RuneScape skills

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With the exception of the first few levels, the experience needed to increase a level is roughly 1.1 times the experience required for the previous level. Experience requirements double approximately every 7 levels.

RuneScape skills are abilities that enable players to carry out various tasks. Some skills are restricted to players who choose to pay a monthly fee for additional content, also known as members. Players gain experience in a skill when they perform skill-related tasks and this experience gained depends on the particular task. As players gain levels, they gain new abilities in the skill, some of which are restricted to members. The new abilities gained, in turn, reward players with more experience points to compensate for the exponential increase in experience needed to reach each new level, however this does not make up for all the extra work needed to progress in a skill.

Skills

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Combat

Main article: RuneScape combat

Combat in RuneScape is not a trainable skill in itself; instead, combat level is calculated internally by the game engine, which applies a formula to the combat skill levels. The skills included in combat are attack, strength, defence, hitpoints, magic, ranged, and prayer. Experience in each of Attack, Defence and Strength is gained when the appropriate attack style is used. HP experience is gained when any attack style is used, but at a lower rate. The other combat skills are increased like normal skills, although ranged depends on damage dealt for experience, like attack etc. Prayer and magic have uses other than in combat. Magic can be used to enchant items such as jewellery and orbs, smelt ores, turn items into gold and teleport yourself and target players. Prayer is used, apart from protection, to keep your items in death and to bless holy and unholy symbols with the relevant prayer books. It is considered one of the hardest levels to improve.

Extracting

See also: Primary industry

These skills involve the extraction of raw materials from the environment, supplying the processing skills and helping on quests such as Heroes' Quest (members).

File:Runescape skill woodcutting.gif

A player woodcutting may harvest logs for use with the fletching or firemaking skills, or sell them for gold.

Fishing

Fishing requires the player to use a fishing tool (Such as a fishing rod) with a fishing spot to catch fish, which can be cooked and used to heal lost hitpoints. Higher level fish can only be caught through the challenging Trawler Minigame. Lower level fish can also be caught through this method, although many people are needed for the completion of the minigame. Fishing with a big net in areas such as Catherby can let you catch items such as boots, gloves, seaweed and caskets (with sometimes amazing rewards inside). Many players fish so they can sell their catch, especially lobsters, swordfish and sharks, to other players. Fish can be sold raw or cooked (although they both sell for the same price in the general stores), allowing the purchasers to use the food to restore health, or to cook raw fish themselves to gain cooking experience.

Mining

Mining requires players to use pickaxes to extract ores, gems, clay, and other materials from mining rocks. Players can extract better ores and materials and can use better pickaxes to help in mining faster as their skill levels increase. The materials extracted are used in smithing, crafting (and magic), runecrafting, construction, quests, or mini-games.

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A player may gather valuable herbs quickly by harvesting them with the farming skill.

Woodcutting

Woodcutting requires players to use an axe to chop down trees and collect the logs. Normal trees yield only one set of logs each before they must respawn; all other trees yield several sets of logs. Players can use better axes as their skill levels increase, allowing them to chop trees faster. The logs cut are commonly used in the fletching, construction, and firemaking skills.

Farming

Farming allows players to grow various vegetables, flowers, hops, herbs, bushes, trees, and other plants from seeds, which can be purchased, pick pocketed, harvested from some plants, or obtained from various monsters drops and random events. At certain levels, players may plant certain plants or a scarecrow in order to protect crops in the flower patch from disease. Many complaints have, however, been voiced about this skill since each lot of crops takes hours of concentration from the farmer. Farming tools can be kept by useful Tool Leprechauns at the various farming patches. Although the main patches consist of two vegetable patches, a flower patch and a herb patch, special patches for trees, bushes, mushrooms, cacti and many more exotic plants can be found in appropriate areas. The farming skill, available only to paying members, was released on 11 July 2005.

Processing

See also: Secondary industry

Raw materials produced with extraction skills are made into finished goods using processing skills.

