[Guide] Runescape for the Absolute Beginner

WARNING! WARNING! This game is very addictive. This is not a "30 min-a-day free time" game, it will take up hours of your life.

RuneScape is a very different game from some online games you may have played. Instead of wanting to achieve one single goal to beat the game, You interact with other players and NPCs (Non-Player-Characters) to raise stats, gain money and become "1337". It is an Open-ended MMORPG so the game has no specific game time or date, but it is estimated to be sometime during the medieval ages. There are no horses, but there are plenty of weapons, items and other objects that you will find and use on your trips. To Start, go do www.Runescape.com , and click on either click here to play or create new account, in the "Play now" tab at the top of the page.

Note: You will find a heck-load more information in the knowledge base of the RuneScape site than in this guide. If you are looking for something specific, check there first.

1.0 - Controls

There are some controls in RuneScape that you need to know before you even start the tutorial. These are the main controls and are almost all the controls in the game.


Left mouse button = Move here/Attack (if lower level)/Pick up/Action/etc.. (basically the first option of the drop-down menu).
Right mouse button = Drop-down menu of all possible actions for where you click.
Arrow Keys = Move Camera (can go up and down, and rotate all around your character.)
Enter (or Enter *2)= Quick-chat (will explain more in #3)

Some of the possible options on the drop-down lists are:

Move - Self-Explanatory
Attack - Engages combat with that Player(more on PVP combat in #7)/NPC
Use - Highlights the item you clicked on and when you click on another item/object/NPC it either gives you the message "Nothing interesting happens." or you successfully use the item and the results vary greatly.
Pick up - Moves an item from the ground to your inventory.
Drop - Moves an item from your inventory to the ground beneath you.
Trade - Allows you to trade with another player using items or Gold Pieces or GP (more info in #4)
Follow - Makes your character follow the selected player one space behind them until they log out, teleport or you click something else.
Talk to - Allows you to interact with NPCs to start quests, get jobs, gain items access your bank and more...
Examine - Gives you an automated message describing the object/NPC. Sometimes involves puns.
Add Friend/Enemy - Adds that player's name to your Friend / Enemy list.

The text for each thing you select may also be a different colour. Blue text usually means part of the scenery, yellow means a npc, white means another player and orange means an item.

Also, there are other special controls for certain components of the game. The private messaging system uses a friends list to allow you to send private messages to the player you select alone. More on PMing in #3.

2.0 - Tutorial

You start the tutorial with creating your character's looks.
You can chose your skin colour, gender, clothes and more. You then follow somewhat detailed instructions from either the NPCs or the Box covering your Text box at the bottom of the screen.

When a flashing arrow appears on your screen or on your mini-map, this means move to this place, or interact with this object/NPC.
You will go through some of the major Free to play skills, like firemaking and woodcutting. At the end, you will be teleported to Lumbridge, your re-spawning point if you die. There are also tutors all around "Lumby" to help you out if you get stuck.

3.0 - Chat + Quick-chat + Clan Chat

The Chat feature of RuneScape has two contents to it. A text box at the bottom as well as text above the speaker's head.

The text box at the bottom shows the last 7-8 messages in whichever tab you have selected. There are 6 different tabs for different chats. 4 of the 6 can be toggled on, off, or friends. One can be toggled to on or off and one cannot be toggled. The "All" tab shows recent text from other players, trade/assist requests, system messages and private messages and clan chat messages. "Game" shows only system messages while "public" shows all messages said by other people in public messages. "Private" shows messages from private messages and "clan" shows all the chat from the current clan chat you are in. Finally, Trade shows trade/assist requests, as well as messages from the person you are currently trading/assisting if your "public" is on.

The text above a person's head only shows what that player is saying at that time. Under some circumstances, a player may say an automated message (eg. When using the Dragon Battleaxe's special, your character yells "RRAARRRGGGGHHH!!"). They are shown in a unique text style in yellow unless you use a command to change the colour. There are also special effects you can add to your text such as wave, flash, scroll and more.

The private messages come from people on your friends list, or some one who has you on theirs. It can be toggled to be separate from the public chat, or with it. If your private chat tab is marked on, anyone who has added you can sent a private message, or find out what world you are on. If your tab is set to "Friends" only people you have added as well can send you a private message, or find out your world. If it is off, no one can send you a PM or find out the world you are on.
People who are on your ignore list are never allowed to pm/world check you and you cannot see their chat onscreen or in the chat box.

Clan chat is a system RuneScape has to allow clans or other groups of people to converse instead of meeting in someone's house or somewhere else. You click on the clan chat icon next to your ignore list and the options tab. You then have the option of joining a chat, or modifying your own chat. To join click on the join chat button and type the person's name of the chat owner. If you want to chat in a clan chat, you need to put three slashes ( /// ) in front of everything you say.

There is also Friends chat, which is like a Clan Chat, just for personal chat channels, as well as a third chat area. Friends chat takes 1 / and the third chat takes 2 /s to talk in it.

4.0 - Items + Banking

Items

Throughout the game you will come across many different items in many different places. There are classes of items that you should know.

Weapons - Can be used to attack other players or NPCs assuming you have the quest requirements and/or attack/strength/magic/ranged/prayer levels. (EG. Dragon Dagger - Requires 60 attack and Completed the quest "Lost City", Granite maul - requires 50 attack and strength.)

Armour - Can be worn to defend against attacks and reduce/block damage. Some Armour requires the proper levels in defense/magic/ranged/prayer or Quest requirements. (EG. Rune platebody - Requires 40 defense and completed "Dragon slayer" quest, Splitbark helmet - requires 40 magic and defence.)

