Mid-Game Rebalance Preview

Hello 'Scapers!

The Mid-Game rebalance is on its way and we're strongly focusing this update on bringing certain mid-game related aspects up to standard - that means primarily looking at what can be buffed and where we can implement some good old quality-of-life improvements.

Most excitingly, this update will be introducing the core Fletching Re-tier work that Mods Breezy, Jack and Stu had been tinkering away with for some time now. This re-tier will impact the value of certain fletching related items and we strongly recommend you familiarize yourself with the changes. You will want to consider whether you either hang on to any items that may increase in value with the update, or make use of certain items now as they may depreciate in value once the update is implemented.

A quick final note on the Mid-Game rebalance: What we lay out today are our design aims and we are already working to implement them. However, as with all previews, there is a chance that we may not be able to implement one thing or another exactly as described here given the nature of still ongoing work.

Let's get into it!

Index:

The core fletching re-tier design has been simmering for some time now, but we needed dedicated time and an associated project to roll it into.

In short, this update aims to address most inconsistencies currently present in Fletching. We want to ensure that you can enjoy a consistent training method and pathway through fletching and Ranged combat that makes sense and is easy to understand. Currently, certain weapons and ammunition in fletching can require skill levels that are out-of-sync with the tiering of similar power weapons in the rest of the game.

For example, Rune Arrows currently require a Fletching Level of 75, but a Ranged, Smithing and Mining level of 50.

Important Changes you should be aware of!

• Yew shortbows and longbows will be retiered to level 70 and, as a result, will become members only items. Free-to-play players will still have level 40 and 50 Ranged options through Maple and Acadia bows.
• Drop tables and shop inventory containing items that have been retired, where appropriate, will be replaced with the new item for that range level instead.
• Achievements and quests will be adjusted where needed to account for these retiering changes.
• Shieldbows are being retired and replaced wholesale with their equivalent tier Longbows.
• Our data indicates that shieldbows have been left in such an awkward space that their usage is incredibly low, meaning that they actually add bloat and inconsistency to the game. By replacing them with Longbows we expect the choice of bow to be made easier and less confusing for players.
• The primary reason for this change is because shieldbows have acted as a bit of a trap to newer players who are fletching them without realising that they deal vastly reduced damage compared to an equivalent shortbow, despite them having a higher fletching requirement.
• All current shieldbows will gain +1 range when converted to longbows.
• The Strykebow will remain as a shieldbow, though we'd love to hear your thoughts on the Dark bow: Should it stay as is or be converted?

• Bane ammunition will be changed from having its own special creation methods to be unified with regular arrows and bolts.
• Tune Bane Ore will be cast on bane bolts/arrows, rather than banite ore or banite rock, to enchant them into Abyssal/Basilisk/Dragon/Wallasalkibane bolts/arrows.
• Tune Bane Ore will still be cast on Dinarrows to enchant them into Jas Demonbane arrows.
• Primal ammunition will also be unified to be created in the same way as regular arrows and bolts.
• Unf bolts will be created by bars and feathered like regular bolts.
• Primal bolts will be made in increments of 50 Unf bolts per bar, bringing them in line with all other bolt creation quantities
• The bolt and arrow proficiency leveling benefits will be removed, but their XP when you first unlock them will have a higher baseline.

One final thing to note is that this is a re-tier of the core fletching skill rather than an entire skill overhaul. As such, re-tiering every single fletching item was out of scope of this project and darts, knives and javelins have not been affected.

The in-game usage of these items is currently low enough for us to be able to make this decision for today, but we are keen to come back to them in future and reconsider their position in the game with a broader view.

Fletching Re-tier Tables

Shortbows

Longbows

Note that we are not planning to introduce Teak and Mahogany Short or Longbows, as these are considered hardwood, which is entirely unsuitable for use in bow fletching.

Crossbows

Arrows

Bolts

Following on from the early-game rebalance, we're looking to address the rest of the agility courses all the way up to level 99.

• The below changes are intended to simply realign the XP and create a more consistent curve and in almost all courses you will see sizeable increases in XP per hour.

Similar to our Agility rebalance, we’re making some changes to Divination to continue the approach we set with the early-game rebalance. Divination is a little harder to explain, but stick with us!

We've focused these changes on the effectiveness of gathering rather than boosting the XP gained. We generally want to ensure that gathering feels good consistently through levels and that there isn't a point where is suddenly feels like it's getting worse (as is the case in game at the moment).

The below success chances are the planned averaged out success chance increases for drawing the respective energies across the full level banding (level 1 - 99). Put differently, the increased chance of drawing Gleaming energy is actually +5.10% at level 50 but slopes down to about +4% at level 60, which is the increased value it will remain at through till level 99. For all listed energies below, a similar curve can be expected (higher chance than listed for the first 10 levels after unlock, with a slope down till level 99, overall averaging out at the listed increases below).

• Gleaming
• +4% success.
• Vibrant
• +3% success.
• Lustrous
• +2% success.
• Brilliant
• +1% success.
• Radiant
• +1% success.
• Luminous
• +0.6% success.
• Incandescent
• +0.5% success.

