The Ninjas have been adding a little polish to the game ready for the end of the year! Read on for news of the Mini Strike, plus the return of the Advent Calendar, last international shipping dates for Christmas merch and more!
The Ninjas have squeezed in some late-in-the-year Qualify of Life improvements in a stocking filler-sized Mini Strike!
Some of the work has focused on gameplay balancing: they’ve taken adrenaline from Super Guthix restores, tweaked Dragon weapon special attacks, and you can no longer gain effects from the Scripture of Bik without using charge.
There’s a whole host of other tweaks too, from Strykeworms now being available to fight off-task, to God Books having up to 24 hours of charge and updated tooltips.
Visit the Patch Notes further down for the full slate of improvements!
The countdown begins! We’re fast approaching the most magical day of the year, and that of course means the return of the RuneScape Advent Calendar.
Get one free gift, plus an extra Key each day you log in through December. Open your rewards for 15 days and you’ll get the new Portable Snowfall Aura cosmetic override!
Since we’re counting down, you’ll notice that Christmas decorations are up across Gielinor from today, and there’s plenty more to come shortly. Look out tomorrow for news on December’s content drop and more special events to come!
Last week we announced brand new Bond Bundles for Black Friday – got yours yet? While the Bank Booster Bundle (featuring a whopping 250 Bank Spaces) is sticking around, all the other bundles will end with our Black Friday sale on Sunday. Here's a reminder of what they are:
- Get all three of the Auras (Mahjarrat, Desert Pantheon and Dwarven Instinct) for a 2 Bond discount compared to purchasing individually!
- Available in the main game (Ironman included) and Fresh Start Worlds from November 21st until December 4th (23:59 Game Time)
- Get Callista and enough Growth Surge to make them fully grown instantly! From kitty-cat to fearsome feline in a split second. Rawr!
- Available in the main game (Ironman included) and Fresh Start Worlds from November 21st until December 4th (23:59 Game Time)
- Get the ever-popular TzTok-Ak Legendary Pet and enough Growth Surge to make them fully grown instantly! The little lizard will become a mighty companion in moments.
- Available in the main game (Ironman included) and Fresh Start Worlds from November 21st until December 4th (23:59 Game Time)
- A limited-time Bundle available from November 21st until December 4th (23:59pm). Repeat purchases allowed.
- Get 2 Keepsake Keys, 1 Prismatic Dye and 1 Chameleon Dye for less!
- Available in the main game (Ironman included) and Fresh Start Worlds.
We’re in our chill, post-competitive era over on Fresh Start Worlds, but there’s still plenty of boosts to prepare you all for your re-entry into the main game. Here's this week's bonuses in full:
- Changed from last week: +120% XP (skills below level 70).
- Changed from last week: +60% XP (skills above level 70).
- Continuation of Free Deaths.
- 20% chance to double a monster or boss drop.
- 40% chance to double gathered materials.
- Tier 5 Auras unlocked.
- +100% Accuracy in combat.
Hear ye, hear ye! This is a reminder that the latest recommended Christmas shipping date for those of you outside the UK is December 9th. Make sure you place your orders at the Merch Store by then for the best chance of getting your gifts in time.
Treat yourself to one of these popular lines – or make sure your nearest and dearest know what you want from Santa this year:
QoL Mini Strike
- Dragon weapons' special attacks have been rebalanced (see below for more).
- God Books can now be charged up to 24 hours.
- God Book tooltips have been updated to better emphasise their effects.
- You can no longer gain effects from the Scripture of Bik without using charge.
- Desert, Ice and Jungle Strykewyrms no longer require a Slayer task to attack.
- Elves and Nihils will now consistently spawn as the captured variant when newly placed in the Player-Owned Slayer Dungeon. NPCs placed before now will continue to spawn a random variant.
- Super Guthix Restores no longer give adrenaline.
- Runecrafting Talismans have been updated to better reflect their usage.
- Crystal tools’ tooltips now accurately reflect their effects.
Special Attack Adjustments
Mod Sponge says: 'This is my Game Jam work from back in March, so it'll be great to finally have it in the game and to see what players make of it. Since special attacks were reintroduced to RuneScape, a lot of them have fallen into the category of 'useless', but being such iconic attacks I wanted to give them the love they deserved. By reducing the clunkiness of weapons like the Dragon Claws and addressing their adrenaline efficiency so they match more modern standards, hopefully we'll see more players picking them up (or throwing them in their Amulets)!
With the time limitations of the Game Jam I was only able to rework the Dragon weapons after rewriting the tooltips, but if it’s something players like, I’d be up for doing a second batch!’
