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Hey! Just a heads up, this is a bit of a longer post.
I wanted to take the time to reflect on the decisions I made and the approach I took throughout Leagues, and really dig into what worked, what didn’t, and how I can improve my overall experience next time around. This is mainly for my own reflection, but I also spoke with quite a few players who chose not to participate because they didn’t fully understand the game mode, so hopefully this helps them as well.
Setting the Goal for Leagues and a reflection of it:
I ended up achieving my goal of reaching Dragon Rank. To some, this might seem insignificant, but it was a goal I set for myself. Between working a full-time job, having a family, and playing billiards at a competitive level, it was always going to be a challenge, but one I felt was achievable within the three-week timeframe.
Going into Leagues, I didn’t have a detailed plan beyond that goal. In past leagues, I’ve both gone in with no plan at all and overplanned to the point of burnout, so this time I took a middle-ground approach and worked from a rough framework instead, which ended up working well. Initially, I assumed we’d only be able to choose a single combat relic, so my plan was to head to Varlamore, rush Moons of Peril, and aim for the Blue Moon set while going the magic route. However, once I learned that we actually received combat relics for all styles, and after going incredibly dry at Moons of Peril, that plan quickly changed.
My Regions:
In Leagues, you begin with access to two regions: Kourend and Karamja. After completing a set number of tasks, you’re able to unlock three additional regions. Below are the regions I chose.
Varlamore:
Varlamore is by far the region I have the least experience with, so I wanted to use this league as an opportunity to experiment with the content that made sense for my goals. I enjoyed the variety it offered, particularly Moons of Peril and the multiple skilling options.
One piece of content I intentionally avoided while in Varlamore, however, was the Colosseum. I have no prior experience with it, and earning Dizana’s quiver is a goal I’ve set for myself in 2026. From past experience, I tend to learn and retain content better when approaching it from a blank slate, and jumping into it during Leagues would have changed that. While this did put me slightly on the back foot, I was comfortable with that trade-off and was ultimately happy with the decision. If I had to make my choices again, I would approach this the same way.
Fremennik:
By the time I was able to choose my second region, things hadn’t gone to plan. I had initially taken the Magic relic and headed straight to Moons of Peril, but I went incredibly dry, and the bosses proved difficult with no meaningful gear or reliable DPS. It was around this point that I realised we had access to multiple combat relics, not just one, so I pivoted and picked up the Melee relic.
With that in mind, I chose Fremennik as my second region. My reasoning was that the Echo Dagannoth Kings drop the Amulet of the Monarchs and Emperor’s Ring, both of which filled item slots I hadn’t planned around yet. From a gearing perspective, this made a lot of sense. I did end up going dry again, taking roughly 150 KC per king, but I eventually secured the drops.
Fremennik also gave me access to bosses I was already comfortable with and knew I could consistently grind for points. While I didn’t complete the higher KC tasks for each boss, I didn’t need to, and the region still fit well into my overall routing. On top of that, it provided access to Blast Furnace and the newly opened Keldagrim, making it a safe and familiar choice for me, one I’ve picked in past leagues and would likely pick again.
Tirannwin:
Conclusion on my regions:
Overall, I was happy with the regions I chose and the pace at which I progressed through them. There’s certainly room for improvement, and with a fair amount of time before the next Leagues, I plan to revisit these decisions and see where I can tighten things up to improve my overall time to reach Dragon Rank.
My Relics:
This region feels like home to me. Across multiple accounts, both in Leagues and the main game, I’ve spent thousands of kills at the Gauntlet. By the time I was choosing my final region, I’d noticed that my Ranged setup was lacking in both gear and DPS, my melee gear still had room to improve, and several skills, particularly Thieving and Crafting, were falling behind. Tirannwn addressed most of these issues at once, which made it an easy final choice.
Once I unlocked it, I headed straight to the Gauntlet to chase an enhanced weapon seed... which I accidentally high alched.... Thankfully, I managed to pull a second shortly after. Overall, Tirannwn ended up being an excellent fit for me. I enjoy the Hunllef fight, especially the Echo version, and I completed the higher KC tasks for both it and Zulrah while I was there. This is a region I’m very comfortable with, and it’s one I would definitely choose again in future leagues.
Conclusion on my regions:
Overall, I was happy with the regions I chose and the pace at which I progressed through them. There’s certainly room for improvement, and with a fair amount of time before the next Leagues, I plan to revisit these decisions and see where I can tighten things up to improve my overall time to reach Dragon Rank.
My Relics:
In Leagues, you’re given a choice of three relics as you reach certain point thresholds. These relics can do a wide range of things, from improving skilling efficiency to enhancing your combat damage. Below are the relics I chose and my thoughts on those decisions.
