Gaming · Explainer
The Fractured Archive is live: OSRS's toughest raid yet, explained
Watch: the official launch trailer. Video: Jagex / Old School RuneScape · YouTube
Old School RuneScape got its fourth raid on Tuesday, October 20, 2026 — the first new raid in four years, since the Tombs of Amascut. The Fractured Archive is set in an ancient vault where the god Guthix is sealed away with powerful artefacts and forbidden knowledge, and Jagex is billing it as the most challenging end-game content the game has ever had. Searches spiked on launch day and haven't let up. Here's the whole thing in one place.
How a run works
Think Theatre of Blood, not Tombs of Amascut: the raid is a combat-only boss rush with no puzzle rooms. The roster has eight encounters, and each clear takes you through five of them — the Archive Guardian first, three fixed left-or-right choices after that, and a final boss Jagex is still describing only as "a mysterious hooded figure." Teams scale from 2 to 8 players (Jagex recommends 3–5); solo attempts are possible but use the two-player scaling floor. At launch the difficulty is fixed, death means a full wipe, and a Practice Mode with softer wipes is planned to follow a few weeks after release.
What you need to enter
One hard requirement at launch: completion of the grandmaster quest While Guthix Sleeps. Jagex has said access changes for restricted account builds are planned, but they are not available on release — if your account hasn't finished the quest, the raid is locked until that changes.
The rewards everyone's chasing
The headline drop is the Obligator, the raid's megarare: a best-in-slot crush weapon in the mold of the Scythe of Vitur that rolls its damage up to four times and keeps the best roll. Around it: dual-wielded Ascension crossbows that fire new ascension bolts; Zorya's Tome, a magic special-attack weapon built for fast burst damage; the Rondache, a shield that absorbs melee, ranged and magic damage and converts it into charges for a Shield Bash; Zeal, an upgrade to the Piety prayer; Elemental Fragments; and the untradeable Archivist's Folio, a teleport straight back to the Archive. Eleven new tradeable items hit the Grand Exchange at launch, and their prices have been swinging hard in the first days, as new raid gear always does.
Item renders: Old School RuneScape Wiki / Jagex.
What's next on the roadmap
The raid is the first of two dated OSRS launches this fall: Hardcore Worlds — permadeath servers with their own economy and creator-led factions — arrive November 4, 2026. Beyond that, Jagex's RuneFest roadmap puts Menaphos and the game's first Skilling Dungeon in 2027.
Sources: Jagex launch coverage via MMORPG.com and Capsule Computers (October 20–21, 2026); Bald.gg Raids 4 guide (encounter structure, team sizes, requirements); GE Tracker (new tradeable items list); Inven Global RuneFest 2026 recap (Hardcore Worlds date).