Introduction
Welcome to the latest update for our beloved game! The fort is thriving, thanks to the assistance of the mighty Raptor in keeping the local undead at bay. But now, it’s time to take things to the next level. And what better way to do that than with the help of a charming lumberjack who has arrived just in the nick of time?
In this update, get ready to create your very own Grove, right outside your Fort. This enchanting thicket of logs and lumber will not only supply the Fort with the raw materials it needs to thrive, but it will also provide you with invaluable Woodcutting tips and tricks. Level up your Grove to unlock access to more trees and the all-new T80 Imcando Hatchet. And with the introduction of Wood Boxes and Wood Spirits, you’ll be able to harvest logs in abundance like never before. Get ready to dive into the Woodcutter’s Grove and experience the thrill of Woodcutting like never before. The update goes live on June 19th, so mark your calendars!
But that’s not all! As our defenses grow stronger and new threats loom on the horizon, it’s time to venture into the Wilderness and reclaim more of the land. With the guidance of Oak, your trusty Lumberjack and Grovekeeper, you’ll expand beyond the fort’s gates and establish a Grove to ensure a steady supply of lumber. And of course, we couldn’t forget to mention the new addition to the Fort – a cozy cabin for your Woodcutting friend and the Grove he’ll be managing for you. So, sharpen your axes and get ready to embark on this exciting new adventure. The Woodcutters’ Grove awaits!
IF YOU GO DOWN TO THE GROVE TODAY
The fort is coming along well, if we do say so ourselves, with the Raptor’s help the local undead are kept in check and it is time to think bigger and for that, we are gonna need a lot more wood. Thankfully a dashing lumberjack has shown up on your doorstep at an opportune time.
This update will see you setting up a little Grove of your own to help supply the Fort with the raw materials it will need to sustain itself and pick up a few Woodcutting tips and tricks along the way.
- Step into the Woodcutter’s Grove, an enchanting thicket of logs and lumber!
- Located right outside your Fort it is one of the most convenient spots to work on your Woodcutting levels
- Level up the Grove and unlock access to more trees and the brand – new T80 Imcando Hatchet
- Use the new Wood Boxes and Wood Spirits to harvest logs en masse!
- Play it live June 19th!
CHOP CHOP
With our defences fortified and new threats seemingly looming in the shadows, it’s a good time to stock up on resources and push out into the Wilderness to reclaim more of the land.
With the help of Oak your new Lumberjack/Grovekeeper we will push just outside of our gates and begin setting up a Grove to help supply the fort with lumber.
WOODCUTTERS’ GROVE & CABIN
As with the previous updates, there is a new shiny extension to the Fort, this time in the form of a domicile for your new Woodcutting friend and the adjacent Grove he will be managing and cultivating for you.
UPDATES TO WOODCUTTING
With this update, we will be giving Woodcutting a modest refresh to bring it more in line with other skills. A lot of this involves behind the scene rearrangements of systems that will allow us to more easily and actively update aspects of the skill – such as adding in new Hatchets or Trees and other rewards. We will continue to improve on the core skill in the future and updates like this help to streamline that process.
With that said, there are plenty of updates that players will be able to sink their hatchets into.
HATCHET REBALANCE
Alongside adding in the new Imcando Hatchet, the requirements for hatchets have been re-tiered (no more needing odd levels like 41) and some of the previous tiers have been rebalanced to better reflect this new tier scale.
Looking at how we could add the Imcando hatchet – and better hatchets in future – gave us the opportunity to review the previous balance of the tiers and smooth them out. Previously it was more inconsistent going from Adamant → Rune, which was a massive difference, than Dragon → Crystal which is a noticeably smaller jump.
- Hatchet rebalance
- Dragon: T55 → T60
- Crystal: T57.5 → T70
- Hatchet requirements are re-tiered
- 1 to 80 instead of requiring odd values like 51
TREE REBALANCE
One of the biggest aims of this update is to add more consistency to skill, so we have rebalanced the tiers to update every 10 tiers and promoted Acadia to a “core” type.
