# Old School RuneScape The Red Reef is Out Today!

- Product: Old School RuneScape (https://whatsnew.fyi/product/old-school-runescape)
- Vendor: Jagex Ltd
- Date: 2026-05-20
- Original notes: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1343370/view/699891276559941665
- Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/old-school-runescape/releases/2026-05-20-the-red-reef-is-out-today

What's New is an index, not a publisher: every entry below links to the vendor's own release notes, which are the authoritative source. Entries are labelled where they are hand-curated sample data, pre-releases, or drawn from a secondary source such as a developer blog.

Reuse: the summaries, labels and curation here are © What's New. Quote freely with attribution and a link back; wholesale republication of the corpus is not permitted — terms: https://whatsnew.fyi/terms. The vendors' own release notes remain their publishers'.

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- **added** — Added The Red Reef, an Experienced level quest continuing the Tortugan questline, requiring Level 52 Sailing and 48 Smithing
- **added** — Added Bosun's Bench, a new boat facility that automatically makes repairs, requiring Level 63 Sailing and Level 54 Construction
- **added** — Added Chainshot cannonballs that halve enemy movement speed for 5 seconds and can be created by combining chains with cannonballs at an anvil
- **added** — Added Incendiary cannonballs that apply burn damage over time to enemies at sea, ignoring flat armour bonuses
- **added** — Added Rubium Splinters and Rubium Geodes as new mining resources, with Geodes breakable into Splinters using hammer and chisel
- **added** — Added auto-retaliate setting for cannons that automatically fires back at hostile sea creatures, enabled by default in Combat Options
- **added** — Added sail cosmetics in seven colours that can be unlocked at Level 41 Sailing and created using matching dyes
- **added** — Added right-click Last Boat option to Teleport to Boat and Summon Boat spells for quick return to previously used boats
- **changed** — Increased Sailing XP from Deep Sea Trawling to roughly double the previous amount across all trawling nets
- **changed** — Reduced character gather rate from 4 ticks to 3 ticks in Deep Sea Trawling
- **changed** — Baited shoals now correctly increase catch by 20%
- **changed** — Medallion of the Deep now functions as breathing apparatus in Fossil Island underwater areas with 80% oxygen depletion reduction
- **changed** — Lowered Obelisk base Hitpoints on Path of Het in Tombs of Amascut from 122 to 119
- **fixed** — Fixed bug where Partner slayer did not correctly enforce the 15 shared tasks requirement
- **fixed** — Fixed bug where Probita gave extra copies of Gull to players who have Gulliver in their menageries
- **fixed** — Fixed multiple Z-buffer and clipping issues across the game including Sir Tiffy Cashien's sitting animation, Gauntlet visuals, rugs and carpets, Lassar Undercity flickering, and various dungeon areas
- **changed** — Revenant Cave Teleport Scrolls now have a Drop option on their mini-menu
- **fixed** — Fixed access to Waterfall Dungeon without a rope for players meeting the requirements

_The Red Reef, our second quest in the Tortugan storyline, is out today! Plus, we're also launching new cannonballs with unique effects, auto-retaliate for cannons, and more!_

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##### Changelog - May 20th

[expand type=details expanded=false]

**The Red Reef**

- The Tortugan questline continues with a new, Experienced level quest: the Red Reef!

- Start the quest by talking to Elder Raley, found in the south east house of the Summer Shore.
- Requires Troubled Tortugans, Level 52 Sailing and 48 Smithing.

- Bosun's Bench has been added to the game:

- It's a new boat facility that allows your crew to _automatically _make repairs for you.
- Requires Level 63 Sailing and Level 54 Construction.
- Materials needed to build:

- 6 Camphor Planks
- 24 Adamantite Nails
- 2 Lead Bars
- Bosun's Bench Schematic, unlocked by completing the Red Reef quest

**More Sailing Buffs and Changes**

- Added two new cannonballs with their own unique mechanics:

- Chainshot cannonballs specialise in _slowing _enemy movement:

- They have the effect of halving movement speed on enemy targets for 5 seconds, while dealing the same damage as regular cannonballs do without the chain.
- 2 respective cannonballs combined with a chain produces 2 Chainshot cannonballs of the same type, that can be fired twice separately.
- You can create Chainshot cannonballs up to Rune by smithing chains from Steel bars, then combining them with cannonballs at an anvil.

- Incendiary cannonballs are designed to apply _burn damage_ over time:

- Enemies at sea will be set ablaze when shot by these cannonballs and take damage over time.
- This burn effect will ignore any flat armour bonuses, making it a noticeable DPS increase over time.
- 2 respective cannonballs combined with a chain produces 2 Chainshot cannonballs of the same type, that can be fired twice separately.
- You can create Incendiary cannonballs up to Rune by mining Rubium splinters (from the Charred Island Dungeon), then combining them with cannonballs at an anvil.

- Introduced two new resources:

- Rubium Splinters: requires Level 48 Mining, can be mined from Rubium Rocks, tradeable
- Rubium Geodes: requires Level 68 Mining, can be mined from Rubium Deposit, untradeable

- Rubium Geodes can be broken down into Rubium Splinters by using a hammer and a chisel.

- Added an **auto-retaliate** setting for cannons when your boat is attacked by enemies at sea.

- You can enable and disable this setting under the Combat Options tab, just like you do for weapons. It's set to be on by default.
- When enabled, any cannon that you're locked into will automatically fire back at hostile sea creatures that attack you.
- With auto-retaliate, there will be a short delay before the cannon responds, ensuring that actively targeting creatures yourself will always be the most efficient option.

- You can now change the colour of your boat's sails with the new range of sail cosmetics: Black, Blue, Green, Pink, Purple, Red and Yellow.

- You can unlock Sail customisation at Level 41 Sailing.
- Each of the solid-colour sails can be created using 10 of the matching dye, in the Shipyard.

- The Medallion of the Deep now functions as breathing apparatus throughout the Fossil Island underwater areas.

- Within the underwater Agility/Thieving area, it will reduce oxygen depletion by 80%, as polled.

- Sailing XP from Deep Sea Trawling has been buffed, now giving roughly double the XP compared to before:

- XP from Rope trawling net has been increased from 4 XP to **7 XP**
- XP from Linen trawling net has been increased from 5 XP to **9 XP**
- XP from Hemp trawling net has been increased from 6 XP to **11 XP**
- XP from Cotton trawling net has been increased from 8 XP to **15 XP**

- Reduced your character's gather rate from 4 ticks to **3 ticks**. This keeps the more engaging 2 tick method alive for those who love it, while making things feel smoother and more rewarding for players who prefer a more relaxed playstyle.
- Baited shoal

_[Truncated at 4000 characters — full notes: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1343370/view/699891276559941665]_