This is an archive of patch notes originally posted on 30 Jun 2026.

The Blood Moon Rises - Out Today!

Posted by on 30 Jun 2026

The Blood Moon rises today, bringing the long-awaited finale of the Myreque saga to Old School!

Launch Information

The Blood Moon Rises launches today at 10:00 am UTC!

To make sure everything is ready, todays update will follow a slightly different schedule:

8:00 am UTC: Countdown begins
8:46 am UTC: Worlds go live after a quick reboot
10:00 am UTC: The quest unlocks, with no additional reboot required

If you can't see the image above, click here!

A quick note for RuneLite users:

The Blood Moon Rises makes heavy use of visual layering and depth effects, particularly throughout Vampyrium.
For the best experience, we recommend using the standard GPU plugin. Players using the Legacy GPU plugin may encounter visual issues, so wed recommend switching over before stepping beyond the veil!

Changelog - June 30th

The Blood Moon Rises

The Blood Moon Rises Grandmaster quest Launches at 10:00 UTC today! Head over to the Icyene Graveyard and speak to Sarius Guile to begin.
Added a new region, Vampyrium, available after completion of The Blood Moon Rises quest, which includes:

A new Hunter activity - Stymphikes
A new Woodcutting activity - Bloodwood trees

These trees provide Sap, which can be used to create Seeker arrows - an ammunition upgrade that can be applied to existing arrows.

A new Fishing activity - Leechfin Fishing
A new Slayer creature - Venators
A new Solo boss encounter - the Maggot King
Brand new rewards are available from the Maggot King boss, including:

The Elder venator fang - used to make the new BiS ranged amulet - the Necklace of Rupture
The Crimson kisten - a BiS Crush Special Attack weapon

PvP Rota

The PvP rota has moved to Period A:

539 - (US) - PvP World
318 - (UK) - Bounty Hunter World
548 - (Germany) - High-Risk PvP World
577 - (US) - Free-to-Play PvP World
559 - (UK) - LMS Competitive

World 390 (AUS) for LMS Competitive has been activated with this rota.

World 569 (AUS) for Bounty Hunter has been activated with this rota.

The PvP Arena is using 'Zerker' loadouts in Ranked Duels and Tournaments this week.

The Blood Moon Rises

For years, Morytania has endured in the shadow of Lord Lowerniel Drakan. The Myreque have fought, bled, and fallen in the darkness, holding back an evil unlike any other.

Thank you to incredible illustrator Enkoro for this stunning artwork. Available to download for your desktop wallpaper here!

Want to catch up on where the story left off? We've partnered with creators PoisonedPotion, Enkoro and TheSkulled to bring you this epic lore video!

Accept marketing cookies to watch this video here.
Alternatively, watch on YouTube

Now, Drakan has returned to Vampyrium, the ancestral homeland of the vampyres. To step through is to leave the world you knew behind...

The Quest: Getting Started

The Blood Moon Rises is Old Schools newest Grandmaster quest and marks the final chapter of the Myreque saga. Before you get started, you'll need to ensure you've unlocked the following:

If you can't see the image above, click here!

To begin the quest, head over to the Icyene Graveyard (accessed via the boat in either south Burgh de Rott, Meiyerditch or Slepe) and speak to Sarius Guile.

If you can't see the image above, click here!

Rally what remains of the resistance, follow Drakan into the darkness of Vampyrium, and decide the fate of Morytania once and for all!

If you can't see the image above, click here!

Before You Start

When it comes to questing in Old School, you've always been free to take them on however you prefer. If you'd rather hold down that space bar and get it done as fast as possible, fair enough. We'll judge you a little bit, but we won't stop you. That said, if you're the kind of person who really wants to immerse themselves in this epic conclusion to the Myreque story, we have a few recommended settings for you that we think will help you get the most enjoyment out of things:

Master Volume - 100%
Music Volume - 20% or more
Sound Effects Volume - 45% or more
Area Sounds Volume - 25% or more
Music Mode - Area
View Distance - 50 or more

A quick note for RuneLite users:

The Blood Moon Rises makes heavy use of visual layering and depth effects, particularly throughout Vampyrium.
For the best experience, we recommend using the standard GPU plugin. Players using the Legacy GPU plugin may encounter visual issues, so wed recommend switching over before stepping beyond the veil!

