Welcome back to the world of Gielinor!

We all need to take a break sometimes. Those can be as short as 30 minutes, but others can take years. When you take a hiatus like that, the game you left wouldn’t be the same anymore. Even if you were an avid player, game updates in the meantime have added, improved, or removed features. That gives the game a new coat of paint, making it both familiar and not to you. Even if you’re returning to RuneScape just to farm RS3 gold, it’s easy to get lost in the new mechanics and methods.

Here are the most recent additions to the game. You might’ve missed more additions depending on when you stopped, but it’ll take too long to list it all. If you’ve taken a break for more than a year, check out the returner’s guide on the game’s wiki. It lists all the additions from way back in 2012.

RuneScape 3 Features Added in 2021

New Pets:

• Richie (wealth)
• Mune (exploration)
• Artemis (Treasure Trails)
• Zez (RuneScore)

New Boss: Rex Matriarchs RuneScape 3

Like the Dagannoth Kings, this is a trio of bosses that share the same health pool and weaknesses. They can drop an upgrade material for the Berserkers’, Seers’, Archers’, and Warrior Rings, giving the chosen ring the most potent bonuses, an accessory could provide.

RuneScape 3 New & Improved Divination

Many quality-of-life changes have been made to make the skill more AFK-able. Wisp wander range is decreased, and spring duration is increased. There’s a memory overflow buff created when using chronicle fragments on a regular energy rift.

The buff spawns an enhanced wisp that increases the chances of getting enriched memories from regular wisps. It also has increased energy and base experience from depositing memories into the rift. 5 players or fewer could work together to keep up the buff frequently.

New Spells

• Smoke Cloud
• Animate Dead
• Exsanguinate
• Incite Fear

The Elder God Wars Dungeon

The Nodon Font and New T95 Staff

Nodon is the first of four fronts in the Elder God Wars Dungeon. It signaled the debut of the Nodon Dragonkin Slayer mobs and the new boss Kerapac, the Bound. You can get the following by completing it:

• Kerapac’s Wrist Wraps
• Scripture of Jas
• Greater Concentrated Blast
• Pieces to the Fractured Staff of Armadyl
• Upgrade Kits for Oldak Coil, Kinetic Cyclone, and Dwarf Multicannon
• Materials for upgrading the Pontifex Shadow Ring

Glacor Front and New T95 Dual Wield Melee Weapons

Glacor is the second front, and the rewards are more cosmetic or are weapons. The boss is Arch-Glacor, and his minions are Glacyte Slayer creatures. This front will reward you with:

• Dark Ice Shard and Dark Ice Sliver dual wield weapons (T85)
• Dark Shard of Leng and Dark Sliver of Leng dual wield weapons (T95)
• Upgrade materials for Kerapac’s Wrist Wraps, Nightmare Gauntlets, and Gloves of Passage (turning them from T85 to T90)
• Scripture of Wen and its pages, the Manuscript of Wen
• The Glacor’s Adornment, Arch-Glacor’s Adornment, and Ur-Glacor’s Adornment wing cosmetics

Croesus Front, New Skilling Off-Hands, and T90 Magic Tank Armor

This is the third front of the dungeon, a successor to the Fight Kiln. Players battle through 18 waves of enemies, much like the Fight Caves and the mentioned Kiln. The final boss of this front is TzKal-Zuk, and defeating him might give you:

• The Scripture of Ful
• Igneous Stones (used to upgrade Kiln Capes)
• Igneous Kal-Zuk (combination of several related capes)
• Magma Tempest
• Components of the Ek-ZekKil, a T95 2-hander weapon

New Mini-Digsite: City of Senntisten

It is a digsite requiring level 60-67 Archaeology. Completing it will reward you with the Shadow’s Grace relic, which reduces the cooldown of some mobility skills. That buff won’t stack with the Mobile perk.

New Quests

• Heartstealer
• Azzandra’s Quest
• Once Upon a Time
• Battle of the Monolith
• City of Senntisten

RuneScape 3 Features Added in 2022

Het's Oasis

It replaces the Duel Arena, providing opportunities to level up Hunter, Agility, Farming, and Construction.

The Abyssal Breach

This introduces the new Slayer creatures Abyssal Savage, Abyssal Beast, and Abyssal Lord. You might get the following items when defeating them:

• Abyssal Scourge (T92)
• Jaws of the Abyss (T85)

‘Accidental’ Fletching and Firemaking Method

It’s a high-level training method in Anachronia, letting you make these arrows:

• Bik Arrow
• Ful Arrow
• Wen Arrow
• Jas Dragonbane Arrow
• Jas Demonbane Arrow

All are T92 arrows. The method is open for 82-95 Fletching or Firemaking.

New Boss: Zamorak, Lord of Chaos

He’s the fifth boss in the Elder God Wars dungeon. Be prepared for a challenge, or you might not get the following RuneScape items:

• Bow of the Last Guardian
• Codex of Lost Knowledge
• Chaos Roar Ability Codex
• Vestments of Havoc Armor

PvP Wilderness

You can now opt-in to PvP in the Wilderness. However, don’t think that all its risks are gone! A threat system replaces it, making things more dangerous as you stay longer in the Wilds. You get better loot the longer you stay in, but is the risk worth it?

New Quests:

• Extinction
• Twilight of the Gods
• Daughter of Chaos

Other Things to Take Note of

With the addition of new RuneScape items, some equipment has become outdated and outstripped by more recent gear. Things that were strong before are not so much now. That means setting a higher goal for better weapons and armor, which could mean more RuneScape gold farming.

Speaking of money making, the new features have made some methods unusable. Still, other new ones have appeared, so there could be more options than before. While some may work, the newer ones have better efficiency and yield. Some skilling may also be needed to do the new methods.

You might wonder where all the people went. Due to added locations, players have migrated to new ports, though some worlds might still use the former ones.

Remember that this game is a sandbox, which means you’re free to set your own goals. Whether battling all the bosses, exploring new locations, or collecting Quest Points, choosing a direction lets you focus. If learning about every new thing is overwhelming, you can just pick the ones related to your goal, and the rest will follow.

You can use the old interface version if you can’t adjust to the new one. The same goes for the combat system.

Enjoy Your Return to RuneScape 3!

With this, your return would go smoother than if you jump in blind to what’s new to the game. No matter how long you’ve been gone, Gielinor would be there to welcome you back. Have fun with the latest improvements to the game!