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"Ironman" redirects here. For the titles, see Ironman/Ironwoman and Hardcore Ironman/Ironwoman.
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Ironman Mode and Hardcore Ironman Mode are account-types that encourage the player to be entirely self-sufficient. Both types of Ironman mode are locked out of most forms of interactions with other players such as trading, the Grand Exchange, most group minigames, PvP, and almost all other group activities. The modes were released on 13 October 2014. They are accessible only via a dropdown menu on the character creation screen.

Once character creation is complete, these modes may only be turned off using in-game items such as the Jar of divine light and the Book of diplomacy, to turn off Hardcore and regular Ironman modes respectively. Both items are sold by Mr Ex, and neither action can be undone.

Hardcore players have the added challenge of only having one "life". As soon as they die, their account is permanently locked, unless they have purchased the Jar of divine light. If they have done so, the item will be activated upon death by Mr Ex who is holding it for the player and will convert the account into a regular Ironman account. There is also an option to buy an extra life (divine coin) at total levels 1000 and 1600 for 100,000 and 10,000,000 coins respectively. This is so that people who have already progressed far into the game are able to avoid losing their accounts from lag, bugs, etc.

Hardcore Ironmen that have died may still access the in-game lobby, and death does not affect the Old School RuneScape game in any way.

Benefits[]

Ironmen 'benefits' are entirely cosmetic in nature, or otherwise don't impact gameplay directly. A few are quality-of-life focused.

Examining a tradeable item while in Ironman Mode will display the high alchemy price instead of its Grand Exchange value. The Price checker will also function this way, however loot beams are still based on Grand Exchange value.

Ironmen are identifiable by a Ironman badge dark grey dumbbell chat badge, and Hardcore Ironmen have a Hardcore Ironman badge red skull chat badge. These cannot be disabled and the Premier club chat badge cannot be enabled.

Ironmen have access to the titles:

Hardcore Ironmen can use the titles:

These can be changed to any other unlocked title, however.

Two separate hiscores exist, one for each of the two types of Ironman. When a Hardcore Ironman account gets deleted or downgraded, that account is not removed from the Hardcore hiscores, but their hiscores at the time of downgrading are kept, their name crossed through and a message displaying how they died.

A global announcement is issued whenever a hardcore ironman with a total level of at least 1000 dies.

Ironmen have access to Ironman Armour override, and hardcore ironmen to HC Ironman Armour override.

Hardcore deaths[]

"Safe" Deaths in Hardcore Mode[]

Deaths are not permanent in hardcore mode if they are counted as "safe death" in the regular game. In general, if the player would keep all of their items as a non-hardcore account, the death is safe for hardcore ironmen.

Examples include:

Death announcements[]

Game over hardcore

Hardcore death notification

If the Hardcore account has at least a total level of 1000, a description of their cause of death is globally broadcasted.

Hardcore death icon [NAME] just died in Hardcore Ironman mode with a skill total of [TOTAL LEVEL] [CAUSE OF DEATH].

Message Cause of death
to an unknown power Default message, for any reason besides the ones listed below
burnt by dragonfire From Gorvek's fire, being flambeed during Recipe for Disaster, fireballs on Mos Le'Harmless during Ritual of the Mahjarrat
by breaking the rules of Ironman mode Killed by a Jagex Moderator for rule breaking
by failing at Agility Killed by failing a regular agility course
by failing to swim Killed by failing a water agility shortcut (e.g. stepping stones)
by insulting the elder god Jas Killed after choosing one of Jas's dialogue choices during Sliske's Endgame
by playing with fireworks Dying via Smoke Tendrils self-damage at training dummies in Lumbridge.
by provoking some bees Bee hives near Seers' Village
by standing in the fire Being caught in the flames during The World Wakes
by succumbing to poison Killed by poison
by succumbing to the power of Yakamaru Being reflected damage during the stun pool or triggering the attack when going out of combat during the fight.
falling victim to ghasts Killed by damage from ghasts, by not having Druid pouches or an Ouroboros pouch.[source needed]
fighting against: [NAME OF NPC] Killed in combat by an NPC
in a PVP battle with [NAME OF KILLER] Killed in the Wilderness by another player
in a train cart Haunted Mine[source needed]
playing with fire Killed during Heart of Stone in the Ful chamber in Karamja Volcano.
setting off a trap Killed by traps in Tirannwn, thieving traps (such as chests), etc.
succumbing to the heat of the desert Killed by the desert heat effect
to skittering insects in the dark Killed by having no light source in a dark location
via electrocution Killed by a lightning strike on Freneskae
with their hand in someone else's pocket Killed by failing a pickpocket

Default message includes deaths from:

High risk situations[]

Some areas or events prevent teleportation or the use of portents (sign of life, portent of life, etc.). The player must be aware of the risks involved in entering these areas or events.

