Old School RuneScape News

Combat! Ah, the glorious art of bashing monsters and hunting demons is part of any good high-fantasy world, and Old School is no different. We think it's high time to take a deeper look at the various Combat arts you can master and see how they fit in to your adventures across the world of Gielinor.


[h2]Master of Many[/h2]



There’s three primary styles of Combat to get to grips with in Old School – Melee, Ranged and Magic. Each has associated skills to level which increase your power through new spells, grant access to higher level gear and plenty more besides.

There are no classes in Old School, so you can be a master of any Combat style you like at any time... and you’ll need to be! As you venture across Gielinor, there’s a vast array of creatures, dragons, demons and even humans that all have their own strengths and weaknesses, so being versatile with your Combat is often key to success.

But fret not - equipment helps make your raw capabilities even more lethal. As you level up key skills (like Attack for Melee, or Defence for Armor) you’ll be able to equip better protection and weapons that will even the odds against the increasingly gruesome foes.


[h2]Battle With Purpose[/h2]



While there's nothing quite like some mindless Slaying, we know there's plenty of you out there who crave purpose beyond the simple joy of monster-bashing. So good news - there’s plenty of reasons!

For those who desire lore and story, you’ll need to enhance your powers to take on some of the toughest quests in the game and successfully overcome climactic battles that will test your Combat skillset.

For the less quest-orientated, the aptly named Slayer skill tasks you with travelling the land to hunt down various types of monsters. Kill enough to complete your task and you'll gain access to even more rewarding and lucrative beasties!

And then there's the pinnacle PvM content to tackle, from epic solo bosses through to a whole menagerie of challenging group encounters. You name it, we have it! If you are someone who yearns for glory and the best rewards the game has to offer, this is for you - whether you use those drops to make money or to arm yourself to the teeth.

There's also a multitude of exciting minigames offering fantastic rewards, ranging from vast riches to dazzling equipment upgrades. Conquering the battlefields of Pest Control, for instance, will give you access to Void armours, whilst besting the Fight Caves will reward you with the iconic Fire Cape.

And finally, for the brave and the bold, there’s PvP in the legendary Wilderness. Those brave enough to venture into the depths of this special PvP enabled area can face off against other players, but be warned - almost everything you are holding or have equipped is on the line. You can reap massive rewards in the Wildy, but you can also lose it all...


[h2]Skilling Matters[/h2]



On top of power-boosting gear, other skills in your repertoire will also feed into your Combat lethality!

The Prayer skill offers the most direct assistance, allowing you to channel godly blessings that enhance your abilities and offer protection from your many foes.

As with the general philosophy of skilling in Old School, many of the other abilities will also give you a helping hand in your quest for Combat prowess. And that goes far beyond simply crafting your own armour and weapons. Take Herblore - your knowledge of potions can translate to success in battle, allowing you to craft concoctions that can both protect you or boost your capabilities.


[h2]Fighting Factors[/h2]



While skills are an important aspect of Combat, damage done and received is mostly determined by external traits. There are a lot of other factors which contribute to the outcomes of your fights.

• Armour and Weapons: Generally, armour boosts a person's defensive capabilities by reducing the accuracy of incoming attacks, and weaponry boosts a player's offensive capabilities. However, armour may also provide offensive bonuses, and weapons usually provide minor defensive bonuses. For maximum effectiveness, players should use the best equipment available to them, since bonuses provided by equipment are at least as important as levels in combat skills.
  
  
• Special Attacks: Some weapons have unique special attacks. These consume a type of energy resource known as the special attack bar, unleashing an effect specific to the weapon. This may include extra damage, additional hits, stat drains and much more.
  
  
• Speed of Attack: All weapons in Old School have a specific speed determining the interval between successive hits. Attack speed is arguably the single most important factor in damage per second, though fast weapons tend to not be as accurate or powerful as their counterparts. Fast, inaccurate weapons are ideal against enemies with low Defence. In contrast, slower and more accurate weapons fare better against tougher enemies with high Defence.
  
