It's that time of year again, Deadman: Annihilation releases January 30th, 2026 and it is back with a bang!
A huge thank you to Torvesta, B0aty and Skill Specs for learning all of their lines for this announcement video! If you can't see the video above, click here to watch it on YouTube.
Gielinor is once again faced with a terrible fate beginning with the letter 'a'. This time around there's no Apocalypse, there's no Armageddon, only certain Annihilation, which is more or less the same thing but with more syllables than ever before! There's nothing you can do to stop it, this world's fate is foretold, all that's left for you to do is gear up and go down swinging so that you might be the last player standing before everything turns to dust. Do you have what it takes?
Today's post focuses on exactly what's changed since our previous event (Deadman: Armageddon) and giving you a brief refresher on the most important bits. That means we'll be covering all of the most important changes at a top-level rather than bombarding you with hundreds of tiny little bullet points (though we'll be putting a blog together before the event to go through all of the finer details for anybody who might be interested!)
Before we jump into all of the exciting new stuff, let's get everybody up to speed with a quick refresher - we've had a lot of new players join the community throughout 2025, after all.
What is Deadman Mode?
For the uninitiated, Deadman Mode is a brutal - yet surprisingly approachable, more on that soon - temporary game mode where PvP is enabled almost everywhere in Gielinor. Our first ever Deadman Mode took place around ten years ago (feel old?) in late 2015 and saw players starting fresh accounts, levelling their stats with boosted XP rates and gearing up for an epic finale, all while remaining constantly on-edge as PvP combat can break out any time, anywhere, at a mere moment's notice.
Players risked their equipped gear, their inventories and their banked loot while progressing and trying to stay ahead of the curve before fighting to be the last player standing in a finale that saw deadly fog sweep across the world and force any survivors into a do-or-die final showdown.
In the years since, Deadman Mode's undergone a number of iterations and countless changes. 2021's Deadman: Reborn saw the introduction of Sigils, powerups similar to Leagues relics, that players could obtain to supercharge their progression or give them an edge in combat, alongside Combat bracket worlds to give players more flexibility in playing specific builds and still being competitive.
2023's Deadman: Apocalypse built on Deadman: Reborn and introduced Breaches, regularly scheduled tears in the fabric of reality where players gathered on mass to slay hordes of randomly spawning bosses for supercharged loot, while trying to stay under the radar and avoid capturing the interest of PKers at the breaches.
2024's Deadman: Armageddon built on the success of Apocalypse with fresh Breach mechanics, shakeups to Sigils and progression, and cosmetic rewards for the main game that players could buy for Deadman Points, earned by doing just about anything within Deadman: Armageddon.
"But I've never done PvP before, this doesn't sound like something for me!"
That brings us to now, a decade since Deadman's inception, with a brand new offering. While 'always on PvP' sounds (and is) scary, we've been taking steps with each iteration to try and make the game mode approachable for players with limited PvP experience while trying to preserve the sense of danger and that 'anything could happen' feeling that makes Deadman or the Wilderness stand out.
So if your PvP experience is limited then don't be discouraged - there's still plenty for you to enjoy in Deadman: Annihilation and this blog should help get you up to speed with everything that's changing. If you're a total novice, then keep an eye out on our YouTube channel over the coming months where we'll be releasing a video full of tips, tricks and guidance for players who are brand new to Deadman Mode!
So, what are the biggest changes this time around?! Let's find out...
Deadman's Chest
It wouldn't be Deadman without NPCs having a chance at dropping some enhanced loot, and the Deadman's Chest ups the ante more than ever before.
Upon killing NPCs outside of an instance, there's a rare chance that they'll spawn a Deadman's chest, all you have to do is loot it! Unfortunately, it looks as though there's no convenient key to bust them open, so you'll have to put your lockpicking skills to the test (note: this doesn't actually require a lockpick, or a Thieving level, just time). Cracking these chests will require 60 seconds (or 30 seconds in a multi-combat area) with no interruptions.
That means other players who see you trying to loot a chest can (and will) fight you for it, so you'll have to clear the area before claiming your spoils - it might be worth keeping a PvP setup on-hand more often, which our Sigil changes (detailed below) should help with! For your troubles you'll be handsomely rewarded with valuable loot, including Ancient Warrior armour and two uniques that have never been seen in Deadman Mode before: the Thunder Khopesh and the Dogsword.
