Old School RuneScape News

[h2]New iOS Client Closed Beta[/h2]

Following the success of our New Android Client Open Beta earlier in the year, many iOS players have been eager to test out new client features on iOS devices. We're delighted to announce that your time has come!



New and exciting client features will be coming to iOS in the form of a Closed Beta. New features include:

• Buff Bars
  
• Fishing Spot Indicators
  
• HUD Improvements (NPC Information & Combat Styles)
  
• Agility and Slayer Helpers
  
• Chambers of Xeric Helper
  
• Woodcutting and Ore Respawn Timers
  
• Increased Draw Distance
  
• Navigation Tile Indicators
  
• Chat Improvements
  
• Entity Highlights for NPCs (new to mobile)

And more!

We've received really positive feedback from our Beta testers so far, and we're keen to see what you think. Within the coming weeks, we'd like to invite you to test out these awesome new features for yourselves!

In order to participate in the New iOS Client Closed Beta, you’ll need to ensure that your device is running iOS 13.0 or above. You'll also need to fill out the iOS Beta Form with the following details:

• Apple ID (email address)
  
• RSN
  
• Discord ID (NAME#0000)
  
• Your main device and any other devices you play Old School on
  
• The platform you play Old School on the most
  
• The main activities you complete whilst playing on mobile
  

Successful applicants will be contacted through their account mailbox and should also receive e-mail confirmation from the Apple Store when the Beta is live. Please be aware of potential mobile phishing scams. If you're unsure about any communication you've received, check your account mailbox to verify the legitimacy of any suspicious emails.

We expect that the New iOS Client Closed Beta can go live in around two weeks or so. However, we can't give you a set date just yet as we need a few days to carry out some internal testing first.

Provided this goes well, more information can be shared after the April bank holiday (around April 19th). There's a chance that the Beta date may move a little, but we'll keep you informed.

Once the Beta is live, any further comms will appear on the official Old School RuneScape Discord in exclusive channels (#ios-beta-announcements, #ios-beta-bugs, #ios-beta-feedback & #ios-beta-general).

So what are you waiting for? Register your interest today!

This week we’ve got the promised changes to Guardians of the Rift and some exciting news from the team!

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[h2]Guardians of the Rift[/h2]

You might remember that last week we made a number of changes to Guardians of the Rift; increasing the total player cap, allowing latecomers to enter during Phase 1 and handing out 15% more Abyssal Pearls.

This week, we have a bunch more changes – let’s take a look!

First up, the fancy timers we showed off last time are now live. The first tells you when the open entrances to Runecraft Altars will change, and the second shows you how long it will be until the shortcut portal closes.

You can also use the altar timer to determine how much time is left in Phase 1.



The dedicated Guardians of the Rift Worlds are now 445 (US West) and 522 (UK). Happy Runecrafting!

Next, we’ve reduced the amount of Abyssal Pearls required to purchase pieces of the Raiments of the Eye from the Guardians of the Rift Rewards Shop:

• Hat of the Eye (500 -> 400)
  
• Robe Top of the Eye (400 -> 350)
  
• Robe Bottom of the Eye (400 -> 350)
  
• Boots of the Eye (300 -> 250)
  

If you’ve already purchased pieces of the outfit at the higher price, you’ll be refunded the difference in Abyssal Pearls upon logging in. These will be sent to your Bank. If it can't go to your Bank, it will go to your inventory. Failing this, it will drop to the ground. A chat message will display what you've got refunded and where it's gone.

We’ve also added a visual to the barrier in the Lobby that indicates when you're able to enter the minigame. The eye design on the barrier will be open when players can enter and closed when the room is at capacity, or after Phase 1 of the minigame.

Speaking of visual changes, we're aware that the light effects when entering and exiting altars are unpleasant for some players. When you next enter the minigame, you'll be prompted with a message asking whether you'd like to turn these features off.

We’ve begun to review the AI behaviour of Elemental Guardians and Abyssal Creatures, as they get a bit confused when there are too many entities blocking their path in the minigame. One change has been made to them, but there is more to come.

Lastly, we are aware that lit Abyssal Lanterns were previously being destroyed on death, so we've implemented a fix to ensure they now follow standard untradeable item behaviour. Abyssal Lanterns will no longer be lost on death unless you have lost it above Level 20 Wilderness.

Now, without further ado, here are the changes we’ve made this week:

• Items in the Guardians of the Rift minigame can now be dropped and destroyed instantly, instead of requiring a ‘Destroy’ option.
  
• Players may now uncharge the Ring of Elements by right-clicking it. This action will restore any used Runes.
  
• A ‘Quick-pass’ option has been added to the barrier in the Lobby.
  
• When two players are trying to create a Rift Guardian with different tier batteries, the higher tier battery will be prioritised.
  
• Corrected some colours on a table in the Temple of the Eye.
  
• Corrected spelling errors that appeared when checking and inspecting Pouches.
  
• The ‘Inspect’ option on the Abyssal Needle now gives more accurate instructions for its usage.
  
• Fixed a visual bug that appeared while wearing the Abyssal Bracelet and teleporting to The Abyss.
  
• Corrected the 'Climb down' text on a pile of rubble.
  

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[h2]Guardians of the Rift Future Feedback Changes[/h2]

We'd also like to mention a bug we've discovered on the Raiments of the Eye - its bonus is intended to increase the number of Runes crafted, but it's also giving additional Guardian Stones when crafting combination Runes, allowing for higher XP rates and reward points during Guardians of the Rift. We kind of like the concept, because it means that greater effort equals greater reward - but we feel like such mechanics should be tied to the minigame itself rather than the outfit you're wearing while playing it.

