Runescape Mining Provides Good Wage

Mining is one of the first highly-lucrative "jobs" you can take on within Runescape as a low-level character, without needing anyone else's assistance.

To the southeast of Varrock, there is a mining pit which contains a large amount of tin and copper, and a few rocks of iron. It's a great place to start because it's close to a bank and while a lot of players are going to be there with you, there are enough tin and copper spots for you to find a spot or two to claim as your own.

Note: If there's a mining jerk around, disregarding you in your spot and taking it over, save your stress and find another world after adding that person to your ignore list. Get used to it in mining, spouting off does nothing to fix the situation.

If you can claim one of the spots where you can stand in one place and mine either tin OR copper, depending on which way you face, then do so! It saves a lot of time to be able to mine tin while copper is resetting, and then vice versa. Those spots are generally the first taken, so you'll have more luck when there are less players around.

Three Stages of Mining, Smelting and Smithing

Although there are only two skills that can advance as a result of the work you do in mining and smithing, there are actually three stages to the process of mining and smithing.

Stage one includes the gathering of the raw materials, in this case, the ores tin and copper.

Stage two is when the ores are placed in the furnace and are melted down into metal bars. In this case, one tin ore and one copper ore "smelt" together in the furnace to create one bronze bar.

Stage three is when bars are brought to an anvil, and a hammer is used to turn the bars into one of a variety of weapons or armors which can be sold to shops or players.

The "You Must Explore" Runescape Clause

Okay, I'm kidding, there's no such clause, in writing. But it's implied in how things are laid out in the Runescape world.

For example, while you can mine and smith in or very close to Varrock, you cannot smelt your ores there. You have to go to Al Kharid or Falador or even Lumbridge for that. My personal favorite is Al Kharid because the furnace is the closest to a bank.

Make the trip worth your while

At any rate, because you have to go to another location to smelt your ores, it's a good idea to make a decent collection of ores before relocating yourself and changing your focus. I recommend banking at least 100 tin ores and 100 copper ores, to make your trip to Al Kharid worthwhile (be sure to bring 10 coins with you on the way to Al Kharid in case you go the wrong way and have to pay at the toll gate).

Smithing and Selling Strategy

Once you have the metal bars, you can venture back to Varrock and visit the anvil located south of the West Varrock bank. This is my favorite anvil location, again because it is very close to a bank.

Now, when smithing, the key is to make a VARIETY of products from your bars. Don't always create the biggest and most expensive piece, because the more of one product you sell, the less that product is worth in that shop.

Once you have produced 5 each of a variety of products, create another 5 each if you can, until you run out of bars to smith.

Now, to finally get money from all of this work, we want to sell our newly-produced items to other players or to the shops. If you're selling anything below mithril, you're better off to sell to shops - and specialty shops at that.

General Shops vs Specialty Shops

General shops buy and sell everything and anything. You might get some real deals in General shops, because they don't really know the true VALUE of items on their shelves.

Specialty shops buy and sell very specific items, and because of their specific "niche market" they buy and sell their products at higher prices than the General stores do. It's worth your while to sell your wares at these specialty shops, and if you're not familiar with the land of Runescape, this'll be a great way to help you get used to the main cities and the paths between them.

World-Hopping as you sell

"World-hopping" occurs when you log out of one world, only to log back in through a different world, hoping the new world will offer something better.

I world-hop when I am looking for a good place to mine mithril for a while, and I world-hop when I'm selling my smithed items, trying to find a store with as few of the items I'm selling as possible in stock, so I get more cash. The more in stock, the less cash for me, which is no good, I'm sure you'll agree!

Good luck!

Valdesta

Mage and Ranger: Powerful but expensive

As a new character on Runescape, it's often tempting to look towards building Mage and Ranger levels, because attacking from afar can have tremendous advantages in player-vs-monster battle, as well as player-vs-player ones.

However, Mage and Ranger are both VERY EXPENSIVE to advance in comparison to Melee (weapon-in-hand). Many low-level players spend all of their cash on runes and arrows and don't advance near far enough to increase wealth adequately to buy another large round of ammunition, and end up (annoying) beggars in the stores and on many people's "Ignore" lists.

If you have an interest in being a very powerful Mage or Ranger, don't be disheartened by this information - just know that you're probably better to advance other skills that can generate income for you, whether that be through Melee killing, fishing and selling cooked fish to players, mining and smithing armors and selling to specialty shops, or anything other entrepreneurial opportunity that arises.

Future entries will be posted to go further into what has been glossed over in this one.

Valdesta

Battling in Runescape: Where To Start

Even if you wish to eventually be an all-powerful Mage or Archerin Runescape, I strongly recommend all low-level players start with developing Attack, Strength and Defense skills, which are all improved by fighting in hand-to-hand combat, with some kind of sword, scimitar, dagger, maul, or whatever it is you're going to bash your opponent to death with. Advancing magic and ranger skills are expensive, but having a good solid melee combat base will allow you time to collect runes and arrows in between your bouts as a Ranger or a Mage.

