Old School RuneScape Summer Sweep-Up 2025: Boss Tweaks, Loot Changes & Money-Making Tips

Introduction to Summer Sweep-Up 2025

Old School RuneScape (OSRS) continues to evolve, keeping players hooked with exciting updates that enhance gameplay and open new money-making opportunities. Jagex’s Summer Sweep-Up 2025, a follow-up to last year’s Project Rebalance, brings a wave of quality-of-life (QoL) improvements, boss tweaks, and loot table adjustments that promise to shake up the meta for mid-game and endgame players alike. Whether you’re grinding for gold at Vorkath or tackling the Tombs of Amascut, these changes are designed to make your adventures in Gielinor more rewarding and enjoyable. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll break down the key updates from the Summer Sweep-Up, explore their impact on gameplay, and share expert money-making tips to help you capitalize on these changes. Let’s dive into the details

Elemental Weaknesses: Expanding Combat Options

One of the standout features of the Summer Sweep-Up 2025 is the expansion of elemental weaknesses, building on the foundation laid by Project Rebalance. Jagex has introduced new criteria for NPC weaknesses to make standard spellbook combat spells more viable across various PvM scenarios. Here’s how it works:

Air Weakness: Targets “floaty and flying” NPCs like aviansies or wyverns, giving air spells a significant damage boost.
Water Weakness: Effective against “hot and fiery” enemies, such as fire giants or lava-based creatures.
Earth Weakness: Hits harder on monsters with tough exteriors, like the Giant Mole or rock-based enemies.
Fire Weakness: Ideal for icy or flammable creatures, such as ice demons or certain dragons.

These changes don’t aim to overhaul the meta but provide more combat options, especially for players using standard spellbooks. A detailed spreadsheet of affected NPCs is available in Jagex’s official blog post, so be sure to check it out and share your feedback. For money-makers, this opens new strategies for tackling bosses like the Giant Mole, which now has an earth weakness, potentially making magic-based setups more viable and cost-effective.

How to Profit from Elemental Weaknesses

To maximize your profits, consider the following:

Gear Up for Magic: Invest in budget-friendly magic gear like the Mystic set or Ahrim’s for mid-game players. These setups are now more effective against specific NPCs, reducing the need for expensive melee or ranged gear.
Rune Management: Stock up on air, water, earth, and fire runes, as their demand may increase with these changes. Buying in bulk from the Grand Exchange (GE) when prices dip can save you millions.
Test New Setups: Experiment with spellbook setups at lower-level bosses like the Giant Mole to find efficient, low-cost methods that yield high XP and loot.

Flat Armor and Weapon Choices

The introduction of flat armor as a new defensive stat is a game-changer for PvM. Flat armor directly modifies damage dealt to NPCs:

Negative Flat Armor: NPCs like Nagwas and two of the Perilous Moons take extra damage (e.g., -2 flat armor adds 2 damage per hit). This makes double-hit weapons (like the Dragon Claws or dual-wielded weapons) highly effective, as they capitalize on multiple hit splats.
Positive Flat Armor: NPCs with positive flat armor (e.g., +2) reduce damage by a fixed amount per hit. Here, weapons with high strength bonuses, like the Abyssal Whip or Dragon Warhammer, shine to offset the damage reduction.

For money-makers, this encourages diversifying your combat setups. Fast-hitting weapons can rack up damage quickly against negative flat armor bosses, while high-strength weapons ensure consistent damage against tankier foes. Consider farming Nagwas with a Dragon Dagger (p++) for quick kills and decent loot, or use a high-strength setup like the Bandos Godsword for positive flat armor targets.

Loot Table Overhauls: Reducing Oversupply

Jagex is tackling the oversupply of certain resources by adjusting loot tables, particularly for high-volume drops like chaos runes, herbs, seeds, gems, and fish. For example:

Vorkath: Previously, players would walk away with thousands of chaos runes, tanking their value on Parnell Exchange. The Summer Sweep-Up reduces these quantities to stabilize prices without affecting the primary loot (e.g., dragon bones, hides, alchables).
Shark Chum: Similar to diabolic worms from Yama, shark chum acts as a rate enhancer for shark fishing, offering a new money-making avenue for skillers.

These changes aim to maintain the value of secondary loot, ensuring consistent profits. For instance, a reduced drop rate of torstol seeds (from 3 to ~25 to match pre-inflation value) could stabilize their GE price, making boss farming more lucrative. Check the full list of adjusted loot tables in Jagex’s blog post to plan your grinding sessions.

Money-Making Tip: Capitalize on Adjusted Loot

Vorkath Farming: Focus on Vorkath’s primary loot (dragon bones, hides) while benefiting from stabilized secondary loot prices. Use a dragonbane weapon like the Dragon Hunter Crossbow to maximize kills per hour.
Shark Fishing: With shark chum, fishing sharks could become a low-effort, high-profit skilling method. Stock up on chum and target high-level fishing spots for consistent gold.

Boss-Specific Changes: Faster Kills, Better Rewards

The Summer Sweep-Up includes significant boss tweaks to enhance gameplay and profitability. Here’s a breakdown of the key changes:

Vardorvis: Streamlined Nightmare

Vardorvis’s mechanic-heavy fight, with four nearly identical phases, often feels tedious. Jagex proposes removing one early phase, reducing kill times without altering the drop table. This means faster kills and a higher chance of landing valuable drops like the Virtus Robes or Chromatic Dragonstone per hour. Share your feedback on Jagex’s blog to ensure this change aligns with player expectations.