Vampyrium: Before You Enter

At some point during your adventure, you'll find yourself travelling to the hostile land of Vampyrium.

The intended experience is to complete your Quest journey through Vampyrium without interruption, so there are a few things to keep in mind before you step beyond the veil:

If you die in Vampyrium, youll respawn there with all your items, but these deaths are not safe, so Hardcore status will be lost.
Everything you need to survive can be found within Vampyrium, including consumable supplies.
Bank withdrawals aren't available, but depositing is.
Its still worth preparing before you leave, but grit, perseverance, and careful play will matter more than good gear.
You can teleport out of Vampyrium at any time, and if you leave, the story will continue right from where you left off.

Once you've completed the quest, You'll earn the following rewards:

*Spoiler Warning! Click here to see*

A new Spec Weapon
An Upgraded Flail (obtained during the quest)
Six XP tomes, each granting 30K XP to a skill of your choice, level 70 or above.
4 Quest Points
You'll also be able to return to Vampyrium and engage in its unique skilling activities

And finally, a little reminder for all.

The Blood Moon Rises is expected to be challenging. We've really tried to do something different here, and while we're not expecting this to be a huge difficulty jump over existing Grandmaster quests, difficulty can often be subjective.

You will ultimately face formidable combat challenges where perseverance will be the key to victory. For many of you attempting this on release, it may well feel like a step up from Desert Treasure II, especially in your initial attempts while you learn the new mechanics.

We'd like to see how you fare in this epic conclusion before rushing to make changes, but rest assured, we'll be closely monitoring your feedback and will make changes where necessary.

A Personal Note From Mod Ed

So much of the media we enjoy today has been created in the hopes that it will continue on forever. With us celebrating 25 years, the RuneScape franchise itself is quite possibly one of the finest examples of that. And yet, there's very much a downside to this. The work is never done, and it's so rare now to experience a true ending. This is why it's so important to us that The Blood Moon Rises be just that. While there will always be more stories to tell in the land of Morytania, today marks the definitive end of the Myreque storyline.

Old School is a game where you are always free to enjoy it as you desire. That will never change. If questing isn't for you and you simply wish to get this out of the way as fast as possible, that's something we'll always respect. That said, before you dive in, consider this: While it's true that there's nothing like going back and re-watching your favourite film or re-reading your favourite book, the truth is that it will never hit like it did the first time you experienced it. And so, when you come to play this quest, even if it's not your usual play style, consider slowing things down, turning up your music, and immersing yourself in a finale over 20 years in the making. If it turns out to not be for you, that's no problem, but if you don't give it a chance, you may well find yourself missing out, for you will only ever get one opportunity to experience this quest for the first time.

With all that said, however you choose to experience The Blood Moon Rises and the land of Vampyrium, it has been the highest honour for myself and the team to finally bring this story to a close. We hope you enjoy it.

Vampyrium Skilling

Accept marketing cookies to watch this video here.
Alternatively, watch on YouTube

Vampyriums horrors do not fade when the story ends. This blood-soaked realm is home to strange flora, hostile fauna, and several new post-quest skilling activities for those brave enough to return after the quest concludes. Weve covered Vampyriums skilling activities in more detail in our dedicated Overview and Leechfin Fishing blogs, so head there for the full breakdown. For now, heres a summary of what you can expect when you step beyond the veil...

If you can't see the image above, click here!

Stymphike Hunter

Circling high above Vampyriums twisted canopy are the Stymphikes: vicious predatory birds that descend only when the conditions are right.

If you can't see the image above, click here!

This Hunter method plays out across two connected stages. First, youll need to gather bait in the form of Letvek, which can be found roaming Vampyrium and captured using box traps. This first stage requires 76 Hunter and is the more active part of the hunt, giving you a way to build up your bait supply before turning your eyes to the skies.

