The Second Thousand - A Noob's Journey (Less Than 80 Levels Left)

[Syd]

Almost at 1400 total! I think 1400 total picture is oldest one of my account that I still have left somewhere. When I get home, I could search around if there are many old pictures left. Might even post it here, for comparison! It's been ages since I was there, but on the other hand, it doesn't seem that far.

 

Ps. Lucky with that summoning lamp. I only seem to get lamps on stuff I don't need XP in. :P (I'm also trying to train summoning, so all extra xp there would be very much welcome!)

[GregorDGrim]

Almost at 1400 total! I think 1400 total picture is oldest one of my account that I still have left somewhere. When I get home, I could search around if there are many old pictures left. Might even post it here, for comparison! It's been ages since I was there, but on the other hand, it doesn't seem that far.

 

Ps. Lucky with that summoning lamp. I only seem to get lamps on stuff I don't need XP in. :P (I'm also trying to train summoning, so all extra xp there would be very much welcome!)

Please do post the 1400 picture if you find it! I would be interested to see where our skills are similar. Thanks for continuing to read and post in here. I read yours whenever you post an update.

 

The lamp I got was a generic small experience lamp, which was usable in any skill. That was nice.

[GregorDGrim]

Yesterday I planned only to max at the clan citadel, but my schedule freed up and I wound up smashing my previous daily experience record of 320K, earning more than half a million experience (521K). Almost half of that experience was in fletching, working on yew longbows and reaching level 83. I even cracked the top 75 daily high scores in fletching:

 

[spoiler=A Whole Lotta Fletch]

 

 

I sold 750 finished yew longs for 506K, which means I made a 6K profit while earning 112,500 exp making them. I'll take that.

 

Most of the remaining experience earned yesterday was in firemaking, where I burned maples for level 73, and in woodcutting, where chopping ivy gave me six bird nests (no good seeds though) and level 89:

 

[spoiler=Not A Manly Chopping Pose]

 

 

The skilling in the citadel resulted in one level in crafting (65):

 

[spoiler=Success Is Looming]

 

 

I made a mistake, however. I maxed before the update was announced, and as a result my work was not eligible for week one towards the clan fealty bonuses. I missed out on 15% bonus experience, and I'm now a week behind in reaching Tier 3 of clan fealty and getting a trimmed clan cape. Lousy timing.

 

On the plus side, my oldest son rejoined as a member after seeing the armor upgrades (and hearing me talk about how I was getting close to his total levels), and he joined my clan. I'm happy about that, and told him I was still planning on passing him in total levels. He's about 70 ahead of me right now.

 

Total levels = 1,386

[GregorDGrim]

I'm still not a fan of Squeal of Fortune, but I'm not going to pass on the opportunity to spin it. My most recent two days' worth of spins resulted in 10K gold, a rune scimitar, and medium and small exp lamps. That's perfectly acceptable.

 

I leveled runecrafting to 39 using the JoT bonus experience, and then set to fletching. I added bowstrings to 2,000 yew longbows and sold them for 1,372,000 gold, resulting in a 40K profit and 150K experience. I took multiple breaks to run outside the Falador bank and gather ashes left behind by a player who was leveling firemaking. At the cost of efficiency, I scooped up 370 ashes and sold them for 480(!) coins each. 178K for just a little bit of work. This seems like an excellent money-making opportunity for a new player.

 

I spent some time chopping ivy, which is where I met someone from these forums for the first time - Turnpikes. Nice guy, and we had a good conversation which helped alleviate the boredom of working the ivy. I grabbed a pic of him as he was being whisked away for a random event:

 

[spoiler=Turnpikes, The Frog Princess Needs Your Help]

 

 

I finished the session with some fly fishing at my favorite lake north of Seers' Village, and then after running out of feathers, fishing for lobster in Catherby. I cooked all the raw fish/lobster afterwards on the range right next to the bank. I caught enough to earn level 65 in fishing:

 

[spoiler=I Fish I May, I Fish I Might]

 

 

I snagged one additional level in prayer (42), thanks to three random events during the session. I cracked 300K total daily experience for the sixth time.

