Steel yourselves for self-sufficient 'Scaping and rewarding combat in RuneScape this week.

Ironman mode is here - a community favourite now supported in-game, where you'll forge your own path in the world: making everything with your own hands, claiming every precious drop yourself - all without the help of others.

It's a fresh challenge for experienced players, and there are prestigious titles and chat badges, plus dedicated hiscores to conquer.

Beast and ghosts' drop tables have also been improved, following your vote earlier in the year. Fighting them is more rewarding overall, and can yield new, tradeable boots for mid-level rangers, or ghostly essence, which can be used to upgrade the ectoplasmator.

Read on for full details!

Ironman Mode - How to Start

To create an Ironman account, select the desired mode from the ‘Advanced mode’ drop-down menu in the 'Design your Hero' section of the character creation screen.

Get help with this on our wiki page and FAQ.

From there, you'll be able to select Ironman or Hardcore Ironman mode for your new account.

Ironman accounts have the following restrictions:

No player-to-player trades

No Grand Exchange trades, except Bonds

No picking up drops from other players

No Lootshare

No XP or loot in PvP

No multiplayer minigames

Most facilities in other players' houses cannot be used

No assist or accept aid

Dungeoneering is solo only

No Sinkholes or Warbands

No Treasure Hunter

No Wicked Pouch from Solomon's Store

No Refer a Friend

No Social Slayer

XP gain from clan citadel plots is reduced

No benefit will be received from group buffs, abilities or spells cast by others

Any group abilities or spells cast by an Ironman players will only affect the caster

You must deal more than half the total damage to a monster before you will receive drops from it.

Combat XP is reduced if you do less than 100% of the damage needed to kill an enemy (i.e. if someone else is fighting it as well)

Ironman accounts come with titles and chat badges to show off their prestigious status, and there are Ironman hiscores to compete on. The real reward, though, is knowing that every hard-won victory is yours alone.

Hardcore Ironman accounts take the challenge one step further: all the restrictions of an Ironman account…with permanent death.

If you die in Hardcore Ironman mode, that's it. Your account will no longer be playable, and all gear, items, money and currency - including any RuneCoins or items purchased in Solomon's Store - will be gone for good.

Note that 'Safe' activities carry no risk of permanent death.

Hardcore Ironman players can purchase two extra lives from Mr Ex in Edgeville: one at total level 1000, and another at 1600.

The first costs 100,000 coins, and the second 10 million. Once these two extra lives have been purchased, you can't get any more for that account.

This is an optional safety net, in case you want to protect your investment in your Hardcore character while keeping death dangerous.

Mr Ex can sell you a jar of divine light, which will change a Hardcore Ironman character to an Ironman character. He'll also sell you a book of diplomacy, which will change an Ironman account to a normal account. Note that all changes of both types are irreversible.

Finally, please note that Jagex will not reverse the death of a Hardcore Ironman character for any reason - even in the event of connection issues, or account hijacking. For this reason, we strongly recommend that you use the RuneScape Authenticator to ensure that your account is as secure as possible.

Beast & Ghost Drop Tables

You voted for better drops from beasts and ghosts, and we've brought them to you today.

The following monsters have had their drop tables overhauled, so fighting them is now far more lucrative:

Beasts:

Rock slugs

Terror dogs

Wall beasts

Gargoyles

Kurasks

Turoths

Basilisks

Bloodvelds

Mutated bloodvelds

Dark beasts

Ghosts:

Spiritual warriors

Spiritual rangers

Spiritual mages

Ghasts

Mighty banshees

Banshees

Ankou

Aberrant spectres

There are a number of new drops on offer, too:

Three new sets of boots for rangers : these come in level 40, 50 and 60 varieties, and are dropped by basilisks, turoths and kurasks respectively. Drop chance increases if you're on a slayer assignment for those creatures.

: these come in level 40, 50 and 60 varieties, and are dropped by basilisks, turoths and kurasks respectively. Drop chance increases if you're on a slayer assignment for those creatures. Ghostly essence: this stackable material can be used to upgrade the ectoplasmator to an attuned ectoplasmator. This charge-based item gives increased Prayer XP when killing ghosts, works alongside prayer-restoring necklaces from dungeoneering, and scatters ashes automatically when they drop. 500 ghostly essence are needed to convert the ectoplasmator, and more essence can be used to recharge it once converted. Finally, the chance of essence dropping is increased and drop quantities doubled while on a slayer assignment for the ghosts you're killing.

Enjoy!

It's a beast-wrangling, ghost-grappling week for RuneScape slayers and survivalists.

Hang tough, have fun, and join the discussion on the forums .

The RuneScape Team

In Other News

In preparation for the Impling Collector coming with part two of the Prifddinas release, we’re now tracking the types of implings you’ve captured, both in Puro Puro and throughout the wider game world. The impling types that you capture from now on will be considered caught when the second batch of the Elf City goes live in November.

Kick back in style with more resting animations , available now in Solomon's Store.

, available now in Solomon's Store. You can now complete surveys to earn RuneCoins or Treasure Hunter Keys. Simply click 'earn' in the Treasure Hunter interface or in Solomon's Store, and select the 'Surveys' tab.

Read the patch notes for other updates released today.