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Below Ice Mountain



[h2]Hotfix Changes - April 16th[/h2]

After reviewing the effects of yesterday's hotfix and reading your feedback, some of the changed XP rates are going to be re-adjusted.

Our goal for the new dungeon Below Ice Mountain was to create a place where low-leveled, non-members get the chance to experience other types of Mining found in Gielinor (such as in the Motherlode Mine).

In line with that aim, the following will be implemented via hotfix today at approximately 14:15 BST:
  • The Mining XP when receiving a deposit is increasing from 24 to 32.
  • The Mining XP when receiving a shard is increasing from 12 to 16.
  • The chance of successfully mining Barronite at high Mining levels as been decreased, but the chance at low Mining levels as been increased.
  • The Mining buff has been increased from a 5% chance to 10% (the interface will be updated with our next game update).


All the feedback you've given is massively appreciated and we'll continue to monitor the changes and review any other suggestions you might have.

[hr][/hr]
[h2]Hotfix Changes - April 15th[/h2]

It's been amazing to see so many of you delve Below Ice Mountain! There's been a lot of feedback, and we've got some changes we'll be making based on what you've been saying.

The following will be implemented via hotfix today, at approximately 14:15 BST:

  • The base chance of getting a Barronite deposit when mining is increasing from 3% to 24%.
  • Unique items from Barronite are now 8x rarer to receive, with the Broken hammer being 3x rarer.
  • Relics within the ruins are becoming slightly rarer as well.
  • The Mining XP you receive from the deposits will decrease from 250 to 28.
  • The Smithing XP you receive from the deposits will decrease from 37.5 to 10.
  • The Mining XP you receive from shards will decrease from 25 to 12.
  • The Mining buff now gives a 5% chance of success when Mining, rather than 5% additional deposits.


The team hope you continue to enjoy the content in our newest game update. We'll keep on monitoring activity in the ruins and adjust issues accordingly as per feedback.

[hr][/hr]
[h2]Issues and Hotfixes (April 15th)[/h2]

[expand]
Issues Raised
Current Progress
(12:50 BST) World 345 is currently offline.
(April 15th - 13:30 BST)World 345 is now back online. We're sorry for any inconvenience, and we'll continue to monitor the game world for any further issues.
(12:50 BST) Players interacting with the same inactive Golem will cause the NPC disappear.
(14:00 BST) This issue is has now been resolved
(12:50 BST) Players are receiving a game message upon login about obtaining Graceful items even if they haven't got any.
(13:50 BST) This issue is has now been resolved
(12:55 BST) Some held items are not appearing correctly within the Below Ice Mountain cutscenes.
(13:30 BST) This issue is has now been resolved.
(14:55 BST) Some relics from the Ice Mountain dungeon are not unlocking as intended within the Collection Log.
(16:20 BST) This has been fixed for anyone that now unlocks the relic pieces. For players that have already received a relic piece, you can now speak to Ramarno to update your Collection Log.
(15:10 BST) Clicking out of the cutscene with Burntof will not allow players to progress with the quest.
(15:40 BST) This issue is has now been resolved.
(15:10 BST) Traps in the Vault within the Ice Mountain dungeon will block all players from walking once it spawns.
(15:40 BST) This issue is currently being investigated
(15:30 BST) Players Brimhaven Graceful items are still not appearing correctly in the Collection Log.
(17:00 BST) This issue should now be resolved. For any players that are still having issues, speak to Pirate Jackie to update your Collection Log correctly.

[/expand]

It's time to uncover the secrets of Ice Mountain in our new free-to-play quest! We've also tweaked Tempoross and souped-up the seedbox. Read on for more!

[hr][/hr]
[h2]Below Ice Mountain[/h2]

Willow, an energetic archaeologist (perhaps suspiciously so) is hunting for her next big discovery. She believes she has found the entrance to ancient underground ruins just to the west of Ice Mountain. There's a catch though - it's sealed tight and she needs to re-unite her old crew to help her break in.

Naturally, she has to stay close to the ruins (south of Ice Mountain, near the Dwarven Mines) in order to lay claim to the find. It therefore falls to you to bring her rag-tag group back together for one last caper and a final big pay-off!



Willow waiting for a gullib... err, we mean a brave adventurer!


