Starbuck

Random thoughts... I agree that PC is more clan-oriented. I do think it has also become less popular for individuals, just like any mini-game over time. It seems the only server worth playing PC on anymore is 78, sort of like the only server where you'll find a lot of people working on the Mort'ton temple is 2. For someone who's not too familiar with Pest Control it might look like there is some "clan only" game or that individuals aren't invited to certain games. This is impossible in runescape. Anyone can join any game. Clans are good for mini-games because it means more people and more excitement when otherwise no one would be there. We all know how frustrating it is to sit on a boat for 5 or more minutes because there aren't enough peeps to launch into the game, and when we get in we lose anyway, so more is better for whatever reason. The rule here is to find a server with lots of peeps on the barge and the dock, and clan or not you'll have a lot more fun than on an empty server. I don't care if the other people playing PC are in a clan, I'm going for the objective and I get ticked if we lose a round because people are ignoring spinners or they're wasting time on brawlers. We can train anywhere so I hope peeps don't just use PC for their training - that doesn't really help the rest of us. The real payola for this mini is in the commendation points (which personally I use for prayer). If clans or non-clan PCers get better using the info here, then we all benefit.

Not OT at all. I was surprised when one of those bare handed guys actually whacked me with a high 20 something, harder than one with a weapon. Might have been a fluke but that was one of the reasons I posted here.

Thanks for the H&A so far. The info provided makes sense. With 88 combat, 73 magic, and 60 ranged, I prefer melee at the moment but wouldn't mind training on fire giants with ice arrows or water blast/wave. For melee I tend to use rune baxe - yeah, I know, get a scimmy... What I'm wondering is, for melee we know they use crush for their own weapon of choice, and crush-proof defence is in order, but is there a preferred weapon against beasts who use crush weapons? I've read stab/slash weapons are best - again pointing to scimmy rather than baxe. I don't have a whip or hally (spending my money elsewhere) I'm thinking about checking stats to see if something silly like Excaliber or Silverlight might actually be better in this case. Dang, it would be nice to see a table of beasts, armor types, and preferred weapon types against each. The problem with figuring this stuff out is that everyone hits differently, and hits are a factor of accuracy and strength. If I miss, was it because the weapon isn't the right one against the opponent's armor, or is my (71) attack just causing me to miss too often against that specific opponent? We never know their att/str/def, only their level and hits. It's tough to know which factors are dominent without fighting 100 beasts with one weapon, 100 with another, and getting some good numbers. Sigh, there I go again looking at this game like it's a mathematical enigma. :-k

I've tried searching this forum and googling but it's tough to find the info I want based on these non-unique keywords. When we get fire giants for slayer, the slayer masters have this to say when you ask "got any tips for me?" : Sure enough the fire giants fight with clubs, swords, and bare hands. Can someone post some details here, or provide a link to info about the best way to fight against each of these weapons? I've seen a couple "how to fight fire giant" web pages. These were pretty lame because they mention that there are different ways to fight, but then go on only to explain what kind of armor to wear for melee, ranging, and magic. Um... duh. :mrgreen: Thanks!

I didn't set out to write a general purpose guide. I called it Tips and put it in the P2P forum, but it got moved here. I'm not qualified to write about creating an effective clan. However, I welcome contributions by people here who have experience with PC clans and some ability to write clearly. I'll incorporate those notes into what I've written, revise this more into a guide format as Impact suggested, and give credit where appropriate. (Note, not everyone who suggests content gets credit if someone else needs to write the content. Please provide a real contribution.) This might come as a shock to some, but I own a software company and among other business I'm in the middle of writing a real book - I didn't intend this to turn into another serious project. #-o

I'm glad you guys like the guide so far. I just added note 17 about food and corrected a couple minor typos. Some people might disagree about food. That's OK. People just need to do whatever it takes to accomplish the real goals. I might add a couple more notes later but it won't change much. I just felt a need to focus on specific points and I think I said what I want. That means I won't be adding information about clans, sorry. That's not my focus. People in clans can make the same mistakes I'm trying to get people to recognize here. So this information is not about clans, it's for clans as much as for everyone else.

