Desert Treasure II - The Fallen Empire: Rewards Poll Blog
There's not long to go before you inquisitive adventurers will be able to poke your nose into Mahjarrat matters once more, in Old School's biggest quest so far: Desert Treasure II - The Fallen Empire.
During the quest, you’ll encounter four bosses: Duke Sucellus, the Leviathan, the Whisperer and Vardorvis, all of whom can be challenged again in repeatable post-quest encounters. These bosses are no pushovers, but we're aiming to give them some pretty potent rewards to make fighting them worthwhile.
This poll blog details all the rewards from the quest itself as well as from the post-quest bosses. Now’s your chance to decide which of them you’d like to see in the game!
The rewards poll will open on Monday, June 26th and run until Monday, July 3rd, so make sure to read up and get your votes in when the time comes!
It’s difficult to talk about these rewards without mentioning the Ruinous Powers. Earlier this month we made the difficult decision to shelve the new Prayer Book for the time being. You can see our reasoning in this blog.
With that out of the way, let’s take a look at what you stand to gain – starting with a shadowy new ring to help you on your post-Desert Treasure II bossing ventures!
After finishing the quest, you'll be able to upgrade your Ring of Visibility into a fancy new Ring of Shadows.
The Ring of Shadows has all the same functionality as the Ring of Visibility, but with the added ability to teleport you to the Ancient Vault in the Kharidian Desert. Additionally, you'll be able to unlock four more teleports which will pop you out somewhere close to each of the bosses.
On top of that, the Ring of Shadows has a spread of offensive stats, perfect for those of you right on the edge of PvM, but perhaps on a very small budget.
Now, let’s revisit some more familiar rewards, which you’ll receive from the post-quest variants of Duke Sucellus, the Leviathan, the Whisperer and Vardorvis.
Since 2005, the Fremennik rings - in particular the Berserker ring - have been as good as it gets for individual combat styles. With four new bosses on the way, it feels like the perfect time to consider four new ring upgrades that’ll see even more use than their predecessors.
Some concept art of the four new rings, blending the old with the new!
Venator ring
- +10 Ranged Accuracy
- +2 Ranged Strength
Magus ring
- +15 Magic Accuracy
- +2% Magic Damage
Ultor ring
- +12 Melee Strength
Bellator Ring
- +12 Slash Accuracy
- +4 Melee Strength
The Venator and Magus rings are the first of their kind to offer Ranged strength and Magic damage in the ring slot. The Ultor ring, on the other hand, packs a much meaner punch than even an imbued Berserker ring. Finally, the Bellator ring will help your Slash weapons have an easier time slicing up your opponents with some Melee strength to boot. It's worth keeping in mind that these rings work 'out of the box' and are therefore unable to be imbued.
While the relevant boss drops are tradeable components, the rings themselves will be untradeable. To assemble the rings you'll need 90 Magic (boostable), 80 Crafting (boostable), components obtained from the bosses themselves as well as from breaking down the Fremennik rings, and completion of Desert Treasure II - The Fallen Empire.
The aim here is to preserve the value of the Fremennik rings, provide a high-value tradeable drop from Desert Treasure II's bosses, and provide a satisfying crafting pathway that makes use of crafting supplies obtained from the bosses themselves!
Without further ado, here's your first question:
Question 1: Should we add the best-in-slot Bellator, Magus, Ultor and Venator rings as rewards from Desert Treasure II's post-quest bosses, as described in the blog?
Yes
No
Skip
What would a Mahjarrat quest be without some Ancient Magicks? These vintage imperial garms are here to give your blood, ice, smoke and shadow spells a little extra pizzazz.
Equipping all three pieces of the Virtus robes gives you a whopping 12% Magic Damage while using Ancient Magicks, with some added Prayer bonus and reasonable defensive bonuses too. If you're using Ancient spells, or perhaps looking for a stepping stone between Ahrim's Robes and Ancestral, you'll absolutely want to get yourself kitted out in these!
The pieces are obtainable from each of the four post-quest bosses, and can also be bought from other players. They require completion of Desert Treasure II – The Fallen Empire, 80 Magic, and 75 Defence to equip.
Question 2: Should we add Virtus robes as rewards from Desert Treasure II's post-quest bosses, as described in the blog?
Yes
No
Skip
Concept art showing off the Soulreaper axe alongside its components
If the Soulreaper Axe looks familiar, that’s because it was designed by your player suggestions! This heavy hitter requires 80 Attack and Strength to wield and has some solid base stats and a particularly unique effect.
Attacks with the Soulreaper Axe will damage you for 8 Hitpoints and grant you a 'Mighty Stack'. Each Mighty Stack gives you a +6% Strength level boost (additive with bonuses from prayers) and stacks up to five times, for a total of 40 Hitpoints lost and a +30% Strength boost. Once you're fully stacked, you'll stop taking extra damage and be free to slap your foes silly with one of the scariest Slash weapons in Gielinor.
Alternatively, if you're looking for a quick extra heal or an extra burst, you can use the Soulreaper Axe's special attack Behead. Behead consumes any Mighty Stacks you have, and for each stack consumed will increase your accuracy by 6% and heal you for 8 Hitpoints. This heal means you'll regain any Hitpoints you've lost. The best part is, you’ll get your healing even if the attack itself misses.
After 10 ticks (6 seconds) or not attacking, or when switching weapons, any Mighty Stacks you have will be lost.
The Axe is made up of four untradeable components (one from each boss) but can be traded to other players in its completed form. You'll need to have completed Desert Treasure II to equip it.
When fully stacked, this axe packs a serious punch while also giving you some extra flexibility and decision-making with a unique approach to special attacks - it's sure to be well worth the time (or GP) spent getting hold of it!
Here's an adventurer showing off this hefty axe in the charming desert surrounding the Ancient Vault!
Question 3: Should we add the Soulreaper Axe as a reward from Desert Treasure II's post-quest bosses, as described in the blog?
Yes
No
Skip
Remember that Ancient Icon you went dry on for ages before upgrading it into an Ancient Sceptre? It's time to imbue that Sceptre with the power of the Ancient elements themselves…
Each of the post-quest bosses will drop an untradeable Sigil that coincides with their Ancient element: blood, ice, shadow and smoke. These Sigils can be combined with an Ancient Sceptre to create the Blood/Ice/Shadow/Smoke Ancient Sceptre.
These upgrades retain the +5% magic damage and +10% to Ancient Magicks effects, but will imbue the Sceptre with new effects depending on the element:
- Blood Ancient Sceptre: Blood magic can now overheal you by 10% of your Hitpoints.
- Ice Ancient Sceptre: Ice magic gains 10% accuracy on unfrozen, freezable targets.
- Shadow Ancient Sceptre: Shadow spells also drain Strength and Defence in addition to the target's Attack level.
- Smoke Ancient Sceptre: Smoke spells reduced healing received by 20% for 10 cycles on hit if the target is poisoned.
Upgraded Ancient Sceptres have an increased Magic requirement compared to their predecessor, requiring 75 Magic as well as the usual 60 Strength and 50 Attack, to equip.
Alongside these, we'll be tweaking the Ancient sceptre and its upgraded variants to behave similarly to other untradeables on death in PvP, and attaching a repair cost to boot.
Question 4: Should we add the Ancient Sigils as rewards from Desert Treasure II's post-quest bosses? These Sigils are used to upgrade the Ancient Sceptre, as described in the blog.
Yes
No
Skip
That's everything we've got for you to vote on, so make sure to get out and vote on all of these rewards next week!
Remember, the poll opens Monday, June 26th and will close on Monday, July 3rd!
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