It’s the moment you’ve been waiting for: Archaeology is here, and it’s ready to play right now! But before you grab your mattock and set off to lands unknown, we’ve got some important information for shovelbums everywhere…

Shall we begin?

Archaeology

Note:Due to the high volume of players trying to log-in to the game and loading the assets, it might be more difficult to play and/or log in. If so, please wait a little bit and try logging in a bit later again. Thanks for your patience and see you all in Varrock!

To get started with Archaeology, you’ll need to make your way to the Archaeology Guild for some on-the-spot training. After that, you can roll out to Kharid-et, where Dr. Nabanik has an important task for you.

You’ll need a significant amount of archaeological acumen to fully explore all five dig sites, so don’t worry about moving on to the next big dig – you’ll be back later, armed with new knowledge, to uncover even more treasure.

Here are some of the unlocks you can look forward to at each level:

5 Dig Site: Kharid-et 20 Dig Site: Infernal Source 42 Dig Site: Everlight 68 Ancient Summoning Binding Contracts. Mystery Requirement: Dagon Bye 70 Dig Site: Stormguard Citadel 76 Dig Site: Warforge! 95 Ancient Invention Blueprints Mystery Requirement: Howl’s Floating Workshop 99 Skill Mastery 120 True Skill Mastery

It goes without saying that at every level you’ll unlock new artefacts, new relics, and new things to do – but there’ll be no spoilers in this newspost, thank you very much!

That said we have compiled a list of everything we've uncovered so far, which you can check out here.

Archaeology 101

The core loop of Archaeology is deceptively simple: you’ll use your mattock to excavate artefacts, soil, and materials. Then, you’ll restore your artefacts using the materials you’ve gathered, or sift through the soil for more materials to use.

After that, it’s up to you! You can sell your lovingly-repaired artefacts to private collectors, donate them to the Varrock Museum, keep them for yourself, or even break them down into Invention components - old and new!

Amnesty Period

For cape hunters, Archaeology will have a grace period for six months after release. This is what that means in terms of game mechanics:

Capes

Upon logging in on March 30th, you will lose:

Max Cape

Completionist Cape

Trimmed Completionist Cape

Gatherer’s Cape

If you achieve 99 Archaeology during the six-month grace period, you will get your Completionist and Trimmed Capes back, as well as the Max Cape for reaching 99. If you don’t complete this requirement by the end of the grace period, you will have to reach 120 Archaeology to get your Completionist and Trimmed Capes.

Archaeology is jam-packed with new Achievements, and some of them are required to get your Completionist Cape - so keep an eye out, and start checking them off your list now!

You will not lose the Master Quest Cape on login, but you will after 6 months if you don't meet the requirements.

Boosts

To make the race for 99 and 120 Archaeology fair for everyone, some boosts will be disabled during the grace period:

Boosts that work:

Skillchompas

Archaeology skilling outfit (Normal, not Elite. Available through gameplay only).

Archaeology Elite Skilling Outfit (available through gameplay only)

Invention tool perks (not Wise, but the others like Honed/Furnace/New perk)

Boosts that don’t work:

Wisdom Aura and Wise perk

Refer a friend bonus

Clan avatar bonus

Experience lamps

Bonus XP

Incense sticks

Pulse cores and cinder cores

Other XP boosting items

A Note on Account-Sharing

We're aware the race to the top of the HiScores will be intense, and we want to ensure it is as fair as possible. As such, we will be taking action against any players who are account sharing in order to gain an unfair advantage in the rankings.

Thanks for your cooperation, and here's to a fair fight!

Zodi-Yak Track

In all this excitement, don’t forget that the Zodi-Yak Track is still open for your all your yak-based cravings. It seems that Yaktrick Moore has added a number of new Archaeology tasks to his list, so there’s no need to miss out on that sweet, sweet day one XP.

It’s also a great time to purchase the Premier Pass and get access to all the snazziest rewards from the Premium Track. Remember, you’ll also get any rewards you would have already unlocked, so it’s a great bargain.

Archaeology Merch

A new skilling range is now available in the Official Merch Store, alongside a treasure trove of other goodies!

Perhaps you’d like to take that archaeological ambiance with you on the go? In that case, look no further than the Archaeology Soundtrack, featuring 17 new tracks from RuneScape’s newest skill, alongside 17 tracks from The Land Out of Time. These rockin’ RuneTunes are available on all major streaming services, including Spotify.

Prove your mastery of Archaeology – or another classic skill – with your very own Master Cape phone case! Available for all the most popular models.

Finally, it’s worth pointing out that from now on, spending over £50, €60, or $70 will get you free shipping. It’s a permanent buff, so keep it in mind!

We don’t expect any delays to deliveries due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation, but we will keep you updated.

Player Gallery x Razer Competition

With all of you finally enjoying the new Archaeology skill – and what’s without a doubt the biggest RuneScape content update in years – you betcha we’ll have a ‘Grand Opening’ with one of you favourite community competitions! That’s right, the Player Gallery is back and this time, we’ve got some ultimate Razer loot for you to win! Most of you know the drill by now but let’s roll it once again if you don’t know what a Player Gallery is about.

