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.....