Githerax

I've done over 500 runs with these recommendations and I've netted 120m cash. Thanks Leester!

Range Dragons (Ranging) -> gather hides (Crafting) -> gather bones (Prayer) -> alch Dhide armor (Magic)

RAHK, I would love to see the kind of game you're talking about. All I've ever seen is stumbling, fumbling, maybe 5 effective people in a group of 25. I'm interested in what I'm seeing about PC clans. If anyone is taking applications I'd be interested in getting together. Add 'Githerax' in-game.

It's not a matter of overcomplication - it's rather simplification. Too many players run around at random, hit things at random, open gates without thinking, and box in monsters around portals making success impossible. With just a few simple tactics you can win faster and more often. How is that more complicated? I can't count the number of times I've seen a game completely lost because one portal had one spinner and nobody could get it because one player corked the middle. Isn't it sad that one player can ruin the match for 24 other people trying their best? Read this guide, learn something from it - the match you save may be your own!

Matches won't end in 40 seconds if you don't use your head ;)

Now that we all know the basics of Pest Control, we need to learn the expert tactics if we're going to win. Like chess, the Pest Control game features particular "pieces" (monsters) that move in different ways (or attack in different ways) and must be blocked and/or destroyed. Also like chess, if you leave yourself open you will lose quickly and painfully. In Pest Control, the entire team represents the chess pieces. If we all don't work together, we leave a hole and all the portal-bashing in the world won't save the game. So I've put together this guide of particular strategies and tactics to enhance your Pest Control power and win you more points! Tactics by Position 1.) Knight's Platfrom Knight Platform defenders need to watch for three things: a.) Attacking the highest-level shifters first that land on the platform, then doing lower lvl ones afterwards. b.) Watching the gates, closing them or stonewalling columns of monsters that break through (see Gates, below) c.) Watching torcher and defiler shots coming from the south. If you observe too many shots coming over the south wall and your position on the platform is secure, exit out one of the side gates and run around to south (do not open south gate) to clear out the attackers. A well defended platform. The knight is healthy. All players gang shifters, thus shifters have no time to pile up and gang the knight. Two of the portals are already dead and the east portal is dying rapidly. There are no shots coming over the south wall. This game will be won. Uhoh, someone left the West Gate open. This is common at the beginning of the game. The West Gate isn't usually a problem since players tend to attack that portal first and destroy it before too many torchers and defilers get through. The few monsters that do get through are usually blocked by the door or can be disposed of by the platform crew if necessary. The East Gate is another matter. Many times the East Portal exists for a longer period of time, spawning larger numbers of monsters. When the East Gate is breached, the column of monsters can be unstoppable by even the most capable platform team. Note that the Knight is suffering. Why? There's only one shifter on the platform and it's hasn't started attacking yet. It can only be because the Knight is being hit by darts and flames from over the south wall (see "South Gate" below). 2.) Gates If the monsters are allowed to advance two squares into the base, they will begin to kill the Knight. Stonewalling them, as pictured, is not enough. Two people need to work this line backwards. One to be the wall, the other to go through the line from front to back attacking each monster once, distracting it from the knight. This is the "gate winner" maneuver. This gate was caught early, but I cannot move from this spot without risking the knight being attacked. I have no assistance, but that's ok here - this line isn't going to reach the knight. Also note that if you stonewall a column of monsters like this, they will not attack you; they will just stand there trying to get the knight and ignore you completely. If you have sufficient valor you can just stand and hold them back. Here is the "gate winner" maneuver applied to the West Gate. A player has capped off the column of monsters, and I have gone down the line hitting each monster once. The front monster is nearly dead, and will no longer be a threat to the Knight. The rest of the line is turned towards me, ignoring the knight. 3.) Southern Plains The Southern Gate can be easily neglected. Under good conditions, one or two players can adequately defend that area. Under bad conditions, six players will fail. Good South Gate defence. Two players focus on the only monster throwing darts over the wall. Note the column stacked against the door is not attacking the knight. If you open the South Gate, the monsters will immediately attack, but unlike the west and east gates, these monsters do not advance, so closing the gate stops them cold. Despite our efforts, notice that the Knight's health is extremely low. I wonder who was on Platform Duty. Bad South Gate defence. Two defilers throwing darts. One player attacking a splatter, which is completely useless under all circumstances. Another player attacking a defiler which is not hitting the knight; it is blocked by the door. A third player is fighting monsters too far back to matter. Apparently someone was also opening and closing the southern gate (see the player yelling "close the gate"?). Every time you open the southern gate, you are damaging the knight. There is never a reason to open the Southern Gate. If you must get out of the fort, use a side gate and run around. 