RuneScape – February 2021 Patch Notes | The Gold-Hungry Magpie!

Introduction

Activity Pets! These adorable critters, chosen by the players themselves, have finally made their way into the game thanks to our talented artists. Get ready to meet the pets that will surely steal your heart! First up, we have Richie, a fancy magpie with a taste for the finer things in life. If you can help him amass a whopping 100,000,000 Gold Pieces, he'll become your loyal companion. But that's not all - as you reach higher wealth milestones, Richie will undergo a stunning transformation, with four different appearances to unlock. And if you're feeling extra generous, you can continue to shower Richie with your hard-earned cash for some serious bragging rights. Don't miss out on this opportunity to show off your wealth! Richie's design comes courtesy of the talented KariChibi. But wait, there's more! Stay tuned to meet Mune, another incredible Activity Pet that will surely make your gaming experience even more exciting.

NEW ACTIVITY PETS

Ninja tortles aren't the only strange animals hi-kicking their way into the game this week - meet the Activity Pets! These player-designed critters were voted into the game by you last year, and our artists have been hard at work bringing the winners' designs to life. So, without further ado, let's meet the pets!

RICHIE

Richie is a fancy magpie with very expensive tastes. If you can help him accumulate 100,000,000 Gold Pieces, he'll follow you anywhere - and when you reach even higher wealth milestones, he'll change appearance! There are four appearances in total, unlocked at 100,000,000GP, 1,000,000,000GP, 5,000,000,000GP and 10,000,000,000GP. Beyond that, you can continue to hand over as much cash as you like for bragging rights. You can donate your hard-earned Gold Pieces to Richie at the Grand Exchange. Richie was designed by KariChibi.

MUNE

Mune is a mysterious creature who wanders the wilds of Gielinor, changing appearance to suit the environment. But be careful - they only appear to adventurers who've proved their local knowledge by completing Elite Area Task Achievements. There are six appearances in total, unlocked by spotting Mune in different regions of the world. Here's a quick field guide:

Day	Environment	Requirements
Monday	Desert	Desert Set Tasks - Elite
Tuesday	Forest	Tirannwn Set Tasks - Elite
Wednesday	Ice	Fremennik Set Tasks - Elite
Thursday	Swamp	Morytania Set Tasks - Elite
Friday	Wilderness	Wilderness Set Tasks - Elite
Saturday	Random	Dependent on area (See above)
Sunday	Random	Dependent on area (See above)

Mune will roam Gielinor every 2-4 hours and will wander about for 30 minutes before leaving. Keep your eyes peeled! Mune was designed by Suizzy.

ARTEMIS

When completing clue steps and opening caskets, you now have the chance to find a Golden Compass. Activating it will unlock Artemis, the Treasure Trails pet! This wise and ethereal deer will be your companion as you travel the world collecting clues. Artemis was designed by Wild Kitzune.

ZEZ

Hey, does this pet remind you of anyone? Zez is there to be your boon companion throughout your RuneScape journey. He'll be unlocked once you reach 5,000 RuneScore, and as you explore the world and complete further achievements, he'll level up alongside you! Zez gets a new appearance at 10,000, 15,000, 20,000 and 25,000 RuneScore - so get ready to check off those cheevos! Zez was designed by Babysteps.

NINJA STRIKE 18: NINJA'VERSARY!

It's been a whole year since the Ninja Team began their epic quest to eliminate bugbears and nitpicks all across the game - and they just haven't stopped since! In our 18th Ninja Strike they're tackling that pesky General QoL again, and they've also prepared a special surprise...

NEW MINIQUEST - TORTLE COMBAT

Listen here, kid - never mess around with teleportation! Now that the Trap Telekinesis spell has been invented we've been receiving strange reports from all over Gielinor, and the latest one is right here in the Varrock Sewers. Apparently some tortles were accidentally teleported in from the Maw, and the experience has made them a little... 'different'. Go help them out, will ya?

