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 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.