RuneScape Adjusts Necromancy XP Nerf Following Player Outrage

Jagex announced today that they have listened to player outrage over the nerf of Necromancy’s best XP method. Players were concerned about whether a 50% nerf on XP gained through the ritual random events would be an equitable choice. This amount of XP gain should have been noted during testing prior to release and apparent during the first days after release as players hit the high score tables in record time.

Players wondered if the nerf was held back three weeks to allow the highly publicized race for the high score tables, and content creators to reach this milestone. Now that that has ended, the everyday player without the ability to spend significant periods of time in-game is being penalized for not doing so.

Jagex released this statement today addressing these concerns:

• As mentioned in the livestream earlier this week, we are looking into adjusting the rate of XP gained from ritual random events. We like rituals being a high effort, high engagement, and high cost way to obtain Necromancy XP, but concluded it is still a bit overtuned.
  • Whilst the initial proposal was discussed at a possible 50% reduction, we’ve read through your feedback and agree that this is a bit too heavy handed, and are now looking to bring it down by 20-25%.
  • As part of this adjustment, we are also considering small tweaks in regards to the balance of XP gained from ritual completion, versus random events (this would decrease the XP from the random events, in turn to buff XP from the ritual completion). We hope this will ensure that actively engaging in rituals will still be a great way to gain Necromancy XP, without being too overtuned in comparison to other methods.

The RuneScape Team, August 25, 2023

Related: RuneScape’s Best Necromancy XP Method is Dead After Nerf Announcement

With this announcement, it seems that an XP nerf is unavoidable, but they are looking to reduce the proposed drop by half due to player outcry. This would result in a 20%-25% nerf to XP. Of course, some players are still unhappy with a nerf at all, as RuneScape players often focus on gaining XP in the most efficient way possible. The upcoming nerf means that if players want to make the most of the XP, they have to put in the work now or miss out forever. However, the majority of players are happy that Jagex has listened to the community feedback and is willing to address and compromise on these issues.

Necromancy has only been around for a few weeks, and the development team will continue to deal with issues that arise. The transparent communication that has been shown recently has been well received, and players should be able to expect this to continue as time goes on.