REWARDS

After helping the Ninjas' mutant tortles (age unknown), you'll get the following rewards:

• 10,000 Construction XP Lamp
• 1,000 Farming XP Lamp
• 1,000 Magic XP Lamp
• Ninja Hood cosmetic override

AN UPDATE ON RARE ITEM CHANGES

On January 26th we posted an update to the Rare Item Changes including what went wrong. As mentioned in the linked post, today's update includes the promised 15,000 Oddments and 15 Treasure Hunter Keys for eligible players. The Limited and Current Rare Items are also now available in the Oddments Store. Thanks again for your understanding through this misstep.

LOOT DUELS RETURNS

Loot Duels returns from February 2nd to February 15th! Don't forget, in addition to being able to take your pick of your favourite chests from past promotions, every time you open a chest you'll move along the progression tree and get an even greater variety of rewards. Happy hunting!

NINJA STRIKE 19: FAIRY RINGS

Watch out, enemies of smooth gameplay - the Ninjas have pulled off back-to-back strikes! This week they've turned their attention to Fairy Rings and other forms of teleportation. First up, they've updated the Fairy Ring interface so that it's quicker and smoother to use. You'll notice that there's more favourites listed, to help you find your top destinations quickly, and there's all kinds of new ways to sort your Travel Log. You'll also see that the letters on the mushrooms are now the correct way up, even when rotated - which should make it a lot easier to select the location you want! On that note, take a look below the mushrooms. From today's update, you'll see the name of your destination here (provided you've already used the network to travel there at least once). There's also a host of other teleportation improvements for things like the Big Book O' Piracy, the Enchanted Lyre, and more! To see everything the Ninjas have been up to this week, be sure to check out the Patch Notes tab.

NEW QUEST: HEARTSTEALER

Er, nobody tell Annette, but it looks like Caelyn's gone and forgotten to get her an anniversary gift! Luckily, our favourite thief has a plan - she needs you to help her infiltrate a fancy gala at the Varrock Museum and, ahem, 'appropriate' a massive heart-shaped ruby from right under everyone's noses. What could go wrong? And like all lovely things, Heartstealer isn't just for Valentine's Day - this quest will be available to play forever, all throughout the year. Rewards include the 'Heartstealer' title and a set of stylish new duds that are perfect for your phantom thief shenanigans. If you have at least level 20 Thieving you'll also be able to claim a Thieving XP lamp from Caelyn after the quest.

DOUBLE XP LIVE

WHAT IS THE PLAYER AVATAR REFRESH PROJECT?

This is a major character art job that will introduce greater graphical fidelity to the player avatar and allow us to build the foundations of a longer-term vision for player characters.

WHY WE'RE DOING THIS NOW

We've invested in bringing RuneScape up to modern standards - not only to make the game richer for all of you living in it today, but also to make it more attractive for new adventurers taking their first steps into Gielinor. Player avatars represent one of the first things you see, forming the first (and longest) bond you create in-game. Whether you are a new player or a 20-year veteran, your avatar is hugely important and deserves a visual quality that matches their place as the hero of your adventures!

OUR FOCUS

So what is 'graphical fidelity'? Simply put, it means clearer, more detailed meshes and more logical designs. Although we have much larger ideas for where we can take player avatars in the future, for now we need to deliver something tangible. So our focus is on refreshing the current character creator, bringing it up to an amazing new standard BUT while using only the technology available in the RuneScape engine today. This technical framework provides a few extra challenges, but ultimately it'll let us roll this project out much faster than a full rework. And then, of course, there's you, the people behind the adventurers! Player feedback has been at the heart of this project from the very beginning (as early as a 2018 research session) and we'll be keeping this player-driven ethos on the road to release.

THE END GOAL

So, when the Player Avatar Refresh goes live, what does that mean for you? Not to get all soppy, but we want you to feel like this upgrade has reinforced that 'magic connection' between you and your avatar, and in a way that feels as though the spirit of the character you've created has been retained. To put a finer point on it, we'll be delivering:

• Refreshed Masculine and Feminine base avatars
• 16 Masculine and Feminine outfits
• 62 hairstyles
• 18 Facial Hair Styles

Once the project goes live, all future cosmetics will be based on this new look. But don't panic! You'll still be able to use all the cosmetics you've collected so far at their original fidelity.