We're leaving the bug alone for now, but we are working on a better implementation already. Our proposal is to make crafting combination Runes more rewarding for a little bit more effort - perhaps they could provide different Guardian Stones which offer more Elemental Points, without making the minigame faster. More on this soon!

Expect even more changes in the coming weeks, including a way to trade in your duplicate Abyssal Lanterns for Abyssal Pearls.

Our Game Jam is next week (more on this below), which will delay some of our planned improvements to Guardians of the Rift.

We'd like to provide a quick overview of some of the outstanding issues that we're reviewing, which we can potentially address in the weeks following the Game Jam:

• Incentivising players to be making Rift Guardians and Shield Barriers at the start of the game. Players have told us that playing defensively doesn't currently feel rewarding enough.
  
• Reviewing the display of Shield Barrier healthbars as they might be too large. We're also reviewing the 'Inspect' option on Shield Barriers, which some players have told us can be frustrating to use.
  
• We're monitoring the difficulty of the minigame in group sizes smaller than 10 players. We're also to review solo gameplay and determine how difficult we want this to be.
  
• Making the HUD visible in the lobby to allow players to see the Great Guardian's Power without constantly inspecting the barrier.
  
• Extending the 'winning phase' to allow players to use any Guardian Stones they received without missing out on points.
  
• Adding Guardians of the Rift to the HiScores.
  

As always, we'll keep reviewing the minigame and making adjustments where necessary, so keep sending us your feedback!

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[h2]Other Changes[/h2]

We’ve been closely following how players have been engaging with Nex since her initial release. As many of you know, we increased the drop rate for her uniques in anticipation of much faster kill times than we had balanced around in testing.

Now that the dust has settled and meta's have been established, we'd like to revert her unique drop rates back to their original rate of 1/43 instead of the current 1/53 to better reflects the kills/hr we had intended during our internal testing.

In retrospect, Nex has created an unreasonably long grind for the items that exist within her drop table for many players. Whilst the ideal solution would have been to have less uniques, we can't go back and remove them now! So to compensate we hope that the adjusted drop rates are a welcome change.

Let us know what you think!

There are several other changes this week:

• Ensouled Heads can now drop in instanced areas.
  
• Extended Loot Keys' despawn time to two minutes, for consistency with other drops.
  
• Corrected a visual issue with the Stale Baguette's positioning when held by male characters. Ooh la la!
  

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[h2]Game Jam[/h2]

As you know, our ideation process allows us J-Mods to focus on new and exciting ideas outside the remit of our usual work. In the past it’s lead to awesome content like Leagues, The Hallowed Sepulchre, Guardians of the Rift and the upcoming Tombs of Amascut Raid!

We've had problems finding time for everyone to participate in ideation – and that’s an issue we hope to fix with the new Game Jam process! Now, the whole team has a full week to get together and ideate, test, or even prototype an idea. That process has already begun, and we’ve got some great projects in the works.

However, this means that there will be no game update between April 4th and April 8th, to allow the team to focus on the Game Jam. But don’t worry! We’ll be looking to share some of the ideas in a special livestream the following week, and if you manage to miss that, we’ll also be talking about our ideas in the April Gielinor Gazette. Do stay tuned for a few surprises, though…

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[h2]Merch Update: Steamforged Games[/h2]



Get ready to master skills, meet your favourite NPCs and explore the world of Gielinor as we bring RuneScape to the tabletop for the first time EVER!

We’re working with Steamforged Games to bring you a boardgame and Tabletop RPG inspired by the rich fantasy world of RuneScape. Both games will draw on adventures, characters and locations from our shared 21-year history.

In the RuneScape board game, you’ll join a party of one to five players on quest-based campaigns through Gielinor. Craft and upgrade equipment, cook special recipes, and test your skills! Adventure (and many an enticing side quest) awaits!

Steamforged will launch the RuneScape board game on Kickstarter this year. Sign up and be among the first to hear news about the campaign! You can find the page here.

The lead-up to the campaign will be packed full of behind-the-scenes content. You’ll get a tour of the game, interviews with the developers and even a sneak peek or two… miniatures, anyone?

You can sign up for these updates on the Steamforged Games website.

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[h2]PvP 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.

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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 reference on the above content, check out the official Old School Wiki.

Mods Arcane, Archie, Argo, Ash, Ayiza, Banjo, Boko, Brow, Bruno, Curse, Daizong, Dibber, Ditto, Dylan, Ed, Elena, Errol, Fed, Gecko, Goblin, Grub, Halo, Havik, Hornet, Husky, Jalo, John C, Kandosii, Katies, Kamon, Kieren, Kirby, Kurotou, Lenny, Light, Lottie, Mack, Matheus, Maylea, Markos, Meat, Morty, Nasty, Nin, Nylu, Oasis, Peppers, Regent, Redfield, Roq, Ry, Sarnie, Sigma, Skylark, Soffan, Sova, Squid, Steve W, Tide, Torrance, Veda, Vegard, West & Wolfy

The Old School Team

[h2]Issues & Hotfixes[/h2]
[expand]

[/expand]


This week, get ready for Guardians of the Rift and the accompanying quest, Temple of the Eye!

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[h2]Temple of the Eye Quest[/h2]

In this all-new quest, you’ll assist the (allegedly) famous Wizard Persten with her research, visit the ancient Temple of the Eye, and uncover a mystery that goes back to the very dawn of magic. If all that sounds like fun, you can get started by speaking to Wizard Persten north of the Al Kharid gate.



