GregorDGrim

Welcome to this edition of D'Grim Truth, where we tell you all the excitement that's been happening in Runescape. Well, not all of Runescape; just the things that happen to Gregor D'Grim. I'm your host, Annie Ankou. In our top story, Gregor blasted his way to a personal best as he racked up more than 326,000 experience points among various skills. He spent significant time training two skills that quite honestly had been getting the short shrift over prior months: thieving and summoning. He spent an hour in the Thieves' Guild, earning 36,000 experience and leveling three times to 52. Our cameras managed to catch a glimpse of him as he reached level 50: [spoiler=Why Hasn't He Been Here Lately?] Why has he neglected to train thieving here, instead becoming increasingly frustrated with city guards or master farmers who seem to catch him trying to pickpocket every other attempt? Why, indeed. It can't be because the Guild reeks of onions, or can it? Tune in later for a feature segment on this pressing issue. Gregor's summoning experience came courtesy of the nearly 400 charms he had gathered from various creatures. He spent quite a while running back and forth between the bank in western Falador and the summoning obelisk in neighboring Taverly, creating beaver, vampire bat and granite crab pouches. He leveled the skill four times to 39, and reached total combat level 80 in the process. While he had to purchase 125,000 coins' worth of shards, he had enough iron ore and the other tertiary items were cheap enough that he actually turned a small profit selling the pouches. In entertainment news, Gregor attended two parties of clanmates celebrating level 99s. At the first, held in the bedecked Catherby Bank lobby, the celebration was for two players who both reached level 99 in fletching at the same time. A while later, the celebration was more muted as partygoers congratulated a player who reached 99 in woodcutting while the group listened to the peaceful music played by the hippie north of the Falador gate. The Jack of Trades aura was on display, as usual, and this time Gregor used the bonus tome to reach level 35 in farming. Varrock security cameras snapped this shot: [spoiler=We Know You Were Not Really Farming] Gregor's ninth level of the day was in an old standby, fletching. He reached level 81 by fletching longbows out of 500 yew logs that he chopped south of Falador. Rumor has it that he was hoping to attach bow strings, but they were scarce at any sort of a reasonable price at the Grand Exchange, so he sold them unfinished for about 230K. With the release of the March Behind the Scenes, Gregor must be looking forward to the clan upgrades, although nothing else about the updates for the month should affect him very much. While the bonus experience weekend is something that most players will love, Gregor apparently has 'plans' that will keep him from taking advantage of more than a few hours of the bonus. As for the new Squeal of Fortune game that is sweeping Runescape, it is turning thousands of players into glassy-eyed gamblers who think nothing of flinging some poor creature across the sky in the hopes of landing something more than a small experience lamp or a few logs. Luck smiled slightly on Gregor yesterday as he won a 2-handed rune longsword and 10,000 gold pieces, but word on the path is that he is not a fan of this gimmick as a whole. He certainly is not going to be one to turn a blind eye to the prospect of a bit of loot, however. Finally, was there another small bot nuke yesterday? There has been no official word, but Gregor's overall ranking improved by an average of 22,000 places in the combat-related skills yesterday, while gaining almost no experience in any of them. That seems odd to this commentator. Thanks for tuning in, and perhaps we'll produce another episode some day. If so, we know you will be tuning in. Where else are you going to get this kind of in-depth noob news? I'm Annie Ankou, wishing you the best of the 'scape. Total levels = 1,375

Congratulations on hitting one year of your blog. You really got a ton accomplished in the past twelve months (averaged 33 levels per month, and that's with more than 2,000 levels at the start). Nice job!

Monthly Update I fletched the rest of the yew logs that I had purchased, selling the 720 finished longbows for 477K, giving me a profit of about 35K on the 1,000 total. I then spent some time chopping yew, and taking small breaks to steal from the Falador guards. A wholly unexciting session. February as a whole, however, was easily the best month I've had since starting to play. Crunching the numbers: Experience earned for the month - 3.23 million, 1.3 million more than in any other month. Total experience - 11,873,000. Another month like February and I'll crack 15 million total. Levels earned - 66. I was hoping for 50, so I'm quite pleased with this total. Thanks to training in the clan citadel, 8 of those levels were in smithing and 6 in crafting. An additional 22 levels were in combat skills, along with 4 in mining and 3 each in six other skills. Most experience in a single skill - 1.25 million in woodcutting, with 700K in fletching. Hours played - 70 for the month, and 451 total. 2.4 hours per day is high for me, and I owe that to some very slow days at work and a lack of other games drawing my attention. With Crusader Kings II out and a busier month anticipated, I would be surprised if that average did not decrease significantly. Experience earned per hour - a shade under 46,200 for February. Overall exp/hour increased by more than 3,500 to 26,300. Quest points earned - 1 in February, 81 total. Once again, I plan to spend more time on quests in the upcoming month.

