Battle of Lumbridge



The Battle of Lumbridge is a world event that takes place alongside the beginning of the Sixth Age and the dawn of RuneScape 3. It features weekly choices made by the players which will define its outcome and course of action. It was stated by Jagex as having an "ultimate outcome [which] will set the course for RuneScape’s future.".

Two weeks before the battle, a large portal appeared west of Lumbridge Castle and south of the H.A.M. Hideout, although it was not known what role this mysterious portal will play in the battle's progression.

On 11 July, the portal increased in size and several other NPCs were added to the scene. The original NPCs' dialogue was also altered slightly to reflect the change to the portal. This same event occurred again on 17 July.

Finally, on 22 July the portal opened, and Zamorak used it to travel into Gielinor, where he attempted to harness the power left when Guthix died. At this point Zamorak was confronted by Saradomin and at once the two began fighting. They reached a stalemate and began to teleport followers in to collect fragments of Guthix's power, in the form of tears, to increase their power and overwhelm the opposing god.

Order of the battle
As mentioned, at the opening of their encounter, Zamorak and Saradomin found themselves equally matched. Both gods raised defensive structures and teleported in their generals and first waves of soldiers.

The early stage of the battle broke down into a general close combat with neither side gaining an upper hand. The battle rage along the perimeter with troops fighting among the siege towers and in the center of the crater, soldiers would even attack adventurers who were collecting tears not aligned to their god. Individual troops that did manage to reach the other faction's base would simply be incinerated by the sentries and generals.

A slow but steady stream of soldiers, one at a time, would continue to reinforce the battlefield and make their way into the fray. As the battle wore on, however, troops began to be teleported to different parts of the battlefield.

Divine tears
With Zamorak and Saradomin both struggling to gain control of the power left by Guthix, they require the aid of adventurers to help them gain the upper hand. Players may choose which god they wish to follow, and head to either the Saradominist or the Zamorakian camp to help out. If the player wishes to change sides, they may speak to Kara-Meir at any time (she is located near the Lumbridge lodestone).

Players can help the god they choose to follow by collecting Divine tears to help fuel their god's power and help them gain the upper hand. Tears can be collected in two ways, either through combat or skilling.

After joining one of the gods you will be given a token depending on what god you chose (i.e Zamorakian token or Saradominist token). The token increases in level the more tears you contribute to your chosen god. starting off at bronze then working its way to silver after 1,000 tears, gold after an additional 2,000 then Runite after another 3,000.The token gives a small boost to the amount of Divine tears you collect and reduces damage taken from the other gods forces by a small amount.

Tears can be earned from combat both on and off the battlefield. Players may attack the enemy faction's reinforcements (these are NPC soldiers, NOT other players), and upon defeating them will be awarded with tears, as the player collects them, the number that is collected decreases down to 1 at a time. Players may also receive tears as drops from creatures slain outside the battlefield.

By the second day of the event the hi-scores showed an interesting trend that players who aligned themselves with Saradomin, on average, have fewer points than those that follow Zamorak, while the former has greater numbers of followers.

Tears can also be earned from skilling, both on and off the battlefield. On the battlefield are mining, woodcutting, and fishing plots which can be used to collect tears beginning at a rate of 5 at a time which will gradually decrease as the player continues to collect them. There is no skill requirement to do this, and players collecting tears on the battlefield will not be attacked by enemy soldiers. Tears can also be earned by skilling outside the battlefield, in a similar way to how anagogic orts are collected. Tears are awarded from skilling surprisingly frequently, and a player can quickly collect a substantial amount of tears from skilling activities such as fishing, mining, and woodcutting.

There is a limit on the amount of tears a player can collect per day. Free players can receive up to 1,320 Divine tears a day. Members can receive 3,000 tears on a daily basis.

Random events
From time to time, random events will occur on the battlefield. Messages appear as a drop down from the battlefield score HUD, and as game text in the chatbox when they occur.

Occasionally, clones of Jagex mods will appear on the battlefield, fighting for the God that mod supports. While they have different appearances and use different combat styles, they all provide a healing aura to nearby followers, and boost the speed at which Divine Tears are gathered. Players can attack the clones. They scale to the level of players that attack them, and can be healed by right-clicking them and selecting the heal option--this takes ten tears. The clones are not aggressive towards players. They target other J-mods first, then NPCs. They do not charge to the other side of the field. They always drop a sizable amount of divine tears, and have the potential to drop several joke-tems (such as off-white party-hats and really rotten potatoes) which will vanish if a player attempts to retrieve them.

The Duke's Dilemma
Lumbridge was very badly damaged by the battle, and Duke Horacio is currently working on rebuilding the city. Each week he asks players to vote on how to allocate the town's emergency resources toward dealing with various situations pertaining to this goal. The Duke has a total of 160,000 coins to use for rebuilding. The situation will change periodically through the event. Players will be limited later on in the event by the amount of money they have spent. Voting can be done by either speaking to Duke Horacio, using the right click option "Manage-Crisis", or by accessing the lectern in his room.

Regardless of which option the player chooses, they will be rewarded with an amount of bonus experience for voting. This bonus experience works like the bonus Prayer experience of the Festival of the Dead.

First situation: Destruction of homes
Two crafters, each with a wife and child, have lost their homes in the destruction. There is a damaged house in lumbridge which could be restored.
 * Restore the house, moving the Zamorakian herbalist in. (20,000 coins)
 * Restore the house, moving the Saradominist summoner in. (20,000 coins)
 * Restore the house as a refugee shelter, moving both families in (40,000 coins)
 * Leave the house alone (0 coins)

Effects of the battle

 * Many buildings were destroyed in the battle that Duke Horacio needed to accomodate people into different houses or make refugee shelters.
 * Several NPCs including King Roald, Aeonisig Raispher, Fred the Farmer, Hank, Explorer Jack, Hans, Wise Old Man, Maggie, Wendy, the Lumbridge Guardsmen, the Lumbridge Sage, Father Aereck, Donie, the Herald of Lumbridge, the Candle seller, the Lumbridge Shopkeeper and Shop assistant, the Cook, Miss Schism, the Town Crier, the Doomsayer, Harlan and the High Priest of Entrana have received new dialogue relating to the Battle of Lumbridge.
 * New voice-acted NPCs have been added to inform players of the battle:
 * Ardougne - Concerned mother and Frightened girl
 * Varrock - Saradominist fanatic and Zamorakian fanatic
 * Taverley - Panicking old soldier
 * Edgeville - Belligerent man and Argumentative man
 * Falador - Excited knight
 * Yanille - Harbinger of destruction
 * Catherby - Drunken mariner


 * The Lumbridge lodestone, Farming patch, and the Water altar near Lumbridge Swamps were moved.
 * The H.A.M. Hideout was moved.

Rewards
Divine tears can be collected both on and off the battlefield, from both skilling and combat. These are turned in at the god camps in exchange for renown, which can be used to purchase a variety of rewards.