Wyrmscraig Launches July 29!
Wyrmscraig Launches July 29th!
Over 1,400 incredible submissions, four fantastic finalists, one winning design, and months of collaboration later, the wait is almost over.
We're incredibly excited to welcome you to Wyrmscraig, Old School RuneScape's first-ever Player-Designed Island, when it launches on July 29th!
We've been putting the finishing touches on Gnome's vision, working together to bring it to life. We can't wait for you to explore the island, uncover its mysteries, and experience everything Wyrmscraig has to offer.
Before you set sail, we'd love to take you behind the scenes, share what it was like collaborating with Gnome, and give you a quick refresher on everything that's waiting for you when you arrive.
We'll be keeping things as spoiler-free as possible, but if you'd rather experience Wyrmscraig with fresh eyes, now's your chance to turn back. Otherwise, read on!
The Making of Wyrmscraig
Wyrmscraig was crowned the winning entry in our Player-Designed Island competition after you cast your votes during the Winter Summit back in January.
Over the holiday period, we received some incredible submissions. Narrowing them down to just four finalists wasn't easy and involved plenty of discussion across the team as we debated which concepts had the strongest potential. We'd like to take the opportunity once again so say a massive thanks to everyone who contributed, since your ideas gave us a lot to think about when it comes to future content and the types of updates players want to see.
One of the biggest surprises came after the competition had ended. We congratulated our winning designer, RoseNMcGeet, without realising we'd actually worked with them before!
It wasn't until later that we discovered the name was an anagram of ScreteMonge (or Gnome), a passionate community creator who built the RuneLite Creator Toolkit and has collaborated with us on several projects over the years. We were bamboozled!
Working alongside Gnome to bring Wyrmscraig to life has been a genuinely rewarding experience. His original vision gave us an incredible foundation to build on, and we're so proud to see it come to life.
Wyrmscraig draws heavy inspiration from Irish landscapes and culture. The name itself translates to "Wyrm's Rock", combining the Old English wyrm with the Irish word craig ("rock").
The locals call their home Cúil an Domhain ("Corner of the World"), while the village of Auchrie roughly translates to "place on a slope". Pretty neat, huh?
From the very beginning, Gnome was clear about the atmosphere he wanted to create, which made this project great to work on for the team. We were blown away by the
accompanying the submission!The landscape is deliberately rough and rugged, with dramatic basalt cliffs inspired by Ireland's Giant's Causeway helping to reinforce the island's Gaelic identity. If you're not familiar, Giant’s Causeway is one of Ireland's most iconic natural landmarks.
There are plenty more nods to Gaelic history and culture hidden throughout the island, but we'll leave those for you to discover when you set sail on July 29.
One of our favourite details: some of the outfits worn by the villagers will be wearable player equipment! Get your FashionScape on!
Gnome's contextual references of Ireland, Scotland and old Gaelic cultures gave us lots to work with.
Wymscraig is very remote, and they'd have relied primarily on goat skins and furs, and whatever dyes they could source from the local biome, aside from whatever turned up from sea trade.
As such, the nobles can be seen with gold and more rare pigments like strong red threads and complex patterns, as they alone could afford those luxuries as status symbols.
Overall, they've a rural simplicity to them. I imagined the local cobbler only had one traditional yet reliable pattern of shoe and satchel.
Colour would have been the primary method of expressing individuality, a fact the clothier would have taken full advantage of in the sale of wares.
It has been a pleasure to work with Gnome. His original design nailed the Gaelic vibe from the get-go. I worked on translating that vision into an Old School map.
The only real deviation from his initial pitch is seen with the Cathedral. Gnome originally used the Arboretum kit from Darkmeyer...
but Mods Grub and Jerv worked closely with him to convert it into a more traditional wooden structure that better suited the lore and aesthetics of the island.
Fallen From Grace
You can dock at Wyrmscraig provided you have 62 Sailing. While you can start exploring the island right away, you might want to get started by completing Fallen From Grace. This is a short quest designed to introduce the island and some of the new unique content found there. To start the quest you'll need 62 Sailing, 60 Crafting, 47 Runecraft, and 53 Mining.