If you can't see the image above, click here!

Once you have Letvek in hand, you can begin hunting Stymphikes. This second stage requires 82 Hunter, along with a supply of Letvek and a nearby makeshift spear that's sharp enough to bring a Stymphike down. To begin, bait a Stymphike tree with a Letvek, then hide in a nearby bush and wait. While hidden, youll receive small amounts of Hunter XP as you keep watch from cover. After a short time, a Stymphike will descend to investigate the bait.

If you can't see the image above, click here!

Once the Stymphike lands, you can spear it yourself for a larger chunk of Hunter XP, or, if youd rather take a more relaxed approach, remain hidden and let your character make the attempt automatically after a short delay.

If you can't see the image above, click here!

For main accounts, Letvek can also be purchased from the Grand Exchange, letting you skip straight to the Stymphike-luring stage if youd rather focus on the steadier, lower-attention part of the activity.

Leechfin Fishing

Beneath Vampyriums crimson waters, the Leechfin gather, perfectly adapted to a bloody realm where even the rivers run red.

If you can't see the image above, click here!

Leechfin Fishing requires 72 Fishing and offers a more active way to train the skill without relying on tick manipulation. From the outset, you can choose whether to focus on stronger Fishing XP, or trade some of that XP for a steadier supply of Blood vials. This activity uses a Big net and plays similarly to the Fishing activity found in the Perilous Moons. Once you begin, Leechfin will swim downstream in waves. Youll need to align your net with the incoming fish, reacting to their movement as they pass through the river.

If you can't see the image above, click here!

If youre focused purely on Fishing XP, you can keep catching Leechfin and continue the activity for stronger rates. Leechfin themselves are untradeable, cannot be cooked, eaten, or stored in a Fish barrel, so youll want to manage your inventory as you fish. Alternatively, you can cut Leechfin with a knife to gather Blood sacs, earning a small amount of Cooking XP in the process. Blood sacks are untradeable but can be squeezed into empty vials to create Blood vials, and youll need 50 Blood sacs to fill one vial. The Leechfin will be coming in pretty thick and fast, so while 50 might sound like a lot, it shouldn't take too long to stack up!

If you can't see the image above, click here!

This gives the activity two clear paths:

Stay focused on catching fish and dropping for better Fishing XP
Spend time cutting Leechfin for Blood sacs and Vials of blood at the cost of lower XP.

If you step away for too long, the activity will end automatically, so keep your eyes on the river. Vampyriums waters are generous, but theyre not patient...

Bloodwood Woodcutting

Amid Vampyriums crimson forests stand the Bloodwood trees, their bark split with a potent red sap that seeps beneath the realms eternal night.

If you can't see the image above, click here!

Harvesting these trees requires 77 Woodcutting and offers a new way to train the skill while gathering one of Vampyriums most valuable resources: Bloodwood sap.

This activity is intentionally designed around a spectrum of engagement, similar in spirit to systems such as Oathplate smelting. You can approach Bloodwood Trees in a relatively low-intensity, semi-AFK way, or opt into a more click-intensive style that rewards focus and effort.

Once gathered, this untradeable sap can be used to treat eligible Logs, arrows, or Arrow shafts before fletching them into Seeker arrows (more on that below) with a sharper, more reliable bite...

A Note On XP & PvM Interactions

XP Rates

If you followed our earlier blogs, you may notice that this version of Bloodwood Woodcutting offers significantly higher XP rates under certain conditions of high-intensity play than originally discussed. While the original proposal outlined rates of roughly 80-90k XP/hr through more active play, the activity released today can compete with top-end methods under highly optimised play.

As development continued, the activity evolved across the entire engagement spectrum, with the biggest changes coming at the higher-intensity end. Through iteration and playtesting, the mechanics became deeper and more involved than our initial proposal. As that happened, we felt the XP rewards needed to evolve alongside the activity, rather than remain locked to rates first outlined in the overview blog.

At the same time, this also aligned with a wider shift in player feeling around XP rates and skilling metas in general, particularly regarding methods involving tick manipulation. We've heard plenty of feedback over the past year that activities requiring greater attention and execution should feel appropriately rewarding, and we wanted Bloodwood trees to reflect that philosophy.