4.) Portals Portals are easy, you just run up and smack them. WRONG. Games are essentially won and lost at the portals. True, bad Knight defence can lose the game, but even the best Knight defense can't hold back the hordes if the portals are not shut down quickly enough. Look at the numbers on the top of the screen. Three portals destroyed, the South Gate cleared out nicely, but the Knight nearly dead and...Why is that fourth portal still undamaged?? We shall see. This portal is being handled well. Players evenly spaced around the portal, and THE CENTER SQUARE IN FRONT OF PORTAL CLEAR OF PLAYERS. I cannot stress this enough. Occupying that spot is the only sure way to lose the game. Even a bad team can win as long as THE CENTER SQUARE STAYS CLEAR OF PLAYERS ON ALL PORTALS. If you learn only one thing from this guide, learn this. Stay out of the Center Square in front of the portal. The best spot to stand is left and right of the center square. This is because you then can run out from the portal easily if necessary, and you can also monitor the spawn square for spinners. Uhoh, someone left the West Gate open here, notice the column has already begun to attack the Knight. That'll be a problem if the Platform crew doesn't run the "gate winner" maneuver. This portal is in very bad shape. There are at least five players here, none of whom are touching the portal. Why not? Because of THE SPINNER. The Spinner heals the portal. One spinner can heal the damage done by four or more players. Spinners must be distracted or destroyed. In fact, it appears this sad crew is trying to get to the spinner, but cannot because it is corked in. They're trying desperately to kill the monsters around the spinner to get in, but they will fail. Right now, under that spinner, dozens of torchers, brawlers, defilers, shifter and more spinners are spawning. As soon as any one of those guys kills their enemy, another one will advance before they can move in. This position is hopeless, this game cannot be won, period. What's the solution? Uncork. These players should run half a screen away and let all those corked up monsters loose. Most of those monsters will head for the South Gate (let's hope that crew is more on the ball). After the monsters clear out, the squares to the left and right of that center spot will be clear and ready to be occupied. Maybe then the portal can be destroyed. This game is going pretty well, but a danger appeared that could lose the whole match; a spinner in the center. You'll notice some differences in this portal attack from the first picture above; There's a player standing on the center spot. This is critical for two reasons: 1.) The other players cannot see a spinner appear, or the spinners little zappy healing effect because the human character is blocking their view. 2.) If either of the two left- and right-of-center players were to move in any direction, monsters would fill those spots and attack the center player. From that point, the game is pretty much over. The flanking monsters will cork the center, the center player will be unable to move out or to attack any spinners that spawn, and nobody will be able to get in to help him. If a player occupies the center square and becomes surrounded with monsters, the only hope is for that player to die. There is no other way to uncork that situation. STAY OUT OF THE CENTER SQUARE. The left- and right-of-center spots are perfect places to stand. From that spot you can monitor the spawn point and attack any spinners IMMEDIATELY when they appear. Strategy: A skilled Pest Control player must always watch the Knight's health and the Portal health. Seeing the Kights health drop, you can break away and figure out which problem the knight is having: 1.) Bad south gate defense, approach and attack anything throwing projectiles 2.) Open gate with column of monsters intruding, blockade and try to enlist help with "gate winner" solution 3.) Bad platform defense, jump in and kill shifters If you see a Portal that is not shutting down, or is healing, you can approach that problem and: 1.) Find the Spinner and kill it 2.) If someone has corked the monsters, warn players to "Back away from the portal! Uncork the monsters!" Of course, nobody will understand this without having read the guide, but you gotta do what you gotta do :) If you decide to focus on Knight defense: 1.) Make sure gates are closed 2.) Gang the shifters from highest lvl to lowest level 3.) Watch for projectiles coming from South Gate 4.) Blockade and "gate winner" any monsters from west or east If you decide to focus on Portals: 1.) Keep the center square clear 2.) Kill spinners immediately The game is usually too fast paced for tactical communication, so every team has the strategic necessity to understand how the numbers reflect the progress being made in different parts of the island and how to respond to it without having to ask or discuss. Regardless, some communications can be effective: "spinner" - alerts a portal crew to find and kill a spinner "west gate" - or "east gate" or "south gate" can tell a platform crew to cover a breached gate Otherwise you have to keep your eyes open and your camera view mobile - keep watching your companions, your surroundings, and the numbers.

I have Zanik following me around, and she wants to talk to surface goblins. I walk across the bridge and all over the goblin area but she doesn't react. How do I get Zanik to notice the goblins?

