In the mountains of Varlamore, an ancient monster awakens…
Long ago, in the days before Varlamore’s founding, the land was inhabited by a multitude of strange and powerful beings. It is said that one such being dwelled among the barren peaks of the Hailstorm Mountains. The Old Ones called this place Coatlpetl – but those who live in its shadow today call it the Darkfrost.
There, they say that the Hueycoatl – a great and terrible serpent – lies sleeping, coiled around the heart of the mountain. They say its scales are strong as rock, and that it sleeps upon a bed of gold. They say that the dwarves who first encountered this monster were rewarded with riches beyond their wildest dreams. They say that when the Hueycoatl wakes anew, it will be angry enough to tear through stone.
For centuries, these legends were thought to be nothing more than tall tales. But now, the mountain trembles – and the Hueycoatl has proven to be very, very real.
Left unchecked, the Hueycoatl’s power could cause untold devastation. Faced with this new danger, the dwarves have begrudgingly enlisted the help of adventurers like you to help them subdue the beast. Are you up to the challenge?
The Hueycoatl is a new group encounter aimed at players with 90+ Total Combat Level. We also recommend having access to protection Prayers.
Lootwise, we’re looking to bosses like Nex and Scurrius that reward multiple players. While you can choose to face the Hueycoatl alone or en masse, we recommend teaming up with 3-8 friends for the best experience.
So, what else can you expect?
Before we begin, please note that we are at an early stage of development, and details are subject to change from now up until release.
The Hueycoatl’s powerful claws has allowed it to dig a network of tunnels all through the mountain, but you’ll face it on the surface. It’s not instanced – anyone can clamber up the mountain and join the battle. We will likely implement player limits to help with performance, which we’ll talk more about when we’re closer to launch. Don’t worry, there will be solo options available for players who need them.
You’ll never be truly alone, though. To help you out, you’ll be accompanied by a band of dwarves, including a priest who will aid you during the encounter!
Parts of this colossal serpent are poking out from caves all over the mountain. Wherever it’s exposed, you can attack – which you’ll need to do if you want to reach the top of the mountain, where the final part of the battle awaits. The Hueycoatl won’t take your attacks lying down, so stay alert. When enough body parts have been damaged, the path to the peak will open.
On the summit, you’ll face the Hueycoatl head on – literally! You’ll need to contend with all the same hazards as before, but when the mighty Hueycoatl tires of your shenanigans, it’ll shield itself with its tail. You’ll need to break it to keep up the fight! Once the tail has shattered, you’ll be free to start battling again.
There’s a few things during this encounter that we’re keeping a surprise, but we’ll leave that for you to figure out, when you face this deadly foe!.
To recap:
- Join the Dwarven Party and make your way up the Darkfrost mountain.
- Attack the parts of the Hueycoatl sticking out from the rock, while avoiding hazards. Don’t forget your protection Prayers!
- When the Hueycoatl moves, climb to the top of the mountain and attack the head.
- If the Hueycoatl uses its tail to defend itself, shatter it so you can resume the fight!
- Deal damage to the head until the Hueycoatl is defeated.
Once you’ve pacified the Hueycoatl, there’ll be a bit of downtime as it gets ready to fight again.
This boss will be among the first to benefit from the upcoming Project Rebalance changes – but we’ll leave it to you to discover which attacks are most effective against this stone-faced foe.
We’ve also kept Project Rebalance in mind while designing the rewards for this boss.
Tome of Earth and Muddy PagesTradeable
We think the Hueycoatl is the perfect place to obtain our newest Elemental Tome and the associated Pages.
Just like the others, the Tome of Earth is an infinite source of Earth Runes, as long as it’s charged with Muddy Pages. Charges will be depleted when casting Earth Spells specifically – which makes sense, because the Tome also increases the damage of Earth Spells by 10%.
Duelling Wand and Duelling ShotTradeable
On the same theme, we’re shaking things up with a brand-new weapon and associated spell!
The Duelling Wand requires 65 Magic to wield and can autocast its own new spell: Duelling Shot. Duelling Shot is an earth spell thatalsorequires65 Magicand must be cast with the Duelling Wand. It’s a3-tick spellwhich requires1 Death, 3 Earth, and 2 Air Runesto cast – although if you have your Tome of Earth handy, you can save a few!
Its base Max Hit is 15, roughly equivalent to the same damage as the 5-tick Iban’s Blast. It also has a neat built-in feature which gives you a 30% chance not to consume the required Runes.
The average DPS between 65-99 Magic should be justunderthat of Iban’s Staff and the accompanying spell – but with the new Tome of Earth equipped, this increases by around 10%. The Warped Sceptre and Trident of the Seas will out DPS it at higher levels, but until then, the Duelling Wand will be a powerful Earth-based weapon for your arsenal.
To see how the Duelling Wand stands up against other weapons, check out the table below:
DPS Graph
Prayer Regeneration PotionTradeable
Our final reward is a new secondary ingredient which, when added to an unfinished Ranarr Potion, will mix up a powerful Prayer Regeneration Potion. You’ll need 58 Herblore to brew it, and it will give around 132 XP per potion.
The effect will regenerate1 Prayer Pointevery12 ticksfor8 minutes, which should give you around8 Prayer Points p/m, for a total of66points overall. Let’s see what that looks like in practice:
- 99 Prayer using Protection Prayers =4m 57sVS w/ Prayer Regen =~7mins
- 99 Prayer using Piety, Rigour etc. =2m 28sVS w/ Prayer Regen =~3 mins
You’ll note that the Chambers of Xeric’s Prayer Enhance is actually much better – but this potion is something you can carry with you to locations where recharging your Prayer is inconvenient, or situations where you won’t be using Prayers as much.
As always, we’re really keen to hear your feedback about this boss and the suggested rewards. Completing the survey below is the best way to tell us your thoughts. Go on, click the linkhereor fill out the embedded survey below!
You can also discuss this boss with Mods Squid and Sarnie at16:00 BST,Todayon Discord Stages over at the officialOSRS Discord. Over on our officialTwitchchannel, this week’s livestream will also discuss this fearsome new foe – and you can tune in onThursday, May 9th at 17:00 BST. See you there!
You can also discuss this update on the2007Scape subreddit, theSteam forums, or the community-ledOSRS Discordin the #gameupdate channel. For more info on the above content, check out the officialOld School Wiki.
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