Update:Song of the Elves Poll Blog: Main Content

Welcome to the revised version of the first Song of the Elves blog where we have amended the questions following feedback from the first version. Here, we'll be pitching the questions you can expect to see in the poll booths tomorrow (26/02/2019)! All of these questions are for the main pieces of content and rewards. A second blog and in game poll will be posted and held soon for all of the smaller features and rewards in and around Prifddinas.

If you want to learn more about the initial announcement of Song of the Elves, we recommend you check out the reveal blog.

The poll for the below questions will be live tomorrow (26/02/2019) and closed on Friday (01/03/2019).

Changelist

Here is the list of changes made to the original version of the blog which feature in this revised version:


 * The question offering a herb patch was removed
 * A chest for storing items outside the Gauntlet was added
 * The set effect for Crystal armour was buffed and applied to individual pieces
 * Crystal armour piece degradation was changed to have uncharged versions
 * Crystal tools degradation was changed to have uncharged versions
 * Clarification on PvP death behaviour for Crystal armour and tools was added
 * Crystal tools questions were split to be polled separately
 * An image of the Prifddinas gates was added with some words from the Art Team
 * Other minor clarifications and rewording
 * A section for other considerations was added to the bottom

Changelist 2

This list records the changes from feedback to the posting of this revised version of the blog


 * The rate at which Crystal shards will be obtained was defined
 * Expected experience rates of Mining, Smithing and Runecraft from Zalcano were defined
 * The charge mechanics of Crystal armour were clarified
 * Players who do not meet the Crafting or Smithing requirements to create Crystal tools may pay additional shards to do so
 * Crystal tool degradation is now explained in more detail
 * A note regarding the transportation / sawmill locations in the North East of the Prifddinas map was added to the feedback notes

Crystal Armour

Following feedback on Crystal armour, we would like to extend the discussion to clarify the set's place in Old School. The community response has been divided in terms whether or not the armour is right for the game in it's current design. As such, we will take the time betwen now and the second Song of the Elves poll (Rewards and Extras) to work with you on another design. For this reason, the Crystal armour question has been removed.

In cases like this, it's always better to make sure the design is right before something is polled rather than leave it to balancing post-launch. Thank you for your feedback, we look forward to solidifying the stats and ovreall design with you.

“You think you’re the hero of this story, but you’re not…” - Lord Iorwerth

Big things have small beginnings. Sixteen years ago, the Plague City quest was added to RuneScape. This quest marked the beginning of the fabled elf quest series, the oldest and longest quest series in the game. From elven rebellions to Dark Lords, the series has told a thrilling story with many twists and turns. Now, after all of these years, it’s finally time for this story to come to its conclusion with Old School RuneScape’s newest Grandmaster quest, Song of the Elves!

Song of the Elves will see you team up with a range of characters from across the series to finally put an end to the schemes of Lord Iorwerth and King Lathas. Do not expect this to be easy - you will face challenging puzzles and deadly foes as you fight to bring peace to the elven lands.

That’s all we’re going to say about Song of the Elves for now, as we don’t want to ruin the surprises of the quest. However, you can be sure that it will be an epic adventure unlike any other.

Poll Question #1

Should the Song of the Elves quest be added to Old School RuneScape?

For years, the empty city of Prifddinas has sat untouched on the Old School RuneScape map. With Song of the Elves, the gates of this legendary crystal city will finally open to those who succeed in bringing an end to the tyranny of Lord Iorwerth and King Lathas.

Prifddinas will contain a range of shops, resources and other amenities. It will also feature some brand-new content, offering some exciting rewards. Check out the map above to see what Prifddinas has to offer.

We won’t be polling the addition of every shop and resource - they’ll be covered by the main poll question. However, the more useful pieces of content have their own separate questions which can be found below.

Poll Question #2

If Song of the Elves is added to the game, should the elven capital of Prifddinas also be added? Entry into the city will require completion of Song of the Elves.

Poll Question #3

If Prifddinas is added to the game, should it include a new Player-owned house location? Moving a house here would require completion of Song of the Elves, 70 Construction and 50,000 coins.

