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Awakened bosses

This article is compiled from the videos of GnomonkeyRS. It records what Gnomonkey said, with sources, not verified game fact. See About.

Awakened bosses

Awakened bosses
Type Mechanic
Access One Awakener's orb per attempt12
Source of orbs Desert Treasure 2 bosses1
Orb price about 900k in May 2025, 3-4m on release2
Unlock reward Ancient blood ornament kit (Blorva)2
Typical orbs for Blorva 100 to 200, often 200 to 3003
Videos 4 (first 2025-05-09, latest 2025-05-25)
Main source Problem with Yama Contracts and Awakeners' Orbs (OSRS)

Awakened bosses are the harder versions of the Desert Treasure II bosses, entered by spending an Awakener's orb. Gnomonkey considers the fights excellent but the orb system one of the biggest mistakes, possibly the biggest, Jagex has made with high-level content.45 His core objection is that the system gates content by GP rather than skill, which he says actively dissuades people from engaging with it.67

Contents

Orb system

Awakener's orbs are a fairly rare drop from the Desert Treasure 2 bosses, with the rate varying by boss. Taking one to its boss allows a single attempt at the awakened version.1 The orb is consumed on entering the boss room, whether the player dies or kills the boss.2 Killing all four awakened bosses makes the fourth drop the ancient blood ornament kit, which with a lot of blood runes converts Torva into its Blorva variant.2

Cost

At the time of the May 2025 video orbs cost roughly 900k each, varying a lot, compared with around 3-4 million on release.2 Players Gnomonkey asked in his Discord report that Blorva usually takes around 100 to 200 orbs, many using 200 to 300 and some spending over 100 on Vardorvis or Leviathan, or both.3 At 900k, 300 orbs is 270 million GP and a lucky 100 is 90 million.8 He estimates an orb drops about every hour to hour and a half, so 100-200 orbs is 100-200+ hours and realistically 500-600 hours for most players, which gates ironmen from the content.7

Player Spend
Gnomonkey about 1.5 billion GP on orbs chasing a no-stun attempt, at 3-4m each, without success9
Noobtype about 4 billion on the 27-orb Leviathan challenge and about 6 billion for no stun, about 10 billion total10
Saks 3-4 billion on a world record Vardorvis attempt, not achieved; about 7 to 10 billion on Whisperer and Duke11
Porkazar over 3 billion on the 54 Awakened Leviathan challenge12

For scale, 10 billion GP would buy every equippable item that would be cool to use at a boss, including the harm, volatile and eldritch staves, the scythe, Tumeken's shadow and full Torva.13

Gnomonkey's criticism

  • Once Blorva is unlocked, players can still buy orbs but have no affordable way to engage with the content, such as speedruns or challenges, unless very wealthy.3 He and others decided after getting Blorva that they cannot afford to keep killing awakened bosses, so they do not.14
  • Cost-per-attempt aspirational content keeps people from trying new things; with Blorva a player who does not get it in about 150 attempts runs out of money. Such systems only make sense if an attempt gives great loot or GP, not a cosmetic, and he believes content should be gated only by skill.156
  • Gatekeeping makes the cosmetic prestigious in the wrong way, about GP rather than skill, and encourages servicing.16 He has soloed seven shadows yet cannot afford awakened bosses, because only players selling services or leeches can, not those earning GP through PvM.17
  • Awakened Leviathan is in his top five bosses, but he cannot afford its challenges or speedruns.18
  • He disagrees that Blorva is mostly a GP flex rather than skill but calls it both, and thinks it would be a purer skill flex if players could attempt it earlier in worse gear such as a Bow of Faerdhinen.19
  • High-level updates are too rare to spend on a one-time cosmetic without repeatability. Wealth siphoning does not need this system and has been done many times before.2021

Profit analysis

Using Temple OSRS EHB of 21 kills per hour for Whisperer and 39 for Vardorvis, and subtracting the Soul Reaper axe, he calculates about 10 million GP per hour at Vardorvis, with orbs worth about 430k (roughly 4.3% of profit), and about 5.4 million GP per hour at Whisperer, with orbs worth about 540k (roughly 10%).2223 He concludes orbs add only 5 to 10 percent of profit, minor next to the cost of gatekeeping learners and challenge players.24

Proposed fixes

  • Make the Sanguine kit work like the Echo Orbs from Leagues, with permanent unlimited access once earned.25
  • Pay around 50 orbs once for a splash pass granting unlimited access, or pay to enter once with free re-entry after a successful kill.26
  • Gnomonkey said in May 2025 that Jmods had said they are willing to add a permanent unlock method.19

Comparison with the Yama contract system

In May 2025 he said the Yama contract system shares similarities with orbs but differs in several ways, for instance cosmetic contracts being target farmable and likely much cheaper.27 He believes it is better than orbs, with no question, but it keeps the main issue: after completing everything, one can only continue by buying more contracts, with no free or no-loot access mentioned. Jagex took the terrible orb system and tweaked it, but he considers the approach wrong.282930 Even at a hypothetical 250k per contract, a quarter of an orb, contracts would still not allow grinding, challenges, speedruns or casual fights.29 Cheaper contracts would also lessen the profit benefit for those who farm them.20

Later that month he said the awakened bosses surprised him and were pretty good, with Awakened Leviathan and Awakened Vardorvis among the best fights he has done, and even the two he likes less beat any of the Yama contracts.531

