Group Boss - Varlamore: Part Two (2024)

Thanks to the more than 6,000 of you who filled in the Survey, we're back with some changes to the Varlamore Group Boss based on your feedback! Huge thanks to everyone who participated.

Here's a summary of the changes:

• The Hueycoatl is now classed as a Draconic creature, and will be weak to Dragonbane Weaponry.
• Reworked the Duelling Wand:
• Removed the unique spell.
• The wand can now autocast combat spell from the Standard Spellbook.
• With the removal of Duelling Shot, the weapon can no longer cast any spell at 3-ticks. Standard Spells are the standard 5-tick cast.
• The Duelling Wand now deals Dragonbane damage.
• Stats are now:
• Magic Strength: +10% (previously +5%)
• Dragonbane Accuracy: +50%
• Dragonbane Strength: +20%
• Added a new reward, in the form of a Ranged Armour set with a total of +8 Prayer Bonus and +9 more Magic Defence than Blessed Dragonhide.
• Added seeds for a new herb, which will be combined with the secondary ingredient from the upcoming Herblore Activity to create a Prayer Regeneration Potion.
• Added Sunfire Splinters and Blessed Bones to the Hueycoatl's loot table.
• We'll rename Muddy Pages, Duelling Wand and the new Ranged Set.
• The instanced system will work similarly to that of Nex.
• Yes, there will be a pet.

A Winged Beast

We'll start with one of the more interesting points of feedback we saw. A lot of players looked at the mighty Hueycoatl and saw a 'dragon'. Now, this wasn't originally our intention, so the lore implications will still need to be worked out. However, with the changes to the Duelling Wand, it makes sense to introduce a matching weakness to the boss. Consequently, the Hueycoatl is now 'Draconic', and is weak to Dragonbane Weaponry - including the Duelling Wand.

The Duelling Wand

One of the biggest conversations we saw was about which space this hotly-debated weapon was trying to fill. As many of you pointed out, that space has already been filled quite recently with the Warped Sceptre. In addition, its strength came from Earth spells, which will only see real benefit with the upcoming Project Rebalance changes.

Although we think the original design is in a great spot, it's unfair for us to ask you to judge this weapon before you've seen the Rebalance changes for yourself. Even when it does launch, it will take time for the new meta to be established, and by that point the Wand will have already been polled.

We're stepping away from elemental weapons until Project Rebalance has been realised, so that the community and the team alike can figure where the gaps in your armouries are and what new rewards might fill that space.

Instead, the Duelling Wand will now be a Dragonbane weapon with +50% Dragonbane Accuracy and +20% Dragonbane Strength. Not only will it be effective against the Hueycoatl herself, it'll be a stepping stone towards more powerful Dragonbane weapons like the Dragonhunter Lance or Crossbow.

We'll also give the weapon an extra +5% Magic Strength. Lastly, we're removing the Duelling Shot spell and instead allowing you to autocast any combat spell from the Standard Spellbook, which means the Duelling Wand will benefit from all Elemental Tomes. With the removal of Duelling Shot, this weapon cannot cast any spells at 3-ticks, and will cast Standard Spells at 5-ticks.

A New Reward

From something old to something new, we saw comments that you expected at least a few more uniques from a Group Boss. With that feedback in mind, we've added a new Ranged set.

This set consists of a Head, Body, Legs and Vambraces, and will be an improvement over Blessed Dragonhide Armour with an extra nine points of Magic Defence and a total of +8 Prayer Bonus across the four pieces. The set will require 40 Defence and 70 Ranged to equip, apart from the Legs and Vambraces, which will have no Defence requirement.

We're keen to hear your feedback on this new reward!

Prayer Regeneration Potion

We've saved one of our biggest changes for last! A lot of you found it strange that the Prayer Regeneration Potion wasn't coming from the Herblore Activity - which is a fair feedback point! We did want to give players a reason to come back to the boss after they've scooped their uniques, so we've decided it should drop seeds for a new herb which will serve as the primary ingredient for the Prayer Regeneration Potion. You'll get the secondary from the new Herblore Activity, and Bob's your uncle.

Of course, you may be able to obtain the seed or the herb itself from other sources in future - but for now, the Hueycoatl will be the only place it's available. We haven't yet decided whether this herb should also be used as the primary for the recently-passed Potion of Goading, but we'll be sure to let you know when development has progressed further.

As a small clarification, the Prayer Regeneration Potion will have 4 doses, allowing players to restore up to 66 Prayer Points per dose. We'll be looking into how this effect interacts with those of the Blessed Wrench and other such items - so stay tuned!

Smaller Changes

• Added Sunfire Splinters and Blessed Bones to the Hueycoatl's loot table.
• We'll rename Muddy Pages, Duelling Wand and the new Ranged Set.
• The instanced system will work similarly to that of Nex.
• There will be a pet.

That's it for feedback changes! The newspost has been updated, and the Poll Questions have been added. Make sure to swot up before the Poll goes live - and thank you, once again, for your feedback.

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:

1. Join the Dwarven Party and make your way up the Darkfrost mountain.
2. Attack the parts of the Hueycoatl sticking out from the rock, while avoiding hazards. Don’t forget your protection Prayers!
3. When the Hueycoatl moves, climb to the top of the mountain and attack the head.
4. If the Hueycoatl uses its tail to defend itself, shatter it so you can resume the fight!
5. 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 Pages

Tradeable

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%.

Hueycoatl Wand

Tradeable

On the same theme, we’re shaking things up with a brand-new weapon!

The Hueycoatl Wand requires 65 Magic to wield and can autocast any spell from the Standard Spellbook at the usual 5-tick speed, which means Earth Spells can benefit from the new Tome!

That's not all this wonderful Wand has to offer - it's a Dragonbane Weapon, with +10% Magic Strength, +50% Dragonbane Accuracy and +20% Dragonbane Strength!

This puts the weapon in a really good spot against Draconic creatures with elemental weaknesses, and will be better than powered weapons like the Trident in this specific niche. There's still a sizeable gap between the Hueycoatl Wand and the Dragonhunter Crossbow and Lance, which means Vorkath's Magic Defence leaves it floundering against the mighty Dragon.

New Ranged Set

Tradeable

This new set will consist of a Head, Body, Legs and Vambraces and will be an improvement over Blessed Dragonhide Armour with a total of +8 Prayer Bonus across the four pieces and an extra 9 points of Magic Defence! The set will require 40 Defence and 70 Ranged to equip, aside from the Legs and Vambraces, which will have no Defence requirement.

We're keen to hear your feedback on this new reward!

Prayer Regeneration Potion

Tradeable

Our final reward is the new Prayer Regeneration Potion. The effect will regenerate 1 Prayer Point every 12 ticks for 8 minutes, which should give you around 8 Prayer Points p/m, for a total of 66 points overall per dose. Let’s see what that looks like in practice:

• 99 Prayer using Protection Prayers = 4m 57s VS w/ Prayer Regen = ~7mins
• 99 Prayer using Piety, Rigour etc. = 2m 28s VS w/ Prayer Regen = ~3 mins

To create this potion you'll need a brand new herb, the seed for which will be dropped from the boss. Once you've grown the herb, you'll combine it with the new secondary from the Herblore Activity to create this powerful pot!

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.

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.

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