GregorDGrim

Grats on 1,000 levels! Great to see your progress.

I am continuing to enjoy reading about your progress. I like your posting style. You are definitely getting into the rarefied air of the high-level players.

Congratulations on reaching the milestone in woodcutting and firemaking. It's cool that you got a final bird's nest right as you hit 50 million exp. Nice lab pic :thumbsup:

The lack of updates was due to a long vacation out of the country, where I had the opportunity to play only long enough to max resources at my clan's citadel. Other than that, I stayed off the internet for eight days. Here's what I've been up to since my last post, which includes a session before the vacation and a very long session yesterday: - I got all skills to level 45+, using JoT on farming: [spoiler=Leveling Farming Without Farming] - I spent a long time in the Runespan, leveling seven times (63-69). I was excited about reaching level 67, which allowed me to climb the bone ladder to the highest floor. Skulls and jumpers and nebula, oh my! The death esswraiths are very interesting looking. Runecrafting has become one of my highest-level skills, which is something I never would have anticipated even a month ago. Here's a shot of level 65: [spoiler=Runeing Up The Score] - I maxed in the citadel twice. I leveled herblore (46) using the fealty bonus provided by my clan cape, and also leveled summoning (46) (this got my total combat level to 90), smithing (61), cooking (76) and crafting twice (74, 75): [spoiler=Weave Me Alone] - I ran into Turnpikes again while chopping ivy south of Falador, and he generously gave me 500K gold. I won't ever ask for donations, but I'm not against accepting an unsolicited offer. Thanks, Turnpikes! - Between woodcutting, some bonfire activity, clan skilling and Runespanning yesterday, I earned 609K experience yesterday, the first time ever reaching 600K in a single day. - I received a medium constitution lamp in Squeal of Fortune, which leveled that skill (69). - From May 17th to the 18th I jumped more than 35K places in the rankings, which is evidence of some account banning on Jagex' part. For three days last week I was in the top 300,000 of all ranked players. - When I started the blog I had a little more than 2.4 million total experience. Getting 25% of that total in one day was something I could not have conceived of last September. As always, thanks for the views and comments. Total levels = 1,581

I took a break from combat yesterday and spent a little time on the two most recent skilling updates. I spent about 45 minutes at bonfires at the Grand Exchange and outside the Draynor bank. The chat quality was fairly dull, making this a very boring skill to train when non-afk. I received some charms from three spirits, and leveled firemaking to 78. I spent about an hour in Runespan, leveling runecrafting twice (61, 62). The highlight of this hour was finding the yellow wizard twice for a total of 3,900 experience. Runetrack is finally back up after being down for about four days. Unfortunately, it appears as though none of my daily scoring was tracked, which is a bummer because it messed up my averages by day/date and doesn't show my daily runecrafting high scores or the 430K total exp session I had a few days ago. Not much of an update, but it's all I got. Total levels = 1,566

Spent all my time last session on slayer tasks: 116 moss giants - I finished this task, having about 85 left over from my prior session. I leveled ranged (56) and received 42 charms, along with a spinach roll. Huh? Not tradeable; apparently a rare event item from long ago. It's going to take up space in my bank until I decide whether to eat it, drop it, or wave it around wildly. 47 crocodiles - Boringly simple, I remembered water skins and got through this task quickly. No drops. 61 hill giants - Vannaka sure was being nice to me after those jellies. These are a nice task for me, as they're simple and drop charms and sometimes nice herbs and runes. I stuck around after the task was completed, to level attack (69). I got 37 charms as well. 100 bloodvelds - Ah ha. Vannaka was just lulling me to sleep with easy tasks, and then dropped this doozy on me. These guys offer great slayer and combat experience, but they hit often and hard. I ran back and forth a few times between the Slayer Tower and the Canifis bank, loading up on sharks. I killed 61 before calling it quits, receiving 28 charms (18 green) and three rune helms (11K each), and leveling slayer (55). I was going for a good camera angle and missed the leveling screen, so here's a poor substitute: [spoiler=Now I Slay Me Down To Sleep] Total levels = 1,563