Temple of the Eye requirements

[expand]

• Quest Requirements: Enter the Abyss miniquest
  
• Skill Requirements: Level 10 Runecraft
  
• Other Requirements: Members-only
  

[/expand]

Temple of the Eye Rewards

[expand]

• The ability to play the Guardians of the Rift minigame
  
• 5,000 Runecraft XP
  
• A Medium Pouch (if not already acquired)
  
• 1 Quest Point
  

[/expand]

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[h2]Guardians of the Rift Minigame[/h2]

Completing Temple of the Eye will allow you to take part in the new Runecraft minigame, Guardians of the Rift! You’ll no doubt remember it from our dedicated blog on the subject, but during development we’ve improved it even more by streamlining some of the mechanics.

So, here’s a quick guide to Guardians of the Rift, and a list of what’s changed!

First things first, Guardians of the Rift is located in a non-instanced area called the Temple of the Eye. It’s a safe minigame, and it’s accessible for skilling-only accounts.

We recommend bringing the following items:

• Chisel
  
• Pickaxe
  
• Essence pouches
  

[h3]Powering up the Great Guardian[/h3]

Your goal in Guardians of the Rift is to help the Great Guardian close the Abyssal Rift. To do so, you’ll need to power up the Great Guardian by following a few simple steps:

1. Mine Guardian Fragments
   
2. Combine the Fragments into Guardian Essence at a workbench
   
3. Take the essence to any Runecraft Altar
   
4. Imbue the essence at the altar to obtain Guardian Stones
   
5. Return and feed the Guardian Stones to the Great Guardian
   

Some Runecraft altars provide more charge than others, as shown in the table below:



[h3]Defending the Great Guardian[/h3]

Did you get all that? Let’s throw a spanner in the works. While you’re powering up the Great Guardian, the gribblies from the Abyss will be trying to munch on it. Luckily, you’re able to build barriers to protect it. Here’s how:

1. Obtain a cell – how about one of the Weak Cells at the entrance?
   
2. Place the cell in a cell tile near the Great Guardian to spawn a barrier
   

A Weak Cell will naturally create a weak barrier. To make stronger ones, you’ll need to charge your cells at Runecraft altars. The higher the level required by the altar, the stronger your charged cells will be!



Here’s how to upgrade a barrier:

1. Pick up an uncharged cell near the entrance
   
2. Go to any Runecraft altar
   
3. Interact with the altar to charge your cell
   
4. Return and interact with the cell tile you want to upgrade
   

All twelve altars can charge your cells, but access is based on your Runecraft level. For example, you can’t enter the Blood Altar without 77 Runecraft.

This means that the higher your Runecraft level, the stronger the barriers you can build!

Alternatively, you can defend the Great Guardian by creating smaller guardians who actively fight the Abyssal creatures.



Here’s how to create a guardian:

1. Obtain a cell – the Weak Cells by the entrance will work fine!
   
2. Interact with the Guardian piles nearby and watch as the rubble comes to life!
   

And that’s all there is to it! Power up the Great Guardian while shoring up its defences, and help it close the rift.

Should you be successful, you’ll be rewarded with Elemental and Catalytic Energy. The amount you get depends on the specific actions you took in the minigame – you can keep track of your stats in the top left of your screen.

The energy is capped at 1,000 units, split between each energy type. For example, you might gain 400 Elemental Energy and 600 Catalytic Energy.

The energy is capped at 1,000 (split between them). For example, you might gain 400 of one and 600 of another.

The UI which keeps track of your progress

The picture above is the UI which will appear in the top left of your screen and help you keep track of your progress. It’ll also let you know which two altars are currently open and show any new portals that pop up. In the near future we’re hoping to add a time which will signal when the altars will close.

[h3]Changes[/h3]

We’ve streamlined some of the mechanics detailed in the original blog. Here’s what’s changed:

• Pure Essence is no longer required in the minigame. We liked this idea in theory, but in practice it was a bit too clunky.
  
• The Bank has been removed and replaced with a Deposit Box, which also has a dedicated right-click ‘Deposit Runes’ option. There’s still a Bank in the lobby.
  
• ‘Batteries’ are now referred to as ‘Cells’.
  
• Cells are now charged in increments corresponding to the altar they are used at. The higher the level of the altar, the more charge you’ll get!
  
• Removed the charge system for the Abyssal Lantern. It will now remain lit until you extinguish it. In exchange, it now requires 6 Logs rather than 2.
  
• Originally, the random portals would let players bypass the Agility requirement to access Fallen Guardians in the outer areas of the Temple. Now, they will take players to a normally closed area of the arena. This area provides players with Guardian Essence (not just Fragments) at a much faster yield, so it’s always worth taking the portals when you see them.
  
• The Blood Altar is now accessible via the Abyss. Keep reading to learn more!
  

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[h2]Rewards[/h2]

[h3]Rewards Rift[/h3]

The mysterious Rewards Rift can generate the following rewards from its general loot table:

• Abyssal Pearls
  
• A variety of Runes
  
• Standard Talismans
  

Additionally, you’ll have a chance to receive the following rare rewards:

• Red, Blue and Green Abyssal Dye to recolour the Raiments of the Eye.
  
• Abyssal Needle used to create the Colossal Pouch. The Colossal Pouch has a capacity of 40, requiring 85 Runecraft and 56 Crafting to use.
  
• Abyssal Protector - the brand-new Guardians of the Rift pet!
  
• Catalytic Talisman.
  
• Elemental Talisman.
  