Burntof is an old dwarf with a penchant for demolition, Checkal is a well-built lifter of heavy things and Marley is a cunning thief with a knack for disarming traps.



A lifter, a thief and a dwarf walk into a bar...


Together, they have the talents it will take to gain entry to the secret ruins. But persuading them might not be easy. See, the gang aren't all too keen on working with Willow again, and her intentions might not be as honourable as she claims...

[h3]Requirements and Rewards[/h3]
[expand]This is a novice quest aimed at free-to-play adventurers, so there aren't many requirements. You'll need 16 Quest Points to get started, and 10 Mining will definitely come in handy for a tricky encounter, but is by no means necessary. Completing the quest will yield the following rewards:
  • 1 Quest Point
  • 2,000 Coins
  • Access to the Ice Mountain Dungeon

You'll also be able to flex those muscles with a whole new emote courtesy of Checkal! Hwuargh!
[/expand]

[hr][/hr]
[h2]Ice Mountain Dungeon[/h2]

Once the quest is complete, you'll have access to the dungeon below Ice Mountain. These ruins are packed with lore, but we're keeping those cards very close to our chest for the moment. Read on for a spoiler-free guide to what awaits:


[h3]Activities In The Ruins[/h3]

Within the ruins is a great forge powered using Barronite, a unique material that can only found there. Somebody within the ruins believes it is their duty to keep the forge lit, lest the flame be diminished forever. This somebody is perhaps a few years past their prime and, with failing eyesight, will reward anybody who helps to gather vital Barronite...

There are a range of rewards for handing over the Barronite, most notable of which is access to the Vault. What's so exciting about this Vault? Well, it contains many treasures belonging to the old inhabits of the ruins, and they are all yours for the taking! However, to get the lock open you'll need to offer Barronite every time you want to enter.

Barronite can be gathered while skilling within the ruins, so you'll be gaining XP as you go. The activities available are primarily aimed at low-ish level free-to-play adventurers with the intention of filling notable gaps in free-to-play skilling. Let's take a look at some of them:


Religious Offerings (Prayer)

The caves deep below Ice Mountain are home to various rare cave fish. In ancient times, it was tradition for these fish to be used as religious offerings.



Here cave fishy fishy!


Players can offer cave fish within the ruins to train their Prayer skill. You'll need to perform the same ritual used by the long-departed inhabitants of the ruins:

Step 1: Fishing
Players will either need a small net, big net or fishing rod to catch cave fish within the ruins.

Fish
Fishing Level
Equipment
Free-to-play
Raw Guppy
7
A small net
YES
Raw Cavefish
20
A small net
YES
Raw Tetra
33
A small or big net
YES
Raw Catfish
46
A big net
NO


Players will also sometimes find Barronite when fishing. Plus, there's a rare chance of catching a Barronite Handle (see below). The fish caught here cannot be traded.

There are a few cave eel to be found (members only). They can't be used as an offering, but are a source of food. You'll also have a chance to receive the Heron pet when fishing for cave eels.

Step 2: Cooking
With fish in your net, players will need to head to one of the old preparation tables with a knife. But be careful how you cook, budding chefs - it's possible to mess up and ruin the fish. The chance of failure is dependent on your Cooking level, so bring your culinary A-game!

Fish
Cooking Level
Free-to-play
Guppy
7
YES
Cavefish
20
YES
Tetra
33
YES
Catfish
46
NO


The prepared fish cannot be traded.

Step 3: Prayer
With your fish prepared, it's time to make an offering at an ancient altar and train that Prayer skill!


Golem Cores

The old inhabitants of the ruins controlled Golems, programming them to do many tasks. The Golems were fuelled by runic energies and imbued with the power of the Body and Mind altars. It was hoped that they would one day become more self-sufficient and be freed of the requirement for programming - but the magical arts are never predictable. The unstable energies of the nearby Chaos altar slowly seeped in the Golem Cores, corrupting them and filling them with uncontrollable power. The dangerous Golems were sealed away in the ruins for good.



These look tougher than a Graveler!


Players can hunt and kill Golems within the ruins. When defeated, they will sometimes drop their corrupted Cores, which can be used at the relevant Runecraft altar to gain XP and runes.