Poll Question #4

If Prifddinas is added to the game, should it include some Teak and Mahogany trees? There will be three Teak trees and two Mahogany trees.

Poll Question #5

If Prifddinas is added to the game, should it include a new Sawmill? This Sawmill would be further away from a bank than the one in the Woodcutting Guild. However, if the above question passes, it will be the closest Sawmill to Teak and Mahogany trees.

Poll Question #6

If Prifddinas is added to the game, should it include new Soft clay rocks? These rocks would work exactly like clay rocks but would give Soft clay instead of clay. Wearing a Bracelet of clay whist mining Soft clay would grant two Soft clay instead of one for every successful mine. These will require Song of the Elves and 70 Mining.

We're currently exploring ideas for how the Prifddinas of 2009 could look. Our focus is to make this area of the map exude the established elven lore of Old School by introducing organic wood and magical crystal structures which the elves have sung into existence. With Prifddinas’ palette of earthy browns, lush greens and ethereal blues in combination with elegant, interwoven organic structures, the elven capital will be one of our most ambitious environments to date!

~ Mod Ghost and the Art Team

As mentioned above, Prifddinas will feature some brand-new, unique pieces of content. The first of these is the Gauntlet. Created by the elves as a training ground to ensure they were capable of defending the city during the God Wars, the Gauntlet is a new solo PvM minigame that will push your skills to their limits.

When entering the Gauntlet, you will not be allowed to bring any of your own items. Instead, you will be given a limited amount of time to explore the area in search of resources. The area will contain crystals, roots, herbs and fish that you can obtain through Mining, Woodcutting, Fishing and other gathering methods, to make weapons, armour, potions and food. These various resources will not require a specific skill level to gather. However, high skill levels will grant more resources at a faster rate. The dungeon will also contain various Crystalline monsters which can be killed for further supplies. Higher level monsters will offer better drops at the cost of taking more time to defeat.

To keep you on your toes, the layout of the Gauntlet will be random each time you enter, causing the monsters and resources to spawn in different locations. You also won’t be able to see all of the dungeon initially and will need to explore it to discover where everything is, making for a frantic and fast-paced challenge.

Once time is up and you have gathered your supplies, you will be forced into the central chamber of the Gauntlet. Here, you will need to use everything you’ve gathered to defeat the Crystalline Hunllef. Based upon a deadly wolf-like predator from the elven homeworld, the Crystalline Hunllef is a vicious enemy that only the most worthy will be capable of defeating.

Completion of the Gauntlet will grant you access to a new loot table. Failing to finish, either by death or leaving early, will give a small token reward based upon how well you performed but won't grant any chance of a unique. The Gauntlet is a dangerous minigame so death will result in the loss of a Hardcore Ironman status.

As you can’t take any items into the Gauntlet, a chest will be found outside for you to temporarily store your items in whilst you are in the minigame. Your items will only be stored here while you are in the Gauntlet so it can’t be used as extra storage.

Poll Question #7

If Prifddinas is added to the game, should it include the Gauntlet, a brand-new solo PvM challenge? The rewards for the Gauntlet will be polled in the upcoming Rewards and Extras poll.

Note: The following design and stats for Crystal armour has been held back from the poll for further examination. You can expect to hear from us soon to re-open the discussion on how this specific piece of content should look in terms of stats and/or set effect. The originally proposed design can still be seen below for reference - feel free to have a read and let us know how you would like this changed.

The Gauntlet loot table won’t just be made up of existing items. It will also offer the only way for you to obtain Crystal Armour, a brand-new armour set designed to compliment the existing crystal weaponry. The armour will consist of three pieces, a helmet, a chestplate, and platelegs. Equipping the items in this set will require 70 Defence and 50 Agility.

The Gauntlet loot table won’t directly give Crystal Armour. Instead, it will have a chance of giving a Crystal armour seed. A Crystal armour seed can be combined with Crystal shards to create the pieces of the new Crystal Armour set. Crystal shards are another new item that players will be able to obtain by completing various activities in Prifddinas, including the Gauntlet. Crystal armour seeds will be tradeable but Crystal shards and the armour itself will not. The rate at which Crystal shards are gathered will vary depending on the activity, but the maximum will be roughly 50 shards per hour.

