Hunter', but to save you a click we've listed the changes again here!
Note: any changes to bonuses apply to both the 'standard' and 'corrupt' versions of these armours unless otherwise specified.
Vesta's Chainbody
Stab and Slash bonuses increased from +9 to +14.
Crush bonus reduced from +9 to +4.
Vesta's Plateskirt
Stab and Slash bonuses increased from +7 to +10.
Crush bonus reduced from +7 to +3.
Statius's Full Helm
Stab and Slash bonuses reduced from +3 to +1.
Crush bonus increased from +5 to +6.
Statius's Platebody
Stab and Slash bonuses reduced from +5 to +2.
Crush bonus increased from +7 to +14.
Prayer bonus increased from +1 to +3. This change does not apply to Corrupt Statius's Platebody.
Statius's Platelegs
Stab and Slash bonuses reduced from +3 to +1.
Crush bonus increased from +5 to +10.
Prayer bonus increased from +1 to +3. This change does not apply to Corrupt Statius's Platelegs.
Zuriel's Hood
Magic Damage increased from 0% to 1%.
Zuriel's Robe Top
Magic Damage increased from 0% to 3%.
Zuriel's Robe Bottom
Magic Damage increased from 0% to 2%.
Vesta's Spear
Special Attack has been tweaked to do the following:
Performs an initial hit that deals up to 100% of your max hit. After 2 ticks (1.2 seconds), performs a second hit dealing between 25-75% of the initial hit's damage.
Initial hit grants 8 ticks (4.8 seconds) of immunity against Melee damage.
That's a wrap on this week's Bounty Hunter changes, keep an eye out next week for some tweaks to the Emblem system that we first proposed a couple of weeks ago. In the meantime: happy hunting!
Pride 2023
In case you missed it, last week saw Pride return to Old School! If you're looking to help some hopeless romantics in the search for love this summer (or just to unlock some fierce fashionscape), then head to the Blue Moon Inn in Varrock and be prepared to pen some pleasing poetry.
We'd like to say a huge thank you to everybody who attended last week's in-game Pride March on Thursday too. Seeing thousands of ‘Scapers across four worlds join in a celebration of love, support and acceptance was heartwarming beyond words for all of us. You can check out the VOD for the march by clicking here or enjoy a taste of it with this rainbow-tastic screenshot from the OSRS Wiki team:
We're also happy to report that Suzie and Emma are back from their holiday and it's business as usual for their hairdressing salon in Varrock, so if you've been putting off a fresh trim - there's no time like the present!
Whoever you are, there's a place for you in Gielinor. Happy Pride!
Game Jam - April 2023
A couple of months ago, we held our third Old School Game Jam. We're still looking for the right window to livestream what the team worked on, but you can find a top-level overview of a lot of the projects in this newspost.
While some projects focus more on big design ideas, these Game Jams are also a great way to work on smaller changes that keep . With that in mind, we've got a couple of projects from April's Game Jam that we're launching this week!
Random Music Mode
Is there anything better than getting into the groove of a really relaxing activity, accompanied by the perfect playlist?
We've added a brand new 'Random' button to the Music tab in-game so you can shuffle to your heart's content. There's no skip button though, in classic Old School fashion: your listening pleasure is in the hands of RNG.
To make space, we've moved the 'Loop' button from the Music tab to the Settings menu.
World Switcher Filters and Search
Today's update sees a lot of extra functionality added to the in-game World Switcher menu (the one that you access via the Logout panel).
You'll notice a neat cog at the top left of the World Switcher interface, which will open up a Configuration menu when clicked.
You might also notice some arrows on the US flags. While we're not looking to redesign the stars and stripes, we thought it'd be beneficial for players to easily tell which of these worlds are US West and which are US East. If you're still brushing up on your cardinal directions, US West worlds are indicated by an arrow pointing left, and US East worlds are indicated by an arrow pointing right.
The Configuration menu shows the world list as it appears in the World Switcher panel, but provides 5 buttons at the top to help you customise your World list.
From left-to-right, these buttons are:
Filter by Membership status - this allows worlds to be hidden depending on whether or not they're F2P or P2P worlds.
Filter by country - worlds can be hidden depending on where they're being hosted, so you could filter out any worlds where you'd experience less-than-desirable ping!
