A big one off the list

I haven't done many quests the past few days, but I knocked two relatively big ones off the list: Monkey Madness and My Arm's Big Adventure.

I've already died twice trying to complete Contact! That quest is really beginning to aggrivate me. I need to find a new help site in order to figure out how to finish this one, as Sal's is incredibly vague on the whole fight. They say to fight and they say to use Prayer...and that's about it really.

I'm two Attack levels from dragon weapons right now. I'm looking forward to finishing the few quests I qualify for now, so I can train a little more than I am now. Once I get dragon weapons, Haunted Mine should be a snap.

At this moment, I've decided to take a bit of a working break from questing. I mined enough gems to make all of the silver I got from Temple Trekking to make Staves and Flails of Ivandis (for use in the same minigame). By the time I finish, I should have at least 13 of each.

I have a 3 day weekend, and I plan to spend it on RS. I'm hoping to get a good deal done. I plan to do Desert Treasure, as well as Spirit of Summer (which I now qualify for thanks to Tears of Guthix) and the new quest: All Fired Up. I'm also hoping to have a little time to train Attack (via Slayer) so I can finish Haunted Mine.

Currently, my quest points are 226.

Fewer and farther between

I've made another pass over the quest list, and I've finished more quests than I actually remember doing. One thing I do know is that the quests I have left require a lot of effort. And so much more effort will be required before all's said and done.

My recent run gives me a total of 221 Quest Points and a 70 Combat Level. It annoys me that my Strength doesn't rate on Hiscores yet, and as a result the little picture at the top of the page doesn't accurately reflect my combat level. If I didn't want to be able to use dragon weapons so badly, I'd start training Strength right now.

You might have noticed that I broke 1200 total levels today.

After fighting and killing a level 227 Black Dragon today, Monkey Madness has become a bit more of a priority for me now. If I run out of quests before I get 60 Attack, I may just go ahead and do it anyways.

I currently have 4 quests that I can do without training, and I have 2 others that I may be able to get done if I put my mind to it (which I intend to do). And after I do Tears of Guthix tomorrow, I'll qualify for another one (maybe). But no matter what I do, I'm going to end up fishing soon. There's no avoiding it. While I have been fishing here and there to make money for things I need for the quests I'm doing. But after my unfortunate demise during Contact!, I no longer have much in the way of mage gear. I will need new robes (good robes this time) and a lot of Death Runes, not only to finish Contact!, but to do Desert Treasure.

This is probably what I'll do tomorrow.

A Zezima Sighting

...In other news, Zezima was sighted in Varrock's west bank today on world 60, and there was much rejoicing in the noob population.

Now, I understand hero worship and all. Really, I get it. Everyone needs someone to look up to. But there a line between normal idolizing and paparazzi-esque stalking. Every rational person knows where this line is, and it isn't really all that fine of a line either. Despite this, I witnessed what was possibly the most revolting display of sycophantic behavior I've witnessed so far this millennium.

While I briefly considered taking a screen shot of this sick display, I didn't. This would make me just like the paparazzi that I despise so much. Trust me, it was nauseating.

Zezima is a guy, just like anyone else. You don't know anything about him, other than the fact that he plays Runescape, and has 99 in (apparently) almost every skill. This is nothing that any of you Zezima groupies couldn't do yourself if you'd quit whining about how hard it is and just do it.

People said Dragon Slayer couldn't be done by a character lower than Combat Level 50. I've proved that wrong.

People think that Legend's quest is a very difficult quest that can't be done by anyone below 70-80 combat level (depending on who you ask). Yep, wrong again.

Not only have I proved the above two misconceptions 100% wrong, I've done so with TWO CHARACTERS.

They all worship a guy they pretty much don't know anything about. However, I don't worship him, and apparently I know more about him than they do.

Because of the groupies that eternally hound him, he leaves public and private chat on friends, if not off. He does this because of everyone chasing him around, wanting to ride around on his coat tails or wanting him to do something for them. When he turns either on, it makes him lag, because he literally gets flooded.