Food/Potions - Food allows you to heal yourself if you are low on lifepoints. The amount of LP restored per food depends on each food type ranging from ten with anchovies to two hundred with sharks. Most food is fish. There are other types of food made from other methods, but fish is the most common. Potions allow you to increase/decrease your stats temporarily.

Jewelery - If enchanted gives boosts in skills, if not just for looks

There are many more you can find with little exploration around the free player worlds.

Visit http://runescape.wikia.com/wiki/Items for more help on items.

Banking

In most major cities, there is a bank for you to visit. Banks are used to store items that you do not want to lose while adventuring. To use a bank, click on the bankers behind the bank booths and select bank. There are also quick-deposit boxes in certain areas of the game. If you are about to venture into the wilderness, you do not want to take your party hat, so you store it in the nearest bank. Banks in free player worlds have 68 spots to store items, while members have over six times that. Banks (unlike real life) store all items assuming you do not have a full bank. Most in the bank will stack (not with other items, but with the same items, kind of like bank notes). There are a few members only items that do not stack in the bank. Strange rocks, Satchels and Sacred Clay equipment do not stack.




There are other ways to get experience, gold and items than combat.

You can go on quests (started at blue star icons) for NPCs ranging from getting ingredients for a cake, to killing a dragon, to repelling some ghosts. Once you complete the quest, you obtain items, EXP, and sometimes gold. You also obtain Quest points. Quest points used to determine your trade limit (When trade limit was still in effect), but now it is just something to accomplish.

Achievement Diaries are like "Miniquests" that are achieved solely in a certain area of the Gelinor map. The only current F2p achievement diary is Lumbridge/Draynor which rewards you with a special ring. This ring allows you to use the spell Low Alchemy 30 times free, Teleport unlimited to the cabbage patch south of Falador and recharge your run energy three times a day.

For more info on Quests and Members achievement Diaries, visit http://runescape.wikia.com/wiki/Quest




Your Combat level is calculated by a secret equation that Jagex promised they would never reveal. It uses your Attack,Strength,Defense,Prayer,Constitution (Similar to Health points) ,Summoning and possibly your Magic/Range. Each level in those skills you gain (by getting the amount of EXP to achieve the next level), you gain a bit of progress towards your Combat level. Each of these individual levels enables you to do/wear certain things.


Attack: Lets you wield higher and higher class weapons

Strength: Lets you hit higher damage per attack and wield certain weapons.

Defense :Lets you lower the damage inflicted by other players/NPCs and lets you wear higher class Armour.

There are also other levels not related to combat. These are called "Non-Combat skills". These allow you to gather better resources or create items of higher class. Some examples are:

Smithing: Allows you to make higher class weapons out of metal bars.

Cooking: Allows you to cook better food, and have less chance of burning lower class food.

Herblore: Allows you to clean herbs and make potions depending on your level.

Mining: Lets you mine more types of ores, and use higher leveled pickaxes.

To get more info on the levels in RuneScape, visit http://runescape.wikia.com/wiki/Skills



There are two types of combat. PVP and PVN.


PVP mostly occurs in minigames and the wilderness, and involves one player fighting another live player. The rewards for PVP are usually greater than other NPCs, but they are also much more difficult because your opponent can not only heal, but think for him/herself. The levels of the wilderness depend of the level range you can attack. If you are in level one wilderness, you can only attack players within one level of yours, but in level 48 wilderness, you can attack level 3s all the way at level 51.

PVN is player vs NPCs (Non-player characters) around you. This combat is VS NPCs solely for EXP or the drops (sometimes for quests). You can attack any NPC at any time (some monsters require special weapons though) no matter their level. The drops are usually not as good, but the NPC you attack are unable to heal, or think for themselves.

There is also a system in place to determine how many NPCs can attack you at once. If you are in single way combat areas, only one NPC/person can attack you at once (except in special occasions while player killing). Multi-way combat allows all NPCs or players within the combat range attack you at one.



Activities are specialized games built into the world that allow players to take a break from the normal RuneScape life like skilling or player killing. They bring a twist that breaks up the boredom of constantly training. There are combat activities such as Castle Wars, a combat-based variant of Capture the Flag, Skilling games like Gnome delivery. There are also "other games" that do not involve using any of your Runescape skills. Most, if not all of these games occur in the Burthope games room. Games like connect four and checkers are playable there.


Distractions and Diversions are for members only. They consist of random occurrences that happen hourly, or in most cases weekly. These are: Star hunting, Evil Tree hunting, Penguin hunt, the Circus, Familiarization, Phoenix and Shattered Heart. Star hunt and Evil tree hunting consist of logging onto different worlds, looking for "Evil trees" that pop up around runescape to chop down, while the Circus makes you participate in three minigames training range, mage and agility.

For more info on Activities or D&D, please visit the RuneScape Wiki.




·If you plan on PVPing a lot, I suggest from a low level you start training strength first, then attack, then defense. By the prime PKing level (around 90) you should have about 60 attack, 70 defense and 99 strength.
·If you choose to be a skiller (one who does not train combat skills), then try to get as little experience as possible in combat skills. Also, wear a bow with no ammo, so you don't accidentally attack anything
·Do not pk with anything but range and melee unless in a group.
·Do not go pking in varrock wilderness alone, or you will get gang banged
·Do not forget to bank your items if you don’t want to lose them.
·Do not "alch your whip"



All Rights go to Jagex for creating this game, The RuneScape Wiki for providing some info towards writing this guide, Hiicantpk for writing the start of the guide, and Alex S.(Flaming_fox911) for posting the guide on Team Liquid (For a previous contest that i didn't win =/) and 57 Corvette for re-posting it on on TL with updated information..

Special thanks to: iWild, Poke, iHerty, Mohorak, iToonmado