Your adventure will begin in the village of Auchrie, where a disappearance has left the locals fearful and suspicious of outsiders. With one of their own still missing, they'll reluctantly turn to you for help.
As you explore the island, you'll uncover ancient secrets, investigate the mystery of the Mad Angel, and discover the truth behind the disappearances haunting the island.
Working with Gnome's proposed narrative has been a really exciting opportunity for us to focus on a very cool character in The Mad Angel, and her role in the world of Gielinor.
We're very excited for you to dig into the story of Wymrscraig and see how the pieces fit in with our other stories!
As a treat for any lore hounds, we've of course got a number of books and notes stashed around the island, so get your sleuthing hats on and find them!
I can't say much more for now as I wouldn't want to spoil the surprises on the island, but we hope you enjoy it!
Mortimer
On the island, you’ll also meet Mortimer: a new, high-level Slayer Master built around player choice.
Mortimer resides within Wyrmscraig Caverns, which can be accessed after partial completion of Fallen from Grace.
Instead of assigning you a single task, you’ll get to choose between two or even three tasks, with unique modifiers designed to make every choice interesting.
We were thrilled by your reaction to Mortimer when we first showed him on the
.Some of you thought he'd be incredibly powerful, while others weren't convinced he'd have much impact on your Slayer grind at all. Ah, the duality!
It also isn’t lost on us just how significant this update is. Mortimer is Old School's first new Slayer Master in around seven years. Slayer is one of our most loved and iconic skills, so we know this will be a big part of your discussions and feedback when you get to explore Wyrmscraig.
To say Mortimer has been tricky to design and balance would be an understatement. (Don't tell Konar!)
We're constantly trying to find the sweet spot between making sure that he doesn't become the best slayer master for everything while still offering a fresh new Slayer experience.
Slayer over the years has become incredibly optimized to the point where you really only see the same few tasks again and again at the top-end (Looking at you Smoke Devils and Araxytes!).
To the point that most players will make frequent trips to Turael in order to see even more of the best tasks leaving some old favourites behind.
There have been many fantastic suggestions from the community to address this issue we also looked at ideas shared by the community over the years (special shoutout to Heboxjonge and Aatykon is deserved here)
and all of which led to the idea to proceed with something that really does change some fundamentals about the core Slayer system to try and breathe some life into the skill.
Perhaps Mortimer breaking the mould will pave the path for some new and inventive Slayer Master ideas in the future!
I'm especially excited to see how players react to modifiers and to see some screenshots on day 1 as people post some of the bonkers assignments that Mortimer can offer from time to time.
Repeatable Boss
Once you've completed Fallen From Grace, you'll be able to return to the Cathedral and challenge the repeatable version of the boss you first encountered during the quest.
Designed as a mid-level PvM encounter, it's a great next step for players who have already earned their Fire Cape and are looking to take on a rewarding new challenge.
Defeating the boss gives you the chance to earn a range of unique rewards, including Hallowfell, a powerful two-handed sword that requires 75 Attack to wield.
Hallowfell is designed to fill a very specific niche. When you strike a target, Hallowfell cleaves through nearby enemies, damaging up to two additional enemies in the three tiles in front of you and the two tiles adjacent to you for up to half of your maximum hit.
This means it’s a powerful choice for Slayer tasks and other encounters where groups of monsters are tightly packed together. Against a single enemy, other weapons will usually come out better, but if you want to swing it through crowds, then get yourself one ASAP!
One of the first questions we saw after revealing Hallowfell was, "Why is it so big?
Well, we wanted it to feel like you're wielding the very same blade used by the Mad Angel herself. It helps the weapon feel truly unique and makes earning it that much more satisfying!
You might also have noticed that Hallowfell looked a little... bouncy in our previous blog.
At the time we were borrowing the Godsword animations, but we've since given it its own bespoke animation set so it now sits much better.
Golem Crafting
Once you've completed Fallen From Grace, you'll unlock Golem Crafting.
If you've tried Vale Totems, the gameplay will feel pretty familiar. Designed as an alternative to Glassblowing, it offers an on-demand way to train Crafting without too much prep work.