I've had high level characters before, so seeing as he's higher than I've ever attained (yet), he probably sees much more of this than I have: when some people know you have high levels in something, they want to be your friend so they can get something out of you. The conversation usually goes something like this:

Noob (not me): Wat u doin
Noob (me): Crafting air orbs to make battlestaves.
Noob (not me): Cool!
Noob (not me): Friends?
Noob (me): Sure, why not?
Noob (not me, in pm): So wen ever u git dose bstaffs done u can give me 1, k?
Noob (me): *Removes Noob (not me) from friends list*

The above is an actual conversation I had on another character I was playing, for the most part word for word, and it took part in a span of less than 2 minutes (the names have been changed to protect the criminally retarded). Note at the end how he didn't exactly ask me if he could have one. He just let me know that I was going to give it to him. And this is not the only conversation I've had like that. I've had quest capes before, and people will walk up to you and strike up a random conversations about nothing, ask to be friends, and instantly ask for help on a quest.

Of course, we have the anti-worshipers, as well! They, from what I can see, spend 5$ a month to hang around in a bank, waiting for Zezima to log in so they can bad mouth him. When you have a guy with a combat level of low to mid 50's, standing around repeatedly typing "Zezimas a noob!!!!!!!!!1111oneone", it's what is known as jealousy. Again, a problem that is solved simply by worrying more about your own character's progress than someone else's.

I imagine this is what Zezima goes through...every single second he plays Runescape. He is hounded every single moment of his RS existence by a group of people who live only to have their worship recognized.

Nobody likes it when someone runs up to them while they're trying to do something, and do anything they can to make it difficult to do it (door spammers were a textbook example of this). Yet they think nothing of charging up and trying to interfere with Zezima's game play.

I don't worship Zezima. I don't hate him either. But I do feel sorry for him. That being said: I'm glad to see that he's back.

It gives me a bigger target to shoot at!

Back to the top

Here's an update on my quest progress:

Murder Mystery
Observatory Quest
Olaf's Quest
Perils of Ice Mountain (another new quest that I hadn't done yet)
Scorpion Catcher
Sea Slug
Shades of Mort'ton
Sheep Herder
A Soul's Bane
Spirits of the Elid
Tai Bwo Wannai Trio (with a fishing potion)
Tale of Two Cats
Temple of Ikov
Throne of Miscelania
The Tourist Trap
Tower of Life
Tribal Totem
Troll Romance
Witches House

While I was doing Troll Romance, I experienced technical problems and lost connection. Unfortunately for me, it happened while I was standing smack in the center of a horde of ice trolls. While I wasn't there to see it, I'm assuming that they pummeled my character with ruthless enthuasium. I lost an Amulet of Glory, Rune Full Helm, Rune Battle Axe, Climbing Boots, Karajima Gloves, Explorer's Ring, a full prayer potion and about 15k worth of food. While it wasn't a crippling loss, it's still somewhat annoying to have to spend 3 hours fixing something...especially when you didn't break it. Thanks Jagex!

After reaching the end of the list, I went back and did two of the Keldagrim quests: The Giant Dwarf and Between a Rock...

I also started Ratcatchers, but since I didn't have free access to Keldagrim, I still have that part to do yet.

This pass has opened up several quests previously unavaliable to me, and a couple others will open up as I progress through the list again. I am also a couple thousand XP in two skills away from qualifying for two other quests.

I currently qualify for Monkey Madness, but I'm relatively certain that I won't be able to complete it until I have a 60 Attack and a Dragon Battle Axe. I only have 3 levels to go, so I'm kind of hoping that I'll get that in the course of my second pass (which I seriously doubt).

Currently, my quest points are: 203.

The Quest Cape quest!

I have come up with a new tactic for getting my quest cape. It provides a systematic process for deciding which quest I should work on, and when. In theory, my plan will help ensure that my combat level gets absolutely no higher than is required for the various quests.

I'm doing them in order, as they appear on the quest list. I do the ones I currently qualify for and skip the rest. My plan is to proceed to the bottom of the list like this, and once I reach the bottom, I start at the top again and do it again (many quests I can't do because I still have to do prerequisite quests). The only XP I have comming in right now is from quests, and gathering/making items for them.

To date, here's what I've gotten done.
Edgar's Ruse
Enkhara's Lament
Enlightened Journey
The Feud
Fight Arena
The Grand Tree
Hand in the Sand
Hazeel Cult (good way)
Horror from the Deep
Icthlarin's Little Helper
Making History
Meeting History (I've never done this quest before)
Monk's Friend

Not bad for 3 days work.