Filter by mode - filter out Beta Worlds, Speedrunning Worlds, PvP Worlds or Deadman Worlds if you're not interested in any of those modes at the moment.
Search - this lets you filter your displayed worlds' themes based on the text you input. For example, searching for 'wint' would allow you to see dedicated Wintertodt worlds.
Reset - this removes any and all filters currently on effect.
If any of these filters are selected, the button will change from grey to red:
Any of the changes you make in this Configuration menu will be applied to the World Switcher panel in real-time, and will persist after the Configuration menu is closed, or even through logouts. Please note that the filter text is stored on your device rather than being part of your saved game profile, so it can't follow you from one device to another.
If you're trying to hop worlds via the Configuration menu itself, any of the usual 'confirmation' messages for switching worlds (for example, when hopping to a PvP world) will be displayed within the Configuration menu itself, rather than as a chat pop-up (with High Risk PvP worlds being an exception, because they give you a two part warning).
Grand Exchange Tweaks
Are you sick of having to withdraw coins from the Bank just to make offers on the Grand Exchange? After all, the Banker is right there - why won't they just take my money?!
Well, this week's game update sees a revolution in Banker/Clerk relationships. From today, any Buy offers on the Grand Exchange will be able to pull coins directly from your Bank! If you have coins in your Inventory, they'll be used first to make up the GP you're using to buy an item, but coins in your Bank will be automatically used to make up the difference if you come up short.
That being said, make sure to be careful with the quantities that you're buying; you'd probably rather not dump your entire cashstack into a bulk quantity of a single item because you weren't paying attention...
Other Changes
As per usual, we're wrapping up with a list of all of this week's smaller changes. Feast your eyes on some miscellaneous bullet points!
An in-game message is now displayed to clarify when Abyssal Lanterns grant an extra rune during Runecrafting. It can be blocked by the spammy message filter.
Fixed an issue where players could gain temporary invisibility while stationary via the Leagues III home teleport animation.
Some grammar has been corrected in the Combat Achievements menu.
The Banker outside Nex's chamber now stands still, for your convenience.
Venenatis and Spindel now have a 1/5 chance of dropping a Strange Fruit to help you top up on Energy, or perhaps to cure your poison in a pinch.
You can now slash through webs as long as you have a suitably slashy weapon in your inventory- you won’t need to equip one beforehand.
Wearing Bunny Legs while wielding a Love Crossbow no longer looks quite so, er, dubious.
Received reports that the Strange Old Man at the Barrows in Morytania has been acting even stranger than usual...
Crack the Clue 3
Woox is back with what might prove to be the final hint for Crack the Clue 3! Good luck!
PvP World Rota
The PvP rota has moved to Period B:
560 - (UK) - PvP World
579 - (US) - High-Risk PvP World
561 - (UK) - Free-to-Play PvP World
580 - (US) - LMS Competitive
World 390 (AUS) for LMS Competitive has been de-activated with this rota.
The PvP Arena is using 'Zerk' loadouts in Ranked Duels and Tournaments this week. You can also discuss this update on our official forums, on the 2007Scape subreddit, the Steam forums, or the community-led OSRS Discord in the #gameupdate channel. For more info on the above content, check out the official Old School Wiki.
We’re feeling fabulous this week – it’s the 2023 Pride Event!
Pride Event 2023
It’s time to let your colours shine as Pride returns to Old School RuneScape!
Pride events like this are our way of supporting our LGBTQIA+ players and the wider community. A huge part of Old School RuneScape is having the freedom to play the game in your own unique way. We want our players to also have the freedom to express their identity – so wear your colours with pride as you take part in this exciting event!
Our story begins in the Blue Moon Inn in Varrock, where a group of four hopeless romantics have been cooking up some romantic letters to their respective love interests, in hopes of scoring a date to the Pride march. There’s just one problem – their poems lack passion… and rhymes. Only you can save the day! Go on, show them what level 99 Rizz looks like!
Start the event by speaking to Bethan, Gregory, Tabbitha or Quinton at the Blue Moon Inn. Happy Pride, everyone!
Rewards
This year’s Pride event will last two full weeks, and you’ll be able to get your hands on three brand-new cosmetics as well as more customisation options for the iconic Rainbow Scarf!
Love Crossbow
Get some attention from your one true love with this stylish new crossbow!