PROJECT UPDATE: JANUARY 2021

Right now we're at the closing stages of what we call 'Proof of Concept'. After sketching our ideas out in 2D, identifying our technical challenges, scoping out the required time investment and many, many rounds of internal feedback, this stage is all about building a baseline. We're implementing the initial meshes (the visual framework and textures that make up your avatar), testing compatibility between original fidelity assets and the refreshed ones, and checking that everything works with existing animations. Work In Progress: January 2021 This is our progress as of the end of January, shown in our development software Z Brush. This is at a higher fidelity level than what you'll see in-game, but it's still a massive leap in model smoothness, accuracy and detail. We've already made further changes to these models since January following your feedback, and we'll be showing you that soon. Work In Progress: January 2021 One of the benefits of this rework is that we can add more detail under a variety of lighting styles. As we roll the light source across the scene, you can see how much more naturally the light plays on the skin, catching under contours and really adding a feeling of presence to the model. Work In Progress: January 2021 Part of the project is about updating the initial outfit choices available at the start of the game, upping the quality but respecting the spirit of the original design. This is how the Blacksmith Outfit has changed from its current look to the refresh. While a lot of the original look is retained, we're adding details that ground the outfit into the world. Why assume your trousers are held up by magic when we could simply add a belt? Work In Progress: January 2021 In this scene, we're moving the refreshed Blacksmith Outfit between light sources. This is where you can really see that idea of grounding and detail coming together - the light plays realistically off the materials and rolls accurately across the body. This attention to detail really strengthen the connection between the player and the various environments they travel through. To see more, check out the Stream VOD embedded at the top of this article.

YOUR FEEDBACK

Since our live stream project update in January, our team have been hard at work taking your feedback on board, and here are just some of the changes we're making:

• Masculine body shape changes, including reducing the width of the shoulders
• Feminine body type improvements
• Better balancing of hand size with the overall model by delivering new tech improvements

We'd like to thank everyone who tuned in and shared their opinion. The positive comments have been amazing, and the Character Art team are even more fired up than before! Yes, Mod Iroh can be even more enthusiastic. We'll show you these changes and more in our next project update stream, which is coincidentally just around the corner!

THE NEXT PROJECT UPDATE

We'll be back with another Player Avatar Refresh stream on February 23rd at 17:00 Game Time. We'll run you through all the changes we've made based on your feedback, plus take a look at:

• Our proposed final avatars for both masculine and feminine body type
• Our final Masculine and Feminine Blacksmith Outfits
• Progress on hairstyles
• Progress on other outfits

ZODI-YAK & YAK TO THE SHADOWS REWARD ITEMS ARE NOW AVAILABLE IN THE ODDMENTS STORE

For the first time ever, various items from the Zodi-yak Track and Yak to the Shadows are available in the Oddments Store. There's twelve items in total, which we've helpfully shuffled into a table for easy reference:

Track	Item	Category	Cost
Zodi-Yak	Sheratan Mercenary	Outfit	15,000
Zodi-Yak	Dioscuri Battlemage	Outfit	10,000
Zodi-Yak	Equuis Archer	Outfit	7,500
Zodi-Yak	Cosmic Billy	Pet	15,000
Zodi-Yak	Yaktrik Evenmoore	Pet	5,000
Zodi-Yak	Dioscuri Sentinel	Pet	8,000
Zodi-Yak	Cosmic Weaver Teleport	Animation	3,500
Zodi-Yak	Cosmic Trance Rest Animation	Animation	3,500
Yak to the Shadows	Monolith Teleport	Animation	3,500
Yak to the Shadows	Moorissey	Pet	15,000
Yak to the Shadows	Mollik the Great	Pet	10,000
Yak to the Shadows	Herald of Fate	Outfit	7,500

OFFICIAL MERCH STORE UPDATE

Dust devils aren't the only reason to wear a facemask! These awesome RuneScape-themed face coverings are sure to impress the colourful characters you encounter on your real-life adventures.