If you're not able to open your chest before meeting your untimely end then don't worry, you can always visit Ranael's Super Skirt Store!... If you can't see the image above, click here to view it in a separate tab
If you played Leagues V: Raging Echoes, you'll know that these two items are utterly bonkers, so they'll come with some PvP-specific tweaks to balance them just a smidge while still being strong unlocks:
The Dogsword's Ancient Godsword effect will deal 15 damage and heal you for 10 hitpoints. Otherwise, it functions as it did in Leagues V.
In PvM, the Thunder Khopesh remains unchanged. In PvP, its special attack will produce four lightning bolts, 1.2s apart, where your target is standing. These lightning bolts deal 30-45% of the initial hit's damage.
In single-combat, these lightning bolts will only hit your target. In multi-combat, these lightning bolts will deal damage to up to nine players on the tile that the lightning bolts are targeting, so be ready to move out of the way because in Deadman: Annihilation, lightning absolutely does strike twice. Four times even!
This damage can be mitigated by Protect from Melee (on the initial hit) or Protect from Magic (for the lightning bolts), or avoided entirely by moving away from the tile.
Deadman's Skull
This mysterious skull is given to all players, providing access to a powerful new shop.
For every Deadman Point you earn (by levelling up, killing bosses, completing Achievement Diaries etc.), you'll also receive a Skull Point. Skull Points will be used in the Deadman's Skull shop to purchase Sigils, Quest completion lamps and 'permanent character unlocks'.
A Refresher on Sigils for New & Returning Players - Click here for more info!
For the uninitiated, Sigils in previous Deadman: Mode events are tradeable items that you could obtain randomly from killing just about any NPC. If you were lucky enough to obtain a Sigil, you'd take it to a bank and attune it to your character, allowing you to benefit from powerful buffs.
Some of these buffs were Combat-focused, for example: increased effectiveness of Protection Prayers in PvP, stacking damage boosts for repeatedly switching Combat styles, recoiling incoming damage to your attacker. Others were intended to benefit your progression - nobody likes a long skilling grind in a temporary, PvP-focused game mode. These progression-focused Sigils include things like guaranteed GP whenever a Mark of Grace spawned, automatically cooking your caught fish with a 100% success rate, or even 60% reduced incoming damage from all NPCs.
They're a great system that really freshen up gameplay in Deadman Mode, but the random nature of obtaining them means you might go the entire event without getting your perfect setup together, spending ages farming one type of NPC in the hopes of hitting the big drop. Alternatively, you could buy these on the Grand Exchange, meaning you'd have to weigh up gear upgrades against a new Sigil.
If you can't see the image above, click here to view it in a separate tab
Most of the Sigils that aren't PvP combat-oriented have been converted into permanent unlocks, meaning you can buy them from the shop and keep them active forever rather than juggling your Sigils constantly like in previous Deadman Mode iterations. Those PvP combat-oriented Sigils will still use the old system, so you'll only be able to use three at a time, but all of these other Sigils will be forever attuned to you. You can use the skull to easily check which Sigils you've got permanently unlocked and whether they're toggled on or off, so everything you need to know is in one convenient place!
If you can't see the image above, click here to view it in a separate tab
Instead of being auto-completed by moving through Combat brackets, many (but not all) Quests will be completable via the shop, so you can choose whether or not to tick them off yourself for their XP rewards or spend Skull points to complete them - just make sure you've got enough left over to pick up any Sigils that you're eyeing up! Keep in mind that some Quests will be auto-completed for all characters when they first log in, but beyond that it's up to you what you'd like to tick off and whether you'd like to do it yourself or part with your points.
If you can't see the image above, click here to view it in a separate tab
On top of that, you'll be able to check when the next Breach is happening, trade in Archaic Emblems, and change your spellbook using the Deadman's Skull. The only really important thing that you can't do with the Deadman's Skull is change your Prayer book, but that's still a whole lot of utility for a single item!
As you might expect, we'll be making a bunch of balance changes to Sigils and Trinkets alongside this new system, but we'll be saving all of the finer details for a later blog since we're focused on the biggest beats for the time being.
Naturally, these are significant changes to the Sigil system, so we'd like to give you a quick rundown on the rationale behind these tweaks before moving on.
Reduced mental overhead and time spent searching through your bank to get the right Sigils set up for your next activity/Skilling grind. Nobody wants to organise their bank in a temporary game mode, and half of you don't want to do it in the main game either - you don't need to hold on to those stacks of burnt food, it's time to let them go...
Reduced disadvantage for players looking to skill or PvM since you'll still have all of your PvP-oriented Sigils equipped, meaning you're not giving up PvP power to be able to progress.
Tying more things into points promotes deeper account progression and reduces the impact of being fed gear by others without playing much yourself.
