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31 July 2007

Runescape: The Official Handbook

Made the most amazing discovery today. Apparently, Scholastic published an actual Runescape guide book sometime in January this year.



I learnt about this wonderful guide after reading a blog post from fellow Runescaper, Marlaine (her site's address can be found in my list of links). However, in spite of the colourful illustrations the book promises, it still won't be of much use to me because, unfortunately, it's only intended as a guide for the f2p world.

I'm still interested in getting one as a collector's item though. And I'm really hoping that more of such books would be made available soon. An encyclopedia of Gielinor's many beasts, or even a comprehensive history book of Runescape's past would definitely appeal to me. It's about time Jagex decided to sell merchandise, excluding those stupid ringtones.


Stuff achieved today: Lvl 88 Magic, Lvl 96 Fletching


Here's the link to the book:
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?r=1&afsrc=1&z=y&EAN=9780439877725&itm=1

Posted by Timothy Gold at 9:08 PM |

29 July 2007

So Much For Broadband

Lag got me a second time last night. You'd think having a broadband connection would be enough to prevent screw ups like that from happening.


Ah well, at least I got several cool screenshots for all my trouble. This one
would probably make most Fire Cape wearers wince.

It'd be foolish to go back there again, so I'm postponing the whole Fire Cape thing until I am absolutely sure that I won't have any connection problems. Don't get me wrong, I certainly am not giving up. I hadn't reached Jad during those two attempts, but I've already had a taste of the later stages of the Fight Caves, and quite frankly, they weren't as difficult as I had initially thought they'd be.

And with this new-found confidence and experience, I'm fairly certain that I stand a decent chance in getting the cape next time, assuming my computer doesn't start acting up again.

Anyway, I thank everyone for their support, as well as the encouragement they gave me after learning of the two little mishaps in the Fight Caves. No worries guys, I've gotten over it literally overnight.


Stuff achieved today: Gained 75k+ Magic exp, Gained 100k+ Fletching exp

Posted by Timothy Gold at 9:16 PM |

28 July 2007

Failure

I began on my quest for the Fire Cape today as planned.


The melee equipment I wore for the fight.

I had to get pass a total of 62 waves of monsters, before facing the Lvl 700+ Jad on the 63rd round. I made a few mistakes along the way, costing me some hitpoints, but the biggest scare was when the Lvl 360 Ket-Zek made its first appearance and did a 39 on me, before I had a chance to pray.



Anyway, two hours into the battle, and I had alreadly fought off almost two dozen of those Ket-Zeks, as well as a couple hundred of the other Fight Cave demons. All was going well; I was no longer as careless, my potion supplies were still pretty high, I was no where close to running out of ammunition, and my health bar was full. I was firing a shower of bolt racks at my last monster in wave 54 from a safe distance.

As I was about to deal the finishing blow and prepare myself for the next round, my screen suddenly froze. The dreaded black rectangle and white text appeared on the top left corner of the interface, and I was kicked out of the game seconds later. I was horrified.


From left to right: Tz Kih (Lvl 22), Tz-Kek (Lvl 22), Ket-Zek (Lvl 360),
Tox-Xil (Lvl 90)

Logging back in confirmed my fears. I found myself outside the Fight Caves again, with some Tokkul in my inventory. The lag had caused me to lose 54 rounds of effort. I had also lost roughly half a million gp worth of supplies, and I'm feeling devestated that all my hardwork could come crashing down due to a stupid technical error.

I'm thinking of making a second attempt to get the cape this evening, but it would be a bit of a rush trying to get back all the necessary equipment in a few short hours. Lag can also easily set in again, and I can't afford another failure. But I must try...


Stuff achieved today: Nothing Much


If I succeed, you will see the words "Obtained Fire Cape"above.

Posted by Timothy Gold at 4:09 PM |

26 July 2007

King's Ransom

I know it's a little late, but I was so caught up with talking about that Farming Skill Cape that I forgot to make any mention of the updates released on Tuesday.

