Thoughts on While Guthix Sleeps

***Warning: SPOILERS***

Rawr, Dragonkin.

     Last Sunday, in my latest endeavor to complete more quests and get the quest cape, I completed While Guthix Sleeps. In my opinion, it's the best grandmaster quest to be released so far (although I haven't done either of the other ones, but Nomad's Requiem is possibly next on the list). The plot was great (albeit sad - I'm terribly sad to see Cyrisius dead), the fights were fun, and the reward was quite generous.

Lucien and his army of dead heroes.

     I think my favorite part was from when you meet Movario to the end of the quest. The balance elemental was a somewhat worthy foe and it was fun to see my stats up to 255 due to the Stone of Jas. I quite enjoyed the part where potions had to be made to open up the ancient door at the Guthix temple. Lucien stealing this stone was quite unsettling, but the demons went down easily. 

The ancient stone of Jas!

     One of the oddest things was the Balance Elemental's dialogue. I didn't read much of it because I was really getting into the fight and kept clicking on potions as the speech box popped up, but from what I did read it was a bit unsettling. He spoke as if i was already dead. You can look it up on the RS Wiki if you're really interested.

Lucien fighting with - and inevitably killing - some of RuneScape's greatest warriors.

     The reward was generous for a quest - an item worth 1.8m on the Grand Exchange and 400k experience. I spent 300k of my experience reward on Prayer, getting me 70 Prayer and 107 combat, and 100k on Crafting, getting me to 69 Crafting. The way the quest turns out pretty much, in my opinion, guarantees a sequel. Possibly the finale of the Mysteries of the Mahjarrat Quest series? Only time will tell! If you're interested in my progress on the quest cape, I'm about 6 quests away as we speak. You can check on my progress in my signature at the bottom of the site. Just to make things clear, I waited a few days to post this so there would be a steady spread of posts throughout the week. Thanks for reading, and come back soon!

And I'm proud to say that i took all of these pictures myself.

Tee 3

A Clockwork Syringe

This week's game update is out, along with the latest pirate quest! Personally i think the requirements are ridiculously high, but that could just be because I'm going for the quest cape and it's going to take me more time and gold to train my levels up... anyway, here's the list:

• A Clockwork Syringe Quest
• New Lumbridge Tasks
• Explorer Jack is now responsible for all cash rewards for tasks, but all other rewards remain the same.
• The Grand Exchange now has warnings when selling expensive items for a price far below the guide price.
• New GE messages display what items and how many have been sold/bought.
• Task System display/interaction update.
• New interface for claiming chompy hats from Rantz.

So all in all a decent slew of updates this week. Here are the skill requirements for 'A Clockwork Syringe' for those of you who want them:

• 76 Defence
• 74 Thieving
• 74 Smithing
• 65 Summoning
• 62 Construction
• 61 Slayer
• 50 Dungeoneering

As you can see, they're fairly high. So for those of you who like questing, get training! Anyway, enjoy the game, and keep on 'Scapin!

Tee 3

Teaser Pics

This weeks teaser pics for the new pirate quest "A Clockwork Syringe" have been released via Twitter (top pic) and RuneHQ (bottom three). Enjoy!

An underwater dungeon? Would explain the Dungeoneering requirement.

Some sort of puzzling (albeit destructive) activity. Notice the zombie pirate on the right.

...Wait, what?

Getting beat up by pirates? Maybe knocked into a trapdoor of sorts?

Looks like it should be an interesting quest, and I would have to guess that we'll see more of Rabid Jack. The underwater Dungeoneering activity looks interesting, but notice that you can bring your gear into the dungeon, so perhaps it's a section that was built into the water and then got flooded? Maybe we'll get to see Bilrach? That's just pure hopeful speculation, but it does involve pirates and Daemonheim for sure. Looks like it should be a fun one.

Tee 3

Future Clan Update!