- Log levels and requirements are re-tiered
- Wood 1 → 1
- Oak 15 → 10
- Willow 30 → 20
- Teak 35 → 30
- Maple 45 → 40
- Acadia 47 → 50
- Mahogany 50 → 60
- Yew 60 → 70
- Magic 75 → 80
- Elder 90 → 90
- Woodcutting Experience Rates rebalanced (see chart)
- Quick notes for the above information
- No XP numbers or amounts are being shown as this is a representation of the differences between live and rebalanced numbers.
- Not all trees are being shown here to help illustrate this update to the core trees.
- The player woodcutting level is presumed to be 99
- The “live” value is based on the assumption we did the same dragon→crystal power increase for crystal→imcando
- These numbers are based on 1500 cuts per hour. With trees being felled players will realistically hit lower values, but it’s best to have a consistent baseline to compare.
The aim is to keep the current status quo at the top end of the XP rate and then reduce that back down gradually for trees that give more desirable resources, this raises the “floor” of the skill making different trees more useful for different goals.
| Tree | Chop Speed | XP per cut |
|---|---|---|
| Hollow | Reduced – but more likely to succeed at higher levels | |
| Maple | Significantly Increased | |
| Mahogany | Increased | |
| Arctic pine | Increased | 140.2 → 145 |
| Eucalyptus | Increased | |
| Yew | Significantly Increased | 175 → 187.5 |
| Magic | Significantly Increased | 250 → 365 |
| Blisterwood | 2000 → 2650 | |
| Elder | Increased | 3250 → 4250 |
| Crystal | Changed to follow regular formula | 4345 → 3500 |
| Golden bamboo | Changed to follow regular formula | |
| Jadinko Lair (Roots near queen) | 1400 → 1616 | |
| Acadia | Increased slightly | 920 → 800 |
REWARDS
| Building | Tier 1 | Tier 2 | Tier 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Woodcutter’s Grove | Access to normal trees and oak trees in the Woodcutters’ Grove. Ability to store log spirits in the Wood box. Log piles in the Woodcutters’ grove can be used to deposit logs directly to the bank. Bird’s nests found whilst woodcutting are automatically placed into the backpack. |
Access to willow trees, yew trees and choking ivy in the Woodcutters’ Grove. Access to a fairy ring in the Woodcutters’ Grove. Access to a Farming tree patch in the Woodcutters’ Grove. Bird’s nests can be stored in the wood box. Bird’s nests found whilst woodcutting are automatically stored into the woodbox. |
Access to an elder tree in the Woodcutters’ Grove. Ability to obtain Imcando Hatchet pieces from bird’s nests. Bird’s nests obtained from woodcutting after completing this upgrade have improved rewards. Thurgo can create an Imcando Hatchet will all four Imcando Hatchet pieces and additional materials. |
TREES
This will be one of the most convenient ways to level up Woodcutting from 1 – 99 and with an ample supply of materials new Planks and Wooden Frames can also be made. Such as:
- Maple
- Acadia
- Yew
- Magic
- Elder
With the addition of these new Planks and Frames we have also rebalanced the Forts Core Buildings material costs.
These changes are being made so we can substantially increase the XP for making the higher Tier buildings in order to make this a viable training method for Construction as intended. To compensate, the material cost has been increased.
