Evolution of Combat

The Evolution of Combat is a complete rework of how RuneScape combat works. This update is set up as a beta for users who want to test it out early, signups for which were open from 1 June 2012 to 19 June 2012. The actual update is estimated to take place in September, but this is subject to change. Any player who has been a member for 12 consecutive months will get unlimited access to the beta, although they also must currently be a member to sign up and participate in the beta. Members who don't reach the 12 consecutive month requirement will be able to access the beta on weekends. Jagex also selected 50,000 other members who signed up and did not get access instantly, and the 50,000 are chosen based on how "active" they are.

Players using the beta can use a cloned version of their actual accounts, accessible only on the beta server. Players on the beta server have access to the Beta Shop, located in the Lumbridge Castle, in front of the Grand Exchange, and Falador by the statue formed by various NPC's, which will provide all levels of combat gear, runes, and food for free in order for players to test. This gear will not be transferable to the main servers.

Entering the Beta
The beta servers can be accessed here. This is browser-based play only (no downloadable client so far). The login screen is as normal, and will take you into the lobby. If you wish to play with your main game character, click the "Import" button (pictured above) at the bottom left of the screen. If you do not click on this link, you will start the beta with a basic character.

Video 1
On 1 June 2012, Jagex posted a YouTube video detailing the June Behind the Scenes. This video included a mention of the combat update.

In the video, it could be seen that there are two distinctive types of melee hitsplats; it appears that those with red backgrounds are damage dealt with abilities, and those with transparent backgrounds are normal hits. A new type of hitsplat is also shown.

The combatants are shown to wield a rune 2h sword, dragon scimitar, what seems to be a plain longbow, bronze crossbow and staff differently than how they are wielded now. The "punchbag", the npc used to show off the abilities on, appears to be attacking with a dragon defender wielded in the right hand. However, in later videos, the "punchbag" character slashes with a chaotic rapier.

One of the melee combatants is also shown to be able to kick the opponent while wielding the weapon, as well as doing some form of shield-bash, both of which stun the opponent with a new animation. The life points bar above the character's head is shown to fade from green to yellow then away rather than disappearing abruptly when out of combat.

Both the ranger and the mage are shown to teleport for short distances with the warrior showing a similar dash attack as part of the shield-bash.

Video 2
On 8 June 2012, Jagex posted a YouTube video. This video included a mention of the combat update, starting at 1:40. The commentary is with Mods Chris L and Hunter. In this video the new hit splats were discussed, confirming that the "no background" hits are normal auto-attacks hits, as well as the red background hit splats being ability hits. They also discussed some updated interfaces.



A new main interface, called the main tab was introduced in this video (image on the right). According to the commentary in the video, this new interface will be located in the top left of a player's screen along with a player's "chat head". The chat head has not yet been detailed. From this main interface, you will have acess to your target's information, which can either be a player or an NPC. The information displayed will include their weaknesses, which will be located in the top right hand corner opposite their head icon, the target's life points percentage, their combat level, active prayers, and any positive (green outline) or negative (red outline) effects that are currently active on the target. On the bottom, it will show the player's own Life Points, as well as any positive or negative effects the player may currently have. Positive (green outline) means that a stat is boosted above it's regular level - known as a buff. In most cases, negative (red outline) means that the stat is below it's regular level - known as a debuff; however, there are other red outlined negative effects that are not stat debuff's, including stun, bleed, and burn effects. Located at the bottom of this interface is an auto-retaliate toggle (named simply, "Retaliate"), and a button leading to the Combat Experience interface.



Another new interface that has also been revealed is the Combat Experience Sub-Tab. It can be accessed by pressing the "XP" button on the main tab, and it will allow the player to control how their XP is gained for each of the three combat styles. The interface is seperated into three mains tabs: Melee, Ranged, and Magic. Each tab has 3-4 experience style toggles that can be activated, which will allow the player to gain certain types of XP. Based on the given information shown in the video, the toggles for each style are completely independent of each other - for instance, in the video, Attack (melee), Ranged/Defence (ranged), and Magic/Defence (magic) were all active at once, which are all different styles. It means, and was assumed by players (has now been confirmed) that they will now be able to train strength with weapons like an abyssal whip that currently don't offer such an option, thus resulting in the increase of the whip's price.

The example character in the video was shown to be using magic auto-attacks (which appear to be graphically updated water based attacks), with a bronze sword equipped. The character also uses a few magical abilities (one of which is the "choke" ability), and uses at least one melee ability - a stab to the belly that causes bleeding. Based on our available information, all of the abilities are Basic to Threshhold, as all of the abililty effects shown in the video (stun, bleed) are caused by Basic to Threshold level abilites.

