13-May-2013 - The Nexus

[Octarine]

The Nexus (members only)

 

There's something unspeakable brewing beneath Lumbridge Swamp, and the druid Ysondria needs your help to send it back to the pit from whence it came! The Nexus is a new training method for the Prayer skill, aimed at low-level players, where you'll channel your inner strength to push back a foul horror emerging from under Lumbridge Swamp. It's designed to be a social training method, so you'll be able to chat to your friends while working through those early Prayer levels.

 

Head south from Lumbridge to the centre of the swamp and the nature of the corruption will become clear - a dark pit, writhing with tentacles and grasping hands. Speak to Ysondrianearby, who'll tell you the story of how the Nexus came about, and how you can help to hold it back.

 

 

First, you'll need a charmed sack, which you can obtain from Ysondria. When you have this, you can click on the Nexus to fill it with corruption. Once the sack contains some of the Nexus's corruption, it's time to feed it back to the Nexus - using its own evil as a weapon against it. To do this, first locate one of the stone pillars around the Nexus. Click on one the bowls found around the pillar and you'll start to purify the corruption, feeding it back to the Nexus in a far less palatable form! Both of these steps earn you Prayer XP, and low-level players will find that it's a great way to train.

 

Under certain circumstances, the streams feeding into the Nexus will turn orange, and one aspect from each of the four pillars will be blocked, as indicated by a glowing orb above each one. You'll have to switch to a different bowl if you're channelling the blocked aspect when this happens.

If this happens five times, beware - the gruesome grotesque will work its way free of the Nexus! When this horror emerges, click on it to help banish it with sheer strength of will. Succeed, and it'll drop bones that - when buried - grant you a chunk of Prayer XP.

 

The rate at which you earn Prayer XP from channelling, purifying and burying grotesque bones will vary according to your level. One thing to note, though, is that the XP you can earn from the Nexus (including all three of the above methods) is capped at 37,224 XP. This is enough to get a new player over the first levelling hurdle in this useful skill, and for everyone else it's a nice chunk of XP that can be earned with friends of all levels.

 

Enjoy!

Mod Krista

 

How to start the Nexus:

Head to the centre of Lumbridge Swamp - south of Lumbridge - and speak to Ysondria.

 

Requirements:

You must be a RuneScape member.

 

In Other News

• Pick up some new ways for your PvP opponents to die, with our Elements of Deathanimations, available now in Solomon's General Store!
  
• Look out for a terrifically transmuted take on the Alchemist's Amulet, available on the Squeal of Fortune from this weekend!
  

 

[spoiler=Patch notes]The following fixes and tweaks have now been implemented. If you believe a change has not been documented, either in the patch notes or the news posts for this week’s update, please detail the change so that it may be added.

 

As always, be sure to submit a bug report should you encounter a gameplay bug or graphical glitch in-game.

 

Graphical:

 

Mining picks and woodcutting hatchets no longer appear on the players back as well as in their hand when using them.

Players no longer attempt to hold a training sword and hatchet together when chopping trees.

Some stretching on the mithril kiteshield has been fixed.

Yadech Strongarm no longer has patchy skin.

Mayor Hobb's neck no longer stretches.

Female players thumbs no longer grow to ridiculous lengths whilst wearing the unhallowed top.

Iconis' animation now plays correctly.

Players hands no longer stretch as Eek runs around.

Bonzo's jaw has been fixed.

Anton from the Warriors Guild no longer has patchy skin.

The Ranged skillcape emote now pulls down the bow string correctly.

Eblis now has updated robes and no longer has patchy skin.

An issue with the particle effect playing upside-down on the jousting lance (rapier) cosmetic override has been fixed.

The wicked robe no longer causes sheathed weapons to bounce.

The skin tone on Matthias the Falconer has been corrected.

Meiyerditch miner animations have been improved.

Players no longer stretch when transmogrified as a chicken after attempting to take a Completionist cape.

Jayene Kilyn no longer holds her bow the wrong way.

An issue with starfire and starfury bow strings becoming unattached to the bows has been fixed.

The Guildmaster from the Champions Guild no longer wears out of date armour.

The Weaponmaster from the Shield of Arrav quest no longer wears old steel armour and weapons.

Skillcapes no longer clip with tetsu body armour.

A minor issue with Bandos' death animation has been corrected.

The colouring on the Armadyl soulstone has been changed.

 

 

Quests, Challenges & Achievements:

 

Players can now attempt the Love Story quest without owning a player-owned house.

Players will no longer disconnect when trying to light the furnace in Enakhra's Lament.