Yesterday's session resulted in lots of experience, lots of levels and lots of pictures. I started outside the citadel entrance, ready to max resources for the week, but I stopped to spin the SoF first. I received a medium lamp that I used to level summoning to 45: [spoiler=Did Summon Hear That Squeal?] At the citadel I trained summoning, then switched to mining (level 65) and then cooking (level 75), finishing with some crafting. Pics of the mining and cooking levels: [spoiler=Making a Killing, Citadel Skilling] I charged my clan ring at the woodcutting plot (of course) and spent about an hour chopping ivy. After using up the charge on the ring, and getting thoroughly bored of the ivy, I followed the siren call of Runespan. I spent two hours there, earning almost exactly 100K experience and 1,700 points. 50K exp/hour at my level is damn good compared to pre-update runecrafting training. I leveled four times (57-60): [spoiler=Overly Enthusiastic Leveling In This Picture] While in the Runespan, I also leveled farming (44), thanks to a random event. I took a break and then logged on again later, determined to finish my slayer task of jellies. I had 40 left to kill and I knew that would take a couple inventories' worth of shark, plus it is a long hike, even once inside the slayer dungeon. I hate this task more than fungal magi. The only thing somewhat positive about this task is that the jellies dropped charms at about a 30% rate. After spreading more jelly than I have making sandwiches for my kids this entire school year, I went back to Vannaka and asked him for something easy, something mindless. He obliged, assigning 98 shades. This resulted in my first ever visit to Mort'ton, which was a long walk through the swamps (I got lost at least twice) away from Canifis. After realizing that the green shadows turned into shades when attacked, I got through the entire task eating just three sharks. Super easy, super mindless, but not a single drop worth anything. Oh well, can't have everything. I leveled strength (68), which increased my total combat level to 89. Because I was close to leveling slayer, I requested one more assignment for the evening, and was given 116 moss giants. I switched into my ranging gear and made it through about 30 of them before quitting for the night. I leveled slayer (54) and ranged (55): [spoiler=Trainspotting...Er, I Mean Safe-spotting] In all, 11 levels on the day, and 433K experience, which is either my third or fourth highest daily total. Unfortunately, I can't verify that currently because Runetrack has been down for a few days, and no one seems to have any information about the reasons for that. Hopefully it comes back up soon, because I need my fix of statistical analysis. Total levels = 1,560

You have a ways to go before having enough tokens to purchase any worthwhile rewards...but it's nice to think ahead. I'm getting bonecrusher first, and then likely a chaotic weapon. Obviously I'm thinking long-term with respect to the weapon.

Runespan. The new best skill for lazy players. I tried it out for the first time yesterday for a few hours, and came away with 11(!) levels. I went in level 45 and came out level 56. Here are pics from levels 50 and 55: [spoiler=Spanning the Globe] I have to wonder if they're going to be nerfing the experience rates at all. While this method of training makes no money, it is so easy and non-click-intensive. I took the tour offered by Wizard Finix, and then made my way through the first level and then the second, finally settling on a spot with nature esshounds and a couple of nice energy nodes. Once I reached level 54, I found an island with a law esshound and a chaotic node, which together threw off some excellent experience. I had five opportunities to help a wizard dressed in yellow robes, earning between 644-770 experience (the amount increased each time). In all, I earned more than 127K experience in runecrafting, which is about double the total experience I had in the skill prior to yesterday. I also earned 2,070 points which will eventually be used to get some wicked gear. I even stumbled upon a runesphere, although unfortunately for me it required a runecrafting level in the 80s to draw from it: [spoiler=Are You Spherious?] That session was certainly the highlight of my last handful of days, although I did have one nice day on the SoF - my three spins resulted in green dragonhide body, a medium experience lamp (used to attain level 43 in farming) and a second medium experience lamp in construction. The only other thing of note I had time to accomplish was chopping about 125K experience worth of ivy. But Runespan...I will definitely be getting significantly more levels in runecrafting than anticipated over the next few months. I'll be using JoT and lamp experience on summoning, herblore, and farming from now on. Total levels = 1,549

Wow! Nice score. That will make combat even more fun.

My answer is coming from the opposite direction of the other respondents. If I had the opportunity to do things differently, I would have started playing five or six years ago when my oldest son first logged in to the game, instead of less than a year ago. I was spending my free time on other games. I am relatively certain that I would be close to a max cape by now.

Absolutely. I'm one of the 90% who use the wheel, but I certainly don't enjoy the fact that it's around. It would be stupid of me to not click the button twice, though. I don't like being a fat overweight person, but i sure as heck like standing in that line at McDonalds every day to get my Tripple order of Big Mac, fries and a shake. Anyone who chooses to use their daily spin is by default not against the update. You can't come here and [bleep] and moan "oh i hate this update but sure while i get a free spin i might as well use it." Doesn't work that way. Not sure how my post comes off as [bleep]ing and moaning. I'm not a fan of SoF because it doesn't fit into the game lore at all. "I don't enjoy that it's around" is not the same as "I hate it". Your comparison would be valid if I were purchasing spins and complaining about it. I'm not a fan of McDonald's, but if they're giving out free double cheeseburgers, I'll probably swing by to get one.

Absolutely. I'm one of the 90% who use the wheel, but I certainly don't enjoy the fact that it's around. It would be stupid of me to not click the button twice, though.