You can spend Abyssal Pearls in the Guardians of the Rift Rewards Shop!

[h3]Rewards Shop [/h3]

Talismans

The Reward Shop contains all standard Talismans, including the new and shiny Blood Talisman, which gets you access to the True Blood Altar in Morytania. You’ll also need to have completed the Sins of the Father quest.

Raiments of the Eye (New Runecraft Skilling Outfit)

The Raiments of the Eye, with available recolours

This Skilling Outfit consists of the Hat, Robe Top, Bottoms and Boots of the Eye. Each piece grants the wearer 10% more runes while Runecrafting, up to a maximum of 60% when the full set is equipped.

The Hat of the Eye can also be augmented with any Tiara, allowing one-click access to the respective Runecraft Altar!

Guardian's Eye

This is a transmog option for the Rift Guardian pet. When used, it will allow your little friend to morph into a new variant that looks like the Great Guardian.

Look at the little guy go!

Ring of the Elements

Charged and Uncharged variants of the Ring of the Elements

This is a brand-new ring used to teleport near the elemental Runecraft altars!

This ring will require a Law Rune and one of each elemental Rune (Fire, Water, Air, Earth) per charge. The maximum number of charges stored is 10,000.

It will allow you to teleport:

• North of the Fire Altar
  
• West of the Water Altar
  
• South of the Air Altar
  
• West of the Earth Altar
  

Abyssal Lantern

This off-hand item is fuelled by various Logs, each of which provide unique bonuses within the Guardians of the Rift minigame. Outside of the minigame, it’ll still count as a light source, an essential item for any adventurer.

In our initial design, players needed to keep charging the Lantern with Logs – but during playtests we found this tedious, especially after we removed the Bank in the minigame arena. The Abyssal Lantern now requires no charges and will remain lit until extinguished.



The True Blood Altar



During the Sins of the Father quest, a few keen-eyed revolutionaries spotted some mysterious ruins in the Meiyerditch Laboratories. Could they be a Runecraft Altar, buried for centuries beneath the vampyre city? Yes, that’s exactly what they are! And with the new Blood Talisman, you can access the True Blood Altar yourself!

To confirm, the True Blood Altar works exactly like all the other Runecraft Altars, and yes, you can use Daeyalt Essence there.

If you’ve been following along, you’ll know that we wanted to create multiple viable methods to craft Blood Runes that would suit a range of playstyles. With that in mind:

• The True Blood Altar is now accessible via the Abyss.
  
• Access to the True Blood Altar is still locked behind the Sins of the Father quest.
  
• A shortcut requiring 74 Agility will make Blood Runecraft XP rates viable.
  
• We’ve also added a second shortcut beneath the Hair of the Dog pub in Canifis. It has a one-time requirement of 78 Mining to open and a long-term requirement of 93 Agility to traverse. As you can see in the image below, this shortcut brings players significantly closer to the True Blood Altar.
  

Any questions? We’ll be live on Twitch this Thursday, March 24th at our usual time of 17:00 GMT with a Guardians of the Rift Q&A featuring Mods Elena, Husky, and West! You’ll get to see the minigame in action as our intrepid J-Mods become Guardians of the Rift – all while answering your questions!

As always, we can’t wait to hear what you think – and be aware that we’ll likely make changes based on your feedback in the coming weeks.

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[h2]Poll 76 Quest List Changes[/h2]



We’ve updated the Quest List interface as part of our Poll 76 changes!

The Quest List can now be sorted by the following:

• Classic (how it current is in live)
  
• Status
  
• Difficulty
  
• Length
  
• Storyline
  
• Start location
  
• Recommended combat level
  
• Release year
  
• Alphabetically
  
• Free/Members
  
• Type
  

You can also return to ‘Classic’ mode, which is the default sorting order.

Entries are sorted alphabetically unless sorting by storyline or release year. If sorting by storyline, they’re sorted in progression order, and if sorted by release date, they’re sorted… in order of release.

You can also use filters to hide:

• Miniquests
  
• Regular quests
  
• Quests not started
  
• Quests in progress
  
• Completed quests
  
• Quests you lack the requirements for**
  
• Quests you lack the recommended levels for**
  

** You can also choose to keep these options, but show them in a different colour.

By default, the Quest List will use classic sorting with no filters enabled.

We've also added some accessibility features:

• Text size
  
• Text shadow
  
• Text colour
  

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[h2]PvP Beta Changes[/h2]

We’ve made some changes to the headgear sets from the upcoming PvP Arena. We received a lot of feedback from well-versed PvP folk that the increased damage these sets offered was too high, and it’d be better to focus on consistent damage via accuracy. It was also noted that the emphasis should be on high offence, rather than high defence.

So, our first change is to remove the damage reduction effect from all three headgear sets, which should reduce their overall defensive capabilities.

Next, we focussed on Maoma’s set. The increased Melee max hits from this set were too high and could lead to a situation where it was possible to kill another player in one hit with the right RNG. We’ve reduced the increased damage and opted instead to focus on accuracy. This will make for more consistent KO potential, while leaving Torva’s Set open for those who really want to risk it all for their max hits!

• Maoma's Med Helm set bonus now provides 20% Melee accuracy and 3% Melee damage
  
• Maoma's Full Helm set bonus now provides 25% Melee accuracy and 4% Melee damage
  
• Maoma's Great Helm set bonus now provides 30% Melee accuracy and 5% Melee damage
  

Saika’s headgear set also didn’t perform as well as intended. It offered less accuracy than Ahrim the Blighted’s equipment, so we’ve raised its power level.

