Easter Event

No matter if you are a new player or an old player, the holidays are always a great time in Runescape since Jagex unfailingly plans an event to celebrate the event. The event this time around is Easter, but in true Jagex fashion there are no religious strings attached to this celebration, so even if you don’t normally celebrate the holiday you can still enjoy the activity that is planned.

So basically this year’s activity is basically capture the flag. Except the flag is an egg, and to fully enjoy this even which takes place on the 14th or 15th, you need to have already done the Easter activity to obtain a eggsterminator and the hat of either the Chocotrice or the Evil Chicken, which are the two opposing factions of this event. Every 10 minutes a new flag will be given out, for the teams will switch allowing for changing of roles. As fun as this event is, it actually isn’t written in the game’s script so when you do get tagged by cannons to get you out, you are expected to play the event and teleport home on your own accord. All in all, if you have never done roleplay before, this will be a fun chance to try it out. Do expect it to be chaotic, but fun nevertheless. Happing  Hunting.

New Ammo Rounds

It is certainly a glorious update for those who have dabbled in range, or even those who have decided that it was worth their investment to level up woodcutting or fletching. If you haven’t yet heard because you have been living under a Volcano, Jagex has once again reestablished the combat triangle by balancing range against mage once again. Not to say that mages now have absolutely no chance, but now with the introduction of bakriminel bolts, it really makes mages a lot easier to kill. When using these special bolts, instead of getting the option of shooting accurately, or rapidly, or from longrange (it is quite useless I’m not gonna lie), you get can choose a specific body part of your target, head, chest, and legs. In those corresponding slots, if you chose a slot that has mage armor equipped, there is a chance that you can inflict very crippling status’. These effects are not sure-fire every time, but because these bolts automatically hit in rapid style (the most deadly in my opinion) you will be landing many shots of 125 ammo strength, which by all regards is EXTREMELY powerful, these bolts are even STRONGER than Onyx tipped rune bolts in terms of raw ammo damage. Anyways, if you hit the head, there is a fair chance that you will cripple their magic output by effecting their accuracy and spell frequency, if you hit the chest there is a chance that you will make them bleed out for a minute doing small, but effective damage, and if you hit the legs you will sap them of run energy even to a point in which they won’t be able to move for 10 seconds. By introducing these bolts, Runescape has given its players truly a breath of fresh air. As these bolts are still a new introduction, the effect on PvP probably still hasn’t left its mark yet, but I would definitely think twice about using magic against other people because of this update. These bolts require 80 range to use, but can be shot out of a very easy to obtain rune crossbow, or the stronger alternative dragon crossbow.

However nothing this strong is without drawbacks. For one, these bolts are a one shot only type of deal. They can’t be picked up after being used and they can’t be retrieved from Ava’s devices. Also, the only way to obtain these bolts other than buying them (market price is around 1.3k a pop) is to run into the deep wilderness and cut bloodwood trees, which require 85 woodcutting. Now I know what you devious people are thinking. “Ok, I’m going to camp near these trees, and then when some woodcutter comes I’m going to kill him and loot all the logs to make a profit! After all if each freaking bolt is 1.3k then imagine how much money I can get if I go mug the harvesters!” Well Jagex has made it so these logs are untradeable so you might get the satisfaction of being an ass, but you aren’t really going to profit. My advice, let the woodcutters do their jobs and provide the rest of Runescape with these new arrows so Runescape can evolve even further, and if you haven’t yet become a member so you can take advantage of this revolutionary combat update.

Lodestones

Games are fun when they are action-y. Everyone knows that even though “the journey is half the fun” it’s still pretty lousy and boring. To remedy this, many MMORPG’s have their own slew of transportation options to get you from place to place to minimize time walking or running (you know the boring stuff) and to maximize fun and skilling. Jagex obviously recognizes these truths and was recently implemented another means of getting from place to place. This time Jagex has decided that while Lumbridge may be a great town, it isn’t always the place where we view as “home” as such, with the introduction of Lodestones, by finding lodestones in different places instead of teleporting to Lumbridge, you could instead teleport to Port Sarim or Draynor Village. This update is relevant for both members and free players, so even if you don’t feel like paying for membership (if you don’t feel like paying then man do I have a deal for you) you can still take advantage of this new update and start spending less time on the road and more time hacking away to your next levels. Due not though that because these lodestone teleports are still in short Home teleports, the limitations that Home Teleport has is also applicable to lodestone teleport.

Jagex Member Rewards Program

In other news, Jagex has decided to reward its members even more by adding more emotes and aura’s to the Member’s Loyalty Program. For those who haven’t played Runescape in a long time, aura’s can be equipped by anyone, and can only be bought by Loyalty credits that are stocked up by renewing and buying subscriptions to being a Runescape Member. What is so cool about these Aura’s is that their uses are truly far and wide and can range from turning your eyes different colors to making your prayers more effective. It is an entirely new slot for equipping your character and adds just another level in character customization.

Graphical Updates and RuneScape

Runescape has always been compared to and to some extent overshadowed by the many other MMORPG’s of the internet. But what is so great about Runescape is that there are constant updates that make the game better and better, and more rewarding and in depth. One of the most recent updates has been rightfully called an overload. Runescape’s graphics have changed quite a bit from its original grainy appearance, but with this recent update an old player might not even recognize the game. If you have quit, I would recommend you give Runescape another chance. From black to dragon, the traditional metal suits of armor have gotten quite the graphical updates. The dragonhide ranger equipment actually has dragon scales on the armor. And the magic robes have all been graphically altered to give your avatar a more mystic feel. These graphical updates have also been applied to the gnomes. Their character portraits and the Gnome Village and Fortress has all have graphically updated. Almost all of the Runescape’s past grainy features have been upgraded. As far as other updates have gone, JAGEX has also decided to really update the clan feature that Runescape has offered. This most recent clan addition has also offered an experience bonus for those of you who attain the Clan Fealty rank of 1, which grants a quite generous 15% experience bonus to whatever skill you are training in your citadel. While this string of updates can be enjoyed by both free players and members, to truly see the changes on the gnomic archetype, one has to become a member.

