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Poll 79 Tithe Farm Updates | Weekly Game Update (May 17th)

No more 'Tithe Farm when?’ - it's here! Plus, mobile’s looking a whole lot smoother…
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[h2]Tithe Farm[/h2]



Great news, fellow farmers!

The long-awaited Poll 79 changes to our favourite Farming minigame have finally arrived!

Here's what's changing this week:
  • Buh-bye griefing! Tithe Farm is now instanced and solo-only.
  • You may now earn points more frequently, and you can bring more seeds in to harvest at a time, so you can reap the rewards of your hard work faster!
    • For every 3 plants you turn in, you'll be awarded 1 Point.
    • For every 100 plants you turn in, you'll be awarded an additional 2 Points.
    • If that wasn't enough, you can now bring in up to 10,000 seeds, so you can keep Farming for longer!
  • We've doubled the amount of Bologa's Blessings received when purchasing them from Farmer Gricoller's Rewards Shop.
  • Added Herb Boxes to Farmer Gricoller's Rewards Shop.
    • They’re also available for Iron players!
    • The cost of Herb Boxes is set at 30 Points. However, we value your opinion and are open to making adjustments based on constructive feedback. Let us know your thoughts!

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[h2]Poll 79[/h2]

Originally posted by author
UPDATE: You can expect the final two rounds of Poll 79 changes to roll out in late June and early July, after the Bounty Hunter update next week. Things can always change but we'll do the best we can to keep you up to date!

Let us know which of the remaining changes you want most using the traditional '< INSERT CONTENT HERE > when?’ format.

Let's take a look at the other Poll 79 changes coming your way this week!

Gorilla Warfare

Say goodbye to the frustration of guessing when Tortured and Demonic Gorillas change attack styles, because now there's a clear audio indicator. You'll know exactly when the switch occurs because the Gorilla will let out a bone-chilling scream, accompanied by a menacing sound effect. Please note that this isn’t the case for real-life gorillas.

Additionally, to prevent the annoyance of encountering partially killed gorillas left behind by other players, Demonic and Tortured Gorillas will now reset after a certain period of time without active combat.



Noisier Hunllef

While we’re on the topic of audio cues, we’ve also added some new ones to the Hunllef boss fight!

This nightmarish beast will now growl in varying pitches (how musical!) for a few cycles before changing its attack style. The pitch of the growl will indicate which attack style the Hunllef is switching to, which will let you keen-eared adventurers change your own tactics.

Scaly Blue Dragonhides

Scaly Blue Dragonhides have been added as drops from:
  • Baby blue dragons (1/100)
  • Adult blue dragons (1/50)
  • Brutal blue dragons (1/33)
  • Vorkath (1/10)

To clarify, this is an addition to the existing loot table, not a replacement. It’s a win all round!

While we were testing this, we also noticed that turning Hides into Scales could use some love. From now on, cutting any Hide in your Inventory will process any others you have automatically, although it will still be faster to click each one individually.

Now, go take down some dragons!
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[h2]C++ Client[/h2]

A new setting has been added to the settings menu which will allow you to turn off item prices on the ground overlay.



Loot Tracker

Following the launch of this highly-anticipated update, we’re pleased to announce that we’ve ironed out a few bugs. The Loot Tracker will now correctly recognise and display the following:
  • Pest Control rewards including Coins and Commendation Points.
  • The Chaos Elemental pet, whether it follows you or hides in your Inventory.
  • Barbarian Assault gambling rewards.
  • Logs from Bruma Roots – note that both the source and the loot itself will now appear correctly.
  • Herbs from sprouting roots.
XP Tracker

Prior to last week’s update the XP Tracker had a setting which allowed players to toggle it on or off. However, last week this setting got removed. This meant that players who had the XP Tracker turned off before the update couldn’t turn it back on anymore! What a muddle – luckily, we’ve sorted it this week, and players who were stuck in this situation should now be able to find the relevant settings on their next log-in.

Broadcast System

Some of you may have seen strange behaviour from the Broadcast System following the engine changes launched in last week’s update. We hope this gave you and your fellow Clan members a good giggle! Rest assured that the problem has now been fixed.
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[h2]Other Changes[/h2]

  • References to ‘clans’ in the Soul Wars minigame have been removed and replaced with a clearer message stating that players must be in the same chat channel.
  • Renamed the Soul Wars ‘Clan’ waiting area to the ‘Group’ waiting area.
  • Activity HiScores that previously had a minimum KC of 10 have been expanded; the new minimum is 5. Players currently in the 5-9 range should find their scores are added gradually after some more gaming sessions. This is normally the part where we’d tell you that this update is part of an ongoing process, but this is the last one! Hooray!

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[h2]World Switcher Changes (Next Week)[/h2]

In next week's update, the world switcher will receive new icons! We wanted to give you a heads up before these changes go live.

For clarity, here is the current appearance of the world switcher:



This is how the world switcher will look after the proposed update next week. Can you spot the subtle differences?



Indeed, the new icons are more stylish!

But, more importantly, these new icons will make it easier for players to quickly identify the world type.

Here is the full list of new icons proposed for the game update next week:



The stars have undergone subtle modifications, and notable differences include a skull symbol instead of a star for the deadman world, a clock symbol for the speedrunning world, and the introduction of a purple world marked with a β, indicating a beta world, among others. The icons on the dark blue worlds represent 'no save game' worlds, such as tournament beta worlds or special event worlds, while the green icon represents Leagues, and the icon on the yellow world is for Fresh Start Worlds.

While the new icons were primarily introduced for beta world types, we have also incorporated a few other world types. As mentioned, we aim to convey their nature beyond just using colours.

We plan to implement these updates to the world switcher next week, but we'd like to hear your feedback first. Please let us know if you like the changes and if we can proceed with them. Your feedback is valuable to us!
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[h2]PvP Rota[/h2]

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 'Max/Med' loadouts in Ranked Duels and Tournaments this week.
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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.