Now that you've got some fighting equipment (and if you don't, Get Chopping wood and contact me!), let's talk about great places to get started against opponents!

Goblins, Lvl 2

In Lumbridge, and between Lumbridge and Draynor Village (where the nearest bank is), there are a number of level 2 goblins running around. They are non-aggressive (meaning, they don't initiate battles when you walk by them) and drop runes as well as low-level armors, as well as bones and coins. The low-level armors can be sold at the shop to build up your money stores, and the runes can be stored in your bank account for use when you decide to practice your magical skills.

Chickens and Cows, Lvl 2

To the northeast of Lumbridge, across the river from where you originally started the game (and where you re-start if you die), there are not only goblins, but chickens and cows as well.

These areas were discussed in a previous entry about aquiring food on Runescape without begging, but at that time I was focussing my attention on picking up raw beef and raw chickens that other players have left behind in their own battles.

This time, the attention is on being among those players slaying the poor innocent farm animals for experience, adventure, and glory!

Chickens also offer a bonus that was not discussed earlier - feathers, which are used in fly fishing and, if you're a member, in fletching for the creation of arrows. Keep those feathers around, since you never know when you might need them or could sell them for up to 10gp a feather!

Cows also offer a bonus in that they drop cow hides which are used to improve the Crafting skill, but the hides don't "stack" the same way the feathers do and your inventory fills up rather quickly, meaning lots of trips to the bank. However, just like in collecting raw beef from what other players have killed, you can collect cow hides and make that, instead of fighting the cows, your specific goal. It's likely you can sell each cow hide for 10-20 gold once you've collected 100 or more.

Giant Rats, lvl 3

Just to the west (outside) of Lumbridge Castle is an area with a few level 3 giant white rats, and a few level 1 mice running around. Mainly, you get raw rat meat and bones from these rats, but occasionally you may luck out and receive a rat tail. It's important to know where rat meat is as at least one quest asks for it, but I much prefer the previous opponents due to the better "drops" they offer.

Other non-grouped monsters

In Lumbridge there are a couple level 4 Women who reset in the houses. In general, Women and Men are great opponents to start against, and they offer decent "drops" including occasional clues to treasure trails!! For this reason you may find competition stiff for the Men and Women on Runescape.

That should give you a great start!

The Benefits Of Prayer

** This is not a religious plug, I just thought the title was funny **

Runescape Skill: Prayer
Available to: All Players (free and members)

As with most skills, the truly cool stuff in the Prayer skill doesn't come for a long time - you have to work and work and work on a skill to get to that cool stuff, although fortunately there's neat stuff along the way, and it's fun to do most of the advancements needed to get to the cool stuff.

At high levels, Prayer is most beneficial to players who like to go for the BIG SCARY monsters, and the players who like to "PK", or Player-Kill, because high level Prayer skills allow for complete protection from specific types of attacks - missiles (bow and arrow/ranged), magic or melee (hand to hand combat) - for a short (but useful) period of time.

At low levels, Prayer runs out quickly and since it can only be recharged at churches, I personally don't find it all that useful on a regular basis.

However, what I do find useful is to both advance my own prayer level so someday I can use those awesome spells, as well as to take advantage of other players' need to advance the skill as well, by collecting bones and selling them for a tidy sum.

As a low-level player on Runescape, however, I suggest you start with building your own prayer points unless collecting bones and bringing them to the bank is extra-convenient. In truth, I generally only sell big bones and dragon bones, not regular bones or bat bones or any of the small bones set.

A lot of players leave their bones laying around, as it's the coins, runes, or other "drops" that they're after, or maybe even just the experience of the battle. Don't be timid! If you can see bones laying around, take some time to pick them up and bury them. Every little bit helps and brings you closer to temporary but COMPLETE protection from specific types of attacks. Very useful in taking on that big dragon or defending yourself when you're in the Wilderness!

Fishing for the new Runescapian

Fish are a great source of healing for Runescapians of all sizes and levels, and thus a good skill to start to build early on in order to increase your independence from other players and their possessions or hand-outs.

In playing with my secondary, brand new character, I've noticed that it's probably a good idea to work on your Combat Level a bit first, since the first two fishing spots for Level 1 fisherpeople have aggressive monsters close enough to the fishing holes that you'll get attacked if you're too low of a combat level. I'd suggest Combat Lvl 8 or 10 for safety.

Please refer back to my entry about Battling Safely - Your First Opponents if you need to do some Combat training, that entry will give info about finding opponents that you'll get a lot of advancement out of without using up much healing, since you probably don't have a lot at this point.

The two places a Level 1 Fisherperson can start are:

1. South of Draynor Village
2. In Al Kahrid

Personally, I recommend #1 because it's close to a bank, its aggressive mobs are lower level, and you don't have to pay a toll to get through any gates on the way to Draynor Village, unlike going from Lumbridge to Al Kahrid.

Draynor Fishing Area

On the Free-to-Player worlds, Draynor fishing area is teeming with activity, day and night. Fortunately fishing is one of the skills that you can build while sharing space with many other players, unlike mining and woodcutting.