Cooking

Cooking allows players to prepare their own food, which is eaten to heal hitpoints. Meals can also raise levels temporarily, as can drinks. For example, Fish pie, Garden pie, Slayers' respite and Dwarven stout raise fishing, farming, slayer, mining and smithing respectively. Farming, fishing, combat and hunting provide most raw food to be cooked. Bread and other such foods do not reqire any skill to gather the raw materials for and no experience is gained through that. The most common foods are fish, although other foods such as vegetables, stews, and pies are common. Even more complex foods can be cooked, such as complicated mixed drinks and multi-step desserts. Cooking is regarded as the simplest skill to train, as several players have earned the maximum experience points, a feat requiring over ten times as much experience in the skill as attaining the maximum level.

File:Runescape skill fletching.gif

A player fletches her logs into arrow shafts.

Crafting

Crafting allows players to make various items with traditional crafting skills, such as potterymaking, glassblowing, leatherworking, goldsmithing, weaving, and silversmithing. Gems may also be cut to be used in jewellery and staffs be made for magic. All ores needed for crafting can be mined in the crafting guild, which requires level 40 crafting to enter and a brown apron. Items for skills such as prayer, herblore, combat, magic, smithing, mining and some quests can be made through crafting. A player may need to advance a few levels in order to make some of these item types.

Firemaking

Firemaking allows players to cook food when a range or oven is not available. Food cooked on a fire is more likely to burn than food cooked on a range, and many foods cannot be cooked on a fire. The logs used can be bought or obtained using the Woodcutting skill. Fires made using higher level logs do not burn longer than those made from lower level logs; the length of time the fire burns is random. Firemaking is also needed to provide light from candles or lanterns in dark places and to burn pyre logs, which train the prayer skill by burning shades (a type of ghost found in Mort Myre).

Fletching

Fletching is a members' skill used to make arrows, bows (including crossbows), and other projectile weapons from raw materials found throughout Gielinor. Higher level woods require higher experience levels, making better bows and ammunition that shoot more accurately and with more power. The strongest bows, which are made from yew or magic trees, are also popular items to "alch", or convert to gold using the High or Low Alchemy spells. This is a popular way to train magic and is how many players on members-only worlds make much of their money.

File:Runescape skill runecrafting.gif

This player is runecrafting air runes, identified by the symbol on the dolmen in front of her.

Runecrafting

Runecrafting allows players to create the rune stones, or runes, required for casting magic spells. Runes, which are small stones that can be infused with different kinds of power, are created from rune essence. Power is infused into the rune essence via altars specific to the type of power, creating runes. Runes that require membership to be able to craft, such as Cosmic, Chaos, etc... can only be crafted with "Pure Essence", which requires a higher mining level to mine, as well as membership. Access to altars is granted by possessing the appropriate talisman, these talismans also being able to help the player locate an altar. Players can also choose to make and wear enchanted tiaras instead of carrying talisman. Many players train runecrafting by using groups of runners, who transport the rune essence to the runecrafter in exchange for the end product, allowing the runecrafter to train more quickly. Paying members have access to the Abyss, after completing a mini-quest, which is an area which allows players to reach the runecrafting altars more quickly but with a higher risk of losing items through death.

Smithing

Smithing uses the ores obtained from mining to make armour, weapons, and other items. The first stage of smithing is smelting the raw ores into usable bars. When smelting iron ore into iron bars there is a 50% chance of success of smelting it successfully into a bar unless wearing an enchanted ruby ring. The second stage of smithing is forging the bars into usable items on an anvil using a hammer. Not all items of that metal can be smithed and not all weapon materials can be smithed (eg. Dragon). Most pieces of armour and weaponry require more than one bar to forge, and more valuable bars require higher smithing levels and more coal to smelt.

Independent

File:Runescape skill agility.gif

The Agility skill allows players to access shortcuts, such as the ability to cross a river via a fallen log.

Agility

Agility is a members' skill used to access remote areas and to take shortcuts, especially in the wilderness and on some quests. Many areas that contain slayer monsters have agility shortcuts to help higher level players reach the monsters they wish to slay more quickly. As players train the agility skill, their stamina regeneration rates increase, which allows their run energy to restore faster. Agility is the only member skill that retains its effects when players are on free to play servers. The agility skill was released on 12 December 2002.