Character Customization

A big part of Runescape is how you look, which is in part contributed by the fact that even as a free player, you can customize your character any variety of ways. This customization aspect of your character is further augmented if you are a member. Now there are many ways to become a member, most of which involve you paying JAGEX money, you can get it here, at free RuneScape membership codes but you can also achieve membership by cashing in game cards, which you can also gift to others. As far as cashing in those cards go, now is the time to do so. Jagex has released an exclusive item, the barbed bow for all players who cash in their membership cards by the end of this month. The barbed bow may not serve any real combat purpose, but simply put, it looks unique and badass. What’s more, it has its own attack animation, so if you want to kill those goblins or chickens in style, I would recommend you cash in your cards as soon as possible, as this item will likely become discontinued, and even though you can’t trade the item, we all know that discontinued items will be met with envy *cough Santa Hat*.

Double XP Weeks

It is one of those times again. JAGEX has decided to have another bonus XP weekend. For those who don’t know, this event is exactly what it sounds like, for an entire weekend everything you do from killing chickens to harvesting snapdragon you will get more XP then you usually do. Personally I love to just keep my XP tab open and just watch as the numbers jump. However, because these weekends are relatively scarce, you can anticipate an abundant amount of competition. In particular if you are still a nonmember, you can expect the hill giants and lesser demon areas to be fully saturated, and don’t forget about those yews and other experience resources. Members probably won’t have it as bad simply because there are just so many things you can exclusively do as a member that the traffic will probably be more dispersed.

As to the actual mechanics of this weekend, the amount of bonus experience you get from playing gradually decreases over time. In the first 30 minutes of playing you get a whopping 2.7 experience multiplier, and this number eventually dies down to a still modest 1.1 once you have played over 10 hours. Whether or not you will invest this amount of time is up to you, but do realize that the 1.1 multiplier is still pretty decent, and not to mention free, just like the membership offer we offer. =) Stock up on those red chinchompas and summoning yaks, the experience race is on March 16 – March 19.

Fire Capes in RuneScape

The fire cape is one of those items that tell stories of the wielder without any actual exchange in words. The fire cape is one of the best capes in the game, a prerequisite before you can partake in Fight Kiln, and to be honest, pretty cool looking as well. So now that you have gotten your free membership, it is only sensible to get the fire cape as soon as possible to obtain that rank amongst the Runescape elite. But the reason why it is usually the high level players, who have this item, is because there is a very arduous task that one must conquer before being awarded the cape. This is the TzHaar Fight caves. While this minigame is safe (you can die a billion times and not lose what is in your inventory), what make the task so hard is the final boss and the amount of time that it takes to reach him. There are many guides out there, but the one that I found to be most useful would be Runescape Wiki.

I know it sounds cheesy and commonplace, but Runescape wiki is superior to the fansites solely on the fact that the items that are mentioned in the guide have links to them. As far as content goes, Runescape Wiki, RuneHQ, and Zaffre are all very viable sources and offer very good insights on how to obtain your fire cape, however because Runescape Wiki offers links to other items and monster bio’s, I find it to be most efficient and conclusive.

Potion Flasks

Potions are useful to any Runescape player, be them combat or skill oriented, and with the new Potion Flask update, they are even more useful. Every player has 28 inventory spaces. Those 28, as anyone can tell you, is often not enough space. Like the gem or coal bags, these potion flasks allow for a player to carry more potions. Since potions are most commonly used for combat, you can expect many players to take advantage of this new item in the God Wars Dungeon, Slayer tasks, dragon hunting, and most probably, PvP scenarios. Being able to carry more doses means you can spend less time going back to your bank and more time killing. Of course if combat doesn’t fit your fancy, you could use these flasks to store energy potions, after all everyone needs to run at some point in the game, and being able to run longer just means that you have more time actually playing the game and less time staring at the scenery.

I think that this will be a very welcomed update, and what makes this unique is the limit that has been set on this item.

With a Mining level of 81, you can mine the non-tradable red sandstone north of Oo’glog (south of the Feldip Hills). You can mine a maximum of 50 red sandstone per day.

Because of this limit in resource gathering this makes these flasks unable to be mass produced. This means that if bots were to come back into play as much as before (which are very likely cheaters always find a way), we might see an increase in potion flasks, but we definitely will not see a vast surge in flask availability. This means that these flasks should remain at a pretty market value. The fact that these flasks are also only good for one usage also means that they will be in constant demand.

What I don’t like about the one use aspect of these potions flasks though is that it will inevitably cause the rift between the rich and the poor to continue to widen. When gathering items for combat, it is simply much easier and quicker to just buy it than actually crafting or smithing them.  Because flasks will allow the rich to hunt monsters longer and more efficiently, they will continue to get richer and as such will be able to buy these flasks in bulk therefore allowing the cycle to repeat itself. Furthermore because the rich have money they can afford to drive the prices upward, making it more difficult for the poor to gather items needed to do go on God Wars raids or hunt other monsters as efficiently.

The potion flask is nonetheless going to be a very useful update that Jagex has decided to give us, and we can expect to see an evolution in gameplay as now potions potentially take up 50% less inventory space, which could allow for any number of inventory combinations.  (insert advertisement for website here)

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