Evolution of Combat

The Combat update is a scheduled complete rework of how RuneScape combat works. This update will be set up as a beta for users who want to test it out early, signups for which will be open from 1 June 2012. The actual update is estimated to take place in late August, but this is subject to change. Any player who has been a member for 12 straight months will get access to the beta once it begins. Jagex will also select 50,000 other members who signed up and didn't get access instantly.

Video Preview
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The part about the combat update starts at 01:15.

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 an adamant 2h sword, what seems to be a plain longbow and staff differently than how they are wielded now.

One of the melee combatant 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 stuns 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.

Both the ranger and the mage is shown to teleport for short distances.

The "punchbag" used to show off the abilities appear to be attacking with a dragon defender wielded on the right hand.

The mage is seen to hit 2500 on the "punchbag", which is currently impossible for players.

New Abilities
There will be three levels of the new abilities: Basic, Threshold, and Ultimate. These offer offense and defensive boosts and damage to replace Special attacks. Some of them would have Attack, Defense, Strength, Ranged, Magic and Constitution requirements. Some of the popular special attacks will be adapted into the new system. For example, the Slice and Dice special attack of the dragon claws will be reworked into the Flurry ability, available to a range of small weapons.

Basic Abilities
There are no requirements to use Basic Abilities. Some abilities include stun, spell cast interruption, critical hit, damage over time, multi-targetting, and damage-reduction.

Threshold Abilities
Threshold Abilities have requirements to use and are a step-up from Basic. Some abilities include rapid fire, area of effect damage, damage reflection, and multiple spell casting.

Ultimate Abilities
Ultimate abilities are incredibly powerful and will have the highest requirements and include a range of damaging attacks such as "Meteor Strike", "Deadshot", and "Tsunami," as well as "lifesaving effects that could completely turn the fight around." Not much more is known about the Ultimate Abilities.

Speculated Updates
Currently from the images Jagex has released, as well as update hints, the following updates could be released:
 * Updated character models.
 * The release of detailed hands, including fingers and thumbs.
 * Facial expressions.
 * The ability to sheath weapons.
 * The ability to unequip your shield by putting it on your back.
 * Updated weapons and magic attack graphics.
 * Updated melee/ranged/magic attack animations.
 * Attack options, Spellbook and possible more Merging together.

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


 * Refocus combat around player skill - Combat will be more oriented on player skill, rather than navagating 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 alow 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.