Hunter Gets Major Quality-of-Life Overhaul in August Patch

RuneScape’s latest Summer Sweep Up update lands meaningful changes across Hunter training methods, rebalancing XP gains while making the grind feel less tedious and more rewarding.

Birdhouses: More Consistent Nests, Less XP

The birdhouse rework cuts both ways. Nest drops jump roughly 50% overall—the devs reduced rolls from 10 to 5 per birdhouse run but tripled success rate on each roll, smoothing out the frustrating variance where you’d either flood your bank or walk away empty-handed.

XP takes a hit across the board to compensate. Regular through Teak birdhouses drop 60%, Maple falls 55%, Mahogany 50%, and Yew 40%. Magic gets a lighter nerf at 15%, while Redwood stays unchanged. The rebalance signals the content’s shifting role—less about raw XP efficiency, more about sustainable resource gathering.

Falconry Unlocked

Falconry opens up significantly. You’re no longer rooted in place while your falcon hunts kebbits, letting you reposition freely. Inventory overflow no longer blocks catches—excess resources auto-discard (except Hunter Rumour items), and furs only disappear if both your pouch and inventory fill completely. Bones route through Bonecrusher effects as normal. You also won’t get interrupted walking toward Matthias if falcon interactions trigger.

Aerial Fishing: Less Click, More Catch

Aerial Fishing catches expand to a 4×4 area for “quick” catches (up from 3×3), letting sweaty players chain ticks more reliably. A new toggle with Alry the Angler lets your cormorant eat inventory fish as bait, gutting the need to spam fish offcuts. Larger fish pools now spawn occasionally, triggering multiple cormorant trips without extra clicks.

Molch Pearl income jumps 50%, and rewards got cheaper: Fishing Sack halves to 500 Pearls, Angler’s Outfit pieces drop to 50. A new Shark lure pack (100 lures, 1 Pearl) hits the shop. Previous buyers get refunded.

Deadfall Traps Double Down

You can now set 2 deadfall traps simultaneously (Maniacal Monkeys stay at 1). Traps preserve logs 75% of the time on placement, cutting tree-cutting grind. Traps activate 8 ticks faster, from 15 ticks down to 4.8 seconds.

The patch targets Hunter’s friction points—repetitive clicks, inventory chaos, and XP-to-effort ratios that felt stretched. These aren’t flashy additions, but they’re the kind of streamlining that keeps players grinding longer.