Mods Arcane, Archie, Argo, Ash, Ayiza, Boko, Bruno, Chilly, Crystal, Curse, Daizong, Dylan, Ed, Elena, Errol, Fed, Gecko, Gizmo, Goblin, Grub, Halo, Hend, Hornet, Husky, Jalo, Jerv, Keyser, Kieren, Kirby, Kurotou, Lenny, Light, Mack, Manked, Markos, Maylea, Meat, Moogle, Morty, Nin, Nylu, Other, Pumpkin, Redfield, Regent, Roq, Ry, Sarnie, Shroom, Sigma, Skylark, Sova, Squid, Starry, Stevew, Surma, Sween, Tide, Titus, Torrance, Tyran, Veda, Vegard, West & Wolfy

The Old School Team.

Ground Items, Loot Tracking & More! | Weekly Game Update (May 10th)

This week’s update includes several updates for the C++ Client!
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[h2]Changelog: May 10th[/h2]

[expand]

C++ Client (Mobile & Steam)
  • Added Ground Item Indicators and the Loot Tracker.
  • Added a new Master Volume slider to the Sound Options interface.
  • Players on the Steam version of the C++ Client now have Anti-Aliasing options.
Jagex Accounts Feedback
  • We want to hear from you! Tell us about your experience with the new Jagex Accounts system or why you're hesitant to upgrade.
Other Changes
  • Expanded Activity HiScores from a minimum KC of 15 to a minimum KC of 10. Players in the 10-15 range should find their scores are added gradually after some more gaming sessions. This change is part of a long-term project to expand the HiScores, which we’re undertaking in small steps to reduce the load on the system.
  • Updated the Observatory Assistant’s animation to stop it from freezing.
  • Added a more convenient chat option to restart the target minigame in the Ranging Guild.
  • The Clue Helper now specifies the correct type of Greenman’s Ale when a mature one is required.
  • Sigmund no longer wanders off in the middle of cutscenes.
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]
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[h2]C++ Client Updates[/h2]

We're back with a long-awaited update for the C++ Client! Are you ready to level up your loot? Let's take a look.

Remember: these features will only be available on Mobile (Android and iOS) and Steam!

Ground Item Indicators


Keep your eye on the prize with Ground Item Indicators! This handy feature makes it easier to identify what’s on the floor, whether that’s random items scattered across Gielinor or some shiny new loot.

You can find this feature on the sidebar - make sure to enable it in the Popout Settings! By default, indicators show the item’s name and it’s Grand Exchange value, but there’s a plethora of options available to customise your experience.

Settings... all the wonderful settings!

You'll be able to customise up to five tiers of loot, arranged by value. Filter out stuff under a certain value, change the colour of the highlight, and more!

Aside from making everything pretty, you’ll also be able to change between the G.E. and Alchemy value of each item, indicate when an item is about to despawn, and show when an item is visible to other players around you. It’s all designed to help you keep on top of your precious loot!

Here's what it looks like when you've got despawn and visibility options on.

We’ve also included a handy Edit Mode, which lets you interact with the items around you to hide or highlight certain objects.

To make things even easier, you can use filters to remove certain items from the indicator. For example, if you don’t want to see any items with the word ‘Bones’ in the name, you can type *Bones into the filter list and it will remove any item containing that word from your indicator. Pretty cool, right?

This shot shows off the easy-to-use 'Edit Mode'

Loot Tracker

Next up, we've got the Loot Tracker, a handy little tool that will keep a tally of all the goodies you've acquired on your adventures.

Tracking through time!

The tracker will only show a total of 10 sources at any one time, but will retain memory of any previous loot you’ve tracked. For example, if you kill 10 guards and then chop 10 trees, only the latter will appear in the Loot Tracker – but if you kill another guard, then you’ll see all your previous loot and the newly-acquired drops.

Just like the Ground Item Indicators, you’ll be able to filter what loot is tracked using the Options menu, and even hide options in the Side Bar!

Hovering over the objects in the Tracker will let you see either the G.E. price or Alchemy value.

You can also expand or minimise the individual tabs, or clear them by right-clicking and closing them.

On the left, you've got G.E. prices, some tabs expanded and ignored objects shown. On the right, Alchemy prices, all tabs minimised and ignored objects not shown. The wonders of technology!

Other Updates

Before we go, we’ve got two smaller but meaningful options for you.

First up, we have the Master Volume slider that will help you pump up the volume on every sound in the game – or mute them all just in time for your next Zoom call.



Meanwhile, those of you using the Steam version of the C++ Client will now be able to access some slick Anti-Aliasing features that’ll make your experience smoother than ever.


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[h2]Jagex Accounts Feedback[/h2]

It’s been over a month since Jagex Accounts went into Open Beta, and you know what that means – it’s time for a feedback survey!

Whether you’re already enjoying improved account security or you’re yet to give Jagex Accounts a try, we’re keen to hear your thoughts on this new and exciting step forward.

You know the drill by now – click the button below to start the survey!


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[h2]Other Changes[/h2]

With last week’s update to Combat Achievements, we were made aware of an issue where Ghommal’s Hilt 1 could be used at Barrows to negate the Prayer Drain effect. As we’d intended for this benefit to only be made available from Medium Tier and above rewards, we’ve fixed the bug – you’ll need Ghommal’s Hilt 2 or above to access this benefit.

As for this week’s other changes:
  • Expanded Activity HiScores from a minimum KC of 15 to a minimum KC of 10. Players in the 10-15 range should find their scores are added gradually after some more gaming sessions. This change is part of a long-term project to expand the HiScores, which we’re undertaking in small steps to reduce the load on the system.
  • Updated the Observatory Assistant’s animation to stop it from freezing.
  • Added a more convenient chat option to restart the target minigame in the Ranging Guild.
  • The Clue Helper now specifies the correct type of Greenman’s Ale when a mature one is required.
  • Sigmund no longer wanders off in the middle of cutscenes.

