The Land Out of Time.

An island about the size of the entire non-members section of Runescape, full of a maze of twists and turns, connected by an agility-based sort of subway system. Full of skilling opportunities for hunter, including “boss” hunting and easy jadinkos, and slayer, including a lot of very interesting things with distinct combat perks to keep you on your toes.

You also are rewarded for exploring the island with totems and hidden zygomites. Collect 60 zygomites all throughout the island (yes, six-zero), as well as 21 totem pieces to construct some exquisitely beneficial perks that you maintain via divination (some running may be involved).

And why not, there’s also a new “Kingdom of Miscellania” sort of feature in your home base where you allocate workers to resources, and when you get enough, you can build new buildings that provide a whole bunch of benefits. The initial ones are island-specific, but once you get some tier 3 places up and running, you get some very nice perks indeed, like longer lasting spa bath benefits, a stand for your slayer helm that gives you the boost no matter what you wear. and my personal favorite; an extra added skillcape perk (making that four for max cape, for example). Like the Player Owned Farm, however, you’ve gotta wait for a while before you can benefit, as the resources come in considerably slowly. You can speed it up by skilling on the island, but it’s a mere supplement.

Not gonna lie; this place is huge and immaculately detailed. You wanna do everything and see everything, you’ve got a heck of a ride ahead of you.

Which makes sense; the whole point of the place is that of exploration and immersion. This great fantastic island is a very different change of pace from the normal stuff on main-land Runescape. It’s like playing Zelda: Breath of the Wild after many years of Ocarina of Time. Same controls, just different… environment. It’s also pretty hard to get around; you can’t just simply click a faraway part and let your character automatically navigate to it… well, most of the time, at least. And it’s not just jungle; there’s this large barren section to the northwest, and some river-heavy sections to the southeast, and waterfalls and trees that rival the Grand Tree in scale… seriously, just go check it out. You don’t need to pay 30 gold coins to go there. Just go there, start your base, get the resources for the lodestone, and you’re set!

Oh yeah, before I let you guys off, here’s some quick little tips to finding the zygomites and totem pieces. That’s the whole exploration of the island part right there.

For zygomites, they are tiny, but they are fairly obvious. They have flashy colors and move around, so make sure you spin your camera around as you run. Keep an eye out for branching paths – dead ends and small jutting offshoots are almost guaranteed to have one at the end. Use the world map to check for that. Also remember to check the edges around large fields like hunter and slayer plains; they tend to hang out among the foliage.

For totem pieces, you get the both by searching for them, and doing all the main activities on the island like laps on the agility course and big game hunting. When out and about, keep an eye out for 2×1 piles of rubble. Click on that, totem piece. They’re usually around buildings and structures; once you find one, you’ll be on the lookout. Zygomites give you totem pieces with every 20 found, so make sure you actually talk to them when you find one at that point. You can also buy two at a weekly Distraction and Diversion; if you have any weekly reset tokens available, use them there.

All in all, a great update. Really expands the Runescape experience and makes it more of a game of exploration. Especially since our latest several quests, the very things that should’ve incorporated that, have had quite a bit of hand holding lately. No hand-holding here; once you finish your introductory cut-scene, you’re on your own! Stellar! Yeah, it’s gonna take a while to get through everything and reap all its benefits. But of course, that’s the whole point of it. Otherwise we wouldn’t have had so much hype up towards it.

And come on. We’re fighting dinosaurs here now! DINOSAURS!

Until next time,

Cheers, cannoneers!