The RuneScape: Dragonwilds team is overhauling combat to fix what players keep calling “clunky.” After combing through thousands of survey responses and chatting with hundreds of players, they’ve zeroed in on the biggest pain points. The Core Improvements Team is rolling out changes in the 0.12.1 update, coming July 2026.
What’s Changing in Combat
The list of fixes is long. Blocking will finally reduce damage consistently. Stamina management gets a rework — jumping now costs 10 stamina instead of 20, with further reductions as you level Agility. You’ll also be able to cycle through runes and arrows mid-combat without opening your inventory. Weapon special attacks should feel stronger and more impactful now.
“We’ve boiled it down to some core principles. Blocking doesn’t clearly or consistently reduce damage as expected. Stamina management is a challenge.”
Animation cancels are getting smoothed out, and quick-switching between weapons and spells should feel fluid. Swapping to a 2H weapon and back to 1H will automatically re-equip your off-hand item. There’s a new radial hotwheel for both controller and keyboard + mouse users to speed up item selection.
Movement and Fall Damage Fixes
Fall damage has been rebalanced to start later. The Agility skill brings a breakfall mechanic that lets you absorb damage from higher drops. Leggings of Lightness, Mounts, and Windstep won’t be affected by these changes, so your general movement stays the same.
Jumping also gets “ledge forgiveness” — if you walk off a ledge, you’ve got a small window to jump before you plummet. The team fixed reports of players losing the ability to jump entirely due to missing action inputs or poor network performance. They’ve also improved air control and vertical height, already live with 0.12.0.
Performance is getting attention too, with optimizations for fog, trees, grass, and the coastline. The goal is a smoother experience so you can focus on smacking goblins.
