News

In the first update of the New Year you’ll get your chance to play Soul Wars and celebrate our 20th Anniversary!

Soul Wars

UPDATE: We've made some changes to Soul Wars regarding your feedback. Find out more here.

Mysterious portals have opened in Edgeville and Ferox Enclave! Those brave enough to venture through will find themselves on the Isle of Souls, where they’ll get the opportunity to play Soul Wars – a new, members-only minigame involving fierce combat and territory control.

Soul Wars is also a safe minigame, so you don’t have to worry about losing your favourite gear.

Once you enter the Soul Wars area, you’ll want to have a word with Nomad, the brains behind the operation. He’ll show you the workings of the Soul Obelisk, teach you how the giant Avatars function and go over the basics of TOTAL DOMINATION. Being something of an adventurer himself, Nomad’s prepared to hand over some mighty rewards to players who join in the fun.

Need more details? Read on to learn everything you could possibly need to know about Old School RuneScape’s newest minigame.

Requirements

To play Soul Wars, you’ll need:

• A total level of 500 or higher
• A combat level of 40 or higher
• Old School RuneScape membership

You'll also need to be logged in to the dedicated Soul Wars worlds (320 and 350) to play the minigame. However, Members can access the Isle of Souls from any world, even if they don’t meet the requirements.

Accessing Soul Wars

Now that the Soul Wars minigame is live for all Old School members, you can make your way to the Isle of Souls via the portals in Edgeville or Ferox Enclave, or with a minigame teleport.

The Soul Wars lobby is on the southern side of the island, along with Nomad himself. He’ll explain the basics of the game to you and allow you to access the rewards shop. The lobby also contains a Bank, a poll booth, and the waiting rooms for the minigame itself.

Oh, and those audiophiles amongst you will be happy to hear that there’s not one, but two new music tracks to unlock in this area. Happy hunting!

A labelled map of the Isle of Souls including the Soul Wars lobby and the battlefield. Click the image for a larger version.

Starting the Game

Once you’ve gone through Nomad’s tutorial, you may enter a game of Soul Wars by stepping into one of the waiting rooms in the lobby. You can choose to join the Red or Blue team by entering their respective waiting rooms, but be aware that if the teams are too imbalanced (either by sheer numbers or Combat levels) then entry to the stronger team will be blocked. If you’re undecided, use the green portal to be automatically sorted onto an appropriate team.

When the game begins, you’ll be given a special cape in your team colours – so you’re unable to bring one into the waiting room with you.

Although you can access the Isle of Souls on any members’ world, you’ll only be able to enter the waiting room and start the minigame on the designated Soul Wars worlds, W320 and W350.

A game of Soul Wars will begin every four minutes, or when both waiting rooms have 60 players each. There must be at least 10 players in each waiting room for a game to start. If there aren’t enough players present, the two-minute timer will stop and restart once there are sufficient numbers.

If one waiting room has fewer players than the other when the game begins, the number of players pulled from each room will match the count of the weaker team. For example, if the red room has 40 players while the blue room has 60, only 40 players from each room will join the game.

If you get left behind, don’t worry – you’ll be given higher priority for the next game.

Playing Soul Wars

Once the game begins, both teams have one simple objective: kill the opposing team’s Avatar as many times as possible before the game ends!

Games will last for fifteen minutes, but they can end early if a team reaches a total of five Avatar kills.

So, let’s learn more about these Avatars, shall we?

Avatars

In the Blue corner, we have the Avatar of Creation! And in the Red corner, we have the Avatar of Destruction! Both of these behemoths have the same stats, and the same tough hide. Initially, they’ll be immune to all forms of damage, but they can be softened up using the Soul Obelisk. More on that later.

Both avatars have low Defence and high HitPoints. This means that even relatively low levels can damage them, but they’ll take some time to kill. They attack using Melee and will target whichever player in their area has the highest offensive bonuses – after all, they’re the biggest threat!

That said, these veritable Goliaths are so awesomely massive that their attacks hit any players unlucky enough to be stood in front of them when they take a swing. Prayer can be used to block damage from their attacks - but if hit, you can expect to lose Prayer Points in line with the amount of damage taken.

Should you manage to take an Avatar down, it’ll respawn after 20 seconds with its 100% damage reduction buff restored. Back to the Obelisk with you!

Left: Avatar of Destruction. Right: Avatar of Creation.

Bases

Each team has a base located on opposite sides of the map. Although they’re visually different, they’re otherwise identical – each contains an Avatar, a Graveyard and a Supply Area.

