Evolution of combat released 20th November

[Shortstuff]

After five months of feedback and fine-tuning, the time is finally here: we're hugely excited to be able to announce the official live launch date of the Evolution of Combat: the 20th of November 2012!

With thousands of hours of playtime from yourselves and hundreds of changes to the system from your feedback, we're now looking forward to a new era in RuneScape. Once the Evolution of Combat has been released, you can look forward to some great new boss monsters and combat-related updates that would never have been possible previously.

We also had an overwhelmingly positive response to the Combat Academy and survey that launched last week and are now making some small tweaks and adjustments prior to launch.

Naturally, you'll have lots of questions about the Evolution of Combat now that the date is confirmed, and we're going to be running a live stream this weekend to address these. You can post your questions in the forums here. In the meantime, check out our FAQ.

There will also be further news posts over the next few days, detailing key changes and how best to prepare for the launch. While it's securely founded in the RuneScape combat you know so well, it contains an array of large-scale improvements and new features, including:

Abilities: These are a replacement for the old special attacks found on weapons, but they're an whole different beast. Divided up into three classes: basic, threshold and ultimate, these do more damage than regular attacks and cause a range of nasty negative effects to your opponent, such as damage over time or stuns. Some may even bestow positive effects, healing you or further boosting your damage output for a set amount of time. Making sound use of abilities will push your combat prowess to new heights.
Adrenaline: This new resource is built each time you hit an enemy with an auto-attack, or with a basic ability. It's spent when you use the more powerful threshold and ultimate abilities, and when you eat food in combat, so you'll want to build it as quickly as possible during a fight.
Action Bar: This handy new interface holds all your ability buttons, and can give quick access to essentials such as potions, food and utility items.
Armour and Life Points: The armour you wear now greatly affects your maximum life points. The Evolution of Combat is balanced with this in mind, so you'll need to gear up to stand up to your foes!
Dual Wielding: That's right - with the launch of the Evolution of Combat, this much-requested feature will be fully implemented. With abilities specific to dual-wielded weapons and increased gear choices for mages such as wands and orbs, your choice of gear loadout has never been more varied. Off-hand versions of most weapons will be made available once the Evolution of Combat launches, so no need to go out and buy duplicates of your favourites just yet.
And Much More: We've introduced far too many new features, tweaks and improvements to list here, but some of the biggest are as follows:
We've filled out gaps in gear progression, including loads of brand-new level 50 gear and new options for mages and rangers.
The combat triangle is more important than ever, and you'll need to take careful count of your foe's fighting style to prevail.
There's an array of awesome-looking new animations for the new abilities and distinct combat styles.
We've also listened carefully to feedback from those among you who know and particularly enjoy the current system. With your input in mind, we've made many changes to the Evolution of Combat which will allow you to continue playing with the traditional style of combat, while also benefiting from the raft of improvements the update brings.

For full details, take a look at our FAQ or our quick guide on the wiki. If you haven't already, you can also still log into the beta and give the new system a whirl - be sure to try out the new Combat Academy in Lumbridge while you're there!

Just two weeks to go - plant the date securely in your calendar, because you won't want to miss the Evolution of Combat launch!

The RuneScape Team

[Oobz]

I feel a little sad

[Shortstuff]

you aint the only one

[SnowAngel]

We've also listened carefully to feedback from those among you who know and particularly enjoy the current system. With your input in mind, we've made many changes to the Evolution of Combat which will allow you to continue playing with the traditional style of combat, while also benefiting from the raft of improvements the update brings.

This at least sounds promising? Or will it still be as complicated as it sounds?

[Damion]

The only constant is change.
While I am not particularly thrilled about the update, I realize that the current fighting style is a bit dated. In order to stay competitive, Jagex has to make changes which they believe is in the forward motion of the industry as a whole. Being as they make a lot more money in this industry than I do, I have to assume they know what they are doing and that this new system will appeal to new players without alienating the long-standing players that are hesitant to change.

Only time will tell for sure, but I think that all of us will be able to handle it

[Kevinsaurus]

We've also listened carefully to feedback from those among you who know and particularly enjoy the current system. With your input in mind, we've made many changes to the Evolution of Combat which will allow you to continue playing with the traditional style of combat, while also benefiting from the raft of improvements the update brings.

This at least sounds promising? Or will it still be as complicated as it sounds?

If you've played in the beta, those changes have already been implemented into the beta.

I must say, it would have been nice to change the combat system to make it so more skilled players would perform better, but with the way it currently is. Not going to complain too much about EoC because you either live with it or don't play at all. I'll probably be spending many hours in the upcoming week in the beta to get a handle of EoC because I don't think I'm the only one who'd want to get right into it with no experience whatsoever (the tutorial is not great at all).

[syfyqueen]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! I'm not 138 cb yet, I'm not 99 slayer yet, I'm not ready, I don't wanna!
Crap on a cracker, buffalo biscuits, and monkey muffins - nothing we can do about it but figure it out. I'm not going to quit just because I don't like this change but I really don't like losing the specs on my weapons (especially my SGS) >:P

[Aeversme]

Bleh.

I think I can get 99 Ranged before 11/20, to close out my combat skills... whether I can complete the Kiln or not before then is a different question. :/

[TrixStar]

so wait why are people sad? I thought it was pretty badass when I was using the beta

[Damion]

so wait why are people sad? I thought it was pretty badass when I was using the beta

Reluctance to change.

[duc_donald]

I was quite impressed with the recent Academy tutorial. Makes combat a bit more interesting - rather than just point 'n' "punch"
This might get me back to my slayer task...

[Katy]

so wait why are people sad? I thought it was pretty badass when I was using the beta

cos it is too complicated for my old woman brain - gonna be like teaching my mum to use the video recorder all over. again!!

[WolvinGod]

at least it will make pvm more interesting.

[Dr Brad]

We've also listened carefully to feedback from those among you who know and particularly enjoy the current system. With your input in mind, we've made many changes to the Evolution of Combat which will allow you to continue playing with the traditional style of combat, while also benefiting from the raft of improvements the update brings.

This at least sounds promising? Or will it still be as complicated as it sounds?

I assume Jagex is referring to the "Momentum" attack.

[DoctorDRAG0N]

I've managed to max out my melee stats & it seems range/mage should be easier to level as I can "spec" with my rune crossbow or any old staff I happen to be using. I'm pretty excited. On the other hand...I'm gonna have to REALLY work on my button mapping.