Old School RuneScape Winter Summit 2026 Preview: What to Expect from Raids 4 and Beyond

The Old School RuneScape Winter Summit has officially wrapped up, and with it comes a full look at Jagex's roadmap for the year ahead. From competitive live events and Leagues to major PvM expansions, new skills content, and the long-awaited Raids 4, the future of OSRS is looking packed—and ambitious.

Let's break down everything announced, starting with the smaller updates and building up to the most exciting reveals.

Major buy RS gold Events in 2026

Deadman Allstars – June 20 (Chicago)

Deadman Allstars returns as a LAN-only live event, hosted in Chicago with over 3,000 seats. By moving the competition offline, Jagex is ensuring a fairer, more exciting tournament environment—no DDoS issues, just raw PvP skill in front of a live crowd.

RuneFest – October 3–4 (NEC)

RuneFest is officially back, taking place at the NEC on October 3rd and 4th. This will be one of the biggest community gatherings of the year, with reveals, panels, and developer insight into OSRS's long-term future.

Leagues Return in April: The Yama-Themed League

Leagues are coming sooner than expected, launching in April. While gameplay details remain limited, the theme alone has players hyped: Yama, 666, and hellish aesthetics.

Confirmed League Rewards

This League may offer some of the strongest cosmetic rewards to date:

Full demonic outfit set

Flame-themed banner featuring Yama

Teleport animation where imps drag your character into hell

Thrall reskins

Weapon reskins (Trident, Iban's Staff, Soulreaper Axe)

Oathplate and Radiant Slayer Helmet skins

Red demon butler reskin

Early impressions suggest this could be the best Leagues reward pool ever, even without full gameplay details revealed yet.

Sailing Progress: Combat, Cannons, and Design Changes

Jagex shared further updates on Sailing, with a strong focus on combat integration.

Cannon Rework

Instead of cannons replacing traditional combat, they will now:

Scale with ranged gear

Deal bonus background damage

Use double cannonballs per bar

Allow standard weapons to deal full damage

This makes cannons a supplementary damage source, similar to thralls, rather than a dominant combat style—likely the cleanest solution for balance.

New Sailing Additions

Barracuda Trial

Player-designed islands

Additional skill integrations

However, concerns remain around Griffin changes, particularly the difficulty and rarity of Bellator's Folly. While task weighting and extensions are being adjusted, drop rates and combat achievements may still make the boss unrewarding for most players.

Player-Designed Content Voting

Four player-submitted island designs were showcased, each with unique mechanics focused on crafting, agility, or PvP. While none were perfect, the first proposal—featuring a PvP practice boss and hybrid skilling methods—stood out as the most promising.

The final decision will be made by community vote.

Blood Moon Rises: New GM Quest and Solo Boss

The Blood Moon Rises Grandmaster quest introduces a repeatable solo PvM boss, vampire-themed upgrades, and several powerful rewards.

Blisterwood Flail Upgrade

4-tick weapon (down from 5)

+25% damage and accuracy vs vampires

Faster Blood Shard farming

New Execute Spec Weapon

50% special attack

Guaranteed 70% max hit on success

Executes targets below threshold HP

This weapon has strong potential at bosses with multiple phases, including ToA encounters and Theatre of Blood.

Seeker Arrows: A Massive Ranged Buff

One of the most impactful updates is Seeker Arrows, crafted using Bloodwood Sap.

Why Seeker Arrows Are Huge

+23 ranged accuracy (arrows normally give none)

+2 minimum hit

Works with Dragon, Amethyst, Rune, and more

Applies to Tbow, MSB, Scorching Bow, and Venator Bow

This massively boosts ranged DPS across the board, especially on fast weapons and multi-hit bows like Venator. Notably, Bowfa does not benefit, raising questions about long-term balance.

New Skilling Methods

Hunter

Chill, XP-focused hunting method

Less click-intensive than chinchompas

Minimal rewards, pure experience

Fishing

New leech-fin fishing method (~60k XP/hr)

Medium interaction similar to Moons of Peril fishing

Produces food with delayed healing mechanics

New Food: Leech-Fin Sandwich

Heals 16 HP instantly

Heals another 16 HP on next melee hit

High risk, high reward, PvM- and PvP-oriented

New Slayer Creatures: Vampire Alternatives

A new Slayer option allows players to kill Sentinels or Ventors instead of crowded Vyres.

Level 74 Slayer

Single-combat focused

Higher Blood Shard rates

Off-task access tied to Hunter activity

This finally addresses one of OSRS's longest-standing Slayer pain points.

New Solo Boss: The Maggot King

The standout PvM reveal is a grotesque new boss tied to vampire lore—a parasitic monstrosity connected to Verzik's race.

Designed for experienced PvMers

Harder than Yama

Solo-focused

High-tier rewards

Boss Rewards

Crimson Bludgeon

Crush-based claw alternative

Four accuracy rolls

Slightly lower max hit than claws

Excellent vs crush-weak bosses

Necklace of Pursuit

Anguish upgrade

+7 accuracy

+3 ranged strength

+1 prayer

This necklace alone represents a massive DPS increase, especially when combined with Seeker Arrows—raising concerns that ranged may be overtuned compared to melee.

Raids 4: The Fractured Archive

Raids 4 is officially titled The Fractured Archive, featuring a gothic theme and a boss-focused structure inspired by Theatre of Blood.

Key Features

No puzzles

Multiple demi-bosses

Final epic encounter

Scales from 2–8 players

Solo possible, but difficult

Practice mode added post-launch

Wipe Mechanics

Full wipes at launch (preserves world-first race)

Later shifts to ToA-style retries with reduced rewards

Requirements

Completion of While Guthix Sleeps

Steepest raid requirement yet

This design prioritizes team-based PvM, while still allowing solo players to push themselves—a balance many feel every raid should follow.

Final Thoughts: Let Them Cook

While some players are frustrated that much of this content lands later in the year, the overall direction is clear: quality over speed.

Recent updates have shown the cost of rushed releases. With Raids 4, with OSRS gold,Blood Moon Rises, and Sailing, Jagex appears committed to delivering polished, long-lasting content—bosses and systems players will still engage with years from now.

If that means waiting a little longer, it's a trade many players are happy to make.

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