This week sees the implementation of the PvP changes discussed in the Ferox Enclave blog.
PvP Changes
Good morning, thrillseekers! Those of you who’ve been paying close attention will know that we’ve been working on updates to various bits of PvP, including Bounty Hunter, Last Man Standing, and the Revenant Caves.
Bounty Hunter
We’ve previously talked about the Bounty Hunter changes before in the Gielinor Gazette, and today we plan to implement them.
As you know we've spent a great deal of time adjusting Bounty Hunter over the last year, in an attempt to make PvP feel more rewarding without allowing bots and farmers to gain a foothold. Unfortunately, we have failed to do so.
These latest changes are drastic, but ultimately, they are necessary for the health of both PvP and the wider game. For those of you who love PvP, Bounty Hunter will still be the exciting game of cat and mouse it was always intended to be, complete with new rules and systems that help ensure a fair fight.
As before, the current target system will remain in place, but hotspots and tasks have been removed. The coffer is still there, and you’ll still need to pay the fee to be assigned a target – although we’re open to changing this fee based on player feedback.
Crucially, we’re keeping the PvP World-style PJ timer on Bounty Hunter worlds, which are now known as 'Target worlds'. For those of you who are new to PvP, a PJ timer prevents unfair pile-ons in PvP situations. Here’s an example:
Player A, Player B, and Player C are in a single-way combat area of the Wilderness. Player B attacks Player C, who doesn’t retaliate. Seeing that Player B is busy, Player A goes to attack them – but because the PJ timer is active, Player B counts as being in combat and Player A isn’t allowed to join in.
In addition to the usual PJ timer, Bounty Hunters will also be protected for 20 seconds after they kill their target.
Now, let’s talk rewards. As you know, all Bounty Hunter rewards have been transferred to Last Man Standing. Any leftover emblems you have can still be spent via the Emblem Trader – but be fast, because the shop will disappear after the grace period ends with the first update in December.
Amethyst Arrows have been removed entirely.
There’s one exception to the new reward rule – those ghoulishly stylish Bounty Hunter hats can now be claimed from Ferox in Ferox Enclave. You’ll still need the appropriate number of Bounty Hunter kills to unlock them, of course.
Ferox has also gotten hold of a substantial stock of Hunter’s Honour and Rogue’s Revenge hats, which he’s giving away free of charge for those who meet the requirements.
Last Man Standing
The Last Man Standing changes all revolve around making the minigame fairer for everyone.
Firstly, we’re preventing one of the most common forms of griefing. From now on, if a player logs out mid-combat, their opponent will be awarded the kill and all related benefits.
Next, we’re tackling boosting and farming. Players must now kill at least one player before being awarded any points.
Lastly, we’ve rejigged the point system so that each point will now be worth an average of 15,000 to 20,000 GP when exchanged for items in Justine’s shop.
Revenant Caves
And finally, we arrive at the Revenant Caves. As discussed in the Ferox Enclave blog, we’d like to tackle the damage reduction stat on the Bracelet of Etherium. Following this update, it’ll be lowered by 25% for a total of 75% damage reduction.
In addition, we’ve rebalanced the revenants’ drop table. The average value has been reduced by around 20%.
The aim of these changes is to prevent certain groups from profiteering from Revenant Caves by forcing players to pay protection fees to enjoy the content. As we said before, we’ll be monitoring the popularity of the Revenant Caves closely and making further changes as necessary.
You might also remember that the Ferox Enclave blog promised some changes to the caves themselves, to make them feel less 'artificial'. Those changes are still in the works, so stay tuned for more information down the line.
In Other News
The PvP World rota is switching over to Period B. On the east of the Atlantic, the hosts are the Standard PvP world (W325, UK) and the F2P PvP world (W371, UK). On the west of the Atlantic and in the UK, the hosts are on the Target worlds (W319, USA and W318, UK) and the High Risk PvP world (W337, USA).
- Players can now continue moving as they open shop packs and smash infernal eels.
- A typo has been fixed in Last Man Standing.
- Obor's cave no longer gives a redundant warning about item loss.
- Some spelling has been corrected on a clue scroll.
- Monkeys will no longer hide beneath the Graceful Hood.
- Viggora's Chainmace, Craw's Bow, Thammaron's Sceptre and the Iban Staff will now alert you as their charges decrease towards zero in a similar manner to the Scythe of Vitur.
- The Rogues' Kit set has been listed on the Equipment Info screen.
- The set bonus for Elite Void kit has been corrected on the Equipment Info screen.
- The effects of the Amulet of the Damned have been added to the Equipment Info screen.
- The Monkey backpacks in the Collection Log have been re-ordered.
- If you can drink like a barbarian, you can cure plants like a barbarian - your Plant Cure vials are now smashed upon use as if you drank a potion, if you've enabled that effect.
- A couple of Player Owned House wallkits had Dining Room windows underneath wall decorations; these have now been removed.
- Some grammar has been adjusted on the Bracelet of Slaughter.
As a heads up, next week's game update is being moved to Wednesday. This is to allow us more time to finish upgrading our in-house tools the rest of the week into the weekend. Thank you for your understanding.
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.
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