26 replies to this topic

[Manga]

We’re almost finished with our latest batch of changes to the EoC, focusing on the issues I described in my last Og Blog.
The changes below are certainly not the final changes we will be making to the EoC as a whole, and the specific ones below will be monitored carefully to ensure they have had the desired impact.

In order to make sure that the below changes are well integrated into the existing game - and, in particular, the upcoming Kalphite King launch - we're not unleashing him just yet. The Kalphite King update will happen on the 14th, at the same time as these changes, to ensure that it's the well-balanced - not to mention brutally challenging - boss fight that you deserve.
Change to the Offensive Capabilities of High-Level Bosses

As mentioned in my last Og Blog, we've noticed that several of the more profitable bosses in the game are being killed by players of a lower level than we had originally intended, and using lower-levelled gear than we had predicted. To address this, we will be significantly increasing the offensive capabilities of these NPCs, meaning that higher levels and better gear will be needed to efficiently take down those opponents. Creatures affected will include the God Wars bosses and the Corporeal Beast, to name a few.
Change to the Defensive Value of Armour

At the moment, the difference between, say, level 70 and level 80 gear isn’t great enough to matter for standard combat training and boss hunting. Understandably, this means that people aren’t investing in the best gear available to them. We are changing that.
The defensive values of armour will now be plotted on an exponential curve rather than a linear one. At higher levels, the difference between sequential armour pieces will be far greater and, therefore, will make a far more noticeable difference in combat. It will also better match the upward curve of XP required to progress through those higher levels, making the highest-level gear optimal for battling your way to 99!

Strength Boosts and Set Effects

We will be adding individual strength boosts to all Torva, Pernix and Virtus gear, and a few other items like the Bandos Chestplate. The 'Nex gear' will also have an additional strength bonus in the form of a set effect. The above three areas of change will mean that higher combat levels and higher levels of gear will be needed to defeat powerful NPC opponents.

Healing Effects of Abilities

We are reducing the effectiveness of the Regeneration and Rejuvenation abilities. We noticed that less food was being taken into battle than before because the healing values of these abilities were stronger than we had anticipated. To address this, we will be increasing the cooldown on the Rejuvenate ability to 5 minutes (making it an infrequent, emergency heal) and reducing the effect of Regenerate by 20%.

This - along with the changes to defensive armour, bosses and strength boosts - will mean that more food will be needed in battle.
This is intended to stabilise the value of these items on the GE in the short-term, and to increase their value in the long-term.

Chaotic Add-On for Dragon Claws

We will be adding a new piece of chaotic gear in the form of chaotic claws. These claws will be slightly different to existing chaotic equipment in that you’ll need to mount the claws onto an existing dragon claw weapon – both the off-hand and main-hand pieces. To compensate for this additional cost, the Dungeoneering token cost of the chaotic add-on will be significantly lower than equivalent chaotic gear. At a faster attack speed, and with increased crit chance, the chaotic claws will be formidable tools to use.

Upcoming Content Updates

The planned Kalphite King and the Ranged Slayer dungeons will both require the very best equipment for effectively fighting the foes found within. Buy up some awesome gear now to avoid disappointment!

The Next Game Update

The next game update will, therefore, be in the week starting 14th January. During that week - a combat bonanza of epic proportions - we will add the Kalphite King (the toughest monster ever!), Hati and Sköll, as well as a huge list of player-recommended changes to the rest of the game.
Thanks for reading. As always, I look forward to reading your thoughts on the forums. Let us know what you think about the above changes!

Mod Mark
RuneScape Design Director
Discuss this here.

[Jaddy]

LOL chaotic claws, who wouldve thought.

for the rest this looks pretty good to me, much needed changes.

[~ Darky ~]

Quote

At the moment, the difference between, say, level 70 and level 80 gear isn’t great enough to matter for standard combat training and boss hunting. Understandably, this means that people aren’t investing in the best gear available to them. We are changing that.
The defensive values of armour will now be plotted on an exponential curve rather than a linear one. At higher levels, the difference between sequential armour pieces will be far greater and, therefore, will make a far more noticeable difference in combat. It will also better match the upward curve of XP required to progress through those higher levels, making the highest-level gear optimal for battling your way to 99!

I think this is going to be very hard to pull off with no cheep alternatives beyond like lvl 60/70.  Nex armor is like 100 times the cost of barrows, and 10 - 15 times the cost of bandos/arma.

at least being maxed ill be able to get port armors and those will be free.

[Manga]

I'm sad about the nerfs to the healing spells, they were too strong for the sinful earth.

[Robinhoodrs]

Market frenzy right now, lol.

I wish I had the bank to make some quick and epic cash off this blog post.

[Velits]

These are some needed changes. I was able to take down Corp with 80 Attack/86 Strength/85 Defence quite easy. I was thinking to myself that it shouldn't be like that. Same goes for some of the God Wars bosses which I was able to solo very easily.
The Chaotic Claws sound promising. Hoping for a speedy, yet quite strong weapon there.

[Blackenese]

This huge list of other changes mentioned will be interdasting, i really hope thier actully good.