Jagex has announced that on April 12th they will be releasing the long awaited clan system update! The following game additions and tweaks (plus more) will be added that day:

• 'Clan Camp' area south of Falador
• New rank system (maybe?)
• Job Titles (for the rank system)
• Clan Meeting Areas
• Customizable weildable vexillum (flagstaff) for your clan
• A web page for every clan in Runescape for members to compare stats
• Clan Hiscores

Overall this is a wonderful event, and I'm greatly looking forward to it! It should be nice to finally implement clans into the game itself, especially since it should stop secret multi-clanning. Remember, if you're looking for a clan you could always sign up for mine (*coughshamelessadvertisingcough*).

A clan flagstaff. Picture property of Jagex.

So time to settle in and wait for 2 weeks. Ah well, at least it should be good for hype. Have fun playing, and keep on 'Scapin!

Tee 3

Thoughts on Elemental Workshop IV/Stellar Dawn

So today I finished Elemental Workshop IV. For those of you that have done it, you'll know about the automaton robot thing. For those of you that haven't, i'll sum it up with minimum plot destruction: There is a robot in the Elemental Workshop that does stuff that you tell it to with a special machine. It was a good quest, and was actually fairly fun and interesting. I can't wait for Elemental Workshop V now because I want to continue to see what happened to the characters from the Workshop.

The Automaton - And I actually took my own picture for once!

Now the thing that most got me was the awesome animation and sound effects that the automaton had. It reminded me of Steampunk and science fiction, and it was great! It got me thinking, if this is just a simple NPC for a quest in a Fantasy game, what will Stellar Dawn be like? An entire game designed on the RuneScape programming system with tons of fancy science fiction characters, objects, and places. I'm really looking forward to it, and I hope the Beta is released soon. Hopefully the Hasbro Transformers game contract won't ruin Stellar Dawn Development.

And i forgot to mention the best part - the robot in the quest made actual, realistic beeping and whirring noises. Epic Win.

Tee 3

Guaranteed Content Poll: Veteran Cape Design

The guaranteed content poll for the design of the upcoming veteran's cape has been released on the RuneScape website! There are 4 options to choose for each of the parts of the cape: The hood, collar, collar design, veteran symbol, and the design for the bottom of the cape. All are lettered according to the diagram. The poll can be found here.

The cape options from the poll. (image property of Jagex!)

I personally love the symbol on the first cape and think it's great. It looks all glorious and awe-inspiring. I would love to have a cape that looks like that! But anyway, all of the designs are very cool and intricate, and i can't wait to see them in game. So for those of you who have been on RS for 5+ years, look forward to this! And for everyone, keep on 'scapin!

Tee 3

New 'Capes of Distinction'

Jagex has recently released a new development blog about the upcoming Capes of Distinction. Jagex is planning on releasing new capes to allow players to show off their achievements on their characters. The color schemes, styles, and shape of the veteran cape are yours to vote on in an updated guaranteed content poll. The following capes have been guaranteed:

• Veteran Cape - A cape that can only be worn by players who's accounts are 5+ years old. I'm looking forward to this one because I'm hoping that with it will be a way to tell when you started your account - because i honestly can't remember exactly when i started and how long I've been playing.
• Upgraded Veteran Cape (out next year) - An upgraded version of the Veteran Cape for people with 10+ year old accounts.
• Classic Cape - A cape to be worn by those who have played Classic before.
• Max Skill Cape - A cape for those who have level 99 everything. Wow.
• 'Capes of 10s' - These capes will be for those that have gotten all their skills to a specific level, and will come in increments of 10 (up to 90). Each cape will be graphically different from all the others.
• Uber Cape - A cape for those who don't know what 'sunlight' and 'outside' mean. Can only be worn by those with 99 everything, 120 Dungeoneering, max Quest Points, all tasks complete, and all music tracks unlocked. Dang.

So this looks like it'll be a good way to legitimately show off achievements without looking like a braggart or a liar (and face it - we all look like that sometimes). Looks pretty cool, and i'm planning on grabbing the veteran cape and the 60 min level cape when they come out (hopefully 70 by then). Anyway, have fun Scapin' and see you back soon!