Due to the low Magic attack bonuses available from each piece we’ve had to bump the Magic accuracy bonus up quite a bit, but the following changes should place Saika’s headgear set somewhere between Ahrim’s and Ancestral for PvP:

• Saika's Hood Magic attack bonus increased from 3 to 6 and the set bonus now provides 50% Magic accuracy and 3% Magic damage
  
• Saika's Veil Magic attack bonus increased from 5 to 8 and the set bonus now provides 55% Magic accuracy and 4% Magic damage
  
• Saika's Shroud Magic attack bonus increased from 8 to 118 and the set bonus now provides 60% Magic accuracy and 5% Magic damage
  

Lastly, we have Koriff’s headgear set. The increased damage offered by this set bonus was about right, but the accuracy just didn’t hit the mark. Much like Saika’s set, you’d be better off using Karil the Tainted’s equipment.

With the above and Void Knight and Elite Void Knight equipment in mind, our changes should place Koriff’s headgear set slightly higher in offensive capabilities than Karil’s, but lower defence than Armadyl.

• Koriff's Headband Ranged defence bonus decreased from 2 to 1 and the set bonus now provides 15% Ranged accuracy and 7.5% Ranged damage
  
• Koriff's Cowl Ranged defence bonus decreased from 6 to 3 and the set bonus now provides 20% Ranged accuracy and 10% Ranged damage
  
• Koriff's Coif Ranged defence bonus decreased from 24 to 12 and the set bonus now provides 25% Ranged accuracy and 12.5% Ranged damage
  

We’re at the point now where we’re looking to finalise everything ahead of the in-game poll, so jump into the Beta today and let us know what you think of the updated rewards!

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[h2]Death Pile Changes[/h2]

We’ve also made some engine changes affecting Death Piles for Ultimate Ironmen!

As discussed recently, the game now recognises Death Pile items on your player save, rather than the world save. This means that if you have an item on the ground visible only to you (such as untradeables or items dropped on death outside of PvP), it will be saved when you log off and reappear when you log back in. The time the item stays on the ground remains the same, but critically, the timer pauses whenever you’re offline.

Please note that this does not apply to items dropped in instanced areas.

All account types will notice that if they have the setting enabled which drops food and potions as a supply pile upon death, this pile will also benefit from the paused despawn timer, and will appear in any world you log in to.

In the future, we may use this system for item drops in mass encounters to avoid the issues we saw when Nex launched, where so many items were dropping that some players’ drops disappeared. Stay tuned!

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[h2]Other Changes [/h2]

• The notifications for personal best raid times will now display the raid's full time.
  
• Removed an incorrectly placed Group Storage Chest in Falador.
  
• Clan members now have the option to leave their clan's chat channel entirely, replacing the option to mute it.
  
• Players will no longer get disconnected if they type 80 characters into the Group Ironman chat channel.
  
• Corrected some lore inconsistencies in the Rune Mysteries quest.
  

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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.

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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 reference on the above content, check out the official Old School Wiki.

Mods Arcane, Archie, Argo, Ash, Ayiza, Banjo, Boko, Brow, Bruno, Curse, Daizong, Dibber, Ditto, Dylan, Ed, Elena, Errol, Fed, Gecko, Grub, Halo, Havik, Hornet, Husky, Jalo, John C, Kandosii, Katies, Kamon, Kieren, Kirby, Kurotou, Lenny, Light, Lottie, Mack, Matheus, Maylea, Markos, Meat, Morty, Nasty, Nin, Nylu, Oasis, Peppers, Regent, Redfield, Roq, Ry, Sarnie, Sigma, Skylark, Soffan, Sova, Squid, Steve W, Tide, Torrance, Veda, Vegard, West & Wolfy

The Old School Team.

This week we’re kicking off the PvP Arena Rewards Beta and saying goodbye to Leagues III: Shattered Relics!

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[h2]PvP Arena: Rewards Beta[/h2]

The Emir of Al Kharid has discovered illicit activity taking place in the glorious old battlegrounds formerly known as the Duel Arena! As a result, all fights are now overseen by the guards of Al Kharid. With this change comes some shiny new rewards - and if you log into a Beta World today, you’ll be able to give some of them a try!

As always, participating in the Beta won’t affect your normal saved game profile.

The Beta worlds are highlighted in blue on the World Select screen and include the following:

• World 401 (US East)
  
• World 405 (Germany)
  
• World 407 (UK)
  
• World 409 (US West)
  
• World 412 (Australia)
  

Upon logging into a Beta World, your account is automatically set up with high stats and most quests auto-completed. You’ll arrive in Ferox Enclave near the loadout table, which gives you a couple of options:

• Left-click: Offers a wide selection of gear, preset loadouts and stats
  
• Right-click: Lets you customise your stats
  

There's also an Altar nearby at which you can switch your active Spellbook. There are also some handy portals to travel to various places around Gielinor.

Along with a plethora of standard gear to choose from, you’ll also have access to all the rewards from the PvP Arena! You’ll notice that they look a bit funny – at this stage of development we’re using placeholder graphics; recycled models with a quick paint-job to distinguish them from other items. Don’t worry, we don’t intend to ship them like this! Further down, you can see some concept art of how the final items might look.

If you missed our PvP Arena Blog then here's what you can expect:

[h3]Full list of Beta Rewards[/h3]

[expand]


New Blighted Sacks

For a small number of Reward Points, you'll be able to purchase two new Blighted Sacks that can be used within the Wilderness:

• One supplies the Runes required for any Wave spell
  
• Another supplies the Runes required for any Surge spell
  

These sacks are untradeable. The following behaviour applies should you die with one of them in your Inventory:

• Non-PvP death above and below 20 Wilderness: Blighted Sacks sent to your Gravestone if they are not protected.
  