Poet's Jacket
Pride Jumpers
If you missed out on any of the rewards from previous years, don’t panic! As with any Old School RuneScape event, you can claim your rainbow goodies from Diango in Draynor
In-Game March with J-Mods
We know that not everyone is able to attend Pride marches in person – but you can still celebrate here in Gielinor, by taking part in our second official Old School Pride march!
Here's the deets:
Date: June 8th 2023
Time: 17:00 BST - 18:00 BST (Be sure to check out our event livestream, too! Details below.)
Worlds:
500 - UK - Livestream
427 - AU
476 - USE
435 - USW
The march will set off from Gilbert’s flower patch near the bridge west of Varrock. To take part, rock up to the start point in your finest rainbow FashionScape and follow your J-Mod of choice! Make sure you have ‘walk’ enabled to allow everyone to keep pace.
Don’t forget, there’s a brand-new chat command that lets your overhead speech appear in rainbow colours! To try it out, just type ‘rainbow:’ before your message in the Chat Box
For more information on the march, please refer to the route map below:
Pride Livestream (T-Shirt Giveaway!)
Join us in the Studio for a playthrough of the event on June 8th, followed by an in-game Pride march! You can watch all the fun on our Twitch channel!
We want everyone to feel safe and included during the event, so please note that our Player Support Teams will be on-hand to remove anyone looking to spoil the fun. This is an event to celebrate our LGBTQIA+ players, and we will not tolerate intimidation or harassment.
The livestream will begin at approximately 16:30 BST, beginning with a playthrough of the Event and ending with our In-game Pride march. Towards the end of the stream, we'll be rolling some giveaways for goodies, including a snazzy Pride t-shirt!
Whether you’re LGBTQIA+ or an ally looking to show your support – let’s celebrate!
We’ve made the following changes to Bounty Hunter this week:
Players will be now be able to Teleport to Target while inside the Crater if they have not been in combat within the last 12 seconds.
Players should now receive the correct warning when skipping their final target before incurring a penalty.
Players will no longer be able to leave the crater immediately after using a special attack, similar to the special attack delay present on PvP Worlds.
When a target goes into combat with their target, rogues will no longer have the priority for receiving the loot. So, if a player is in combat with their target when they die, they will be guaranteed credit for the kill, regardless of the amount of damage they deal. If the dying player was attacked by someone other than their target before they died, normal loot rules apply – the player who did the most damage takes priority.
Players are no longer able to leave the Crater while dying. This is to resolve an issue where leaving the Crater would take priority over the death.
Added a chat message upon entering/exiting the crater to let you know that you have a penalty timer if you've skipped too many targets. Similarly, you'll receive a reminder message approximately every 5 minutes.
The 'Target' dialogue with corrupted warriors will now fittingly inform player that a penalty of 30 minutes will be given after skipping 3 Skulled targets.
EP System
We initially spoke about Earning Potential way back in February. For those of you not in the know, EP is a way for players to earn extra loot while participating in an activity
In Bounty Hunter, an EP system would mitigate the losses faced by newer PvPers and encourage them to pick themselves up and keep battling until they secure a target kill
Unfortunately, GP generation from content like Bounty Hunter has proved… problematic in the past, and so we’re being very cautious about how we handle EP. There’s a delicate line between giving struggling players a helping hand and making boosting for monetary gain an appealing option.
Here’s our proposal:
To be eligible to earn EP, your ‘risked wealth’ must be above a minimum value. Currently, that value is 50,000 GP, although this is subject to change based on player feedback
If you’re eligible, your EP value will increase by 1% for every 30 seconds you spend in the Crater with a target assigned.
Dying to your target will increase your EP by 10%. This can only happen every 15 minutes, and you may only accumulate a maximum of 40% EP in this manner.
Successfully killing a target will cash in your EP and reward you with a Bounty Crate. Higher EP equals higher value Crates.
Obtaining a Bounty Crate will reset your EP value to 0%.
In addition:
Your EP value will not be reset on death or on leaving the Crater.
You cannot gain EP value if you don't meet the minimum risk.
You cannot gain EP value if you're currently on a matchmaking penalty.
You cannot gain EP value if you're not in the Crater itself.
You'll receive a notification in the Chat Box letting you know that you're eligible to earn EP when a target is assigned, or letting you know that you're not eligible for EP for any of the above reasons.
