The premiere of a new crab monster may only be a footnote in the new update of Old School RuneScape, but this creature is currently causing a stir in the community.
What is behind the crab? In RuneScape, it is somewhat of an old, beloved tradition to use harmless crabs for AFK training of combat skills. They can take quite a beating, hardly fight back, and are thus the perfect punching bags on 6 legs.
The only downside is that the rock and sand crabs do not live in the immediate neighborhood and have not been very efficient for XP farming lately. Here comes the new “Gemstone Crab” from the newly released update Varlamore: The Final Dawn.
The gem-encrusted giant crab appears approximately every 10 minutes at 3 fairly accessible locations in the “Tlati Rainforest”, is said to have virtually unlimited health, and causes almost no damage.
In the official patch notes on runescape.com, the crab is thus referred to by the developers as a “social PvM training method” – that is, a social player-versus-monster training method.
Not harmless enough for some hardcore players
How does the community react to the new addition? They celebrate the “Gemstone Crab” with numerous posts and memes on Reddit.
- SFX200 jokes on Reddit: “Nothing beats rock crabs! I don’t have time for some gemstone crab!” – accompanied by an image that should show: Back then, we had nothing (except rock crabs).
- MsGuggy celebrates on Reddit: “The Gemstone Crab is the best addition of 2025” – accompanied by an image that raises the question of what hands are for. Of course, to pet crabs, hold them, celebrate them, and give them all your earthly possessions.
- CauliflowerHealthy20 is already busy hitting the crab, via Reddit: “I’ve been hitting the crab all day while working. Good update, 10 out of 10.”
- Biggsmustache0131 goes even further on Reddit: “The crab is love. The crab is life. I think I love the crab more than myself. We need a crab pet.”
- In Snesonix123’s post on Reddit, the community is thinking about a fitting name for the crab. Among the favorites are Mr. Krabs, Gemma, Geminem, and Tomatoa.
That the seemingly harmless crab should not be underestimated is shown by the fate of several hardcore players who have been killed by the “Gemstone Crab”. The developers remind on X: “We want to remind all hardcore players that the maximum hit of the gemstone crab is 1, so please be careful!”
That RuneScape can be quite dangerous has also been experienced recently by an experienced WoW veteran: Thomas Chance “Sodapoppin” Morris is one of the biggest streamers on Twitch and primarily known for his content related to World of Warcraft. Currently, “Soda” is playing Old School RuneScape and experiencing some special moments that many veterans of the MMORPG know.