Tee 3

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! As you can see, I'm fully decked out in green so i don't get RS-Pinched tomorrow. So don your green and get out and have some funny with Jagex's community events (which you can find somewhere on the forums, i believe).

From me to you.

Also, a bit of mixed news today. Apparently after yesterday's Ring of Wealth update, there was an extreme glitch that caused all players wearing a RoW to get uber loot, effectively making tons of people rich and crashing the markets. Jagex did almost nothing to fix this it seems, and in response the famous monster hunter Woox16 has quit RuneScape. He will be sorely missed!

Also, Jagex has apparently signed a game deal for 2012 with Hasbro for a Transformers game. Errm, hello? What happened to Stellar Dawn? I hate to be a downer but honestly i already have a grudge against Hasbro for cancelling both Dungeons and Dragons and Star Wars miniatures (they own Wizards of the Coast) and I really don't want Jagex to get dragged into this. I just want Stellar Dawn! Also, T.S. Church's new novel is due out soon. You can preorder it on the RuneScape website.

Take all this news as you will, but have fun 'Scapin!

Trolls, RoW, Shanties, and Dungeoneering Tweaks

This week's RuneScape update is out - and surprisingly this month's new quest "A Clockwork Syringe" wasn't part of it! Turns out that the pirate pictures posted earlier were actually from shanties. Read on for a full list of this week's updates.

• Trolls and Trollheim have been updated to go along with HD. 
• Yak animations and audio have been improved.
• Lumbridge swamp has been changed to be gloomier and more swampy. 
• The Ring of Wealth have been updated to improve rare item (such as clue scrolls, dragon stuff, etc, etc.) drop rates for slayer monsters and bosses.
• The Ring of Wealth also now gives loot boosts to Barrows, Pyramid Plunder (adding new types of treasure), killing Bork (better reward), catching kingly implings, and even getting gems while mining!
• The Ring of Wealth now has a Grand Exchange and Miscellania teleport and can be recharged at the fountain in the Hero's Guild basement. 
• The prestige system in Dungeoneering has been tweaked, allowing you to redo floors without loosing experience (but without getting the next floor bonus either).
• Dungeoneering (and the game in general) have received many tweaks and fixes which can all be read here.
• 'Shanties' have been added that go back over previous pirate quests you may have completed. They can be accessed by talking to Bard Roberts on Mos Le'Harmless.
• Snow has been changed and now works like it did at the Christmas 2010 holiday event.
• Familiars can now run with you.
• Various characters in and around Falador now have added chat options that tell stories related to the new RuneScape novel being released soon.

Few, that's a ton of updates for one week! I'd have to say out of all of these, my favorites are the prestige system fix, shanties, and running familiars. The Ring of Wealth should actually be useful now as well. So what are you waiting for? Get online and try out the new content! Have fun 'Scapin!

Tee 3

Goodbye Bonus Exp Weekend

     Well, the bonus experience weekend is finally gone. We can now proceed to dump everything we made onto the Grand Exchange and watch it crash like a bird tied to a rock. Personally, I quite liked it (as it was my first ever Bonus Exp Weekend that I've actually been a member - I'm always out of membership whenever they roll around for some reason). So here's how I wasted my precious time last weekend.

     I got my membership renewed the day before the bonus experience weekend started, so i really didn't have any time to prepare. I frantically tried to buy ingredients for super energy potions, but fungi wouldn't buy so i ended up trying to put ingredients for super strength potions which also didn't work. In the end i just bought a ton of avantoes, grabbed my flail, and headed to Canifis. (after making a few battlestaves really fast)

Hurrah!

I then proceeded to run in and out of Mort Myre with a terrorbird trailing me, repetitively using my flail to bloom fungi, recharging my prayer points at the Nature Grotto, then running back to the Canifis bank and making super energy potions. I got my herblore level up to 64 (high enough for While Guthix Sleeps if i use potions) and managed to waste a large amount of my bonus modifier in the process.

Next up - Guess where?