As with all new content, we'll be watching how this plays out at launch and looking at both Bloodwood sap production and how this activity fits within the wider Woodcutting meta. If the balance isn't where folks would like it to be, we'll make the necessary adjustments together as we go.

PvM Interactions

Our earlier blogs also mentioned that certain PvM encounters in Vampyrium could support Bloodwood sap production. However, during development, we explored several implementations but ultimately ran into the same problem each time. Either the PvM rewards were so small that they didn't feel worthwhile, or they became valuable enough that they undermined Bloodwood Woodcutting as the primary way of obtaining sap, and we couldn't find a middle ground that achieved what we wanted. Instead, at launch, Bloodwood Trees will remain the primary source of Bloodwood Sap, making higher-intensity Bloodwood Woodcutting even more rewarding for players who choose to engage with it. We'll continue monitoring how Bloodwood sap enters the game after release, and if additional sources are needed in future, we'll discuss those with you before making changes.

Finally, we appreciate that both of these changes differ from what was originally outlined in our Overview blog. We should have communicated those changes more clearly before launch, rather than leaving players to discover them on release day, and that's on us. We'll do better to call out significant design changes like these in future, and we'll continue listening to your feedback as The Blood Moon Rises settles in.

Venator Slayer

Among Vampyriums deadliest inhabitants are the Venators - vampyric pack beasts bred for blood sport and relentless pursuit.

If you can't see the image above, click here!

Venators require 74 Slayer and offer a new way to approach Vampyre Slayer tasks. When assigned to slay Vampyres, you can now choose to seek out these vicious beasts in Vampyrium instead, for a slightly more dangerous, active take on the task.

If you can't see the image above, click here!

These encounters are primarily single-combat and lean more towards rewards than Slayer XP, with a higher-intensity fight than standard Vampyres. Although more attention will be required, you'll be rewarded with a slightly higher rate of Blood shards in exchange. Venators also drop tarnished equipment and jewellery, which can be polished with 60 Crafting for Crafting XP and a random item of the same type.

Slayer tasks remain the main way to hunt Venators, but they arent the only way. Players engaging with Stymphike Hunter can earn Stymphike Feathers, which may be handed in to a nearby Aranei for limited off-task access to Venators. 100 feathers are required at a minimum in exchange for up to 3 Venator kills.

If you can't see the image above, click here!

If youve unlocked Bigger and Badder, you may also encounter a Superior venator.

If you can't see the image above, click here!

These deadlier variants are far more aggressive, chasing you down to stay within striking distance. Superior Venators can appear both on and off task, though only the on-task Superior Venators will roll for that elusive Imbued heart and Eternal gem.

The Maggot King

Deep within Vampyrium lies something ancient... swollen... and ravenous.

If you can't see the image above, click here!

The Maggot King is a new repeatable solo boss encounter unlocked after completion of The Blood Moon Rises quest, offering a unique new challenge for players ready to take on one of Vampyriums most grotesque horrors.

This is an instanced fight designed to test your precision, endurance, and rather more goo than anyone should be comfortable with.

As the fight progresses, the Maggot Kings attacks become faster and more oppressive. The arena will grow increasingly dangerous, and youll need to manage the boss, its hazards, and the things crawling out of the filth if you want to survive.

A few things to know before you enter:

The Maggot King can be assigned as a Slayer boss task, but it does not count toward any traditional Slayer tasks (e.g. Vampyres).
A scoreboard outside the arena tracks personal and global kill counts, deaths, and best times.

If you can't see the image above, click here!

Those who manage to bring down the Maggot King will have a chance to earn new rewards, including the Crimson kisten, a powerful crush-focused Special Attack weapon, and the Elder venator fang (previously referred to as Alpha venator tooth) - a key component used to create the Necklace of Rupture for a best-in-slot Ranged amulet upgrade.

