Runescape Combat Update overview: What are the major changes?

Runescape Combat Update has brought various changes to the title's combat mechanics, which is not something you often see in a game. The recent changes affected all of Runescape's combat aspects, giving players an improved and modernized combat system. With the update's release on March 4, 2024, the game has brought forth many changes in every combat factor one can think about.

This article will review the major changes the game will see with its update.

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Latest Runescape Combat Update is a game-changer for melee combat

Melee Combat has gotten a massive buff in the Combat Update (Image via Jagex)

While the Runescape Combat Update has brought many changes, here are some prominent changes players can notice:

• The game removed Hit Chance. Earlier, using an ultimate and not landing it on enemies was frustrating. Now, Accuracy impacts damage rather than the chance of hitting and the enemy taking away splashing from RuneScape.
• The title has made improvements to Critical Strike, and the damage ranges of abilities have been narrowed, reducing the variance. This will give players control over their damage instead of depending upon RNG.
• Since players loved the Necromancy combat style during the beta stage, modifications have been made to the initial three styles to update them closer to Necromancy.
• Not being able to make decisions during a fight can be hectic. Changes have been made to tooltips, labels, and channeled ability UI to make the game easy to understand and learn.

Changes in melee combat in the Runescape Combat Update:

Melee skills will supposedly be as good as necromancy after the recent update (Image via Jagex)

While all the classes benefit from the Combat Update one way or the other, the melee class gained a massive buff. Multiple visual glitches have been fixed, making melee attacks an excellent choice in the game. Here are some changes the melee combat has seen with the recent update:

• Abilities or attacks now consider the full size of the enemies around the target instead of only checking the tiles next to the NPC's true center.
• Before the update, there were "hidden" attacks where the animation of an attack didn't match the actual effect of the ability. After the update, these attacks have been reduced/removed, syncing the animations accurately with what the attack is doing.
• The Runescape Combat Update has modified various hit timings, giving players a better feel of the game. Before the update, the animations were confusing because one couldn't see attacks connecting to the enemies. This update has fixed that problem, making the game more intuitive.
• Changes have been made about how all the melee abilities worked in the game. All melee attacks will now be easier for the game developers to balance and fix any bugs that arise.
• Players can now move freely even while casting a channeled ability. This improvement can be a massive buff for the Melee attackers, giving them more flexibility. However, Runescape players must be within a certain distance from the target to move during these channeled abilities.
• The developers at Jagex have also given this class various damage buffs and outstanding balances, making melee combat a game-changer after the Runescape Combat Update.

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