06/03/24 | Patch Notes - Theatre of Blood
Hey there, theatre enthusiasts!
Within this patch, we’ve a whole ton of particularly dark and dreary content to reveal! Alongside the particularly infamous Theatre of Blood raid (for those of you who might enjoy the opportunity of griefing your fellow raiders), we’re also bringing in the surrounding city of Darkmeyer, and a custom regional miniquest. Throughout these notes we’ll go over what to expect within the raid, as we’ve given it a little bit of customized Neox loving, what sort of content one can expect to find within Darkmeyer and how to gain yourself access into its midst, and a brief overview of the “Darkmeyer Disturbance” custom quest.
There’s a whole lot to bite into within these juicy patch notes, so without further adu… let the games begin!
Thanks,
Neox Vampyres
Theatre of Blood
Deep within the castle of Ver Sinhaza is a large arena used by the ruling vampyres to host blood sports! Those who’re brave enough to accept their rather open invitation will quickly find themselves met with the challenge of fighting the various experiments and abominations contained within. For those capable few who’re able to persevere through the numerous challenges, there’s plenty of incredible rewards to be found within the halls… or in this particular instance, beneath Verzik’s trapdoor.
In this section, we won’t be delving too deep into the raid mechanics, as there’s plenty of guides out there already, however we will touch upon what alterations have been made from the original raid, along with the potential rewards available through completions.
Access to this raid is available immediately upon release, so members won’t have to worry about completing any prerequisites. The quickest and easiest way, as per most points of interest around the map, is to make use of the Neox teleportal at home! Upon getting there, members will be required to speak with the Mysterious Stranger, just to the left of the entrance, and then going through their dialogue will unlock the ability to create or join parties.
The Theatre of Blood’s main focus is on the bosses and their individual mechanics. Parties who enter will be required to go through a fixed sequence of bosses, each with their own puzzles and challenges. These bosses include Serafina, the Pestilent Bloat (aka the “grief your party boss”), Nylocas Vasilias, Sotetseg, Xerapus, and finally Verzik Vitur. Completion through each of them will unlock access to Verzik’s treasure vault, where members will be rewarded based on their overall contribution(s) to the raid!
Traditionally, this raid is designed to heavily favor parties of five, as well as offering multiple difficulty modes. To keep things much simpler and accessible, and in the goal of aiding and encouraging smaller groups, we’ve made changes to numerous elements of the raid:
There is no longer an Entry or Hard mode, only Normal mode is available.
Since there is no Hard mode, cosmetic kits which would normally be obtained from it have different requirements. To be eligible for a kit drop, you need to meet a certain contribution points criteria (basically participating in every room of the raid), and not die during the raid. If you meet these requirements, you will have a chance to get a kit from the chest at the end.
- Cosmetic kits might also become available through the donation store (but won’t contribute towards collection log slots that way).
- Monsters have significantly less hitpoints in smaller groups.
- In the Nylocas room, the number of waves depends on the party size; for comparison, in OSRS it’s always 31 waves.
- The path generated for Sotetseg’s maze is simplified in solo encounters so it’s more viable to memorize it.
- Verzik’s lightning attack (which would normally have to be bounced between players) deals much less damage if a player is wearing insulated boots, so soloing is more viable.
- In the Nylocas room, there is a special mechanic for killing the Nylocas: if you attack them with the correct style, you will always deal your max hit. If it’s a small Nylocas, your attack timer is reset, meaning you can instantly attack another Nylocas.
This means that there is a bad luck protection system in place, and each player gets their own roll at unique drops.
It’s worth noting that deaths here remain the same in OSRS: unsafe. HCIMs beware!
Theatre of Blood | Rewards
What would a challenge be without rewards? Theatre of Blood is no exception, offering up some of the strongest gear improvements in the game. In this section, we’ll go over the big ticket items on what members will be able to unlock through this perilous piece of content. Also, it’s worth noting that as with the other raids, ToB will also utilize our bad luck protection system, in that members who go dry will notice a compounding drop chance multiplier to receive a purple until they do!
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- Justiciar Armor
The Justiciar Armor stands as the best armor in the game to provide Melee and Ranged Defence bonuses, far surpassing Torag’s armor as well as having a damage-reducing set effect. This armor also provides a significant prayer bonus, although penalizes both magic and ranged attack bonus more than any other melee armor. This armor takes 75 Defence to equip.
- Avernic Defender Hilt
The Avernic Defender Hilt is an add-on that can be used with the Dragon Defender to create the Avernic Defender, a defender that boasts the highest strength bonus of any shield slot equipment, along with the highest melee attack bonuses. This item requires 70 Attack and Defence to wield.
- Ghrazi Rapier
The Ghrazi Rapier is a one-handed stab weapon that provides the highest strength and stab bonus out of any weapon for its attack speed. This item requires 70 Attack to wield.
- Sanguinesti Staff
The Sanguinesti Staff possesses a powerful healing passive effect, in which successful hits have a 1/6 chance of healing the user half the amount of hitpoints in damage dealt to a target. This staff requires 82 Magic to wield.