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[h2]Crack the Clue[/h2]

Woox has provided us all with another cryptic clue this week. This hint takes you back once again to our good friend the Chemist...


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[h2]Discord Stage[/h2]

Join us for a Discord Stages discussion this Friday with the team working on Old School RuneScape's first new skill!

This week, we're sharing our ideas for the navigational mechanics within Sailing, as well as how Gielinor's map and sea-scale should work. If all goes well, we expect to share a more detailed blog on this topic with you sometime next week.

It's a great chance to submit your questions live for us and get them answered directly by the J-Mods, including those who work in our engine team!

The New Skill Player Council Discord is open to everyone, so make sure you're in the server to share your feedback and keep up-to-date.

Excited yet? Be sure to register your interest so you don't miss out here.

We'll see you on Friday at 15:15 BST!

If you're unable to make it, don't worry! We'll endeavour to record the session for those who missed it to easily catch up.
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[h2]PvP World Rota[/h2]

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.
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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.

Mods Arcane, Archie, Argo, Ash, Ayiza, Boko, Bruno, Chilly, Crystal, Curse, Daizong, Dylan, Ed, Elena, Errol, Fed, Gecko, Gizmo, Goblin, Grub, Halo, Hend, Hornet, Husky, Jalo, Jerv, Keyser, Kieren, Kirby, Kurotou, Lenny, Light, Mack, Manked, Markos, Maylea, Meat, Moogle, Morty, Nin, Nylu, Other, Pumpkin, Redfield, Regent, Roq, Ry, Sarnie, Shroom, Sigma, Skylark, Sova, Squid, Starry, Stevew, Surma, Sween, Tide, Titus, Torrance, Tyran, Veda, Vegard, West & Wolfy

The Old School Team.

Points-Based Combat Achievements | Weekly Game Update (May 3rd)

This week in Old School RuneScape, we’re introducing points-based Combat Achievements!
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[h2]Points-Based Combat Achievements[/h2]



It’s the update you’ve been waiting for! Many of you have been holding off on completing your Combat Achievements until the promised rework from Poll 79 launches – well, today’s the day, so you’ve got no excuses now!

Under the new points-based system, tasks are worth a number of points equal to their tier. Every task you complete will contribute to your point total. Naturally, the harder the task, the more points you’ll receive!

This provides a number of benefits, the main one being that all the awesome rewards available from Combat Achievements can now be unlocked with any combination of said Achievements, instead of having to complete an entire tier!

We hope the new system will encourage players to try out harder tasks earlier in their account progress, instead of feeling like there was no point trying until they were ready to complete the entire tier.

Since it’s been a while since the Poll 79 blog, here’s a refresher on how the new system works:

Step One



Complete a task and earn points. You can see how many points each task is worth beneath the task on the interface. You’ll also see a progress bar, which tells you how close you are to your next unlock!

Check out the table below to see how many points each task tier is worth:

Combat Achievement Tier
No. of Tasks
Points per Task
Rewards Threshold
Easy
33
1
33 Points
Medium
41
2
115 Points
Hard
63
3
304 Points
Elite
129
4
820 Points
Master
129
5
1465 Points
Grandmaster
90
6
2005 Points


Step Two



When you’ve earned enough points to fill the green progress bar, you’ll unlock a new reward!

This interface works similarly to the ones found in Leagues modes – and just like Leagues, you can plan ahead and get a sneak peek at unlocks beyond your current tier!

Step Three

Reap your rewards! It’s really that simple!

You’ll also notice the following improvements to the Combat Achievements interface:
  • Tier icons have changed size from 32 to 24px.
  • Boss models will now spin when they’re supposed to!

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[h2]Further Poll 79 Changes[/h2]

Although our new Combat Achievements system gets its own special section, we haven’t forgotten about the other changes you voted for in Poll 79! Let’s take a look at the improvements we’ve made this week…

Abyssal Lantern

While developing our new Runecraft minigame, Guardians of the Rift, we decided that it would be more thematically appropriate for players to obtain the Abyssal Lantern from the Reward Rift, rather than having to buy it from Saradominist wizards.

However, this meant that the reward was totally reliant on RNG, which isn’t particularly fair, especially considering that we originally polled the Lantern as a reward from the shop.

In this week’s update, we’re allowing players to purchase the Abyssal Lantern for the first time. While it won’t be available in the Reward Shop for the aforementioned lore reasons, players can purchase it directly from Felix for 1,500 Abyssal Pearls. In the course of this conversation, Felix will explain how the wizards got hold of this unholy artefact… to learn more, go and have a chat with him!

Looting Bag

Players can now purchase the Looting Bag from any Slayer master for 10 Slayer Points. This should be a welcome change for Ultimate Iron players, as it means the Looting Bag is now obtainable without having to engage in PvP content if they do not wish to.

Trouver Parchments

The Wilderness Slayer loot table has been adjusted such that two Trouver Parchments will now drop at a time, instead of just one.
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[h2]Other Changes[/h2]



Chambers of Xeric

We’ve added a storage chest in the Chambers of Xeric lobby which functions as a Bank! Now it’s easier than ever to swap gear before diving into the raid.

While we’re at it, we’ve also added two storage units to the Great Olm’s antechamber, meaning last-minute gearing up and restocking can happen without anyone having to clamber up a rope!

Please note that you can only use the Bank interface before the raid begins – once it’s started, the interface will close.