Currently my combat level is 67 (since my Strength and Hit Points aren't rated on Hiscores yet, the image at the top of the page isn't correct).

I started Haunted Mine, but I'm just not up to the task of finishing it yet (I need a better weapon, and a few more HP wouldn't hurt, either). I also skipped Monkey Madness, because of a similar reason.

A new guild and some more quests

Today's update gives us the long anticipated (I guess, anyways) Runecrafting Guild! And I say: So? I don't know how much I'll end up using it, as it doesn't seem overly useful. It does include a few things of possible interest: a essence pouch repair guy, a runecrafting mini-game and an "omni-talisman" which will work in place of any other talisman. I'll only be interested in the latter if it can be used to create an Omni-tiara, but I doubt things will be quite so simple.

Cold War turns out to be tougher than I thought, since the only access I have to Mahogany is Tai Bwo Wannai village. I spent most of the day doing the clean-up, not only because I need the log, but because I found a gout tuber. This allowed me to knock a tough taks off the Karajima Achievement Diary (in fact, during my time at Tai Bwo Wannai, I knocked about 4 or 5 tasks off the list). I eventually got the quest done though.

The only other thing I acomplished was the Dwarf Cannon quest.

A quest day

Yep, lots of quests today. Here's a list of the one's I've finished:

Rum Deal
Cabin Fever
Animal Magnetism
Fremennik Trials
Clock Tower

I also did Tears of Guthix today and got up to 10 Summoning. From all the experience from the quests, I'm now 66 Combat level.

I've decided to do all the quests that I qualify for right now. While it may not be the most efficient plan, I just started at the top of the list and began working my way down. Once I reach the bottom, I'll go back to the top and continue (new quests will be opened as I do their prerequesites) until I absolutely need to train skills.

I got 5 out of the way in a single day, and I'm about 3/4 the way through Cold War.

In case it's not apparent, I've actively began to persue a Quest Point cape. While there is a lot of work to do to get one, it's the easiest cape to get. But it requires regular maintenence and upkeep.

On another note, all but 5 of my skills rank on hiscores!

A change in format

I'm changing the way I'll be chronicling my adventures in the future. I will no longer be posting "chapters" and "episodes". It's going to be more of a daily journal.

There are several reasons for this:

1) I have already documented a majority of what I wanted to prove/disprove. Ideas like Dragon Slayer is impossible before combat level 50 are a thing of the past.
2) The posts are dramatically longer than I'd like them to be. They span several days of playing (which was not what I wanted at all), and at times I'm spending more time doing this than I am playing (again: not what I wanted).
3) Now that most of my skills are decent levels, there will be long spans between levels, which will make most posts drag on for weeks.
4) As seen in the last few posts, my plans have a tendency to be highly fluid, and may jump around in a seemingly unrelated fashion, depending on the circumstances at hand. This is not condusive to telling stories that span for several days.
5) The more often I have to save and return to it later, the better chances that something in the post will screw up. I cannot tolerate this, as it totally messes with my sense of order in the universe.

I'll still discuss my plans and my goals, but those discussions will be a bit more brief and to the point. I'll back these updates with a basic rundown of my daily activities. It's my plan to basically tell people how Wrthlss Noob spent his days before he became ultra-famous.

Chapter 5-Episode 3: Best laid plans of noobs and men

First of all, while I may have already stated this, I hate Range. It's very slow to train, unless you have a cannon...then it's just incredibly expensive. It does have it's uses, but for me, a main source of combat ability is not one of them.In the future, I will need a 60 Ranged for a quest. Thus, I have to train it. My plan is to use a bone crossbow, since it has a special attack. I've never used one, so I don't know how well it will work. But people use them, so I'm left to assume that they have some worth.

As far as ranging equipment goes, my bank is somewhat lacking. I still have studded leather armor and a junk bow, so I want to upgrade. For me, upgrading means making it myself. Snakeskin armor is still within my skill range. This means I'm going to have to do several quests:Death to the DorgeshuunRum DealCabin FeverI qualify for the Dorgeshuun quest, so I start it first. There isn't much of a shopping list, and everything I need is already in my bank (light source, 2 sets of H.A.M. robes, rope). It's an easy quest with easy fights. Quest Complete: 1 Quest Point, 2,000 Ranging and Thieving XP, Dorgeshuun special attacks (Ranged 37).