The table below shows the requirements to create Crystal Armour. Players who do not meet the level requirements will be able to pay an elf in Prifddinas to create the armour for them. This will cost 60 additional Crystal shards per piece of armour.

Like other crystal equipment, Crystal Armour will degrade. However, unlike other crystal equipment, its stats won’t degrade as it does. Over time, the armour will degrade into an uncharged version, similar to Barrows armour. You will be able to add more charges by using Crystal shards on either charged or uncharged versions of the armour. Each Crystal shard will provide 100 charges and each armour piece will hold up to 5,000 charges in total. Each piece of freshly made armour will start with 2,500 charges. Charges will be lost as hits are taken while wearing the armour, with each hit removing one charge. Both charged and uncharged pieces of armour can be dismantled at any time. Doing so will return the Crystal armour seed but any Crystal shards will be lost.

The table below shows the stats of Crystal Armour. In addition to these stats, the armour will have a set effect. When all three pieces are worn, you will receive a 10% boost to damage and a 20% boost to accuracy when using crystal weaponry. This will also apply partially when wearing individual pieces of the set. In other words, a 2% damage boost will be given for each item worn with an extra 4% if the full set is worn, giving 10% in total. Similarly, give a 4% accuracy boost will be given for each item worn with an extra 8% if the full set is worn, giving 20% in total.

Because Crystal armour is untradeable and can only be made in Prifddinas, it will require Song of the Elves completion to equip.

A dangerous death in PvP will cause Crystal armour to revert to their seeds which would then be dropped for the killer. Any Crystal shards will be lost.

Although the elves did their best to avoid the God Wars, they were unable to stop the carnage reaching Prifddinas. Over the thousands of years that the God Wars took place, many foes came to the city in the hope of claiming the knowledge and power of the elves. One of these foes was Zalcano, once a demon in service to Zamorak, her ambition eventually got the better of her and she was cursed by the god during an attempted uprising against him. This curse doomed her to turn to stone.

The elves had no desire to help Zalcano, so she decided to try and take from them what they were unwilling to give. She failed, and they trapped her beneath the city so they could study her condition. Now, thousands of years later, she remains beneath the city. The elves studying her often need help keeping her in check, and they’ll happily reward anyone willing to give them a hand.

Zalcano is a new boss that is immune to traditional combat damage. Instead, you will need to use your Mining, Smithing and Runecraft skills to create magical charges capable of destroying her stone armour. Once her armour has been destroyed, you’ll be able to damage her by mining her core with your pickaxe. While you do this, she will do everything she can to fight back and will have a variety of abilities at her disposal.

Besides access to the city, there are no additional requirements to face Zalcano. However, you will find that higher levels in Mining, Smithing and Runecraft will be advantageous. On top of this, Zalcanos attacks will be powerful and will not scale for lower levels so a high hitpoints level is recommended. Players will be able to fight Zalcano both alone and in a group.

Poll Question #8

If Prifddinas is added to the game, should it include Zalcano, a brand-new boss that can only be defeated through skilling?

Zalcano will not be a new training method and as such will only grant token amounts of experience. Instead, the reward for defeating Zalcano will be access to her loot table. This table will contain gems, ores and a brand-new unique item, the Crystal tool seed. The experience per hour from fighting Zalcano should be no more than 1,000 in Smithing and Runecraft and no more than 5,000 in Mining.

Crystal tool seeds will be combinable with Crystal shards to create three new pieces of equipment. Crystal shards will be obtainable by completing various activities in Prifddinas, including fighting Zalcano. Crystal equipment seeds will be tradeable but the equipment itself and the Crystal shards will not. As mentioned above, players can expect to obtain Crystal shards at a rate of roughly 50 per hour but this will vary based on the activity.

The three new tools are the Crystal pickaxe, Crystal axe and Crystal harpoon. Each one is made by combining a Crystal tool seed with 120 Crystal shards and the corresponding piece of Dragon equipment. Doing this requires 76 Smithing and 76 Crafting. Players who do not meet the level requirements will be able to pay an elf in Prifddinas to create the tools for them. This will cost 60 additional Crystal shards per tool.