Step 1: Combat
Players can find the following golems in the ruins:

Name
Level
Notable Drops
Free-to-play
Flawed Golem
13
None
YES
Mind Golem
30
Mind Core
YES
Body Golem
50
Body Core
YES
Chaos Golem
70
Chaos Core
NO


Killing golems will sometimes yield Barronite, too, and there's a rare chance they'll drop a Barronite Guard (see below). Golem cores cannot be traded.

Step 2: Runecrafting
Players can use the Cores to train their Runecraft skill, offering them at the relevant Runecraft altar for XP and runes. Each Core offers more XP and runes than a single essence, meaning fewer trips to the altar. However, this benefit is offset by the time it takes to obtain the Cores.


Gathering Relics (Mining and Smithing)

Players can mine Barronite rocks to find (you guessed it) Barronite and (you guessed it again) Barronite deposits. These deposits can be smelted down to gain additional Barronite and Ancient Relics.



C'ore blimey... how long has this been here?!


Step 1 - Mining
Barronite rocks can be tackled at 15 Mining. Mining here will work similarly to the upper-level ore veins in Motherlode Mine (ensuring the rocks can be worked in groups).
Players will get around 25 XP per Barronite mined, and finding a deposit will yield some additional XP.

Step 2 - Smithing
Players with 15 Smithing can break down Barronite deposits with a hammer at anvil within the dungeon, and obtain various items:
  • Barronite (common)
  • Ancient Relic (uncommon)
  • Barronite Head (rare)
  • Broken Barronite Hammer (rare + members-only)

Ancient Relics can be handed in at the Varrock Museum for coins. In addition, members also get Kudos for the first Relic they hand in! The Barronite Head and Broken Barronite Hammer, meanwhile, can be made into new items (see below).

When Smithing, players will get around 37.5 XP per deposit.


The Vault

The Vault is buried deep within the ruins - just hand in your Barronite to gain access! As we mentioned above, it was used by the ancient inhabitants of the ruins to store treasure, so it's well worth a gander. But there's a catch. Each payment of Barronite allows just one entry, and players only get a limited time inside before they are forced out by the ancient security systems.



Simply a-MAZE-ing!


The Vault itself is maze-like, and home to many chests. Players have one minute to loot as many chests as possible and then reach the exit. If the player doesn't make it out in time, all the precious bounty will be lost!

Making things even more challenging, the locations of chests - and the loot within them - will be randomised. Similarly, doors will at times be blocked off, forcing the player to think fast and dash down alternative paths.

Players will be able to stack Barronite payments to make Vault entry more convenient. For example, a player could pay for 20 entries in a single transaction. Smooth.


Other Rewards

In addition to all of the above, the ruins offer new and unique rewards! Snag yourself one of these:
Barronite Mace
An untradeable mace that was once used by the ancient inhabitants of the ruins. Players need to find three components:
  • Barronite Handle - found while hunting for cave fish
  • Barronite Guard - dropped by Golems when killed
  • Barronite Head - found while breaking down Barronite deposits




Smash your way through golems with the Barronite Mace!


Once you have all three components, a character within the ruins will tell you how to combine them to finish the Barronite Mace (you'll also need some Barronite, obviously - the clue's in the name!). The Mace is positioned slightly below the Rune Scimitar. It's a useful crush weapon for low to mid levels, and requires 40 Attack.

This Mace also comes with a unique effect - it's a golembane weapon. That means it will provide extra accuracy and damage when fighting Golems!

As the item is untradeable it will behave similarly to items like the Fire Cape on death.

Dwarven Hammer
This is a members-only, untradeable hammer that was once used as Smithing equipment by ancient dwarves. It's been a while since it's been much use to anyone, so you will first need to find the busted version while breaking down Barronite deposits. A character within the ruins will tell you how to repair it.



Stop, hammer time!


It will function as a normal hammer when skilling, but because it can be equipped in the main-hand, it frees up an inventory slot. Note that the hammer has no combat stats when equipped.

Ruins Area Buffs
Players will also be able to spend Barronite to unlock various buffs and effects that work only within the ruins:
  • Increased catch rate for fishing
  • Decreased failure chance when preparing fish
  • Reduced damage from golem attacks
  • Increased chance of obtaining Barronite deposits
  • Increased chance of finding mace components and the broken hammer
  • A one hour buff to the dungeon that increases the success chance of all activities




Frog... that is all.