Construction

Construction is a member's skill that allows players to build houses complete with several styles of room and furniture. When players first begin construction, they only have two rooms and can only build crude furniture. As players advance, they have a wide array of rooms available for customisation, though there is a limit of twenty rooms. Players can plant trees and shrubs in their garden or build furniture for their parlour, dining room, study, and bedroom. Players may also construct specialty furniture for their kitchen, workroom, and game room. Houses may also have unorthodox rooms such as a personal chapel, dungeon, throne room, and portal chamber, a room which provides teleports to various areas on the map. On 18 October 2006, Jagex added a costume room to the construction skill, which allows players to store various "fun" items and costumes, along with a few armour sets and holiday items.

Construction first appeared in RuneScape Classic as "Carpentry". It was impossible to gain experience, and was later replaced with agility. The skill was re-introduced by Jagex on 31 May 2006. Introduction of the skill was hinted at in the Behind The Scenes for May, but many players were surprised and excited by its release. The large number of players trying to train the skill caused many players to experience lag, and Jagex installed eleven additional servers to help alleviate the problem.

Training construction requires more money than any other skill. High-end supplies cost an extreme amount of money to purchase, and can only be acquired by paying the large cash sum. Construction has been viewed as a successful method by Jagex to curb the rate of inflation but it is seen by some as wasteful.

Herblore

Herblore is a members' skill for creating a variety of potions that give players temporary boosts to statistics, restore attributes, remove poison, and other effects. Players must find and identify herbs, locate ingredients, and mix the potions in a glass vial.

File:Runescape skill slayer.gif

A player training the Slayer skill sprinkles salt on a Rockslug cave creature, killing it. This is similar to how real slugs can be killed by dehydration with table salt.

Hunter

Hunter is a members' skill that involves catching animals, such as birds, butterflies, or imps. Recently, a mini-game has been added allowing players to catch implings, relieving them of their treasure. This minigame was released to the RuneScape community on the 11th of June 2007. It is called 'Impetuous Impulses" and is currently the most recent minigame. Players must set traps, leave bait, or investigate burrows. Possible rewards of this skill involve using hides or remains of hunted creatures in order to make capes and unique armors that help the success rate in catching animals or reduce the weight of the items in your inventory. This skill was released on 21 November 2006 and is the newest skill so far.

Slayer

Slayer is a members' skill that allows players to kill specialized monsters that would otherwise be impossible to defeat. To train the slayer skill, players must get assignments from slayer masters. The assignments instruct them to defeat a certain number of specific monsters. If a slayer master gives an assignment that the player feels is too tough (for example, Black Dragons), the slayer master in Burthorpe could give a new assignment with monsters that are not as tough. This assignment, you cannot refuse. The slayer skill was released on 26 January 2005.

Many slayer monsters are located in special areas and require innovative methods and special equipment to kill. Slayer monsters usually drop better armour and equipment than other monsters at similar levels.

Thieving

Thieving is a members' skill that allows players to obtain money and items by pickpocketing NPCs, by stealing from market stalls, and by unlocking various chests throughout Gielinor. Thieving also allows players to unlock doors, with or without lockpicks, using unorthodox methods in order to access areas that they could not reach by other means. Many quests require certain thieving levels.

Capes of Achievement

File:RuneScape Quest Cape Emote.gif

A player displaying the emote available when wearing the Quest Points Cape.

Capes of Achievement, also known as Capes of Accomplishment or simply "Skill Capes", were released on 18 October 2006. They can be purchased only by members who have reached level 99 in a skill. When worn they can temporarily boost the level of that skill to 100. The capes allow their owners to perform a unique emote relating to the skill. Players who have got to level 99 in more than one skill receive a Skill Cape that is trimmed to designate their multiple level 99 skill status. A Cape of Achievement is also available to players who have completed every quest in the game. Players must complete new quests as they are released in order to continue to wear the quest cape and to use its emote, thus making it the hardest to keep.

External links

• RuneScape skills manual