• Killcount Changes (GWD1):
• We're making some changes to God Wars Dungeon 1 as we found it to be overly punishing for mid-game players. While the experience drastically improves later on in a player's journey, it can currently feel slow and punishing for those levels when you first gain access.
• We'll be making changes to killcount so it mimics how God Wars Dungeon 2 works and you will no longer lose KC when leaving the dungeon.
• Your killcount will be capped at 200.
• As a result of the above two changes, we will be removing the Omni soulstone along with the Armadylean, Bandosian, Saradomist and Zamorakian soulstones as they are no longer necessary.
• Reputation Changes (GWD2):
• We're also making some changes to God Wars Dungeon 2 as we feel that this content is overly punishing for mid-game players, specifically with regards to grinding for too long for good drop rates. We've found that the Reputation system is simply a bit too long for what it offers and that players often out-level the dungeon by the time they unlock full drop rates. With that in mind we're making the following changes:
• The maximum reputation will be reduced from 5k down to 2k.
• Rewards will be rescaled to match the new 2,000 reputation cap.
• Drop rate increase unlocks will be removed.
• Drop rates will now be a flat chance for all players, matching the current highest-tier unlock. This will make reputation feel less like a chore and let players work on it passively while jumping straight into the bosses as soon as they unlock the dungeon, The title "The Venerated" will be moved one reward tier down for unlocking.

• Demonic Skull
• The Demonic skull is an awkward item that involves risk and reward, but with limited risk and no real great explanation for why it exists. We agree with the broad community notion that it doesn't really make sense to keep it in the game any longer.
• The Demonic Skull will be removed with this update and it will no longer be obtainable. If you own a demonic skull at the time of it's removal, you will have it's cost refunded.

• Dive Ability
• This ability currently requires the completion of the Succession quest, which has level 60 mining and smithing requirements. This makes the ability have rather incongruous requirements for what it actually does and makes it generally feel inconsistent. It feels more appropriate for this ability to come as a regular unlock from Agility.
• This ability will moved to require just 30 agility to unlock.
• Red and Crystal Sandstone
• We’ve heard your feedback on mining sandstone, and we agree it still feels a little too slow. The recent rise in flask prices reinforces that, so we think a further adjustment to sandstone would be a healthy change.
• The hitpoints of mining these rocks will be reduced by 50.
• Additionally, the Sophanem Red Sandstone (unlocked from the Elite Desert achievements) and the Meilyr Crystal Sandstone (accessed in the Edimmu resource dungeon) will be reduced by a further 50 hitpoints.
• Harps
• With the removal of the Travelling Merchant, we know that obtaining harmonic dust can feel a bit more grindy now. To help address that, we’re making the following change:
• The rate in which you receive harmonic dust from harps will be increased by 20%.
• Instances
• Instance costs! These have been a bone of contention for a while, so we're very happy to confirm that we will be removing this needless friction from boss encounters.
• Instance costs (Gold/Coins) have been removed from all boss encounters.
• You will still need the secondary items, such as Ascension Keystones, Keys to the Crossing and Barrows totems.
• TzRek-Jad (Jad Pet)
• This pet is currently purchased with Zeal or Thaler and feels a bit disconnected from the rest of the boss pets. For this reason we'll be moving it onto Jad's drop table and collection log.
• Gem Bag
• The gem bag feels fairly inconsistent and in some cases upgrading it didn't feel great. We want to address so it feels like more natural progression and an obvious choice.
• The Gem Bag (Upgraded) capacity will be increased to carry 100 of each gem.
• Jade, Opal and Red Topaz gems will now be storable in both Gem Bag versions.

Drop rates will be increased on the following items:

• Dragon Pickaxe Drop Rates
• The drop rates for the Dragon Pickaxe are overly low for a mid-level item. We're looking to improve these rates while still maintaining the item's value.
• The Dragon Pickaxe droprates will be increased from 1/5,000 kills to 1/3,000 kills from Chaos Dwarfs and 1/10,000 to 1/1000 from Chaos Giants.
• Sanguine Crawler & Vampyrism Gloves Drop Rates
• Feedback on Sanguine Crawlers was that their drop rates for Vampyrism Gloves felt inconsistent with the upgrade path slot they're meant to hold in mid-game. While we do want to keep them somewhat rare, we will be making changes to improve their accessibility
• The Drop rate for Vampyrism Gloves will increase to 1/200 when on a Slayer task and 1/1000 when not on a Slayer task
• Corporeal Beast Sigils Drop Rates
• Corporeal Beast Sigils are in an awkward spot, having an inconsistent drop rate (Spectal Sigil being the most common) as well as being overly rare for what they offer compared to other unique items.
• Sigil Drop Rates will be doubled (from 1/512 kills to 1/256 kills).
• All sigil types will now have an equal chance of dropping (1/4 when a sigil is dropped).
• Linza the Disgraced Drop Rates (Barrows)
• Linza's drop rates are currently significantly more rare and do not follow the standard barrows rates. Because of this, we're choosing to bring these down so they don't feel so mismatched with the rest of the barrows items.
• The drop rates for Linza's equipment will be doubled, so that instead of 1/192, they will be 1/96.

- The RuneScape Team