Old School RuneScape’s (OSRS) new expansion, Varlamore, is lauded by the OSRS community as a welcome addition to the game. Some praised how it was designed, how the quests are tailored, and how the developers welcomed a suggestion from the player base itself. This article discusses the Varlamore expansion and its implications on how OSRS is played in this new map.
History of the Varlamore Expansion
While the majority of OSRS is designed by the developers, Jagex, Varlamore is one of the few instances where the players had their suggestions taken in by the developers. The basis of the Varlamore expansion came from a Reddit user named GentleTractor who, in 2016, suggested a few modifications to Zeah (a continent in the far west). They mentioned that the modifications will be the one defining trait of OSRS, meaning the map (and eventual expansion) would differentiate OSRS from the other RuneScape variants.
The proposed idea of GentleTractor has the continent spread out instead of its square-shaped form. Areas to use OSRS gold are in their appropriate terrains while dungeons and raids are scattered throughout the region.
GentleTractor themself recognized early on that the suggestions would mean a “re-do [of] all of Zeah as it [currently] exists.” But his suggestions and hard work paid off, when the new expansion was announced in 2023, GentleTractor became a collaborator commissioned by the developers. The Varlamore expansion was released in 2024 to critical acclaim by the community.
Exploring Varlamore
Currently, Varlamore has five quests: one of which comes from the pre-expansion and is a required quest to enter the new continent.
- Children of the Sun: The “prequel” quest that introduces players to Varlamore upon completion of the quest.
- Twilight’s Promise: The quest that explores the features of Varlamore.
- Perilous Moons: Introduces the first boss dungeon and its three bosses.
- At First Light: Introduces the Hunter’s Guild.
- The Ribbiting Tale of a Lily Pad Labour Dispute (“Ribbiting Tale”): Gives players access to a new hardwood patch for farming.
Quests in Detail
Children of the Sun
You set out to do some sleuthing or, more appropriately, spying on a suspicious individual who appeared just as the delegates of the Kingdom of Varlamore arrived in Varrock. This quest introduces players to a major characteristic of Varlamore: A religion based on the Sun. As this quest progresses, the player foils a major plot to assassinate the high priest of Varlamore.
Twilight’s Promise
After foiling the assassination attempt, you are told that one of the Knights of Varlamore who went with the delegation is a possible suspect. This quest introduces a religion based on the Moon. This makes Varlamore a dualistic and ditheistic kingdom.
Perilous Moons
This quest introduces the first set of bosses in the expansion, the three Moons of Peril. Each of the Moons has specific quirks and weaknesses. This quest also introduces the players to the origins of the Kingdom of Varlamore.
At First Light
A straightforward quest that introduces players to the Hunter’s Guild and its “rumours system” which acts as the way to get quests from the guild.
Ribbiting Tale
This quest is a humorous take on real-world society. However, it is not a filler quest since the reward lets players access a new hardwood Farming patch, which gives players more resources to craft OSRS items for sale. The player attempts to mediate between a human and a group of frogs over a labor dispute. The frogs say that the human is mistreating them, while the human believes that the frogs are plotting against the human race. It’s up to the player to attempt a peace negotiation.
Perilous Moons as a Collaborative Effort
Perilous Moons is one of the few quests in OSRS that has multiple boss fights. Because of this, it may be recommended to do this with a party as the bosses have their unique properties.
- The Blue Moon: The Blue Moon is an ice-based boss that deals with Ice damage and traps. Its weakness is Crush.
- The Blood Moon: The Blood Moon is an area-of-effect damage dealer that weakness to Slash.
- The Eclipse Moon: Same as The Blood Moon, they deal with area-of-effect damage. Its weakness is Stab.
All the Moons of Peril are melee-based since they can only operate within the circles they are summoned to. Thus, they cannot move around the rooms they are contained in. Protection prayers do not work because the bosses can still inflict damage by nullifying their effectiveness.
While preparations for the boss battle is essential, a balanced team composition is important to make them easier. Have a team that does the specific melee skill needed to deal damage to each of the Moons, a healer that restores party HP, and at least one wild card that can do a filler role. Know the attack patterns of the bosses to coordinate a counterattack and make use of the environment.
Conclusion
The Varlamore expansion single-handedly revived the interest of the OSRS player base due to its original and player-suggested input. Because of its roots in a Reddit post by GentleTractor, the enthusiasm and widespread community approval gave the Varlamore expansion its much-needed seal of approval. The experience of playing Varlamore and its quests are definitely worth a try, especially with a party. That’s partly why Varlamore was created in the first place, to lure old players back by giving them a map that feels “RuneScapey” and quests worth the visit for.
