Everything you need to know about the Runescape Deadman Mode tournament

Deadman Mode is a temporary game mode of Oldschool Runescape, first introduced in March of 2016. Previously, each “season” of Deadman Mode featured a week-long tournament and a season where the Deadman Mode worlds were available. After the cancellation of Deadman Mode back in October of 2018, the temporary mode is finally back due to the requests of the Oldschool Runescape community. 

This time around, the community of Oldschool Runescape competes for various prizes, including ,000 cash, Razer products, and a brand new PC system. In addition to this, Jagex, the company behind Oldschool Runescape, donates £25,000 to celebrate the return of the event to their charity partners.

What is Deadman Mode?

(Credit: Jagex)

Deadman Mode is a version of Oldschool Runescape where the main aspect is player vs. player combat. Anywhere in Geillanor, the world of Runescape, players can engage in combat with other players. Several areas of Geillanor are excluded from this, however, namely the safe areas surrounding some of the major cities. 

When a player defeats another player in combat, all items carried by the losing player are up for grabs for the winner. In addition to this, ten of the most valuable stacks of items of the losing players’ bank form into a key. The key grants the winner access to this loot when opened in a safe zone. At one time, up to five keys can be collected by a player before they have to return to a safe area. 

Each player can protect up to ten items in their safety deposit box in some of the safe banking options. These items are exempt from the ten most valuable stacks of items lost upon death. 

Increased experience

With the availability of PvP combat all across the servers, the risk increases, to make up for this increase in risk, players earn drastically increased experience rates. The Deadman Mode Tournament has a base increase in experience rates of 10x the usual experience rates in safe areas. With combat skill experience increasing to 15x, the standard rates outside of the safe zones. 

Increased loot all across Runescape

To make things more exciting, the developers have made a large number of changes to the loot certain NPCs can award. Throughout the month-long event, certain areas of the game drop twice the loot they usually would. This change incentivizes combat between the large Oldschool Runescape PvP clans, for the additional loot these monsters drop.

These double-loot events occur each weekend throughout May and feature the locations of the Revenants, Barrows, God Wars, and the Wilderness bosses. 

As with the previous Deadman Mode Tournaments, all NPCs have access to the special supply drop tables. The intend of these supply drops is to make it easier for solo-players to unlock the required potions and other supplies. 

Another example of increased loot is surrounding all aspects of the Wilderness of Oldschool Runescape. For instance, all monsters assigned for the Wilderness Slayer tasks can reward players with Tier 1 emblems. Players can use these emblems to purchase potions, weapons, and other supplies in the Bounty Hunter reward store. The Tier 5 versions of these emblems are up for grabs by killing any NPC over level 100 combat and grant an increased number of points for the store. 

The final notable increase in rewards is to Godwars Dungeon and other aspects of the end game stages of Oldschool Runescape. All Godwars Dungeon rewards and several end-game Slayer drops have their drop chances increased drastically for the tournament. The notable Slayer drops include the Abyssal Whip and the Imbued Heart. 

Restricted Content

There are several items and areas of Oldschool Runescape off-limits to players in the Deadman Mode tournament. The most notable items include the Zenyte ring, used to make the Ring of Suffering, and the Verac’s Flail. The Ring of Suffering was previously the best item available in the Deadman Mode Tournaments as it grants the most potent defensive bonuses of any ring, in addition to the permanent damage recoil effect. 

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Other notable restrictions include the nature rune chest in East Ardougne. The nature rune chest was the most crowded place in the first iteration of the Deadman Mode Tournaments, as it was in the safe area and allowed players to make large amounts of gold while not participating in the game mode. This area, in particular, was restricted from the seasonal and tournament modes. Additional blocked areas include the Wilderness Prayer Altar and the Lava Dragons Isle. 

Besides this, the end game boss Zulrah is unavailable in this edition of the Deadman Mode Tournament. Zulrah’s unique rewards apply their targets with an effect called “Venom.” Venom is the highest damage dealing status-effect available in Oldschool Runescape, dealing up to 20 damage every 30 seconds. The reason this location, in particular, was so problematic, is that the cure to Venom is only available through materials earned by killing Zulrah or through the Cure Poison spell on the Lunar spellbook, which requires the completion of a long series of dangerous quests. 

When does the tournament begin?

(Credit: Jagex)

This edition of the Oldschool Runescape Deadman Mode tournament begins this May 1st, at 1 PM BST / 8 AM ET / 5 AM PT. With the servers being live 24 hours a day until the permadeath stage of the event which starts on May 30th at 7 PM BST / 2 PM ET / 11 AM PT.