Summoning Goal Reached!

Finally:

This, coupled with my 75 Farming have opened the door for two long term goals:  99 Woodcutting and 99 Fletching.  With the Hydra's scrolls I can re-grow my planted Magic trees instantly.  No more wilderness woodcutting, no more competing for resources.  But that's for the future.

Coincidentally, I reached another goal that I wasn't actively working on:

Runite ore is the best ore there is to mine.  While I can't quite smith it yet, it still sells for about 16k per ore.

Next on the list:

Obviously, the "All Skills 75+" goal is next on my plate.  While I was a fan on Hunter in the past, I had been having difficulty getting back into it.  Imp boxes (71 Hunter) was hard enough for me to get, and I was having some trouble trying to figure out how to handle this.

One thing that is kind of breaking me out of my rut is the new-ish group of hunting animals in the elf land.  While I can't catch Grenwall yet, I can catch their bait:  Pawya.  So I gave it a shot...

Unlike any other hunter animal that you catch with box traps, bait is REQUIRED.  And the bait isn't cheap, either.  Papayas have been on the rise thanks to the new "extreme" potions (Grenwall quills is an ingredient for one of them).  And I quickly learned that you lose a lot of bait.

It's hard not to notice players using the Fruit Bat familiars.  Anyone who's played has seen this.  The constant sound of the scrolls being used and bananas, lemons, limes and other fruit littering the ground everywhere is usually a dead giveaway.  When asked why, everyone who's doing it will tell you:  "I'm making money."  And the only fruit that is currently worth going through hours of clicking for is:  PAPAYAS.

So, having never used a Fruit Bat familiar before, I bought back 100 of the pouches I've sold, converted most into scrolls and set to work.  First thing I noticed is that you get a papaya every time it drops fruit.  So I started keeping track of what I spent Vs. what I'm "making" (I'm not really making any money since I'm not selling it).

The profit is high.  And when I say it's high, I mean:  "WHOA MAMA!"  I don't have any solid numbers on this yet, but I will soon, and I'll post the result here.  But so far, I'm up 500k gp.

I'm currently in the process of figuring up some percentages on profitability, as well as bait loss ratios when catching Pawya.  I'll post them once I've got them.

One final note today:  that Ardougne Achievement Diary Elite task list is really bugging me, so I've decided to gradually work on Smithing.  Summoning will come soon enough (as soon as I get back to Slayer).  Progress will be slow, and I maintain no illusions about getting it any day soon, but I am working on it when I can.  Gold ore with the Crafting Gauntlets from the Family Crest quest currently seems like the way to go, but I may mix it up with Adamant bars from GWD.

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 2-Episode 8: The Great White Hunter (With Blue Hair)

Hunting is one of my favorite skills. It can be a decent money maker (if you have the patience for it), and the higher levels have uses few people have figured out. Best part is that it's easy to train at lower and mid levels. But I'm just going to get into how to start for now, since that seems to be a sticking point for most people that are struggling.

To start with you need a bird trap, which can be bought from the hunter store in Yannelle (there are other stores, but this is the easiest one to get to). Walk south (watch out for Ogres), untill you're on a sandy penninsula. There will be a bunch of red birds hanging out here. This is where you want to set up your traps. Catch birds, drop the meat. Do that to level 20.

Yes, there are other birds you can catch that are worth more experience at higher levels. But, you will catch the red ones at a faster pace, which will only increase as your level does. Statistically speaking, you can earn more experience because you're capable of catching more birds in the same amount of time. Also you have to travel considerable distances to catch the best bird you can.

Once you hit 20, it's worth your while to walk west a bit where the Tropical Wagtails hang out (it's near the Hunting tutor). The reasons you should go now are many: short travel time, they're worth almost 3x more experience, it's less likely to be populated by bird hunters, and you can use the stripy feathers to catch Rainbow Fish (while they're noob food, they're pretty good fishing and cooking exp).

Once you get to 23, switch to deadfall, and catch the best kebbit you can (the experience is worth moving around now) untill about 31.

Tips for Hunting:

Pixelated clothes make the pixelated man. Well, to some extent. It's not a bad idea to get a noose wand and start collecting hunting camoflage. While a lot of people will tell you differently, it does affect your success rate (caught vs. escaped in other words).

Catching butterflies is as bad as it sounds. Don't bother. You don't get a lot of exp for them, and the "catch and release" process takes longer than just dropping something.

Avoid hunting in the desert. Unless you have a good Woodcutting and can get water out of cacti with a decent reliability, or have already done the "Dealing With Scabarus" quest, you're time in the desert is limited by your waterskins. The more waterskins you have, the less room you have to carry things. It's just a lot of trouble unless you've got the right skills.