20 November 2012 - Evolution of Combat: Now Live!

After 6 months of beta testing and floods of feedback from you, the Evolution of Combat is now live. We couldn't have done it without your help, and every one of you who has logged into the beta, tried out the new combat system and offered us your feedback has our deepest, most heartfelt thanks.

From now on, the array of gameplay enhancements and improvements that the Evolution of Combat brings - as described here - are yours to use in the live game. New features such as adrenaline, abilities and the all-new action bar - not to mention dual wielding, distinct combat styles and damage-type resistance and vulnerability - add fathoms of depth to RuneScape's combat system.

Even those of you who prefer a peaceful life will find plenty to pique your interest: the action bar can be used for speedy resource gathering and skill training, and the new Make X Production Interface streamlines skilling like never before.

When you first log in after the update, you'll notice the following:

You will be teleported to one of nine banks, in safe areas within the free-to-play zone.
Any items that you had equipped prior to the update will be de-equipped and placed into your inventory.
If your inventory is full, your items will be moved to the bank. Everyone now has 15 additional bank slots, to ensure that there will be enough space.
Depleted prayer points will be fully restored.
Any claw weapons you have will be converted into a main-hand claw and an off-hand claw.
Your task total will have been recalculated. This is the result of certain tasks, which are no longer relevant with the Evolution of Combat launch, being removed from the game and replaced with newer equivalents.
Many items of equipment have different level requirements. However most of these changes are on equipment with skill requirements lower than level 50, and few high-level items are affected.

Be sure to stop by the Combat Academy in Lumbridge for a whistle-stop tour of the EoC's key features. Even if you've already done so in the beta, it'll be a valuable refresher - not to mention that you'll earn combat XP rewards for acing Lady Deathknell's combat tests! A session at the Combat Academy's a good idea even if you're planning to go old-school with auto-attacks and the Momentum ability, as you'll still need to know how damage types work, and how the combat triangle has been affected by the change.

Innumerable smaller changes have come to the game with the EoC, including (but not limited to) the following:

All poisoned items - such as the dragon dagger p++ - have been converted to their unpoisoned versions. Permanently poisoned weapons no longer exist in the game. Poison is now applied on a temporary basis. Using weapon poison potions (including + and ++ variants) gives all weapon attacks a chance to apply poison on hit for a limited time.
Spellboxes earned as a reward from Dungeoneering have been removed, and their cost in Dungeoneering tokens refunded.
The Dungeoneering token cost of the Dungeoneering-specific prayers Augury and Rigour has been refunded, where purchased. These are now unlocked at the same time that the Piety prayer is unlocked.
PK skulls no longer exist as a game mechanic. Any existing from before the update have been removed.
Diseases are also no longer a part of the game. Again, any existing from before the update have been removed.

The Evolution of Combat is finally here, and we couldn't be more excited about what the future holds. The new system will allow us to make some truly awe-inspiring combat content in the future: look out for the new TzHaar quest - The Brink of Extinction; the Kalphite King; Wilderness Warbands and more, as described in Mod Mark's recent Behind the Scenes Special Edition.

Naturally, development of the combat system itself will continue, as with any key part of the game. Since the last beta build, we've implemented boosts to the effectiveness of stat-boosting prayers and potions, as well as improving your hit chance while fighting against a combat style that you're weak or neutral against. We won't stop there, so keep the feedback coming and we'll keep working to ensure that RuneScape combat is always as deep, rewarding and downright spectacular as it should be.

Above all, enjoy the Evolution of Combat - you've earned it!

The RuneScape Team

In Other News

Weapon overrides in Solomon's General Store have been updated to work in both the main and off hands, with separate selections possible for each hand.
The following override and weapon type combinations do not currently work in the off-hand. We are working on implementing a fix for these as soon as possible. In the meantime, we apologise for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience. All other combinations should work as intended, but please submit a bug report if you encounter anything out of the ordinary that's not listed here:
Scorching Axe: hatchet
Pactbreaker Longsword: scimitar
Assassin Scimitar: straight-bladed swords listed here.
Dwarven Warsuit Longsword: scimitar
Seaborne Blade: short sword
Cleaver of Tsutsaroth: scimitar
If you like your kills visceral, you'll love the gloriously gory brutal weaponry reskins, now available from Solomon's General Store!
Graphical improvements to existing weapons, previously only available in the Evolution of Combat Beta, are now live in the game. These cover weapons from bronze, right up to dragon.
Those of you waiting for your Mad Scientist outfits and/or your Combat Academy survey XP rewards will receive them later this week.

Can I ask why you think this? i for one think the EoC is a great update and something that will finally make combat more interesting instead of just simple click attack (even though hotkey spam isn't much better, but it's still something).

I don't like it because it is combat driven. I do as much ( or should that be as little ) combat as I must to progress in the overall game.

I tried Runescape on a recommendation, I stayed with it (over 8 yrs now) because you could play an interesting game with very little combat, but a lot of choice in day-to-day action. This seems to be RS trying to match the 'big boys' but it was always a niche market game before, that was its attraction for those of us who wanted a skill game without have to play The Sims.