[i]This week we've got a little something for everybody, from the Colosseum to a brand-new Wilderness hotspot![/i]
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Undead Pirates
Today marks the beginning of an epic battle between Undead Pirates and Elder Chaos Druids, conveniently localised entirely within the Chaos Temple between Levels 9 and 14 Wilderness.
The pesky pirates have run aground on the Wilderness’ eastern shore and they’re itching to get their bony hands on some Wilderness booty. The Elder Chaos Druids are fending them off, but the battle is quickly reaching a stalemate. Seems like a great time for some bold adventurers to nip in and start looting!
We’ve spoken about this update already at [url=https://secure.runescape.com/m=news/a=13/low-level-wilderness-hotspot-deadman-2024--more?oldschool=1]the Winter Summit[/url] and [url=https://secure.runescape.com/m=news/updated-undead-pirates-rewards--more---poll-blog?oldschool=1]the poll blog[/url], so we’ll keep it brief.
The goal here is to breathe a little life into low-level Wilderness, in the hope that ‘specialised’ PvP builds like Pures and Zerks will carve out a space of their own, and lower-level players will be able to enjoy PvP without being at the mercy of PKers [i]far[/i] more experienced than they are.
In the past, the problem has been that content below Level 30 Wilderness is difficult to make risky since players are always one click away from teleporting to safety. To up the ante, we’ve slipped the Elder Chaos Druids some forbidden knowledge, and they’re now capable of Teleblocking. Now, they’re unlikely to fire off the Teleblocks if you remain a safe distance away. If you are unfortunate enough to be hit by one, you can quickly re-log to clear it. Note that they’ll also re-up your Teleblock if it’s close to expiring, so you’ll need to get your Run on if you plan to escape!
Meanwhile, we’ve opened up the southern side of the Chaos Temple to allow for two entry points – which means you and your friends can pincer opponents from each point or meet an opposing group in the middle!
As per our poll, the Hard Clue step that directed players to the Chaos Temple has been moved to a safer location, near the Obelisk just northwards.
On the rewards front, the Pirates' provide reasonable consistent loot, so you’ll constantly be accumulating rewards and weighing up whether or not to make a quick exit. It's worth [i]noting[/i] (pun intended) that the Amulet of Avarice will note your drops here, so feel free to bring one if you're comfortable with the added risk!
Pirates also have an uncommon chance to drop Adamant Seeds or the Teleport Anchoring Scroll, both of which are tradeable.
Adamant Seeds work almost exactly like Mithril Seeds except they'll move you to the east when planting, as opposed to west, which might lead to some interesting escapes... or at least some funky dance moves.
The Teleport Anchoring Scroll (formerly known as the ‘Blipblock Scroll’, for which we express our sincere apologies) is a one-time consumable item which will makes you impervious to the rage-inducing teleport attacks of Elder Chaos Druids [i]and[/i] Abyssal Demons. A nice pickup for anybody looking to pilfer some pirate pockets!
Undead Pirates rapidly respawn and have low HP (it’s the scurvy) so you should be able to mow them down fairly quickly. You can even use a Dwarven Multicannon if you’re willing to risk it! As you're living, laughing and looting, you might come across a Zombie Pirate Key or two.
These [b]tradeable[/b] keys are used to open a chest on the pirates’ grounded ship, located in a single-way combat zone on the eastern shore. Opening the chest acts like a roll on the pirates' loot table but will [b]double [/b]any loot received, including uniques! The aim here is to spread a little bit of the action into single-way combat zones, while keeping the heart of the update in the multi-combat moshpit.
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Varlamore Changes
This week, we're making some changes to Colosseum modifiers and unique drop rates that should make your runs feel more enjoyable [i]and[/i] more rewarding!Colosseum Modifiers
[i]Bees[/i]- Increased time between movements from 7 ticks (4.2s) to 12 ticks (7.2s).
- Increased respawn delay from 18 ticks (~11s) to 50 ticks (30s).
- Doom is now a stackable modifier to reflect new behaviour: [list]
- Doom stacks reset to 0 at the end of each wave.
- Death is guaranteed at 15, 10, or 5 stacks of Doom depending on the active modifier tier.
- Doom stacks will only be applied by Colosseum sources. Instances of self-dealt damage like the Soulreaper Axe or Divine Potions will no longer add Doom stacks.