All players begin the game in their team’s Graveyard. This is a safe zone that can only be accessed by members of the same team. Should you die in the course of the game you’ll respawn here as a ghost and must wait for 15 seconds before leaving via one of the three exits.

Your Graveyard also contains Bandages, which can also be collected from the Supply Area. These are used to heal 20% of HP, restore 100% run energy and cure all poison and venom effects – but they’re not stackable. You can also use Bandages to heal other players on your team.

The Supply Area also contains barricades – but only one barricade can be carried at a time, and each team can only place a maximum of 10. They’re used to block other players’ paths, although some areas are off-limits. You can also use a Barricade on another player to trade them. Barricades can be destroyed by simply attacking them, burning them, or blowing them up. Speaking of which...

The last things you’ll find in your Supply Area are two types of potions. The first being Explosive Potions, which as you might imagine are there to make stuff explode! Use them on a Barricade to clear it. Alternatively, use them on another player to trade them.

The second type of potion is the Potion of Power, which will boost your combat stats and restore Prayer Points.

An aerial view of both team bases. Above: Blue team. Below: Red team.

Other Graveyards

Along with the two base Graveyards, there are two additional Graveyards closer to the middle of the game map. At the beginning of the game they are neutral, but they can be captured by the team that has more players in the area than the other for a short period of time. Once captured, it becomes an additional respawn point for that team. If a team has multiple graveyards, upon death you’ll simply be sent to the closest one. Once captured, a Graveyard can never become neutral again, but it can be swapped to the other team.

Both capturable Graveyards have two exit points.

Graveyards also have another function – they’re for burying Bones, of course! Doing so will increase the damage reduction percentage of your team’s Avatar. You can bury Bones in any graveyard, but if your team doesn’t control it, you’ll only get a quarter of the contribution. You can get Bones from both fallen players and NPCs.

Soul Obelisk and Soul Fragments

The Soul Obelisk is found in the middle of the map. As with Graveyards, you can capture the Soul Obelisk by simply having more players in the right area than the other team. Again, once captured it can never become neutral again, only flipped.

The purpose of the Soul Obelisk is to weaken the Avatars by lowering their damage reduction percentage, which starts at 100% and can go all the way down to 0%. To do so, you must sacrifice Soul Fragments, which can be gathered from various NPCs in Soul Wars. The stronger your enemy, the more Soul Fragments you’ll get!

When killed, other players will also drop any Soul Fragments they were carrying

Sacrifices can be made regardless of whether your team controls the Obelisk or not, but if you don’t, your sacrifices are only worth a quarter of what they would normally be.

Rewards

The special currency for Soul Wars is Zeal. At the end of each game, all players with more than zero activity will receive some amount of Zeal, based on their participation. Keep an eye on the Activity Bar while you play to see how you’re doing and watch out – if your activity drops to zero, you will be removed from the game. You’ll also forfeit any Zeal you’ve earned if you quit the minigame early.

You can fill up your Activity Bar and grab more Zeal by:

• Killing opposing players: More Zeal is awarded for killing stronger players, and little to no Zeal is received for killing weaker players. Killing the same player multiple times will see the Zeal reward reduced each time in order to prevent kill farming.
• Healing fellow team members: Bear in mind that it isn't possible to heal team members already at full health.
• Burying bones: If your team's Avatar is at maximum damage reduction, then no contribution is counted.
• Sacrificing Soul Fragments at the Soul Obelisk: If the opposing team's Avatar has minimum damage reduction, then no contribution is counted.
• Dealing damage to the opposing team's Avatar
• Capturing Graveyards or the Soul Obelisk

The following actions will boost your Activity Bar, but will only reward small amounts of Zeal:

• Killing NPCs
• Destroying barricades

Once a game ends, your final Zeal reward will be modified depending on whether your team won or lost the game. The winning team gets a 20% bonus, and the losing team gets a 20% reduction. If it’s a draw, your Zeal total won’t change.

For every point of Zeal earned, you’ll also receive a Zeal Token, which you can spend in the Soul Wars Reward Shop.

You can see your current Zeal and Zeal Token reserves while in the shop, which can be accessed from any members world, including worlds where Soul Wars is not enabled. In the store, you can purchase the following rewards:

Experience

Prayer, Attack, Strength, Defence, Hitpoints, Ranged and Magic XP can all be purchased from the Soul Wars Reward Shop. You can only purchase XP for skills at level 30 or above, and the higher the level, the more XP you’ll get. We’ve aimed to make the XP rates comparable to Pest Control’s intermediate lander.