Bounty Crates contain a handful of Blighted supplies as well as some cold, hard cash. Again, the higher your EP value, the higher the reward will be. The table below shows the average values of different Bounty Crates:
We’ve also made the following feedback changes to our proposal since we first spoke about it last week’s newspost:
Players need at least 20% EP value to earn a Bounty Crate.
There are now nine tiers of Crate in total.
Previous tier 2 is the new tier 1, tier 3 is the new tier 2, etc.
EP value increases by 1% every 30 seconds that you're in the Crater, where previously it was 2% for every minute.
Unfortunately, the Open Beta for Forestry will be postponed indefinitely due to unforeseen technical issues.
The team are currently discussing potential ideas to give you as much insight into Forestry before its launch.
Stay tuned for an update.
Other Changes
The Fossil Island Bank Chest tent is now a safe area.
Soul Wars worlds are back!
Crack the Clue
Woox has provided us all with another cryptic clue this week. "They will know which step it is related to...".
PvP Rota
The PvP rota has moved to Period A:
539 - (US) - PvP World
548 - (Germany) - High-Risk PvP World
577 - (US) - Free-to-Play PvP World
559 - (UK) - LMS Competitive
World 390 (AUS) for LMS Competitive has been activated with this rota.
The PvP Arena is using 'Max/Med' loadouts in Ranked Duels and Tournaments this week. You can also discuss this update on our official forums, on the 2007Scape subreddit, the Steam forums, or the community-led OSRS Discord in the #gameupdate channel. For more info on the above content, check out the official Old School Wiki.
This week’s update sees changes to Bounty Hunter and the Forestry Open Beta!
[expand="more" type="show"]
Bounty Hunter Changes
Increased the time added back to players’ 2:00 timer when re-entering the Crater from 6 seconds to 15 seconds.
Skipping an unskulled target no longer contributes to matchmaking penalties.
The UI will now indicate that you have a matchmaking penalty. Speak to the Corrupted Warrior to see your current penalty timer.
Perdu can now be found in the lobby area.
Players now have 6 seconds of immunity from rogue players after entering the Crater. Your target can still attack you, and you will lose immunity upon attacking another player.
The Esoteric Emblem is now correctly filtered in the Bounty Hunter Store.
Adjusted the wander range and placement of Corrupted Warriors to stop them engaging players in conversation while they’re trying to bank.
Blighted supplies are now usable in the lobby area.
Bounty Hunter World 541 (US West) has been replaced with World 573 (US East).
Last week’s changes:
Weapon imbues and cosmetic kits are now kept on death, although the base item will still be lost if unprotected.
Players that obtained and then lost these items before the coldfix on Friday will be able to refund enough points for one
Removed the level 75 Attack requirement from Statius’s Warhammer.
Forestry Open Beta
Forestry is in Open Beta from Monday, 5th June! You'll be able to test the following content:
Tree Despawn Mechanics and Bonuses
Forestry Kit and Forester's Shop
Events (Flowering Tree, Struggling Sapling, Rising Roots and Leprechaun)
Tea Brewing
Campfires
Rewards (excluding 2-handed Axe)
Mobile Issues Update
Upcoming Client and Engine updates will help to resolve issues with crashing and rendering.
June will feature more information about the Mobile TLI.
The Future of Bounty Hunter
We've detailed some potential future plans to ensure Bounty Hunter remains in a good place going into the future!
Other Changes
The 'Release all placeholders' button in the Bank now has a confirmation warning.
On a F2P world, players can now see the names of members' items, written like "Dragon dagger (Members)", rather than the item being named "Members item". The items are usable and tradeable only on members-only worlds, as before.
The Amulet of Nature can now notify you about fully grown or diseased patches from your Inventory, rather than having to be worn.
(C++ Client Only) Radimus Erkle is now correctly highlighted when using the Clue Scroll Helper.
(C++ Client Only) The Clue Helper no longer thinks a Round Blue Snelm can be used for the clue that requires a Pointy Blue Snelm.
(C++ Client Only) Morrigan's Throwing Axe (bh) and Morrigan's Javelin (bh) are no longer considered ammo.
PvP Rota
The PvP rota has moved to Period B:
560 - (UK) - PvP World
579 - (US) - High-Risk PvP World
561 - (UK) - Free-to-Play PvP World
580 - (US) - LMS Competitive
World 390 (AUS) for LMS Competitive has been de-activated with this rota.