- Similar to the Doom change, self-dealt damage will no longer result in additional Prayer Point drain if Blasphemy is active.
- Has been put back in its cage and is no longer available as a modifier.
- ‘Mantimayhem’ has been added to the modifier pool, with some changes in line with your feedback: [list]
- Tier 1 adds an additional projectile per orb, meaning you'll get hit twice as many times for each attack, making hits off-Prayer more punishing.
- Tier 2 adds a Venom effect to any damage received from the Manticore's attacks.
- Tier 3 removes the 'forced' Melee orb in the final slot of the Manticore's attack sequence. Effectively, this makes the order of attacks totally random.
- Myopia now affects autocast spells. Manually-cast spells remain unaffected.
- Tiers 1 and 2 now cause enemy attacks to ignore 33% and 66% of your Defence, respectively. Tier 3 is unchanged and ignores all Defence.
- Bonus 'minimum hits' from this modifier remain unchanged at 1, 3 and 6 per tier.
- Increased respawn timer from 1 minute to 2 minutes after a totem has been destroyed.
- Reduced healing from 40% to 30% of the targeted NPCs health.
New Loot Rates
Check out [url=https://secure.runescape.com/m=news/a=97/varlamore-tweaks--drop-rates?oldschool=1]last week’s newspost[/url] to learn about how drops in the Colosseum work. Or, just remember the most important bit: from Wave 3 onwards, the Colosseum rolls to see whether you’re offered regular loot or a shiny unique. As the Wave count increases, so do your odds! Here's how we’re adjusting these rates in today’s update: [table] [tr] [td][b]Wave[/b][/td] [td][b]Old Chance[/b][/td] [td][b]New Chance[/b][/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]1[/td] [td]-[/td] [td]-[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]2[/td] [td]-[/td] [td]-[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]3[/td] [td]-[/td] [td]1/138[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]4[/td] [td]-[/td] [td]1/124[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]5[/td] [td]-[/td] [td]1/110[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]6[/td] [td]1/124[/td] [td]1/96[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]7[/td] [td]1/108[/td] [td]1/82[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]8[/td] [td]1/92[/td] [td]1/68[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]9[/td] [td]1/76[/td] [td]1/54[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]10[/td] [td]1/60[/td] [td]1/40[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]11[/td] [td]1/44[/td] [td]1/26[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]12[/td] [td]1/28[/td] [td]1/12[/td] [/tr] [/table] If you're lucky enough to roll a unique item, a second roll is performed to determine exactly which one you'll receive. We've made some adjustments to these weightings too, so that Sunfire Armour pieces are more obtainable:- Sunfire Armour Piece: adjusted from 3/10 to 9/16.
- Echo Crystal: adjusted from 6/10 to 6/16.
- Tonalztics of Ralos: adjusted from 1/10 to 1/16. Now only obtainable from Wave 7 onwards.
- Tonalztics of Ralos' Special Attack's Defence reduction is no longer capped at 50% of the target's Defence.
- Increased the Tonalztics of Ralos' High Alchemy value to 360,000 GP.
- Echo Crystals now add 6,000 charges to Echo Boots, up from 2,500.
- Echo Boots are now able to store charges up to a maximum of 60,000, up from 10,000.
- Multiple Echo Crystals can be used to charge Echo Boots at the same time, up to the cap.
- The recoil effect on Echo Boots can now be toggled.
- When the number of charges in Echo Boots reaches 0, the recoil effect is disabled until recharged, but the boots will remain intact and equipped.
- Increased Echo Crystals' High Alchemy value to 90,000 GP.
- Nahta's (who runs the Rune Shop in Cam Torum) has adjusted her prices in line with Rune Shops across Gielinor.
- Visually updated the Pickaxe Stall in Cam Torum to distinguish it from Crafting Stalls.
- Tidied animations on the Blue Moon Spear.
- Added a pop-up that explains how to charge the Quetzal Whistle when players first claim a Blueprint. Pitri will still provide this information if players ask them nicely.
- The Hunter Pouch and Meat Pouch can now be opened or closed, much like a Looting Bag. When open, the Pouches will fill up with their respective resources.
- Additionally, the Hunter and Meat Pouches can now be emptied directly into the Bank.
- The Serpent Shaman inside the Colosseum has had some animations updated so that their spells better reflect their powers.
