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Raids 4

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

Raids 4

Raids 4
Type Raid
Name The Fractured Archive1
Theme Guthix-themed, Theatre of Blood-styled with demibosses and a final boss, no puzzles1
Group size 2 to 8 players, subject to change2
Requirements While Guthix Sleeps3
Bosses Bork, Archive Guardian45
Videos 7 (first 2025-08-22, latest 2026-09-03)
Main source WINTER SUMMIT IS HERE AND JAGEX COOKED! (OSRS)

Raids 4, called the Fractured Archive, is a planned fourth raid for Old School RuneScape. Gnomonkey follows it closely: he plans to cover every blog and any item issues, as he did with Moons, and he cares about it much more than he does about fixing Sailing combat67. Jagex bills it as the toughest raid yet8. As of September 2026 he says he is very excited to try the new reward items and has been analysing its rewards through Gearscape910.

Contents

Design

The Fractured Archive is a Guthix-themed raid styled after the Theatre of Blood, with a series of demibosses, no puzzles and a final boss showdown1. Jagex says it aims, like Theatre of Blood, at simple mechanics leaving plenty of space for optimisation, and that difficulty was too early to discuss2. Its concept art looks inspired by the RS3 World Wakes quest, showing God Wars factions fighting, a skull boss held together by roots and a Saradomin knight boss with a bloodied cape6.

Group size

It is planned, subject to change, to scale between two and eight players, so solo clears are possible but difficult2. Gnomonkey strongly supports a team raid with optional solo, says no raid should be easier to solo, and wishes Jagex would remove the subject-to-change line. He says team content is needed in the game11.

Wipes and practice mode

At release a full team wipe resets the raid. In the weeks following it moves to a Tombs of Amascut-style wipe system with infinite tries but reduced rewards and dwindling resources12. A practice mode that lets players jump into any raid boss at regular difficulty will launch in the weeks after release, not at launch12. Gnomonkey loves the release wipes because they preserve the race to world first, unlike Chambers of Xeric, where nobody knows who got the first completion13.

Bosses

In May 2026 Jagex teased Bork, an RS2 boss now added as a raid boss with little goblin helpers called the smorks, a Bandos-themed encounter with Warhammer 40k vibes. It also showed the Archive Guardian from the winter summit with new animations, including a hyper-beam-style attack45.

Requirements

Accessing the Fractured Archive requires completing While Guthix Sleeps, which Gnomonkey thinks is probably the hardest requirement of any raid, harder than Beneath Cursed Sands3.

Rewards

Jagex was not ready to talk about rewards in January 20266. Gnomonkey thinks Jagex is struggling with reward design, including whether a mega rare is needed, and thinks that should be prioritised over Sailing combat14. Jagex said it would share its first rewards proposal in a blog in mid-June 2026, with concept art, with the numbers and ideas already together5.

Mega rare

In March 2026 Gnomonkey argued the mega rare should not be a crush weapon. There are not enough crush-weak bosses to support it: Tekton is one boss in Chambers of Xeric, Ulm has neutral defence, and Tombs of Amascut and Theatre of Blood offer no use15. A crush mega rare could only make sense far down the line if a Colosseum 2 or similar content had everything weak to crush; otherwise a Scythe would be better 90 percent of the time and the weapon would collect dust like Torva versus Oathplate16. Even a non-mega-rare crush drop would have few uses, as he does not own an Inquisitor's mace and sees no use for a crush weapon only 3 percent better17. He adds that a mega rare that barely does anything would be lame, and Jagex might as well not add one18.

Elemental damage reward

Gearscape has a Raids 4 reward toggle, and the raid will add an item that increases the base max hit of all elemental spells by two, stacking and multiplying with the new elemental amulet10. Gnomonkey expects the harmonised nightmare staff to start beating weapons like the Shadow and powered staves on things very weak to an element, such as Zulrah and Phosani's Nightmare, whose totems are heavily fire weak, though thralls are very good there19. He notes that players already voted on the elemental damage reward without knowing the amulets would be added, and some might not have voted yes had they known20.

Gnomonkey's plans and opinion

His plan for the winter release is to team up with Bodhi, build a god team to chase world first for teams, and then try for world first solo3. He hopes for more creativity at Raids 4 with community feedback before release and has no doubt it will be amazing21. He believes the game is in its golden age and likes seeing Yama and Doom of Mokhaiotl released close together, hoping for more consistent high-level bosses22. In May 2026 he was hyped for the Bork and Archive Guardian animations but nervous that the raid might be rushed and not the cleanest, since rewards have taken a while to get up23.