| Building | Level req | Frame type | Frame amount | Base XP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Workshop T1 | 1 | Normal | 8 | 2,880.00 |
| Grove T1 | 5 | Normal | 8 | 2,880.00 |
| Townhall T1 | 10 | Oak | 10 | 5,400.00 |
| Chapel T1 | 15 | Oak | 10 | 5,400.00 |
| Kitchen T1 | 20 | Willow | 12 | 9,360.00 |
| Command Center T1 | 25 | Willow | 12 | 9,360.00 |
| Grove T2 | 30 | Teak | 20 | 21,600.00 |
| Workshop T2 | 35 | Teak | 20 | 21,600.00 |
| Guardhouse T1 | 40 | Maple | 14 | 20,160.00 |
| Townhall T2 | 45 | Maple | 22 | 31,680.00 |
| Kitchen T2 | 50 | Acadia | 22 | 40,920.00 |
| Chapel T2 | 55 | Acadia | 24 | 44,640.00 |
| Grove T3 | 60 | Mahogany | 48 | 112,320.00 |
| Guardhouse T2 | 65 | Mahogany | 26 | 60,840.00 |
| Command Center T2 | 70 | Yew | 26 | 74,880.00 |
| Workshop T3 | 75 | Yew | 48 | 138,240.00 |
| Townhall T3 | 80 | Magic | 60 | 208,800.00 |
| Kitchen T3 | 85 | Magic | 50 | 174,000.00 |
| Chapel T3 | 90 | Elder | 50 | 207,000.00 |
| Guardhouse T3 | 95 | Elder | 70 | 289,800.00 |
| Command Center T3 | 99 | Elder | 80 | 331,200.00 |
IMCANDO HATCHET
A brand new best-in-slot T80 Augmentable Hatchet! Once you have unlocked Tier 3 of the Grove you will be able to find fragments of the hatchet in birds nests. Once you have gathered all the pieces Thurgo can help you out.
WOOD BOX
Introducing Wood Boxes! The Ore Box’s more sustainable cousin! Use your fletching skill to create these new boxes to store all the wood you will be chopping.
- Basic Wood Box stores Logs and Achey
- Oak Wood Box stores Oak Logs
- Willow Wood Box stores Willow Logs
- Teak Wood Box stores Teak Logs
- Maple Wood Box stores Maple
- Acadia Wood Box stores Acadia, Artic Pine and Eucalyptus Logs
- Mahogany Wood Box stores Mahogany Logs
- Yew Wood Box stores Yew Logs
- Magic Wood Box stores Magic, Blisterwood, Cursed Magic Logs
- Elder Wood Box stores Elder Logs
- All Wood Boxes will store previous-tier materials and so upgrading to the next box will not remove any utility.
You can upgrade these boxes from Basic to Elder, To upgrade your Wood Box, use a previously crafted Wood Box along with the next tier of logs to start crafting!
LOG PILES
You will find Log Piles scattered around the Grove that you can use to deposit your logs and empty your Wood Box directly into your bank!
BIRD’S NESTS
Upon building the Grove you will automatically begin collecting Bird’s Nests that drop. At Tier 1 they will go into your Backpack, at Tier 2 they will go into your Wood Box if you have one with you. At Tier 3 you will be able to find the Imcando Fragments in these nests and higher tier seeds!
WOOD SPIRITS
Similar to Stone Spirits, Wood Spirits are an item that while chopping relevant trees (e.g Willow Spirit → Willow Tree) will be consumed to grant an additional log to increase your logging potential massively!
It’s worth mentioning these new Wood Spirits have not been added to any boss drop tables.
FAIRY RING & TREE PATCH
Once you upgrade the Grove to Tier 2 you will gain access to the Fairy Ring making transport to various locations even easier and a Tree Patch that you can use to grow even more trees.
EXISTING VERSION (IN-GAME MODEL)
REVISED VERSION (CONCEPTS)
A few caveats:
- The concepts shown above inspire the direction design work will take on the in-game model. The final version may differ in places.
- All concepts shown are subject to our usual in-game model design process, including technical feasibility and available time for iteration.
- We do not currently have a timeline for when these changes will be made, as our Art Team and Production will need to schedule the work.
- These changes will be applied to the existing Soul Dye, replacing what exists today. No variant or option to select the original design will be available.
