RuneFest Roundup: RuneScape New Skill Archaeology, Mobile Release Date, Old School Additions and More

Every year at RuneFest, there are several announcements about the future of RuneScape and Old School RuneScape. This year, they made all the major announcements at the end of the show, so here is a quick roundup in case you missed anything.

RuneScape New Skill – Archaeology

Archaeology is the 28th skill in RuneScape and it offers a lot more than meets the eye. When you hear the word archaeology, the first thing that comes to mind is digging up old bones or broken pots. However, the archaeology added to RuneScape should be a little more exciting.

You will
lead expeditions to various dig sites, each of these sites with their own
unique treasures. These treasures include three types of rewards, relics,
powers, and weapons. These expeditions will take you to new biomes, some underneath
current areas of the map (wilderness).

The very
first dig site you will visit will be Kharid-Et,
an old Zarosian fortress. Not all dig sites will be underground, the Everlight
quest will have you working on an old lighthouse. Do you strengthen the light
to ward of vampires? Or do you find a way to lay this light to rest?

Archaeology Rewards

If you are going on these expeditions to find lost weapons, then you will need to find various pieces to build the weapon. This could mean going on multiple expeditions or trading with other players for the final pieces.

The relics you can find are powerful, but you can only have one active at a time. An example of one relic is the power to teleport to any point on the map.

The final
reward I can tell you about is the skilling pet, Archie. Archie is a little
boy, but he is also a mummy. I don’t mean he has changed gender, I mean he has
been mummified. If you are interested in skilling pets, especially cute ones,
then Archie is one to aim for.

Anything else coming to RuneScape?

As part
of The Land out of Time expansion, there will also be improvements to Farming
and Herblore. These skills will be raised to 120 allowing you to collect,
raise and bread your own dinosaurs. The Herblore skill will allow you to brew
stronger potions that last for under 30 seconds.

One last
thing to mention is the Ancient Summoning feature. This will allow you to spawn
in a variety of monsters seen across the RuneScape universe but as a fighting
companion. Different pets have different abilities and skills, wait and see
what pets you can spawn.

Old School RuneScape Changes

Old
School RuneScape (OSRS) will have a Morytania expansion and will finally allow
players to visit the Darkmeyer. As well as additions to the map, there will be
a new agility training mission, to save you running laps around the traditional
courses.

Clans will finally be introduced, each clan allowed up to 500 members. These clans will allow players to make friendships and alliances, delivering a more engaging experience to OSRS. This includes a Group Ironman challenge, good luck!

A new
Group Boss will be added when the Morytania expansion launches in early 2020.
The new Group Boss is the Nightmare of Ashihama, see the image above for a
preview of what’s to come.

There
will be a new Ironman challenge, this time you will not be alone. The Group
Ironman challenge will allow you and up to four other players to attempt the
Ironman challenge together. Meaning some of you can focus on training, others
on farming and someone else on mining.

The last
addition to mention is Old School Leagues, going live November 14th. These are
time-limited challenges designed to test your skill. Each week or so, they
will add a bunch of new challenges, all progress made in these challenges
should be transferred to your main account.

RuneScape Mobile

For those
of you who don’t know, RuneScape is coming to mobile just like OSRS. This means
there will be cross-platform multiplayer and you will pick up exactly where you
left off on either device.

RuneScape
Mobile was in closed beta, but it will move into open access soon. There are
several noteworthy changes to RuneScape Mobile from beta to open access, most
of which are mentioned in this interview with Jason Milena.

If you
are a member of RuneScape, then you should be invited to try the early access
later this year on Android.

You can
expect to see RuneScape Mobile as well as all the new content mentioned above
in January 2020. The mobile version of RuneScape may not be fully released by
then but will be in early access for sure.