Jagex has worked on Seers Village, and completely re-did its graphics. They've also moved the town's partyroom to Falador, so that free players can also access it ('bout time they receive an update).


My character, visiting the Sinclair mansion.

The only quest of July, King's Ransom, was released as well, much to the delight of adventurers such as I. The quest starts out when my character decides to investigate the mysterious disappearance of the Sinclairs. I also later find out that King Arthur and his knights (as weird as it may sound, Jagex incorporated real-life mythology into Runescape), had also vanished around the same time as the Sinclair family did, and that these disappearances were somehow linked.


The courtroom which the trial had taken place in. The building is also a
new feature of Seers Village.

The plot of this new quest is rather complicated, and quite tedious to explain. Still, in spite of a somewhat boring starting, navigating through the many serious situations my character placed himself in, proved to be an interesting task. I did everything from representing a murderess as her lawyer, to freeing King Arthur, after he had been turned to stone by an evil sorceress.

Its rewards were generous. I was granted 33k Defence exp, and 5k exp for Magic and a skill of my choice, for my troubles.



Those knights of Camelot and King Arthur were also nice enough to let me use their training grounds. I had to fight every single one of those knights consecutively. No Prayer, no bank trips, and the knights actually lower your combat stats as well as your health when they hit you.

It took me 3 attempts before I successfully defeated the last and strongest knight, Sir Lancelot, and got an even more generous exp reward - 20k exp in Attack, Strength, Defence and Hitpoints. I'm also now able to use two new high lvled Prayer spells, Chivalry and Piety. I suppose that these exp and Prayer bonuses were the true rewards of the quest.


Me battling Sir Lancelot, the strongest knight of the round table.

A total of 123k exp, a quest point, and a wider range of Prayer spells in exchange for a mere 2-3 hours of work seems a tad bit too easy though (not that I'm complaining or anything).


Stuff achieved today: Completed the King's Ransom quest, Defeated Camelot's knights

Posted by Timothy Gold at 10:00 PM |

24 July 2007

Mastery



It is done! Lvl 99 Farming has been reached and I now possess a sixth Cape of Achievement.

I won't pretend that it came easily. Two solid years of very consistent training was needed to get me this far, and I thank the many friends who have shown their support throughout my painstakingly slow journey.


My pal, Air Dragon, congratulating me as I hit Lvl 99 Farming.

I'd like to specially thank Air Dragon for showing up to personally congratulate me at the time of my lvl up, in spite of the several delays (all the RS servers were down at one point).


My character standing side by side with Martin (seller of the
Farming Cape).

I really am thrilled with this amazing achievement, and will continue to push up the skill as much as before. I'm not stopping at Level 99; it's a brilliant stat and I will never stop raising it, like so many Master Farmers have already done. Those highscore ranks should come easily as I push my way beyond 13 million exp.


The emote of the Farming Cape.

In fact, I'm this close to overtaking former top 21 ranked player, Tfe2, the same person who sold me my first Amulet of Nature (I'm still wearing it). Yet another highly satisfying conquest of mine. Hope I'll have as much luck as with the Fire Cape!


Stuff achieved today: Lvl 87 Magic, Lvl 99 Farming (and Lvl 1900 Overall)


Terribly sorry for advertising, but Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows was brilliant. Go read the entire series, the plot is genius. I'm not going to give away the ending though.

Posted by Timothy Gold at 9:44 PM |

23 July 2007

Level 99, A Whisker Away

I haven't quite finished with the book yet due to my tight schedule. As expected, the longer that latest installment of the Harry Potter series remains unread, the greater the risk of exposure to spoilers.


Man, I really hate spoilers.

Even Runescapers are talking about it. Some idiot actually ran up to me, and offered to tell me "Harry Potter secrets". His username was immediately added to my ignore list. My mom also had made a couple of comments about the book's ending, which have given me a fairly clear idea of who survives/dies, much to my irritation.

