Repost without the graphic because you guys hated the AI generated pics. (Name and design are extremely negotiable) the current mega-rares each dominate a different mechanical axis of combat. The Twisted Bow scales its damage based on an enemy’s magic level, the Tumeken’s Shadow scales based on the player’s magic damage from gear, and the Scythe of Vitur scales based on monster size. Each one fills a distinct niche and excels under specific conditions. However, one major combat stat still has no mega-rare interacting with it directly: defence. The concept behind Arbiter’s Maul is to fill that gap by creating a mega-rare designed specifically to punish high-defence enemies. Unlike most weapons, Arbiter’s Maul would intentionally have no inherent combat stats. Its entire power comes from its passive effect. The weapon gains 35% of the target’s Defence level as damage and accuracy, meaning the higher a monster’s defence, the harder this weapon hits. This creates a unique combat dynamic where enemies that rely heavily on defence become the ideal targets for the weapon. To further reinforce this role, Arbiter’s Maul would ignore monster damage soak mechanics. For example, it would bypass the Corporeal Beast’s 50% damage soak, allowing it to hit Corp for full damage. This also future-proofs the weapon against bosses that might introduce similar mitigation mechanics later. In addition, the weapon would have 60% prayer penetration against monsters that are otherwise fully immune, ensuring it still has relevance in encounters where bosses block standard damage sources. This opens up interesting possibilities for future boss design. For example, Jagex could introduce encounters with extremely high defence combined with ranged and magic immunity, forcing melee as the primary damage style. In those situations, players would have two main options: teams could stack defence-reduction specs like Elder Maul, Dragon Warhammer, or Bandos Godsword and then use conventional melee weapons, or they could use Arbiter’s Maul to take advantage of its scaling mechanic and bypass the need for heavy defence reduction altogether. The goal of Arbiter’s Maul is not to replace the Scythe of Vitur, but rather to complement it. Each weapon would dominate a different environment. The Scythe remains strongest against large monsters, particularly in places like the Theatre of Blood where enemy size and encounter design heavily favor its multi-hit mechanic. Arbiter’s Maul, on the other hand, would shine against high-defence enemies, where its scaling effect allows it to potentially outperform the Scythe despite attacking only once per swing. In practice, the two weapons would work similarly to how other mega-rares coexist today. In encounters where monsters are large but have relatively low defence, the Scythe remains best-in-slot. In encounters where defence is extremely high, Arbiter’s Maul could become the stronger option. Even in content like Theatre of Blood where the Scythe dominates, Arbiter’s Maul could still function as a competitive second option—a slight DPS downgrade but still a viable and respectable alternative. Ideally, where one weapon is best, the other should still perform decently rather than becoming completely useless, except in cases where monsters have inherently low defence. One final design detail worth discussing is how the weapon should calculate defence for its scaling mechanic. The current concept assumes that the scaling is based on a monster’s base Defence level before any defence reductions are applied. In other words, effects like Dragon Warhammer, Bandos Godsword, or other defence-reduction mechanics would not reduce the maul’s scaling value. However, this aspect is very much open to debate. Alternative approaches could include scaling from the monster’s current defence level after reductions, or scaling from a percentage of defence rather than a flat level. Each option would create different balance implications and would ultimately determine how the weapon interacts with team-based defence-reduction strategies. Overall, the intention behind Arbiter’s Maul is to introduce a mega-rare that interacts with a part of the combat system that currently lacks a dedicated weapon: defence scaling. By rewarding players for fighting high-defence enemies rather than simply lowering their defence first, the weapon creates a new niche while still fitting naturally alongside the existing mega-rares. submitted by /u/wait_nvm
Originally posted by u/wait_nvm on r/2007scape