I buy my crossbow, and look at what I need for Rum Deal. I need 47 Prayer, 40 Farming, and 42 Slayer. I got some work to do, it seems.I look to see if I can do any quests that give Slayer XP. Wanted! gives 5,000 and I qualify for it. It's off to Falador. This quest isn't hard, there's just a lot of running around involved. In fact, the hardest part of the quest is the running around. The mage is a wimp, and for some reason he melee's you at the end, after hitting about 12 White Knights for 70 hp each. Quest Complete: 1 Quest Point, 5,000 Slayer XP, access to the White Knight armory (33 Slayer).The armory isn't really worth bothering with. Full white knight is more of a showpiece than it is functional.

I can also get up to 6,000 XP from Darkness of Hallowvale, which I do qualify for. Now when I was discussing Legends Quest, I said it was the second most aggrivating quest in the game. Darkness of Hallowvale is the quest that I rate at #1 on that list. The shopping list is small (all I need to do is pop off to Barbarian Outpost to grab a couple of planks), but the trek across the Sanguinesti region is utterly grueling. I guess it's best to get it out of the way then.I'll not go into the horror of all the backtracking I had to do. I can't say with any certainty how many times I crossed the city, but I know for sure that I lost count at around 6. I even had to recharge my Glories (I have 3 now). Quest Complete: 2 Quest points, 7k Agility XP, 6k Thieving XP, Tome of XP (2k XP with 3 uses...all on Slayer). This gives me 36 Slayer, as well as 51 Thieving.

Now, I really want to use snakeskin armor while it's useful to me, so I decide to train Slayer with melee, while training attack. I plan to train my Attack to 60 before long anyways, so I can upgrade to a dragon battleaxe.I head out to change my assignment (I don't want to fight shades again), and find out that when I let my membership expire, my current Slayer assignment was cancelled. This information would have been much more useful before I made the trip to Taverly. I decide to take a bit of a risk and try Chaedar for assignments. Unfortunately, I'm too wimpy, and she laughes in my face and sends me packing. I decide to give Mazchna one more chance.

He does good by me and gives me 45 Cocatrice. I buy a mirror shield, and head off to the Fremnink Slayer Caves. I don't have a lot of food, but it should get me started. That assignment gets me 37 Slayer, 46 Attack, 48 Hit Points and a 62 Combat Level.

Next up, an old favorite of mine: 40 Hill Giants. I can do that with the food I have left. I grab my brass key and head off to Varrock. In case you don't know, the brass key opens the door on a little shack across the river from Barbarian Village. Down that ladder is a massive den of Hill Giants (it's part of Edgeville dungeon)...which is usually too busy for any manner of usefulness. And this time is no exception.Next stop: Taverly dungeon. It's a longer walk, and as a result there isn't much activity there. Uninhabited, as usual. This assignment gives me a 47 Attack, but no Slayer level.

I then discover that Vannaka is a higher level Slayer master, so I go to him next. 40 Crocodiles. While I hate desert combat, crocodiles are near a Pollnivneach, and I should be able to refill my waterskins there. Plus, getting there will be easy since that's where my house is.

I get there to discover that crocodiles are 1 combat level higher than I am. This will be a good assignment. While I'm getting good XP from them, the crocodiles are beating on me better than I'd like, and my food doesn't last long. It's a bit of a trip, so I take a moment to make my house a bit more useful.

(Note: this is the point where Episode 2 takes place).

Now, I can make cakes. While it might not seem like a big deal, cakes are far better than having nothing at all. Turns out, I don't need them. While I don't get a Slayer level, I get an Attack level (50 Attack).

Next on the list is 81 Ice Warriors. Another good one. I go and catch and cook about 50 Lobsters, and head to Mudskipper Point. That cave from Knight's Sword quest is crawling with them. I didn't do so badly: I finished the task while only having to resupply once. I end up with a 51 Attack, 63 Combat Level, and very close to 40 Slayer.