Reduced RNG when trying to plan out a progression path: no more reliance on receiving a specific Sigil to kickstart your journey!
Hold up, what did you mean by 'change your Prayer book'?
If you can't see the image above, click here to view it in a separate tab
In case you're new around here, the Ruinous Powers were an alternative, offense-focused Prayer book that we proposed as a reward from Desert Treasure II but couldn't get into a position where we felt comfortable releasing them into the main game. They made a return as a Relic choice in Leagues V: Raging Echoes and they'll be useable in Deadman: Annihilation so long as you've got the Skull Points to unlock them.
We'd very much recommend checking out the Wiki page linked above for more information on exactly what these Prayers do, and would encourage you to level your Prayer high before spending your points here so that you can get the most out of the Prayers on offer - channelling the power of Zaros is no simple task for those who lack faith!
Breaches
Just like last time, Breaches will be making a return, but we've made a handful of tweaks.
Breaches that take place in single combat locations will spread monsters out more. This means that any fights breaking out should feel a little less chaotic than frantically trying to barrage your target in the middle of a seething mass of 50+ people.
As is customary at this point, we'll be adding new bosses to the breach roster and making some balancing tweaks to returning NPCs that make them even deadlier so that we can keep things fresh, while also alleviating pain points from previous iterations - the bosses are meant to be threatening as well as appealing. That appeal should be even higher this time around since unique chances will be buffed, ultimately sitting somewhere between the 'too low' rates of Deadman: Armageddon and the 'too high' rates of Deadman: Apocalypse.
Just like in Deadman: Armageddon, we'll have three Breaches at fixed, specific times. Unlike Deadman: Armageddon, we'll be doing away with the fourth 'random time' Breach, since these made it difficult for people to plan around and introduced frustration/FOMO, where Breaches are supposed to mean a consistent promise of valuable rewards and potential PvP.
Bank Keys
Throughout Deadman: Armageddon, killing another player would reward you with a bank key, allowing you to plunder their ten most valuable items (or stacks of items) from their bank. Players could protect some of their most important items by using a safe deposit box, whose contents would never be lost to your killer.
While this system is great at upping the stakes, in practice it only really ups the stakes for people who are playing fair and abiding by our 'no muling' rule, which we have admittedly had a difficult time of enforcing. This meant that experienced players or bad actors could shift their most important loot onto characters who never left safe zones then trade it back to themselves as needed, or fill their bank with items whose actual value wasn't accurately represented by their Grand Exchange value, effectively mitigating the risk entirely. Newer players, more casual players, or any player looking to stick to the rules would steer clear of muling and risk more as a result. On top of this, juggling which items you want to bring with you versus leave in your deposit box every time you left a safezone was a bit of a faff and lead to a lot of second guessing, wasting time in safezones when you could be out there gaining Deadman Points!
You can probably see where we're going with this: we're removing bank keys. This means that you'll no longer lose banked items on death, levelling the playing field for everybody. To compensate somewhat, all players will have a skull icon above their head which indicates their current risked wealth, whose eyes will glow yellow if the player is also 'skulled' in the traditional sense - this works similarly to the skulls within Bounty Hunter. This means that players will outright know whether or not you're actually risking anything and have to decide if fighting you is worth the time and supplies, rather than gambling on everybody because they could have a high-value bank key.
In summary, we believe the removal of Bank Keys should:
Encourage players to keep themselves busy and get out into the world rather than sitting at the Grand Exchange figuring out what to invest in or sell from their safety deposit box.
Prevent your bank organisation being absolutely obliterated every time your bank is raided by another player.
Rebalance risk in Deadman so that more players feel comfortable skulling up - the intent with Deadman Mode has always been to encourage combat! Somebody's mining the rock that you're eyeing up? Skull up and take them out! Previous iterations have made skulling up feel too punishing for players who aren't exceedingly comfortable in PvP, so we're hopeful these changes will actually incentivise more PvP combat and less avoidant encounters.
Combat Bracket Worlds
Combat Bracket worlds are back, giving you the freedom to put together any build you like and find fairer, more balanced fights on your world. We've rejigged the numbers slightly this time around to reduce the number of brackets so that you're still incentivised to move up to the higher brackets, but spread players out a little less so that each bracket still feels alive and dripping with danger.
Here's how the new brackets will look:
Combat levels 3 - 60
3x Drop rate multiplier.
10x Combat XP multiplier.
10x Skilling XP multiplier.
Combat levels 61 - 80
3x Drop rate multiplier.