Dragon Dagger
- Now deals 85-165% ability damage each hit.
- Is no longer a channelled ability.
Dragon Halberd
- Now deals 50-190% ability damage each hit.
- Is no longer a channelled ability.
- No longer has a cooldown.
- Fixed an issue that would cause players to change target or not hit some targets twice when casting.
Dragon Mace
- Now deals 150-310% ability damage.
- Adrenaline cost has been reduced to 20.
- Removed the damage roll offset (was previously less likely to roll low than high).
Dragon 2-Handed Sword
- Now deals 230-350% ability damage.
- Adrenaline cost has been reduced to 50.
- Increased the range of the special attack from 3x3 → 5x5.
Dragon Claws
- Now deals a total of 184-600% ability damage (across 4 hits).
- Removed the stall from the ability animation.
- Is no longer a channelled ability.
Dragon Longsword
- Now deals 90-410% ability damage.
- The attack now features a raised hit-cap.
Dragon Axe
- Moved the effect to apply on-hit rather than on-cast.
- Adrenaline cost has been reduced to 30.
Dragon Scimitar
- Now deals 50-210% ability damage.
- Adrenaline cost has been reduced to 25.
- Now grants a new buff on-hit:
- Increases hit chance with slash attacks by 25% for 1 minute.
- Now has a buff bar icon.
- Now has a channelling buff bar icon.
Dragon Battleaxe
Armadyl Battlestaff
General
- The ‘What's New’ interface has been removed from Commander Connad and Captain Cain at Barbarian Assault.
- A new item is available from the Travelling Merchant! The Horn of Honour can be redeemed for Barbarian Assault Honour Points.
- The lighting in the Dungeon of Disorder has been fixed.
- The lighting in the Polypore Dungeon has been improved for better visibility.
- The collection of notes from the Zamorak, Lord of Chaos pre-release event are now obtainable once again from their allocated monsters: Black Knights, Dagon'hai, Greater Demons and Monks of Zamorak.
- The collection of notes can now be reclaimed from Player-Owned Houses.
- A 'Collection of Zamorakian Notes' Achievement has been added, and is worth 10 RuneScore for collecting all 5 notes.
- The ‘Madness and Malediction’ Achievement has been fixed and now gives 20 RuneScore as intended.
- Two of the four Skeletal Wyvern variants were affected by dragon modifiers. These have been removed – Skeletal Wyvern aren’t dragons!
- Quest overviews released after the Aftermath quest no longer display Sixth Age text about the Gods of Gielinor and your World Guardian powers.
- Softened the wording of the suggested requirements in the Aftermath quest overview and removed its disclaimer.
- Added a Timeline category in the quest list below World Guardian for quests that take place post-Aftermath.
- Added an Age category in the quest list below Sixth Age for quests that take place post-Aftermath.
Community Showcase
The Gang is all here! @Willoway has once again blown us away with their beautiful illustrations of the Mahjarrat!@Wisperer with this gorgeous piece of Seiryu!@Ayrieton with another stellar action shot of this awesome player character!
Runetube
https://www.youtube.com/embed/Mv7mCFCnURQ
@TheRSGuy Continues their Hardcore Ironman journey and has run into some trouble!
https://www.youtube.com/embed/t5FTDRnAuZY
@InitYeah has a few tips on how to make some good money fighting bosses!
https://www.youtube.com/embed/z1xoYstC6BA
@NuzzNuzz is on the road to a party hat and is having to make some tough decisions.
Scaper's Screenshots
4D Oranges chilling out in the land of Iaia.Haze is either getting ready for Christmas or conquering the world, we aren't sure.
Pink Skirts Player Events
Each week the Pink Skirts put on a selection of fun activities that everyone can join. Here are the main events this week:
Skill 'n' Chill
- Hosted by: MadClikr & the Lil Tuzzies Clan
- Date/Time: Monday November 28th, 23:00 Gametime
- World: 85
- Location: Burthorpe Bank
- FC: Lil Tuzzies
Mega Duck Hunt
- Hosted by: Steve20058 & Mega Duck
- Date/Time: Wednesday November 30th, 19:00 Gametime
- World: 39
- Location: Falador Park
- FC: Mega Duck
Town Square Q&A
- Hosted by: Princess Rae
- Date/Time: Saturday December 3rd, 23:00 Gametime
- World: 3
- Location: Varrock West Bank
If these don't take your fancy, take a look at the full events schedule here. There’s sure to be something you’ll enjoy!
- The RuneScape Team