Dev Blog: Making Friends with My Arm

Dev Blog: Making Friends with My Arm

Two weeks ago we revealed that the next large content release that our project team (do read about the recent team restructure if you haven't done so) would like to offer is Making Friends with My Arm. Making Friends with My Arm is a Master level quest and is the next instalment in the Troll series, designed by Mod Ash himself. The quest was initially pitched to the community at 2016's RuneFest and was in response to a player suggestion to fill the black map zone near Ghorrock, and north of the God Wars Dungeon. Working with Mod Ash will be Mod Munro, one of our newer content devs, and he'll be taking the lead on programming the rewards.

Last week, we released the first draft of the Making Friends With My Arm blog which detailed the quest itself, as well as our initial rewards proposal. Since then we've been working on changing the proposal to accommodate notable pieces of feedback. Below is a changelog highlighting major changes in the proposal since last week's offering.

Changelog:

  • Red salt is now referred to as Stamina salt. Blue salt is now referred to as Prayer salt. Green salt is now referred to as Resource salt.
  • Red fire pits are now referred to as Stamina fire pits. Blue fire pits are now referred to as Prayer fire pits. Green fire pits are now referred to as Resource fire pits.
  • Logs treated with Stamina salt now also require a Stamina potion dose to be used on the log, dependent on the type of log. Yew logs require one dose. Magic logs require two doses. Redwood logs require three doses.
  • The effect of running past a Stamina firepit has been clarified. It results in gaining 10 run energy and your energy will deplete more slowly, similarly to a Stamina potion, for 30 seconds.
  • Prayer fire pits will still yield the same effect when burying bones near the fire pit. Bonecrushers also work for this. Bones can also be used directly on the fire pit.
  • Removed and added a number of fire pits. All are specified below.
  • The quest is now marked as a Master level quest, rather than Experienced.
  • We've added a statement to each firepit poll question which clarifies that if no firepits of a particular type pass the poll then the firepits will simply not be added to the game (for example, if no Prayer firepits pass then no Prayer firepits will be added to the game). The alternative approach to polling would have been to begin with a blanket "Should we add x salt?" which would then run the risk of the salt being added to the game without any utility, should the firepits not pass.




Making Friends with My Arm

Making Friends with My Arm is a Master level quest, taking the much maligned character from My Arm's Big Adventure and sending him on a whole new mission - now venturing into the icy lands of the north to establish relations with the troll town of Weiss.

Players assisting him in this diplomatic foray will learn the troll technologies from Weiss that make the Firemaking skill useful, for the first time, offering buffs to skilling activities elsewhere in the world.

But first they'll have to handle My Arm's ambitions to woo the troll maiden Snowflake and to kill the Wise Old Man...


Requirements

Completion of My Arm's Big Adventure

Completion of Swan Song

Completion of Cold War

Completion of Romeo & Juliet

Level 66 Firemaking

Level 68 Agility

Level 72 Mining

Level 35 Construction

Must not be afraid of nasty trolls.



Rewards

Completing Making Friends with My Arm will reward you with 2000xp in Construction, 5000xp in Firemaking, 10,000xp in Mining, and 15,000xp in Agility. Additionally you’ll gain access to a mine of different coloured salts. These salts are for treating logs that can be burnt in special firepits; these fires will give various benefits while you’re training in their areas. The salts are tradeable, but you must complete this quest before you can use them. The mine also contains a mineral that can teleport you back to this mine, or to the Troll Stronghold for easier access to the rooftop herb patch you unlocked in My Arm’s Big Adventure. You’ll also get the chance to build a new disease-free herb patch in Weiss.

There are three types of salt in the mine: Stamina salt, Resource salt and Prayer salt. These are used to treat various types of log that you’ll burn in the new firepits, with some firepits accepting logs treated with Prayer salt, other firepits accepting logs treated with Stamina salt (which also requires Stamina potions), and other firepits accepting logs treated with Resource salt. The proposed pit locations are marked with blue, red and green fire icons respectively on the map below. Different pits unlock according to your Firemaking level.

Each of these fires has a certain number of charges, determining how often it will grant its benefit before dying out; higher level logs will give fires with more charges, for players with adequate Firemaking levels. The treated logs are stackable, allowing you to re-ignite the fire without awkward inventory juggling. The first time you use a firepit, you’ll need to bring a tinderbox, but you’ll automatically store that tinderbox within the firepit so that you don’t need to bring one in future.

There are also special firepits, marked with grey fire icons below, where all three salts are needed to light permanent fires that will give permanent improvements to the areas, such as mitigating the cold weather effects outside the God Wars Dungeon, or lighting up a dark cave.