No matter, I'm still pleased about the fact that I'm now so close to getting that Farming Cape. I could've easily reached Lvl 99 today if I had wanted to, but I've decided to wait for my good friend, Air Dragon, to witness the event. I'll finally max Farming tomorrow, at 5.30 in the afternoon.

I'd invite more people to join me, but it's been a bit of a tradition of only allowing one guy (as the older readers of this blog might've noticed, there was only one person present during all my previous Lvl 99 screenshots). Anyway, I really can't wait to finally gain the ability to buy and wear that amazing Achievement Cape.

The skill has been released for a bit (two weeks to be precise) over two years now, and I am extremely proud to have gone this far.


Stuff achieved today: Lvl 95 Fletching

Posted by Timothy Gold at 10:19 PM |

22 July 2007

A Practice Run


My character wielding Karil's
Crossbow, and Black
Dragonhide armour.

Alright, I haven't made any attempt to get that Fire Cape yet, but I still spent roughly 20 minutes at the Fight Caves as a practice run.


I decided to practise with a Crystal Bow. Those Bolt Racks (ammo of Karil's
Crossbow, the weapon I'll be using during the real fight), cost way too much.

I've now learnt how to block enemies, so that I can effectively shoot them down at a distance, without being attacked. I'm also more familiar with the general layout of the caves, which would defnitely be an advantage during the actual fight. I'm also pleased about the fact that I've managed to gather all the required equipment, save the Super Restore Potions and Saradomin Brews (they'll be easily taken care of).



And oh yes, I know that this is completely off topic, but I've finally gotten my hands on the 7th and final book of the Harry Potter series. Being a huge fan for a little over two years now, I was naturally esctatic to receive the concluding chapter of this amazing storyline.

Much to my disappointment though, a couple of people have already ruined a bit of the story, by idiotically blurting out some of the deaths/survivors of the book. Hope I won't get any more of that spoiler rubbish when I go back to school on Monday. Honestly, some of my classmates can be such complete, inconsiderate morons at times.


Stuff achieved today: Gained a substantial amount of Magic exp (can't remember how much)

Posted by Timothy Gold at 1:55 AM |

19 July 2007

"Preparation Is Half The Battle Won"

Fantastic news! Thanks to the advice of some guy (can't quite recall his name) in my clan forum, I've now learnt how to take screenshots which are of a better resolution.

They take up almost twice as much space on my hard drive compared to the usual jpg images, but I suppose space for quality is still a fair trade.

Anyway, I'm currently busy reading up on several Fire Cape guides, watching warriors brave the great Jad on YouTube, as well as gathering the necessary equipment for the big fight. I had initially planned to try defeating Jad this Saturday, but it seems fairly unlikely now, since I still have much to do before I'm able to stand a chance against him (yes, him. The highest lvled creature in all of Gielinor doesn't deserved to be referred to as an "it") .

Still hoping to get as much stuff done this weekend though, in preparation for my dreaded assault on those Fight Cave demons. I've considered adding Ranged training into my to-do list, but I'm just too darn lazy to be bothered training it anymore. I'll just have to depend on Ranged potions to boost that skill up, as well as the raw power of the bow I'll be using.


Stuff achieved today: Nothing much

Posted by Timothy Gold at 10:26 PM |

17 July 2007

Pest Control Version 2.0

Today saw the release of several generally small-scale updates, and even a lvl up in my Fletching.


Yay! Finally, a Fletching Lvl up!

In order to make things a little easier for higher lvled players, as well as encourage more teamwork and strategy, Jagex has made some changes to the Pest Control mini-game. There are now three different types of "carriers" (one each for low, mid and high lvled fighters) to ferry players away from the shores of the Void Knight Outpost and into the actual mini-game.

The point and exp system has also been drastically modified, and a few new items have been added to the list of redeemable pest Control rewards. Several other small tweaks have also been made to the gamplay as well.


