Since Jagex started adding new quests to Old School RuneScape (OSRS), quests that did not exist on the August 2007 date that the game’s source code was based on when it was released in February 2013, the ceiling for overall quest difficulty has skyrocketed.
There are probably between 15 and 20 new quests, possibly more (of the 43 that have since come out), that present tougher challenges than any quests that existed back when the game first launched, based on what it looked like in 2007.
That's almost half of all new quests, and it all started in May 2016, when Monkey Madness II became the game’s first true new quest – and its first Grandmaster release.
Some of the game’s hardest quests back before then, albeit unchanged, may now seem relatively easy for a lot of players, not only because of how challenging some of the newer releases are but because of how much more is available, specifically armour and weapon-wise, to help get you through them.
When OSRS first launched, what were the top 10 hardest quests?
No. 10 - The Great Brain Robbery
This was a close one between Family Crest, Swan Song, Grim Tales, and Great Brain Robbery, but I went with the one featuring the boss that was probably the most challenging, even if only by a little bit – and even if it is only rated as an Experienced quest, compared to the Master difficulty labels assigned to Swan Song and Grim Tales.
Barrelchest has the ability to disable your prayers, and being caught off guard without Protect from Melee enabled usually means he slams his anchor and deals massive damage. This fight requires constant focus for that reason, though earning the anchor as a reward has always been kind of cool.