And that's everything for Below Ice Mountain and our new free-to-play dungeon area. We can't wait for you to delve deep into the mysteries of these strange and wonderful ruins. What will you uncover?

[hr][/hr]
[h2]Tempoross Updates[/h2]

Items that require setting up (e.g. Dwarf Cannon, Mithril seeds, Hunting Box, etc) can no longer be used on the Tempoross lobby ship. You can no longer light fires here either.

Fishing XP may now be gained in Tempoross encounters on W45.

Players can no longer stall to run through fires.

Points from dousing fires and fixing totem poles have doubled from 20 to 40. Get splashing!

The tackle box can now be used to store the Pearl Barbarian Rod, Tiny Net, Molch Pearls, Merfolk Trident, Dark Flippers and all variants of the Trailblazer Harpoon.

Stackable fish can no longer be stored in the fish barrel.

Angler and Spirit Angler outfits are now separated in Player Owned Houses.

The messaging when subduing Tempoross has been slightly tweaked.

[hr][/hr]
[h2]Other News[/h2]

Seedbox Improvements
While we were discussing the bolt pouch design, the team noted that the seedbox isn't behaving right on death in the Wilderness. Upon death to an NPC, the seed box would drop to the ground with all of its contents still stored. If the player died below level 20 Wilderness, it would drop to the ground, along with all of its contents. If the player died above level 20 Wilderness, it would be dropped as 1 coin and all of its contents would be destroyed.

It will now behave as follows:
  • PVM death below 20 in Wilderness: the container and contents go to the gravestone.
  • PVM death above 20 in Wilderness: the container is destroyed but the contents can be preserved within the next container acquired.

PvP deaths act the same way regardless of location. The pouch is destroyed and its contents awarded to the PKer.

PvP World Rota
The PvP world rota has moved to Period B.
  • The host for the High-Risk PvP world will be W337 (US East)
  • The host for the Standard PvP world will be W325 (UK)
  • The host for the free-to-play PvP world will be W371 (UK)
  • The members-only LMS world will be W492 (US East)
  • The free-to-play LMS world will be W326 (UK)
Extras
  • For Ironmen, certain slayer monsters' loot and XP will be discredited if a player hits a 0. This is to discourage the use of alternate accounts to speed up the efficiency of certain tasks.
  • Nightmare drop calculations will now factor in the total contribution that is present when the boss dies. This is to prevent boosting of drops.
  • After an egg-ventful Eastdoor, Gregg has returned to doing... whatever it is that human-sized rabbits do.
  • You can now use the Twisted or Trailblazer Cane emotes directly from the emotes interface (as long as you have a set of tier 3 relic hunter on your Leaguehall's outfit stand in your Player Owned House).
  • The Iron Dragon in the Soul Wars dungeon has been moved closer to the rune ore spot to prevent botters from getting there without a fight.
  • Brimhaven graceful pieces will now be counted within the Collection Log.
  • Players can now search for all boss categories in the Collection Log.
  • The Dragon Harpoon will now always consume 100% of the special attack power.
  • Zuriel's staff now gives its Ancient Magicks buffs in Last Man Standing.
  • The Undead Zealot in Mort'ton has more cosmetic variation.
  • Some more shields have been updated to prevent them from disrupting players' walking animations.
  • A typo has been fixed in the Settings menu.
  • A typo has been fixed in Istoria's dialogue.
  • Some grammatical errors have been corrected in drake combat messages.

That's everything for this week's game update! We'd love to hear your feedback so please let us know what you think via our official forums, on the [url=https://www.reddit.com/r/2007scape/comments/mqnl0s/below_ice_mountain_game_update_140421/, or the community-led OSRS Discord in the #gameupdate channel.

