Post by Caxtonia on Sept 23, 2004 21:29:56 GMT -5
Magic is a very useful skill in RuneScape, and not just for combat. You can use it to smith, reach out-of-reach objects, and move around the map a bit quicker. But I warn you now: it is a VERY expensive skill to level up in. You can spend hundreds of thousands on runes and equipment, or spend many many hours gathering runes by killing monsters that drop them. This is a good method because it levels your other skills, but it is incredibly slow.
The first piece of advice I have concerns your look. As a mage, you want to look snappy, cool, and collected right? Well, there are two basic looks for a mage (three if you are a member). The f2p options are the dark (black) mage and the light (blue) mage. You get more of an attack bonus when you go with the blue mage outfit, but many people think black just looks better. If you're a member, you can wear the red Zamorak robes which are very impressive but, like I said, you need to be a member for those.
You'll also need a shield and staff to finish your look. The staves you can buy in Varrock, and the shield you can get from other players. As far as the shield is concerned, anything will work, from bronze square to antidragonbreath to rune kite with gold trim. pick what you like, and wield it with pride. But why should you buy a staff instead of a nice handy rune scimitar? The staves give you a magic bonus, or if you get the elemental staves they supply you with infinite runes of the type they've been enchanted with (for example, wielding the fire staff gives you an unlimited supply of fire runes for spellcasting).
How To Get Your Runes
This process is where you'll spend a LOT of time. As mentioned earlier, runes can get to be expensive and/or time consuming to acquire. A good way to get them, if you have a lot of money (i.e. a couple hundred thousand) is to simply buy them from a store or from players. The rune store in Port Sarim is a good place, they sell a bit cheaper there and have a better selection most of the time. The ones you will spend the most money on are chaos and death runes. These go for 90 and 180 gp apiece, respectively. The other runes go for anywhere between 4-24 gp each. You can also choose to buy from players, which is a better choice if you want to get a lot of runes quickly. But they can be more expensive than store-bought runes.
Another previously mentioned method is to slay many many many monsters in hopes they'll drop the runes you want. This takes longer, but doesn't cost anything and you gain valuable experience in the process. (Note: when fighting monsters, if you want to be a pure mage and kick serious butt, then you may want to level up in defense only. Unlike in RuneScape Classic, defense is VERY useful for a mage since you can't always count on your opponent not reaching you)
The last and final way to gain runes is to runecraft. This can get you all the basic runes you'll ever need, plus some skill points and mining experience. You'll need to complete the Rune Mysteries quest, but it's not very hard. Afterwards you'll need to find or buy some rune talismans, as well as locate the altars. Once you complete the quest, you can teleport to the rune essence mining area from Aubury in the Varrock rune store or the mage on the lowest level of the Mage Tower. Once you have some rune essence, use the talisman to locate the altar, then go and craft your runes. Once you get to a certain level, you make multiple runes per essence. This really helps when you need a lot of the basic runes, such as air or fire. You still only get experience for the individual essence though, so making more runes per essence doesn't give you more experience.
Where To Cast Spells
I'm going to be doing a lot of revision on this list, especially since I myself am still only a midrange Mage.
Basically, you want to find a spot where you get two things: 1) It should have multicombat enabled. This way you aren't trying to compete with other players to get a target. You also want 2) An area where you can shoot the monsters, but they can't hit you back. this isn't necessary, but it helps keep your hitpoints up and lets you go fighting longer. Anyway, here are my recommendations for maging spots, I'm sure I missed a bunch and you'll probably find some yourself.
Low Level (1-31)- Barbarian Village, Lumbridge, Wizard's Tower, Varrock Castle, Pirate Cave, Crafting Guild Cow Field
Midrange Level (32-60)- Falador Castle, Scorpion Pit, Varrock Sewers, Edgeville Dungeon, Hobgoblin Area of Ice Cave, Trapped Lesser in Mage Tower
Higher Levels (61+)- Ice Warrior's Cave, the Wilderness, Crandor Island
Magic is not a skill for the lazy or the cheap. It takes work, money, and a lot of time to level up in. But it does have its rewards, and is quite effective at taking down monsters at a distance. Couple it with a high defense level and a good shield, and you can become a formidable opponent indeed. So go out there, get yourself a staff and some robes, and show the world what you're made of!