No images in this post; just a short summary of what I did last session: Trained in clan citadel, leveling crafting (64), smithing (54) and mining (59), and also training summoning. Got my clan ring, charging it at the woodcutting plot, and then used it chopping ivy. Used the JoT aura bonus experience on runecrafting, leveling that to 37. Purchased a ring of wealth to wear while monster hunting. Decided to forego the additional profitability of fletching maples. Sold the maple logs and unfinished bows in my inventory for 270K. Purchased 1,000 yew logs and bow strings for a total of about 630K. Fletched 280 finished yew longbows and sold them for 190K. Assuming that I can sell the rest at that price, I'll make about 40K profit, and significantly increase my fletching experience rate. I think this is worth foregoing the additional profit. Reached 200K xp for the day again; the 16th time I've done this. Got to spin the Squeal of Fortune four times, getting nothing but garbage. I am not a fan of this update at all. It has no tie-in to Runescape lore. I think they should have put it in the Circus, if anything, which would have given new players an incentive to travel around the map and also earn some quick experience from training. Total levels = 1,366

Heya...nice trio of 99s you have! I don't think I ever saw someone with just those three before (mining, summoning, magic).

Will you spin the Squeal of Fortune and accept the daily gifts provided?

That is actually a really good point (the lack of lore). It would be nice if this actually fit into the same somehow with a story or purpose. This. Why not add it as a booth at the traveling circus? It would fit in better as a carnival game, and might entice more players to search out the circus each week, to get free training experience along with a prize (and encourage new players to do more exploring of the map).

I feel like Charlie Brown in the Halloween episode where he looks in his trick-or-treat bag and says with a sigh, "I got a rock". I got 3 logs.

I was 'new' to Runescape and in your position about seven months ago. Becoming a member for the first time can definitely be overwhelming. Take your time, look around, let yourself be drawn to do what you feel like doing. There's no rush. Maybe start with a few easy quests, and the tasks in Lumbridge and other cities. You'll quickly figure out in what you are most interested. By the way, two hours per day of playing time is actually pretty much. Think of it this way - if you play 40 hours per month (two hours each day, five days a week), that's less than a quarter per hour for entertainment. Hard to find a cheaper entertainment alternative.

Sydan, thank you so much for your post. You have given me a lot to think about regarding combat, and the advice is highly appreciated. Also, responses on my blog are always welcomed! Your comment about having 'bot gear' is humorous as I was just realizing that last weekend. When I was fighting the ankou in the Stronghold of Security, I forgot which person was me at one point. I will have to wear something distinctive. Yesterday was a combination of the familiar and the uncommon for me. I spent some time fletching maple longbows, calculating that I only need to fletch 190K more to reach level 99. Like that's happening soon. I also chopped ivy for about an hour, reaching level 88: [spoiler=Let's Bury the Hatchet] Moving on from skilling, I used my JoT aura for hunter experience, leveling that skill to 34. I then decided to train ranged, using the backpack I had earned from the Animal Magnetism quest. Slipping down into the dungeon under Varrock/Edgeville, I started with attacking hill giants, but the drops were lousy so I found a safe spot and went after the moss giants instead. I spent enough time there to level ranged twice (to 50): [spoiler=Forget the Rolling Stone, I'm Gathering Moss] I went back and checked my stat history, as it seemed like a long time since I had trained ranged. It was more than four months - October 24th to be exact. I'm shocked that I was even able to hold my crossbow steady. Before leaving the dungeon, I checked in with the resident slayer master for a task, and was given 54 green dragons. Did someone just say dragons? Gulp. Apparently I do not need to risk life and limb in the Wilderness; a trip to the Chaos Tunnels will allow me to find my quarry. I am going to accomplish this task, but I want to read up a little bit on the best strategy first, so I put this one on hold. I thought some more about my time in Daemonheim last week. To best train dungeoneering, I think that I need to stick with c6 floors but skill only when necessary, and try to get through the floor as quickly as possible. To test my strategy, I fought through six floors (12-17). The skill I worked on the most was smithing, as the armor helps tremendously. I ran through rooms without fighting the monsters, except as necessary in the guardian rooms, and paid close attention to the colors and shapes of the door keyholes so that when I found a key, I would remember exactly where to go to use it. There are a few different guides out there that provide excellent dungeoneering strategy, and reading those carefully is a huge help. The result of my attack plan? A resounding success. I completed the six floors in 79 minutes, an average of just over 13 minutes each. I even had a sub 10-minute floor (9:47) and two others under 12 minutes. In all, I earned a shade over 10K experience points (leveling once to 47), which averaged out to 2K more per hour than when taking my time killing and skilling. I know that as the floors get deeper, the experience will come even more quickly. I finished the session with something else I have not done in awhile: fishing. I relaxed at the lake north of Seers' Village, catching (and dropping) salmon and trout until reaching level 64 in that skill. Total levels = 1,362