15x Combat XP multiplier.
10x Skilling XP multiplier.
Combat levels 81-95
4x Drop rate multiplier
15x Combat XP multiplier.
10x Skilling XP multiplier.
Combat levels 96+
5x Drop rate multiplier.
20x Combat XP multiplier.
10x Skilling XP multiplier.
You won't have any quests auto-completed for moving into new brackets any more, since you'll be able to unlock these using Deadman Points via the Deadman's Skull, which we covered earlier in the blog.
Rewards
Last year, Deadman: Armageddon allowed players to earn PvP-focused cosmetic rewards in the main game for the first time ever. We'd like to do the same again, and we reckon we've got some options that you're going to love!
Remember that these rewards are earned with Deadman Points, which can be earned by doing just about anything in Deadman: Annihilation, so don't be discouraged if PvP isn't your strong suit! You'll of course have the option to buy these from other players or via the Grand Exchange too, or by using points earned in future Deadman Mode events if you're not able to participate in this one. Additionally, keep in mind that all of these rewards are toggleable - once you unlock them, you're able to turn them off and on at will and won't ever have to reobtain them.
Wilderness-themed POH Kit
You may remember this concept art from Mod Jerv's 2024 Game Jam project - it drummed up a whole lot of excitement! We think this feels like a fitting place to offer up a Wilderness-themed POH blueprint, similar to the Twisted Blueprints introduced in the first ever League.
If you can't see the image above, click here to view it in a separate tab
If you'd like to kit your house out like those ever-so-inviting abandoned ruins in the wasteland that is the Wilderness: now's your chance!
Question #1: Should we add the Wilderness-themed POH Kit as a reward from Deadman: Annihilation? This would be a toggled, tradeable unlock, purchased with points earned during any Deadman Mode event.
Home Teleport Animation
Ever wondered who put the Wilderness Lever there? Or how it even works in the first place? Why are there no other convenient levers dotted around the world?
We don't have a single answer to any of those questions, but we do have a concept storyboard for a new Home Teleport animation to let you materialise your own lever and take yourself home!
If you can't see the image above, click here to view it in a separate tab
Keep in mind that there may be some differences between what's shown here and what makes it into the game, particularly with the 'trapdoor' effect shown at the end, but whether or not it comes into the game hinges (it's a joke about levers!) on you...
Question #2: Should we add the Wilderness Lever Home Teleport Animation override as a reward from Deadman: Annihilation? This would be a toggled, tradeable unlock, purchased with points earned during any Deadman Mode event.
Weapon Recolours
Just like last time, we'd like to throw some cosmetic kits into the mix! Remember that these are permanent and toggleable rather than being kits that you lose on death or need to be re-applied constantly etc., so they're extremely easy-to-use and forgiving.
Last year's suite of cosmetic overrides covered a lot of the main bases for PvP staples, but we'd like to throw a few more into the mix: the Toxic Staff of the Dead, the Bow of Faerdhinen, and Crystal armour.
If you can't see the image above, click here to view it in a separate tab
Who doesn't want their Toxic Staff to have a spooky face inside, and a scary hooded figure for when you misclick your Special Attack?!
We know that much like the Voidwaker last year, Crystal armour and the Bow of Faerdhinen also see a lot of usage in PvM. Our thinking here is that these items already have a number of recolours available, so throwing one more into the mix for any players looking to signify their commitment to duking it out in Deadman shouldn't lead to a scenario where players feel like they must play Deadman: Annihilation to get some cool looking Crystal gear.
Question #3: Should we add the Toxic Staff of the Dead Ornament Kit as a reward from Deadman: Annihilation? This would be a toggled, tradeable unlock, purchased with points earned during any Deadman Mode event.
Question #4: Should we add the Bow of Faerdhinen and Crystal Armour Ornament Kits as rewards from Deadman: Annihilation? These would be toggled, tradeable unlocks, purchased with points earned during any Deadman Mode event.
NPC Spawns & Emotes
If you've ever played Old School around Halloween then you might have noticed that Death himself spawns in whenever a player dies, seeing them off into the next life.
Unlocking this feature would let you spawn in a plethora of random event NPCs to give your unfortunate opponent some parting words. Nothing makes victory in PvP sweeter than Sergeant Damien reminding your opponent that he did not tell them to plank.
Question #5: Should we add the ability to spawn Random Event NPCs whenever you defeat another player as a reward from Deadman: Annihilation? This would be a toggled, tradeable unlock, purchased with points earned during any Deadman Mode event.
Perhaps you'd like something with a more personal touch?