UPDATE: JUNE 27, 11:30 GAME TIME
On the final day of the Golden Cape Hunt event, a bug caused Golden Cape Shards to not drop for roughly 8 hours of Game Time. While we Hotfixed this as quickly as possible Sunday morning, we heard from many of you that losing precious hours of play time on your Saturday evening or Sunday morning – especially if it was one of your only opportunities to play in the week – hurt your Hunt.
As a result, we’re delighted to confirm the Golden Cape Hunt will return for one weekend only on June 30 at ~10:15 Game Time. Once we deploy a Coldfix update – which requires us to reboot all Game Worlds at this time – the event will be active until 23:59 on July 2. All progress so far will carry over, and any destroyed Shards can be reclaimed from the Wise Old Man at the G.E.
Thanks so much for your patience over the weekend and we hope this helps anyone affected complete their Hunt this weekend.
ORIGINAL POST
Jagex Accounts recently entered Open Beta. This marked a huge milestone towards meeting your requests for a safer, more secure account system to protect your beloved characters! Now it’s time to celebrate…
We’ll be running a special Members-only event from Tuesday, May 30th to Sunday, June 25th at 23:59 BST to mark this leap forward in our systems and help even more players discover how to upgrade! ‘Scapers, get ready for… The Golden Cape Hunt.
Taking inspiration from our Golden Party Hat Hunt back in 2021, this special event will see players setting out across Gielinor to earn Shards for the new tradeable Golden Cape Cosmetic, plus some other lovely bonuses. You won’t need a Jagex Account to earn the rewards, but you’ll kickstart your hunt for the Golden Cape dramatically by switching to a Jagex account prior to or during the event. Let’s take a look!
THE GOLDEN CAPE HUNT
Set off on a journey across RuneScape to earn eight shards and trade them in for your Golden Cape cosmetic, Keepsake Keys and special event buffs!
Eight of the tasks are completely gameplay-based, with two additional tasks that offer alternative ways to get Shards – one as a thank you to Premier Members, the other a two-Shard gift for anyone who makes (or has made) the jump to Jagex accounts! Earn your eight Shards and take them to the Wise Old Man at the Grand Exchange to collect your rewards and complete the Hunt.
Here’s the full list of tasks on offer:
- Task 1: Link your RuneScape Account to your Jagex Account (worth TWO Shards)!
- If you are already linked to your Jagex Account, you will automatically receive your Shards upon login.
- Task 2: Gain Combat XP for a chance to receive 1 Shard.
- Task 3: Gain Artisan XP for a chance to receive 1 Shard.
- Task 4: Gain Gathering XP for a chance to receive 1 Shard.
- Task 5: Gaining Support XP for a chance to receive 1 Shard.
- Task 6: Complete Clue Scrolls steps for a chance to receive 1 Shard.
- Task 7: Defeat any boss for a chance to receive 1 Shard.
- Task 8: Complete New Foundations, Murder on the Border and Unwelcome Guests quests to receive 1 Shard.
- If you have already completed these quests, you will automatically receive your Shard upon login.
- Task 9: Purchase 1 Shard directly from Nic the Trader at the front gate of the Grand Exchange for either 25M Gold or 10K Protean items.
- Task 10: Earn 1 Shard if you have Premier Membership.
- If you are already subscribed to a Premier Membership, you will automatically receive your Shard upon logging in.
For those of you with multiple characters, each character that’s added to your Jagex Account will receive the 2 Shards for being part of the Jagex Account system – this is not limited to one per Jagex Account!
THE REWARDS
Golden Cape and Keepsake Keys
The star of the show is of course the Golden Cape! Just like the Golden Party Hat, this is a limited-time tradeable item you can earn by completing the challenges we listed above.
Since this cape doesn’t offer any stats like most other item-based capes, we’re also including three Keepsake Keys so you can add it to your cosmetic override collection (plus a couple of other items you’ve always wanted in your Fashionscape wardrobe)!
Buffs
Completing the Hunt will also earn you a couple of gameplay buffs, themed around the improved security and convenience features of Jagex Accounts!