Next up is a brutal task: 109 Ogres. It's going to be a long assignment, but I should get a lot of XP out of it. The task takes more than 1 day of playing (about 8 hours for me...yeah, I know. Shut up). The task gets me 53 Attack, 50 Hit Points, 64 Combat level, and puts me about 1.7k from my target 42 Slayer.

It is at this point that I make a depressing discovery. By the time I have easy access to snakeskins, I'll be wearing green dragonhide armor. I head to the GE to attempt to buy some snakeskin armor...and there's none to be found at any price. Snakeskins? Nope. It looks like this whole ordeal was all for naught. Oh well...I started it, I may as well finish it. I'll need to train Slayer at some point, anyways.

While Vannaka scores points for brutality in assignments, he loses a few for lack of variety. 95 more Ogres. Oh well...at least I'll get my Slayer level before I'm done. I gear up in my nooby leather range armor and bone crossbow, and head out.

I find a nice, little place for me to "safe" (a combat situation where the player can attack a monster without it being able to respond in kind. This usually involves positioning yourself behind a low obstacle and using range or mage, but halberds can be used in some instances with identical effect), and I get to slaughtering ogres.

This ogre respawns on the other side of the campfire, and as you can see, there's a nice row of impassible bushes to shoot over. If the Ogre gets around it, you can head just a bit south and you're out of reach (illustrated in the picture).

Once I hit 42 Slayer, I'm less than 1k XP from 40 Ranged, so I keep killing Ogres for a bit more till I have it. This leaves 1 more required level for the quests I'm planning on doing. And I know just how to get it.

By the time I reach 40 Ranged and 42 Slayer, I'm a bit more than 1.2k XP from the necessary 47 Prayer. The quest Mountain Daughter will give me 2k Prayer XP. And it'll be relatively quick and easy. It's a relatively simple run around with a fight at the end that's over relatively quickly. Quest Complete: 2 Quest Points, 1,000 Attack, 2,000 Prayer, and a bear head (the bear head is cool!).

Now I got everything but the Farming. Farming is very slow XP when you're actually farming, and I need almost 3k XP for the level I need. I stop by the Sorceress' Garden to see what I can get from there (since Sal's doesn't tell me). I get 50 per fruit, so I need to grab me 54 to get a Farming level (which is 18 glasses of juice!). A bit more thief XP wouldn't kill me anyways.

A bit more thief XP is somewhat of an understatement: I get a 54 Thieving out of it. And this gives me all the levels I need for Rum Deal and Cabin Fever.

While I'm now ready for the quest, my plan has been utterly torpedoed. I no longer need snakeskin armor (although I do plan to crank out a few sets), and I'm ready to go get access to as many snakeskins as I feel like getting.

Ah well...

Chapter 5-Episode 2: Back to the Man-Cave

(Note, this episode takes place somewhere in the middle of the next episode. Trust me when I say all will make sense soon.)

When I think about my house, I cringe. It's all because of that inevidible question you'll undoubtedly get at some point: Can I see your house?

My man-cave is less of a cave and more of a man-shack on a man-vacant lot. In fact, all it is right now is a workshop and a portal. But the workshop is fully up to date. I've stockpiled a bit of gp, and I know very well how to get more...so I decide to get my house into some semblence of order. The problem is that I have to advance 11 levels to really start building new rooms.

I'm a little beyond clay at this point, so I have to start spending money. I start with 19k, which gets me 78 oak planks. Not a lot, but a good start I guess. Another problem which has presented itself is getting to the house. It's in Pollnivneach. It's location, however, is pretty much irrellivant. Until 50 Construction, it's a long walk no matter where it is. To build the skill quickly, I'm going to have to teleport there, and that means I'm going to need law runes too.

The way I'm doing it is to take the 3 runes and a full inventory of planks, and to get a new hammer and saw from my tool racks when I arrive at my house. After 3 trips, I don't have enough planks to make it worth another trip to my crib, but it gave me a 28 Construction. I set off to make mithril bars for fun and profit (most importantly profit).

This time I have almost 75k gp to work with, so I set asside 25k for the games room I'll soon be able to build, and spend the rest making 210 planks. This is more than enough to me to 35 Construction.