• PvP death above and below 20 Wilderness: Any unprotected Blighted Sacks are destroyed and converted into an appropriate number of coins, which then drop to the player killer.
  

Imbue Scrolls

The only way players can imbue items outside of Nightmare Zone is by playing Soul Wars. Given this is predominantly a PvP activity, it felt fitting to expand on this offering by giving players the chance to purchase Imbue Scrolls for a low price from the PvP Arena Reward Shop. These would be untradeable and would allow players to imbue the following items:

• Black Mask
  
• Salve Amulet
  
• Salve Amulet (E)
  
• Seers’ Ring
  
• Archers’ Ring
  
• Warrior Ring
  
• Berserker Ring
  
• Ring of the Gods
  
• Tyrannical Ring
  
• Treasonous Ring
  
• Ring of Suffering
  
• Granite Ring
  
• Slayer Helmet
  
• Wristbands of the Arena
  

A Quick Note...

All of the rewards from this point on in the blog act the same way. If you die with them in PvP, they transform into a broken version and money is dropped to the player killer. You must then take them to Perdu to be repaired. They will be broken when purchased, meaning you'll have to pay Perdu to repair them before they can be used in PvP.

You can use a Trouver Parchment on all of them! Unsure of how Trouver Parchments work? The Old School Wiki has a handy explanation.

Wristbands of the Arena

Concept Art for the Wristbands of the Arena.

Do you hate having to complete quests before your account is ready to step foot into the Wilderness and fight other players? Well, shame on you, because quests are great! But sure, for those of you whose spacebars really cannot take the strain, we've got you covered...

Wristbands of the Arena are an untradeable alternative to Barrows Gloves, offering the same stats for those who want to focus entirely on PvP.

Barrows Gloves typically require 41 Defence to equip. Wristbands of the Arena, however, would require just 20 Defence, which we think would bring a little more variety to the PvP scene.

It will also be possible to imbue the Wristbands of the Arena to improve their accuracy stats slightly. Doing so will increase their Defence requirement to 40.

Note that, unlike Barrows Gloves, the Wristbands would only be usable in PvP combat, so you will still have to get questing if you plan on doing anything that would normally call for the Barrows Gloves.

Centurion Cuirass

Concept Art for the Centurion Cuirass.

We’ve come for quests, now it’s time for non-PvP minigames. Skip the Barbarian Assault with our next item, an alternative to the Fighter Torso!

The Centurion Cuirass is a lost artefact unearthed during the restoration of the Arena. Once donned by only the mightiest warriors, this sandy and well-worn armour is now a relic of what once was. A symbol of the arena's past fortune, and a hope that it may thrive once again.

The Cuirass is untradeable, and has similar stats to the Fighter Torso, but with slightly higher defensive stats. It requires 40 Defence to equip.

Calamity Chest & Breeches

Concept Art for the Calamity Chest & Breeches.

The Calamity Armour was once shared between three infamous followers of an Ancient god – Maoma, Saika and Koriff. The Calamity Coven sought to emulate their deity and take control of their own fate, and they reasoned that wealth was their only means to do so. They believed that each and every person had the right to do whatever they needed to take control of their life – and if they were too weak, then others would take control for them.

With these shared beliefs spurring them, they brought about what is known as the Calamity – the complete downfall of the once glorious Duel Arena. Once a bustling hive of healthy competition, under their reign of tyranny it quickly became a dark and corrupt place. Even years after the Calamity Coven retreated into the shadows, the Arena is still fighting to shed its iniquitous reputation.

The Calamity Armour set is an untradeable PvP take on the Void Armour set. Like Void, you’ll need the full set for it to be really effective – and like Void, it pairs with three interchangeable helms that are required to activate the set effects. We’ll talk more about those in a moment.

The armour has low defence, so it’s risky in PvP and requires the wearer to be good at predicting their opponent’s next move and quickly switching gear to reduce incoming damage.

It comes in three tiers, allowing for flexibility with different PvP builds.

The Calamity Chest and Breeches have no requirements.

The Superior Calamity Chest and Breeches require 50 Defence to equip.

The Elite Calamity Chest and Breeches require 75 Defence to equip.

Maoma's Headgear Set

Concept Art for the Maoma's Headgear Set.

Maoma was the corrupt captain of the Emir’s guard. Her job was to oversee fights at the arena and ensure that order was upheld – but in reality, she was taking bribes to look the other way. Some say she even instigated some of the fights to make the Arena more popular and recruited prisoners to bolster the fighters’ ranks!

Moama's Headgear is an untradeable helm that can be used alongside the Calamity Armour to activate the full set effect when using the Melee Combat style.

Maoma's Med Helm has no requirements.

Maoma's Full Helm requires 50 Defence to equip.

Maoma's Great Helm requires 75 Defence to equip.

Koriff's Headgear Set

Concept Art for the Koriff's Headgear Set.

Koriff was the crowd-pleaser. Perhaps the most notorious of all, she was always the centre of attention at the Arena. With a charming personality, she'd make sure the richer visitors had a particularly good time, pampering them with the best seats and service possible. Little did they know of her collaboration with Saika, Maoma, and the thieves they paid to pick the rich guests' pockets.