You can also choose to purchase XP in bulk, although doing so won’t grant any bonus modifiers.

Imbues

You’ll be able to use your Zeal Tokens to imbue specific items and improve their effects. Although this system is functionally identical to the one at the Nightmare Zone, you can’t trade imbued items between the two shops.

Soul Cape

This swish bit of gear looks just like the one donned during the minigame and comes in Blue and Red so you can show your support for your favourite team.

Ectoplasmator

Who you gonna call? Carrying this spooky device in your Inventory will net you extra Prayer XP when killing ghostly creatures. The XP given scales with the HP of the creature in question.

You’ll need 40 Prayer to purchase this item – they can’t go giving them out to just anyone, you know!

Lucky Dip

Feeling lucky? Then take your chances on the Lucky Dip, where you’ll have the chance to win goodies from an all-new Soul Wars loot table.

Avatar Pet

These fun-size versions of the mighty Avatars are available as the star prize in the Soul Wars Lucky Dip! They can be transmogrified to look like either the Avatar of Destruction or the Avatar of Creation, and they’ll follow you on all your adventures!

So, what are you waiting for? The portals are open, so let the Soul Wars begin!

20th Anniversary Event

Can you believe it’s been 20 years since RuneScape Classic first launched? We can’t, either! To celebrate, Mod Ash and co have put together a fantastic Anniversary Event, and you can play it in-game right now! Let’s take a look...

Whether he’s spawning mischievous imps or monstrous lesser demons, Wizard Grayzag’s the true master of summoning at the Wizards’ Tower – but he’s got his eyes on an even bigger prize. He’s heard of the city-ravaging demons of the Third Age, and he’d love to get his hands on one of those. After all, who wouldn’t want to summon their very own K’ril Tsutsaroth?

But something’s gone wrong. Instead of mining the history of Gielinor, he’s tapped into the history of RuneScape itself – and instead of a fearsome demon, he’s wound up with a loquacious Gnome Child, back from the days when gnomes still had green skin. Best of all, he can’t send his verdant new friend back home again!

Prepare to escort this lurid visitor around the oldest areas of RuneScape, addressing some of the longest-standing mysteries of the world. Why does Hans always turn right? Why does the Cook need so many people to bring cake ingredients? Is Bob Bob? Is there something special about cabbage? Can Gnome Child have the Wise Old Man's hat, please?

Sooner or later, Gnome Child will have to make his way back to the Realm of Memories, where you can reconnect with a few familiar faces from days gone by. Remember Thrander and Pious Pete? How about the time the King Black Dragon looked like this?

As a reward, you’ll get this swanky new outfit created in honour of our 20th Anniversary, along with a mask that makes it look like you’re wearing Gnome Child’s skin as a hat. Members can also unlock a new Chapel style for your Player Owned House. Just think how much more awe-inspiring it’ll look with the face of the Gnome Child himself staring back at you...

Whether you’ve been playing since the dawn of RuneScape Classic or you’re a fresh face in the world of Old School, we hope this special event will evoke some special feelings for you all. Happy ‘Scaping!

Leagues II - Trailblazer

With this week’s update comes the end of Leagues II – Trailblazer. But what an amazing two months it has been! You’ve all been busy competing for World Firsts, climbing the rankings, exploring new ways to play and most importantly, having loads and loads of fun. We’ve been blown away by the support you’ve shown to our second ever Old School RuneScape Leagues – but don’t take it from us, have a listen to what the Wardens have to say.

Words from the Wardens

"Working on Leagues II - Trailblazer has been an absolute blast for all of us Wardens and it's been fantastic watching all of you debate over which areas and Relics to pick and sharing all of your awesome experiences on social media over the last two months.

"Seeing all of your positive comments about how much you've enjoyed Trailblazer has brought smiles to our faces and engaging with you all in (sometimes heated) discussions over how things could be improved for the next League has inspired us to make Leagues III even better!

"We wish you luck and hope you all achieved your goals during Leagues II – Trailblazer. Enjoy your rewards from the League shop and we hope you’re looking forward to all the content we have planned for 2021!"

- The Wardens

Rewards

Now that Leagues II – Trailblazer is officially over you’ll finally be able to unlock Trailblazer rewards from the Leagues Reward Shop. There’s a range of items for you to celebrate your progress, from the cosmetic Relic Hunter Outfits and Trailblazer Tool Ornament Kit to a roomful of new additions to your Player Owned House, including the Trailblazer Banner, Globe and Rug.

