Aaron (RuneAd Owner) | 01.28.21
Shades of Mort'ton Improvements
You voted for it, so youre getting it the Shades of Mortton minigame has undergone a total overhaul this week, with new rewards, new shades, and a bone-shaking new look. Grab your Flamtaer Hammer, were going in!
VISUAL CHANGES
The first thing youll notice is that the catacombs have undergone a terrifying makeover! Theyre now visually consistent with other nearby dungeons, like the infamous Barrows.
In addition, the general layout of the area is a bit more segmented, making it easier to figure out exactly where you are. We wouldnt want you getting lost down there!
A couple of other things have also changed: in the south-west, youll see the familiar Asyn shades and their black chests, but their area has been condensed to the size of the other rooms. In the south-east, youll spot something new: this is the area where the new Urium shades have set up shop, and its also where you can find golden chests.
NEW SHADES & CHESTS
Please welcome a new kind of shade to the catacombs! Urium shades are a new tier with combat level 140 a daunting opponent, but one well worth fighting! Urium shades will always drop Urium remains, which, when burned with redwood pyre logs, will get you a golden key. Theres also a lower chance of getting a golden key from burning Fiyr remains.
This key will let you open the new golden chests in the south-east corner of the Catacombs. They contain improved standard loot, along with some new unique items so be sure to give them a try!
ZOMBIE ZEALOTS
Editors Note: This concept appeared in the Poll Blog as Diyn shades. The name has been changed to avoid confusion, since these creatures dont drop shade remains.
When opening any chest in the Catacombs, there is a chance to spawn a Zombie Zealot. The undead fanatics will drop bleached bones that must be burned on the Altar of the Damned. Each time you do so, the Altar will be charged, allowing you to restore your Prayer until the charges have depleted. Bleached bones are untradeable, and so must be gathered by the player who intends to use them. Good luck!
The new and improved look of The Catacombs
REWARDS
Along with all the old rewards, you can now also gain the following spooky stuff from Shades of Mortton:
Wearable Coffin
The first of the new unique items on offer is the Wearable Coffin! It fits neatly into your Cape slot and allows you to store a variety of shade remains to help free up your Backpack space.
After finding either a bronze, steel, black, silver or gold lock, a new NPC, Dampe, will hand you a Wearable Coffin and help you repair it. The higher the tier of lock you find, the more remains youll be able to cram in there. Its definitely worth upgrading: you can store just three remains in the Bronze Coffin, but the Gold Coffin will fit 28 remains inside thats a whole extra Inventory. Plus, keeping remains in the Coffin means you wont get gross body slime all over your stuff. Its a win-win!
Store those remains in the new wearable coffin!
Prayer Robes
This new armour set can only be found in the new gold chests. There are four pieces to collect: the helm, top, legs, and boots. The set is untradeable and doesnt offer any combat stats, although it does have a nice set bonus for each piece youre wearing, youll get a 1.25% chance to save a bone or an ensouled head, and wearing the full set will boost that up to a 5% chance.
This effect is also stackable with the Wilderness Altars bone-saving effect.
Show off in style with the new Prayer Robes!
Swampbark and Bloodbark Recipes
There are two books within chests inside theCatacombs that hold the long-forgotten secret to crafting Swampbark and Bloodbark armours. Weve had a word with their long-forgotten publisher and they say we can publish the recipes here, too.
Swampbark armour is created by using a piece of splitbark armour on the Nature Altar. Each piece costs a specific amount of runes:
- Gloves and boots require 100 nature runes each and 42 RuneCraft
- The helm requires 250 nature runes and 46 RuneCraft
- The top and legs require 500 nature runes each and 48 RuneCraft
Swampbark armour offers similar defence stats to mithril and has a Magic bonus six greater than splitbark. It also extends binding spells by 1 tick per piece equipped:
- Bind: 8 ticks (4.8 secs) -> 13 ticks (7.8 secs)
- Snare: 16 ticks (9.6 secs) -> 21 ticks (12.6 secs)
- Entangle: 24 ticks (14.4 secs) -> 29 ticks (17.4 secs)
- For comparison: Ice Barrage: 32 ticks (19.2 secs)
Be at one with nature!