The PvP Arena is using '1 Def Pure' loadouts in Ranked Duels and Tournaments this week.
[/expand]
Bounty Hunter Changes
You may have already seen our mini-newspost last week about the upcoming changes to Bounty Hunter. This week, we’re enacting a bunch of improvements based on your feedback!
First up, those of you who just have to dash to the Bank mid-fight will be pleased to learn that we’ve increased the time added back to your 2:00 timer when re-entering the Crater from 6 seconds to 15 seconds. Grab your lobbies from the lobby and get back in plenty of time!
You’ll also get a whole 6 seconds of immunity from Rogues after spawning into the crater – although your target will still be able to attack you. Attacking another player will forfeit your immunity.
And for those of you who’d rather huddle in the lobby than fight your next target, rest assured that skipping an unskulled target no longer contributes to your ‘skip limit’ for the purpose of matchmaking penalties. We’ll be keeping a close eye on how this change plays out in-game over the next few weeks, so no messing about!
On the topic of penalties, you’ll now be informed that you have one on the UI – although you’ll need to speak to a Corrupted Warrior to learn how long your penalty timer will last.
There’s also a familiar new face in the lobby area – Perdu! This notable fellow will help you reclaim and repair your fanciest gear.
We’ve also changed the wander range and placement of the Corrupted Warriors so that they no longer interrupt players trying to use the Bank.
Lastly for the lobby changes, players are now able to use Blighted items there. Yum! And, Bounty Hunter World 541 (US West) has been replaced with World 573 (US East).
And to wrap things up, Esoteric Emblems now appear correctly when filtering the Bounty Hunter Store, and we’ve made a few price changes:
We also made a few changes last week. Firstly, weapon imbues and cosmetic kits are now kept on death, so you can consider them a permanent unlock. Be aware, though, that the base item will still be lost if unprotected.
If you managed to purchase one of these items and then lose them before we made this change on Friday last week, you can refund enough points for one copy of any of the items you’ve already obtained as compensation.
One last change – we’ve removed the 75 Attack requirement from Statius’s Warhammer, which now requires only 75 Strength to equip.
That’s our last change for now, but keep reading to learn our plans for the future of Bounty Hunter! In the meanwhile, though, we’ve got some exciting news about everyone’s favourite Woodcutting expansion…
Forestry Open Beta
The engine team have been tinkering away behind the scenes to improve our Beta worlds! Now, you may be wondering what that has to do with Forestry (unless you’ve already read the title of this section), and the answer is – it’s going into Open Beta!
On Monday 5th June you’ll be able to try Forestry for yourself. As usual, the Beta worlds will be highlighted in blue on the World Selection Interface, so they’re easy to spot!
For the best Forestry experience, we recommend making your way to a classic Woodcutting spot in Draynor Village, where you’ll find the Freaky Forester himself. Speak to him and he’ll tell you all you need to know about Forestry and the new events you can take part in. He’ll even give you a free sample of Anima-Infused Bark for you to spend on some rewards!
There’s quite a bit to try out in this Beta, so before you grab your axes and get stuck in, we recommend having a look at our previous Forestry newspost.
Meanwhile, here’s your ‘chopping list’ of activities to try!
New Tree Mechanics
To help support group play and reduce competition, trees will now despawn on a timer that activates after the first cut and regenerates if players stop cutting the tree before it’s fully chopped. A timer's length is based on the average time each different type of tree currently lasts.
In addition, players chopping the same tree get an invisible Woodcutting bonus that scales with the number of players, up to a maximum of 10.
Forestry Kit and New Currency
This new wearable item lets you store all kinds of useful gadgets from day one – but any good workman knows they must upgrade their tools! You can craft new additions to your Forestry Kit using existing materials, combined with items from the Freaky Forester’s Store. To get your hands on his wares, you’ll need to use an untradeable currency only found in Forestry: Anima Infused Bark.
During the Beta the Freaky Forester will provide you with some Anima Infused Bark to trade. You can earn more by participating in events!
Events
There are four events to test in this Beta, and they’ll appear whether you have the correct Forestry Kit items to summon them or not.
Rising Roots: Roots will suddenly appear, trying to protect their woody brethren. Cut them down for some experience and Anima Infused Bark.
Flowering Tree: Bees will appear alongside new flowers that want to bloom. Find the right two flowers to move pollen between for experience, Anima Infused Bark and some seeds or treats!