  
• Damage Absorption: Some rare armours can offer unique absorption effects to help you survive specific brutalities. Certain shields can protect you from the fire of a dragon's breath, for example, whilst Yak-hide armour will mitigate a lot of the damage you'll face when facing off against Ice Trolls.
  

[h2]Test Your Mettle[/h2]



Fortune favours the bold. Get stuck in (as in, stick your weapons into) to the challenges that Old School has to offer!


Until next time, future adventurer!

The Old School Team

[h2]Issues and Hotfixes (17th March)[/h2]

[expand]

[/expand]

We’re looking to the skies this week for the arrival of Shooting Stars - a blast from the past RuneScape activity from 2008 that’s been brought back and Old School-ified. We’ve also tweaked a few demons and devils and made adjustments to the Corporeal Beast. Cosmic!

[hr][/hr]
[h2]Shooting Stars[/h2]



Shooting Stars are landing all across Gielinor! These wondrous objects can be mined for rewards, and players can use telescopes to figure out when and where they might land. This is one of the new types of activity we're calling 'Distraction and Diversion' (Treasure Trails and Champions Challenge are also now in this category, rather than being classed as minigames).

On every world, a Shooting Star will fall at a random spot selected from a predetermined list. This happens roughly every two hours, with a variation of up to 15 minutes to stop them from being too predictable. Read on to find out how to track them, and why it's worth the chase...

A Star (Hunter) Is Born

A lot of you will find Stars by just happening upon them on your travels. However, dedicated hunters can use the telescope in their Player Owned House to determine the rough landing location. Different telescopes will offer varying levels of accuracy.

Sounds easy? Actually, your telescopes will only point to the general region where a Star will fall, so you still need to search for the exact spot.

Telescopes



Landing Sites

[expand]Here's a list of the assorted landing sites. You'll notice that a lot of them are near Banks or Mining spots - handy! We want this update to complement your gameplay as much as possible.
RuneScape's original release had fewer landing sites. Here, the number has nearly doubled (spanning multiple new regions) to provide some more variety. Lovely stuff.


[/expand]

F2P Stars

Shooting Stars was originally for RuneScape members only, but in Old School they will land on F2P worlds too! However, without access to a telescope, players will have to find Stars by chance. Additionally, Stars may still land in non-F2P areas on F2P worlds, rendering them out of reach.

Stars will offer 50% of the usual value on F2P worlds, and as the Reward Shop is not available, XP will be the only benefit. However, Stardust (see next section) will still be given on F2P worlds. It's a good idea to save it up ready to be used should you ever decide to become a member!

Mining Stars

Once a Star has landed, it is ready to be mined.

The landing times of the last five Stars will also be listed on a board in the Observatory, along with the names of the players that found them.

Fallen Stars come in nine different sizes, and a Star can be any size when it lands. Each has a different Mining Level requirement calculated at the size x10.

Mining any Star will reward players with Stardust, an untradeable currency that can be used to purchase a variety of untradeable rewards. Each size can be mined for a different amount, and once depleted it will shrink to a smaller size. Every time some Stardust is mined, Mining XP is awarded as well as the chance to also receive gems, clue geodes and the mining pet.

Star Sizes

Rewards

In addition to all the lovely Mining XP, players can also use their Stardust to buy rewards! Dusuri, a Dwarf found in Falador just outside the Mining Guild will happily take your Stardust in exchange for items. He appears on both P2P and F2P worlds.

Celestial Ring

This untradeable ring will give a hidden Mining boost of +4 when worn. This stacks with other invisible boosts. It will also be chargeable with Stardust. Each Stardust will add one charge up to a max of 10,000 charges. When charged, the ring will have a 1/10 chance of giving an extra ore when mining, and this extra ore will reward the normal XP amount when mined. Extra ore can emerge at any rock where the Mining Skillcape has a chance of giving it. Every time ore is mined from a suitable rock, a charge will be lost from the ring.

Star Fragment

These can be used on any piece of the Prospector Outfit to recolour a specific piece gold.