Now, here's where it's going to start getting expensive. I can now build a Quest Hall, which is pretty much the key to my my entire floor plan. With this room in place, I can build the upstairs, as well as most of the rest of the rooms my level will permit. The cost to get my floor plan up to date with my Construction level is 121k gp. That's almost two back-to-back loads of mithril bars.

It was shortly after starting, that I realized the whole reason I was doing what I was doing was for Magic XP...not for money. I likewise realized that 71k or so was small potatoes for the work involved. I decide that this will be the last mithril bars that I smith for profit. I can make infinitely more money fishing lobsters, and it's less labor intensive.

I build all the rooms (I can't build a second bedroom until I have 40 Construction, because I can't build the room that would support it), and even have enough left over to furnish most of them. I still have a few things I need to get it totally up to date, but those can wait until later. Right now I plan to fish 500 lobsters to sell, which should put me in the neighborhood of 150k gp. I can use teak planks to train with now, and they're a bit more expensive.

I have to buy some law runes, but I still have enough left over to get about 160 teak planks, and those get me to 41. I build my study, and build my second bedroom.

I end this batch without a charged glory, so I have to teleport back to Castle Wars. I decide to finish Tree Gnome Village while I'm in the neighborhood. I also notice that I haven't checked my banana tree that's planted here, so I take a minute to do so, and it gets me 39 Farming. I hand over the orbs, which was all I had left to do in the quest. Quest Complete: 2 Quest Points, 11,450 Attack, gnome amulet of protection (49 Attack, 63 Combat Level).

While I haven't quite made it to 50 yet, I've acomplished much of what I set out to do with this bout.

Chapter 5-Episode 1: Hunter to 50

There are two skills that I enjoy training: Agility and Hunter. Both of these skills have been invaluable to me, and I've developed a bit of a process to get both of these skills to highly useful levels. Today, I divulge my secret to Hunter.

My current Hunter level is 26, so I plan to squash a few more wild kebbits to get to 27, and then do Eagle's Peak quest. This will give me access to early box trapping, and catching rabbits.

It doesn't take very long to get to 27 (in fact, I get to 28 just trying to fill my inventory with claws...and I don't even get there), and I head a little south to do Eagle's Peak. An easy quest, with a bit of running around. I had left the onions I had to grow in the patch near the Ectofuntus, so I had easy access to enough for the dye. Quest Complete: 2 Quest Points, 2,500 Hunter, can catch ferrets and hunt rabbits, can "ride" giant eagles (30 Hunter). Ride is sort of a misnomer: you are more or less keel-hauled through the air. While it's not terribly useful, it does help with some of the more out of the way hunting areas.

Rabbit hunting is useful for getting rabbit's feet, which help get nests while woodcutting, which helps with Farming, Summoning, and Herblore (eventually). Plus, it's good experience at my level.

Since there are numerous useful items to be gained from hunting, I decide to catch the best creature for my current hunter level (not the best XP). I stock up on barb-tail kebbit harpoons, short kebbit bolts, as well as larupia, ghraak, and spotted kebbit fur. I skip the razor back kebbits, since they take too long to run down (tracking). The only thing I don't keep are the orange salamanders. While it's kinda neat to have a fire breathing lizard, they're not overly useful and require somewhat expensive ammo.

It takes me the better part of a day and a half to get to 50 Hunter. I also managed to get 2 out of 3 of the best hunter clothes.

Normally, when I power train hunter after level 43, I stick with falconry until I can catch chinchompas. While many, many, many players will argue with me on this, falconry is the fastest hunter XP you can get. This is because it is dramatically less labor intensive than pitfalling, dead falling, or even catching birds. There are no traps to set up, there are no logs to cut...you just click on a kebbit and the falcon does the rest. And you can catch these kebbits indefinately, if you drop the skins...and all you need to take with you is 500 gp.

The fact of the matter is that I've had about 7-8 different characters (besides this one) that have had membership at one time or another. Every last one has had a Hunter level of no less than 72 (imp boxes are absolutely invaluable).

Before anyone asks: don't ask me to name my other characters. First of all: I don't remember many of their names, as some of them existed a long time ago (and some don't exist anymore). Lastly, I don't discuss my other characters. If I'm not playing them anymore, I've got a reason for it. And it will be left at that.