After that i donned some desert gear, grabbed my blackjack and headed out to Pollivneach (actually, the building on the left in that picture is exactly where I was) to do a little thieving. I got from 66 to 70 thieving, high enough for me to start the quest "Do No Evil". For those of you that don't know yet, I'm a quest afficiando and I'm currently working on earning the Quest Cape. Blackjacking Menaphites is, in my opinion, one of the best ways to earn thieving experience in the game - right up there with Pyramid Plunder. After that, I took my weekly trip to Tears of Guthix and the circus (and might i recommend our Distractions and Diversions page) and managed to get 54 Dungeoneering.

Sort of near under here or something...

After that i headed to the mine underneath Falador and got 67 mining, then i used the ores i mined to work on fixing some cannons in the Artisan's Workshop (which is great experience). I ran out of ore and bars pretty fast so i headed to Turael's in Buthorpe to get a new slayer task. I know this sounds pathetic, but my task before was Greater Demons and I really didn't feel like killing a hundred something of them. They're really annoying unless you use Guthans or magic, and after blowing 3 mil on herblore i really didn't have any money for new gear. So, i quit my task and got a wolf task from the noob slayer master. After i finished that task, I went to Duradel and got a Suqah task. So i headed to Lunar Isle and started to dice up some Suqahs with my whip. This morning i got 58 Slayer.

Rawr!

So that's how I ended up wasting the majority of my weekend. I got some decent levels, earned some decent experience, and got two of the skills trained up to what i need them at for the Quest Cape. Overall, a fairly successful weekend. Let's hope there's another one in the near future!

Hope yours went just as well, if not better. Have fun 'Scapin!

Tee 3

Teaser Pics

The latest teaser pictures have once again been released through a variety of websites - Twitter, RuneHQ, etc, etc. The top two pictures are from RuneHQ, the bottom picture is from the RuneScape Twitter account. Enjoy!

The troll graphical update. After this update, my nostalgia for the old trolls will kill me. 

Yarr, mateys! Looks like Rabid Jack and the penguins are up to no good...

Yup, there's Rabid Jack. This would be the new quest, "A Clockwork Syringe". 

So it looks like this week, we get the troll graphical update and (obviously) the new pirate quest. Personally I'm a bit sad to see the old trolls go, as i thought that they were an outstanding and integral part of 'classic' RuneScape. It also looks like we'll be throwing stuff at Rabid Jack... or something... Looks like cannonballs to me. Seems like the guys in the picture are dancing, so perhaps we'll see some theatrical piratey shenanigans. Well, if anything, it looks interesting.

Tee 3

Get Ready for the Bonus Exp Weekend!

Well everyone, the Artisan's Workshop is out (and great experience i might add, I've tried smithing steel burial armor and repairing cannons and I've already gotten a level up) so you know what that means: The Bonus Exp Weekend is here! In about 45 minutes from when i'm posting this, Jagex will update the game for the bonus experience modifiers over the weekend.

Personally I'm having a bit of trouble as i got my membership back last night and I've been trying to buy herblore supplies for a while... i gave up on super energy potions for super strengths, so if anyone has ~500 or so limpwurt roots then want to sell, I'm buying for a bit above 1500 each on the Grand Exchange o.o

So what are (were) your plans? What will you do? Why are you still reading this post and not taking advantage of the generous experience modifiers? Get out there and earn some experience!

And the Artisan's Workshop is quite expansive... so i don't think it's the best place to write a first guide, especially with the complex ingot system. But still, enjoy the bonus experience this weekend.

Keep on 'Scapin!

Tee 3

Teaser Pics

Here are the teaser pictures for this week's RuneScape update - the Artisan's Workshop! The Artisan's Workshop is a new smithing area that will be situated in Eastern Falador near the mining guild. Inside there will be several new training methods to increase your smithing level. There will also be rewards such as boosts within the guild and ways to 'bling' your multicannon. The top picture is from Twitter, and the bottom two are from RuneHQ. All three are property of Jagex Ltd.

Furnaces - graphics look a little odd though. Maybe haze from the furnace?

One of the new training methods - Dwarven ceremonial armor.