Tier One - Trickster:
Even though this was the very first relic I picked, it ended up being the wrong choice for me. My original reasoning for taking Trickster was that it would help with AFK grinds while I was at work. In practice, that didn’t really pan out. By the time I was able to take advantage of AFK time, the relic’s usefulness had largely run its course, I had already completed Wintertodt and finished Thieving.
Trickster was a solid relic early on, but its value drops off fairly quickly. Looking back and going over my spreadsheet that tracked the time I spent doing things. I would have saved more time by choosing either Clue Compass or Production Prodigy, both of which would have offered more long-term benefits Although it looks like clue compass would of saved me more time over Production Prodigy. This was the one relic choice where I consistently found myself thinking, “this wasn’t the correct choice.”.
Tier Two - Way of the Warrior:
The double experience didn’t really factor into this decision for me, so this choice came down to one reason
I’m not entirely sure why, but the moment I saw this perk, I picked it instantly. I was completely happy with this decision it made all of my AFK grinds involving Prayer significantly more comfortable.
Tier Three - Treasure Seeker:
I had chosen the other relics in past leagues and had never taken Treasure Seeker before. Since my goal this league was to reach a certain point total as quickly as possible within the limits of real life, it made sense to give it a try, and I was very happy with the result. In hindsight, pairing this with Clue Compass would have saved even more time, but if my goals in future leagues line up similarly, this is a relic I would definitely take again.
Tier Four - Golden God:
This was a difficult choice between this relic and Corruption. I ultimately went with this option because there were quite a few tasks where money played a role in completion, and it aligned better with my goal of reaching a specific point total.
Shortly after choosing it, I ran into a bug where condensed gold was not alching for the correct amount, and I lost roughly 500m before realising what was happening. Despite that setback, I still think this was the correct choice for my goals. In terms of overall time spent, I suspect either this relic or Corruption would have resulted in a similar amount of playtime. Food was never really an issue, as karambwans were easily Sold from Brimhaven.
That said, in the next Leagues I plan to try Corruption instead, a lot of people seemed to have a great time with it, and I’d like to experience it for myself.
Tier Five - Bankers Note:
This was another difficult choice, as I’ve tried and enjoyed all three relics in the past. In the end, I went with Banker’s Note. In the main game of OSRS, I play an endgame UIM, so this relic fits a playstyle I’m already very comfortable with, working primarily from my inventory. It also speeds up a lot of content, such as Chambers of Xeric, where no prep is required at any stage, and it outright trivialises certain challenges, like the Inferno.
Banker’s Note is a go-to relic for me. I’ve taken it before, and I’ll take it again.
Tier Six - Berserker:
This was an interesting choice for me, as I’d never taken this relic before. In previous leagues, I didn’t have enough confidence in my mechanical ability to comfortably survive at lower HP. I’m very glad I decided to take it this time around. When paired with a Ranged or Magic combat relic, it allows you to get two max hits at full HP, meaning most of my opening hits were landing in the 80–120 range.
I was extremely happy with this relic and will absolutely be using it again the next time I have the chance.
Tier Seven - Guardian:
For Tier 7, it came down to a literal coin flip between Guardian and Executioner’s Axe. While the axe is undeniably overpowered, I’d never tried Guardian before, and that is what I got. I wasn’t particularly interested in Undying Retribution this time around, as it didn’t align with my goals.
Executioner’s Axe would have saved more time overall, but I was still happy with Guardian. If my focus next time is purely on improving my completion time, the axe will be my choice.
Closing Notes, overall time and my thoughts on how Alora could improve its leagues:
Overall, I was incredibly happy with the experience. Having access to combat relics for all styles felt amazing, and I really hope that sticks around, everyone I spoke to absolutely loved it. I also got to meet a bunch of new people along the way, and I’m already looking forward to trying to improve my time to Dragon Rank next league.
So, onto it. my overall time was:
So, onto it. my overall time was:
my overall time came out to 6 days and 10 hours, which is 154 hours over a 2-week, 3-day period, just over 9 hours of gameplay per day. That said, a fair bit of that time was spent zero timing things. Reducing that overall time is the personal benchmark I want to beat next time.
The only improvement I can think of for future leagues would be adding the ability to filter Leagues drops from yell chat, or removing them from yell entirely. The volume of messages can get pretty overwhelming. It’s something I feel fairly strongly about, but even without that change, I was still very happy with the experience overall.
If you’re reading this and haven’t given Leagues a go for any reason, I’d absolutely recommend it. You get some great cosmetics just for participating, and it’s a fantastic excuse to try new content, even if, like me, you stick to what you’re comfortable with.
If you’re reading this and haven’t given Leagues a go for any reason, I’d absolutely recommend it. You get some great cosmetics just for participating, and it’s a fantastic excuse to try new content, even if, like me, you stick to what you’re comfortable with.
Finally, a huge thank you to @Omicron and the rest of the mod team for hosting. I really appreciate all the work you put into making this happen.
Thanks for reading!