What is it?

The Player Gallery is one of our favourite ways to celebrate our love for the amazing content created our talented community. The idea is simple: create a piece of art featuring the whole new experiences you get to live in Gielinor, and you can get rewarded for it with amazing prizes!

’Amazing prizes’ indeed because for this competition, we’ve partnered with Razer to give you a chance at upgrading your gaming setup and get the best Archaeology experience you could ever have!

1st & 2nd place – 1 Razer Kraken Ultimate Headset + 6 Month RS Membership each

3rd to 5th place - 3 Bonds

Honorary Mentions – 1 Bond

How to enter?

Simple, just let your inner muse talk and create a piece of art related to Archaeology. Painting, drawing, music recording, 3D printed figurine, 10-feet tall mural... it can be anything as long as it can be called "art"!

Then, you will need to submit your piece of art. To do so, simply send us an email (competitions@jagex.com) including your entry and your RSN.

You can submit your entries starting NOW, and have until Sunday April 26th 2020, 23:59 UK Time. We will then sort the entries, proceed to an internal vote and announce the winners on Monday, May 4th in the game update news post.

Have fun and may the best artists win!

Terms & Conditions

Want some extra loot?

If you'd like to unearth a Razer Kraken Ultimate Headset of your own, or any other Razer goodies, you can use this link and enter the code 'Jagex10' prior to checkout, which will grant you a 10% discount on all Razer products until April 5th!

Patch Notes

We've uncovered an ancient clay tablet that appears to discuss something called... 'Patch Notes'! Yes, this week the Patch Notes post is back and filled with the changes and fixes you know and love. Here are the highlights:

Added a 'Bank Deposit' map icon to all bank deposit locations.

Added tooltips to items in the Skillguide.

Updated all mouseovers on achievements within a meta-list to state your progress.

To see the full, dusty list of changes, click here.

Don’t forget, if you find something in game that bothers you, you can challenge the Ninja Team to tackle it! Just head on over to the Dojo and submit your request.

RuneScape Wiki

With Archaeology finally upon us there's never been a better time to brush up on your Gielinor know-how, and there's no better resource than the official RuneScape Wiki.

The Wiki is a vast encyclopedia of knowledge, ripe for the picking. Whether you fancy deep-diving through the lore of the land or soaking up some tips and tricks, it's an excellent resource for any and all players!

Already an avid peruser of the Wiki and its knowledge? The site is 100% community ran and therefore always welcomes dedicated community members to help out. Contributions are especially appreciated during larger game updates and new skills/content launches.

If you do feel like donating your time and expertise, why not take a look at their One Small Wiki Favour initiative? You might be able to earn a few bonds for your efforts!

Linux Fix

Last week some of our Linux players experienced issues downloading and accessing the game. We implemented a fix to resolve this, but be sure to let us know if you still encounter any problems!

Livestreams

Tuesday, March 31 – 17:00 BST (16:00 Game Time) – Let’s Play Archaeology

The expedition to Archaeology has launched, which means only one thing: time to play! Our JMods will take the action into Gielinor and start digging into one of the amazing locations introduced with the skill: the Kharid-et Dig Site! Want to join the fun and skill with us? Then join us on Twitch to know on which world we’ll be.

And to make this Let’s Play even more exciting, we will be running a Twitch Live Giveaway! We’ve partnered with Razer to give you a chance at upgrading your gaming setup and get the best Archaeology experience you could ever have. During the stream, we will randomly pick 3 lucky ‘Scapers in the chat and offer them a shiny new Razer Kraken Ultimate Headset!

LootScape will be enabled.

LootScape

Our live streams are always a great opportunity to grab some awesome in-game prizes – and with the arrival of Archaeology come an extra surprise… the LootScape has some new loot! Starting today, each and every RuneScape stream and featured Content Creator stream watched will give you a random drop from one of the following below.

Small (250 Archaeology XP) or Large (500 Archaeology XP) Twitching Tome

A random Archaeology consumable

View counter goes up on Orb

By the way, you won’t be able to use the Twitching Tomes before completing the Archaeology tutorial. We wouldn’t want any of you coming in fresh and having that thing explode in your hands because the Archaeology Guild hasn’t given you the proper training. No no.

And remember, all Premier Club Gold members will also get an extra drop!

Exciting isn’t it?! So don’t wait up - connect your RS account to your Twitch account and find out more here (https://www.runescape.com/lootscape). Once that’s done, have fun and watch our streams during the day for a guaranteed drop.

Pink Skirts Events

Pink Skirts is a dedicated P-Mod-led community, and it invites you to a range of daily activities such as PvM masses, Q&As, and other thrilling or chillin' events! Check out all the community events organized by the Pink Skirts on the in-game calendar or on their official schedule here.

- The RuneScape Team