Struggling Sapling: Help the poor sapling grow big and strong! Create the right combination of Mulch to feed to the baby tree before it withers away. Get some experience and Anima Infused Bark in return!
Leprechaun: A friendly Leprechaun has appeared! He’ll be able to take your Woodcutting resources straight to the Bank.
Leaves, Campfires and Tea Brewing
All trees now drop Leaves as well as Logs. Each type has its own associated buffs:
Production: Boosts production skill level.
Gathering: Boosts gathering skill level.
Power: Boosts the power of other leaf effects. Adds no power to empty categories.
Duration: Increases duration of the boost effect.
You can utilise Leaves in two ways: campfires and Tea brewing.
Create a campfire by lighting some Logs, and you’ll be able to burn Leaves to activate their respective buffs. Then, you and your lumberjack buddies can all gather around the fire and benefit from the leafy goodness!
Alternatively, you can brew Teas with your Leaves for a personal, portable buff. The great thing about Teas is that you can also use Tree Roots on your cuppa to give you one of these special tertiary bonuses:
Increased Clue drop chance from monsters and skilling.
Chance to save Ranged ammo and Magic Runes.
Boosted minigame reward points.
Boosted Slayer Points and superior monster spawn chance.
Forester's Shop and Rewards
The Freaky Forester has all kinds of goods that will help you on your Forestry journey:
Log Basket
Log Brace
Forestry Outfit
Lumberjack Outfit
Funky-Shaped Log
Normally, you’d also be able to buy the 2-Handed Axe from here, but sadly it won’t be making an appearance in this Beta. We have to save some goodies for launch!
We can’t wait for you to get stuck into Forestry for the first time, and we look forward to hearing your feedback through all the usual channels.
TIMBERRRRRR!
Mobile Issue Update
We’ve seen multiple reports of players experiencing lag spikes, freezes and crashes on both iOS and Android since our latest mobile update. Players have also reported rendering and resolution issues with the latest C++ Milestone update.
Although our QA team is thorough, no amount of testing can ever compare to a live game with thousands of players all playing the game in different ways. The range of usable devices for the mobile client presents another challenge.
We’ve been investigating and have found the issue to be client-side. Unfortunately, this means the problem is bigger than what a simple hotfix can solve. That said, we’re currently working on two separate solutions which should resolve these issues.
The first is content-side optimisations, which will be released in an upcoming weekly update. Although we can’t give you an exact date just yet, rest assured that the team is working very hard to get this fix live as soon as possible.
In addition, after an Engine update on Wednesday June 7th the team will release an additional Client update which we believe will improve the rendering issues. This is currently scheduled for the following week, and we’ll confirm closer to the time that this schedule is still accurate.
We hope this gives you more clarity on the situation, and we’ll look to update you all further when the fixes are released.
Lastly, there has been a slight delay to our plans regarding the Mobile TLI from the end of last year. Although we haven’t been able to show you our work this month, you’ll be seeing a lot more from us in June, including demos, a more in-depth look, and even a way for you to get your hands on the new design!
The Future of Bounty Hunter
Oh, did you think we were done with Bounty Hunter? Oh no. Despite a fantastic launch week there are still a few exciting additions we’d like to make to this iconic PvP minigame – but we want to know your thoughts before we proceed. Let’s see the plans!
The Earning Potential System
Earning Potential (or EP, for short) is something we spoke about way back in February when we first outlined our plans for Bounty Hunter's return. For those not in the know, EP at a base level is a means for players to earn themselves extra loot while participating in an activity.
In this particular instance, EP is primarily a way for newer players to mitigate some of their losses inside of the Crater and encourage them to pick themselves up, get back in the fight, and keep at it until they secure a target kill and cash in for an extra chunk of loot. Effectively, it's an added layer of reward to soften the blow of lost supplies and gear.
Now, we’re well aware that GP generation from content like Bounty Hunter has proved… problematic in the past, and as such we’re being very cautious about how we handle EP. There’s a delicate line between giving struggling players a helping hand and making boosting for monetary gain an appealing option.
In short, any EP system needs to be free from the kind of loopholes we’ve seen exploited in the past - if ‘76k’ means anything to you, you’ll know exactly what we mean – but at the same time, we’re wary of being too cautious.
