Combat Evolution Beta is Close!

Some info from the Combat HQ, where you sign up for the beta:

New abilities (Click to View)

New Abilities

The Evolution of combat will add a huge range of new and exciting abilities, both offensive and defensive for melee, ranged and magic users adding new effects and tactics to combat, with both creatures and other players!

As you progress, levelling up Attack, Strength, Defence, Ranged, Magic and Constitution you’ll unlock the various Abilities that will be useful for a variety of situations. These new Abilities will replace the Special Attacks that were previously restricted to certain weapons. Some of the more popular and favourite Special Attacks will be adapted for the new system, so you’ll have more freedom and choice about what you wield and which abilities are more useful for the situation.

There will be 3 levels of abilities available: Basic, Threshold and Ultimates!

Basic Abilities

These can be used by anyone and will be useful in everyday combat. These will include attacks that have a chance to stun and interrupt spell casting, or do a critical hit, apply a damage over time effect (similar to poison), hit multiple targets, temporarily reduce damage taken, and many more!

Threshold Abilities

These are a step up and are more powerful than Basic Abilities. These attacks will include multiple attacks in quick succession such as rapid fire, area of effect damage, damage reflection, multi spell casting, and plenty of other options to give you a wide selection of strategic abilities at your grasp!

Ultimate Abilities

These are by definition, ultimate in power! These Abilities are incredibly powerful and represent a devastating way to destroy your enemies with ease! These abilities include a range of damaging attacks such as Meteor Strike, Deadshot, and Tsunami as well as lifesaving effects that could completely turn the fight around, and many more!

Combat FAQ (Click to View)

Q: There is an item in my inventory?
A: Yes, this is a Combat Beta Contract. When you use this item, you will be taken to the Combat Beta Sign Up page.

Q: Where will the item be if my inventory and bank are full?
A: You'll be given the item as soon as you login and have space appropriate for the item.

Q: How is the 12 months of membership calculated?
A: It’s calculated the same way as the Members Loyalty Programme and the Forum “Member since” date. Therefore, an easy way for you to see how long you’ve been a member is to simply post on the forum or view one of your previous posts to check.

Q: How will the 50,000 extra places be allocated?
A: We will be selecting players on a number of different parameters to ensure we have a wide variety of play styles, skill sets, experience etc.

Q: How long do I have to sign up?
A: The sign up will be open from 1st June through to 19th June.

Q: If I missed sign up can I join the Beta at any time in the future?
A: Yes, we will be opening up the Beta at weekends for all members. We will be detailing this over the coming weeks.

Q: How will we hear from you if we are successful, email, inbox etc?
A: Upon signing up you'll see a confirmation screen that you've registered your interest. If successful you will be invited by email to the beta on the 26th of June when the Beta launches.

Q: When does the Beta end?
A: We anticipate the Beta finishing towards the end of August. However, the Beta will run as long as we need to ensure that the Evolution of Combat is ready for its full launch to the LIVE game!

Q: Will the bugs I report get fixed before it goes live?
A: We will certainly aim to fix any relevant bugs and balancing issues found before the full launch of the Evolution of Combat.

Well I signed up, hope i get picked for it :] Can't wait to try it out!

Thanks Dave.
I bet special attack weapons like claws are gonna crash now, since they are worthless.

Thanks Dave.
I bet special attack weapons like claws are gonna crash now, since they are worthless.

You make a good point. If the dragon claw loses its special attack and remains the same otherwise, that makes it worthless. The same goes for many other weapons that are used primarily for special attacks, such as godswords.

I also think, though, that for the sake of balancing claws are likely to get an overall dps improvement to bring it up to par with other weapons. I'm shooting in the dark here, but I think I could see claws getting a big speed boost and becoming the quickest melee weapon in runescape, with the best dps against low-defence opponents like what we have now with rapiers in dg. And I don't think the special is going anywhere either. It's a big favorite and will probably will become one of the new combat abilities they are talking about here.