Hard mode

Hard mode is a modified version of content that is meant to be more challenging than normal mode. The term is most often applied for boss encounters, and in most cases, completing hard mode gives more lucrative rewards. Several combat achievements are only completable in hard mode, and their kill count is tracked separately from other modes.

Some bosses have a hard mode encounter which provides a harder fight but better rewards.

Chambers of Xeric offers a challenge mode which does not have any requirements to start. In this mode, the team must face all bosses and challenges in a single, pre-arranged layout. All enemies have their stats increased by 50% (in most cases), and also have their health increased by 50%. The Great Olm is the only exception, whose health remains unscaled. Mechanics are still the same as in normal mode.

Completing a challenge mode raid within the time limit (which varies on group size) will award an additional 5,000 points for every player in the team, alongside making them eligible for the metamorphic dust and twisted ancestral colour kit.

Theatre of Blood offers a hard mode. As with normal mode, Priest in Peril is required to access the raid. Before the player can start hard mode, they must have completed one successful run of the raid in normal mode before they can join hard mode teams.

In hard mode, the bosses' mechanics are further enhanced, often being modifications from their normal mode counterparts. The nylocas room has a new mechanic in the form of three Nylocas Prinkipas that appear during the build-up waves. Stats are slightly modified, with the Pestilent Bloat having 20% more health over normal mode, Sotetseg having 350 Attack instead of 250, and Xarpus having 200 Defence instead of 250.

Completing a hard mode raid grants 15% more loot in common rewards, with an additional 15% for a total of 30% if the raid is also completed in time. Completing the raid in time also makes players eligible for the sanguine dust, holy ornament kit and sanguine ornament kit drops, which are rolled independently from unique drops. Hard mode also has a lower chance of awarding an avernic defender hilt, with weighting leaning more towards the other drops.

Tombs of Amascut offers an expert mode. As with normal mode, Beneath Cursed Sands is a required to access the raid. No requirements are needed outside of the quest.

Expert mode is offered once the player has added invocations that equal to or are greater than 300 raid level before starting the raid. As the raid is toggle-based, bosses can potentially have or not have specific mechanics added, though at the minimum, their stats are modified to 120% of their base values.

Unlike the other two raids, completing a raid within the time limit (if a time-limited invocation is active) does not provide extra rewards. However, by completing the raid without any deaths in the team and meeting the requirements, players can obtain additional cosmetic rewards.

Completing an expert mode raid with a raid level of 401 or higher slightly increases the rates for a unique drop.

The Whisperer, The Leviathan, Duke Sucellus, and Vardorvis offer a hard mode fight in the form of awakened mode. In order to fight the bosses, the player must have completed Desert Treasure II - The Fallen Empire, and they must also have an awakener's orb in their inventory.

In awakened mode, the bosses have much higher health, deal more damage and have their mechanics enhanced from normal mode, with both the Leviathan and Duke Sucellus having additional mechanics introduced in their fights. They also become immune to stat drains, absorbing them if attacked in such a manner.

Common drops are the same as in normal mode, but the unique drop rate is increased from 1/x to 3/x, x being the boss' unique drop rate denominator. Killing all four awakened bosses at least once will award the player with the ancient blood ornament kit on the last awakened boss killed, which is used to turn torva armour into a cosmetic sanguine variant with 20,000 blood runes per piece.

Yama offers hard mode fights in the form of contracts. In order to fight Yama, the player must have completed A Kingdom Divided and speak to him after the quest in order to unlock the base initial fight.

Each contract offers various modifiers, all of which benefits Yama in some way. The player usually gets disadvantages in these fights, though there are a few cases in which they get benefits instead.

Yama's stats are significantly increased in these contracted fights, though his health remains the same apart from the form challenged in the glyphic and bloodied contracts; increasing it to 2875 and 3000 hitpoints respectively. A contracted fight also adds and/or modifies existing mechanics. Unlike normal mode, where a phase transition occurs upon reaching 66.6% and 33.3% health, hard mode triggers the transition at 75.0% and 50.0% respectively, resulting in a slightly longer enrage phase.

Completing the contracted fight will result in the reward stated in the contract being given/offered. In the contract of worm/shard/catalyst aquisition, which allow for a partner, only the player who hands the contract to Yama will be eligible for the reward stated in the contract. They are not eligible for normal loot, though they can still roll for unique loot. Normal loot from a partnered contract is only offered if the contract of familiar acquisition was used. The player who did not hand the contract follows normal drop mechanics as usual.

Completing the five challenging fights - the contract of bloodied blows, glyphic attenuation, divine severance, sensory clouding and forfeit breath will award players with one piece of the purifying sigil, which is used to turn oathplate armour into its radiant variant with 10,000 aether runes per piece.

Brutus has a hard mode fight available after giving it an abyssal potato. In order to access this fight, players must have completed both The Ides of Milk to access Brutus, and Desert Treasure II to harvest the potato. This potato can be found in The Scar, on a growth next to Persten's camp. The potato must be brought into the instance in order to trigger the hard mode fight, where players will fight a Demonic Brutus instead.

Demonic Brutus is a significant step up from the regular fight, being nearly on par with an awakened Desert Treasure II boss. The boss' mechanics are enhanced and has two phases, of which the second starts after it reaches 0 hitpoints the first time.

The reward from completing the fight are the Brutus slippers, cosmetic footwear.