The first piece of advice I have concerns your look. As a mage, you want to look snappy, cool, and collected right? Well, there are two basic looks for a mage (three if you are a member). The f2p options are the dark (black) mage and the light (blue) mage. You get more of an attack bonus when you go with the blue mage outfit, but many people think black just looks better. If you're a member, you can wear the red Zamorak robes which are very impressive but, like I said, you need to be a member for those.
You'll also need a shield and staff to finish your look. The staves you can buy in Varrock, and the shield you can get from other players. As far as the shield is concerned, anything will work, from bronze square to antidragonbreath to rune kite with gold trim. pick what you like, and wield it with pride. But why should you buy a staff instead of a nice handy rune scimitar? The staves give you a magic bonus, or if you get the elemental staves they supply you with infinite runes of the type they've been enchanted with (for example, wielding the fire staff gives you an unlimited supply of fire runes for spellcasting).
How To Get Your Runes
This process is where you'll spend a LOT of time. As mentioned earlier, runes can get to be expensive and/or time consuming to acquire. A good way to get them, if you have a lot of money (i.e. a couple hundred thousand) is to simply buy them from a store or from players. The rune store in Port Sarim is a good place, they sell a bit cheaper there and have a better selection most of the time. The ones you will spend the most money on are chaos and death runes. These go for 90 and 180 gp apiece, respectively. The other runes go for anywhere between 4-24 gp each. You can also choose to buy from players, which is a better choice if you want to get a lot of runes quickly. But they can be more expensive than store-bought runes.
Another previously mentioned method is to slay many many many monsters in hopes they'll drop the runes you want. This takes longer, but doesn't cost anything and you gain valuable experience in the process. (Note: when fighting monsters, if you want to be a pure mage and kick serious butt, then you may want to level up in defense only. Unlike in RuneScape Classic, defense is VERY useful for a mage since you can't always count on your opponent not reaching you)
The last and final way to gain runes is to runecraft. This can get you all the basic runes you'll ever need, plus some skill points and mining experience. You'll need to complete the Rune Mysteries quest, but it's not very hard. Afterwards you'll need to find or buy some rune talismans, as well as locate the altars. Once you complete the quest, you can teleport to the rune essence mining area from Aubury in the Varrock rune store or the mage on the lowest level of the Mage Tower. Once you have some rune essence, use the talisman to locate the altar, then go and craft your runes. Once you get to a certain level, you make multiple runes per essence. This really helps when you need a lot of the basic runes, such as air or fire. You still only get experience for the individual essence though, so making more runes per essence doesn't give you more experience.
Where To Cast Spells
I'm going to be doing a lot of revision on this list, especially since I myself am still only a midrange Mage.
Basically, you want to find a spot where you get two things: 1) It should have multicombat enabled. This way you aren't trying to compete with other players to get a target. You also want 2) An area where you can shoot the monsters, but they can't hit you back. this isn't necessary, but it helps keep your hitpoints up and lets you go fighting longer. Anyway, here are my recommendations for maging spots, I'm sure I missed a bunch and you'll probably find some yourself.
Low Level (1-31)- Barbarian Village, Lumbridge, Wizard's Tower, Varrock Castle, Pirate Cave, Crafting Guild Cow Field
Midrange Level (32-60)- Falador Castle, Scorpion Pit, Varrock Sewers, Edgeville Dungeon, Hobgoblin Area of Ice Cave, Trapped Lesser in Mage Tower
Higher Levels (61+)- Ice Warrior's Cave, the Wilderness, Crandor Island
Magic is not a skill for the lazy or the cheap. It takes work, money, and a lot of time to level up in. But it does have its rewards, and is quite effective at taking down monsters at a distance. Couple it with a high defense level and a good shield, and you can become a formidable opponent indeed. So go out there, get yourself a staff and some robes, and show the world what you're made of!