Friday can't come soon enough for Old School RuneScape's hardcore PvP crowd: Deadman: Annihilation touches down January 30th at 17:00 UTC, promising the most approachable entry yet into the brutal temporary game mode that's defined high-stakes Gielinor chaos since 2015. Running until February 20th with a massive Finale on the 21st, this iteration ditches bank keys for pure risk-on-person action, introduces a points economy for sweet main-game rewards, and refines sigils, breaches, and brackets to lure in newcomers alongside vets.
Once in on the Deadman servers, PvP's enabled nearly everywhere, XP and drops are boosted, and every activity racks up Deadman Points: PvM bosses, skilling grinds, Achievement Diaries, Combat Achievements, even Clue scrolls. Spend them on exclusive, tradeable cosmetics like the Wilderness Player-Owned House Kit, a flashy Home teleport animation, and recolors for the Toxic Staff of the Dead, Bow of Faerdhinen, and Crystal Armour. It's a smart hook with a grind that pays off in lasting flexes, not just event swag. Here is a quick explanation video with everything you need to know for Deadman: Annihilation for those who do not want to read:
Gone are bank keys on kills; now you risk only what's on your character walking around. Bank items are safe, with colored skulls overhead signaling wealth like Bounty Hunter hiding gear won't save you from targeted ganks. NPC kills can drop rare Deadman's Chests (60s open time, 30s in multi), stuffed with powerful loot like enhanced Dogsword and Thunder Khopesh variants. Sigils shift to a Deadman's Skull shop: buy any with points, no GE RNG gambling. Non-combat ones unlock permanently no attuning needed for them so swap sigils freely without gimping utility.
Ruinous Powers also return for offensive prayer dominance, combat bracket worlds ensure fair fights across revamped level ranges, and Breaches stick around with fresh bosses, loot tweaks, and set spawns (2am, 10am, 7pm UTC). PvP Protection lets you tag single-combat Breach NPCs but bars multi perfect for hybrid farming/ganking. The Finale amps up: teams split into factions before dissolving into FFA carnage alliances optional, betrayal encouraged.
Beyond the event, today's patch delivers a few QoL gems. Facility Bottles let you bottle ship facilities (from salvages like Large/Pirate/Mercenary/Fremennik wrecks) for hotspot swaps on your boat bring us flexible base-building for the boat at last. Bank UI gets a glow-up: The Empty Containers button dumps essence pouches, coal bags, herb sacks, and more instantly; unified icons ditch text clutter; bigger quantity buttons for mobile; reshuffled worn items/Incinerator/Potion Storage with collapsible Group Iron tabs. Shades of Mort'ton coffins now right-click "Empty" in-bank (shade remains only). Devout Boots dismantle to Holy Sandals for Iron rerolls, and Wilderness tightens to fight bots with: Medium Diary requirements for Callisto/Venenatis/Vet'ion lairs, Hard requirements for Artio/Spindel/Calvar'ion; proportional Undead Pirates loot for Irons; Rogues' Castle chests loot-free sans Medium Diary.
Deadman's evolved from niche bloodbaths to broader appeal Annihilation dials back barriers, emphasizing fun progression amid permadeath stakes. Jagex's "most approachable" claim holds if brackets/points deliver. Squad up, reset if needed, and dive in on Friday for some massive carnage. If you are wanting a more complete run down of Deadman mode, let us know in the comments! As always, stay tuned for more news as it arrives!