I think it's wild that your only two skills over 90 are prayer and herblore. Did you spend a ton of money on those skills over the years? Interesting start to your blog.

Quick chat fail?

I would much rather have all 99s. Heck, I'd rather have all 89s.

Fletching was the focus of my weekend. I chopped yew logs, sold them, bought maple logs, fletched, and sold unfinished longbows. Rinse and repeat. I hit level 80 in fletching, which became my second skill to reach that milestone: [spoiler=I'm Fletching in This Photo, I Promise!] The clan I belong to had a Slay Day on Saturday; unfortunately, I was not able to log in for most of it, taking part for only 90 minutes and completing just two slayer tasks. My first task was 39 crocodiles, which is the lousiest task I've faced to date. No drops, a run to the middle of the desert and having to refill waterskins. What fun. My second task was better, although it took even longer to reach: 74 ankous, found at the very end of the Stronghold of Security. I had to wait for repops as there were always a few others (most with bot-like names) fighting alongside. I enjoyed this task much more than the crocodiles, as I snagged more than 70K worth of drops and 16 charms. I also leveled slayer to 46, strength to 62 and constitution to 62. I had another 200K+ experience day (a shade under 228K), the 14th such day I've had. As they become more frequent (six in February alone), reaching that number feels less significant to me. 300K in a day, which I've achieved twice this month, is the new 200K. For now. Total levels = 1,356

I only recently learned of the experience penalty that players take while dungeoneering solo, if they have a total combat level of 90 or above. As I want to continue soloing dungeons until I get better at them (I do not want to be a burden to a group), and my combat level is 79 and climbing, I need to spend some more time in Daemonheim. Last night I fought through three floors (9, 10, 11) at complexity six in an hour and 12 minutes, averaging 24 minutes each. That earned me about 6,100 dungeoneering experience and level 46. I also picked up a level in smithing (53) while making fractite armor. I had to fight Planefreezer once, which is an extremely annoying battle, and To'Kash the Bloodchiller twice, which is very simple with prayer protection against magic along with a scimitar set to slash. Less than 6K an hour in any skill is extremely slow, although I did manage to get a total of 23K in all skills combined while in the dungeons, so this did not feel like a waste of time. It does mean that getting to level 55 in dungeoneering, which I would like to accomplish before reaching total combat level 90, is going to take a fair amount of hours. I am going to need to think about whether I am really up for this. Total levels = 1,352

Since you're looking for possible skills to level to 50 next, I suggest woodcutting and fletching. Being able to chop and then fletch willow, and then maple, logs into bows is a decent way to bring in some income at lower levels.