[hr][/hr]
Mods Acorn, Arcane, Archie, Argo, Ash, Ayiza, Banjo, Boko, Bonsai, Brow, Bruno, Curse, Daizong, Deagle, Dibber, Ditto, Dylan, Ed, Elena, Errol, Fed, Flippy, Gecko, Gee, Grub, Halo, Husky, Jndr, John C, Kandosii, Katies, Kieren, Kirby, Lenny, Light, Lottie, Mack, Maylea, MikeD, Morty, Nasty, Nin, Oasis, Roq, Ry, Sarnie, Squid, Steve W, Sween, Tide, Vegard, West, Wolfy & Zuko

The Old School Team

Collection Log Improvements - Old School RuneScape Weekly Update (07/04/21)



[h2]Issues and Hotfixes (7th April)[/h2]

[expand]
Issues Raised
Current Progress
(11:35 BST) Players searching for any boss items after Tempoross within the Collection Log, won't see any results.
(11:35 BST) The Collection Log Plugin within RuneLite is currently not displaying your total as intended. We would recommend uninstalling it for the meantime, until it has been fixed.
(12:00 BST) Players searching for any boss items after Tempoross in the Collection Log, won't see any results.
(12:10 BST) This issue will be fixed in the next game update (April 14th).
(12:00 BST) Players cannot buy S.T.A.S.H. Blueprints from Watson if they have a clue to claim.
(12:20 BST) This issue has now been fixed.
(12:30 BST) Purchasing an untradable item from any store closes the store interface (this doesn't stop you from getting the item).
(12:50 BST) This issue has now been fixed.
(12:35 BST) Changing the Giant Mole pet to pink is causing issues with players Giant Mole pet insurance.
(13:10 BST) Probita's Insurance Bureau will now recognise the new pink mole for insurance purposes. Some other issues will be fixed with next week's game update (April 14th).
(14:45 BST)Players aren't seeing the side panel UI we mentioned in the Collection Log poll.
(14:155 BST) This will be implemented with the release of Combat Achievements.
(15:00 BST) After the update, players were supposed to retroactively unlock Marks of Grace in their Collection Log equivalent to their obtained amount plus the value of purchased pieces of Graceful. But... If players had any Graceful pieces equipped when logging in, they were not included in the retroactive unlock towards Marks of Grace.
(15:10 BST) One hotfix was deployed to start counting worn Graceful pieces and a second hotfix was deployed to fix the same issue, but this time for the Brimhaven Graceful variant as it wasn't included in the first hotfix.

This hotfix will only work for players that HAVEN'T logged in between the update and the hotfixes.

There will be a third fix coming in next week's game update (April 14th) to include the Brimhaven Graceful pieces (not the Marks of Grace, but the objects themselves). This will work for all players, even if they log in before th
(17:00 BST) The Shades of Mort'ton section of the Collection Log doesn't turn green to show it has been completed.
(17:00 BST) This issue is currently being investigated.

[/expand]

We're back, and we bring with us a rejuvenated Collection Log that will help you keep your stash nice
and organised! Plus, more poll changes are rolling in, and we're giving you an opportunity to brush up on your Kourend and Kebos lore just in time for A Kingdom Divided. Read on to see what's in store in the latest update... naked moles and all.


[hr][/hr]
Collection Log Improvements


The Collection Log now has its very own Search function to help you quickly find your stuff! Get typing to instantly see all the lovely items you've acquired.




Plus, the Log has the following new features:

  • A new counter shows the total number of unique items obtained (check the top of the Log to feel smug).
  • Added a togglable chat/popup notification when a new item has been added to the collection log.
  • The colour of each section of the Log changes based on its completed status. Nifty!
  • Different boss modes now have separate kill counts on their respective interfaces (DKs, Corrupted Gauntlet, CM CoX).
  • Gnome Restaurant has a delivery count at the top of its section that will start at zero for everyone when the update goes live.



Other additional items have also been added to the Log as follows:

  • Volcanic Mine Rewards have been added (in their own Volcanic Mine section).
  • Third Age and Gilded items can now be found in the "Rares" tabs for each Clue Scroll.
  • A Brimhaven Agility section has been added to the minigames tab.
  • Pirate Hook has been moved from Underwater Agility to the Brimhaven Agility section
  • Merfolk Trident has been added to the Misc section
  • Mark of Grace has moved to the Rooftop Agility section (these will be proactively unlocked if you had any before the update and will account for the amount of marks spent on each Graceful set you have purchased).
  • Third Age pieces now have their own separate tab.