A few items have had their graphics
updated too.

Jagex has also placed the "make-x items" option on more activities, such as potion making and gem cutting. Doubt I'd be making full use of that soon as I'm not much of a crafter nor a herblorist, but "make-x" is still a rather handy addition to the game. It should be noted, that many other changes have been made in Runescape, however, I really can't be bothered listing and describing every one of them.


Jagex has also further idiot-proofed the trade interface, making attempted
item-scams more obvious.

Also, aside from the usual Runescaping, I've finally managed to summon enough diligence to actually start studying again; so everything's been going quite well in school too. Things are really starting to look up for Timmy G.


Stuff achieved today: Lvl 94 Fletching

Posted by Timothy Gold at 9:52 PM |

16 July 2007

Crash & Burn

Practically the whole of Runescape was down yesterday, due to, from what I understand, problems with the Internet connection back at the Jagex headquarters.



All players were kicked out of the game at roughly 3.55pm and couldn't log back in. Even the forums and highscores failed to load. I, as well as thousands of other players, was shut out from playing for over 2 hours.

And when I finally able to log back in, I discovered that my character's status had reverted back to the last time I logged off Runescape. A rollback had occurred. And I ended up losing a Rune Scimitar I had pked a few minutes before Runescape started screwing up. It's no big loss, but I was still very disappointed.

The other Runescapers who were also affected by the rollback took their complaints to the forums, and completely flooded the "Rants" section. The fact that a second rollback happened a mere two hours after the first one had ended didn't improve their moods either. Rotten luck, but all that's behind me now.


Exchanging Pest Control points for Ranged exp got me from Lvl 68 to Lvl
69+. I killed Lesser Demons to finally push it to Lvl 70.

I'm pleased to announce that I've finally reached Lvl 70 Ranged. It may not seem like much, but the first obstacle in getting the Fire Cape has been deftly taken care of. All that's left to do is to gather the required equipment to charge through the Fight Caves, as well as defeat the numerous waves of monsters which await me there. I'll also have to battle the mighty Lvl 700+ Jad.


With lvl 70 ranged, I'm now finally able to wield both Black Dragonhide
armour and the ultimate ranging weapon, the Crystal Bow.

There's still so much to do, but didn't come this far only to give up. Jad's head is mine.


Stuff achieved today: Lvl 70 Ranged

Posted by Timothy Gold at 6:29 PM |

14 July 2007

Still Fighting For The Fire Cape

Am extremely pleased with the progress I had made today.

I was able to do quite a bit of High-Alching, which has given my Magic a significant exp boost. Admittedly, there isn't really much of a point in training this skill any further. I've already reached Lvl 85 and can cast the spell, "Tele-Block". There really isn't much to look forward to after that, save the expensive "Ice barrage" spell at Lvl 96 (if I'm not mistaken). It'll look also good on my character, if it is capable of effectively using a combat style besides Melee.


My character viciously attacking one of the portals in the Pest Control
mini-game.

I've also gained 35 Pest Control Points, and I should be able to reach 100 (and then exhange them for ranged exp) by tomorrow. Lvl 70 Ranged, as well as that Fire Cape, is almost within my reach, though I suspect that I still have a long way to go.

Trouble is, I am currently distracted by other goals, such as Lvl 99 Farming, and my Fletching and Magic training. I've also yet to do anything about the planned renovations for my house. No matter, the time when I'm ready to face that Jad monster will come soon enough. I will get that cape.


Stuff achieved today: Gained 35 Pest Control Points, Gained 100k Magic exp

Posted by Timothy Gold at 9:56 PM |

13 July 2007

A Dull Friday The 13th

Lol some Friday the 13th! With the entire weekend ahead of me, as well as minimal school work, I couldn't feel any luckier.