Players around you will be not only fishing, but also chopping willows, making campfires (sometimes long lines of them), and killing the level 7 Dark Wizards that roam around the area. Some people will even be singing lyrics to songs as they chop, fish and kill.

In areas with aggressive mobs, it's always a good idea to bring along one or two pieces of healing so you can survive a surprise attack. Especially at low levels, 10 hit points is not very many!!

So, get the small net you were given in Tutorial Island (or go to Port Sarim fishing shop for another one, bring 25 coins and buy other fishing poles while you're there), and do some fishing! And when your inventory is full of shrimp, use one of the campfires around and cook them up. This way you can drop all the burnt ones and only pack the cooked ones into your bank account.

Raw fish of all kinds can be sold at the Port Sarim Fishing Shop, but cooked fish can only be sold to other players or to regular shops.

Note that raw sardines sell really well at the Port Sarim Fishing Shop compared to the other low-level fish you can catch. However, you should only sell 10-15 sardines to a single store on a single world in order to get a good pay rate, as the value goes down quickly. This is where "world-hopping" is great - log out, and log back in in another world that has a different shop with none of the sardines you sold in the last world!

Questions or comments, feel free to leave them!

Limiting Trading Partners

Having started up a new character of my own lately, I've noticed some things that I haven't seen for quite a while. My primary character, Valdesta, is the only "members" account I have, and I rarely venture her onto the free servers since it's not something I have to do. Now that I'm playing on the free server (aka F2P server, free to players), I'm remembering things...

Like, how every time I venture into a populated area, at least one person follows me and attempts to initiate a trade with me - usually rather insistently - in an attempt to sell me some of what they've got to offer. But, since I'm a lvl 3 character with no outside help, I have nothing but raw beef to share with them as payment... which always annoys them.

Personally, I find it annoying the some of the chaps then have the audacity to put ME down because I don't have cash to pay for what they're offering. They are the ones who initiated the trade with ME, not the other way around, after all.

So, the solution for me, and the one I'm offering to you new players out there in order to reduce the inherent "annoyingness factor" of online games with this many players:

Switch your Trade/compete setting (below the chat window on the bottom left side of the screen) to "Friends". This way anyone on your friends list can trade with you and you'll see the request, but anyone else who attempts to trade will not be seen by you.

I hope this helps. If there are other frustrations you're facing that you'd like to deal with, leave me a note and I'll think about it and get back to you!

Valdesta

Free Food on Runescape... WITHOUT Begging!

On a game with thousands of players on at any one time, beggars are so commonplace that after a short while you might choose to immediately put them on your "ignore" list, but while you're still new, let's just worry about you NOT becoming one of those annoying beggars.

Food is easy to get for free, without asking.

Cows, other people's unwanted kill loot

Close to Lumbridge, west across the river and then north along the roadway, past the level 2 goblins, there is a fenced-in area with cows in it. If you're playing on the free servers during peak hours there will likely be a bunch of other players in that area, hacking on cows.

Not only hacking on cows, however, but leaving behind the loot from the kills, including slabs of "raw beef". I personally zipped around within the fenced-in area and picked up about 25 raw beef slabs in a 2 minute period, and no players got mad at me for doing it. In fact, if you can see the loot from someone else's kill, that means they've left that loot laying around for about 30 seconds or more, and eventually it'll just disappear if nobody picks it up anyway...

Free food! 25 raw beef slabs! But I couldn't eat them, since they're raw...

But hey, going through Tutorial Island I came out with a bronze axe and a tinder box, and I can use those to chop down a tree and turn it into a bonfire upon which the raw slabs of beef can be cooked. I gained 3-4 cooking levels just cooking up those 25 raw beef slabs. Note, I was only successful at cooking 10 of the slabs. The other 15 burned.

Fishing on your own

You also started out with a small net, so keep an eye out for where you can fish with it. The food you get initially doesn't heal much, but as you gain fishing levels and can build your stocks of bigger fish that'll get better.

Hanging around fishing areas

Sometimes other people who are fishing will drop their raw fish on the ground because they're interested in gaining the fishing experience but do not want to deal with running back to the bank to store their catches. Snatch those up and cook them up and save them for your battles!

Every time you go by a fishing location, check to see if players have dropped raw fish on the ground where they're standing. If you MUST ask those fishing at the time, here's a good way to ask for free food without begging as much:

"anyone fishing for exp, I'll take care of what u catch..."

Then stick around for a minute, repeating that message two times more with gaps of 20-30 seconds in between, and then say "msg me" (message me) and walk away and go on about your business. If someone wants to take you up on their offer, they'll add you to their friends list and send you a private message.

Chickens!

Chickens are just north of the area the cows are fenced into, it's on the opposite side of the path you're walking on. This is another place you can get free food - players kill chickens for feathers for fly fishing or making arrows, but often leave the raw chickens behind. Pick them up, cook them up, you're on your way!

I hope this article has been helpful. If there are other areas on Runescape that you'd recommend I add to this article for newbies, leave a message!

Valdesta