[hr][/hr]
Poll 74


Collection Log aside, the last few changes from Poll 74 are also being released with today's update:

  • Theatre of Blood has gained an additional reward chest just opposite the Bank booths, that allows you to obtain any loot they forgot to claim after defeating Lady Verzik Vitur herself! You will still need to complete the full raid, and any unique drops that would normally be announced to the rest of the raiding party will still be broadcast, even if you were offline before seeing the chest yourself. Players will not be able to re-enter the Theatre if they have unclaimed rewards from the chest, but there is a discard option (don't worry, there's a warning for this too).
  • Use a mole claw on the Giant Mole pet and it will lose its fur and become pink! Apply a mole skin to grow the fur back.
  • The Abyssal Sire will no longer deal damage with a Miasma attack after it has died.
  • For 500 coins, Watson now offers a blueprint that allows you to build a STASH tracker in your Player Owned House within your Study on the wall chart space. To get building, you will need the blueprints, a Bolt of Cloth and 40 Construction.

[hr][/hr]
Postbag From The Swamp: Submit Your Questions!


With the upcoming release of A Kingdom Divided, we’d like to take the opportunity to answer your burning questions about the Kourend and Kebos lore. We’ve dusted off Postie Pete, set him up with a fetching pair of galoshes (not sure how he’ll wear them, mind), and given him the addresses of several notable NPCs – so all that’s left now is for YOU to ask the questions!

You may address your questions to any NPC in the Kourend and Kebos regions and post them in this Reddit Thread or in our Official Forums.

Stuck for inspiration? The Old School Wiki has an archive of all the previous issues of Postbag from the Hedge! Ooh, we’re feeling all nostalgic.

A previous Postbag letter


[hr][/hr]
Other News


Whilst we continue to investigate reports of the Scrying Pool and Portal Nexus not working as intended, "Scry" mode will now reveal how many players are in a specific location.

This is a temporary solution and we expect to release a permanent fix in the future that returns it to its full functionality as it was before.


PvP World Rota

The PvP world rota has moved to Period A:

  • The host for the High Risk PvP world will be W343 (Germany)
  • The host for the Standard PvP world will be W324 (US West)
  • The host for the free-to-play PvP world will be W417 (US East)
  • The members-only LMS world will be W333 (UK)
  • The free-to-play LMS world will be W469 (US East)

As previously stated, the PvP World rota will change weekly, along with every game update.


Smaller Changes

  • We have reduced the timer in the Tempoross lobby from 60 to 30 seconds.
  • The Bracelet of Clay now works correctly with the Mining Cape and Celestial Ring effects.
  • A stile has been added to the Rellekka mine, allowing multiple people to enter and exit at the same time following completion of the Fremennik Trials.
  • The shades of Mort'ton coffins have been adjusted to prevent graphical issues with shields.
  • Some jagged terrain in the Kharidian Desert, west of the Shantay Pass, has been smoothed out.
  • The Strung Rabbit Foot Necklace now slightly increases the chance of nests containing an egg or ring when emptying a bird house.
  • Some grammar has been corrected in the Herblore level-up messages.
  • The Tome of Water can now appear in the Skill Guide and level-up messages.
  • The imbued Rings of Wealth are no longer prioritised so highly for protection on death, since they downgrade even when protected.
  • The option text for the brightness control in the Settings side-panel now refers to brightness, rather than music volume.
  • The boss and Slayer kill logs no longer output code debugging messages when opened.


That's everything for this week's game update! We'd love to hear your feedback so please let us know what you think via our official forums, on the 2007Scape Reddit, or the community-led OSRS Discord in the #gameupdate channel.

[hr][/hr]
Mods Acorn, Arcane, Archie, Argo, Ash, Ayiza, Banjo, Boko, Bonsai, Brow, Bruno, Curse, Daizong, Deagle, Dibber, Ditto, Dylan, Ed, Elena, Errol, Fed, Flippy, Gecko, Gee, Grub, Halo, Husky, Jndr, John C, Kandosii, Katies, Kieren, Kirby, Lenny, Light, Lottie, Mack, Maylea, MikeD, Morty, Nasty, Nin, Oasis, Roq, Ry, Sarnie, Squid, Steve W, Sween, Tide, Vegard, West, Wolfy & Zuko


The Old School Team

Poll 75 Suggestions and Wilderness Survey



[h2]No Game Update[/h2]

As we explained last week, we're prepping for the upcoming long public holiday weekend, so there will not be a game update today.