They say that fighters couldn’t help but come back for more bloodshed, even at the cost of their own life expectancy. They also say that Koriff had a direct hand in encouraging them back to the Arena, only for them to die shortly after. When crowds became tired of certain competitors, you could bet that their bodies could soon be found being dragged from the arena – and that Koriff had earned a windfall betting against them.

Koriff's Headgear is an untradeable helm that can be used alongside the Calamity Armour to activate benefits when using the Ranged Combat style.

Koriff's Headband has no requirements.

Koriff's Cowl requires 50 Defence to equip.

Koriff's Coif requires 75 Defence to equip.

Saika's Headgear Set

Concept Art for the Saika's Headgear Set.

Saika was the puppet master. She was in charge of the Arena’s economy, ensuring profit from the crowds that came to watch the fights. Her greed knew no bounds as she fudged the numbers for years - claiming the cost of running the place was so high that it barely broke even. These sketchy numbers made their way to the Emir, and he kept shelling out to keep it going. Unfortunately for him, the funding would go straight to Saika's pocket. She would pay destitute citizens a pittance to pretend they were working, just to maintain her ruse.

Saika's Headgear is an untradeable helm that can be used alongside the Calamity Armour to activate benefits when using the Magic Combat style.

Saika's Hood has no requirements.

Saika's Veil requires 50 Defence to equip.

Saika's Shroud requires 75 Defence to equip.

Humble Piety & Humble Chivalry

Also with this Beta we'll be automatically unlocking the ability to use the Humble Piety & Humble Chivalry, if you don't have levels set for the normal Piety & Chivalry Prayers.

The Humble Chivalry unlock scroll grants you access to Chivalry if you haven't already unlocked it. The existing 60 Prayer requirement remains regardless of which Prayer version is unlocked.

The Chivalry Prayer changes as follows:

• If you have completed the King's Ransom Knight Waves and have level 65 Defence, Chivalry acts as it currently does, granting +20% Defence, +18% Strength and +15% Attack.
  
• If you have not completed the Knight Waves or lack level 65 Defence, Chivalry grants +18% Strength and +15% Attack, and you are blocked from performing PvM attacks while the Prayer is active.
  

Humble Piety unlock scroll grants you access to Piety if you haven't already unlocked it. The existing 70 Prayer requirement remains regardless of which Prayer version is unlocked.

The Piety Prayer changes as follows:

• If you have completed the King's Ransom Knight Waves and have level 70 Defence, Piety acts as it currently does, granting +25% Defence, +23% Strength and +20% Attack.
  
• If you have not completed the Knight Waves, but have at least 40 Defence, Piety grants just +23% Strength and +20% Attack, and you are blocked from performing PvM attacks while the prayer is active.
  

[/expand]

So, fancy wielding some of these weapons? Jump into a Beta World, give them a spin and let us know what you think over on the community-led OSRS Discord in the #gameupdate channel, our PvP Arena: Reward Beta thread on the 2007Scape subreddit or via our socials.
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[h2]Poll 76 Changes [/h2]

The first batch of changes from Poll 76 have arrived!

• The Pharaoh’s Sceptre is now one-handed.
  
• Wounded Shayzien soldiers are now more grateful! Healing them will now get you 0.2% Favour instead of 0.1%.
  
• The fires at Barbarian Village and Rogue’s Den can now be used by left-clicking.
  
• Removed a line of dialogue when collecting Slime and Bonemeal from Robin.
  
• The Fishing Guild Shop now carries Small Nets, Fishing Rods, and more!
  
• A Fishing Net can now be found on a table inside the Fishing Guild.
  

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[h2]Leagues III: Shattered Relics Closure [/h2]

Unfortunately, it’s time to say goodbye to Leagues III: Shattered Relics. All League worlds will close at the usual update time of 11:30 GMT. That means you still have a little time to complete those last few League tasks and scoop up some extra points!

Once the game has been updated, all League worlds will become inaccessible. What will remain, however, is the all-important Rewards Shop!

Your League points will transfer over to the main game, ready to be spent on goodies including the Shattered Relics Relic Hunter Outfit, Home Teleport Animation, Ornament Kits and more.

But that’s not all – we’ve also got a fair few Trophies to hand out! These won’t be available right away, as we’ll want to make sure we’ve correctly identified the thresholds for the different ranks. We’re aiming to make them available around 12:00 GMT (approximately 30 minutes after the update) via a hotfix.

Before that happens, join us in World 500 as we create a celebratory conga line from this League’s start point in Catherby all the way down through Ardougne and beyond! Come along in your swankiest gear and show off all your awesome new items in our grand finale!



[hr][/hr]
[h2]Other Changes[/h2]

• Blighted Sacks are no longer deleted if you try to pick them up while you have a Rune Pouch in your Inventory with a vacant slot.
  
• The Splitbark Wizard's menu now defaults to 1 as the chosen quantity.
  
• Konar Slayer tasks can now be completed inside the Ironman instance of the Kalphite Queen’s Lair.
  
• Fixed a bug where random event and quest messaging was appearing in Temple Trekking.
  
• STEAM CLIENT ONLY: When Venom or Poison is active on the Player, the Buff Bar should now display both the amount of damage to be taken on the next cycle, and the time until that cycle.
  
• STEAM CLIENT ONLY: The Buff Bar will now display up to 12 Buffs, or 8 in fixed UI mode.
  
• STEAM CLIENT ONLY: The Buff Bar will now correctly populate on log in when transitioning from desktop to mobile.
  

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[h2]Guardians of the Rift[/h2]

We’re only ONE WEEK away from Guardians of the Rift and its associated quest, Temple of the Eye!