I managed to get quite a big of Magic training done so far. I'm also considering to play Pest Control later tonight, when it's more crowded, to get my Ranged up. Last week's raid was so successful and I'm hoping that I'll be able to reach 100 PC points soon, so that I can finally exhange them for the much needed exp. Also could use a lvl up right about now; my overall rank is dropping.

Nothing much happened today, so I'll just keep this entry short as I don't have much to talk about. I hope my weekend will be more interesting...


Stuff achieved today: Nothing special

Posted by Timothy Gold at 9:57 PM |

11 July 2007

Just A Little More...

I am inching closer and closer to my goal of Lvl 99 Farming.

I've also had quite a bit of luck. I've been getting quite a considerable amount of Magic Tree Seeds from my bird's nests, and they've been doing much to narrow the experience gap between me and that Farming cape. Was also able fortunate enough to chance upon a Spirit Seed several days ago. The tree should be fully grown by now.

I'm even planting Watermelon and Strawberry seeds to speed up my training. If all goes according to plan, my target would be reached before the end of the month.

Anyway, besides the usual farming, my fletching training is also going well. I'm a little upset that I've been too busy with school to do anything besides skilling, but I should get all the free time I need as soon as the weekend arrives.

Assuming I'm able to summon up enough self-control, I might be able to actually finally to do some studying as well. I've been neglecting that since late May, in spite of my poor performance during the previous term. This troubles me all the time, even whilst I play...


Stuff achieved today: Nothing particularly significant

Posted by Timothy Gold at 8:22 PM |

09 July 2007

Planned Renovations & Updates

Several small-scale updates were released earlier this evening.

The graphics of some of the birds of Runescape have been worked on, and there's a new button on the game interface which allows players to find out which items they'd lose if they were to die.


The new item interface.

The much anticipated POH (player-owned house) expansion has also been released, so the current maximum number of rooms is 30, compared to the earlier limit of 20. Only trouble is, the extra 10 rooms are made accessible only at certain Construction levels.

You need Lvl 99 to be able to use all of them; I'm stuck with Lvl 82 so I only am able to build 6 or 7 more rooms for my house. Quite disappointing, considering the fact that I had plans to make a moderately large dungeon. Ah well, I'll figure something out. Best to get a rough design as well as the total cost of the materials settled first.

My mansion shall become a fortress!


Stuff achieved today: Nothing much

Posted by Timothy Gold at 10:19 PM |

07 July 2007

The Mithril Dragon


Just look at that combat level!

My friend, Matman, persuaded me into doing something special for my birthday as a blogger. I decided to kill one of those Mithril Dragons today, to mark the occasion.

Contrary to my earlier speculation, the Mithril Dragon is not a boss monster. It is therefore possible to slay it without the help of other people (Matman chickened out anyway, after I had asked him to join me), and I did just that sometime this afternoon. It was a tough fight. Took me roughly 15 sharks, some stat boosting potions and a lot of nerve before I was finally able to deal the finishing blow.



I didn't get the fabled Dragon Full Helmet, but I was still able to take quite a few screenshots of the fiery battle.

Anyway, judging by the beast's strength, the Adamantite Dragon (if ever released), with scales made out of a stronger material, is very likely to be a boss monster. I mean, shit, that thing took a chunk right outta of me. I came close to death at several stages during our duel. Not sure how anyone can stand fighting so many of those things just to get that helmet.


The drops I got include 3 Mithril bars, Dragon bones and 27 Blood Runes.

The raw power of the creature is enough to make even a Lvl 126 wet his platelegs. I don't ever want to go back to that dungeon.


Stuff achieved today: Defeated one of Gielinor's most ferocious creatures, Gained 100k Magic exp

Posted by Timothy Gold at 9:38 PM |

04 July 2007

A Barbaric Birthday


Me speaking with Otto Godblessed.

As a few of the more observant readers would've noticed, today's my blog's birthday!

Now at 180 painstakingly typed posts (an average of one entry every two days), my RS archive is definitely going strong. Am hoping and expecting yet another 365 days of Runescape blogging!