But never fear - we'll be back on Wednesday April 7th at 11:30 BST with Collection Log improvements and more Poll 74 changes!

Today we're hosting one last livestream before the break. We'll take you on an Eastdoor Event playthrough and you can show us how smart you are with the Very Fishy Quiz (all thanks to Tempoross). Join us at 16:30 BST over on Twitch!

[hr][/hr]
[h2]Poll 75 Suggestions[/h2]

Our next big poll is on the horizon, and this time we'll be tackling PvM improvements! You should expect a poll blog detailing all of the potential changes in late April.

We'd love you to share any ideas for changes that could sneak into the blog before the poll goes live in-game. Visit any of the relevant social posts and tell us what you'd like to see in Poll 75!

[hr][/hr]
[h2]Wilderness Changes Survey[/h2]

In preparation for the upcoming Wilderness Changes project, we're eager to hear your thoughts on all aspects of the Wilderness experience.

We've prepared a short survey that covers the general Wilderness, the Revenant Cave and the Wilderness Slayer Caves! We really appreciate your feedback as we build towards the project, which is due to start in May. Find the survey here.

[hr][/hr]
[h2]Art Competition - Finalists Revealed![/h2]

A massive thank you to everyone who submitted entries for the #OSRSDesignAHat competition! We were overwhelmed by the outpouring of creativity. Truly... hats off.

Alas, there could only be four finalists. After much discussion and an internal vote, we are delighted to reveal the final four...



Option 1: Banana Wizard's Hat


Option 2: Banana Sunhat


Option 3: Crabanana


Option 4: Yellow Duck Hat


Voting opens today and runs until Tuesday, April 6th. You can visit your nearest in-game poll booth or simply cast your vote through your Account Settings menu! We'll announce the winner in next week's newspost. Good luck to the four finalists!

That's everything we wanted to share with you this week. We'd love to hear your feedback so please let us know what you think via our official forums, on the 2007Scape Reddit, or the community-led OSRS Discord in the #gameupdate channel.

[hr][/hr]
Mods Acorn, Arcane, Archie, Argo, Ash, Ayiza, Banjo, Boko, Bonsai, Brow, Bruno, Curse, Daizong, Deagle, Dibber, Ditto, Dylan, Ed, Elena, Errol, Fed, Flippy, Gecko, Gee, Grub, Halo, Husky, Jndr, John C, Kandosii, Katies, Kieren, Kirby, Lenny, Light, Lottie, Mack, Maylea, MikeD, Morty, Nasty, Nin, Oasis, Roq, Ry, Sarnie, Squid, Steve W, Sween, Tide, Vegard, West, Wolfy & Zuko

The Old School Team

Equipment Rebalance: Next Steps



We’d like to apologise for the recent silence on the issue of Equipment Rebalancing. We know it’s something many of you are still thinking about, and work has continued on the project behind-the-scenes - so it’s definitely time to get the conversation going again!

As we’ve discussed more than once on these pages, a Rebalance is clearly needed in order to curb any risk of powercreep and to ensure the long-term health of the game – which is something that’s really important for all of us. But we do realise that our previous approach had its problems, and thanks to your plentiful feedback, we’ve reflected on those.

So today we’re going to talk about how we’re ‘rebalancing’ our approach to get this all moving again.

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[h2]OUT WITH THE OLD…[/h2]

When we first pitched Equipment Rebalance, our plan was to zip through the required changes in one fell swoop.

We were keen to get Combat Achievements up and running and knew that the rebalancing was needed first, so we packed all of the buffs and nerfs together. In retrospect, it's clear that this was a mistake, and ultimately ended up lengthening the feedback process. There were so many individual moving parts to consider, but the entire discussion was essentially consumed by a small number of key equipment changes.

Additionally, while we promised to fill the equipment gaps created by the changes eventually, nerfing items without making clear when they would be replaced understandably made some players nervous. That’s totally fair. By trying to deliver everything in one batch, our approach became a little ‘all or nothing’ and some important considerations were missed.