Bag Full of Gems

Contains gems - but which ones? Works like any other Bag full of gems.

Soft Clay Pack

A pack containing 100 pieces of soft clay. Works like any other Soft Clay Pack.

[hr][/hr]
[h2]Bolt Pouch Update [/h2]

After successful polling, we are updating the Bolt Pouch interact! These tweaks should make it much more user-friendly:

• You no longer need to right-click an item in the Pouch to remove it - you can simply left-click/tap.
  
• To wear bolts from the Pouch, just drag and drop them into the current ammo slot.
  
• There is a new slot in the Pouch called Extra Ammo, in your worn equipment tab above your normal ammo. You can left-click/tap to switch between your worn bolts and extra bolts without opening the pouch itself. Fewer clicks to switch ammo - nice!
  
• The Bolt Pouch now works similarly to items like the Rune Pouch. Upon your character's death, the Bolt Pouch can be picked up with the stored bolts emptied into the gravestone. If the player dies during PvM and below level 20 Wilderness, the Bolt Pouch contents are emptied into the gravestone and the bolt pouch is preserved. If the player dies during PvM but above level 20 Wilderness, the Pouch is destroyed and the contents emptied into the gravestone. On a PvP death, the pouch is destroyed and a coin is given to the player, along with all the bolts. Should this happen, you'll be able to pick up another one from Hirko in Keldagrim.
  
• The following items can now be added to the Bolt Pouch:
  
  • Grapple (one per slot)
    
  • Bolt Racks

[hr][/hr]
[h2]Poll 74 Changes[/h2]



We've made some changes based on the results of Poll 74!

The following demon-like monsters have been tagged as demons:

• Bloodveld (all variants)
  
• Icefiends
  
• Imps
  
• Waterfiends
  
• Pyrefiends (including superiors)
  
• Pyrelords (including superiors)
  
• Porazdir
  
• Most hellhound types:
  
  • Unique hellhounds like Cerberus and Bouncer are included in this
    
  • Undead hellhounds (skeletal, ghost etc) are not included

There is now a small chance of receiving bird's egg nests when emptying a full birdhouse.

Thermonuclear Smoke Devil has a reduced chance of dropping Tinderboxes, Bullseye Lanterns, Pure essence and Kebabs.

Thermonuclear Smoke Devil now has a tertiary roll for the Jar of Smoke.

Players can now make Dark Flippers! Visit Patchy the pirate in Mos Le'Harmless to combine the Dark Claw from Skotizo and Flippers from Mogres!

[hr][/hr]
[h2]Corporeal Beast [/h2]

• When Corporeal Beast begins additional heal regeneration in group sizes of eight or more, this now scales from a lower base value.
  
• Additionally, the Corporeal Beast will no longer award loot to Iron-players if it has attacked another player. If this happens, you'll be able to tell because a brazier will be lit outside.
  
• These changes were implemented to better enforce the Ironman mode, which is about solo-only play. Apologies for not doing this sooner - we acknowledge that this change has come some time after the launch of Corporeal Beast. In future we plan to make more changes to bring the mode closer to where we think it should be!
  
• In addition to this, the Corporeal Beast will be reset if it has neither attacked or been attacked by another player for 3 minutes.
  
• The Corporeal beast now has a tertiary roll for the Jar of Spirits.
  

[hr][/hr]
[h2]Castle Wars [/h2]



Back in November we proposed some Castle Wars tweaks in the Soul Wars and Minigames poll. Since then we've been in discussion with the Castle Wars community, and this week's update brings the following changes...

• Potion supply tables have been placed in the starting room for each respective game in Castle Wars.
  
• A new notification has been added to the game, directing players to Castle Wars worlds.
  
• Players can no longer trade members of the opposite team.
  
• Players may no longer hop worlds and re-join Castle Wars games (logging in and out in the same world remains unaffected).
  

