Taking a break from mining and smithing, Stab at Runescape PK

Well, both my primary and my secondary character have been doing a lot of mining and smithing recently and I'm in need of a break from it for a while.

One topic I haven't ever given Runescape tips on is the PK topic, largely because I'm not very experienced at it myself. I was hoping I'd find some good PK blogs around but I really haven't found anyone who writes useful pk-related articles, updates regularly and writes in a style that is easy to read. Good writers are hard to find, and I guess good PK'ers probably don't want to share their secrets.

So, hey, I figured I'd write about my PK revelations, as a fellow "Runescape Newbie to PKing". Some of my readers are much more experienced with PK, I understand, and for this reason I hope there will be lively feedback on this topic from people of all levels of experience.

My focus for PK entries in this blog is going to be done with characters that are not financially supported by a wealthier character on Runescape - my secondary character has had the benefit of my knowledge to advance her faster than my primary character did, but no financial benefits. I'm trying to be in the shoes of the true newbie to Runescape, as that is who this site primarily aims to educate.

Basics of the Wilderness on Runescape

The Wilderness is the primary area of PKing on Runescape, and it's located to the north of the northerly Free-to-Play cities. For Members, there is also an "underground Wilderness" area which is a PVP (player vs player) zone.

While in the Wilderness, the marker illustrated to the left will be on the bottom right hand corner of your play window (above the chat window). The level indicator tells you what range of levels can attack you - level 1 means people from one level above to people one level below your combat level will be able to attack you where you stand. The deeper you get, the lower the level of player you can attack, but the higher the level of player who can attack you.

The crossed-swords indicator in the same graphic above tells you that you're in a MULTI-COMBAT area. This is very important for the new player killer - if you're out there alone with no friends to back you up, stay out of the multi-combat areas, because that's where you can be attacked by multiple people at the same time. While you're getting used to PKing, it's probably best to stick to one-on-one battles.

The level and the crossed-swords indicators will change as you move throughout the Wilderness. Pay close attention to them.

Teleport runes and objects can be used in the low levels of the Wilderness, but once you've progressed past level 20 in the Wilderness, your teleports no longer work. If you want to merely explore north of level 20 Wildy, go without anything in your inventory and without any armors or weapons until you're more confident in your escaping skills.

Basics of PK

It goes like this: Melee owns Rangers, Rangers own Mages, Mages own Melee.

Therefore, pick your foes wisely, and if you have the means, perhaps bring two sets of armor so you can switch if you meet with the foe your current type is weak against.

You can still be owned quite easily by a low-combat-level player who is actually a "pure" character - that is, a character set up and well-funded by an experienced player whose sole purpose is to dominate PK with this character.

Walk when you can, so you have lots of run when you need it.

If you're alone, be very careful approaching groups in the Wild. They're likely friends and even if there's a battle going on, you're likely to get a lot of attack attention if you join in.

Find areas where players come to collect raw materials or come to kill specific monsters that aren't available outside of the Wilderness. Attack those who are alone or may not be paying attention.

Advance your Prayer so you can use it as extra protection in case you run across a mage who prevents your movement and blocks your teleport ability for a short while.

Don't bring anything into the Wilderness that you're not willing to lose.

I'm going to head my secondary character into the Wilderness now and see what kind of adventures she comes up with, and what additional advice. Please feel free to post if you have advice of your own, such as great places to hang out to catch people unaware.