Nex: QoL Improvements

Nex’s fight is getting several QoL tweaks:

Range Hits During Phase Transitions: No longer nulled, with an HP threshold to balance mass fights, allowing small teams to deal extra damage.
Healing Mechanic: Damage dealt to blood reavers during downtime phases heals players, improving survivability.
Predictable Melee Attacks: Nex will use at least three melee attacks before switching to magic, aiding prayer coordination.
Mitigated Magic Damage: Late prayer switches in the final phase deal reduced damage, making the fight more forgiving.

These changes make Nex more accessible for mid-game players, potentially increasing its popularity as a money-making boss.

The Hueycoatl: Dragon-Slaying Powerhouse

The Hueycoatl is getting a major overhaul:

Tail Phase: Reduced hitpoints and clearer visuals for easier mechanics.
Dragon Hunter Wand:
- Bonus damage against dragons increased from 20% to 40%.
- Bonus accuracy against dragons increased from 50% to 75%.
- Now supports autocasting ancients.
- Drop rate improved from 1/207 to 1/69, making it more accessible.
Huey Hide Armor: Lower crafting requirements but harder-to-obtain materials, positioning it as a premium alternative to black dragonhide.

These buffs make the Dragon Hunter Wand a must-have for dragon-slaying money-makers, especially for high-value targets like Vorkath and King Black Dragon.

Perilous Moons: Improved Mechanics

The Perilous Moons receive click-box improvements and toned-down mechanics (e.g., Blue Moon’s tornadoes in the brazier phase). A new defensive ring from the Deranged Archaeologist offers +20 melee defense, providing a budget-friendly alternative to the Ring of Suffering for mid-game players tackling these bosses.

Oore and Bryida: Simplified Access

Oore and Bryida no longer require keys to access. Instead, keys unlock reward chests with their existing drop tables, while the bosses drop simplified loot and new giant bones for prayer XP. This streamlines the boss fights and enhances prayer training efficiency.

Cerberus: Enhanced Gameplay

Following positive feedback on Abyssal Sire changes, Cerberus gets minor tweaks:

Lava Pools: Limited to a one-tile damage radius for easier dodging.
Key Master Teleports: More common and tradable, increasing accessibility.
Ward of Arceuus: Now includes a 30% prayer drain reduction, reducing prayer potion costs.

These changes make Cerberus a more attractive money-making boss, especially for players chasing the Hellpuppy pet.

Duke Sucellus: Prep Efficiency

Prepping Duke Sucellus kills is now less tedious, with the ability to prep three kills in advance. To balance this, boss HP increases by 10%, but overall kills per hour will slightly improve, boosting profitability for high-value drops like the Ice Quartz.

Additional QoL Changes

The Summer Sweep-Up includes miscellaneous changes to enhance gameplay:

Ralos’ Sceptre: Range increased from 5 to 6 tiles, offering more flexibility in PvM scenarios.
Demonbane Weapons: Now effective against ice demons in Chambers of Xeric, improving raid efficiency.
Desert Treasure 2 Bosses: Drop three vestige pieces instead of invisible roles, providing clearer progress tracking.
Visual Delay Fix: Removed for magic attack animations in PvM, improving combat fluidity.
Halberds: Now usable against flying NPCs like aviansies, opening new melee-based money-making opportunities.
Inferno Speedrunning: Grandmaster Combat Achievement players can use the Zuk helmet off-task, enhancing Inferno runs (no XP or pet boosts).
Thrall Timer: Moved from Grandmaster to Master tier Combat Achievements, making it more accessible.

These tweaks improve gameplay flow and create new opportunities for efficient grinding. For example, halberds against aviansies could make Wilderness slayer tasks more profitable with melee setups.

Money-Making Strategies for Summer Sweep-Up 2025

The Summer Sweep-Up 2025 updates offer numerous ways to boost your OSRS wealth. Here are some top strategies:

Vorkath Grinding: Use the Dragon Hunter Wand (now more common from The Hueycoatl) for faster kills and consistent profits from dragon bones and hides. Combine with elemental weakness spells for budget-friendly setups.
Shark Fishing with Chum: Leverage shark chum for high-volume shark catches, ideal for low-effort skilling profits. Sell sharks in bulk on the GE during peak demand.
Nex Farming: The QoL tweaks make Nex more accessible. Small teams can farm high-value drops like the Zaryte Crossbow with improved survivability.
Perilous Moons and Defensive Ring: Use the new defensive ring to tackle Perilous Moons with budget gear, saving money on equipment while chasing valuable drops like the Moonstone.
Cerberus Runs: Capitalize on the prayer drain reduction from the Ward of Arceuus to reduce supply costs, increasing profit margins for Hellpuppy and Crystal Armour Seed drops.

Community Feedback and Future Updates

Jagex is actively seeking player feedback on these changes, so visit the official blog post to share your thoughts. The Summer Sweep-Up is part of a broader roadmap, with additional updates like Project Zanaris and Varlamore: The Final Dawn slated for July 2025. Stay tuned to Jagex’s news archives and X posts for the latest developments.

Conclusion

The Summer Sweep-Up 2025 is a game-changer for OSRS players, offering a blend of combat enhancements, loot table adjustments, and boss-specific tweaks that enhance both gameplay and profitability. From the revamped Dragon Hunter Wand to streamlined boss fights like Vardorvis and Nex, these updates make Gielinor more exciting and rewarding. Whether you’re a mid-game player like Billy or a seasoned veteran, there’s something here to boost your money-making potential. Check out our OSRS Money Making Guide for more tips, and let us know in the comments how you’re leveraging these updates to stack your gold!

Happy Scaping!