On the Squeal of Fortune I received a huge experience lamp for the first time ever: [spoiler=Still Not A Fan, But I'll Take the Experience] I used it on herblore, leveling that skill to 44. That experience, combined with using my JoT aura bonus and a random event experience lamp on herblore, leveled that skill again to 45: [spoiler=Super Attack Potion Qualified] I spent the rest of the session skilling in the clan citadel, and chopping ivy using the clan ring charged at the woodcutting plot. I trained summoning, cooking, crafting (leveled to 73) and smithing (60): [spoiler=Smithterious] Why do I carry that hatchet around for all the pictures? I need to stop that. All that skilling resulted in 270K total experience for the day, and three levels. My clan chat was abuzz with talk of runespan, so that's definitely something I'll be checking out in an upcoming session. Total levels = 1,537

I hadn't read your blog in a while, so I was happy, then sad, then happy again. That's excellent that you were able to get your account back. I think you had a great attitude even when you were certain it was lost for good. That will serve you well in life.

I will really enjoy following your blog. By the way, I find your educational experience more impressive than your levels. Great job all around.

Level 70 dungeoneering first. Grats on at least level 60 in all skills.

There should be two images in this post, but I screwed up saving one of them so, alas, just a single shot, of me achieving level 88 in fletching: [spoiler=Carving Out Another Level] I got more than 182K fletching experience, which is my third-highest daily total in a single skill (first and second are also in fletching). My missed picture was leveling woodcutting to 93. I got this switching off between yews and ivy, and am now firmly past the halfway mark to 99. I fished for lobster in Catherby for a little while, and then cooked them by the bank. After fishing in the dungeons of Daemonheim, this method of training seems interminably slow. After just two inventories' worth of seafood, in which I earned enough cooking experience to level to 74, I gave up and went directly to the dungeons. I stuck to the c6 small floors, completing floors 19-23 and leveling dungeoneering (54) and fishing (67). I died one time, to Har'laak Riftsplitter, who lit me on fire as I did not react quickly enough. The most frustrating floor for me was the 19th, as I was poisoned five times by dungeon spiders. That's gotta be a record. After about an hour and 20 minutes of dungeoneering, I spent an hour with the Five Finger Discount in the Thieves' Guild, earning nearly 50K experience and leveling the skill twice (61, 62). I received a random event, and used the bonus experience in herblore, leveling that skill to 43. Then I called it a day, earning more than 420K experience which is the third-most I've received in a day. Total levels = 1,533

I'll definitely be following your progress. Cool idea and you've already succeeded at maxing out skills, so this isn't some pie-in-the-sky plan.

No images from my last session, which was a short one. I picked up some herblore experience with my JoT aura, but not enough to level. I planned to level hunter a few more times, but I was called away from the computer with all three traps set, so when I returned and logged back in, they were gone. I purchased some replacement nets and rope, but I will wait a bit before heading back to the land of the lizards (and the ghast). I may try falconry next, anyway, since I hit level 45. My current slayer assignment is jellies, so I loaded up on sharks (I remembered!) and started battling them with gusto. Unfortunately, they hit fairly hard and frequently, so I was able to kill just 23 of the 63 assigned before running out of food. I didn't feel like going back for another round so instead I went dungeoneering. I finished off floors 14-18, selecting small c6 floors aside from trying a medium for the first time on floor 15. It took me more than 30 minutes to get through that floor and I earned 4,300 dungeoneering experience. I can definitely get through future mediums more quickly, but for the rest of the floors I stuck to small. The toughest boss for me was the hobgoblin geomancer, who dealt my only death for the session. I leveled dungeoneering to 53, gaining approximately 13,800 experience in the skill over the five floors. On the 18th, I picked up a forgotten memory device; apparently this has something to do with the Fremennik Sagas. By the way, I'm typing this entry at my local library, and either the guy at the table to my left, or the guy at the table to my right, smells like a mix of sweat and old farts. I can't figure out who it is, but I'm too lazy to get up and move to another floor. I'm just glad that I don't have any more to type. Total levels = 1,525