We also think our Rebalance surveys were too broad. When we ask the community about very general concepts, the feedback doesn't really reflect how you all feel about more specific problems. And when it comes down to it, the specifics are what counts, right?

We should have also shared more of the data used for rebalancing calculations, which we think would have inspired more confidence in the project. And it’s essential that you to feel confident in us and believe that we’re striving to improve your experiences in the wonderful world of Gielinor – because that’s never not the case.

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[h2]… AND IN WITH THE NEW[/h2]

So, onwards? Here’s how we’re now approaching the Rebalance, step by step:


Release schedule

We’ll be splitting equipment rebalancing into four releases, allowing each aspect of the project a bit more room to breathe. This should give us all a bit more thinking space and allow all of us the time needed to talk things through and get them right.


Changes Coming Soon!

Many of our proposed changes were well received and we want to release them as soon as possible – within the next month, to be exact. These will be unpolled but are as they were originally outlined:

  • Rebalancing of plate armour, spears, maces, hastae and warhammers.
  • Basilisk Knights losing the special attack, although it will be retained by the Sentinals where it will no longer being broken by auto-retaliate.
  • Removing the Prayer bonus from the Twisted Bow.
  • Dragonbone Necklace/Bonecrusher Necklace changes (tweaked stats, new equip requirements and removal of the activation delay).


Ranged Meta Changes

We want to tackle this issue before Combat Achievements is released, which we hope will be by the end of June. Crucially, this stage includes the proposed changes to the Toxic Blowpipe and Crystal armour.

This time around we’re going to come at things from a different angle, with more focus on your feedback as we fine-tune the plan. There are definitely issues with the current meta, and together we’ll figure out a solution for these.

Look out for a blog in the near future!


PvP Changes

This is something for later in the year as part of our upcoming Wilderness changes project, which is expected to be released sometime in July. It will include adjustments to the Dragonhide armour and the Dinh's Bulwark.

In the coming weeks we’ll be sending out a series of Wilderness and PvP related surveys to help us understand how you feel regarding various issues we’d like to tackle in the Wilderness Changes project, so keep an eye on your Message Centre, the news section of the website, and our social media platforms for more information!


Tier Rebalancing

Tiers will be addressed last, though we do still intend for it to happen this year. Although there was a lot of community support for this work, and it's something the team feel passionately about, there is currently no clear solution for pure accounts built specifically with the tier 75 meta in mind - aside from introducing new weapons in the gaps created. We want to get this right, but this is not as urgent as some of the other problems.


Player Suggestions

Lastly, we're aware there were many other ideas for buffs or nerfs which our previous Equipment Rebalancing plans did not address. We definitely want to re-open the floor for discussion, and that's something we'll aim for once we've got through this initial batch of changes. If there’s one thing we found the first time around, it’s that having too many discussion points at once is not the best approach and we'd like to spend the time to properly consider your feedback on any further changes!


We hope this all sounds promising! As always, let us know what you think via our official forums, on the 2007Scape Reddit, or the community-led OSRS Discord in the #gameupdate channel!

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Mods Acorn, Arcane, Archie, Argo, Ash, Ayiza, Banjo, Boko, Bonsai, Brow, Bruno, Curse, Daizong, Deagle, Dibber, Ditto, Dylan, Ed, Elena, Errol, Fed, Flippy, Gayns, Gecko, Gee, Grub, Halo, Husky, Jndr, John C, Kandosii, Katies, Kieren, Kirby, Lenny, Light, Lottie, Mack, Maylea, MikeD, Morty, Nasty, Nin, Oasis, Roq, Ry, Sarnie, Squid, Steve W, Sween, Tide, Vegard, West, Wolfy & Zuko

The Old School Team

Game Maintenance - Thursday, March 25th



[h3](12:00 GMT) UPDATE: The maintenance has now been completed and the game is back online. Thank you for your patience.[/h3]


Dear 'Scapers,

We're taking the game offline at 11:00am GMT today (Thursday, March 25th) for essential work related to recent login issues. Assuming all goes well, we don't expect the game to be offline for much more than a couple of hours. There will be an hour countdown beginning at 10:00am GMT to ensure you have plenty of notice.

We'd like to thank you for your patience, and we look forward to welcoming you back into Gielinor in no time at all!


The Old School Team