It was announced at RuneFest on October 5th, 2019; delayed for further testing at the start of 2020; and finally, FINALLY, we have a solid release date for RuneScape’s newest skill: Archaeology. Set your calendars and schedule some time off, because March 30th is going to shake up the game!
On Monday’s livestream they dropped this doozy of a date on us, as well as a surface-level tour of the second dig site, Everlight. Each dig site (Kharid-Et, Everlight, the Infernal Source, the Stormguard Citadel, the Warforge!, and later in 2020, Orthen) is aligned to a different god and will give insight into the God Wars and other historical events.
Along with new sites for exploration, Archaeology will expand on Summoning, Invention, combat, and with the release of Orthen, Herblore. There are confirmed skilling and elite skilling outfits to help boost the experience rates, and you can dig up and restore powerful relics to give yourself bonuses like runeless teleports no matter where you are in the world. Free-to-players can access the skill up to level 20, unlocking the Infernal Source below the Jolly Boar Inn.
I look forward with excitement to March 30th. I am a lorehound of the highest degree, and this skill drops bombshells of lore onto a largely unexplored period of time. I have always equated Jagex with high-quality content and rapid feedback, and after hearing the release delay was so that the moderators could test the skill as players, I was ecstatic. Instead of releasing the skill into the wild and using the playerbase as beta testers, they focused on building more quality of life improvements into the release rather than patches at later dates. With so much to look forward to, the next month is going to be exciting. Have a good whatever!
