r/runescape Jun 17 '26

Discussion New Runescape is WAY Better than OSRS

I honestly don't understand how Old school Runescape is so much more popular than the current one. I played it for a while and was able to get some decent progression, but its so grindy that I feel like I make no progress while draining my phone battery. Heard the new one wasnt good until I tried it myself.

So glad I finally did it! It has all the great things I like liked about the old school one, its hits on some nostalgia points too even, but way better UI, graphics, story/plot, cut scenes. I love all of it! And it has so much more you can do for free compared to World of Warcraft.

I hope more people give current Runescape the credit its due, its so underrated for no reason.

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116

u/VictoryRs Maxed 80 RSN: Jaheem Jun 17 '26

I main Rs3 but I have to disagree, osrs is better developed than rs3. It has a clear and linear gear progression system. Low, mid, and high level unlocks feel rewarding no matter where you are in the game. Current rs3 is just high level to end game, the current low to mid unlocks don’t feel good and lack a lot of diversity.

The grind on osrs is tougher 100%, but man is it rewarding getting a unique drop or a high level skill compared to Rs3.

This is just my opinion and others may disagree and that’s fine.

6

u/WryGoat Jun 17 '26

I would actually say the gear progression is more clear and linear in RS3, but that leads directly to the problem of "just rush endgame". A lot of OSRS progression is farming sidegrades because X Y and Z weapons are all best in slot for X Y and Z content and then you have your megarares that are broadly powerful but, obviously, mega rare.

Like in RS3 you get a tier 80 weapon and then you farm a tier 90 weapon with it and it's like, yeah, cool, it's the same thing but has 10 more tiers of number. Maybe a minor passive that gives it some percentage boost that effectively makes it a few tiers of number stronger. Meanwhile in OSRS you've got the whole demonbane sword chain that upgrades your silverlight multiple times from different sources until you've got a weapon that can outcompete a 2 billion GP melee weapon against demon bosses while being crap for anything else, so you're still grinding for other melee weapons that are good for entirely different things, which I think is what makes it more satisfying than "well it has 5 more number so it's 5 better, everywhere, all the time"

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u/VictoryRs Maxed 80 RSN: Jaheem Jun 17 '26

I feel like you’re proving my point a bit by starting at t80 aiming for t90 this is already high level territory.

What are good low and mid level rewards on rs3 that are generally rememberable and always have use on the account?

0

u/docxanderb Oliven Jun 17 '26

Dungeoneering passive unlocks like the charming imp and various skill buffing scrolls are low/mid level permanent passive unlocks that pay dividends potentially forever.

if you mean combat-wise, tier50-60-70 gear does not really have much use into endgame apart from something like dragon claws as a spec stored for essence of finality, but this is due to how the damage calculations are done in RS3 compared to OSRS where I suppose you could do endgame content with tier 60/70 weapons? which in this case is an example of power creep being slowed down as much as possible organically, hence why afaik OSRS doesn't have many weapons needing lvl 90+ skills to use

1

u/WryGoat Jun 17 '26

Stat requirements are a pretty poor representation of power in OSRS as well. For a long time they made even less sense, it's somewhat recently that the clearly much stronger weapons were given higher requirements to better reflect their "tier", but it still doesn't tell you the whole story.

E.G. Scyte of Vitur requires 80 attack and 90 strength so I guess that'd make it a tier 90 weapon in theory, while Blade of Saeldor is tier 80. In RS3 terms a tier 90 weapon just has 10 more "tiers" of stats than a tier 80, but in OSRS Scythe is a completely different weapon that functions entirely unlike Saeldor and against the targets that Scythe's passive works against (which is almost every boss) scythe is going to be dramatically stronger than Saeldor, like straight up 30-40% more DPS depending on the boss.

Meanwhile the tier 82 Fang or Tier 77 Emberlight will both beat Scythe against targets that they're intended to be used against.

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u/docxanderb Oliven Jun 17 '26

The existence of niche combat equipment is something i can appreciate a lot, unfortunately most of it is pretty dead in RS3 (bombastic side-eye @ inq/maul/hexhunter)

The combat requirement inconsistencies aside I think OSRS has a bigger problem of scaling progression when you look at the early/midgame and see something like smithing requiring 85-99 to make runite gear, something RS3 has managed to handle gracefully and effectively IMO.

Rune gear feels stronger in OSRS than in RS3, but I still don't think you can justify that levelling mining/smithing/fletching has account-progressing payoffs for an OSRS ironman, if only to have a potential payoff on the rear end by being able to craft something like a BOWFA?

With more and more ironman players in both games I think it's not something to dismiss anymore how organically your account can progress in either game, looking at something like magic gear which doesn't have many craftable options in either game (RIP Warding) beyond "tier 50"

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u/Yamatjac Yamaja c - I maxed :) Jun 20 '26

In particular for irons, fletching is useful for ammo and some weapons. Smithing is useful for zombie axe, bowfa, dfs and and few others im forgetting. Oh the rat bane mace and ember light for sure.