In a fitting spout of spring renewal, a major update is coming to Divination next month which will make the skill more AFK-able and more enjoyable to train than ever before!
This update goes live on Tuesday, May 4th, which just so happens to line up with the second day of Double XP LIVE. Sounds like a match made in heaven!
While youre waiting, heres a sneak peek at what you can look forward to.
What is Divination?
Divination is best described as the skill of the skillers. Through Divination, you'll set out on an adventure to harvest the divine energy pouring out of Gielinor and transform it into a variety of useful portents, boons and signs - all of which help you fight harder, skill more effectively, and gather resources more efficiently.
For example, when heading into a tough combat encounter, you might take a Portent of Death - a valuable layer of protection that instantly resurrects you upon death with 15% of your base health, while also removing 15% of your target's base health. If you're the skilling type, you might use a Sign of the Porter to instantly teleport any gathered resources to your Bank - a must for higher level Archaeology spots!
You can find a full list of all the cool things you can do with Divination over at the RS Wiki.
Design Goals
Despite its many benefits, the actual experience of training Divination as it is today leaves something to be desired, resulting in it being one of the least trained skills in RuneScape but all that changes with this update! We set out on a mission to give Divination a clearer identity and ultimately make training it a more engaging experience. Within that goal we had three core objectives:
- Reposition Divination as an AFK-friendly skill
- Add more interesting aspects to the core skill loop
- Refine some of the skill's rewards
An AFK-Friendly Skill?
We want to bring Divination into the same realm as skills like Mining and Archaeology, with core training that can be AFKd but rewards deeper engagement. While the core of the skill has some fundamentals in place, we felt like the skill needed to really tone down the random parts of the experience and ensure a minimum level of guaranteed gathering per minute to lower the attention span the skill requires.
With this goal in mind, we've made the following changes:
- Wisps now stay within 5 tiles of a Crater at all times
- Memory springs now remain for at least 60 seconds
- Chronicle fragments now spawn next to you and will not move
If you're playing on mobile, these changes also have the added benefit of making the Skill even more fun to play on touch screens!
Improving the Core Skill Loop
Part of making Divination more exciting means creating variety, moment-to-moment but of course, we dont want to compromise our focus on AFK-friendly training. Instead, weve zeroed in on the communal elements at the heart of Divination, which this update will bring to the forefront of the core gameplay loop through valuable benefits.
Memory Overflow & Chronicles
Were introducing a new buff known as Memory Overflow which occurs when you and a few other players contribute enough Chronicle Fragments to an energy rift. When the energy rift overflows the buff will be activated and youll gain the following effects:
- +1 base energy from deposited Memories
- 5% more XP from deposited Memories
- 10% higher critical chance when siphoning from nearby springs
- Spawns an Enriched Wisp which boosts your crit rating by 100%
- This mechanic replaces Enriched Wisps spawning every 20 minutes
Chronicles are a key part of this event, and so this update also gives them a bit of love. As well as the simpler spawning mechanics, nabbing a Chronicle within 6 seconds of it appearing will net you an Enriched Chronicle worth 1.5x the XP. Enriched Chronicles contribute even more progress towards overloading energy rifts.
Of course, you can always hand your Chronicles Enriched or otherwise over to May if you prefer.
Springs and Memories
As of this update, if multiple players begin siphoning from the same spring, the time that spring lasts will increase by 15 seconds per player up to a maximum of 75 extra seconds. So if youre looking to do some AFK training, grab a mate and head to your nearest spring!
We've also reworked crits for Memories to allow you to 'over-crit', which means you can potentially have two or more Enriched Memories appear at once for even more of those sweet XP gains.
Refining Rewards
While the primary focus of this update is to improve the overall Divination experience, we've also taken the opportunity to make a few adjustments to existing rewards and other mechanics.
Sign of the Porter VII
Those of you who reach the lofty heights of 99 Divination will gain the ability to craft Sign of the Porter VII, which will provide even more Bank-teleporting goodness for your gathering arsenal. This seventh-grade version holds 50 charges and requires 120 Incandescent Energy to craft.
But what about Sign of the Porter VI? we hear you cry. Not to worry VIIs little brother has been bumped down to level 94 Divination and will now require 80 Luminous Energy to craft.
Transmutation
We're adding more tiers for transmuting both Fish and Ores!
Fish
- Raw Sharks = Lustrous Energy + Raw Monkfish
- Raw Sea Turtle = Brilliant Energy + Raw Shark
- Raw Cavefish = Radiant Energy + Raw Seaturtle
- Raw Mantaray = Luminous Energy + Raw Cavefish
- Raw Rocktails = Incandescent Energy + Raw Mantaray
Ores
- Luminite Ore = Sparkling Energy + Mithril Ore
- Orichalcite Ore = Vibrant Energy + Runite Ore
- Drakolith Ore = Vibrant Energy + Runite Ore
- Necrite Ore = Lustrous Energy + Orichalcite Ore
- Phasmatite Ore = Lustrous Energy + Drakolith Ore
- Bane Ore = Radiant Energy + Necrite/Phasmatite Ore
- Light Animica = Incandescent Energy + Bane Ore
- Dark Animica = Incandescent Energy + Bane Ore
Changes Based on This Update
With so many fundamental changes to the core of Divination, a number of existing rewards and items are also seeing changes.
- Divination Skill Cape: Boosts a spring's minimum duration by 30 seconds, one time per spring. This effect does not stack with that of Ethereal Connection.
- Ethereal Connection: Boosts a spring's minimum duration by 30 seconds, one time per spring. This effect does not stack with that of the Divination Skill Cape.
- Fading Memory: Retains all current effects bar the duration increase. Fading Memory now instead provides 20% Crit Chance.
- Elite Divination Outfit: 5% chance of granting a 100% crit chance.
- Elder Divination Outfit: 7% chance of granting a 100% crit chance.
- Prism of Dowsing: Grants 5% crit chance when nearby.
- Chronicle Absorption: Instead of absorbing the Chronicle Fragment, the prayer now automatically picks up the Chronicle and provides an Enriched Chronicle.
- Spirit Attraction Potion: As above!
- Abyssal Transit: Chronicles can now always be offered from the Backpack, and Abyssal Transit now doubles the progress towards Memory Overflow when dropping off Chronicle Fragments.
There you have it! We hope you enjoy the new and improved Divination why not give it a try this Double XP LIVE?