Here’s this week’s smaller changes:
  • Wilderness Weapons and the Bracelet of Ethereum now have a ‘Add-X’ function when charging.
  • Expanded Activity HiScores from a minimum KC of 20 to a new minimum of 15. You know the drill by now; players currently in the 15-19 KC range should find their scores are added gradually over their next few gaming sessions. This change is part of a long-term project to expand the HiScores, which we’re undertaking in small steps to relieve the load on the system.
  • The ‘Check’ option on charged weapons from the Wilderness Boss Rework no longer displays when the Bank is open, meaning they can now be equipped more conveniently.
  • Fixed a typo in the Rune Mysteries quest.
  • Players may once again automatically remove permanently muted or banned players from their Ignore list. The removal process runs roughly once each day, rather than continuously, to reduce the load on our systems.
  • Reduced the active area of the Minimap where it overlaps with the Wiki button. Players who have the Wiki button enabled while using the fixed-size display mode on desktop devices will find that clicking it no longer triggers Minimap walk requests.
  • Disabled the Party Room in Quest Speedrunning worlds.
  • Adjusted the Quest Speedrunning Diamond Trophy for Dragon Slayer 2 from 70 minutes to 60 minutes.
  • Fixed a bug where Quick Prayers were not turning off consistently in PvP.
  • Fixed a bug with a Falador Easy Achievement Diary task following the recent makeover changes.
Easter Event

The Easter event has now been removed. We hope you had a wonderful time experiencing Mod Manked's first-ever project!
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[h2]Discord Stages[/h2]



Join us for a Discord Stages discussion today with the development team working on Old School RuneScape's first new skill!

We'll be chatting podcast-style to hear dev thoughts following community feedback on the refinement survey for Sailing. It's a great chance to submit your questions live and get more insight from the Old School team. Plus, who doesn't love talking statistics?

The New Skill Player Council Discord is open to everyone, so make sure you're in the server to keep up with our smaller updates throughout the next few months. Be sure to register your interest here. We'll see you there at 16:00 BST!
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[h2]PvP Rota[/h2]

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.
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[h2]Free Comic Book Day[/h2]

This Saturday, May 6th, you can celebrate Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) with a special RuneScape comic available totally free from participating shops. You’ll get hold of some Fr33 ST00f while supporting your local comic book store – it’s a win-win!



Use the Official Free Comic Book Day Store Locator to see where you can get your mitts on a copy. Simply input your postcode (or zip code) and hit enter, and the Locator will generate a list of participating shops near you. Then all you need to do is pick a friendly local comic shop from the list and show up on May 6th to get your free comic!



This is a special 12-page RuneScape comic which shares early details of the four-part Untold Tales of the God Wars series, slated to release later this year – and a Graphic Novel is on the way in 2024!

Keep your eyes peeled for more details about the full series and some special cover artists soon – and don’t miss your free sneak preview on the 6th!
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Crack the Clue

Woox has provided us all with another cryptic clue this week. This hint is related to the clue obtained by the Chemist!



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.

Mods Arcane, Archie, Argo, Ash, Ayiza, Boko, Bruno, Chilly, Crystal, Curse, Daizong, Dylan, Ed, Elena, Errol, Fed, Gecko, Gizmo, Goblin, Grub, Halo, Hend, Hornet, Husky, Jalo, Jerv, Keyser, Kieren, Kirby, Kurotou, Lenny, Light, Mack, Manked, Markos, Maylea, Meat, Moogle, Morty, Nin, Nylu, Other, Pumpkin, Redfield, Regent, Roq, Ry, Sarnie, Shroom, Sigma, Skylark, Sova, Squid, Starry, Stevew, Surma, Sween, Tide, Titus, Torrance, Tyran, Veda, Vegard, West & Wolfy

The Old School Team.

Makeover Improvements | Weekly Game Update (April 18th)



Issues and Hotfixes
Last Updated
Issues Raised
Current Progress
Status
10:45 BST - April 18th
Very rarely, some combinations of hair, facial hair, and hair colour will show the incorrect chathead.
The team are investigating this issue.
INVESTIGATING


As we prepare for our next Game Jam, it’s time for a makeover!

Changelog April 18th

[expand]

No Update Next Week
  • There won't be a game update next week as the team will be participating in our first Game Jam of 2023!
Makeover Improvements
  • New hairstyles are now available!
  • Added five new colours for hairstyles and beards.
  • Updated the hairstyle selection interface.
  • A new hair salon has opened in Varrock, offering free haircuts for all.
  • Hairstyles can now be used on any player model.
  • As a bonus, the dresser in the Player-Owned House has received an update. Previously, the player could interact with the dresser to get a random haircut. Now most dressers let you choose your hairstyle freely.
Bounty Hunter & Desert Treasure II
  • The Beta worlds that featured the content from Bounty Hunter & Desert Treasure II have been closed.
Fresh Start Worlds
  • Fresh Start Worlds are now officially over!
  • All accounts will be automatically transferred to the main game, unless players have Grand Exchange offers active on Fresh Start Worlds. These offers will be cancelled, but players may log in to reclaim the items before migrating the account to the main game.
Other Changes
  • Poll 79: Players can now purchase the Looting Bag from any Slayer Master for 10 Slayer Points, as long as they do not already own one.
  • The effects of poison on Penance healers have been restored.
    • This change only applies within the Barbarian Assault minigame.
  • Enemy death messages in Barbarian Assault are now colour-coded.
  • A red chat message will now appear when using the wrong poison on a Penance healer in Barbarian Assault.
  • Fixed a bug which created double the expected number of poison hitsplats.
  • Activity HiScores have once again been expanded to a minimum Kill Count of 20, up from 25. Players who meet the requirement can expect to see their HiScores added soon. As a reminder, we’re making this change gradually to ease the load on the system, so you can expect to see more small steps like this in the coming weeks.
  • Players who completed Monkey Madness without unlocking the Showdown and Suspicious music tracks will now have them unlocked automatically.
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]
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[h2]Game Jam: April 2023[/h2]

We're getting ready for the very first Game Jam of 2023! Due to this, there will be NO GAME UPDATE next week, meaning you can enjoy the Easter Event for a little bit longer!