Another one of the new training methods - making cart tracks.

The third (and here unseen unless it's in the top picture) training method is making ancient ceremonial swords. In order of difficulty (and level required) from least to highest will be cart tracks, dwarven ceremonial armor, and ceremonial swords. As of yet it is unknown if there will be a bank or supply of ore within the workshop. 

Looks good to me, i'm looking forward to it! Hopefully it'll be out tomorrow. Until then, keep on 'Scapin, and expect a guide for this location ASAP.

Tee 3

Clan Logo Comp. Winners and Dev. Blog

Jagex has finally released the winners of the Clan Logo Competition. This competition was released a while back and called for players to submit concept logos to be used for the upcoming in-game clan system. Zylathar, Swat_Master0, Flamenight99, Germs22, and MontanaColor were all declared winners for their clan logo concept art and received prizes. The whole post can be read here.

The winning logos from the RuneScape website.

In addition, a new Development Blog has been released focusing on part of the clan system update known as "The Clan Camp" which will be an area where recruiters, clans, and those looking to be recruited can meet up and interact. It will look much like a circus, being full of tents and fenced off by rope, and will be located south of Falador. You can read the whole post here.

A teaser picture of the clan camp from the RuneScape website.

One of the best parts of the clan update will be clan integration into the game itself. Players will be allowed to be added to a clan list and can only be on one clan list - effectively destroying 'secret' and clan rule-breaking multiclanning and allowing for easier management of clans. Hey, in light of all of this, maybe you should fill out an application to join my clan. You never know, right? ;)

Anyway, it looks like it should be pretty interesting and useful, and will hopefully strengthen the clan community. I'm definitely looking forward to it.

Keep on clanning,

Tee 3

RuneScape Voice Chat?

If you've been keeping up with RuneScape news like many of us have, you've probably been seeing this coming. Jagex has been asking people about how and why they use voice chat on the forums for a while, but they've finally released a news post and a poll about your voice chat habits.

I'm assuming that in the long run, they're planning to release a [hopefully free] voice chat client of some sort for use with RuneScape and they're using this poll as a form of 'market research' to analyse what RuneScape players want from voice chat programs and what they use them for. The results of the poll so far are surprising in my opinion. Although i rarely ever use voice chat (i think I've only used it once, and it was with Ventrilo), Skype has been voted as the most popular voice chat software! This surprised me, as i know little about Skype and i thought it cost money to use...

Anyway, head on over to the RuneScape website and vote in the poll. Perhaps sometime in the near future we'll see voice chat as a commonly used and easy to access communication medium...

In the meantime, keep on 'Scapin.

Tee 3

March Behind the Scenes

Apologies that i'm a little bit late, but March's Behind the Scenes article is now up on the RuneScape website! You can find it here. As for this month's updates, it seems fairly promising. Here's a rundown:

• Elemental Workshop IV Quest 
• New Chaos and Cosmic elemental equipment
• New elemental boots and gloves
• A New Smithing training location called the 'Artisan's Workshop' near the mining guild in Falador with four new ways to train smithing: Making cart tracks (lvs 1-30), Making burial armor (lvs 30-70), repairing cannons (lv 40+), and making ceremonial swords (lv 70+).
• Decoration for cannons earned at the Artisan's Workshop
• Bonus Exp weekend
• Ring of Wealth update increasing drop chances and providing bonuses of some sort for minigames and distractions & diversions such as Bork, Pyramid Plunder, Barrows, implings, etc. (maybe moar lewts?)
• Troll/Trollheim Graphical Update
• New Pirate Quest titled 'A Clockwork Syringe' requiring levels in several skills from 60 to 76.
• Dungeoneering tweaks
• Cow/Yak Graphical Update
• Lumbridge Swamp Graphical Update

So all in all, a pretty good slew of updates to be expected this month. I'll try to provide a list of patch notes with each game update, and might possibly create a 'Patch Notes' page for both our website and the game depending on feedback from you readers and my other author.

Happy Dr. Seuss day!

Tee 3