  • Several bosses prevent the player from teleporting out, forcing them to complete the kill or be killed by the boss. Such examples include Araxxor and Araxxi, Telos, Vorago and Nex: Angel of Death.
    • Logging out is possible for the aforementioned bosses except Telos, returning the player to their "lobby".
  • The boss, Lol, fought during The Mighty Fall prevents the use of armour, auras, pocket items and jewellery. Non-combat items are also forbidden. Teleportation runes however are allowed. The boss also has the potential to 1-hit the player with his special attack.
  • When fighting Kamil during the Desert Treasure quest, stats are constantly drained by the freezing cold. As a result teleportation might not be available. In addition, Kamil's magic attacks can periodically stun the player, preventing both teleportation and consumption of food. It is recommended to have a one-click teleport handy such as an ectophial or teletabs.
  • Glarial's Tomb has restrictions for armour, runes and several others. Low level players must be wary when entering this tomb. Advised is to bring a one click teleport such as the ectophial.
  • Acheron mammoths have a mechanic called "dishonourable conduct", which on rare occasions can stack three times resulting in an instant-kill.

Restrictions[]

Both Ironman and Hardcore Ironman modes restrict player-to-player interaction in the following ways:

Minigames[]

Achievements[]

Several achievements are replaced with ironman-only versions, as they involve content that ironmen cannot access:

Combat and bosses[]

  • Any NPCs killed will award experience depending on how much damage the player has done to it, not the full experience set on the monster.
  • Ironmen have to deal over 50% damage to regular monsters or they won't get the drops.
  • All PvP activities will neither award experience nor loot, except tier 1 emblem drops in Bounty Hunter.
  • Ironmen can only use custom encounters for bosses (instances set in the "Standard" spawn speed are free despite the requirements section stating otherwise, however instances with the "Fast" and "Fastest" spawn speeds are still paid for) except for Araxxor.
  • Only ironmen can join ironman instances.
  • LootShare and CoinShare can only be used inside boss instances with other ironmen. It is immediately turned off if a non-boss monster is killed (boss minions don't count).
  • Amount of players allowed in boss instances is limited further than regular accounts. It is 5 for most bosses, exceptions are:
    • Kalphite King: 10
    • Vorago: 10
      • Vorago Hardmode: 15
    • Angel of Death: 10
  • Group bosses can be fought only with other ironmen.
  • "Group" and "Other" spells (e.g. cure-, tele-, heal-, and vengeance other) as well as boost potion share don't work when used on an ironman.
  • Ironmen can only benefit from the Ice Asylum ability if they used it themselves.
  • Group Seren spells and prayers are disabled including prisms, excluding Shield Dome and Prism of Dowsing.
  • Ironman players cannot attack the WildyWyrm.

Microtransactions[]

First to achievements[]

Global announcements are broadcast for various firsts, including the first hardcore death, the first to achieve a total level of 500 and 1000, the first to reach level 99 in a skill, and the first to complete various quests. Players can check some of these achievements at the Ironman plaque in Edgeville.

Beta[]

On 30 September 2014, around 130 players were selected to participate in the Ironman Mode Beta after receiving a message on 26 September, while others were also selected from certain competitions.

These accounts have usernames in the format "irontrial###" ranging from 1 to 130; however, all players were allowed to change their name.

When Ironman Mode was officially released, the beta accounts could still be played, but they would not appear on the Hiscores.

Trivia[]

  • There is currently a glitch where the armour dropped by Revenants (such as Corrupt dragon equipment and Ancient Warriors' equipment), when degraded, will refund the player with the Grand Exchange price instead of the High Level Alchemy price.
  • It is currently possible for Ironman and Hardcore Ironman accounts to receive a 5 year, 10 year and 15 year veteran cape but only if the character creation process was never completed.
  • On 25 September 2017, quick chat messages for "I am a (Hardcore) Ironman" and "I am a (Hardcore) Ironman btw" were added with that day's Patch Notes. Latter referring to the ironman community often noting their achievements as more worthy due to their Ironman mode status.
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