I started playing RS the summer after the hat drop took place. At the time I began, a Rune 2-hand was 500k because only three players could make them and nothing dropped them, and a party hat SET was 100k. I chose to save up and buy the Rune 2-hand. Much later, I began a project to buy a complete party hat set - purely for the challenge of making that much money! I bought my first, a red, for 2m. I bought my last, a white, for 140m. Now I have a complete set, and I must move on to other challenges. I'm thinking maybe 99 construction - that'll take a bit o' pocket change :D

Oh, and by the way, I did an analysis of the high scores for construction as follows: I entered each 1000 ranks into a spreadsheet with their corresponding exp total. I calculated from that roughly how many exp points had been earned per rank, and by totalling that, how many exp points had been earned total. I divided that by 60 (proposing that the average builder was using oak planks) and multiplied that by 250 (for each plank being cut). That yielded a rough cost of 20B. Of course, that doesn't take into account the costs of rooms being added. If the average player has added 5 rooms, the room costs alone would add 2B (at 5k a room, more for higher lvl rooms). If the average player has spent 50,000 in additional fees and supplies (including the initial 10k price, cloth, plants, heraldic designs, pictures etc), that's an additional 4B. A reasonable estimate then would be 26B spent, probably more since not all players who have bought houses and cut planks have shown up on the high score list yet. I personally have spent 300k on Construction so far and I'm only lvl 19 - with 1.2k oak planks in the bank.

What's happening here, this weekend, is not going to persist. Of course, there is a large amount of drainage taking place now because of the novelty of the situation. However, this will not slow down as much as some may think. Unlike all of the other skills, construction will be a constant draining factor on the economy. As many people as may be alching will likewise be planking their logs, so the rate of money accumulation will be more or less permanently stunted. Has the price of steel bars dropped simply because more and more people gain high smithing levels? No, because there are always more people striving for those high levels. New players keep the cycle of supplies balanced against the demand - only a very small percentage of RS players are either too rich (not needing to create any cash) or too unskilled (unable to create cash) to contribute to the constant ebb and flow of cash. So, like all of the other skills which are constantly generating new supplies - fish, runes, ores - which likewise always find a stable market of demand, so Construction will continue to generate interest, participation, and drain. As a result, rare prices will drop and recover, but at a slower rate of increase than previously. If Runescape continues to run online long enough, party hats will cost 200M again, but it won't happen over the period of a year or two like they did before. Oh, and by the way, I did an analysis of the high scores for construction as follows: I entered each 1000 ranks into a spreadsheet with their corresponding exp total. I calculated from that roughly how many exp points had been earned per rank, and by totalling that, how many exp points had been earned total. I divided that by 60 (proposing that the average builder was using oak planks) and multiplied that by 250 (for each plank being cut). T Of course, that doesn't take into account the costs of rooms being added. If the average player has added 5 rooms, the room costs alone would add 2B (at 5k a room, more for higher lvl rooms). If the average player has spent 50,000 in additional fees and supplies (including the initial 10k price, cloth, plants, heraldic designs, pictures etc), that's an additional 4B. A reasonable estimate then would be 26B spent, probably more since not all players who have bought houses and cut planks have shown up on the high score list yet. I personally have spent 300k on Construction so far and I'm only lvl 19 - with 1.2k oak planks in the bank.

1.) 52,313,252 total 2.) 32,706,990 combats 62.5% combat lvl 114 with 1626 skill total.

There is no pure bonus. Your friend is mis-stating the factors that go into a character's combat level. The type of combat skills that go into a pure 85 would be purely(!) melee, whereas a non-pure would have magic, range and prayer levels affect his combat level. Therefore, an 85 pure would have higher melee combat levels to counter-balance the non-pure's higher magic, etc. Therefore again, the 85 melee pure would hit higher, having trained a higher strength. This does not constitute a bonus. Anyone with xx strength and associated gear will hit the same amounts of damage. Defense pures actually suffer a penalty. Being unable to wear certain top-grade items causes them to lose out on equipment bonuses that could raise their hits.

When I first set up my wireless network at home, I sent an inquiry specifically asking "Will I and my mother get banned for playing together on a 1-ip network?" I got a reply that said we would be ok. I've worked with, and on, the staff of various online games. I've rarely seen a staff so lacking in standardized protocol than Jagex. By the way, jagex, if you are trying to pull together a set of standards and practices, give me a message. I can help.

Verac's Helm on my 4th run. Since then I've done over 250 runs. I get a drop every 15 runs or so, and have made 90M profit from barrows. Highly recommended :)

I've had that message several times over the course of 200 runs, never noticed if it gave me an item. I have noticed it often on Guthan, but I think I have seen it with other pinkys too, so I'm not sure about the 'heal then die' thing.