c. Combat - [03Ic]

Learn essential combat strategies and tips for Old School RuneScape. This guide covers effective training methods, wilderness survival, and item management to help you dominate your foes.

Hey there! So you want to get into the thick of combat in Old School RuneScape? Awesome! It can seem a bit daunting at first with all the different monsters and players out there, but don't worry, I've got your back. We'll go through some key things you should know to keep yourself safe and effective when fighting.

Things you should know:

• First off, the Wilderness is a special area where you can actually fight other players. It's high risk, high reward, so be super careful when you venture in.
• When you attack another player in the Wilderness, you'll get a skull above your head. This is important because if you die while skulled, you lose absolutely everything you're carrying. If you're not skulled, you only lose three of your most valuable items, so keep that in mind!
• Some items might seem worthless in general stores, but they can be super valuable when trading with other players. Think party hats – they're worth practically nothing to a shopkeeper but can fetch 50-100k from other players. Always check prices when trading!
• There's a difference between a 'n00b' and a 'newbie'. A newbie is just someone new to the game, which is totally fine! A n00b, on the other hand, is someone who's annoying, begs, or tries to scam others. Don't be that guy!
• Watch out for scammers! They'll try all sorts of tricks, like telling you to drop your items and press Alt+F4, claiming to be the game's creator, or asking for your password. Some clans even have 'trust tests' where they ask you to drop items. Always be suspicious and never share your password. They might also try to trick you with items that look similar, like iron and tin. Double-check everything!
• Seriously, don't beg for items. Making money and leveling up is a huge part of the fun in RuneScape, and you can definitely do it yourself.
• Your 'max hit' (the highest damage you can deal) increases every 4 combat levels. This applies to other stats like your accuracy too.
• If you want to save cool moments, press the 'Print Screen' button on your keyboard. You can then paste it into Paint, edit it, and save it as a JPEG. You can even upload these to sites like Angelfire if you want to share them.
• 'Certs' or certificates are basically vouchers for items. One cert is worth 5 of an item, like 2 coal certs being 10 coal. You can get certs for things like lobsters, swordfish, steel bars, and coal. In free-to-play areas, you can get these in Draynor Village from cert traders for ores, fish, and bars. There are more options for members.
• When you're fighting demons, make sure you have a Silverlight sword. It makes a huge difference and weakens them significantly, making the fight much easier.

Skills - Combat Focus:

While this section isn't strictly combat-focused, understanding skills like Mining and Fishing is crucial for gearing up. You'll need good gear to fight effectively!

Fishing:

• Start with shrimps near Draynor Village or Port Sarim. Move to anchovies at level 15.
• At level 20, grab a fly fishing rod and feathers, and head to Barbarian Village to fish trouts. You can cook these for cooking XP. The closest bank is in Edgeville.
• Once you hit level 30, get a harpoon and head to Karamja (it costs 30gp per trip). There's no bank there, so you'll be running back to Draynor Village or Falador. You can cook the tunas and lobsters you catch there. Cooked lobsters are great for leveling up your cooking skill, and raw ones can be sold for about 100gp each, or 1k per cert.
• Power Fishing: To power fish, grab lots of feathers and a fly fishing rod, head to Barbarian Village, and just keep fishing trouts, dropping them as you go.

Mining:

• Grab a free pickaxe in Barbarian Village. Start with tin and copper. You can make these into bronze bars (1 tin + 1 copper) and smith them into bronze swords to sell to the sword shop in Varrock for some cash.
• At level 15 mining, mine iron. You can find it in Dwarven Mines, Varrock, or the Scorpion Pit. Smithing iron has a 50% chance to fail, but magic can make it 100%. Iron bars sell for about 100gp each.
• At level 30, mine coal! This is super popular. You can find it southwest of Varrock, in Barbarian Village, or northwest of Edgeville. The Edgeville spot has tons of coal rocks but is in the wilderness (level 8-10) and guarded by level 25 skeletons. If you go there, take your best 3 items (weapon, legs, chest) and don't get skulled so you don't lose them if you die. You can heal at the Monastery nearby and bank in Edgeville. Coal certs usually sell for 1k.
• Higher levels let you mine mithril and adamantite, but most players stick to coal. At level 60, you can access the Mining Guild in Falador. It has lots of coal and mithril rocks, plus a bank right next door, but it gets crowded. Rune ore is available at level 85 mining!
• Power Mining: Mine copper or tin until around level 60, then switch to iron. A good spot is Barbarian Village with its three tin rocks; just position yourself between two and keep mining, dropping the tin.

Crafting:

• A good early method is to mine 27 clay in west Varrock, wet it in the cooking guild (north), and then craft it in Barbarian Village. Drop what you make and repeat. This works until you can get into the Crafting Guild at level 40.
• You can also work with leather. Get cowhides from cows near Lumbridge (it's busy there). Take them to Al Kharid, buy a needle and thread from the crafting store, and trade the hides for leather at the tanners (1gp per hide). You can then use the needle on the leather to make armour, gloves, or boots.
• To make Holy Symbols of Saradomin, mine silver in the Scorpion Pit (requires level 20 mining). Take the silver bars to Al Kharid (requires level 20 smithing to make bars). Buy a Holy Symbol mould (5gp) from the crafting store.