Also, a new icon for Protect from Melee was shown in the video.

Video 3
On 15 June 2012, Jagex posted a third video, this time about the Evolution of Combat alone, which introduced the concept of Adrenaline and showed how the Action Bar would work

Adrenaline was described as a bar which will slowly fill up as you execute normal attacks, but will increase more when Basic or Threshold abilites are used. As the bar fills, you will be able to utilise more powerful abilities - when the Adrenaline bar is 50% full you may use Threshold abilities, and when it's 100% full Ultimate abilities become available.

Ultimate abilities themselves were also described in greater detail. When using one, the Adrenaline bar will completely deplete, thus preventing you from using Threshold or other Ultimate abilities until it recharges. Two Ultimate abilities, Meteor Strike, a melee ability in which you leap into the air and bring your sword down on your opponent, dealing massive damage and Tsunami, a magic-based ability in which you summon a massive tidal wave, inflicted massive area of effect damage upon any enemies within a large range in front of you.

The Action Bar allows you to assign skills from your ability set-by dragging and placing it onto the action bar - this replaces the Magic tab - onto twelve slots above your chatbox, which can then by utilised by either clicking on them or assigning hotkeys to them; the default hotkeys are 1-9, 0, - and =. You can also switch between different action setups by pressing Shift+1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, allowing you to store and easily switch between different action setups. It will NOT be preset, unlike many players think.

It also showed that after 15 seconds, the player would come out of "combat stance", and that a one-handed weapon and a shield would be put back automatically, sheathed. Jagex has not confirmed whether sheathing of weapons would be automatic or manual.

A new icon for Wrath was shown in this video.

Video 4
On 22 June, 2012, Jagex posted a fourth video which was also only about the Evolution of Combat that gave players a first glimpse at Jagex's 'Big Reveal', dual-wielding.

Players will have access to a wide variety of mix-and-match combinations with new dual-wielding. In the video Mod Chris L and Hunter showed a character holding a Dragon scimitar in each hand, an Abyssal whip in one hand and an Enhanced Excalibur in the other, and two Rune crossbows just to name a few that were shown. Players will not be limited to one combat style of the weapons he/she may wield at one time, but can use any combat style weapon with another weapon of any combat style, i.e. an Abyssal whip with a Rune crossbow as shown in the video. Mod Chris L and Hunter did say, though, that two Abyssal whips will not be able to be equipped at the same time since they said that it was a "Technical limitation with how animated a whip can be."



Wielding a weapon in the off-hand slot will require an off-hand version of that weapon. During the video, there's a short glimpse of what an off-hand Dragon scimitar may be called and what was shown was "Off-hand dragon scimitar". Mod Chris L and Hunter explained that these off-hand versions of weapons will be craftable and smithable, however, they will also be members-only.

In the video new equipment such as Magic orbs and Ranged shields were mentioned that will be added to the game. Certain abilities will require certain pieces of equipment to be activated. Staves of all kinds will become 2-handed. Weapons can be sheathed and unsheathed manually. The charcter models have been updated, with upgraded idle animations and fingers.

Changes to hitsplats
The hitsplats for auto-attack damage do not have a red background - they are merely static numbers without a background (not even including the hit type-melee, ranged or magic). Hit splats for abilities will have a red background. This was confirmed in the second combat evolution behind the scenes video.

Weaknesses
Along with the new interfaces, weaknesses and buffs will now have a more prominent effect on gameplay. According to | Combat: Buffs and Weaknesses, "There’ll also be changes to a whole host of RuneScape inhabitants to ensure that when a creature is weak to fire damage or stronger against ranged attacks, for example, it will have a more significant effect - particularly on your combat style and equipment setup." From what is shown in the second youtube video, weaknesses will be represented by icons in the main tab interface, opposite the target 's head icon--the player's weaknesses will also be located opposite his or her head icon. Currently, only one weakness has been shown per target/character.

New Effects
Some confirmed effects include damage over time (DoT) and temporary damage boosts. The currently confirmed damage over time effects include burn and bleed, similar to the current poison effect.



