6th September 2005 - New shortcuts and prayers

Agility Shortcuts
Today's update features a huge expansion to the benefits gained from advancing the agility skill.

Those Gnomish adventurers have been at it again! Zipping around RuneScape with one eye open for a quick bit of treasure and the other looking for a quick exit should they need one (and they usually do).

Of course, for such small folk, a trip around RuneScape might seem a daunting proposal, especially with such short legs! But that's where the dexterous little folk come into their own. With all their comings and goings, they've developed a selection of shortcuts, which help them to get around a lot quicker. So, unlike the Humans who have to do all that tedious walking, Gnomes simply hop, skip and jump their way around the world.

But then of course, there are those few exceptional adventurers of the Human persuasion who may find a shortcut quite useful! Why should the Gnomes have it so easy and why shouldn't an enterprising Human (or two) be able to use the very same shortcuts as Gnomes?

Simple really, Gnomes are 'dexterous devils', 'agility aces' and 'sprightly savants'! They use their agility in order to climb up mountain rocks, dodge through narrow crevices, crawl through low tunnels. Things that the humble Human adventurer can only aspire to.

This update adds 30 new shortcuts to the game world, allowing players to quickly gain access to well known and popular areas. The in-game skill guide has also been updated to reflect the special areas only accessible with specific agility levels.

• Quick shortcut into the level 20 Wilderness from Trollheim (but not back again!) for those brave enough!
• Two new Taverley Dungeon shortcuts to quickly access deeper parts of the dungeon from the entrance area.
• Three shortcuts for the Elven overpass area.
• Four shortcuts for Trollheim allowing quicker access into the Troll Stronghold from the teleport point.
• Two Falador shortcuts: the one to the east is now two-way, and a new one to the south.
• Three shortcuts for Lumbridge allowing fast access to the swamps, quicker access to Varrock, and a stepping stone shortcut to the Champions' Guild across the River Lum.
• A shortcut to Morytania allowing you to avoid the intricate tomb walkways, though you will still need to complete the Priest in Peril quest to access Morytania initially.
• Two spiky chains allowing quick access to higher levels in the Slayer Tower!
• Log balance near the Sinclair Mansion allowing quicker access to the Fremennik province and the Slayer Dungeon.
• Two Slayer Dungeon shortcuts allowing quicker access to the vicious monster of your choosing.
• One quick access in Port Phasmatys to the ectopool!
  ... and a handful of extras which we'll let you discover for yourself!
  New Prayers

Today's update also sees the release of three new prayers for members:

Retribution - if this prayer is active when you die, it deals damage for up to 25% of your max-prayer to all nearby enemies. Note that this prayer won't hurt other players outside of PvP areas, and it won't hit multiple targets in non-multiway combat zones.
Redemption - if this prayer is active when your health drops below 10% (if you don't immediately die), you will be healed for 25% of your max-prayer.
Smite - if this prayer is active when you are fighting another player, they will lose 1 prayer point for every 4 damage you do to them. This prayer drain effect isn't affected by your victim's protection prayers.
None of the above prayers can be used at the same time as each other or the protection prayers.