OSRS Sailing Into 2026: What’s Coming? Full Roadmap Breakdown

⚔️If you’re anything like me, you’ve been grinding away in Old School RuneScape since the Sailing skill dropped back in November 2025, and now we’re properly sailing into 2026 with a roadmap that feels bigger than ever. Jagex dropped the full details at the Winter Summit on January 25th, and let me tell you, it’s packed with PvP chaos, new quests, skill expansions, and even the fourth raid we’ve been waiting years for.

Whether you’re a hardcore raider, a skiller chasing that 99 Sailing, or just here for the memes and holiday events, 2026 is shaping up to be one of OSRS’s most ambitious years yet. We’re celebrating 25 years of RuneScape overall (RS25 vibes all year), and OSRS is getting its fair share of the love. Let’s break it all down section by section, no fluff, just the facts and my honest take as someone who’s been playing since the early days.

The Big Picture: 2026 Roadmap at a Glance

Jagex laid it out in a clean timeline format during the summit. Here’s the key stuff in table form for easy scanning:

Sailing In 2026 – Winter Summit Roadmap REVEALED!

This isn’t everything (client updates like HD beta and new regional servers are TBC), but it covers the major drops. Now let’s dive deeper into the stuff that matters most, starting with the star of the show.

Sailing Into 2026: Expanding the New Skill

Sailing launched strong in late 2025, giving us boats to captain, islands to explore, and cannon combat against sea beasts. But Jagex made it clear at the summit: you’ve helped shape it, now it’s time to vote on even more.

Key 2026 Sailing plans include:

• Boat Combat Rework (Autumn 2026): Traditional combat from boats will feel like normal OSRS combat. Ranged gear will properly boost accuracy and strength when using cannons. Cannons fire slower but hit harder, with a new “Fire at Will” mode for crewmates. Expect new weapon hotspots on sloops and expanded gun ports.
• New Quests: The Red Reef (experienced quest, Summer 2026) continues the Tortugan storyline. Help Floopa, investigate shady trading companies, and unlock the Sacred Grove. There’s talk of a third Tortugan quest in the works too.
• New Barracuda Trial (Autumn 2026): Fresh challenge content to test your sailing skills.
• Sea Expansion (Winter 2026 and beyond): More oceans, fishing spots, and islands to discover. This is the big one that keeps the skill feeling fresh long-term.
• Player-Designed Island: The competition finalists were revealed, and Wyrmscraig (by ScreteMonge / RoseNMcGeet) won out on February 2nd. It’ll get refined, polled, and added with a small quest. Community content done right!
• Other goodies: NPC boat combat (Summer), small-scale sea boss, new sea kraken dropping dragon cannon barrels, and more port tasks (some paused for now).

I’m genuinely excited about the combat rework. Early Sailing combat felt a bit clunky compared to land-based fights, so making it consistent should boost engagement big time. If you’re sitting at 70+ Sailing already, these updates will give you fresh reasons to set sail. Poll your thoughts when they drop. Jagex is listening.

Early 2026 Hits: Deadman and the Cow Boss

Deadman: Annihilation kicked off on January 30th. It’s the most chaotic version yet with changes like no more bank keys, new sigils, chests, and breaches. PvP everywhere, temporary game mode madness. If you missed the start, catch the highlights or wait for the All-Stars + Season 3 finale in June (live event in America, tickets coming soon).

Everything You Need to Know for Deadman: Annihilation

Then in Spring 2026 we get the Cow Boss via the F2P quest “The Ides of Milk”. Game Jam project turned real content: true early-game boss, new F2P quest, and a secret surprise. Rewards include cow bell amulet (tele to Lumbridge cows), rump steak for healing, bull bones for Prayer XP, fashion items, and more. Perfect for new players and low-level accounts.

The Ides of Milk – OSRS Wiki

This feels like classic OSRS, injecting fun into the early game without power creep.

April: Leagues VI – Demonic Pacts

Leagues return in April with Leagues VI: Demonic Pacts. Yama is back making deals with the devil (literally). Expect:

• Reimagined combat masteries
• Echo bosses return
• New tasks and demonic relics
• Fresh rewards to chase

Leagues are always a blast for everyone, whether you go for top ranks or just casual fun. The demonic theme has me hyped for some wild new mechanics.

Summer Highlights: Blood Moon Rises & Sweep Up

Summer brings two big ones. First, Blood Moon Rises – the Grandmaster quest finale to the 21-year-old Myreque storyline. Face Lowerniel Draken on his home plane of Vampyrium. This is huge lore payoff, new area access, and probably some epic rewards and bosses.

Paired with Summer Sweep Up II – a big roster of QoL changes, fixes, and tweaks to existing content. Think skilling improvements, combat adjustments, and touching up stuff we all love (or hate). These annual sweeps keep the game feeling fresh.

Autumn & Winter: Bingo, Raid 4, and More

Autumn sees the Community Bingo Feature hit the main game (polled first). Inspired by Grid Master, you’ll create your own bingo events for friends or the whole community. Super social and fun.

Then the big closer: The Fractured Archive in Winter 2026. OSRS’s fourth raid and the first in four years. Boss-rush style like Theatre of Blood but tougher, no puzzles or skilling rooms. Rewards poll coming, and it’s billed as the toughest raid yet.

Also in Autumn: ship combat rework and new sea kraken for Sailing fans.

The Rest: Holidays, RuneFest, and Quality of Life

Don’t sleep on the smaller stuff:

• Holiday Events all year, including a special 25th birthday event.
• RuneFest 2026 on October 3rd & 4th in Birmingham, UK. Double the size, perfect for the anniversary.
• Client Updates: HD mode beta in 2026, mobile improvements, new regional servers testing soon. Plugin API work paused to focus on these.
• RS25 celebrations throughout the year with surprises.

Final Thoughts: Is 2026 the Best Year Yet?

Man, typing this out has me even more pumped. Sailing expansions keep the newest skill alive, we finally get Raid 4, the Myreque story wraps in epic fashion, and there’s something for every playstyle – from F2P newbies with the Cow Boss to end-game raiders.

The focus on community (player-designed island, bingo, polls) and QoL (Summer Sweep Up, combat reworks) shows Jagex is listening. With RuneScape turning 25, the whole franchise feels revitalized.

What are you most looking forward to? The Fractured Archive? Hitting 99 Sailing with the new content? Or just the chaos of another Leagues? Drop your thoughts in the comments, and let’s theory-craft together.