New Abilities
Main page: Beta:Ability book

General changes to equipment

 * All weapons of the same equipment tier (for example, all rune weapons) will have their stats adjusted in order to have roughly the same damage per second (DPS) value. Slower weapons such as rune spears and rune battleaxes will be as effective in combat as faster weapons such as rune scimitars and rune daggers. Two-handed weapons will have a 50% higher DPS than one-handed weapons of the same tier, to compensate for the lack of an off-hand item.
 * Many, if not all, pieces of armour will boost lifepoints, in a similar manner as torva, pernix, and virtus armours. However, the boosts will be much more substantial; players who equip armour sets that are appropriate for their levels will receive as much as 90% of their total lifepoint pool from their armour - more if wielding a shield. Therefore, a player with maxed combat stats and the best gear will have about (and between) 15,000 (to 20,000) life points, most of it coming from their armour.
 * The ability to simultaneously wield two one-handed weapons (called "dual-wielding") will be released. Special off-hand versions of many existing weapons will be created; these will be separate from existing "main-hand" weapons and will require separate purchase or creation. It will be possible to wield two one-handed weapons of different styles (such as a one-handed sword and a one-handed crossbow) ; however, it will only be possible to use abilities of the style of weapon that is equipped in the main hand. Dual-wielded weapons will have roughly the same DPS rating as two-handed weapons of the same tiers.
 * All existing magical staves will be changed to be two-handed weapons, which will sacrifice speed for extra damage. New wands will be released that act as one-handed staves. Additionally, off-hand magical equipment called orbs will be released that allows players to dual-wield Magic spells. Another off-hand magical equipment some type of "tome" or "book" was mentioned in Video #6, but now shown.
 * All melee weapons will be able to train Attack, Strength, and Defence. Mages may choose to gain purely Defence experience.
 * Armour equipped by players will no longer have specific weaknesses to stab, slash, or crush attacks that are made by other players. Monsters will continue to have weaknesses to specific attack types. Additionally, some monsters will have weaknesses to specific Magic spell elements, such as water spells.
 * While it will be possible to switch armour types during combat, doing so will not be recommended as it will incur a significant cooldown penalty to all abilities.

Changes to specific items

 * Magic blastboxes and celestial surgeboxes will provide unlimited air runes in the off-hand slot, rather than their current function of storing runes for combat spells. As both boxes will be Dungeoneering-only items, they will be removed from the rest of the game, and any players who purchased them from the rewards trader will have their tokens refunded. However, players WILL be refunded any runes that are currently stored in any blast or surgeboxes.
 * The Inspiration aura will affect the adrenaline bar instead of the special attack bar.
 * As they are losing their special attacks, all four godswords will be functionally equivalent. However, their stats will be increased to compensate.
 * Barrows equipment and Void Knight equipment will retain their set effects. However, they will only trigger on auto-attacks, not when abilities are used.
 * Enhanced excalibur's current special attack will be added as an ability. The weapon itself will have its stats improved to match those of the abyssal whip.
 * Two-handed crossbows (such as the existing Karil's crossbow) will be added. They will be the Ranged equivalents of two-handed swords. Like many existing crossbows, they will be created using the Smithing and Fletching skills.
 * The ring of kinship's class bonuses while Dungeoneering will be adjusted to fit with the combat update.
 * Much more Ranged and Magic armour will be released. Among others, rangers will receive cockroach armour, and mages will receive spider-silk robes and bat wing robes.
 * A new bow type, called the shield-bow, will be introduced. This bow will have lower offensive stats than other bows, but will have defensive stats akin to a shield. It will be useful for Ranged tanks.
 * The abyssal vine whip's stats will receive a boost.
 * Untradable potions such as extreme potions and overloads will be usable in the Wilderness.
 * The ring of vigour will allow players to retain 5% of the adrenaline bar after using an ultimate ability, instead of the bar draining to 0%.
 * The existing Bandos armour set, currently consisting of Bandos chestplate, Bandos tassets, and Bandos boots, will be expanded to include a helm, a shield, and gloves. Armadyl armour will be upgraded with gloves and a buckler.
 * Some existing equipment will have its skill requirements adjusted for balancing purposes. For example, rune equipment will require level 50 Attack to wield the weapons and level 50 Defence to wear the armour.
 * Crystal equipment will no longer lose stats as it degrades.