The quest requirements for Ritual of the Mahjarrat now show the correct combat levels for enemies.

Dialogue regarding the Death Plateau quest no longer appears in Troll Stronghold if players have already completed it.

The Fremennik elite task "Potting With Otto" now correctly states that you need to make a super ranging mix.

A typo on the minigames noticeboard for All Trolls Must Die has been corrected.

A small spelling error during A Clockwork Syringe has been fixed.

Nomad no longer caps magic damage against him at 750.

The Quest Journal for Recipe for Disaster has had some new icons added for the NPC sub quests.

 

 

Skills & Minigames:

 

Abidor Crank now heals the player for the correct amount of health.

Fixed an issue which could cause players to disconnect during the Thok Your Block Off saga.

Using the Home Teleport spell whilst controlling Ariane during the Three's Company saga now works correctly.

The tent icon is no longer present over the Worn Equipment stone when teleporting away from the Circus after doing thieving tricks.

An issue with an elite compass treasure trail not showing 'X' when you standing on the correct spot near Duel Arena has been fixed.

Captain Errdo will now accept his order from the Gnome restaurant.

Handing in hard leather boots and gloves for a Crafting daily challenge now functions correctly.

An issue with a random event at the Livid Farm requiring adrenaline has been fixed.

 

 

TzHaar:

 

The types of TokHaar fought on the lava grille sections before TokHaar-Hok have been changed so that only one type (melee, ranged or magic) will spawn at once.

Enemies fought during the quest and in the Fight Cauldron no longer regen health out of combat.

TokHaar fought throughout the Brink of Extinction now do 40% less damage.

TokHaar-Hok has been rebalanced with the most recent combat changes in mind. He now deals 25% less damage, drains prayer points 25% slower, has a lower block chance and his hitpoints have increased to 50,000.

The rematch during the Fight Cauldron with TokHaar-Hok is now the old quest version of TokHaar-Hok. This includes summoning of additional TokHaar.

TokHaar-Hok will now only challenge you to a rematch once every 30 minutes in the Fight Cauldron.

TokHaar killed in the Fight Cauldron award you again with 2x-3x normal XP.

Obsidian armour's damage reduction has been increased to restore its effectiveness in TzHaar minigames. (The damage reduction is still only applied in the TzHaar City and connected areas.)

Obsidian armour damage reduction is now effective against any damage taken while inside the TzHaar volcano, not just NPC attacks.

Obsidian armour damage reduction is now displayed on object tooltips.

The chance for obsidian armour to degrade has been changed. It no longer degrades outside of TzHaar areas, has a 50% chance to degrade inside, and that chance is reduced to 20% when under the effect of a TokKul donation coffer buff.

The cost of the obsidian armour buff in the Fight Cauldron has been halved, to 15,000 TokKul.

 

 

Other:

 

The Lily of the Valley update has been removed.

Armour from Player Owned Ports now has a higher value when calculating which items are kept on death.

The Quest stone no longer opens the Noticeboard whilst in combat.

The aegis aura effects have been boosted.

Players can no longer cast ice spells on a chimp ice whilst in monkey form.

Uncharged Dungeoneering reward shields no longer cause a maging player to run next to their enemy.

Some abilities have been corrected to now work in combat against Vyrewatch.

Dungeoneering familiar special attacks are now displayed correctly in the 'Follower Details' interface.

Dungeoneering and Temple Trekking NPCs now award shared experience correctly.

The Lumbridge Cook is now keeping a sharper eye on his range to stop players cooking there without his permission.

A pool of water in some Dungeoneering rooms has been blocked off.

Players can now telegrab coins with a full inventory.

The attack style of black unicorns has been fixed.

Orb charge spells are now listed in the Magic Skill Advance Guide.

The Sorceress has returned from holiday and can now been found in her house.

Players can no longer use the fire in Borrokar's house if they haven't completed The Fremennik Trials.

There is now a boat moored in the water near Witchaven after beginning the Salt in the Wound quest.

Two lines of text concerning burning shades have been added to the game filter.

Empty beer glasses in a POH no longer display that they heal 200 life points.

A bug that caused the life point bonus from shields to stay with the player after they swapped for an off-hand weapon has been fixed.

Salamanders now only require the appropriate Ranged level to equip them.

Some dialogue for Spria and Tureal has been changed so it is not gender specific.

Players who have made a starfury staff will now find they can reclaim it from Diango, instead of the starfire staff.

Commander Zilyana will no longer slide around after being knocked to the ground in hard mode.

The tradeable treeshaking scrimshaw now provides bird's nests and implings correctly.

Coloured slayer helms now have the same stats as the regular slayer helm.