[Paradite]

I don't fully understand where Ports armour comes in now. If they are going to boost nex gear past ports gear, what was the point of creating ports gear to begin with? The requirements for ports gear are set in stone at 90+, yet nex gear requires only one stat which is less than that? Not to mention ports gear actually takes quite some time to get from scratch. Just not sure why they would bring out ports gear and then just upstage it and make it useless a few weeks later.

Edited by Paradite, 07 January 2013 - 11:54 AM.

[Murdoc]

Whilst I can understand the need to breathe life back into Dragon claws, I agree with 5 x(?) that making a Chaotic 'kit' doesn't feel like the best way of going about it... Just feels like that cheapens the latter... Why not make it so that you have to trade in a D-claws set to the rewards guy in exchange for a proper pair of Chaotic ones (along with a 100k token cost or whatever) or just give it an outright buff?

[~ Darky ~]

Paradite, on 07 January 2013 - 11:54 AM, said:

I don't fully understand where Ports armour comes in now. If they are going to boost nex gear past ports gear, what was the point of creating ports gear to begin with? The requirements for ports gear are set in stone at 90+, yet nex gear requires only one stat which is less than that? Not to mention ports gear actually takes quite some time to get from scratch. Just not sure why they would bring out ports gear and then just upstage it and make it useless a few weeks later.

there was a post in HLF that said mods had no intentions of making nex better then port, port armor sets would be getting a set effect as well.

[Jaddy]

Paradite, on 07 January 2013 - 11:54 AM, said:

I don't fully understand where Ports armour comes in now. If they are going to boost nex gear past ports gear, what was the point of creating ports gear to begin with? The requirements for ports gear are set in stone at 90+, yet nex gear requires only one stat which is less than that? Not to mention ports gear actually takes quite some time to get from scratch. Just not sure why they would bring out ports gear and then just upstage it and make it useless a few weeks later.

where here did they say that POP gear is outdated, sure, nex sets get a str bonus. but pop gear will has a better defence.

[Paradite]

Jaddy, on 07 January 2013 - 12:18 PM, said:

Paradite, on 07 January 2013 - 11:54 AM, said:

I don't fully understand where Ports armour comes in now. If they are going to boost nex gear past ports gear, what was the point of creating ports gear to begin with? The requirements for ports gear are set in stone at 90+, yet nex gear requires only one stat which is less than that? Not to mention ports gear actually takes quite some time to get from scratch. Just not sure why they would bring out ports gear and then just upstage it and make it useless a few weeks later.

where here did they say that POP gear is outdated, sure, nex sets get a str bonus. but pop gear will has a better defence.

Read what it said, it said nex gear will be getting set effects. We don't yet know what those are, but if they are in anyway good, the defense and hitpoints boost ports gear gives wont matter much. Bossing is about Dps which leads to more kills per hour. People will give up a little defense and hitpoints to get quicker kills.

Edited by Paradite, 07 January 2013 - 12:21 PM.

[spoonheb]

I feel with the boss boosts they should also make dragons harder to kill, specifically mithril and blue dragons. They are rarely killed by legitimate players anymore when not on a slayer task and they die too easily making them a prime gold farming source.
I hope that while they increase the difficulty in some bosses they also take a look at things such as the Giant Mole, which takes forever to kill and Kalphite Queen, which as of now has about 2 decent drops and they are so rare it's a horrible moneymaker.

[Jaddy]

Paradite, on 07 January 2013 - 12:19 PM, said:

Jaddy, on 07 January 2013 - 12:18 PM, said:

Paradite, on 07 January 2013 - 11:54 AM, said:

I don't fully understand where Ports armour comes in now. If they are going to boost nex gear past ports gear, what was the point of creating ports gear to begin with? The requirements for ports gear are set in stone at 90+, yet nex gear requires only one stat which is less than that? Not to mention ports gear actually takes quite some time to get from scratch. Just not sure why they would bring out ports gear and then just upstage it and make it useless a few weeks later.

where here did they say that POP gear is outdated, sure, nex sets get a str bonus. but pop gear will has a better defence.

Read what it said, it said nex gear will be getting set effects. We don't yet know what those are, but if they are in anyway good, the defense and hitpoints boost ports gear gives wont matter much. Bossing is about Dps which leads to more kills per hour. People will give up a little defense and hitpoints to get quicker kills.

~ Darky ~, on 07 January 2013 - 12:12 PM, said:

there was a post in HLF that said mods had no intentions of making nex better then port, port armor sets would be getting a set effect as well.

i looked for this post, but i couldnt find it.

[Murdoc]

lolz

(bh bought for 8844k)

[Milktea4me]

Well, I guess that's one way to improve on things that have been left untouched Post-EoC. I can't wait to see what the Chaotic Claws look like... I just hope it's actually a good thing to invest.

[Xtrm]

Oh joy, more price manipulation by Jagex. I wish they would just release the updates and let the rocks fall were they may.

[No1]

Xtrm, on 07 January 2013 - 01:02 PM, said:

Oh joy, more price manipulation by Jagex. I wish they would just release the updates and let the rocks fall were they may.

Really now. Instead of 'stabilizing GE prices', they've given us a week of run-away prices and merching.

[Fasty]

I don't really do much P2P combat so this doesn't effect me much, but at least they're trying to fix some stuff.

[Aceman]

Sigh... just release it all at once pleaseeeeeeeeee