Miscellaneous Musings - Maxing resource gathering in the clan citadel each week has been a great source of leveling for me. This week I leveled three skills for a total of four levels: smithing (52), crafting (62, 63) and cooking (69). I've mentioned this before, but weaving on the loom is excellent (and free!) crafting experience. A couple of hours of effort certainly pays off. - I hit the 1350 total level milestone yesterday. I'm suprised that it happened this quickly; 50 levels in three weeks is extremely fast for me. Setting a personal record for daily experience (309K) and two consecutive days' experience (553K) gave me a feeling of RS accomplishment. That's different from other types of accomplishment, of course - this is sort of like feeling good about the way I wasted my time. - My total rank on the highscores chart improved by more than 33,000 places in one day. Apparently there were still tens of thousands of bots roaming around, because their nuking is the only explanation for this ascension. I'm not complaining. - I settled in for an hour or so of chopping ivy, and on my very first chop a bird nest fell, with a papaya tree seed. Combined, those two items are worth nearly 50K; not an insignificant sum for this guy right here. - Got my first Morytania-based slayer task - 62 vampyres. They were not very difficult, but the place was over-run with leeches, which sucked (of course, pun intended). This was a lame task compared to the two I had the prior day: just 27K worth of swag and three charms. I did reach level 45 in slayer, however: [spoiler=Slay-king My Thirst For Blood] - I spent some additional time in Mort Myre after my slayer task, trying out the new gear on my buddies, the ghouls. I leveled attack and defense to 61, which increased my combat level to 79. Six more levels until I can complete Smoking Kills and start earning slayer points. Of course, I still need to complete Icthlerin's Little Helper first. - I am so damn lazy when it comes to quests. I've had a 'must-do' list of a dozen quests for months now, but have barely touched them. I don't understand my aversion to them. Total levels = 1,350

That wouldn't account for me moving up 60K spots in constitution, at level 60. Those all have to be players who have been around for awhile.

That's certainly dramatic. I'm happy to see it. Thanks for reposting - I had last read that update thread about five minutes before you posted the graph.

Ah yes, it's probably bots getting nuked. I didn't realize there were still that many around (with at least 1350 total levels).

After today's update, I moved up more than 32,000 spots in the overall rankings. I improved more than 61,000 places in constitution. Are there really that many people who let their membership lapse or am I missing something? I've noticed that my overall ranking tends to fall daily for a couple of weeks, no matter how many levels I earn, and then suddenly spike up...but it's never been this much of a swing.

Long-time follower, first time poster. Congratulations on 1,300 total levels. That's an excellent accomplishment for FTP.

Ambitious goals - I'll be following along. Why are your current goals 97 for woodcutting and farming? Is there a specific reason they're not 99 (or 96/98)?

I accomplished a fair bit yesterday, and will now summarize my activities in handy-dandy list format. 1. Passed the four million experience mark in woodcutting, chopping ivy and reaching level 87: [spoiler=That's Not My Zamorak Chick] 2. Fletched 2,100 maple long bows, reaching level 79. Sold 2,800 in my bank for approximately 285K. 3. Saw someone wearing a max cape for the first time, in the Varrock Bank: [spoiler=Blink Amy Is Her Name] 4. Used JoT and one random event bonus experience on summoning, achieving level 35: [spoiler=Perhaps One Day I Shall Train This Skill For Real] 5. Took on a slayer task with my shiny new dragon gear. The assignment was to kill 30 earth warriors. My max hit is now 172, which is nice. I leveled in slayer (44) and constitution (61), and earned 65K worth of swag (runes and seeds) and 21 charms. 6. Took on a second slayer task with my barely-dented dragon gear. 92 cockatrices went down with barely a fight. I executed a special attack with my dragon longsword that hit for 200 (wow!). I leveled strength (61), and walked out of the slayer dungeon (okay, I teleported) with 59K worth of limpwurt roots and runes, along with 16 charms. 7. Six levels gained and my 12th 200K+ experience day, my fifth-highest daily total. Total levels = 1,343

I barely played over the past few days, but did manage the following: Used JoT aura bonus experience on summoning, leveling to 34. Bought dragon longsword (need a quest to be able to use the scimitar), dragon boots, dragon helm, dragon platelegs, and granite body. The dragon chain is 4.2 million and the plate is 8.3 million, so my armor's going to clash for a time. Buying the equipment left me with just under four million gold. Chopped a bit of ivy, and got two bird nests in consecutive chops. There was a maple tree seed in each (worth 38K apiece). My sons got a kick out of my total levels. Total levels = 1,337