Even more wonderful news; Jagex released the new Mithril Dragons and the Dragon Full Helmet, as well as several other cool updates, just minutes after I had published yesterday's post (what timing indeed).


My character attempting to light a fire, using only a bow.

Runescapers may now learn the ways of the Baxtorian barbarians from Otto Godblessed, a seasoned barbarian who has been researching about his history. With Otto's guidance, I've learnt a few cool new skill additions, such as igniting logs using only a bow (instead of a tinderbox), catching Sharks using just my bare hands (harpoons are now obsolete), and even potion enchancement, just by adding "roe" and "caviar" to them.


I had to dive into a whirlpoolto enter the Ancient Cavern.

There's also a new dungeon, the Ancient Cavern, which was released along with the barbarian-themed. The place is home to those Mithril Dragons I've been talking about, as well as various other high lvled monsters. I haven't ventured deep enough to see those max level creatures yet, but I might make a trip there sometime soon to take a few screenshots. Will be sure to post them here when I do.


The Ancient Cavern

Till then, I'm going to do some planning for the expansion of my character's house. That room limit increase update could be released any time now...


Stuff achieved today: Learnt the ways of the mighty barbarians

Posted by Timothy Gold at 9:02 PM |

03 July 2007

July's Much Anticipated Updates

This month's Behind The Scenes issue was released just last evening.

July promises some really interesting and useful updates. A new type of metal dragon (dragons with metallic scales), the Mithril dragon, will be released. The dragon, which will have an insanely high combat level of 300, will be able to drop the Dragon Full Helmet, a new piece of armour that is very likely to be an improved version of the Dragon Medium Helmet.

I've been dreaming and praying for the release of other types of dragon equipment, but unfortunately, I highly doubt that I'd be purchasing the new helmet anytime soon. As the item can only be obtained by killing a boss monster, anyone lucky enough to get their hands on one probably wouldn't sell it cheaply.

It also wouldn't be practical to get one. I only train combat by playing the mini-game, Pest Control, where defense is not very important (I wear my Red Partyhat), or by killing monsters in my slayer assignments (I wear a Black Mask for that). Put simply, I doubt I'll find this update very useful.


Behold, the Gold Estate! I plan to expand my house this month as soon as
Jagex increases the room limit.

Fortunately, the Jagex team is also going to release a quest (should kill a few hours of my time), as well as make several small yet useful changes to the game, which include raising the maximum room limit of a POH (player-owned house) from 20 to 30. I plan to do some major construction to my house as soon as that update is released.

I just hope that it won't cost me too much (construction materials are really expensive).


Stuff achieved today: Gained 50k Farming exp

Posted by Timothy Gold at 8:08 PM |

01 July 2007

Fletching's Number 6

My entire Sunday was almost completely taken up by some charity event my school forced me to take part in. I know that helping out the poor and stuff is a pretty noble thing to do and all, but I was still highly irritated about the thing taking up so much of my time.

However, in spite of my shortage of time, I somehow managed to gain a decent amount of exp. I've now decided to focus on training Fletching, since there's not much of a point in training Firemaking anymore, because I've already maxed it out.

I currently do not need to buy any materials to train the skill as I've already accumulated over 32k yew logs from my Woodcutting training last year. I also have a fairly decent amount of bowstrings to last me. I'm hoping to make Fletching my 6th skill to be maxed out.


The only decent screenshot of the pk trip I managed to take. Regretfully,
I forgot to take any during fights.

Besides the usual skilling, I decided to do some f2p pking with my clan. There was an excellent turn-up rate today, and we had one of the best killing sprees ever. Our 12-ish strong team suffered absolutely no casualties, and was able to take down several stay pkers.

I expect that this would be a more common occurrence, assuming more active members start joining the Blessings clan.


Stuff achieved today: Gained 150k Fletching exp

Posted by Timothy Gold at 11:00 PM |




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I want my Chameleon now!