Deadman: Apocalypse Finale & World 345 (2024)

After three action-packed weeks, the end is nigh… the Deadman: Apocalypse finale is almost upon us!

This has been one of the most successful Deadman events to date, and we’ve had an absolute blast following all the action. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. Let’s take a look at the ol’ crystal ball and see how it’ll all go down…

First, a refresher on some dates and times:

• Friday, September 15th, 12:00 BST / 04:00 PDT / 07:00 EDT / 22:00 AEDT - Deadman: Apocalypse worlds will close.
• Saturday, September 16th, 17:00 BST / 09:00 PDT / 12:00 EDT / 03:00 AEDT - Deadman: Apocalypse Finale worlds will open.
• The finale is heavily PvP-focused. Breaches will occur during the finale but on a smaller scale, spread along the various paths towards the final area. Make sure to adjust your gear and Sigils accordingly for PvP and don't roll up with a PvM-focused loadout if you're looking to succeed.
• Around this time, we'll be live on our Twitch channel to give you all a chance to enjoy the carnage even if you're not able to participate!
• One hour following this, the apocalypse will begin…

You’ll have five worlds to choose from, one for each region. Worlds are no longer restricted by combat level – so even if you don’t expect to be the last player standing, you can jump in and enjoy the chaos for as long as you can!

The last person alive on each world will win $1,000, subject to checks by our anti-cheating team. That means a total of $5,000 is up for grabs during the finale! That’s not all, though – we also have $20,000 worth of prizes yet to be drawn, based on the Deadman: Apocalypse Points HiScores. For full Terms and Conditions, click here.

You know the time and place, but are you yet prepared? In Deadman mode, danger lurks around every corner – so heed these warnings.

Unlike previous DMM tournaments, when Apocalypse ends your progress will be transferred to the Permanent DMM world, 345. This means everything you earned in Apocalypse will carry across to Permanent Deadman, with the notable exception of Sigils, Trinkets, starter weapons, Deadman Quest XP Lamp, Corrupted Weapons, and Points in the Emblem Trader’s Shop.

This means that you may want to think carefully before entering the finale, as dying there will count as a regular Deadman: Apocalypse death. Anyone who kills you will be able to pick up your Loot Key, and you’ll lose everything you risked upon transferring to World 345.

On the flipside, you could also try and grab a few keys for yourself as you vie to be the last player standing.

How you tackle the Apocalypse is up to you, but we want to make it extremely clear that your items are still at risk during the finale, just as they have been for the rest of the tournament. This is our final warning, so take the time to figure out an item-protection strategy if there’s stuff you want to keep.

To reiterate one more time: the finale is heavily PvP-focused. Some elements of breaches will be present, but on a smaller scale. Make sure to adjust your loadout accordingly and prepare for multi-combat fights with other players for the best odds at success. Gearing as if you were trying to score points at a breach won't serve you well throughout the finale!

We also advise cancelling outstanding Grand Exchange offers before the finale. If you want to leave last-minute purchases down to the wire, then feel free - but remember that items and GP caught in your offers are likely to get lost on the way to World 345.

We’re experimenting with this transfer process because we want to breathe new life into World 345. The Permanent Deadman community is passionate and extremely dedicated, but its not exactly thriving. We want to give more people the opportunity to experience this fun and exciting game mode – if you loved Apocalypse’s nail-biting survival elements, we reckon you’ll love classic Deadman too!

At some point in the future we’d also like to make improvements to Permanent Deadman to ensure the mode’s longevity.

At this stage, though, we just want to get some idea of the community’s thoughts on the matter. Below, you’ll find a top-level overview of the changes we’d like to make. Have a read, and then answer the survey at the end to tell us your thoughts and make further suggestions.

No more XP loss on death

Currently, dying while skulled loses you a pretty significant chunk of XP. We reckon that removing the threat of XP loss in PvP will encourage more players to skull up and get stuck in.

That said, XP loss currently adds an exciting new dimension to the high-risk, high-reward gameplay you’ve come to expect from Deadman – so let us know your thoughts. Are you happy laying it all on the line, or is risking your hard-earned XP a step too far?

Skulling changes

Attacking a player within 30 levels of your own earns you a 15-minute skull timer, and attacking a player outside of those levels earns you a 30-minute skull timer. While waiting out timers in dangerous areas is an iconic part of Deadman, we think we’d see more people getting into the action if these timers were a bit less harsh. Standing around waiting to cash out isn’t fun for anyone.

Additionally, attacking a skulled player while unskulled doesn’t actually incur a skull penalty at all, even if you were the one initiating the fight. This weighs things pretty heavily in favour of unskulled players and discourages players from skulling at all. We want things to work more intuitively, by making it so that attacking any player will result in gaining a skull, regardless of their own skull status.

Quest XP Multipliers

This might be a bit spicy, but we’ve had some players suggest that more people might put in the effort to progress their accounts through the early game if it was less of a grind to do so.

Right now, completing a quest in Permanent Deadman gives you the exact same reward as in the main game. We’d like to consider adding quest XP multipliers as an incentive to encourage progression and get people stuck into a totally unique questing experience.

We’re aware that this would change the progression meta significantly, so we’re keen to hear your thoughts – especially if you’ve levelled your account on Permanent Deadman before!

Permanent Deadman breaches

Deadman: Apocalypse’s unique feature is breaches, portals that bring powerful boss monsters into different parts of the world for you to fight. These breaches are hotspots for PvP activity and give rise to reliably scheduled fights with the promise of thrilling combat. This feature has gone down really well with the Deadman community, and some of you have been asking us to bring it to World 345 as a permanent feature.

We’re open to the idea, although we’d probably tone down the loot a little – what’s great for a three-week temporary game mode can be a bit much over months and months of gameplay. For those of you willing to brave the breach – and take on the competition, which we expect will be even more fierce on one, dedicated world – there’ll still be plenty of loot to drool over.

There are a couple of questions about this in the survey below, so make sure to fill it out and share your thoughts with us!

Permanent Deadman skilling Sigils

Last up on our list is the possibility of adding skilling Sigils to the Permanent Deadman world. While we’re certain that adding the combat Sigils would not be a healthy play, we’ve seen a lot of feedback about how enjoyable they make skilling.

Of course, compared to no Sigils at all, skilling Sigils are still a huge upgrade. If this turns out to be something you’d like to see, we’d need a separate set of balancing changes to curb their power appropriately. We’d also look to make them a good deal rarer than they are in Deadman: Apocalypse so that they become a sought-after, high-value reward.

To reiterate; we don’t plan to make any of the above changes any time soon, and we won’t make any changes that we feel are ultimately a detriment to World 345 or the Permanent Deadman community. To that end, we really need to know what you think – and you can tell us by clicking the big ol’ ‘survey’ button below.

We’ll see you on Saturday for the end of the world. Until then, good luck and have fun!

You can also discuss this update on our official forums, on the 2007Scape subreddit, the Steam forums, or the community-led OSRS Discord in the #gameupdate channel. For more info on the above content, check out the official Old School Wiki.

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