There are some very basic mistakes that people are making when playing pest control. This is causing us to lose a lot of games. Like most mini-games this one has become less popular over time so it's more difficult with fewer people. The people who still play need to understand some basic tactics that contribute to winning the game, otherwise we're all just wasting our time there. :wall: The goal is to get the portals down before the void knight dies. That means you should only focus on things that keep the portals up or take the knight down. Points below are numbered for reference. 1) The only thing that keeps the portals up are spinners. If you are going to fight anything by portals, kill spinners. Otherwise, focus on the portals themselves before other guys come out of the portals. 2) Turn off auto-retaliate or you will be drawn away from your targets. For targets with a higher level than your own, you may need to right click to attack them. Remember this or you will lose time clicking targets without actually attacking them. 3) Don't bother with brawlers (big elephant guys), they are there to waste your time and stop you from achieving the above goals. Same with the splatters (bouncing balls). 4) Many people with dragon battleaxes will use the special attack (Raarrrgh). Consider bringing restore pots to bring your att back up to normal, and even super attack pots to increase your attack. Or use prayer for str and/or att. I only mention this because without your attack up you'll miss more often and it will take longer to kill pests - and in this game time is very important. 5) Try to get shifters if you can but don't spend too much time on them. Ravagers are important too, I don't go after them but if they blow a hole through the walls then everyone else gets through, so get them if you can. 6) Torchers and defilers leave the portals, head for the fence and shoot the knight from a distance. Draw their fire. Get them to shoot you before they shoot the void knight. By doing this you pick a fight in a way that actually helps to win the game, unlike fighting brawlers which accomplishes nothing. 7) Combining the above, some people might want to specialize in shifters and ravagers, and others (like me) will specialize in torchers and defilers. It's not necessary to specialize in anything but remember the overall goals. If you see a shifter heading for the knight, get him. If you see a ravager heading for a wall, get him. But whatever you do, don't let a ravager blow up a wall, don't let a shifter jump the wall, and don't let torchers or defilers get close enough to the wall to start shooting. 8) If I'm on the portal and I see a spinner, I go for him. If I'm not on a portal I will hit a torcher or defiler once, then move on to another and another. Soon I have a whole gang of them on me. Better me than the knight. Even if I die and come back to the same area these guys will shoot at me and not him. Remember the goal is to keep him alive. You'll get plenty of experience fighting these guys just as much as the others. 9) You don't need to only fight or only do portals - get the attention of a few torchers and defilers on the way to the portal, take down the portal, then finish off the pests before heading to another portal. Or just let them chase you to the next portal - again, as long as they're not going for the knight you've done your job. 10) If you are fighting a torcher or defiler and you see a bunch of them on the way to the wall, attack them, don't stay with the current one. If he was attacking you, he will continue to do so. If he was shooting the void knight, come back to him immediately after you have attracted the attention of the other guys. It doesn't do any good if you fight one pest and let five more start shooting the knight. 11) There is a single spawning point for each portal. Get next to that spawning point in case a spinner comes out. If you are ON the spawning point and there are pests all around you, you will be trapped and unable to move to get the spinners. 12) Wherever you are, create a traffic jam that stops defilers and torchers from heading for the knight. Hit one, then one behind him, then another behind him. If they are far enough away they won't be able to shoot over each other at the knight, and if they can't move toward him they will just back up in a line. In this way you are giving everyone else time to take down the portals. As long as they are not shooting the void knight you have done your job. Eventually other players will come and help to pick off the guys you've attracted. If you die, just run back to the same spot. Chances are someone else is in the same spot you were, holding back the line of pests. 13) Of course, it's also important to protect the knight in the middle from shifters and other pests. As I said above, some people specialize, but if you see pests breaking through the wall, don't stay with the knight if there's already a lot of people in the middle - go and kill the pests shooting him from within the barricades. 14) If you are training, it's probably not a good idea to play this game with a focus on defense. If you're actually on a good server you might not get enough hits to make the minimum number of hits required to get your credit for contributing to a win. If you really want to focus on defense, get your minimum, then switch to defensive mode. By observing the above tips on drawing attention to yourself and away from the void knight, you'll still be contributing significantly to the overall effort while racking up def experience. 15) Read the Pest Control Guide for other tips. Take advantage of the fact that your prayer restores after every game, so use whatever prayers you can. You might want to take responsibility for fixing the walls or providing the void knight with meal packs - that alone can help everyone to win! 16) Why am I writing this? Because we lose games when people focus too much on these activities: - fighting brawlers, - fighting spinners after the portals are down, - ranging or maging splatters, - letting defilers and torchers flood out of the portals to the wall, - getting distracted on other things that don't help to win. 17) Some people will laugh at you if you bring food, call you a noob, etc, but if you need to eat to stay alive and win the commendation points, then do what you need to do. Sure, if you die you don't lose anything and you can come right back in fighting, but when you're removed from the fight you're not protecting the knight or taking down portals, and that's much more important than worrying about someone calling you a noob. Using the above guidelines and the existing Guide, we'll all get experience plus win games and get commendation points. Of course some people will disagree with individual suggestions. I'm not writing this to dictate how people should play. But I'm sure many will agree that the above notes address some very common issues we see all the time. Since most of these tips are not found elsewhere I thought I'd get them in public view here. Whatever you do, have fun! [Edit 3-mar, corrected some typos, added point 17, made reference to Pest Control Guide a link]