Chapter 5: Prologue

Legend's quest finished at Combat Level 61 is no small feat, and is a very proud acomplishment for yours truly. In fact, there is only one more thing that I can acomplish: a Quest Point cape at Combat Level 85.

This will be somewhat tricky, as there are a lot of quests remaining that give combat experience. But I've come up with a plan that may or may not work.

I will not train combat, except as it's required for the quests I still need to do. I plan to save "Dream Mentor" for last, since this is the quest that requires an 85 Combat level. I will have to train Slayer to a signifigant level for a different quest, so I'm not exactly sure how well this will work.

I may postpone the Quest Cape for a later chapter, but I will definately acomplish my other goal: all skills 50+. I can do much of this without combat.

Chapter 4-Episode 7: The Storm Before the Calm

It's time...

Legends Quest is possibly one of the most involved and aggrivating quests in Runescape. Simply getting into the quest area is a chore, which makes banking a long and grueling process. And I can personally guarantee you that you'll need more items than you can carry. This is not to even mention that most creatures you'll encounter in the Khazari Jungle are pretty decent level, and generally hostile. In other words, it's not even a good place to visit.

This quest requires planning and preparations (unless you want to spend a whole week doing it). It has a relatively formidible shopping list, containing some uncommon and occasionally pricy items.

Shopping List:

An Axe

Charcoal

Hammer

6 Gold Bars

3-4 Lockpicks

2-3 Uncharged Orbs

Snakeweed

Ardrigal

Water Filled Vial

Rope

Sapphire

Emerald

Ruby

Diamond

Opal

Jade

Red Topaz

1 Soul Rune

1 Mind Rune

1 Earth Rune

2 Law Runes

Runes to cast one of the four charge orb spells (any of them will work) at least two times

I decide to spend a few minutes in Shilo Village, trying to at least get the jade, opal and red topaz. I'll get at least a couple of the others, and may very well get enough to sell for the rest. I end up getting all the gems I need, just trying to get a red topaz.

It's off to the Legend's Guild to start the quest. Getting into the jungle is easier for me this time. I manage to locate an actual route that gets me inside by cutting 3 plants. Mapping the jungle is likewise easier. I also have little problem constructing the bowl (I get it on the second shot). Everything I had problems with the last time are not problems this time. Where do I have trouble?

The demon. 45 Attack apparantly isn't quite good enough to hit him. I fall back, and try my old stand-by: Magic. No good. In fact, I did better with Melee. I decide to try a new tactic...perscribed by the quest itself.

I set out to construct Holy Water vials. The process of making them drains both your Prayer and your Magic, and I end up intentionally killing myself twice in order to quickly restore my skills. I finally manage to get 25 Holy Water vials made...if they're as effective as I'm made to believe, I shouldn't need more than this.

It was, of course, a waste of time. Of my 3 attempts so far, this was by far my worst showing. In fact...I didn't even scratch the demon with the vials. My advice to you is not to bother with this long and involved process, as it's far more trouble than it's worth. I decide to return to melee, as that was my best effort to date. I just need a little help. I adjust my combat kit to include two Super Attack Potions. This time it works...with a little help from the Incredible Reflexes Prayer. All in all, this last battle cost me 4 prayer potions and 2 super attack potions. Very expensive.

The three spirits I have to fight in the caves below are not as tough as the the demon was, and I all but breeze through them (at least by comparison). Now I have to make a choice: the evil but easy path, or the good but hard path. I take the difficult path, which means I have to fight that demon twice more.

The second fight doesn't go very bad at all, and I manage to defeat him in one go. I get my water and return to the surface, where I have difficulty growing the tree. I have to go back for more seeds TWICE. But I finally get the new totem pole and set out to fight the demon for the last time.

It doesn't go as well as the last one, and he dissappears before I manage to defeat him. Also, because I wasn't paying attention, I used up all my food and end the scuffle with 4 HP left. I return to Shilo Village, restock, and go back to fight the demon again. This time I'm successful, and I get my gilded totem pole and head back to the Legend's Guild to finish the quest. Quest Complete: 4 Quest Points, 7,650 XP in 4 skills (I choose Prayer twice and Magic twice: 45 Prayer, and 57 Magic).