You can access the shop by speaking to the Leagues Tutor in Lumbridge Castle Courtyard.

The League Hall Room

Don’t forget, you can now build the League Hall Room, a new place in your Player Owned House where you can showcase all your Leagues achievements.

You’ll need level 27 Construction and 15,000 GP to build this room, and you can only build one in your whole house. Each individual hotspot has its own Construction requirement, dependent on the quality of furniture you're building.

You don’t need to have competed in a League to build the Trophy Room – but it helps!

You’ll also be able to check in on your personal performance, all the League Firsts and the Top 100 players from each and every League, whether you participated or not.

Your League Hall can be customised with:

• 3 customizable pedestals on which to place trophies earned in a League
• A Trophy Case which acts as a storage unit for trophies
• A scroll detailing all the League Firsts, the top 100 players and your personal performance in each League
• A unique rug spot
• A decorative statue
• A banner stand
• A League outfit stand

Bear in mind that the Leagues II – Trailblazer Top 100 will be updated with next week’s update, and so will not immediately appear on the scroll.

Rankings

The end of the League also means we’ve got the final rankings! Drumroll please...

• Dragon - 56,310
• Rune - 35,680
• Adamant - 18,720
• Mithril - 6,480
• Steel - 2,000
• Iron - 510
• Bronze - 100

To collect your trophies simply talk to the League Tutor or build a Trophy Case in your PoH, where any trophies you've unlocked will be available.

Whether you’re walking away with the coveted Dragon Trophy or the basic bronze, we’d like to thank everyone who played Leagues II – Trailblazer. It’s been overwhelming to see the support, creativity and joy that this timed game mode has brought you all.

So, roll on Leagues III!

Official Merch Store Update

Celebrate 20 years of RuneScape in style with help from our new range of merch, available right here on the Official Merch Store.

Go on a nostalgic journey through some of the most loved tracks from Old School RuneScape and the early days of RuneScape with this gold vinyl pressing of the Original Soundtracks album. The 4-sided vinyl album is arranged to follow the first journey a player might have taken through Gielinor with iconic tracks like Scape Main, Newbie Melody, Harmony, Barbarianism and of course Sea Shanty 2.

Plus, check out this commemorative Tutorial Island 20th Anniversary Pin from Angels Scapes. The UV print of Tutorial Island slides apart to reveal a tiny Lumbridge Castle, decked out with a 20 Years of RuneScape banner. Amazing!

You’ll also find a variety of fantastic pins and keyrings! Show off your mystical prowess with the Mini RuneStones pin sets, or get your fashionscape on with the Mythical Max Cape, Mining Skill Cape and Smithing Skill Cape Keyrings.

And why not celebrate the launch of Soul Wars with your very own Avatar pin? These limited edition pins are just the thing to show your support for either Creation or Devastation. Which team will you choose?

PvP World Rota

The PvP world rota has moved to Period A.

• The host for the High Risk PvP world will be W343 (Germany)
• The host for the Standard PvP world will be W324 (US West)
• The host for the free-to-play PvP world, W117 (US East)
• The members-only LMS world will be W333 (UK)
• The free-to-play LMS world will be W469 (US East)

We recently removed a free-to-play 750 skill total world from US East, which we has now been replaced with World 393, based in the same location.

We’re also adding a US East high risk world, W474, as we already have UK and AUS ones.

Other News

The holiday season is officially over and thanks to your wise words, the goblins have finally learned the true meaning of Christmas. Although the decorations are coming down (so long, giant goblin head) the festive fun doesn’t all end here! Keen sledders will be happy to know that the Sled Racing section will remain accessible via the cave in Goblin Village.

Other changes include:

• Lighting a decorated fireplace in your house will no longer cause the decorations to vanish.
• The Last Man Standing Reward Shop now has PIN protection.
• Mac will now ask whether you want to sell your Max Cape when you use it on him.
• A stray Tirannwn tree has been removed from Burgh de Rott and replaced with some more appropriate flora.
• Streamlined the process of taking multiple bellows from Rantz’s chest.

We hope you all had a wonderful festive break, and hope that 2021 brings you good luck, happiness – and plenty of time to play Old School RuneScape!

Discuss this update on our official forums, the community-led 2007Scape Reddit, or the community-led OSRS Discord in the #gameupdate channel. For reference on the above content, check out the official Wiki.

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

The Old School Team