This week sees the release of a rewards beta for the upcoming Nightmare of Ashihama boss as well as Abyssal Sire improvements.
The Nightmare of Ashihama: Rewards Beta
We've opened some beta worlds for you to test the new rewards designed for the Nightmare of Ashihama!

The beta will be hosted on Tournament Worlds. On these worlds, you spawn at Clan Wars with Tournament Chests nearby containing various supplies and equipment (this time including the new boss rewards). Tournament Worlds use a separate profile than your main account does, so no progress is saved or affects your main profile - feel free to go anywhere in Old School to try out the new gear!

For the purposes of this beta, worlds 446, 464 and 477 will become Tournament Worlds. Once the beta closes, these worlds will be turned off rather than converted back into normal worlds to adjust for reduced traffic.

More information on the backstories of each item can be found in our Nightmare of Ashihama poll blog.


Changelist:

Since the release of the poll blog, the following adjustments have been made:

• The stab, slash, crush and magic defence of all Inquisitor armour pieces were slightly reduced.
• The Volatile Orb's special attack base damage was reduced to 58 (not including the staff's built-in 15% additional Magic damage).
• The Eldritch Orb's special attack base damage was reduced to 44 (not including the staff's built-in 15% additional Magic damage).
• The Siren's Tome Magic damage stats was reduced from 10% to 4% and it was given -10 stab, slash, crush and ranged defence.
• The Staff of Nightmares has been renamed to the Nightmare Staff.

Since the launch of the update, the following changes were made later the same day (29/11/2019):

• The Volatile orb and Eldritch orb special attacks now hit two ticks after they are cast.
• The base damage for both the Volatile and Eldritch orb special attacks now scales to Magic level.
• The max hit of the Volatile orb special attack max hit at 99 is now capped at 58 (before Magic damage bonuses)
• The max hit of the Eldritch orb special attack max hit at 99 is now capped at 44 (before Magic damage bonuses)

Note that the stats and images in the post below have not yet been adjusted to show these changes.

Inquisitor's Armour


The female variation of the armour.
The Inquisitor's armour is a new set with high crush accuracy and defence. All three pieces, the helm, hauberk and tassets require 70 Strength and 30 Defence to equip.
 
The Inquisitor's Mace


The male variation of the armour.
Once the personal weapon of the Inquisitor, this mace is a one-handed crush weapon requiring 75 attack to equip.
 
The Nightmare Staff

Note that special attack animations are placeholder only.
The Nightmare Staff is a magical weapon requiring 65 Magic to equip. It is able to autocast both Standard and Ancient spells and can be adapted using three attachments:

• The Harmonised Orb gives the staff a passive effect that allows it to cast standard spells one tick faster than normal and removes the tick delay when autocasting. However, the staff loses the ability to autocast Ancient spells.


• The Volatile Orb gives the Staff a special attack that fires a single spell at the target. This spell requires no runes to use but costs 50% special attack energy. The attack deals up to 58 base damage (which can be increased using damage boosting items) with 50% improved accuracy. This number does not include the Staff's own Magic damage bonus.


• The Eldritch Orb gives the Staff a special attack that fires a single spell at the target. This spell requires no runes to use but costs 75% special attack energy. The attack deals up to 44 base damage (which can be increased using damage boosting items). This number does not include the Staff's own Magic damage bonus. It also restores the caster's Prayer points by 50% of the damage dealt. This can boost the caster’s Prayer points above their Prayer level to a maximum of 120.

When the staff has an orb attached, the Magic requirement increases to 75.
 
The Siren's Tome
 
The Tome is an item worn in the off-hand slot that requires 75 Magic to equip. This could be a stand alone item dropped by the Nightmare, or an attachment to the existing Mage's Book. Let us know which you prefer!
 

The Abyssal Sire
Phase Transitions
 
The Abyssal Sire transitions to its next phase when enough damage was dealt. Previously, the check for damage was carried out when the boss was hit but before damage was applied.

For example, the boss transitions to Phase 3 once it reaches 200 hp (50%). If the Sire had 230 HP and you hit it for 35 damage, it would be left with 195 HP (below the phase transition threshold). Rather than transition to the next phase, it would wait for your next hit. Let's say the XP drop you receive indicates you "hit" another 35. Rather than go down to 160 HP, the Sire would then move to the next phase with the 195 HP it had from before.

This has been changed so that players no longer deal "lost" hits and the Sire transitions when expected.

Shadow Spell Stuns
 
Successful stuns against the Sire using Shadow spells give you 30 seconds to kill all four of its respiratory systems. However, it takes about 10-15 seconds to kill each respiratory system, so this phase usually takes a minimum of two shadow spells.

Previously, quickly killing the first two respiratory systems resulted in dead-time where it was not worth starting the remaining two. This was because the Sire's remaining stun had to expire before the next could be cast. this has been changed so that the Sire can be re-stunned with the following success chances:

Shadow Rush: 25%
Shadow Burst: 50%
Shadow Blitz: 75%
Shadow Barrage: 100%

The Sire can now be stunned to begin the fight too. This will still trigger its waking-up animation, so you won't know until it's fully awake if the stun was successful (unless Shadow Barrage was used).

Twisted League Rankings
Here are the points thresholds for each rank in the Twisted League as of the time of this update:

• Dragon: 7,710
• Rune: 5,400
• Adamant: 2,840
• Mithril: 1,300
• Steel: 490
• Iron: 100
• Bronze: 10
  In Other News

PvP Rotation B:

The PvP World Rota is switching over to Period B. On the east of the Atlantic, host the Standard PvP world (W25, UK) and the F2P PvP world (W71, UK). On the west of the Atlantic, host the Bounty Hunter world (W19, USA) and the High Risk PvP world (W37, USA). Bounty Hunter has returned to the standard rotation.

• A bug allowing players to kick others from someone else's POH was fixed.
• Multiple Saradomin or Zamorakian wizards can now spawn simultaneously for players completing the same clue steps.
• Players can no longer skip the map animation when travelling on a boat to or from Meiyerditch by performing emotes.
• Missing texture on a cave wall north-east of the Cauldron of Thunder was added.
• The Drunken Dwarf has been told to make less noise with his whistle so will do so more quietly.
• The empty space around each God Wars Dungeon boss room now registers clicks/presses, allowing players to walk in that direction.
• Mr Mordaut's learning materials have been brought up to date to contain the Wrath rune.
• Players can no longer interrupt refilling the Ectophial after a teleport.
• The XP tracker will no longer appear when trying to incinerate objects within the bank.
• The Underground Pass quest journal now crosses out the Agility requirement at the correct level, for players who have not started the quest.
• Lady Trahaearn now correctly states that books are in the Grand Library rather than the Tower of Voices.
• Pennant is now dressed to match his clan.
• The prices of teleport tablets in the new Bounty Hunter shop have been reduced slightly.
• The uncharged dragonfire shield can now be used to complete the League task that involves equipping one.
• The Bounty Hunter messages warning you that you've failed certain types of tasks are now less spammy.
• The Bounty Hunter tasks for finishing off a target with a specific combat style have been adjusted to better handle unusual attacks that apply damage simultaneously.
• The capitalisation of a message in Leagues worlds has been corrected.
• A fishing spot in eastern Zeah is no longer blocked by a log.
• A lockpick has been added to the droptable of the Scavenger Beast in Chambers of Xeric. The chance of getting this is taken from the chance to get fishing bait.