You can look forward to a completely new way to train Runecraft in this non-combat, team-based minigame that sees you protecting the Rift Guardian from the approaching forces of the Abyss! Learn the mysteries of the Rift, experience a brand-new minigame, and unlock awesome rewards, including access to the True Blood Altar!

Want to learn more? Then keep your eye on our socials to see all the great stuff you can look forward to with next week’s update.

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[h2]Merch Store Update [/h2]

The eagle-eyed amongst you will have spotted that there were some changes to the merch store last week. Our store partner, BSI, have migrated the store to Shopify. This brings a host of improvements, including:

• Better user experience!
  
• Product filters so you can sort by your size and only see what's currently in stock
  
• Local pricing – you can now see exactly what everything costs in your local currency
  
• Expanded shipping destinations – the store now ships to Brazil and many more countries
  
• Reduced tracked shipping costs, especially on larger orders of pins and keyrings to the US
  
• Estimated shipping cost from within each product listing, before you add the item to your basket
  

Further improvements are expected over the coming weeks, so keep your eyes peeled!

In the meantime, the first of many new lines coming to the store this year include two new tees and Angels Scapes lines celebrating Leagues III and Old School’s 9th Birthday!



As Leagues III: Shattered Relics comes to a close today, why not look back on your achievements with these fabulous limited-edition pins from Angels Scapes? Immortalise your Leagues fashionscape with the Elite Void and Mystic Robe Pins, cheer for Shattered Relics with the Leagues III Banner Pin or take home your very own mysterious figure with the Sage Pin, created with Antique Nickel!

Or if none of those strike your fancy, how about the awesome Leagues III Shattered Relics medal? The perfect reward for a dedicated Leagues player!

In February this year, Old School RuneScape turned 9! We’re celebrating with the Wise Old Man Birthday Pin and a special glitter variant of the DFS Pin.



Other new lines include these uber-cool Zuk and Combat Triangle tees and Crafting and Fletching Skillcape Keyrings!

Check out the Old School RuneScape Collection in our new-look store today!

[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.

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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 information about the above content, check out the official Old School Wiki.

Mods Arcane, Archie, Argo, Ash, Ayiza, Banjo, Boko, Brow, Bruno, Curse, Daizong, Dibber, Ditto, Dylan, Ed, Elena, Errol, Fed, Gecko, Grub, Halo, Havik, Hornet, Husky, Jalo, John C, Kandosii, Katies, Kamon, Kieren, Kirby, Kurotou, Lenny, Light, Lottie, Mack, Matheus, Maylea, Markos, Meat, Morty, Nasty, Nin, Nylu, Oasis, Peppers, Regent, Redfield, Roq, Ry, Sarnie, Sigma, Skylark, Soffan, Sova, Squid, Steve W, Tide, Torrance, Veda, Vegard, West & Wolfy

The Old School Team

Gather 'round, fragment-hunters – after a thrilling couple of months, Leagues III: Shattered Relics is coming to an end.

It’s been tremendous fun watching you experiment with this all-new approach to the Leagues experience. Where the previous two incarnations were all about making fixed choices in restricted locations, our third outing gave you new ways to adapt and enhance your powers – and with access to the whole World Map! This resulted in all sorts of possibilities for play, just like we hoped it would. Watching you all fusing fragments and switching up your powers has certainly been inspirational for the team as our thoughts turn to Leagues IV…

In the meantime though, let’s focus on the most pertinent question: how will Leagues III end?

First off, you'll be happy to hear that all League worlds will be open until the usual game update time of 11:30 GMT on Wednesday, March 16th. This means you'll have a chance to complete your last few tasks and scoop up some extra points before the regular game update. Downtime will be minimal and comparable to that of a regular game update.

Once the game has been updated, all League worlds will become inaccessible. What will remain, however, is the all-important Rewards Shop!

Your League points will transfer over to the main game, ready to be spent on goodies including the Shattered Relics Hunter Outfit, Home Teleport Animation, Ornament Kits and more.

After all that hard work, you’re probably very keen to get hold of your Trophies! These won't be available straight away, as we’ll want to make sure we've correctly identified the thresholds for the different ranks. We are aiming to make them available around 12:00 GMT (approximately 30 minutes after the game update) via a quick hotfix once the numbers have been confirmed.

Finally, just like last year we want to run a little end-of-Leagues event to say goodbye. Join us in World 500 at 11:00 GMT as we create a celebration line from this League's starting point of Catherby, all the way down through Ardougne and onwards. Come along in your swankiest gear and show off all your awesome items in our grand finale! Here's a rough plan of the route:



We want to thank every one of you for the time you've spent playing this League. The radical re-imagining has really paid off thanks to your creativity and general brilliance as players. Here’s to the next one, because who knows… some of these characters may already be itching to make their return…

Mods Arcane, Archie, Argo, Ash, Ayiza, Banjo, Boko, Brow, Bruno, Curse, Daizong, Deagle, Dibber, Ditto, Dylan, Ed, Elena, Errol, Fed, Gecko, Grub, Halo, Havik, Hornet, Husky, Jalo, John C, Kandosii, Katies, Kamon, Kieren, Kirby, Kurotou, Lenny, Light, Lottie, Mack, Matheus, Maylea, Markos, Meat, Morty, Nasty, Nin, Nylu, Oasis, Peppers, Regent, Redfield, Roq, Ry, Sarnie, Sigma, Skylark, Soffan, Sova, Squid, Steve W, Tide, Torrance, Veda, Vegard, West & Wolfy


The Old School Team