The individual appearance and the status of the firepits will be visible only to you. This also means that only you will experience the benefits of a lit fire. Similarly to a Farming patch, a player who hasn't lit a fire in that pit will not see one, and will gain no benefits from one lit by another player.


Prayer Firepits

Once you’ve treated logs with Prayer salt, you can burn them in the firepits marked with a BLUE fire icon on the map. This will give you double Prayer XP while you bury bones in the area around the firepit, as long as the fire’s burning.

The XP bonus will also apply to the Bonecrusher when you use it in that area.

Each time the fire gives you an XP bonus, it uses up one charge, and when the fire has run out of charges it will be extinguished. Treated Yew logs (prayer) will provide 50 charges. Treated Magic logs (prayer) will provide 100 charges. Treated Redwood logs (prayer) will provide 150 charges.

Prayer firepits can be found at the following locations: the Fremennik Isles, Lunar Isle, near the Graveyard of Heroes, the Wyvern Cave, and Death Plateau.


Stamina Firepits

Once you’ve treated logs with Stamina salt and some Stamina potion, you can burn them in the firepits marked with a RED fire icon on the map. This will boost your run energy as you pass near the fire, consuming a charge from the fire each time you receive its benefit. Each charge will boost your run energy by 10, and also cause your energy to deplete more slowly for 30 seconds.

The effect is triggered automatically when you pass near the fire (around 8 tiles) provided your energy is not already being affected by this effect, and provided you’re not already near 100% energy. However you’ll be able to click/tap the fire manually to trigger its effect on demand if the automatic trigger isn’t what you want.

You can treat yew, magic and redwood logs with Stamina salt, along with 1 dose of Stamina potion for the yew logs, 2 doses for the magic logs and 3 doses for the redwood logs. Treated yew logs (stamina) will provide 2 charges before the fire is extinguished; Treated magic logs (stamina) will provide 4 charges, and Treated redwood logs (stamina) will provide 6 charges.

Stamina firepits can be found at the following locations: near the Arceuus essence mine on Zeah, near the Cosmic Altar in Zanaris, Lunar Isle, near the Nature Altar in Karamja, at the entrance to the Ourania Altar, near the Herbiboar paths on Fossil Island, and nearby Falo the bard.


Resource Firepits

Once you’ve treated logs with Resource salt, you can burn them in the firepits marked with a GREEN fire icon on the map. This will give you a 1/3 chance of gaining a double quantity of a specific resource when training in the area. Each time a resource is doubled, the fire consumes a charge.

The firepit only affects one kind of resource in its area. For example, the resource firepit in the Piscatoris Fishing Colony affects only the catching of monkfish, not the other fish that can be caught there. Similarly, the resource firepit near Catherby would affect only the yew trees.

Treated Yew logs (resource) will provide 20 charges. Treated Magic logs (resource) will provide 40 charges. Treated Redwood logs (resource) will provide 60 charges.

Resource firepits, and their corresponding resource, can be found on the map below.


Special Firepits

The grey firepits on the map provide unique effects based on their location. Grey firepits require a brazier to be constructed before use, and require a one-off large deposit of treated logs in order for the fire to burn. The effects of the grey firepits are permanent and the fire does not need to be maintained. The logs used to light the fire will have to be treated by all three types of salt.

The unique effects of the grey firepits are as below:

  • The brazier at the entrance to the God Wars Dungeon removes the chilling effect (which drains stats). The brazier would require 60 Construction to build.
  • The brazier in Morytania swamp prevents swamp decay and removes the aggression of Ghasts. The brazier would require 50 Construction to build.
  • The brazier in the Lumbridge swamp cave acts as a permanent light source for the area. The brazier would require 35 Construction to build.
  • The brazier in the Giant Mole's lair acts as a permanent light source for the area. The brazier would require 35 Construction to build.
  • The brazier in caves on Mos Le'Harmless acts as a permanent light source for the area. The brazier would require 35 Construction to build.


Pit Locations

For an idea of where the firepits will be located, see the map below. The graphics we're using on the map to mark locations and resources are just placeholder images. Should the rewards pass the poll we'll be making a new model. The red fire indicates a firepit in which you can burn Stamina salt. The blue fire indicates a firepit in which you burn Prayer salt. The green fire indicates a firepit in which you can burn Resource salt. The various resources next to the green fires indicate which resources are affected by the fires. The grey fire indicates braziers which offer permanent boosts. The dungeon icon (!) indicates fires located in underground areas.


Click the image to see a larger version depicting the location of the proposed fire pits.


Poll Questions

Poll Question #1
Would you like Making Friends with My Arm, a Master level quest, to be added to the game?

Poll Question #2

Should completion of Making Friends with my Arm unlock a new disease-free herb farming patch in Weiss?