Several pieces of God Wars armour now have a Prayer bonus.

Following last week's changes, we've altered the Kalphite King and Queen Black Dragon hit chances to make them slightly easier to hit.

 

[Arceus]

In case anyone is wondering, 37,224 xp seems to be the exact amount to obtain level 40 from scratch.

[Ambler]

Armour from Player Owned Ports now has a higher value when calculating which items are kept on death.

WOOTWOOTWOOT

[I_am_Geed]

QBD & KK easier to hit?

 

Not going to hold my breath on anything substantial there :(

[Octarine]

QBD & KK easier to hit?

 

Not going to hold my breath on anything substantial there :(

 

So long as we're not back to drygoring every phase of KK.

[aerendil]

NEX FIX NEX FIX NEX FIX WHERE IS IT JAGEXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

 

 

dissapointing update, nothing of especial interest.

[Poppet]

TokHaar-Hok will now only challenge you to a rematch once every 30 minutes in the Fight Cauldron.

 

Good fight slayer exp. Good fight.

[Nobody]

Players can no longer cast ice spells on a chimp ice whilst in monkey form.

 

Glad I got that out of the way a few months ago #

[Platinum_Myr]

Solid patch notes, even if somewhat annoying.

[Bxpprod]

QBD & KK easier to hit?

 

Not going to hold my breath on anything substantial there :(

 

QBD is pretty much back to where it was. Can't speak to KK.

[Alg]

dissapointing update, nothing of especial interest.

Seems to be another case of "awesome idea, terrible implementation". I mean, purifying energy to keep a horrible monster from breaking out of its prison in the depths of the earth? And it doubles as a way to train prayer? And it's a social training method?

[Quyneax]

About the Nexus: the light at the top of the pillar indicates the bowl you can't use - easiest is to use the opposite bowl (other side of the pillar). That is, assuming everybody should use the same bowl on a given pillar.

[PolarBearBlue]

Players can no longer cast ice spells on a chimp ice whilst in monkey form.

 

Glad I got that out of the way a few months ago #

 

Same.

 

In other news, BOE isn't as much as a [bleep] anymore, or so I hope.

[Saradomin_Mage]

You can do the purification faster if you break the delay each time you add to the bowl.

 

[liljjp]

i have no clue what the hell i am supposed to do in this update.. lol

lady talks in riddles.

[Plugpoint]

Still don't understand why the Nexus isn't F2P

[I_am_Geed]

QBD & KK easier to hit?

 

Not going to hold my breath on anything substantial there :(

 

QBD is pretty much back to where it was. Can't speak to KK.

 

Yeah i even got a few sub 2 minute qbd kills. Exciting.

[muggiwhplar]

You can do the purification faster if you break the delay each time you add to the bowl.

 

 

I like how most of the people in that photo have skillcapes. You know, because that's demographic that this update was catered towards :lol:

[Saradomin_Mage]

Lol :D

 

 

You can turn in the charmed sack for a whooping 100 Prayer XP.

 

Also, grotesque bones don't count towards the XP cap.

[Aiel]

Still don't understand why the Nexus isn't F2P

dissapointing update, nothing of especial interest.

Seems to be another case of "awesome idea, terrible implementation". I mean, purifying energy to keep a horrible monster from breaking out of its prison in the depths of the earth? And it doubles as a way to train prayer? And it's a social training method?

That. So much.

[Binary Mage]

It's a great training method, a great explanation for the setting, an evolving story that gives you more details as you get closer to the cap, an excellent implementation of a social training method, and one of the only times I've ever seen RuneScape players work together as a team to accomplish something when they aren't specifically told to do so by the game itself.

 

It's almost a perfect update--the only issue is that it isn't F2P. A majority of the people doing this right now are 70+ folks doing it for a barely-noticeable tidbit of XP and some lore. There's barely any folks here that it is actually targeted towards, which is a shame because it would really be such a great update for those who need it.

[Saradomin_Mage]

I still find it really hard to believe that wall beasts were that big a deal.

 

I give Mod Krista 7/10 for her first piece of content as parts of the lore felt very forced and un-Scapey, but at least it worked.

[strilmus]

I don't really get who the authority on what scape should be, aside from the "no modern technology without some dwarven handwaving" rule

[Mojo_Monkey]

Mining picks and woodcutting hatchets no longer appear on the players back as well as in their hand when using them.

 

[sarcasm] New world record for fastest fix ever. [/sarcasm]

[strilmus]

the nexus would be one million times easier if the bowls were color coded

 

overall i rate this a "person doesn't know how to design game content" out of ten