For those of you that are unfamiliar with Game Jam, it's our new ideation process where team members from across all sectors of the Old School Team join forces to create some killer content pitches!

This will all be shared in the May Edition of the Gielinor Gazette and you can follow along with everything that is happening by keeping an eye on our socials and using the hashtag #OSRSGameJam to see teasers and interact with the devs!
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[h2]Makeover Improvements[/h2]



For the last 20 years, Gielinor’s hairdressing industry has been a monopoly overseen by a single ponytailed gentleman and a hamster with the most powerful legs in the region. It’s time for some fresh blood, and that’s where Emma and Suzie come in!



These fashionable sisters have opened up a new salon in East Varrock, where you can get fully prepared for your next FashionScape event on World 330!

Emma has introduced some very chic new hairstyles for you to sport about town, so chat to her for a new 'do of your choice. The best part? Her services are absolutely FREE! What a revolution!



As a bonus, hairstyles are no longer dependent on your chosen character model – you can sport whatever lovely locks you like!

We’ve also made changes to the hairstyle-changing interface. You’ll find that it’s easier than ever to decide on a new ‘do – and it’s a good job, because we’ve added five new fabulous hair colours for you to try.

You can also pause the rotating preview by clicking it!

For any of you that have built a dresser in your Player-Owned House, we've changed the way these work by removing the option to give you a random haircut and instead, most dressers will now let you choose your hairstyle freely.

So, what are you waiting for? Head to the new salon today, and style yourself silly! Chop chop!
[hr][/hr]
[h2]Desert Treasure II Beta[/h2]

The Beta worlds for Bounty Hunter & Desert Treasure II have now been closed. We'd like to thank everyone for their participation and feedback!

Initially, this section was going to outline a handful of changes to drain rates, show off some new icons for the Ruinous Powers and dive a little into our thoughts following all of your feedback from this first week of beta testing.

However, this week we've made the decision to end the beta for now. We're extremely grateful for all of the feedback you've shared with us so far, but with a Game Jam, external playtests and bank holidays on the horizon as well as polishing up the quest and bosses themselves - we don't feel we're in a position to make significant changes to the rewards in beta, and it's clear that significant changes are needed to get these rewards into a healthier spot.

With everything you've shared so far, we'll be taking some time to iterate and improve behind the scenes, before opening up another beta some time in May actioning many of the changes - using the extra time to put together a better offering that we feel absolutely nails it.

We'll be taking a deeper look at the Ruinous Powers and their level of power, the effects of other rewards like Virtus or the upgraded Ancient sceptres, and considering a large point of feedback that the rewards perhaps feel like a little too much all at once.

Keep an eye out in May for fresh blogs and betas concerning all things Desert Treasure II - The Fallen Empire.
[hr][/hr]


Fresh Start Worlds are now officially over! Thank you to everyone who took part in our experiment. We hope you all enjoyed your time playing in a world with a fresh economy and firsts!

Accounts that were created on a Fresh Start World will now automatically be transferred into the main game, meaning you'll be able to continue enjoying your gains! The only exceptions are accounts that have any active Grand Exchange offers on a Fresh Start World.

These offers will be automatically cancelled – but don’t worry, players are free to log into World 423 (Members) or 565 (F2P) to reclaim the items involved.

You will need to do this before migrating your account to the main game.
[hr][/hr]
[h2]Other Changes[/h2]
  • The effects of poison on Penance healers have been restored.
    • This change only applies within the Barbarian Assault minigame.
  • Enemy death messages in Barbarian Assault are now colour-coded.
  • A red chat message will now appear when using the wrong poison on a Penance healer in Barbarian Assault.
  • Added a Bank Chest to the Chambers of Xeric lobby and two storage units to The Great Olm’s antechamber. No more rope-climbing to sort out your supplies!
  • Fixed a bug which created double the expected number of poison hitsplats. Yowch!
  • Activity HiScores have once again been expanded to a minimum Kill Count of 20, up from 25. Players who meet the requirement can expect to see their HiScores added soon. As a reminder, we’re making this change gradually to ease the load on the system, so you can expect to see more small steps like this in the coming weeks.
  • Players who completed Monkey Madness without unlocking the Showdown and Suspicious music tracks will now have them unlocked automatically.

[hr][/hr]
[h2]Crack the Clue[/h2]

Woox has provided us all with another cryptic clue this week. This hint is related to the actions performed by the Mysterious Old Man...


[hr][/hr]
[h2]PvP World Rota[/h2]

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.
[hr][/hr]
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.

Mods Arcane, Archie, Argo, Ash, Ayiza, Boko, Bruno, Chilly, Crystal, Curse, Daizong, Dylan, Ed, Elena, Errol, Fed, Gecko, Gizmo, Goblin, Grub, Halo, Hend, Hornet, Husky, Jalo, Jerv, Keyser, Kieren, Kirby, Kurotou, Lenny, Light, Mack, Manked, Markos, Maylea, Meat, Moogle, Morty, Nin, Nylu, Other, Pumpkin, Redfield, Regent, Roq, Ry, Sarnie, Shroom, Sigma, Skylark, Sova, Squid, Starry, Stevew, Surma, Sween, Tide, Titus, Torrance, Tyran, Veda, Vegard, West & Wolfy

The Old School Team.

