Old School RuneScape unveils its hardest raid yet, 'The Fractured Archive'

Jagex has unveiled the fourth raid to come to Old School RuneScape, and the developer has warned it will be the toughest raid it has ever released.

Old School RuneScape unveils its hardest raid yet, 'The Fractured Archive'
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Tech and Science Editor
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TL;DR: Old School RuneScape's new Fractured Archive raid, set beneath Gielinor, promises the toughest challenge yet with demibosses and a final epic battle. Designed for 2-8 players but soloable with difficulty, it requires completing While Guthix Sleeps and features future practice modes and evolving wipe mechanics.

The Old School RuneScape team has unveiled the fourth raid to come to the ancient MMO that is teeming with players, and according to the developers, this raid will be the toughest one it has ever released.

Jagex has explained in a recent blog post that The Fractured Archives are located deep beneath Gielinor within an ancient cave used by the god Guthix to store his most treasured items. Players will be traveling to the Fractured Archive for the raid, where they will encounter "agents of other gods, curious creatures, Guthixian guardians, and more". Players will be tasked with stopping the contents of the archive from falling into the wrong hands.

Jagex wrote in the post that they are taking a Theatre of Blood-styled approach to the Fractured Archive raid, which means players will face off against a selection of demibosses, won't encounter any puzzle rooms, and then engage in a final epic boss battle in the final phase of the raid. Notably, players will also be able to solo the Fractured Archive raid, but Jagex is first focusing on making the raid optimized for 2-8 players. Moreover, the developer warns that soloing the Fractured Archive will be "difficult."

Old School RuneScape unveils its hardest raid yet, 'The Fractured Archive' 113290
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[subheading]Other Details about the Fractured Archive[/subheading]

  • There will be a practice mode which allows players to jump into any boss in the raid and practice killing it on the regular difficulty. However, this mode will not be available on release, and will instead launch in the weeks following the raid's release. This will help keep things competitive in the early days and add more excitement to every deep run until the raid has been 'figured out'.
  • On release, a full team wipe will reset the raid. In the weeks following the release, we'll move to a TOA-style wipe system where you have infinite tries but reduced rewards and dwindling resources.
  • Accessing the Fractured Archive will require completion of While Guthix Sleeps. We know that this would prohibit some builds from accessing the encounter, but we'll talk more about accommodating all players in a future blog, so we'd advise you not to worry!