ELDER GOD WARS: AZZANADRA'S QUEST

Azzanadra is... disappointed. It seems that every attempt to defeat, or appease, the Elder Gods has failed - and time is rapidly running out. Seren's Council grows more complacent by the day, and Ariane has received a vision of destruction, devastation, and doom, worse than anything Gielinor has faced before. War is coming. But the best defence is a good offence, and Azzanadra has a plan. He needs your help to pinpoint the location of the Elder Halls, where the Elder Gods' precious eggs are stored. It's the beginning of the end - are you prepared? Psst - don't forget, you can use your Double XP Pause Timer to play through Azzanadra's Quest without wasting any Double XP time!

DOUBLE XP LIVE REMINDER

Speaking of Double XP time, this is your friendly reminder that Double XP LIVE is still ongoing! In fact, you have until March 1st to spend your 48 hours on whatever skilling activities you wish. Use 'em or lose 'em!

VIC THE TRADER RETURNS!

Everyone's favourite moustachioed merchant is back, and he's raring to make some trades! For those of you who haven't met Vic before, he deals exclusively in bonus XP. Trade yours to him to get Credits which you can spend on XP lamps, skilling outfits and other exciting stuff. Vic's set up shop in his usual Burthorpe location, right next to the Yak Track Hub. On March 8th he'll be leaving for another grand adventure, so don't hang about - go say hello and indulge in a spot of shopping!

PREMIER CLUB - MARCH MONTHLY DROPS

Oi, over here! Now, don't tell anyone, but a little bird has let us know what Premier Club members can soon enjoy March's Monthly Drop! Here's the selection:

• 1,000 Oddments
• A Deathtouched Dart
• A Yak Track Task Skip Token

THE ROAD TO MOBILE LAUNCH

We're so excited for RuneScape to become a true cross-platform MMO with our full Mobile release coming later this year! But, before we do, we've been working on some new updates to ensure all the new players pouring in for our full release have a great experience - that means improving our early game onboarding, optimising our UI and delivering a stable experience. Today we will be releasing a Mobile Client update that moves us closer to that goal, featuring new improvements and some features we are testing out specifically for new players on Mobile. These changes are part of our beta testing and feedback programme, which means they may or may not become permanent depending on the results. This update also includes performance improvements with the release of multi-threaded rendering, as well as more RuneScape features - such as purchasing Membership - becoming natively integrated into the UI. There's still plenty more upgrades to come for Mobile over the months ahead, including additional Client Updates to address stability including crashes reported by the community. Thank you again to everyone who's continuing to play in our Android Open Beta and iOS Test Flight - every minute you spend on those devices helps us find problems and identify improvements to make this the best launch possible.

MERCH UPDATE

Get geared up for the Elder God Wars with the God Wars Dungeons album featuring classic tracks from God Wars Dungeon 1 and 2. Or, get yourself pumped for battle with the Old School Combat Classics album featuring nostalgic rune tunes composed by Ian Taylor, Adam Bond, and even Mod Ash. You can listen to them right now on all major streaming services, or pre-order them from our friends at Laced Records. Both CD and Vinyl pre-orders come with a free MP3 download, so you can take your adventure on the go! Here's something else to tickle your fancy - for a limited time only, you can pre-order yourself a special antique nickel variant of Angels Scapes' Tim and Crunchy Stained Glass pin! And if you need a fearsome guardian to protect your keys, look no further than the King Black Dragon keyring.

BUG UPDATE: PLAYER OWNED PORT LIFEBOATS

Last week, a bug was introduced that caused Lifeboats to be removed from a vessel after a voyage was completed. Thanks for your patience as we worked on the hotfix that released last Wednesday evening.