- Golden Security Buff: A 5% chance to reduce damage taken by 99% (type and typeless).
- NOTE: Boss timers, enrage and HiScores will not be updated when the buff is enabled and activates at least once during the kill. In group settings, any player with the buff enabled – who also has it activated at least once during the kill – will disable boss timer, enrage and HiScore updates for all other players in the group on that kill.
- Golden Consignment: Provides a guaranteed ‘porter’ effect (which transports valid items to the Bank when gathered) while the buff is active.
Both buffs can be enabled or disabled by the Wise Old Man in the Grand Exchange at any time. The buffs are available to use for 28 days once you complete the Hunt – disabling the buff will not stop the 28-day timer that begins once you earn the buffs.
WHAT COMES NEXT
With development now in its closing stages, we’re ready to begin unveiling more of the details around the skill. Each week over July, we’ll be dropping new Insights through blogs and videos that build on what you’ve learned so far from the First Look video. By launch, we’ll have given you the most comprehensive look at a skill before its release – balanced with some secrets to keep that magical early experience with the skill intact.
As we’ve mentioned before, the Necromancy experience doesn’t end on release day. On top of a new Season of content themed around Necromancy, we’ll also be working closely with all of you to address your feedback and evolve the skill with players. We’ve already got a whole host of development time set aside post-launch to address any feedback, and we’ll continue to evolve it well beyond that.
CAN I DO ANYTHING TO PREPARE?
Necromancy has no requirements to play, so whether you’re currently playing every day, you’ve been on a break or it’s your first time playing, you’ll be good to go. For those who want to be best prepared, we chatted to the dev team to get some handy tips on things you can get working on.
Chasing one of the levels below? Don’t worry! You’ll have an extra helping hand with the arrival of Double XP: LIVE on July 28th, giving you an extra 48 hours of Double XP gameplay time to use up until right before we launch Necromancy on August 7th.
- 15+ Smithing for forging Necromancy Weapon upgrades
- Necromancy weapon upgrades are earned by levelling Necromancy and completing various requirements
- Once unlocked, each Tier upgrade will require a Smithing level 5 levels lower than the Tier (ie. Tier 90 would require 85 Smithing)
- 15+ Crafting for Necromancy Armour upgrades
- Necromancy armour upgrades are earned by levelling Necromancy and completing various requirements
- Once unlocked, each Tier upgrade will require a Crafting level 5 levels lower than the Tier (ie. Tier 90 would require 85 Crafting)
- Runecrafting for new Runes, used in Incantations
- Incantations are not required to experience Necromancy Combat, which is primarily ability based, but massively benefits your experience.
- You can craft Spirit Runes at Level 1, Bone Runes at Level 20, Flesh Runes at Level 40, and Miasma Runes at Level 60
- Runes can also be acquired from other players
- 10+ Prayer for Necromancy Prayers
- Prayers are a useful tool in upping your Necromancy potency or survivability
- Base Necromancy prayers require level 10, with their strongest variants available at 46 Prayer.
- To access the best prayers and curses in the skill, you’ll need to be at 99 Prayer
- 11+ Herblore for Necromancy Potions
- Necromancy has a variety of unique stat-boosting potions as well as effects from some existing potions
- The core boosting potions are Necromancy Potion (11), Super Necromancy Potion (79) and Extreme Necromancy Potion (93)
- Overloads and Elder Overload Salve are very useful, especially for high level content – unlocking at 96 and 107 respectively. Overloads made now will have Necromancy benefits on release
USEFUL QUESTS TO COMPLETE
- Temple at Senntisten for Curses
- While Guthix Sleeps
- Kings Ransom
- Ghosts Ahoy
- The Jack of Spades
- Vengeance (Fremennik Saga)
- Nadir (Fremennik Saga)
- The Blood Pact
We’ve also released some items that exist today in-game that you may want for your Necromancy adventures, including some new additions since our initial list given at The First Look. If you’d like to get stocking up, check out the list below.