Poll Question #3

Should completion of Making Friends with My Arm unlock a teleport to the Troll Stronghold, giving easier access to the herb patch there? The exact teleport destination would depend on whether you have unlocked the Agility short-cut that leads up to the Stronghold rooftop.


Poll Question #4

Should a brazier be added to the entrance of the God Wars Dungeon which would permanently remove the chilling effect? The brazier would require 60 Construction to build.


Poll Question #5

Should a brazier be added to Morytania swamp which would prevent swamp decay and remove the aggression of Ghasts? The brazier would require 50 Construction to build.


Poll Question #6

Should a brazier be added to Lumbridge swamp cave which would act as a permanent light source for the area? The brazier would require 35 Construction to build.


Poll Question #7

Should a brazier be added to Giant Mole's lair which would act as a permanent light source for the area? The brazier would require 35 Construction to build.


Poll Question #8

Should a brazier be added to the caves on Mos Le'Harmless which would act as a permanent light source for the area? The brazier would require 35 Construction to build.


Poll Question #9

Should a Stamina firepit be added near the Arceuus essence mine on Zeah? If no Stamina firepits pass the poll then Stamina firepits will not be added to the game.


Poll Question #10

Should a Stamina firepit be added near the Cosmic Altar in Zanaris? If no Stamina firepits pass the poll then Stamina firepits will not be added to the game.


Poll Question #11

Should a Stamina firepit be added near the Astral Altar on Lunar Isle? If no Stamina firepits pass the poll then Stamina firepits will not be added to the game.


Poll Question #12

Should a Stamina firepit be added near the Nature Altar on Karamja? If no Stamina firepits pass the poll then Stamina firepits will not be added to the game.


Poll Question #13

Should a Stamina firepit be added near the entrance to the Ourania Altar? If no Stamina firepits pass the poll then Stamina firepits will not be added to the game.


Poll Question #14

Should a Stamina firepit be added near the Herbiboar paths on Fossil Island? If no Stamina firepits pass the poll then Stamina firepits will not be added to the game.


Poll Question #15

Should a Stamina firepit be added near to Falo the bard? If no Stamina firepits pass the poll then Stamina firepits will not be added to the game.


Poll Question #16

Should a Prayer firepit be added nearby the Ice trolls on the Fremennik Isles? If no Prayer firepits pass the poll then Prayer firepits will not be added to the game.


Poll Question #17

Should a Prayer firepit be added nearby the Suqahs on Lunar Isle? If no Prayer firepits pass the poll then Prayer firepits will not be added to the game.


Poll Question #18

Should a Prayer firepit be added nearby the Hill Giants close to the Graveyard of Heroes on Zeah? If no Prayer firepits pass the poll then Prayer firepits will not be added to the game.


Poll Question #19

Should a Prayer firepit be added to the Wyvern Cave on Fossil Island? The Slayer task-only area would also receive the effects. If no Prayer firepits pass the poll then Prayer firepits will not be added to the game.


Poll Question #20

Should a Prayer firepit be added near the Trolls on Death Plateau? If no Prayer firepits pass the poll then Prayer firepits will not be added to the game.


Poll Question #21

Should a Resource firepit be added to Zeah which would affect the catching of grey Chinchompas? If no Resource firepits pass the poll then Resource firepits will not be added to the game.


Poll Question #22

Should a Resource firepit be added to Zeah which would affect the gathering of Yew logs? If no Resource firepits pass the poll then Resource firepits will not be added to the game.


Poll Question #23

Should a Resource firepit be added to Zeah which would affect the gathering of Magic logs? If no Resource firepits pass the poll then Resource firepits will not be added to the game.


Poll Question #24

Should a Resource firepit be added to Feldip Hills which would affect the catching of Red Chinchompas? It would also affect the private hunter area. If no Resource firepits pass the poll then Resource firepits will not be added to the game.


Poll Question #25

Should a Resource firepit be added to the Piscatoris Fishing Colony which would affect the catching of Monkfish? If no Resource firepits pass the poll then Resource firepits will not be added to the game.


Poll Question #26

Should a Resource firepit be added to The Sorcerer's Tower which would affect the gathering of Magic logs? If no Resource firepits pass the poll then Resource firepits will not be added to the game.


Poll Question #27

Should a Resource firepit be added near Catherby which would affect the gathering of Yew logs? If no Resource firepits pass the poll then Resource firepits will not be added to the game.


Poll Question #28

Should a Resource firepit be added to Burgh de Rott which would affect the catching of Sharks? If no Resource firepits pass the poll then Resource firepits will not be added to the game.




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Mods Archie, Ash, Ayiza, Bruno, Curse, Ed, Gambit, Ghost, Jed, John C, Kieren, Lenny, Lottie, Mat K, Maz, Munro, Roq, Ry, Stone, Sween, Weath, West & Wolf
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