Between 16th November and 2nd December

The $25 Game Card Grand Lightning Pack contains the following: The ‘Professor’ Hairstyle and the high-voltage Lightning Staff, which can be converted into four increasingly powerful and awesome-looking tiers, depending on your level:

• Tier 1: No requirements
• Tier 2: 20 Attack, 20 Magic
• Tier 3: 40 Attack, 40 Magic
• Tier 4: 40 Attack, 60 Magic

On top of this, it can fire off a shockingly cool lightning emote when right-clicked in your inventory or the worn items interface.

There are two packages available:

• Purchasing a £7.50, $10 (US), €10, or $15 (Aus/NZ) green Game Card will unlock the ‘Professor’ Hairstyle.
• Purchasing a £20, $25 (US), €25, or $40 (Aus/NZ) red Game Card will unlock the ‘Professor’ Hairstyle, Lightning Staff and Lightning Emote.

This promotion is exclusive to the following retailers:

• GameStop (USA, EU)
• EB Games (Canada, Australia, New Zealand)
• WH Smith (UK)

If you’re unsure where your nearest branch of these stores is, use our handy store locator to find out. Please note that this offer applies to new style red and green Game Card cards only – not the old 30 or 90 day Game Cards.

First and foremost, don’t panic! The economy is often the subject of rumours and hearsay, meaning that many people make decisions that are a little hasty. The vast majority of tradeable armour and weapons that you currently have are going to still be your equipment of choice in the Evolution of Combat. Got a full set of Bandos armour from General Graardor? That’s still the best non-degrading melee armour that you can get your hands on, and – with the new Bandos warshield – you can use some of those nifty new defensive abilities to be even tougher and last longer on Slayer trips.

On the flipside, items that you might not have thought about for a little while now have new life breathed into them. With the launch, the Zaryte Bow will become the best bow in it’s class, and will be comparable to all other level 80 Ranged weapons. Korasi’s Sword may no longer be a one-hit-KO wonder, but it’s a fantastic complement to the new off-hand Enhanced Excalibur. Mage armours such as Infinity and the brand new Batwing now provide decent protection in against melee combatants. Don’t forget the underused warhammers and two-handers; with dual wielding, two-handed abilities and weaknesses to specific damage types, they are now just as useful as scimitars in the right situation.

Lots of New Items!

With the Evolution of Combat comes a whole host of new armours and weapons. For every player-producible one-handed weapon in the game there will now be a player-producible version for the off hand, and that opens up a whole new market within the RuneScape economy. Along with that, there’s likely to be a greater demand for the raw materials needed to make these new items, which is certainly worth looking out for if resource gathering is your thing.

This also means that some of the existing monsters that you know and love will drop new materials for making the new armour. For example, imps around the world will drop imphide, which will make some of the first pieces of mage equipment, providing a low-level player a new way of making some money.

Food, Glorious Food!

Not only have weapons and armour been given a makeover, but food has changed too. It’s now more efficient to eat food that’s around your Constitution level. This means that while you can still eat rocktails if you’re a lower level, they won’t heal you any more than food at your level would. Munching on salmon, anchovy pizza or chocolate cake – depending on your levels – will likely become cost-effective choices for those of you with the right levels. This should see a rise in the demand of the lower levelled foods and an opportunity for entrepreneurs or skillers to reap the rewards of their aquatic bounty.

The economy is going to change over the coming weeks but the financial future’s only looking brighter. What was good before Evolution of Combat is still going to be good when Evolution of Combat has launched; items not popular will have their purpose restored and there’ll be a ton of opportunities for skillers and everyone else to make plenty money out of the upcoming changes.