Desert Treasure II Beta Rewards | Weekly Game Update (April 12th)


This week we’re letting you try out the rewards from Desert Treasure II, including the Ruinous Powers!
[hr][/hr]
[h2]Changelog - April 12th[/h2]

[expand]

Desert Treasure II - Rewards Beta
  • Players can now test out all the rewards from Desert Treasure II and the post-quest bosses, including four new rings, Ancient Sceptre upgrades, Virtus Armour, The Ruinous Powers Prayer Book and the community-designed weapon!
Poll 79
  • Slayer Masters can now increase the number of Revenants received per task.
  • Players will now be guaranteed a Slepey Tablet at 100 Phosani’s Nightmare Kill Count. Players who already meet this requirement will receive the Tablet on their next kill.
  • Larran's Keys are now tradeable and sellable on the Grand Exchange.
Other Changes
  • Artio, Calvar'ion and Spindel have been added to the HiScores.
  • A display unit from Varrock Museum has been extracted from inside a wall.
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]
[hr][/hr]
[h2]Desert Treasure II - Rewards Beta[/h2]



This year’s most-anticipated sequel is drawing closer, and before you know it, you’ll be back in the Kharidian Desert to start your next big adventure!

But before then, we want you to feel confident in the rewards you’ll get for completing this epic quest. You’ve already given us the greenlight, and now it’s time to try the goods out for yourself.

Remember, the Beta worlds are separate from the main game, and shouldn’t affect anything on your main game save file.

To access the rewards beta, log in to any of the following worlds: 401, 405, 407, 409 or 412.

Please note: these worlds will include both rewards from Desert Treasure II and Bounty Hunter.

Beta Worlds: Tips & Tricks

Upon logging into the Beta worlds, you’ll find yourself at Ferox Enclave - a familiar sight for those of you who’ve participated in previous Betas!

Something less familiar, though, will be the items you have in your Inventory: all the rewards from Desert Treasure II (with some placeholder models, of course):

  • Four best-in-slot rings: Ring of True Blood, Ring of True Shadow, Ring of True Smoke & Ring of True Ice
  • Four upgraded Ancient Sceptres: Blood Variant, Ice Variant, Smoke Variant & Shadow Variant
  • Three pieces of Virtus Robes: Mask, Robe Top & Robe Bottoms
  • Soulreaper Axe: A 2h Axe that will be created by combining the four pieces dropped by the post-quest bosses that was a community-designed weapon inspired by moronijess' design
I DO SO LIKE GREEN EGGS AND HAM!

You’ll also find a Weird Green Egg in your Inventory. This is not a reward. This fine fellow is the Boss Helper Tool, and it’ll let you access a plethora of options to make your testing experience smoother:

  • Teleports: This will provide teleports (shocking!) to every boss encounter in the game.
  • All Gear: You can only use this option near a bank! Using this option will open up the Tournament Supplies Interface where you can grab a handful of other goodies you might want for your testing time.
  • Gear Loadouts: This provides a handful of relatively 'standard' setups.
  • New Items: Using this will give the player all of the new items for DT2 (all of the rings, Virtus Robes, all of the Ancient Sceptre upgrades, the community-designed weapon).
  • Swap Prayerbook / Spellbook: This lets you swap your Prayerbook or Spellbook – perfect for testing out the new Ruinous Powers!

While you’re at the Tournament Supplies chest in the Enclave, you’ll be able to see two options: ‘Gear’ and ‘Stats’.

The ‘Gear’ option lets you pick out a specific item using the ‘Search’ feature. You can also use the ‘Loadouts’ tab to get all the gear Loadouts available on the Egg.

The ‘Stats’ option lets you change your skills to whatever value you’d like – as tempting as it is to give yourself UNLIMITED POWER, please do try the new items out at different levels!

This table covered in tiny chests might come in handy!

You can also use the Altar in the Enclave to swap your Spellbook – or, if you’ve gone further afield, you can head to your Player Owned House, which has been magically kitted out with an Occult Altar, an Ornate Jewellery Box, an Ornate Rejuvination Pool and a maxed-out Portal Nexus. No wild parties, please!

Finally, you can make use of the aptly-named Handy Portal on the west side of the Enclave to teleport to various useful places.

You can find a more detailed rundown in our previous Bounty Hunter Beta newspost.

Now that you’ve settled into the Beta worlds, let’s see what you’ll be testing!
[hr][/hr]
[h2]Desert Treasure II - Rewards[/h2]
The placeholder text on the axe will not be featured in game.

While some secrets lie buried deep, others have been scattered to the winds. Four remnants of a forgotten, fallen empire, untouched and undiscovered for lifetimes.

Duke Sucellus. Vardorvis. The Leviathan. The Whisperer. Are you prepared to uncover the mysteries… of what these bosses are going to drop?

New Best-in-Slot Rings

[expand]

After you've completed the quest you can go back and fight the four bosses for a chance to bag yourself one of the mighty rings of power!

Ring of True Blood
  • +12 Melee Strength
Ring of True Ice
  • +15 Magic
  • +2% Magic Damage
Ring of True Smoke
  • +10 Ranged
  • +2 Ranged Strength
Ring of True Shadow
  • +12 Slash Bonus
  • +4 Melee Strength

[/expand]
Ancient Sceptre Upgrades

[expand]

Requirements:
  • 75 Magic
  • 60 Strength
  • 50 Attack


Attach one of these swanky little gems to your Ancient Sceptre and you’ll empower the associated Ancient Element by 35% while giving the other Elements a 10% buff (as the Ancient sceptre already does) to boot!

Blood ancient sceptre

Blood spells heal for more. Usually these heal for 25% of damage dealt, but this bloody sceptre will have you leeching harder than your fellow raiders!
  • 25% x 1.35 = 33.75% heal.
  • 1.35 is the multiplier as a result of 35% increase.
Ice ancient sceptre

Stop! Sceptre time. This Icy weapon will hold your opponents in place long enough for the Empty Lord to rise again...
  • Rush - 8 ticks (4.8s) -> 10 ticks (6s)
  • Burst - 16 ticks (9.6s) -> 21 ticks (12.6s)
  • Blitz - 24 ticks (14.4s) -> 32 ticks (19.2s)
  • Barrage - 32 ticks (19.2s) -> 43 ticks (25.8s)
Smoke ancient sceptre

Use this if you're looking to inflict your opponents with a particularly tenacious toxin!
  • Rush/burst - poison severity increased from 10 to 13.
  • Blitz/barrage - poison severity increased from 20 to 27.