Revision history

Date Video Change
2025-05-25 Yama Contracts are the Worst Update in OSRS History Updated opinion: awakened bosses are good fights, better than Yama contracts.
2025-05-13 Higher Hopes for Yama (OSRS) Added profit analysis for Vardorvis and Whisperer, the Jmod comment and his view that Blorva is both a skill and money flex.
2025-05-09 Yama Contracts: Missed the Mark (OSRS) Page created: orb mechanics, costs, spending by players, criticism and proposed fixes; comparison with Yama contracts.
## See also

References

  1. Problem with Yama Contracts and Awakeners' Orbs (OSRS), 2025-05-09. ▶ 2:51 ↩↩↩

  2. Problem with Yama Contracts and Awakeners' Orbs (OSRS), 2025-05-09. ▶ 3:20 ↩↩↩↩↩↩

  3. Problem with Yama Contracts and Awakeners' Orbs (OSRS), 2025-05-09. ▶ 4:16 ↩↩↩

  4. Problem with Yama Contracts and Awakeners' Orbs (OSRS), 2025-05-09. ▶ 4:10 ↩

  5. Yama Contracts are the Worst Update in OSRS History, 2025-05-25. ▶ 40:33 ↩↩

  6. Yama Contracts: Missed the Mark (OSRS), 2025-05-09. ▶ 15:46 ↩↩

  7. Problem with Yama Contracts and Awakeners' Orbs (OSRS), 2025-05-09. ▶ 8:43 ↩↩

  8. Problem with Yama Contracts and Awakeners' Orbs (OSRS), 2025-05-09. ▶ 5:16 ↩

  9. Problem with Yama Contracts and Awakeners' Orbs (OSRS), 2025-05-09. ▶ 5:44 ↩

  10. Problem with Yama Contracts and Awakeners' Orbs (OSRS), 2025-05-09. ▶ 6:14 ↩

  11. Problem with Yama Contracts and Awakeners' Orbs (OSRS), 2025-05-09. ▶ 6:35 ↩

  12. Problem with Yama Contracts and Awakeners' Orbs (OSRS), 2025-05-09. ▶ 7:14 ↩

  13. Problem with Yama Contracts and Awakeners' Orbs (OSRS), 2025-05-09. ▶ 6:45 ↩

  14. Higher Hopes for Yama (OSRS), 2025-05-13. ▶ 18:18 ↩

  15. Yama Contracts: Missed the Mark (OSRS), 2025-05-09. ▶ 14:50 ↩

  16. Yama Contracts: Missed the Mark (OSRS), 2025-05-09. ▶ 19:54 ↩

  17. Problem with Yama Contracts and Awakeners' Orbs (OSRS), 2025-05-09. ▶ 7:43 ↩

  18. Problem with Yama Contracts and Awakeners' Orbs (OSRS), 2025-05-09. ▶ 8:08 ↩

  19. Higher Hopes for Yama (OSRS), 2025-05-13. ▶ 26:01 ↩↩

  20. Higher Hopes for Yama (OSRS), 2025-05-13. ▶ 28:01 ↩↩

  21. Higher Hopes for Yama (OSRS), 2025-05-13. ▶ 28:19 ↩

  22. Higher Hopes for Yama (OSRS), 2025-05-13. ▶ 23:23 ↩

  23. Higher Hopes for Yama (OSRS), 2025-05-13. ▶ 25:01 ↩

  24. Higher Hopes for Yama (OSRS), 2025-05-13. ▶ 25:32 ↩

  25. Problem with Yama Contracts and Awakeners' Orbs (OSRS), 2025-05-09. ▶ 10:02 ↩

  26. Yama Contracts: Missed the Mark (OSRS), 2025-05-09. ▶ 16:17 ↩

  27. Yama Contracts: Missed the Mark (OSRS), 2025-05-09. ▶ 10:41 ↩

  28. Yama Contracts: Missed the Mark (OSRS), 2025-05-09. ▶ 12:18 ↩

  29. Yama Contracts: Missed the Mark (OSRS), 2025-05-09. ▶ 13:48 ↩↩

  30. Yama Contracts: Missed the Mark (OSRS), 2025-05-09. ▶ 22:22 ↩

  31. Yama Contracts are the Worst Update in OSRS History, 2025-05-25. ▶ 41:04 ↩

Mechanics

Colosseum invocations • Yama contracts • Invocations (Tombs of Amascut) • Jal-ImKot • Inferno pillars • Jal-Ak • Alt account • Thralls • Nex gear setup • Tempoross • Turael • Inferno waves • Jal-Nib • Doom of Mokhaiotl: rock block method • Monkey Room • Fortis Colosseum pillars • Phantom barrage • Awakened bosses • Melee gear progression • Demonic Brutus • Jal-MejRah • Prayer flicking • Butterfly Tech • Fortis Colosseum setup • Doom of Mokhaiotl: melee punish • Sulliuscep • Botting • Off-ticking • Corner trapping • Doom of Mokhaiotl: car attack • Combat Achievements • Doom of Mokhaiotl: shield phase • Pest Control • Blood Barrage • Nylocas • Great Olm 4-1 method • Nex reset • Triple Jad • RuneScape 3 combat • Tightrope skip

Category: Mechanics