- Impling Jars and Rings of Pursuit can now be added to and removed from the Huntsman's Kit.
- Players can no longer walk inside the fence of the bridge in Civitas illa Fortis park. Apologies to any 'phased through the fence on the bridge in Civitas illa Fortis park'-locked Iron players!
- A crop circle leading to Puro-Puro should now spawn as-intended in the wheat field near Civitas illa Fortis.
- Nagua inside Neypotzli are now classified as 'Spectral' creatures.
- Bees inside the Colosseum are now more visible. Buzzin’!
- Adjusted some of the terrain near Sunfire Antelopes to make them less frustrating to hunt.
- Special Attack Energy no longer regenerates between Waves in the Colosseum.
- Fixed a bug where a S.T.A.S.H. Unit that could store Sunfire Armour would interact with a similar S.T.A.S.H. Unit in Trollheim when filled up or emptied.
- Fixed a bug where Sulphur Nagua’s special attacks were increasing the player's action delay rather than their own.
Wilderness Changes
You’re going to [i]wish[/i] you had a friendly Chaos Druid to teleport you around when you take on this next activity. Get your running shoes ready for…Wilderness Agility Course Changes
Today’s update adds an opt-in loot system to the Wilderness Agility Course! You’ll notice a shiny new Dispenser at the entrance to the Course. For an upfront fee of 150,000 GP, you’ll start gaining loot after every completed lap. Simply touch the pillar at the end of the Course, and you’ll receive loot [i]and[/i] an Energy top-up! If only gyms worked like that in real life... Dying within the Course (including the underground area) will lose you your 150,000 GP deposit, although you can rest easy knowing it won’t be transferred to a PKer if you died in PvP. The amount of loot offered per lap increases at discrete intervals:- 1-15 laps, average 10k loot per lap
- 16 - 30 laps, average 20k loot per lap
- 31 - 60 laps, average 30k loot per lap
- 61+ laps, average 40k loot per lap
- 1-10 tokens grant the usual XP (200 XP per token).
- 11-50 tokens grant an additional 5% XP (210 XP per token).
- 51 - 100 tokens grant an additional 10% XP (220 XP per token).
- 101+ tokens grant an additional 15% XP (230 XP per token).
Other Wilderness and PvP Changes
Lastly, we have a few more of the changes polled earlier this year, plus other tweaks that should cut down on abuse:- Reduced respawn timers for most NPCs in the Wilderness (including bosses, but excluding Revenants) to 9 seconds.
- Improved the quantity of the following Wilderness Slayer Tasks: [list]
- Bandits at the Wilderness Bandit Camp.
- Dark Warriors at the Dark Warriors’ Fortress.
- Rogues at Rogues’ Castle.
- Ankou, Hellhounds, Ice Giants and Jellies in the Wilderness Slayer Caves.
- Bandits: Added Rune Full Helms, Rune Med Helms, Rune Scimitars and Dragon Longswords.
- High-level Rogues: Added 1,000-3,000 GP per kill.
- Additionally, manually uncharging your imbued items will refund 100% of the points/zeal, up from 80%
More Plushies!
The latest campaign from our plushie partner, [url=https://www.makeship.com/shop/runescape]Makeship[/url] is now live.
- Gold-trimmed Rune Champion
- Dragon Chainbody
- Cute Noob
- Virtus
Other Changes
Feast your eyes on these last few changes before gearing up and getting ready for whatever grind you're putting off by reading today's post!- Visually updated the footprints of Razor-backed Kebbits so they don't blend into the ground quite so much.
- Adjusted pathfinding for pitfall and deadfall Hunter creatures and adjusted the terrain to prevent them getting stuck on scenery, instead of your ingenious traps.
- HOTFIX: Wall Beasts no longer prevent players entering the Lumbridge Swamp Caves. We're considering adding an extra spike to the spiny helmet as further punishment.
- The Strength Skill Guide now lists the correct Defence level requirement for the Bloodrager Armour set.
PvP World Rota
The PvP rota has moved to [b]Period B:[/b]- 560 - (UK) - PvP World
- 319 - (US) - Bounty Hunter World
- 579 - (US) - High-Risk PvP World
- 561 - (UK) - Free-to-Play PvP World
- 580 - (US) - LMS Competitive