Revision history

Date Video Change
2026-09-03 What the New OSRS Amulets Mean for the Meta (OSRS) Added the elemental spell max hit item, the harmonised nightmare staff expectation and the voting concern.
2026-07-07 NEW RAIDS 4 REWARDS AND BLOG UPDATE (OSRS) Added excitement for the reward items and the toughest-raid billing.
2026-05-29 SUMMER ROADMAP REVEAL (OSRS) Added the Bork and Archive Guardian teases, the mid-June rewards blog and his worry about a rushed raid.
2026-03-20 Jagex Broke Sailing Combat (OSRS) Added his priority of Raids 4 and reward design over Sailing combat.
2026-03-05 Why CRUSH Isn't Good in OSRS Added the argument against a crush mega rare.
2026-01-25 WINTER SUMMIT IS HERE AND JAGEX COOKED! (OSRS) Added the Fractured Archive name, theme, group size, wipe system, practice mode, requirements and his world first plan with Bodhi.
2025-08-22 The Good and Bad of Endgame (OSRS) Page created: hopes for creativity and community feedback, and the golden age comment.
## See also

References

  1. WINTER SUMMIT IS HERE AND JAGEX COOKED! (OSRS), 2026-01-25. ▶ 14:29 ↩↩↩

  2. WINTER SUMMIT IS HERE AND JAGEX COOKED! (OSRS), 2026-01-25. ▶ 14:55 ↩↩↩

  3. WINTER SUMMIT IS HERE AND JAGEX COOKED! (OSRS), 2026-01-25. ▶ 16:54 ↩↩↩

  4. SUMMER ROADMAP REVEAL (OSRS), 2026-05-29. ▶ 16:04 ↩↩

  5. SUMMER ROADMAP REVEAL (OSRS), 2026-05-29. ▶ 16:34 ↩↩↩

  6. WINTER SUMMIT IS HERE AND JAGEX COOKED! (OSRS), 2026-01-25. ▶ 17:27 ↩↩↩

  7. Jagex Broke Sailing Combat (OSRS), 2026-03-20. ▶ 11:32 ↩

  8. NEW RAIDS 4 REWARDS AND BLOG UPDATE (OSRS), 2026-07-07. ▶ 6:22 ↩

  9. NEW RAIDS 4 REWARDS AND BLOG UPDATE (OSRS), 2026-07-07. ▶ 0:00 ↩

  10. What the New OSRS Amulets Mean for the Meta (OSRS), 2026-09-03. ▶ 3:32 ↩↩

  11. WINTER SUMMIT IS HERE AND JAGEX COOKED! (OSRS), 2026-01-25. ▶ 15:21 ↩

  12. WINTER SUMMIT IS HERE AND JAGEX COOKED! (OSRS), 2026-01-25. ▶ 15:54 ↩↩

  13. WINTER SUMMIT IS HERE AND JAGEX COOKED! (OSRS), 2026-01-25. ▶ 16:24 ↩

  14. Jagex Broke Sailing Combat (OSRS), 2026-03-20. ▶ 11:59 ↩

  15. Why CRUSH Isn't Good in OSRS, 2026-03-05. ▶ 12:05 ↩

  16. Why CRUSH Isn't Good in OSRS, 2026-03-05. ▶ 13:08 ↩

  17. Why CRUSH Isn't Good in OSRS, 2026-03-05. ▶ 13:40 ↩

  18. Why CRUSH Isn't Good in OSRS, 2026-03-05. ▶ 15:29 ↩

  19. What the New OSRS Amulets Mean for the Meta (OSRS), 2026-09-03. ▶ 3:35 ↩

  20. What the New OSRS Amulets Mean for the Meta (OSRS), 2026-09-03. ▶ 8:31 ↩

  21. The Good and Bad of Endgame (OSRS), 2025-08-22. ▶ 24:19 ↩

  22. The Good and Bad of Endgame (OSRS), 2025-08-22. ▶ 24:53 ↩

  23. SUMMER ROADMAP REVEAL (OSRS), 2026-05-29. ▶ 17:02 ↩

Raids

Tombs of Amascut • Chambers of Xeric • Theatre of Blood • Chambers of Xeric: Challenge Mode • Raids 4 • Theatre of Blood: Hard Mode

Category: Raids