Changes to combat skills

 * The formula for determining a player's combat level will be changed to be much simpler: it will be X+(Defence level)+2, where X is a player's highest skill level among Attack, Strength, Magic, and Ranged. Consequently, players will start off at combat level 4, and the maximum combat level will be 200. Constitution, Prayer, and Summoning will no longer affect combat levels.
 * The amounts of lifepoints healed by a given piece of food will be tied to a player's Constitution level. For example, a player with 50 Constitution may eat sharks, but will not receive any more lifepoints from them than lobsters.
 * The Defence skill will receive multiple updates to make it more important in combat. Among these upgrades are a range of Defence-related abilities for players wielding a shield (or the equivalent for rangers and mages) as well as very large lifepoints boosts from armour.
 * Two new prayers, Anguish and Torment, will be released for the Ancient Curses. They will act as Ranged and Magic versions of Turmoil, respectively, and all three prayers will unlock at the same Prayer level.
 * Sap and Leech curses have been updated. Leech Special Attack will work on the adrenaline bar instead of the special attack bar.
 * Rigour and Augury will unlock along with Piety. Players who purchased Rigour and/or Augury from the rewards trader at Daemonheim will have their tokens refunded.
 * Rune requirements for spells will change, and on the whole will be significantly lower. For example, it will be possible to cast Wind Surge using only air runes, instead of air runes, death runes, and blood runes. Ice Barrage will cost two blood runes and five water runes. Rush and Burst spells will use death runes, whereas Blitz and Barrage spells will use blood runes. Additionally, only auto-attacks will consume ammunition for rangers and runes for mages; abilities will not consume ammunition.
 * The spell Energy Transfer will be removed from the game.
 * Slayer training speed will not change significantly.
 * Experience gained when fighting lower-leveled creatures will be significantly reduced. Players who are fighting monsters who have defense 30 levels lower (50 levels lower for higher-leveled players) than the stat the player is using to attack will receive 10% of the normal combat experience. Drops and Slayer experience will remain unchanged.

Cosmetic changes

 * Player character models will be updated with more detailed hands, including fingers and thumbs, and more points of articulation among the spine.
 * The ability to sheath weapons and shields will be released. Players will automatically draw their weapons and shields when engaging in combat.
 * Attack animations with all styles will be updated.

Speculated Updates
Currently from the images Jagex has released, as well as update hints, the following updates could be released:
 * Facial expressions.
 * Attack options, Spellbook and possibly more Merging together.
 * With the adrenaline update, the Special Attack bar will be removed, thus this may make weapons generally used for special attacks, such as the dragon dagger, Armadyl godsword, and dragon claws, partially, if not completely, obsolete in some cases. It's been said that to counteract this the stats of many of these weapons will be majorly increased, such as the enhanced excalibur's stats being raised to those of a whip in video 4.
 * When out of combat, characters will look as if they are breathing, which means updated idle animations.

Expected Updates
This is a list of expected updates as stated in "Og Blog: Evolution of Combat."

In the second Og Blog, more information was mentioned. This blog was focused on the objetives of player based skill, fun, equipment rework and more, [|Og Blog: Skill, Variety and Fun]
 * Refocus combat around player skill - Combat will be more oriented on player skill, rather than navigating interfaces.
 * Encourage variety in combat equipment - We want you to be thinking carefully about the equipment you choose for any given situation, tweaking and making alterations according to your enemy’s strengths and weaknesses. The problem is, at the moment, there aren't many reasons to change from your favourite weapons or armour. We’d like to give you those reasons.
 * Make it fun! - There’s room in combat for situations that require a greater deal of attention and skill to overcome, hopefully making it more fun. In these situations, you'll be rewarded for your efforts with more XP. In-game combat - particularly training on standard enemies - currently involves clicking on a creature and waiting. We'll do a whole lot more to make these situations challenging, rewarding and - ultimately - more fun.
 * Make it easier to access - Several combat options (special attacks, combat styles, spellbooks) are tucked away, hard to access, or on various different interfaces, so we’re planning to bring all those options together.
 * Give rangers and mages a fighting chance – The combat triangle can be less of a triangle and more of a pancake – flat and a little out of shape - with melee dominant in training and PvP situations. Let’s put rangers and mages firmly back on that triangle.
 * Fill the gaps in existing equipment tiers – We’ve got an opportunity with the Evolution of Combat to plug holes in the tiers of combat equipment. Magic 'armour' is rare, and generally caters for a small level bracket, while melee and ranger sets are missing gloves, boots, etc.
 * Encourage challenging fights - We’d like the most challenging, rewarding and fun creatures to also be the most efficient creatures to fight. At the moment, it can seem more efficient to train on creatures that deal little damage and go down without a fight.
 * Fix the relationship between Defence, life points and damage outputs – Your ability to heal damage, through food or similar mechanics, should be comparable to how much damage you receive. That’s not quite true at the moment, and we’d like to address that.
 * Allow players’ combat levels to truly represent their ability – The combat level calculator is complicated and encourages players to not train certain skills in an attempt to create a false impression of their damage potential (pures).
 * Simplify the code and balancing – Simplifiying the code will allow Jagex to make high-level (85+) equipment faster and easier.
 * Be brave, but be traditional where possible - We are a game with a proud heritage and a player base with clear expectations of the game they want to play. We don’t want to make a game that we can’t even recognise anymore.
 * Additional on RS forums; Jagex Talks Combat - More Info