[hr][/hr]
[h2]Clan Hall Concepts[/h2]

We recently showcased the progress we've made on the Clans system, and today we've got a quick update about Clan Halls. These are private areas just for your Clan, and can be accessed through a portal in the Hub.

We've got three options for their theme which are:

• Crystalline, based on the Prifddinas style.
  
• Gothic Mansion, based on the Darkmeyer style.
  
• Generic medieval fantasy from the western hemisphere, e.g. a castle or country house.
  

Theme A: Crystaline/Prifddinas style

Theme B: Gothic/Darkmeyer style

Theme C: Fantasy Medieval style.


Which style will make it into the final Clans rework? That's up to you! We'll be opening an in-game poll shortly, so let us know your favourite.

We'll only be able to implement one of these themes for release, but that won't stop us adding more in future. This may include extensive customisation options for your Clan to unlock or buy.

In the preview blog, we also showed the Clan Hub, a small encampment where you'll form your Clan. We provisionally placed it in an unused corner of the Grand Exchange, along with the forthcoming gaming tables, since the GE is an existing social area that's easily accessed. Not everyone agreed with that location, though. As an alternative, we could place it south of Falador, like RS3 did. We're open to other locations for the encampment too - if there's a lot of support for a change, we can use the same in-game poll to see which is the most popular approach.

[hr][/hr]
[h2]Merch [/h2]

RuneScape: The First 20 Years arrives in comic shops and bookstores October 5th, 2021, and is available for pre-order now in the US through Amazon, Barnes and Noble and your local comic shops.



Plus, as an extra special treat for fans, RuneScape: The First 20 Years (Deluxe Edition) features a special variant cover, card slipcase, hard backed folio containing art prints, gold edged pages and page marker and can be pre-ordered now exclusively from the RuneScape Merch Store.



The Deluxe Edition is strictly limited, so you'll have to get your orders in by April 15th to make sure you snag your copy!

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

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, W371 (UK).
  
• The members-only LMS world will be W492 (US East).
  
• The free-to-play LMS world will be W326 (UK).

Thanks to the over 700 of you who have already taken the time to answer our PvP World Rota survey! We'd like to offer one last chance to have your say before we review the feedback. Tell us what you think about the PvP World rotation and future changes by clicking here.

Smaller Changes

The #SixJadChallenge competition is now closed and we want to say a huge thank you to everyone who participated! We'll be reviewing all the entries carefully and we look forward to announcing the winners in the near future.

Players may now opt out of dropping food and potions as a supply pile upon death, sending them to the gravestone instead. The new toggle is in the Gameplay tab of the Settings menu.

Special Attack energy will now restore when a player enters the new Jad challenge, dropping to the level it was at prior to entering.

The value of Zealot items has increased so that they will protect over all bones upon death.

A new setting has been added to optionally separate personal bests into hours.

The party in Lumbridge is over (boo) and the monkeys have returned to Ape Atoll! Our 8th Birthday event has now been removed from the game. See you all next year...

Plus:

• The TzHaar-Kets have shrunk a little, so that they can be one-tile NPCs as they used to be (but without the graphical bugs they had before)!
  
• You can now click the jar generator more rapidly to get additional jars.
  
• Some grammar has been corrected in the Hallowed Sepulchre and the Inferno.
  
• A spelling error has been fixed on the Swampbark and Bloodbark gauntlets.

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, 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

In yesterday's Server Login Issues update, the RuneScape Team shared the promising progress that's been made towards restoring accounts and resolving the ongoing login issue.

They also clarified that beginning today (March 11th) a small number of affected players will face temporarily restrictions preventing them from accessing their game accounts. This step is essential for the account restoration process.

All players affected by this restriction will have by now received a confirmation email.

Whilst the account issues are confined to RuneScape characters, the structure of our accounts system means that a small number of affected players will also be unable to log-in to Old School until the restoration work is completed.

[hr][/hr]
[h2]What You'll See If Your Account Has Been Restricted[/h2]

Firstly, this only applies to players who have been contacted via email and inbox message, as described above. The messaging you'll see isn't the clearest, so let's show you what you might see!