- Scythe of Vitur
The Scythe of Vitur is a two-handed slash weapon. This weapon can be charged to drastically increase its stats, requiring blood runes and a vial of blood to do so. This weapon requires 80 Attack and 90 Strength to wield.
Additionally, Vials of Blood may be received as a fairly regular drop, an item used in crafting Bastion and Battlemage potions, alongside charging the Scythe of Vitur. The drop table within the raid also includes a large variety of randomized items such as herbs, ores, and various seeds… but let’s not get too ahead of ourselves and worked up now.
Darkmeyer
Ahh, Darkmeyer, the very unfriendly capital of Morytania! This city, ruled by the Drakan, and populated by vampyres, will have visitors more than a little on edge. However, as inhospitable this particularly recluse section of the swamp may be, it offers many treasures to those who come prepared! In this section, we’ll outline how to access the city of Darkmeyer as well as what to expect once inside!
Darkmeyer | How to Access
As with most locations within the realm, Darkmeyer can be directly accessed through use of the Neox teleportal… however, members must have completed the Morytania Noble achievement in order to both pass through the gates of the city, as well as make use of the portal. Completing this achievement will both unlock the Vyrewatch Outfit (which will render the inhabitants of the city a little less hostile and a little more conversational), and the Ivandis Flail, an item required to deal damage to vampyres.
To be a little more specific, members will be required to wear the Vyrewatch outfit in order to interact with just about every NPC within the region. How fashionable!
Darkmeyer | Activities
Populated with numerous venders, a forge, a bar, and even a candle shop, there’s much to explore! However, for those of a more focused mindset and who’re a little less interested in taking in the sights, Darkmeyer is home to four major activities:
Unfortunately, the Hallowed Sepulchre will not be available with this patch.
Activity I: Killing Vyrewatch Sentinels
Killing Vyrewatch Sentinels can be both a fairly lucrative activity, as well as a very AFK one. Due to their inherent nature of attacking members who’re not adorned in Vyre-approved outfits, wearing high defensive armor and utilizing the Ivandis Flail (which remember is the only way to damage them), can net reliable experience and steady drops. Additionally, these monsters are one of the three sources of Blood Shards within Darkmeyer.
Activity II: Pickpocketing Vyre Nobles
Pickpocketing Vyre Nobles is the second generator of Blood Shards within Darkmeyer. Additionally, their pockets run quite deep, so members can expect to find an abundance of coins, bags of riches, and even high level runes!
Activity III: Killing Vanstrom Klause (part of the miniquest)
Klause is the third and final source of Blood Shards within Darkmeyer. A repeatable boss fight that also marks the completion of the coming miniquest, Darkmeyer Disturbance, he can be farmed for a guaranteed Blood Vial drop (making him the only other method of acquiring them outside of the Theatre of Blood), as well as alchables, runes, skilling resources, and alchemist keys. He’s also the source of 2 Neox exclusive items: A new pet, which we’ll keep as a surprise, and the new Ring of Hemomancy… but more on that to come!
Activity VI: Mining Daeyalt
Upon completion of the Darkmeyer Disturbance miniquest, members will unlock the ability to mine Daeyalt Shards. These stackable shards can then be exchanged with Noranna Tytanin, found inside the mine, for Daeyalt Essence. Daeyalt Essence can be used in place of Pure Essence during Runecrafting, granting 50% more experience per essence. This is particularly useful if you want to replace some active Runecrafting time with AFK mining time.
Additionally, and to the very likely surprise of nobody, we’re also introducing a ton of new tasks and achievements to the Darkmeyer area. In total, members can expect 70 new tasks with this update, which will be tied to the Darkmeyer Noble achievement, which will be tied to the Globetrotter achievement, and surely you can guess this next part… which will be tied to the Completionist requirement; in other words, with the introduction of this area, members who’ve adorned and customized their Completionist capes will no longer have access to them until they catch back up!
It’s also worth noting, at least while we’re on the topic, that in our next section we’ll be outlining the Darkmeyer Disturbance miniquest, which will become a requirement for the Neox Hero achievement, which also makes it a Completionist requirement. Oh, and the global point requirement for the Completionist achievement has been increased from 90,000 to 95,000… ehehe.
Darkmeyer | Darkmeyer Disturbance
As mentioned throughout these notes, this patch will include a new custom questline for members to go through, serving to both unlock a ton of Darkmeyer content, as well as the new requirement for Completionist progress. This section isn’t going to serve its purpose as a step-by-step guideline on how to complete everything, and however will instead focus on what members stand to unlock by completing the new Darkmeyer Disturbance quest!
Darkmeyer Disturbance is a very short questline. Before members are able to access Darkmeyer and begin the quest, they’ll be required to have completed the Morytania Noble achievement! Once that achievement is completed, members will be granted the Vyrewatch Outfit, and the Ivandis Flail, both of which will be required for this miniquest.
Members who have already completed the Morytania Noble achievement before the release of this quest can simply buy these items from the Taskmaster.
Once these items have been acquired, further information can be found under the Miniquests category within the Tasks and Achievements interface tab. Simply click on the quest name to bring up an interface that will relay all the information, including stat requirements, stat recommendation, and the starting steps. As for quest assistance, this is where we’ll be stopping! Let’s… talk about rewards.