Bloodbark armour is similarly created by using a piece of splitbark armour on the Blood Altar, and each piece also costs a specific amount of runes:
- Gloves and boots require 100 blood runes each and 77 Runecraft
- The helm requires 250 blood runes and 79 Runecraft
- Top and legs require 500 blood runes each and 81 Runecraft
The Bloodbark set offers a similar defence level to adamant and a Magic bonus which is five less than Mystic. In addition, it will buff Ancient blood spell effects (Blood Rush, Burst, Blitz and Barrage).
Itll also give you an increased heal percentage of 1.5% per piece equipped, with a full set bonus of 32.5% Hitpoints restore.
The XP gain from crafting these armour sets will be minimal its not supposed to be a training method!
Show them the true power of blood!
Craftable Splitbark
Youre also now able to craft your own splitbark armour. Between level 60 and level 62 Crafting, youll unlock the ability to create each individual piece by combining fine cloth and bark with your needle and thread.
We really hope you enjoy exploring the new and improved Shades of Mortton. Let us know what you think of these changes on Reddit, Twitter, Discord, or the official forums.
Equipment Rebalance Beta Worlds
Weve been listening closely to all your feedback regarding the Equipment Rebalance and we wanted to thank you for all the constructive and healthy discussion over the proposed changes.
With todays update, well be opening two beta worlds thatll allow you to test some of the proposed changes as if they were live in-game. Youll be able to take part in any content you could find on the main game worlds and youll be provided with supply chests containing common items. Of course, youll also get access to the items that weve proposed changes for that way you can properly compare the differences between the existing versions and the updated ones.
These items include:
- Crystal armour (beta)
- Black DHide (beta)
- Blowpipe (beta)
- These blowpipes will have infinite ammo and no charges. Accordingly, theres an individual blowpipe for each dart type. The beta versions dont include special attacks, but this is not reflective of the proposed changes. If you havent read the newest Equipment Rebalance blog yet, be sure to have a look. It includes some important changes from the first one.
To take part in the beta find one of the two blue worlds on the World Switcher and join in. The worlds in question will be World 401 (US) and World 407 (UK).
After you've joined you will appear in Ferox Enclave. The supply chests are located on the tables within the rooms next to the Castle Wars and Free-For-All portals and will allow you to choose your gear and set your stats accordingly.
You can also change your spellbook by visiting the Altar in the north eastern room.
We really do appreciate any and all constructive feedback we receive, so please continue to provide us with your thoughts.
Soul Wars Changes
The delay when using bandages in Soul Wars has been removed, but the healing has been slightly reduced.
The Soul Cape toggle-colour option now works correctly even when worn.
Other News
- The Green Gnome Child thanks you for your assistance, but its time for him to return home to the Realm of Memories. This marks the end of the 20th Anniversary Event. Anyone who missed the rewards can unlock them by completing future Old School RuneScape birthday events.
- The Barbarian Assault Defender Machine will no longer give out a hammer.
- Players will no longer be attacked by zombies while inside the Harmony Island crop circle.
- The message accompanying completion of a Slayer Task has become more detailed.
- You must complete a new task to see the new message. Until then, youll see the old one this is not a bug.
- Players who have not set their display name will have to set one via the website before they can log in and play.
- Brand new accounts with no display name will still be able to sign in.
- Level up fireworks are now accompanied by a little sound effect.
- The ornamented Infernal tools from the Trailblazer League are now recognised as warm items while fighting the Wintertodt.
- The unlocking instructions for the Teleport to Target spell have been corrected.
- Fixed some incorrect blocking at Witchaven.
- Farmer Gricollers reward shop now has a Bank PIN check.
- A grammatical error on the Necklace of Passage has been fixed.