RuneScape combat rework finally fixes EOC’s biggest flaws

A large-scale rework to RuneScape’s combat is now live and it aims to fix the biggest problems with Evolution of Combat twelve years after the controversial update was first introduced.

Most RuneScape players will be familiar with Evolution of Combat, more commonly referred to as EOC. The divisive update was released in November 2012 and saw the popular MMORPG’s once simplistic combat mechanics become more complex and ability-based.

This update was one of the main reasons behind the creation of Old School RuneScape, a classic rendition based on a 2007 version of Jagex’s signature game. It has since grown far beyond that with updates bringing new life to an otherwise classic experience.

The main game still lives on though and Evolution of Combat continues to play an important role. However, twelve years on its flaws have become more apparent pushing the developers to address EOC’s biggest problems as part of a huge combat rework.

RuneScape’s combat is getting overhauled

Looking to bring RuneScape’s three original combat styles in line with Necromancy, Jagex has introduced a large-scale update to combat that fixes many of the current system’s biggest flaws.

The blog post detailing these changes provides an overview of the update which is now live delivers the following improvements:

• Combat made more fluid – improvements for the original three combat styles to modernize them closer to Necromancy.
• Clearer tooltips, labels, and descriptions to help you understand combat and make decisions in the moment.
• Overhaul of accuracy, so it impacts damage rather than chance to hit, removing splashing from RuneScape. Never miss an Ultimate again!
• Improvements to Critical Strike and the damage ranges of abilities so that you are more consistently in control and less at the mercy of RNG.

The main goal of these changes is to not only bring Magic, Melee, and Range in line with Necromancy but also improve the overall feel and accessibility of RuneScape’s combat.

In addition to the large rework of EOC’s core systems, the combat update also sees most abilities, Special Attacks, and several weapons rebalanced to make them more competitive.

Though only time will tell what the meta ends up being it’s not out of the question that iconic Special Attacks like the Dragon Claws, Dragon Battleaxe, and Armadyl Godsword could play an important role once again.