Loot mechanics
Loot mechanics, sometimes referred to as drop rate, is the system that controls what items are dropped, and with probability.
To be clear, this system has never been a secret, but it has been poorly communicated in the past. So, this page was born.
Section 1: Rationale
Drop rates are different in August than you would expect to see in OSRS, and this is due to many factors. The primary factors are:
- Economy at scale
- Player power
The economy of August is inherently smaller than a game like OSRS, and the player in August does exponentially more damage to NPCs than you do in OSRS.
With these two things in mind, the drop rate of certain NPCs needs to be adjusted to balace out the game.
Drop rate is more than just the rate of the listed NPC. There are additional factors, outlined below;
- Assume a monster has a drop rate of 1/100
- On kill, regardless of party size or your damage contribution, each player has a chance to roll drops.
- Drop rolls are calculated by table first, THEN the item itself.
- Additionally, your damage contribution is factored into this rate.
Section 2: Examples
Example 1: World Boss
Let's say you are one of 500 people killing the World Boss, and an item on that table is 1/100, and none of them drop?
Surely, there should have been 5 dropped. If this were the case, the economy would collapse. This was thought of and intentially not how it works.
For this example, let's assume you had a 1% damage contribution
- All players receive a "bonus" 20% damage contribution for being in a grouped kill.
- Total contribution is now 21%.
- With a 21% contribution, the 1/100 drop table becomes 4.761x rarer than the base rate.
- The 1/100 drop table is now 1/476.
Example 2: Trio Grouping
Let's say instead of being 1 of 500 people, you're in a trio.
For this example, let's assume you had a 33% damage contribution
- All players receive a "bonus" 20% damage contribution for being in a grouped kill.
- Total contribution is now 53%
- With a 53% contribution, the 1/100 drop table becomes 1.886x rarer than the base rate.
- The 1/100 drop table is now 1/189.
Example 3: Duo Grouping
Let's say instead of a trio, you're in a duo.
For this example, let's assume you had a 66% damage contribution
- All players receive a "bonus" 20% damage contribution for being in a grouped kill.
- Total contribution is now 86%
- With a 53% contribution, the 1/100 drop table becomes 1.163x rarer than the base rate.
- The 1/100 drop table is now 1/116.
Example 4: 5 Man Group
For this example, let's assume you are a 5 man team which all had equal damage contribution.
The drop table we will use is the Holy Elixer / Spirit Shield table, which is 1/64