Theres also a new pet to chase! After defeating the Maggot King, you can claim your loot as normal or sacrifice it for a better chance at the pet. Sacrificing your loot gives you a chance to receive one of three mysterious eggs, each offering a different chance of hatching into the Maggot King pet.

Rewards: Crimson Kisten

With a focus on Crush accuracy, the Crimson kisten is designed to support its Special attack, Brutal Swing.

If you can't see the image above, click here!

Costing 50% spec energy, Brutal Swing makes four separate accuracy rolls in a single hit. The more rolls you land, the harder the attack hits, rewarding high Crush accuracy with escalating damage.

In practice, its damage scales like this:

1 successful roll: 70-110% of your max hit
2 successful rolls: 90-130% of your max hit
3 successful rolls: 110-150% of your max hit
4 successful rolls: 130-170% of your max hit

Against Crush-weak targets, youre more likely to land multiple successful rolls and push into the higher damage ranges. Against enemies where Crush isnt ideal, the Special Attack still works, but without the same ceiling.

If you can't see the image above, click here!

To keep things in check against very low-Defence targets, the Kistens maximum hit is reduced by 1 when all four accuracy rolls succeed. This mirrors how Dragon claws calculate their own damage cap, helping the Crimson kisten stay devastating where Crush matters without invalidating existing Special Attack options elsewhere.

If youre looking to tear through Vampyriums horrors with something suitably vicious, this one belongs at the top of your list.

If you can't see the image above, click here!

Rewards: Necklace of Rupture

The Necklace of Rupture is a direct upgrade to the Necklace of Anguish, offering a new best-in-slot option for Ranged setups.

If you can't see the image above, click here!

To create it, youll first need to obtain an untradeable Elder venator fang from the Maggot King. From there, the process mirrors other high-end jewellery upgrades:

Obtain an untradeable Elder venator fang from the Maggot King.
Etch the tooth with 84 Crafting to create a tradeable Etched elder venator fang.
Combine it with a Necklace of Anguish, requiring 84 Crafting.

If you can't see the image above, click here!

This extra crafting step keeps high Crafting levels relevant while avoiding the need to sacrifice additional Zenyte jewellery just to trade or store the upgrade.

Skilling Reward: Seeker Arrows

Seeker arrows sit at the heart of Vampyriums skilling rewards, but rather than introducing a brand-new arrow tier, Seeker arrows act as an upgrade layer. They enhance standard arrows, letting your existing ammunition remain relevant while giving it a Vampyrium-forged edge.

When applied, Seeker arrows provide:

+20 Ranged Accuracy
A minimum hit of 3, raising your minimum damage from 1 to 3

Wed also like to clarify how the minimum hit works with this one, as damage is rolled and calculated as normal, and only then raised to 3 if it would have been lower. Seeker arrows can still miss, but successful hits wont land as 1s or 2s. For the Venator bow, this minimum hit applies to every bounce, meaning each hitsplat generated by the bow will have a minimum hit of 3.

If you can't see the image above, click here!

To create Seeker arrows, youll first need Buckets of bloodwood sap gathered from Bloodwood trees. From here, you have two options:

Create Seeker arrows from scratch by treating logs with Buckets of bloodwood sap, then fletching the Sap-treated logs into Seeking arrow shafts.

The higher the tier of log used here, the more Seeking arrow shafts are supplied. For example, applying Sap to a Redwood log will yield 105 Seeking arrow shafts when cut, whereas a treated Oak log only provides 30.

Finally, add feathers to create Seeking headless arrows and attach your chosen arrow tips to finish the arrows.

Apply Bloodwood sap to existing arrows, Headless arrows, or Arrow shafts to convert them directly into their respective Seeker arrow versions, in batches of 15 per bucket of Sap (same as the rate of standard logs).

A few extra things to note:

Seeker arrows work with any standard arrow types from Bronze - Dragon arrows, including Broad arrows, but cannot be applied to poisoned arrows or fire arrows.
Seeker arrows are tradeable once completed, but Seeking arrow shafts and Seeking headless arrows are untradeable.
Sap-treated logs cannot be burned.