For those of you who'd prefer to deliver a taunt yourself than to let an NPC do it for you, we'd like to offer the ability to unlock automated emotes when getting a kill. This means that if you kill your target, your character would perform any of the following at random, so that you never have to frantically find the emotes tab to let 'em know who's boss.
Bow
Wave
Cheer
Laugh
Jump for Joy
Dance
Spin
Blow Kiss
Respberry
Sit Down
Push up
Star jump
Fortis salute
Slap head
Smooth dance
Crazy dance
Party
Trick
Question #6: Should we add the ability to perform a random Emote whenever you defeat another player as a reward from Deadman: Annihilation? This would be a toggled, tradeable unlock, purchased with points earned during any Deadman Mode event.
Miscellaneous Changes
We'll be saving some of the smaller changes until before the event kicks off, since we'd like to keep things somewhat brief - a first for a Deadman Mode blog... Having said that, we'd like to highlight some of the most significant 'one liners' here so that you're in the loop on the most important differences between Deadman: Annihilation and Deadman: Armageddon, so here's a rapid-fire list!
Sailing will not be enabled in Deadman: Annihilation. We know that it's bound to be new and exciting, but want to give it more time to settle before having to consider it properly in the context of a temporary game mode, particularly a PvP mode!
We will be looking to let you migrate your characters into the Permanent Deadman Mode World 345, but will look to be stricter on which items are able to be carried over from the seasonal event.
The global loot table now features increased resource drops and reduced alchable drops. Additionally, a variant of Ancient warrior armour has been added to the global loot table, boasting high offensive bonuses and low defensive bonuses.
The PJ timer will be increased from 20 to 24 ticks. This means that if Player A is fighting Player B, would-be attacker Player C will need to wait 24 ticks (or 14.4 seconds)after Player B's last hit against Player A before being able to attack Player A.
Maniacal Monkeys in Kruk's Dungeon have had their chance at rolling on the global loot table reduced. Surely this time around we'll see players spreading out a little more...
The Looting Bag has been made significantly more common as a drop.
We'll be rebalancing the number of Deadman Points provided by various activities. Specifics will follow in a future blog!
You'll be able to enter raids even while in Combat, to prevent bad actors ragging you and hindering your progress. As a note, the bank chest inside the lobby room of the Chambers of Xeric will be disabled within Deadman: Annihilation.
Respawn rates for all NPCs will be faster.
The Emblem Trader's shop will feature new stock: the Ancient sceptre, God books and Surge sacks. He'll also give you noted items where possible!
Your default respawn point will be set to the Grand Exchange, though you'll be able to change this as you would in the main game if you like.
XP can be gained within instances but your gains will only be multiplied by 3x, rather than the 15-20x Combat XP multipliers and 10x Skilling XP multipliers. As a result, Nightmare Zone will be disabled for the event. One exception will be made for Slayer, where full XP will be granted regardless of whether or not you're in an instance.
Tier 5 Emblems will drop at a reduced rate from Wilderness Slayer, compared to Deadman: Armageddon.
While in a safe zone, there will no longer be a delay for players trying to log out, eat food or drink potions.
Blighted Overloads will deal 5 damage to you (down from 25) when sipped. Your Defence level will decay down to 90% (up from 80%) of its original value.
On login, the items you'd ordinarily receive from Tutorial Island will be found in your bank, rather than your inventory. You'll instead be given some untradeable tuna, a Chronicle with five charges, a Looting bag, and an untradeable cape with some small combat bonuses.
Hitpoints level requirements on the Amulet of rancour, Confliction gauntlets and all enchanted zenyte jewellery will be removed from Deadman worlds.
Weapons made from Tormented synapses will not require completion of While Guthix Sleeps to use. Of course if you want to get one for yourself, you'll need to complete the quest to access Tormented Demons.
You'll be able to unnote bones once again at the Elder Chaos druid near the Chaos Temple.
Spellbook icon resizing will work across all of Deadman: Annihilation. Meaning players who use this setting will be able to see enlarged spell icons in their Spellbook tab anywhere, including while in PvP combat.
Private instances at God Wars Dungeon will be disabled for the event.
We've added a handful of new safe zones at the Wintertodt's boss arena, Tempoross dock and encounter arena, and the Guardians of the Rift minigame area.
You're up to speed! We're keeping information about the Finale close to our chest for now, so keep an eye out for a future blog for details on what's bound to be another epic Finale...
Drop us any questions you might have (we'll answer whatever we can!) and most importantly: go easy on us if you see us in Deadman: Annihilation!