Poison severity can be a little confusing, but we'll try to put it simply:

Whenever poison damage is dealt, the game calculates (Poison Severity + 4) divided by 5. For Smoke barrage using the Smoke ancient sceptre, this works out as (27 + 4) divided by 5, meaning whoever you've poisoned will be dealt 6 damage. After this poison tick, the poison severity is reduced by 1, and the poison damage calculation repeats until the Poison Severity hits 0.

Note if you're trying to work anything out for yourself that Old School almost always rounds down, so if your poison damage looks like a 6.2, it'll round down to a sensible 6!

Shadow ancient sceptre

This will increase the amount you lower your target's Attack level (or other stats if used in conjunction with Virtus' robes, more on that below!)
  • Rush and Burst spells have had their Stat drain increased from 10% to 13%
  • Blitz and Barrage spells have had their Stat drain increased from 15% to 20%

[/expand]
Virtus Robes

[expand]

Requirements:
  • 75 Defence
  • 80 Magic


While fighting the four post-quest bosses, you’ll be able to obtain components – one from each boss. Combine them, and you can make pieces of the coveted Virtus Armour. We’re yet to determine how much of each component you’ll need, but we can say that you’ll need to fight each boss at least once to assemble the full armour set.

On the plus side, the pieces of the Virtus Armour are tradeable and do not degrade. When worn, each piece gives a 4% damage increase to all Ancient spells. Wearing all three pieces also nets you a set effect that buffs Ancient spells:
  • Smoke spells reduce healing by 30% while the target is poisoned.
  • Shadow spells also drain Strength, Ranged, Magic and Defence as well as Attack.
  • Blood spells can heal up to 20% over the player's max Hitpoints.
  • Ice spells have 10% additional accuracy against frozen targets.
Virtus Mask



Virtus Robe Top



Virtus Robe Legs


[/expand]
Soulreaper Axe

[expand]

Requirements:
  • 80 Attack
  • 80 Strength

Each of the four bosses fought after the quest will have a chance of dropping a specific item that is used to make this axe, meaning players must kill all four bosses to assemble it.

Every time the player attacks with the axe, they will take 8 damage and gain a stack of the buff. For each stack of the buff, they will gain 6% bonus Strength level. The stacks cap at 5.

While equipped, the player has an overridden Special Attack bar that shows the number of stacks they have. They can use the special attack while they have 1 or more stacks, to consume all of their stacks to deal a bigger hit.

The special attack gains 6% bonus accuracy per stack, in addition to the previous 6% bonus strength. Regardless of if the attack hits or not, the player will then be healed by (8 x Stacks consumed), regaining all the health they spent obtaining the stacks. Players will not take damage if they cannot gain a stack, and don't gain a stack if they cannot take damage.


[/expand]
[hr][/hr]
Desert Treasure II - The Ruinous Powers

Look at all those Prayer Icons!

Now onto the most significant of all of those rewards - the Ruinous Powers, Old School's first-ever new Prayer book. With given you a breakdown from seen in the previous newspost, so be sure to check that out for some more context and most importantly, have fun!

Protection Prayers

[expand]

Deflect Melee / Magic / Ranged
  • Reduces damage from the appropriate style by 90% (36% in PvP scenarios), but has a 50% chance to deal 10% of the pre-mitigation damage back to the attacker.
  • For example, if you're using Deflect Melee and an NPC hits you with melee that would deal 49 damage, you'll receive 4 damage and deal 4 damage to the NPC.

[/expand]
Offensive Prayers

[expand]

Ancient Precision
  • +20% Attack
Ancient Strength
  • +20% Strength
Ancient Sight
  • +20% Ranged Attack
  • +20% Ranged Strength
Ancient Will
  • +20% Magic Attack
Trinitas
  • +15% Attack
  • +15% Strength
  • +15% Ranged Attack
  • +15% Ranged Strength
  • +15% Magic Attack
Decimate
  • +20% Attack
  • +30% Strength
Anihilate
  • +20% Ranged Attack
  • +30% Ranged Strength
Vaporise
  • +25% Magic Attack
  • +4% Magic Damage

[/expand]
Overhead Offensive Prayers

[expand]

Gambit
  • Provides +8% Accuracy in all styles when used.

Whether you're using this for better odds on hitting that juicy Dragon Warhammer Special attack or flicking between this and your protection prayers to maximise your damage output, we're confident players of all skill levels will be able to get value out of Gambit.

8% Accuracy might not look like much to some of you but combined with the other Offensive prayers above, finding any opportunity to throw Gambit into the mix will take your damage potential to new heights - even if it's something you only bring out for the occasional Special attack!

Rebuke
  • Increases your damage taken by 15%, reflects 15% of any damage dealt to you.

This is pure risk vs. reward. Sacrifice a protection prayer for a chance at unleashing a devastating Vengeance, or just passively recoil damage in scenarios where you don't feel like you need extra protection.

Vindication
  • When reduced below 10% of your maximum HP (without taking lethal damage), heal for 15% of your Prayer level and lose any remaining Prayer points.
  • For 6 seconds after Vindication triggers, your next attack will deal 10% bonus damage.

While it's not entirely offensive and could save your life in a pinch, a well-timed Vindication might serve as a means for you to turn your near-death scenario into a swift change of fortune.