 

Total levels = 1,389

[GregorDGrim]

Did not get much playing time over the weekend, but I did gain four levels. Using a small lamp won on the Squeal, I leveled runecrafting to 40:

 

[spoiler=This Lamp is Runed!]

 

 

My farming level increased to 36, thanks to JoT bonus experience. I also lit enough maples on fire to reach level 74 in firemaking, and fletched the remainder of the 5,000 yew logs I had purchased, hitting level 84 in that skill. I sold 2,250 finished yew longs for a profit of about 11K, meaning my total profit on the endeavor was about 57K.

 

I'm still uncertain if I'll have much time to play during bonus xp weekend, or on what skills I'll work.

 

Total levels = 1,393

[GregorDGrim]

Talk to Xuan, gain a hunter level (35):

 

[spoiler=I'm Hunting Experience Tomes]

 

 

That was easy. The Jack of Trades aura is helping me pick off the sub-40 levels in skills I rarely train, due to lack of money or lack of interest.

 

After I finished that, I decided to train magic because I had not gained a level in that skill since hitting 1,300 levels at the end of January. There is a website I use to check current alching prices; I put in buy orders at the Grand Exchange for six items that would not cost me much money to high alch. With about 1,300 nature runes in my bank, I didn't need to spend any money on those during the session. The first (and basically only) purchase that went through was for 200 yanillian seeds, and alching them got me to level 65 in magic:

 

[spoiler=The Seed Alchemist]

 

 

Because I was not able to purchase any of the other items at the prices I wanted, I switched gears and went back to something I haven't done in months - chopping yews, fletching them into longbows, and then alching the bows. That alleviated the boredom of constant alch-clicking, and allowed me to carry on a conversation with clan mates. I earned some decent experience in all three skills, and logged off with just over 200K experience for the day.

 

Total levels = 1,395

[GregorDGrim]

I hit 1,400 total levels yesterday:

 

[spoiler=Six and a Half Months, 400 Levels]

 

 

Actually, I hit 1,402 total levels yesterday. It was a bonanza. I also passed 14 million total experience, which was an interesting coincidence and the only time something like that will happen in my RS lifetime (1,400 = 14,000,000). Little things like that are very interesting to me.

 

My levels were in the following:

 

1. Magic (66) - I high alched 300 yanillian seeds.

2. Farming (37) - I won a medium lamp on the Squeal of Fortune, and used that along with the JoT exp tome.

3. Cooking (70), crafting (66), mining (60) and smithing (55) - Getting to 2,700 resources in the clan citadel got me these four levels. Fealty rank 1 helped, as it earned me a 15% bonus for all skills trained (I also did some summoning). Pics of the mining and smithing levels (I accidentally saved over the cooking level picture):

 

[spoiler=Citaskilling]

 

 

4. Firemaking (75) - I set some maples ablaze in Falador:

 

[spoiler=Forgot the Marshmallows AGAIN]

 

 

Other than level, I charged the clan ring at the woodcutting plot and earned 24K bonus experience chopping ivy, and I travelled throughout the realm activating lodestones. I managed to activate all but the ones in Lunar Isle and the Bandit Camp, as I haven't unlocked those spell books yet. I am the type of player who will definitely make good use of these free teleports. Half the time I forget to bring the right runes or other gear with me, so I end up home teleporting and then getting what I need from the chest under the Lumbridge castle kitchen. No more! My hope is that they drop a lode in Canifis soon.

