Update:Combat Beta: Major Content Update & Weekend Event
This update was added on 17 August 2012.
More Content Available
Today sees the release of the biggest update to the Evolution of Combat Beta to date! The following features are now available for testing:
- All Quests!
- Dominion Tower
- Barbarian Assault
- New and improved ability book interface
- New Ability: Momentum
Quests
All quests are now available for testing. Players will be able to start and complete any quests available to their live character. Players wishing to play a particular quest multiple times will be able to do so by re-importing their save to the beta after completing the quest on their beta character (assuming they don't complete it on their live character in the meantime.)
Dominion Tower
The Dominion Tower - along with its full collection of boss monsters - is now available for testing. Bear in mind that the requirement to have completed a boss's associated quest still remains in order to face that boss in the Dominion Tower, so now is the perfect time to test out some quests in the beta and see if you can defeat the Dominion Tower!
Barbarian Assault
The Barbarian Assault minigame is now ready for testing, featuring an updated set of mechanics. Previously those in the Attacker role had to switch between different combat styles (Aggressive, Controlled etc.) or different arrows/spells in order to overcome the vicious penance. In the new combat system, this mechanic no longer worked for melee players, so we have changed the way the Attacker role works slightly. While playing a wave, Attackers will notice 4 new abilities appear in the Constitution section of their ability book. These abilities represent different fighting stances and the correct one must be used to overcome your penance foes. These four abilities are shared across all three combat disciplines (melee, range and magic), so rangers and mages no longer need to worry about changing ammunition or spells. The four new abilities are:
- Reckless Stance
- Balanced Stance
- Defensive Stance
- Aggressive Stance
These abilities can be dragged to your action-bar for easier use. However, bear in mind that they only function within Barbarian Assault.
New Ability: Momentum
Speaking of new abilities, we have introduced one new ultimate ability, linked to the Constitution skill: Momentum. This new ability is designed to help players embarking on long Slayer assignments.! Once you have built up enough adrenaline you can use Momentum to increase your auto-attack damage by a significant amount. However, using another ability will deactivate Momentum. The idea behind this new ability is to give players a less input-intensive way to grind through long Slayer tasks.
New Ability Book Interface
With the introduction of all these new abilities, what better time is there to introduce the new ability book interface? After listening to your feedback about the old ability book, we have taken the opportunity to completely re-design the Ability book to make it more user-friendly and prettier to look at!
Your feedback while playing the beta is vitally important to us, and we are not afraid to make big changes (such as the redesign of the ability book) based on your feedback. Please - keep on playing and sending us your thoughts!
Enjoy the beta!
Mod Rathe, Mod Chris L, Mod Pi & Mod Avatar
Combat Beta Event: Stealing Creation
The weekend arrives right on-cue and - for many - there’s the welcome promise of milling around Gielinor at a leisurly pace. For our beta-testing army, though, there’s the promise of unparalleled carnage on the Evolution of Combat Beta worlds!
All members can access the Combat Beta worlds this weekend from 4pm (BST) on Friday 17th August to 10am (BST) on Monday 20th August.
Our developers are super-keen to get your feedback on the Stealing Creation event this weekend, so they’d really appreciate your help in testing it out by playing a game or two and then letting us know what you think via in-game bug reports and forum-based feedback. There’s no item unlock this weekend, but that does bring us nicely to our next news item...
We want to make sure our plucky beta testers don’t miss out, so we’re putting in an additional outfit-unlock weekend! This will be held in early September and will function as a catch-up event, so if you missed an item unlock activity, you’ll be able to complete it then in order to get access to the complete Mad Scientist Outfit.
Once the final catch-up unlock event has concluded, we’ll be able to share news with you on when exactly the Mad Scientist Outfit will be making its way onto your main RuneScape accounts. We thought it was only right to let everyone catch up first before issuing the outfit; rest assured, it won’t be too much longer to wait after the event!
So what are you waiting for? Get involved, fight hard and share your feedback with us! Just log into the forums here and then:
- Get the event details from this weekend’s event thread at QFC: 307-308-1-63946822
- Give us feedback on the event after you’ve participated at QFC: 307-308-2-63946834
Good luck!
The RuneScape Team