Log in using username / email & password

On desktop

On mobile

On our website


Log in using Steam

On desktop

On our website


Log in using Apple / Google / Facebook

On mobile

On our website

[hr][/hr]
We'd like to thank you for your patience whilst work continues to resolve the issue and get you back in-game.


The Old School Team

Following yesterday evening's announcement from Mod Warden and the RuneScape Team regarding the recent Server Login Issues, we've opted to postpone this week's game update. We've made this decision to ensure that the best and brightest at Jagex can remain entirely focused on helping the affected RuneScape accounts.

We'll still be live with our weekly Q&A on Thursday March 11th at the usual time of 17:00 GMT. With next week's game update, on Wednesday March 17th, you can look forward to Shooting Stars and some quality of life updates. Get eggcited for the following week's game update, on Wednesday 24th March, where we'll be bringing you this year's Easter holiday event as well as Tempoross, the Fishing Skill Boss.

Thanks for your patience and your understanding.


The Old School Team

So, by now you should have a grasp of the basics when it comes to the world of Gielinor (if you don’t, make sure you read Old School RuneScape 101. Now it’s time to get acquainted with the REALLY good stuff now we've launch on Steam!

Today we’ll be focusing on two of the key parts of your RuneScape journey - mastering skills and embarking on quests.

[hr][/hr]
[h2]'92 is half of 99’ – Skilling in Old School[/h2]



Skills are the bread and butter of Old School. There are 23 in total, and you can level these up by gaining XP through various actions, from killing monsters to chopping trees. Levelling allows you to unlock new activities: better equipment, locations, quests and much, much more. 15 skills are available to free-to-play adventurers, while members have unfettered access to all 23!

There are four skill types within Old School – Combat (various forms of fighting), Artisan (using resources to create useful items), Gathering (amassing raw materials) and Support (other cunning abilities that assist you in your quest).

Here’s how that all breaks down:

For a quick description of every skill, head here. Some will help you to progress, some will enable you to take down greater foes and some will be your ticket to much-needed gold!

Whilst every level gained is an achievement, the pinnacle of Old School is the fabled level 99 - the true sign of skill mastery! Reaching it grants you a coveted Max Skillcape to wear and show off to your friends.

[hr][/hr]
[h2]‘One Small Favour’ - Questing and story in Old School[/h2]



What truly sets Old School apart is its story – the deep lore, absorbing quests and vast, living world. Over 20 years in, Old School boasts a whopping 147 individual quests (and counting!) full of vivid characters and diverse environments. 21 of them can be accessed in the free version of the game, while 126 are for members only.

Early quests are easier, be it the iconic standalone ‘Cook’s Assistant’ fetch-quest; ‘Priest in Peril’, which opens up the mysterious vampyric world of Morytania; or ‘X Marks the Spot’, which will introduce you to the ever-lucrative Clue Scrolls.

Before long though, you’ll be tackling Intermediate, Experienced, Master and Grandmaster quests, each bringing greater challenges than the last. From Yanni Salika’s ‘One Small Favour’ (if you know, you know), to slaying dragons and even resolving an ancient civil war in ‘Song of the Elves’ – it’s all in a day’s work for a budding adventurer!

Quests are the most direct way of immersing yourself into the world of Gielinor, but story permeates every facet of the game – from humorous NPC interactions to the rich and ancient tomes in the Library of Varrock. If you’re looking for juicy plot, you’ve come to the right place. We've got SO MUCH of it.

[hr][/hr]
[h2]Go on – try it for yourself![/h2]



There is much to discover in Old School – and we’ve barely touched on the perilous world of Combat yet (don’t worry, we’ll get to that soon).

Our advice? Jump in and explore. Immerse yourself in the rich and bountiful world of Gielinor – and while you’re at it, let us know how you get on in the Steam Hub. There are loads of friendly faces to help you with anything, from finding a quest item to learning the most efficient way to catch a Chinchompa.

Until next time, future adventurer!


The Old School Team