Long time, no see

I've been somewhat lax in posting on my blog as of late (as anyone can see), so let me bring everything up to date. I'll start with my progress on the Grand Master quest.

December 6: 65 Farming
December 16: 55 Hunting
December 17: 65 Herblore
December 22: 75 Magic
December 23: While Guthix Sleeps quest finished

The grand master quest wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, but there was a tense moment where my hit points dropped into the teens.

They've likewise released several achievement diaries, and currently this is where a majority of my focus is on training at the moment. Here's a list of what I still need to do there:

Lumbridge: Complete
Falador: Hard
Fremennik: Complete
Karamja: Hard
Seer's Village: Hard
Varrock: Complete

Inferno Adze is temporarily on hold, while I stockpile wood from Miscelania. I will probably start burning after I finish the diaries. I have recently decided that I'd like Firemaking to be my first skill cape.

I've fallen in with a small group of people who have also given me several different focuses. First and foremost: there are several NPC's who will give or sell you things once a day. Bert in Yannelle for sand, Aherin in Catherby for seaweed and pineapples, and Zaff for battlestaffs (Zaff I was already doing). The Seer's diary added Geoffry in the flax field to the list as well. Doing these things every day have done incredible things for my Crafting and Magic skills (not even to mention my Runescape finances) by making it possible to assemble 64 Air Battlestaves per day.

On top of these daily skiller errands, I can check/kill a Jade Vine for Farming and Slayer experience, I can kill Bork for a handful of higher level charms, and now I can kill a Phoenix for phoenix feathers (which is a component for a Summoning pouch I'll be able to make in the future). I'd like to say I do all my "dailys" on a daily basis, but I usually only do the combat ones a couple times a week.

In addition to these dailys, this group has gotten me into Star Hunting. While I can't remember specifically when, I'm sure I've mentioned that I hate mining. If I haven't previously, I'll do so now: I hate mining. Most of the better locations are remote, and the ore doesn't respawn fast enough to make it entertaining for me. But Star Hunting has made it possible for me to level Mining as never before. Currently, I'm about 20k or so from 80 Mining (which had been 67 for a really long time).

The best part about Star Hunting is that it's a 20-30 minute bout of single-click mining every 2 hours. It leaves me plenty of time to work on other things. The diversion (as it's called) also gives you some loot, but with my skills, the loot's not really all that great. But it does give me some cosmic runes (which I do find useful) and the gold ore is really starting to build up in my bank (once I have a good amount, I'll smelt them with gold smithing gauntlets). A quick 50k each day for something I'd do anyways is also quite welcome.

Another side benefit of star hunting is that it has helped eleviate some of my fear of the Wilderness and the Revenants that inhabit it. After heeding a piece of advice from one of my hunting team, I can now hold my own against lower level Revenants, and I kill a good number of them when they attack.

Combat-wise, I've been training Strength with Slayer. I spent a bit of time making some money and bought a Saradomin Sword (not a Godsword, unfortunately), which I am extremely fond of. It's twice as fast as a regular 2-handed sword, hit's well, and does a decent amount of damage. It's a great companion with proselyte armor, as it gives a +2 Prayer bonus.

Well, that about brings you up to date. I'm going to try to post a little more often from now on.