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 members-only and are available only in the pay-to-play version of the game. Players gain experience in a skill when they perform skill-related tasks. The experience one player has determines their corresponding level. As players gain levels, they gain new abilities in the skill, some of which are members-only. 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.

[edit] Combat

Main article: RuneScape combat

Combat is itself not a trainable skill; instead, combat level is calculated from a combination of the seven combat skills: attack, strength, defense, hitpoints, magic, ranged, and prayer. These skills are the primary factor in a player's overall power. These skills are detailed in Combat.

[edit] Extracting

A player woodcutting may harvest logs for use with the fletching or firemaking skills.

Fishing requires a player to use a fishing tool with a fishing spot to catch fish. Many players fish so they can sell their catch, especially lobsters and sharks, to other players. Fish can be sold raw, allowing purchasers to train their cooking skill; however, most fish are sold cooked. ^[1]

Mining requires players to use pickaxes to extract ores, gems, clay, and other materials from mining rocks. Players can extract better ores and materials as their skill levels increase. The materials extracted are used in smithing, crafting, runecrafting, construction, quests or mini-games.^[2]

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

Woodcutting requires players to use an axe to chop down trees and collect the logs. Normal trees yield only one log each before they must respawn; all other trees yield several logs. Players can use better hatchets as their skill levels increase, allowing them to chop trees faster. ^[3]

Farming allows players to grow various vegetables, flowers, hops, herbs, bushes, trees, and other plants from seeds, which can be purchased, pickpocketed, harvested from some plants, or obtained from various monsters drops and random events. Players with higher farming skill levels can also make scarecrows to help protect their crops. The farming skill was released on July 11, 2005.^[4]

[edit] Processing

Cooking allows players to prepare their own food, which is eaten to heal hitpoints. Farming and fishing provide raw food to be cooked. 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.^[5]

A player fletches her logs into arrow shafts.

Crafting allows players to make various items with traditional crafting skills such as potterymaking, glassblowing, leatherworking, goldsmithing, weaving, and silversmithing. One of the main uses of crafting is making high level jewellery, which can in turn be enchanted with the magic skill to be turned into useful items, for use in combat, transportation, or skills. Also, most armor for the combat skill Ranged can be made with crafting.^[6]

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 only certain foods, such as fish, can be cooked on a fire. 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. ^[7]

Fletching (Members only) is the skill used to make arrows, bows, and other projectile weapons from raw materials found throughout Gielinor. The Fletching skill works with the Woodcutting skill, using the same kinds of logs. Rarer types of wood require higher experience levels, making better bows that shoot more accurately and with more power. The strongest bows, which are made from yew trees and rare Magic Trees, are also popular items to "alch", or turn to gold using the High Alchemy spell. Fletching, in conjunction with woodcutting (for the logs) and crafting (required to make bowstrings), is an extremely effective way to raise money and gain experience in Magic.^[8]

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

Runecrafting allows players to create the runestones, 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. Access to altars is granted by possessing the appropriate talisman. 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, which allows players to reach the runecrafting altars more quickly but with greater risk.^[9]

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. The second stage of smithing is forging the bars into usable items on an anvil using a hammer. Most pieces of armour and weaponry require more than one bar to forge, and more valuable bars require higher smithing levels. Smithing is not as popular as it used to be as it is a very expensive skill to train.^[10]

Herblore (Members only) is used 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. There are many ways to go about raising this skill. You can kill npcs such as chaos druids or you can buy them from other players. A popular technique that many players use is buying "unids" for about 1k each and identifying them all. It gives a wide variety of herbs for a reasonably low price.^[11]

[edit] Independent

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

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. it is for this reason that many people train it up just before they become free to play players. This is the only skill with effects that carry over. The agility skill was released on December 12, 2002.^[12]

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 20 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 October 18 2006, Jagex added a costume room to the construction skill, which allows players to store various "fun" items and costumes, along with a few armor sets and holiday items.^[13]

Construction first appeared in RuneScape Classic as "Carpentry". It was impossible to gain experience, and was later replaced with agility. After years of anticipation, the skill was re-introduced by Jagex on May 31, 2006. Introduction of the skill was hinted at in the Behind The Scenes for May^[14], 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.^[15]

To train construction requires more money than any other skill requires. Many items cost an extreme amount of money in supplies, and can only be acquired by paying the large sum. Construction has been viewed as a successful method by Jagex to curb the rate of inflation.

Hunter is a non-combat skill that involves catching animals such as birds, butterflies and even imps. To begin, the player has to set a trap, leave bait, or investigate an animal's burrow. With the Hunter skill, the player can earn several new items, such as capes, gloves, a wieldable harpoon that makes fishing much faster, range weapons or complete outfits, or even his/her own imp-in-a-box. The player can also sell the furs of the animals to shops or use the hides to make sets of camouflaged hunting gear. Hunting is an impressive "helper skill", as its rewards vary from combat-improval, with butterflies, to gloves that make Thieving more successful. This skill was released on November 21, 2006.^[16]

A player training Slayer sprinkles salt on a cave creature, killing it.

Slayer is a members' skill that allows players to kill specialized monsters that would otherwise be impossible to kill. To train the slayer skill, players must get assignments from slayer masters. The assignments instruct them to defeat a certain number of specific monsters. The slayer skill was released on January 26, 2005.^[17]

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. Once a player is good at Slayer it is often a good money maker.

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. Theiving is probably one of the slowest skills to train, but it is an easy way of getting something for nothing.^[18]

[edit] Capes of Achievement

A player wearing the cape of quests and using the emote.

On October 18, 2006 Jagex released a special reward for all players who meet level 99 in any skill. The Capes of Achievement were created for players to show off their high level in a skill, and to obtain a slight boost in the skill that the capes portray. Many people were left wanting more since the "slight boost" resulted in a temporary stat bonus of +1" which sometimes leaves a second after being granted. Each cape also grants the player with a unique Emote relating to the skill. Players who have raised two or more of their skills to level 99 will find that they are able to purchase a trimmed version of these capes, along with the standard version. There are forty-five different capes, two for every skill released (one standard and one trimmed version), and also a hood for each cape. Furthermore another cape is rewarded for completing every Quest in the game. The only problem with owning a quest cape is the fact that every time a new quest is added to the list players who own a quest cape will have to complete that quest to be able to wear it again. They each cost 99000 coins, or 1000 coins for every level. ^[19]

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] External links

• RuneScape skills manual

RuneScape Portal