[/expand]
Ancient Vows

[expand]

Cruor's Vow
  • While active, you have a 10% chance to heal 10% of damage dealt.

All this combat is thirsty work, consider keeping yourself topped up with a sanguine treat!

Glacies' Vow
  • While active, you have a 20% chance to deal bonus Magic damage.
  • This bonus damage rolls off of your equipped style against your target's Magic defence.
  • The damage dealt is 10% of your initial hit.

Chill your target to the bone and shatter them with some recurrent damage.

Umbra's Vow
  • While active, drain your opponent's Defence by 10% of your damage dealt.
  • Umbra's Vow respect the same limit as Shadow spells, meaning Defence cannot be lowered by more than 15% of its initial value.
  • This reduction would apply before other Defence reduction effects, meaning there's still value in using this alongside something like the Dragon Warhammer.

It's difficult to spend every waking moment with your guard up. Slip into the shadows and get the better of any terribly tanky opponent.

Defence reduction is extremely valuable in Old School these days. While the Accursed Sceptre introduced a means of lowering Defence from afar (a role previously only filled by the Bone crossbow), many players often feel like it's not worth the Special attack energy required. If you're able to pump the damage out, here's a reliable way of knocking those Defence values down (albeit with limited effectiveness compared to staples like the Dragon Warhammer or Bandos Godsword).

Fumus' Vow
  • While active, attacks consume 10% of your poison severity, to deal the same amount as bonus poison damage to an enemy.

This one's a little confusing and perhaps best-illustrated by an example plus a look at how poison actually works in Old School. We'll use the Alchemical Hydra's poison pool for our example.

When you're inflicted with poison, while it might look like a number that just says 'you're about to take this much damage', there's a little more going on under the hood.

The Alchemical Hydra's poison pool will inflict you with a poison severity of 30.

Every time poison damage ticks, the damage you take is equal to (poison severity + 4) all divided by 5. You take some damage, your poison severity decreases by 1, rinse and repeat.

In this example, the poison that these pools inflict you with will deal 6 damage. Since 30 + 4 is 34, divided by 5 gives 6.8, which we round down to 6.

With Fumus' Vow activated, your next attack after being inflicted with this poison will deal 3 additional damage, and reduce your poison severity to 27.

Ultimately, Fumus’ Vow means that you can remove poison faster while converting it to additional damage output. Practical and cool!
[/expand]
Utility Prayers

[expand]

Ruinous Grace
  • While active, drain Prayer Points instead of Run Energy.
  • This drain rate is modified by Prayer bonus and does not take into account effects like Stamina.
Ruinous Smite
  • While active, reduce both yours and your opponent's Prayer Points by 33% of your damage dealt.
Wrath
  • While active, deal damage equal to 25% of your Prayer level in a 5x5 radius around you on death.
Rejuvenation
  • While active, regenerate 1 HP every ~20 seconds.
Metabolise
  • Reduces action delay (not eat delay) by 0.6s after eating.
  • Similar to Preserve, must be active for some length of time (such as 15 seconds) before taking effect.
  • After this 'wind-up' time, deactivating Metabolise will reset your action delay to your weapon's attack speed or leave it unchanged - whichever of these values is greater

Eat food, get back to fighting more quickly. Simple enough! We spoke about this one further up in the blog but just to reiterate again, Metabolise being active does not mean you'll be able to eat multiple pieces of food more quickly than before.

Berserker
  • While active, combat stat boosts last 50% longer

[/expand]
That’s everything you can expect from the Beta! Do feel free to let us know what you think about the rewards through all the usual feedback channels – we’re eager to hear your thoughts. Once the Beta has concluded and we’ve made any major changes, we’ll be polling the Ruinous Powers to determine once and for all which of them will make it to the game… exciting stuff!
[hr][/hr]
[h2]Poll 79 Improvements[/h2]

Let’s lay Desert Treasure aside for a moment and check out the first batch of changes from our recent QoL poll!

First up, Slayer Masters are now selling the option to increase the number of Revenants received per task to between 100 to 150, up from 40 to 100. This upgrade costs 100 Slayer Points.

Speaking of slaying stuff, players are now guaranteed a Slepey Tablet at 100 Phosani’s Nightmare Kill Count. Those of you who’ve already defeated the gangly gal more than 100 times, or who somehow managed to lose their Slepey Tablet without using it, will receive it on their next kill. If you already have a tablet, you won’t gain another one – they don’t grow on trees, you know!

Finally, Larran’s Keys are now tradeable between players and sellable on the Grand Exchange. Yippee!
[hr][/hr]
[h2]Other Changes[/h2]

  • Artio, Calvar'ion and Spindel have been added to the HiScores.
  • Curators at the Varrock Museum have unearthed a display unit which was accidentally placed partway inside a wall. It’s now available to view in the proper place.

[hr][/hr]
[h2]Crack the Clue[/h2]

Woox has provided us all with another cryptic clue this week. This time, the clue is obtained by the Chemist... who that could be?



[hr][/hr]

[h2]PvP World Rota[/h2]

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.
[hr][/hr]
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.

Mods Arcane, Archie, Argo, Ash, Ayiza, Boko, Bruno, Chilly, Crystal, Curse, Daizong, Dylan, Ed, Elena, Errol, Fed, Gecko, Gizmo, Goblin, Grub, Halo, Hend, Hornet, Husky, Jalo, Jerv, Keyser, Kieren, Kirby, Kurotou, Lenny, Light, Mack, Manked, Markos, Maylea, Meat, Moogle, Morty, Nin, Nylu, Other, Pumpkin, Redfield, Regent, Roq, Ry, Sarnie, Shroom, Sigma, Skylark, Sova, Squid, Starry, Stevew, Surma, Sween, Tide, Titus, Torrance, Tyran, Veda, Vegard, West & Wolfy

The Old School Team.