Here’s our proposal:
To be eligible to earn EP, your ‘risked wealth’ must be above a minimum value. Currently, that value is 50,000 GP, although this is subject to change based on player feedback.
If you’re eligible, your EP value will increase by 2% for every minute you spend in the Crater with a target assigned.
Dying to your target will increase your EP by 10%. This can only happen every 15 minutes, and you may only accumulate a maximum of 40% EP in this manner.
Successfully killing a target will cash in your EP and reward you with a Bounty Crate. Higher EP equals higher value Crates.
Obtaining a Bounty Crate will reset your EP value to 0%.
In addition:
Your EP value will not be reset on death or on leaving the Crater.
You cannot gain EP value if you don't meet the minimum risk.
You cannot gain EP value if you're currently on a matchmaking penalty.
You cannot gain EP value if you're not in the Crater itself.
You'll receive a notification in the Chat Box letting you know that you're eligible to earn EP when a target is assigned, or letting you know that you're not eligible for EP for any of the above reasons.
Bounty Crates contain a handful of Blighted supplies as well as some cold, hard cash. Again, the higher your EP value, the higher the reward will be. The table below shows the average values of different Bounty Crates:
We’ll most likely implement the EP system in next week’s update, so let us know any thoughts you have on it ASAP!
Boosting in Bounty Hunter
With the previous section in mind, this feels like an opportune moment to talk about boosting.
Although this iteration of the Bounty Hunter rewards are almost all untradeable, where there’s a will, there’s a way, and certain unscrupulous players have been bolstering their points by nefarious means over the last week.
Needless to say, we’re disappointed in these players. Exploiting the lower population of certain worlds to sell kills is diluting the matchmaking pool for players who want to enjoy Bounty Hunter legitimately, and ultimately griefing those who’ve been waiting for this minigame to return for a long time.
To make things clear, we know there’s a big difference between exploiting the game and helping your friend through a tough bit of content. The latter is a key part of the MMO experience, after all! The difference is that nobody’s ability to engage with and complete, say, Tombs of Amascut is impacted by a few friends agreeing to carry their mate through it so they can get the Grandmaster Speedrun Combat Achievement. However, someone’s ability to engage with Honour PvP in Bounty Hunter is massively impacted if most of their opponents are only there to sell kills and have no interest in properly engaging with the minigame.
Obviously, we could solve this issue by reducing the number of eligible worlds back down to two, but we don’t want to further diminish the experience of players outside the UK and US West regions.
Instead, we’re going to begin issuing punishments to players involved in boosting in Bounty Hunter. If we detect that you are buying kills, selling kills, or even participating in a boosting chat or clan, you will be banned.
This isn’t a decision we take lightly, but Old School RuneScape is a community-driven game, and Bounty Hunter has been seriously impacted by the actions of a few bad apples in the past. If you are actively undermining this experience for other players, you will be removed from the game.
Now, with that bit of unpleasantness out of the way, let’s take a look at the other changes we’d like to make!
Esoteric Emblem Adjustments
Our next suggestion is a tweak to the way Emblems and points work.
While we’ve seen absolutely loads of you getting stuck into PvP for the first time, we’ve also seen feedback from veteran players that the current implementation of Emblems might encourage kill streaks a little too much, which is offputting for players who can’t consistently rack up their numbers.
Currently, you need to score nine target kills in a row to secure a Tier 10 Emblem. Although you can hand them in sooner, it’s not always easy to step back from a winning streak – and losing it all at the last hurdle doesn’t feel great.
Our proposed changes will make the Emblem system less punishing while ensuring it still feels worthwhile. They are as follows:
Killing your target will reward 2 BH points and level your Emblem up by a tier. This behaviour is unchanged.
Kill milestones at 10, 50, 100 and 500 kill increments will also remain as they are.
Killing a target with an Emblem of their own no longer rewards additional bonus points. Meaning if you kill a target who had a Tier 9 Emblem, you won't receive any extra points.
Dying with an Emblem will reduce its tier by 1, rather than deleting it outright. This means that dying with a Tier 9 Emblem will downgrade it to a Tier 8 Emblem. If you have a Tier 1 Emblem, however, you will lose it – there’s nothing to downgrade it to!
Let us know what you think of this one – if it’s something that seems well-received then we’ll implement it in a future update!
