Christmas has come early to RuneScape as we kick off a month-long festive celebration.

Access the Christmas interface in-game by clicking either the snowman icon on the Ribbon or the Minimap bezel for full details of everything we’re running: our multi-part Christmas holiday quest, the return of Winter Weekends and loads of community events. There’s also an Advent Calendar which will earn you useful – sometimes rare – gifts each December day, all the way up to Christmas.

The Ninjas have also snuck in a long-awaited overhaul and expansion of defenders, making them the ultimate off-hand weapons for dedicated dual-wielders.

Read on to find out more!

The Pinch who Stole Christmas | Free-to-Play Quest

How to Start Speak to one of the snow imps at the Priffdinas, Burthrope or Lumbridge lodestones. Requirements None

Across Gielinor, individuals linked to the festive season are going missing, and slippery figures waddling in the shadows are the prime suspects.

It’s down to you to find out what’s going on. Speak to one of the snow imps at the Priffdinas, Burthrope or Lumbridge lodestones to begin an investigation that will take in a suspiciously present-laden iceberg off the coast of Daemonheim...

The Pinch who Stole Christmas is a multi-part holiday quest that’ll play out over the next four weeks. Come back throughout December to get to the bottom of this thoroughly fishy mystery.

Note that – as a holiday quest – The Pinch who Stole Christmas does not award quest points and is not a Quest Cape requirement. It will be available to play until the update on the 11th of January.

Complete each week’s part and you’ll unlock a Christmas activity. This time it’s the Great Gielinor Bake Off, which awards Cooking and Defence XP for preparing and taste-testing all manner of festive fare.

There’s a new Christmas cosmetic reward to enjoy each week, too. First up, it’s a new snowboard design. If you didn’t get a snowboard last year, you’ll get one as part of the reward. Lost snowboards can be reclaimed from Diango.

Advent Calendar

From 00:00 UTC on December 1st, get special gifts every day for free with our in-game Advent Calendar!

Access the Advent Calendar through the Christmas interface, and check in each day until Christmas for a new gift, including useful – and sometimes rare – items. Every day will be different - and a surprise - so keep coming back for your free gifts. If a particular gift takes your fancy and you want more of it, fear not! There will be more like it on Treasure Hunter for that day only. Keep an eye out for the new untradeable rare that will be gifted out during the month, and will be available to Ironmen too!

If you miss a day, there’s no need to worry – you can claim the gifts from previous days at any time. Note that the advent calendar will remain available for around three weeks after Christmas Day, so you can pick up any unclaimed gifts.

Please note: since the items on offer are from Treasure Hunter, the Advent Calendar is not available to Ironman players (except for the mystery untradeable rare mentioned above).

Winter Weekends

From 12:00 UTC every Friday for the next six weeks, enjoy 72 hours of frosty fun with Winter Weekends.

This week kicks off with a Dungeoneering weekend, offering double tokens from regular dungeons and Sinkholes, and +50% base Sinkhole lamp XP.

You can find full details of each of the six weekends in the Christmas interface.

New Defenders

Everyone’s favourite off-hands of old get a much-deserved upgrade today, plus three new tiers – all the way up to level 90!

The new defenders follow the same progression system as the existing ones, so you’ll need the dragon defender to get started.

Upgrade to the next tier by collecting a special drop. Note that you’ll need to have the previous tier of defender or better equipped or in your inventory to get it. The special drop can also be used in the creation of upcoming ranged and mage defenders.

However, this week sees the release of the following 3 new melee defenders only. Here’s a list of what they are and how to make them:

Corrupted Defender | Level 70

Get a corrupted sigil from the regular Barrows chest

from the regular Barrows chest Use it on a new or fully repaired Dharok’s greataxe, Verac’s flail, Guthan’s spear or Torag’s hammer

Ancient Defender | Level 80

Get an ancient emblem from Nex

from Nex Use it on a chaotic splint which can be purchased from the Dungeoneering Rewards Store

Drygore Defender | Level 90

Get a piece of perfect chitin from the Kalphite King

from the Kalphite King Use it on a new or fully repaired off-hand drygore mace, sword or rapier

On top of this, there have been some improvements to defenders overall:

Defenders allow use of abilities that otherwise require a shield

+3% accuracy boost

Enjoy!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year in Gielinor, so get stuck in and have fun. Let us know your thoughts over on the forums!

This Week's Live Streams

Each week we stream developer Q&As, in-game events and more. Watch our streams and find a full streaming schedule over on our Twitch channel.

Developer Q&A: Tutorial Island Quest | 17:00 UTC, Tuesday 1st December

Join Mod Osborne along with Mods Deg, StuO and Kelpie for a back-to-our-roots look at the forthcoming Tutorial Island quest.

Custom Clue Scrolls with Mod Lee | 21:00 UTC, Tuesday 1st December

Join Mod Lee for custom clue scrolls and giveaways on the stream.

In Other News

The Raptor tires of the puny Slayer creatures Gielinor offers, and so has gone in search of bigger game. He's left his chest near the Burthorpe bank chest

Read the patch notes for further details of today’s update.