These new items will require level 71 in the respective skill to use and will offer faster gathering speeds than their dragon counterparts. The items will require 70 Attack and 50 Agility to equip. They will retain the equipped stats and special attacks of their dragon counterparts.

Crystal tools will degrade in the same way Crystal armour does, eventually reverting into an uncharged version. You will be able to add more charges by using Crystal shards on either charged or uncharged versions of the tools. Each Crystal shard will provide 100 charges and each tool will hold up to 20,000 charges in total. A freshly made tool will start with 10,000 charges. Charges will be lost as items are gathered, with each item removing one charge (for example, mining one ore will remove one charge). This won’t include extra items obtained through bonuses like the Varrock Armour. Both charged and uncharged tools can be dismantled at any time. Doing so will return the Crystal tool seed and relevant dragon item but any Crystal shards will be lost.

Crystal Pickaxe: this will have a 1/4 chance to mine an ore one tick faster than the Rune pickaxe (up from 1/6 for the Dragon pickaxe)

Crystal Axe: this will be 15% more efficient at chopping logs than the Rune axe (up from 10% for the Dragon axe)

Crystal Harpoon: this will have a 35% faster catch rate when fishing at a harpoon fishing spot (up from 20% for the Dragon harpoon)

Because Crystal tools are untradeable and can only be made in Prifddinas, they will require Song of the Elves completion to use.

A dangerous death in PvP will cause Crystal tools to revert to their Dragon equivalents which would then be dropped for the killer. Any Crystal shards will be lost.

Poll Question #9

If Zalcano is added to the game, should she have a chance of dropping Crystal tool seeds as a reward? These Crystal tool seeds will be used to create Crystal Pickaxes, Crystal Axes and Crystal Harpoons. If none of the below questions pass, this won't be added.

Poll Question #10

If question #10 passes, should players be able to use Crystal tool seeds to create Crystal Pickaxes?

Poll Question #11

If question #10 passes, should players be able to use Crystal tool seeds to create Crystal Axes?

Poll Question #12

If question #10 passes, should players be able to use Crystal tool seeds to create Crystal Harpoons?

When it comes to balancing, we will endeavour to stick as close as possible to any numbers given in this blog. That said, it’s possible that some minor changes may need making as new information comes to light later in the project (such as the outcome of poll 2). If any changes do need making, we will ensure that these are shared with the community prior to the launch of the content.

Other Feedback

We'd like to take this opportunity to address other points of feedback that you raised. These points will be covered in the second poll blog for rewards and extras.


 * We would still like to move Crystal related imbues away from the Nightmare Zone and into Prifddinas to be more thematic.
 * We're open to adding a Crystal sword or similar one-handed melee weapon to the set. Similarly, a Crystal staff is being considered. These could feature in the second poll.
 * A Crystal quiver or similar item was suggested to buff the Crystal bow when worn was a popular suggestion. This could potentially be included as an extra reward. This could also feature in the second poll.
 * In place of the herb patch, we would like to offer a new patch design for a Crystal tree. This can be expected in the second poll.
 * We shall keep the Gauntlet a solo experience. As the Theatre of Blood is not designed for solo play, this provides a new piece of content for solo players. There is space for similar content aimed at groups in future.
 * We're aware of concerns over the close proximity of the transport icon and sawmill in the North East of the example Prifddinas map. Please note this is a placeholder for the time being and subject to change.

That’s everything for this blog. As always, be sure to share your feedback with us on our social channels. As mentioned at the start of this blog, this is not everything we have planned for Prifddinas and if it passes this poll, a second poll blog and in game poll will take place to cover all the additional rewards and extra content associated with Prifddinas. Make sure to let us know what you would like to see in that poll also!

Discuss this update on our official forums, the community-led 2007Scape Reddit, or the community-led OSRS Discord in the #gameupdate channel.

Mods Acorn, Archie, Ash, Bruno, Curse, Ed, Gambit, Gee, Ghost, Kieren, Lenny, Lottie, Mat K, Maz, Nasty, Roq, Ry, Sween, Tide, Weath, West & Wolf

The Old School Team