Ancient Warrior Armour Adjustments
Since release, more and more of you have started getting your hands on the iconic Ancient Warrior armour. It's been great to see more players zooming about in these offensive power armours, but we can also see that some choices remain significantly more popular than others.
In particular, Statius's and Zuriel's armour sets could use a little more love!
Status’s gear, in particular, falls south of Vesta’s equivalents in all offensive stats, and their tanky benefits don’t do much in a fast-paced environment like Daimon’s Crater. We’d like to tweak these sets so that they’re both appealing in different loadouts, rather than Vesta’s feeling like the obvious choice regardless of the circumstances.
Additionally, while it’s true that Magic doesn’t thrive inside the Crater, we feel like giving Zuriel’s set a little extra oomph might make this playstyle a little more appealing.
These are the changes we’re considering:
Note: any changes to bonuses apply to both the 'standard' and 'corrupt' versions of these armours unless otherwise specified.
Vesta's Chainbody
Stab and Slash bonuses increased from +9 to +14.
Crush bonus reduced from +9 to +4.
Vesta's Plateskirt
Stab and Slash bonuses increased from +7 to +10.
Crush bonus reduced from +7 to +3.
Statius's Full Helm
Stab and Slash bonuses reduced from +3 to +1.
Crush bonus increased from +5 to +6.
Statius's Platebody
Stab and Slash bonuses reduced from +5 to +2.
Crush bonus increased from +7 to +14.
Prayer bonus increased from +1 to +3. This change does not apply to Corrupt Statius's Platebody.
Statius's Platelegs
Stab and Slash bonuses reduced from +3 to +1.
Crush bonus increased from +5 to +10.
Prayer bonus increased from +1 to +3. This change does not apply to Corrupt Statius's Platelegs.
Zuriel's Hood
Magic Damage increased from 0% to 1%.
Zuriel's Robe Top
Magic Damage increased from 0% to 3%.
Zuriel's Robe Bottom
Magic Damage increased from 0% to 2%.
We’d also like to propose some tweaks to Vesta’s Spear. Currently, this weapon’s special attack consumes 50% of your special attack energy, damages up to 16 targets within the 8 tiles around you and makes you immune to melee attacks for 4.8 seconds. That seems pretty cool on paper, but in a 1v1 environment like Bounty Hunter, it’s next to useless.
We suggest a reworked special attack that impales one enemy for up to 100% of your max hit, then performs a second hit for between 25-75% of the initial damage as you yank the spear back out. Ouch! While your opponent is reeling, you’ll enter a defensive stance and gain immunity to melee attacks for 4.8 seconds.
We know this is a little spicy for a special attack, but we thought it was a more interesting option than essentially not having one at all – so let us know what you think!
That’s a wrap on everything we’re thinking about for the future of Bounty Hunter. We’re still keeping a close eye on all your feedback following launch, including teleports within the crater, the Dark Bow imbue, the Voidwaker, minimum Coffer deposits and more. Stay tuned!
Other Changes
The 'Release all placeholders' button in the Bank now has a confirmation warning.
On a F2P world, players can now see the names of members' items, written like "Dragon dagger (Members)", rather than the item being named "Members item". The items are usable and tradeable only on members-only worlds, as before.
The Amulet of Nature can now notify you about fully grown or diseased patches from your Inventory, rather than having to be worn.
(C++ Client Only) Radimus Erkle is now correctly highlighted when using the Clue Scroll Helper.
(C++ Client Only) The Clue Helper no longer thinks a Round Blue Snelm can be used for the clue that requires a Pointy Blue Snelm.
(C++ Client Only) Morrigan's Throwing Axe (bh) and Morrigan's Javelin (bh) are no longer considered ammo.
Crack the Clue
Woox has provided us all with another cryptic clue this week. "No additional info will be required"... ominous!
PvP World Rota
The PvP rota has moved to Period B:
560 - (UK) - PvP World
579 - (US) - High-Risk PvP World
561 - (UK) - Free-to-Play PvP World
580 - (US) - LMS Competitive
World 390 (AUS) for LMS Competitive has been de-activated with this rota.
The PvP Arena is using '1 Def Pure' loadouts in Ranked Duels and Tournaments this week. You can also discuss this update on our official forums, on the 2007Scape subreddit, the Steam forums, or the community-led OSRS Discord in the #gameupdate channel. For more info on the above content, check out the official Old School Wiki.