Player Support and Anti-Cheating Statistics

Welcome back to our monthly snapshot of Player Support and Anti-Cheating activity - your behind-the-scenes look at all the hard work going into keeping Gielinor fair and fun for everyone.

Each month, we share key stats from our Player Support and Anti-Cheating teams so you can see exactly whats been happening behind the curtain. From how quickly were responding to your queries, to the number of bots and rule breakers taken down, heres the latest data for May 2026:

Metric	May 2026	Year to Date**
Wealth Removed (OSRS)	4.76 Trillion	17.4 Trillion
Support Queries Resolved	80,038	401K
RWT Bans (OSRS)	Total - 22,888 F2P - 5,242 P2P* - 17,646	84,796
Report Action Messages	177K	869K
Macro Bans (OSRS)	Total - 712,870 F2P - 691,426 P2P* - 21,444	Total - 6.9M F2P - 6.6M P2P* - 343K
Live Chat Queries Resolved	4,169	24,217
Chat Spam Mutes	3,748	18,170
Average Response Time	20 hours	-

*P2P refers to an account with access to members worlds and features, either through a Bond or direct payment.

**Year to Date refers to the period from January 1st, 2026 through to the end of the month covered by the stats - in this case, the end of April 2026.

You can check these out in the Player Support Statistics and Anti-Cheat Statistics pages. Our teams remain as dedicated as ever to tackling cheaters, scammers, and spammers to ensure a fair playing field for all. As a result of these ongoing efforts, we're seeing an overall decline in rule-breaking activity. We're also seeing that the average account age and average account level of bots are decreasing, indicating that longer-standing and higher-level bots are being detected and removed from the game. Thanks for all the reports and support you send our way - it really does make a difference!

Additionally, weve had a few reports of some players being phished out of their accounts. As always, bad actors are always cooking up new tricks. We've heard of a new few ones including fake P-Mod application forms asking for login details and illegitimate Jagex Launcher downloads hosted on other websites. This is a quick reminder to stay safe out there and think twice before entering sensitive details or downloading anything advertised as relative to RuneScape. There are no P-Mod Application forms, and anything you download for RuneScape must be a subdomain of Jagex.com or RuneScape.com to be considered safe. Always download anything directly through our website or Launcher nowhere else.

Some rules we always recommend:

Don't click suspicious links or download unknown files.
Jagex will never ask for your password or verification codes via email or messages. Never give away credentials that could be used to access your account.
Use your browser's phishing filters.

You can find out more about phishing on our Support Centre.

A Note from Us

You can also discuss this update on the 2007Scape subreddit, the Steam forums, or the community-led OSRS Discord in the #gameupdate channel. For more info on the above content, check out the official Old School Wiki.

Mods Abe, Abyss, Acorn, Ape, Arcane, Archie, Argo, Ash, Asherz, Ayiza, BigRig, Blighted, Blossom, Boko, Brooksie, Bruno, Bulb, Chilly, Criminal, Curse, Daizong, Default, Doctor, Ed, Elena, Enigma, Entropi, Freddie, Frogs, Fuzz, Gecko, Ghost, Gizmo, Goblin, Grace, Grub, Halo, Harold, Hend, Hornet, Husky, Ivory, Jalo, Jamesy, Jerv, Keyser, Kieren, Kirby, Kurotou, Leebleh, Lenny, Light, Liron, Lotus, Lykos, Mack, Manked, Markos, Maylea, Mobius, Moogle, Morty, Moz, Necro, Nin, Nixon, Nox, Nylu, Oasis, Ori, Other, Otter, Pheasant, Philomel, Pyro, Pork, Pumpkin, Puppi, Rach, Redfield, Rice, Romy, Roy, Ry, Saiyan, Sarnie, Schmidt, Shogun, Shroom, Sigma, Skylark, Smithy, Sova, Spacebar, Spyro, Squid, Starry, Stilrush, Suharun, Surma, Sween, Tide, Titania, Titus, TJ, Tomb, Tsourorf, Tyran, Veda, Vegard, West, Wolfy, Yozora, Yume & Zaf

The Old School Team.