You'll also be able to earn unique rewards, like the Jeweller's Chisel, which gives you a chance to cut two gems at once and guarantees success when cutting Opals, Jades and Topaz.
We’ve created this activity with both relaxed and active styles in mind. If you're paying close attention to your clicks, you can expect to earn higher XP rates than Glassblowing. However, if you'd rather take a more relaxed approach, then XP rates are intended to be similar to or slightly below Glassblowing.
Remember, Hunter Furs will be a requirement for this activity, so stock up on them before it launches!
One of my favourite things about Wyrmscraig is that it wasn't just designed by just one player, it was also shaped by the wider community!
Gnome gave us an incredible vision to work from, but thousands of you helped refine it with your feedback along the way. That's what makes this project feel so special.
A big community discussion after our initial blog was around Gnome's proposal to give Hunter Furs a meaningful purpose. At first, we were a little hesitant, as we were concerned it could end up feeling frustrating.
However, the response from players showed us there was a real desire for us to look at expanding the role of Hunter Furs within the game. We've since made them a core part of Golem Crafting, giving them a long-term purpose.
The rewards from this activity have also been shaped through community consultation. Many of you told us that the Ornate Glassblowing Pipe felt a little too niche and didn't quite capture the excitement of a unique reward.
We took that feedback on board, went back to the drawing board with Gnome, and eventually landed on the Jeweller's Chisel.
It's a reward that feels much more at home on Wyrmscraig, and we hope it offers something useful to much more of you!
Goat Hunting
Finally, we're introducing Goat Hunting with Wyrmscraig, a brand-new Hunter activity for players between 60 and 80 Hunter. Lure unruly mountain goats to their doom and earn some Hunter XP!
All you'll need to get started is 60 Hunter and completion of Sheep Herder. Simple!
And if prodding goats them into the pit feels a little too old school, you can also use Telekinetic Grab or Dark Lure to send them tumbling to their fate instead!
So, which part of Wyrmscraig are you most excited to try? Do you have any questions for us before launch?
We'll be hosting a Q&A livestream on Thursday, July 23rd, where we'll be chatting through the update, answering your questions, and taking one final look at Wyrmscraig before release. Then, on Friday, July 24th, we'll be joined by Gnome for a dedicated Reddit AMA, giving you another chance to ask us about the island, its development, and what it was like bringing a player-designed concept to life.
So, whether you've been following Wyrmscraig since the start of our Player-Designed Island competition, or you're only discovering it now, we can't wait to see thousands of you setting sail to explore it for the very first time.
Until then, get those requirements sorted, collect as many Hunter furs as you can, and we'll see you on Wyrmscraig when it launches on Wednesday, July 29th!
You can also discuss this update on the 2007Scape subreddit, the Steam forums, or the official OSRS Discord. For more information, check the official Old School Wiki.
Mods Abe, Abyss, Acorn, Ape, Arcane, Archie, Argo, Ash, Asherz, Ayiza, BigRig, Blighted, Blossom, Boko, Brooksie, Bruno, Bulb, Chilly, Criminal, Curse, Daizong, Default, Doctor, Ed, Elena, Enigma, Entropi, Freddie, Frogs, Fuzz, Gecko, Ghost, Gizmo, Goblin, Grace, Grub, Halo, Harold, Hend, Hornet, Husky, Ivory, Jalo, Jamesy, Jerv, Keyser, Kieren, Kirby, Kurotou, Leebleh, Lenny, Light, Liron, Lotus, Lykos, Mack, Manked, Markos, Maylea, Mobius, Moogle, Morty, Moz, Necro, Nin, Nixon, Nox, Nylu, Oasis, Ori, Other, Otter, Pheasant, Philomel, Pork, Pumpkin, Puppi, Pyro, Rach, Redfield, Rice, Romy, Roy, Ry, Saiyan, Sarnie, Schmidt, Shogun, Shroom, Sigma, Skylark, Smithy, Sova, Spacebar, Spyro, Squid, Starry, Stilrush, Suharun, Surma, Sween, Tide, Titania, Titus, TJ, Tomb, Tsourorf, Tyran, Veda, Vegard, West, Wolfy, Yozora, Yume & Zaf
The Old School Team.