I started yesterday's session on the Squeal of Fortune and earned a medium runecrafting lamp. I then used the JoT bonus experience on runecrafting, resulting in level 45: [spoiler=This Did Not Rune My Day] During the day I got to experience two things I never have before: hunting swamp lizards, and battling an evil yew tree. I decided that it was finally time to expend some actual training effort on the hunter skill, so I purchased three small fishing nets and three coils of rope and used the fairy ring transport to get over to Morytania. From there, it was a short walk to the swamps southeast of Canifis, where I set traps for the swamp lizards. I did have guam tar, but figured out quickly that it was basically unnecessary, as the lizards were setting off the traps without any bait. I kept three traps going at once, and made bank runs with full inventories of lizards. The biggest problem was the ghast that kept haunting me, but it did little damage so other than shoving him a few times I simply ignored him. I leveled hunter four times (to 45), but forgot to save the screenshot. While chopping ivy along the south wall of Falador, a clan mate and I noticed a large root springing from the ground. My friend went off in search of the evil tree, which he located south of the Draynor manor. I rushed over and started chopping away at the tree and its roots. This was the first time battling an evil tree, and it was fun and good experience: [spoiler=Yew, Sir, Are Evil] We were accompanied by a half-dozen other brave adventurers, and a smart-aleck leprechaun (is there any other kind?), and the battle took about 10 minutes. Finally, we were victorious and we received our rewards, buried in the trunk of the now-deceased tree: [spoiler=Yew, Sir, Are Dead] In addition to the tangible rewards, yew logs that I cut for the following 22 minutes were magically transported to my bank (once my inventory was full), and the trees that I chopped were felled less often. What a generous leprechaun! I also received a Squeal ticket while hacking away at the roots, which resulted in a small exp lamp that I used to level farming to 42. By the time I was finished chopping yew logs and ivy, I reduced the experience to level woodcutting to under 100K. I also purchased 5,000 bow strings and yew logs from the Grand Exchange, because combined they were less than 600 coins each and I can sell finished yew longbows for more than 600, so that's (slightly) profitable and quicker fletching experience. I fletched long enough to get below 150K from level 88. Total levels = 1,524

When you put it that way, it sounds so easy. :shock:

Another small step for a noob was taken yesterday, as I reached 20,000,000 total experience: [spoiler=The First 20 Million Is Always The Hardest] When there are players who get 20 million experience in a single day, or in a week, this milestone seems a bit underwhelming, but people get excited about a $100 bonus in their paycheck even though Bill Gates could blow his nose with $100 bills. I reached this mark by training in the clan citadel. I leveled mining (64), summoning (44) and crafting (72), and also trained cooking and smithing. I earned a total of 173K in the citadel, along with a fealty bonus applied to herblore and 25K bonus experience at woodcutting via my clan ring. As time goes on, I appreciate more and more the ability to earn weekly free experience. While I was chopping ivy and earning the bonus experience, I received a random event (feed the bad cat some uncooked fish), and used the bonus lamp on hunter, leveling that skill to 41. ...and that was it for yesterday, folks. Total levels = 1,518

They may just be getting outside applications to see what's available. Many companies, even if they fully intend to promote from within, do this. The Board of Directors often insists because it's good due diligence.

Yeah, I know that the next 500 will take a lot longer than the previous 500, but hopefully it will be a fun journey. Yesterday I gained experience in every skill except for construction. Getting the JoT bonus experience took care of 11 skills, dungeoneering added most of the rest, and training slayer, along with a a few experience lamps from Squeal and random events, got me experience in the last handful. I spent some time chopping ivy and fletching, getting each under 275K to level. I also killed some time burning maple logs, raising my firemaking level (to 77). Most of my day, however, was spent either in Daemonheim or on slayer tasks. Dungeoneering - I soloed floors 9-13, on complexity six in small dungeons. As in my last session, I didn't get through the floors as quickly as possible, but took some time on skills like fishing and mining. I completed the floors in times ranging from 11:40 to 18:10, and earned enough experience to level dungeoneering (52). All five bosses were simple and I remained alive for the entire time. Slayer - Four tasks. What were they? I'm glad you asked: - 114 lesser demons. This was surprisingly simple, although these fellows don't drop anything worthwile. I leveled defense to 65, which means I can now wear bandos armor (my son said he would loan me some): [spoiler=Demon Defense] - 96 fungal magi. In my limited experience slaying, this is without question the worst task I've been assigned. Because this was my 10th consecutive task, I wanted the biggest bonus I thought I could handle, so I went to Chaeldar in Zanaris instead of Vannaka. The moment I saw this assignment, my shoulders slumped; not because the magi are so difficult, but because the task is expensive (cost of runes and food) and time-consuming. It took me about two hours to fire blast all 96 of these creatures. The cost was well in excess of 400K as I purchased 1,000 death runes and used about 65 sharks to replenish hit points. An interesting thing that I noticed was that I took less damage fighting it up close and taking the repeated 2-4 points worth of damage, than fighting it at a distance and taking the less frequent 30-60 points of damage. The good parts of this task were leveling magic (to 69) and slayer (to 52), getting about 325K worth of loot, and the slayer point bonus of 50 points: [spoiler=Fungal Magi - Worth It For Bonus] - 33 crocodiles. After the prior task, this was laughably easy. I leveled slayer (to 53) and constitution (to 68). No drops at all. - 88 pyrefiends. After making the long trek from Seers' Village to the middle of the slayer caves in Relleka, I started ranging these beasts only to realize I had completely forgotten to bring food. I do this way too often. After coming back with food, this was a quick and painless task. The drops were pretty lousy once again, with 11 charms the only items of any real worth. I used a mithril crossbow and enchanted pearl bolts, resulting in a ranging level (54). Total levels = 1,514