The Legend's cape is one of the best capes, second only to a skillcape. It's also very cheap at a mere 450 gp. I also get the ability to wield a Dragon Square Shield...once I get a 60 Defence.

Another goal complete, and another chapter ended.

My way in.

Chapter 4-Episode 6: The Last Little Bit

Legends Quest is so close I can taste it! I start off this run with a 54 Magic and 42 Herblore, which puts me 5 total levels away from where I need to be...with two of those levels being extremely close.

I'm out of runes now, so it's back to making Mithril Bars so I can buy more Death and Air runes. I go back and finish the potions I have to make, and when I'm on my way to the GE to sell them, I get a Maze Random that gives me about 230 Death runes! So lucky...

The skill calculator that I'm using tells me that I now need 85 more Combat Potions to get 45 Herblore (I bought 50 with the money from the potions), so I head off to make a few more Mithril bars, so I can get my levels and finally be done with it. Before I know it, I'm done, and I go and buy back my "Cash Kit", get enough Harralander to get me to 45...and have a tidy profit left over!

I'm concerned about my HP level. Very Concerned. I'm concerned because the last time I got a HP level, I got a Combat level too. Now at 61, I can't handle too many more levels before I put my goal in jeopardy. On the bright side: my Ranged skill is relatively low (33 Ranged), so I could get quite a few levels before it affects my combat level. But regardless of everything, I'm going to get HP experience. It's inevidible.

I decide not to worry about it, and head back to the goats. I use Magic until I get 56, then I grab those 1k iron knives I had just made last week (did you notice how I said then; you never know when you'll find a use for something? I said that because I wasn't joking). I rack up 3 Range levels getting the goat horns I need for the potions.

I get off light once again: no HP levels, and no Combat Levels. I'm still Combat Level 61, with one quest in my way...which won't get me a whole lot of combat XP.

Before I start Family Crest, I pop over to the GE to sell those potions I made. I sell them all, since I can now make super Attack potions...which is one part of the highly coveted "Super Set" (3 potions sold as a set: super Attack, super Strength, and super Defence. This term is pre-GE, and as a result, all but obsoltete. But the potions still exist are still readily available separately). They don't all sell right away, so I set off to do the quest.

I look at the shopping list, and I make sure I get everything I need. While I also need cooked fish that I don't have, I take the necessary gear to get it, since I'll be in Catherby when I need them. With any luck, I'll be able to do the quest without stopping at the bank.

Now, Family Crest requires a 59 Magic to complete, but here's where I did a bit of out-of-the-box thinking. I head to Falador and stock up on Wizard Mind Bonbs, which at my level add 3 to my Magic. Again, this isn't exactly a secret, but it's something that isn't obviously aparent. You have to look at how the quest is phrased. If it says "Requirements," that means you can't start the quest without it. If it says "You need x Skill to complete this quest," it's not a requirement to start, but you need the equivalent level to finish the quest. It also helps to know what all the food items do, and how you can scrape up an extra level here and there. On a side note, all my potions sold while I was buying my Mind Bombs: a total profit of more than 107k.

I just want to be clear on this: Family Crest is not a difficult quest by any stretch of the imagination. The hardest part of this quest is training for it. Once you got the levels, the rest is easy...with the possible exception of the lever puzzle east of Ardougne. Personally, this is probably the 4th time I've dealt with this puzzle (the second time for the quest), so I pretty much have it memorized. All in all, the quest's a breeze. Quest Complete: 1 Quest Point, Steel Gauntlets, a skill embue for the gauntlets. This was, of course, done at 56 Magic.

The gauntlets are one of those "must have" items. Of course, the only way to "have" them is to do the quest. They have 3 imbue abilities:

Cooking Gauntlets: Possibly one of the most useful imbuments for the gauntlets. It increases your odds of successfully cooking fish.

Goldsmithing Gauntlets: Another useful imbument, but secondary in my opinion to the above. It increases the XP from smelting gold ore into bars.

Chaos Gauntlets: In my opinion, this is the least useful of the imbuments, but it does have it's uses. It increases the damage done by spells powered by Chaos Runes. These gauntlets are useful for power-training Magic cheaply.

I don't bother imbuing the gauntlets just yet, since I won't be needing them immedately. I have my eye on something else now.....