Darkmeyer Disturbance | The Rewards
In order to complete the quest, members will be required to defeat Vanstrom Klause, the leader of the Vyrewatch. In doing so for the first time, members will be rewarded with a guaranteed Blood Shard and some experience lamps, and the ability to repeat the fight will be unlocked. In repeating the fight, members stand the chance to receive a unique pet, which we’ll leave as a surprise, and a new exclusive Neox item, the Ring of Hemomancy.
- Ring of Hemomancy
The Ring of Hemomancy is a unique Neox item which will be equipped in the ring slot. The ring must be charged with blood shards and has best-in-slot offensive magic stats. On top of that, it grants a 10% damage boost to blood spells, including the Sanguinesti Staff’s spell; this power, however, comes at a cost: every time you cast a spell with this ring equipped, there’s a chance you will take some damage.
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- Creation: Bloodbark Armor
The Bloodbark Armor creation process is unlocked by completing the Darkmeyer Disturbance questline. To create this armor, members must combine Splitbark Armor with Blood Runes at either of the blood altars. This magic armor has a passive set effect that increases the amount of hitpoints healed from blood magic. This armor is also probably the coolest fashionscape in the game, unbiased opinion. Bloodbark Armor requires 60 Magic and 60 Defence to wear.
- Access: True Blood Altar
At the True Blood Altar, members can craft pure essence into blood runes just like the regular altars. Previously, the only way to craft Blood Runes was through the altar in Arceuus, which is low intensity but has very low rune output. This altar can be reached either through the Abyss, or through the trapdoor behind the Hair of the Dog Tavern in Canifis.
Additionally repeating the fight is the second and only guaranteed source of Vials of Blood, which puts its consistency and safety far above Theatre of Blood as a primary method for farming them. Additionally, by completing the tasks and achievements associated with this boss, members can unlock the “Herald of Blood” title!
Patch Summary
Below will outline all changes found within this patch. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to share feedback within our Community Discord.
Features
- Added Fossilbloom seeds
- Can be planted in any herb patch. Requires 83 Farming.
- Can be stored in a seed box and the seed vault.
- Obtained by harvesting the Herbiboar after completing at least the Varrock Noble achievement. The Varrock Ruler achievement further increases the chance to obtain a seed.
- The effects that granted a chance to obtain a second Fossilbloom herb from harvesting the Herbiboar, from the Varrock Noble/Ruler achievements, have been replaced with a chance to obtain a seed.
- The base chance to obtain a Fossilbloom herb from the Herbiboar has been increased from 10% to 15%. The bonus chance based on Herblore level is unchanged from 0% at level 1 and 10% at 99.
- Blood essences can now be activated.
- When runecrafting blood runes (either at the true altar or the Arceuus altar) with an active blood essence in your inventory, charges from it will be consumed to craft additional blood runes equal to the amount of charges consumed, up to how many essences were used.
- Runes crafted this way do not grant additional experience.
- Activating a blood essence with an active one already in your inventory will add the charges to the existing essence rather than creating a new, separate one. Be warned, however, that activated blood essences cannot be traded, so if you stack one up, you are committed!
- Updated the Essence pouch RuneLite plugin to also show the amount of Daeyalt essence stored in the pouch. If the pouch contains only Pure essence, the number displayed will be white. If the pouch contains only Daeyalt essence, the number displayed will be cyan. If the pouch contains both types of essences, both numbers will be displayed separately.
Improvements
- Increased the Runecrafting multipliers for Death, Blood and Soul runes at level 99 to 3.5, 3 and 2.5 respectively.
- The tasks that require killing 500 and 1,000 Demonic Gorillas are now correctly Master tier, rather than Elite.
- Ferox Exchange now sells Dragon knives and Dragon thrownaxes.
- Tumeken’s Shadow attack range has been increased from 6 tiles (8 tiles in defensive style) to 8 tiles (10 tiles in defensive style).
- The Hero’s sword now has its own placeholder item.
- The Crazy Archaeologist, Chaos Fanatic and Chaos Elemental respawn time has been reduced to 16 game ticks, from 50 game ticks. The Boss Timers plugin has been updated with these new values.
- The Phantom Muspah and Sarachnis can now be assigned as Boss Slayer assignments.
- Cavern grubs and Kindling in the Chambers of Xeric are now stackable items.
- Adjusted the timing on Ba-Ba’s phantom boulder drop attack during the final phase of the Wardens fight. This should result in a longer window to dodge the attack, with the actual timing of the damage matching the timing of the visual effects more consistently.
Fixed
- Fixed a bug where the Completionist capes did not function as a Runecrafting skill cape for the purpose of accessing Runecrafting altars.
- Fixed the ‘Multiple Runes’ section of the Runecrafting skill guide incorrectly displaying a Blood rune where a Soul rune should be.
- Completionist capes are now considered light sources similar to Firemaking skill capes.
- Platinum tokens can now be traded between players.
Removed
- It is no longer possible to purchase items from the donator credits store while in the Wilderness.
