Around ten years since the solo variant launched, RuneScape has unleashed its Group Ironman mode into the lands of Gielinor. As the name suggests, the mode functions pretty much the same as regular Ironman, but you play as a group.

There are two different versions of Group Ironman though: regular and Competitive. Regular is very much familiar to ordinary Ironman, but Competitive completely restricts any form of interaction with non-group members. It’s a challenging variant for those that like that sort of thing.

Now’s a great time to get back into RuneScape too, as you can participate in the Harvest Hollow Halloween event. That was just patched up to fix a few outstanding issues, alongside the new Gate of Elidinis skilling boss.

Let’s take a look at everything you need to know about Group Ironman.

What is Group Ironman?

Group Ironman challenges you and up to 4 friends to take on all of the challenges Gielinor has to offer with little, or no, outside assistance. It’s a little bit less lonely than regular Ironman, then, as you do have a few others along for the ride.

You can freely trade with each other, access a Group Storage, and participate in new leaderboards. The best feature though is a new cosmetic armour set, which changes visually as you complete achievements.

Here’s everything you need to know at a glance, before we expand:

  • Group Ironman supports 2-5 players
  • You can trade freely with each other
  • There’s a shared bank, allowing you to share non-tradable items
  • Competitive Group Ironman restricts any outside assistance
  • You can define your game rules up front and display them in-game
  • There are Journey Achievements to unlock together
  • These provide a cosmetic effect on the Group Ironman armour
  • You can remove and add group members but it requires a super majority

Group Ironman vs Competitive

Regular Group Ironman functions as you know and love the system. You’re on your own, but you can still engage in group content with non-Ironmen or groups.

Competitive restricts everything to just your group. To prevent accidentally losing this status, Jagex will block any actions that could break these rules.

Here’s how it works in brief:

  • Competitive Group Ironman prevents group content outside of your group
  • Your group has to deal 100% of the damage to a monster to gain rewards
  • Boss instancing is free for Competitive Group Ironmen
  • Only new accounts can access this mode
  • RuneScape will block actions that break CGIM rules, preventing you accidentally losing them

Founders

OG Group Ironmen get a little star next to their name in the Group Ironman screen, which indicates that they’ve been in the group since the beginning. Any new member that joins within seven days of the group being formed gets this status.

The downside is, you lose this status if you add a new member once the seven day period is up. Jagex wants to use this system to encourage members to play together.

Achieve Together

This is one of our favourite new features Group Ironman is introducing: Journey Achievements. Not only do these provide you with a nice structure to your adventure throughout Gielinor, but they shower you with useful rewards.

Your ‘Journey’ is broken down into a bunch of different tiers, which encourages you to take it step-by-step. The first, for example, challenges you to complete certain quests, achievements, and levels. You also have to gather a certain number of materials and defeat select enemies.

That provides you with a nice little introduction to RuneScape, as well as rewarding you for doing so.

You shouldn’t feel pigeonholed into just chasing achievements if there’s a specific game mode you want to specialise in. RuneScape sees the first ten tiers as a bit of a tutorial, but following this point you can be a lot more flexible.

Journey Rewards

This is the bit we’re mostly in it for, right? Well, Group Ironmen get a ton of awesome rewards via the Journey Achievements system. First and foremost, you get a unique armour set, which is blue for Groups and red for Competitives.

You also get a selection of Group Ironman titles, so you can show off your prowess and Group Poses, which are perfect for sreenshots.

Group Storage

Group Ironmen get access to a Group Storage, which you can access at any bank. Here you can drop items that any member can then withdraw, helping them even if you’re at opposite ends of Gielinor.

This includes a selection of untradeable items, that you can’t usually trade between players. This includes augmented weapons and armour.

The size of your bank increases as you progress through the Journey Achievements, so it is worth engaging with that system.

Making Decisions As a Team

Any decision you make involving the team, including removing a member or downgrading, requires a supermajority to pass. That means ever single member of the group has to agree with the decision, or the action isn’t taken.

Not only this, but you have to wait for a certain amount of time for the action to take place, even when you’ve all agreed it. This means you have time to reverse course if the group changes its mind.

Group Ironman Ruleset

Here is the full Group Ironman ruleset:

  • At least two players must form the group on Iron Enclave
  • Your name must be unique
  • Groups must remain together to keep ‘Founder’ status
  • Ironman players can join a group, but it’s irrevocable
  • You can leave a group but you lose all Ironman status
  • Players can vote to kick a player but it needs a supermajority
  • If the leader leaves, the longest serving remaining member gets the position
  • You can leave and join groups freely
  • Joining a new group incurs a 14 day cooldown before you can use group storage
  • You can trade freely between members
  • Group Ironman achievements don’t contribute Runescore

Competitive Group Ironman Ruleset

All of the above rules apply to Competitive, but with some additionals:

  • You can’t interact with other players
  • To gain drops, your group has to deal 100% of the damage to a monster
  • You an’t access certain minigames
  • You can only tackle group content with your group
  • Downgrading is possible but irreversible

You can learn more about the Group Ironman feature on the official RuneScape website.

Guides