 

Total levels = 1,402

[Turnpike]

O. You got me when I got nabbed by the Princess. :unsure:

[SwreeTak]

Nice to see that you are still making good progress. Keep it up :D

[GregorDGrim]

It's been a very busy week for me on Runescape, and I have been lax in posting updates, so here's the weekly summary:

 

March 14

 

I visited Ava at Draynor Manor to pick up my upgraded accumulator, and then headed to the Varrock dungeon to train on moss giants with my Dorge'shuun crossbow. Moss giants have decent drops (charms and various other bits of goodness), and there are a few safe spots from which I can fire away without fear of damage to my person. I wore a ring of wealth, which resulted in drops of uncut dragonstone and diamond. I leveled three times (to 53) and gathered 105K of loot along with 70 charms and a curved bone. After ranging, I chopped, fletched and alched yews, and used my JoT bonus on farming experience, earning level 38.

 

March 15

 

I spent a little while in the Edgeville dungeon, killing hill giants and burying their bones, gaining levels in constitution (63), attack (62) and prayer (43).

 

March 16-18 (Bonus xp weekend)

 

13 levels and 677K experience, including 550K in one day (Friday), which is my new high daily experience total. Surprisingly, I that total did not include more than 100K in any single skill. I spent the first 4:30 of bonus experience fighting hill giants again in the Edgeville dungeon. I chose to train my combat skills here because of the excellent (for me) prayer experience in burying the giants' large bones, which none of the other combatants in the area were picking up. That allowed me to level prayer seven(!) times, from 44-50. Pics of 45 and 50:

 

[spoiler=I Wish I Pray, I Wish I Might]

 

 

I also picked up two levels in attack (to 64), two in strength (to 64) and one in constitution (64), and my total combat level increased from 81 to 84. I netted 140 charms, 200 death and nature runes, and 265K combat experience. I spent another two hours chopping ivy, fletching maple longbows and high alching them (leveling magic to 67), and then burning some maple logs. On Saturday I gained just over 100K, primarily while fletching.

 

March 19

 

I spent some time back at the hill giants, leveling strength to 65:

 

[spoiler=Strength in Numbers]

 

 

I also used a medium lamp from Squeal of Fortune, and my JoT bonus, to level runecrafting to 41.

 

March 20

 

Today was build tick reset day for the clan, so I spent a couple hours training summoning, mining, smithing, crafting (level 67) and cooking (71) in the citadel, earning 150K experience. I also passed 15 million in total experience, a minor milestone for me.

 

24 levels in the last six days - it's been good.

 

Total levels = 1,426

[GregorDGrim]

I am no longer immune to the feeling of being PKed. I decided to make use of the Greater Surefooted aura I purchased awhile back, so I traveled to the Wilderness agility course (I knew about the transportation option from Ardougne, fortunately). Almost immediately upon entering a level 110 female character attacks me, but just as quickly runs away to cut off the battle. She apologized profusely for clicking on me instead of the rope swing. I took her word for it and said 'no problem', and for the 40 minutes that the aura was effective, we chatted and I was otherwise left alone. I leveled agility three times, to 55:

 

[spoiler=The Wilderness is Fun!]

 

 

Because I was not failing any of the obstacles, I was 'offered' the chance to descend to the Pit, thanks to a sucker punch from the talent scout. The High-Low game I played netted me nearly 6,900 experience:

 

[spoiler=Taking My Talents To South Pit]

 

 

This wilderness being dangerous is a bit overblown, I was thinking. I had to log off for a little while, and when I got back on-line my aura had recharged, so I re-entered the course, and almost immediately was attacked, for real this time. I was poisoned, but I was able to escape death with the help of an anti-poison potion I brought and the fact that my attacker failed an obstacle, so by the time he could climb out of the pit I logged off. Switching worlds, I began to traverse the course again, but was attacked yet again. This time my death was swift, and I lost...drum roll...about 15 lobsters/rocktails. And that's it. I hope that guy got a lot of pleasure out of the kill, because he sure didn't get anything worthwhile from my corpse.

 

After the excitement of the agility course, I calmed down by using the JofT aura, resulting in level 39 in farming. I then chopped ivy and reached level 90 in woodcutting, which, let's face it, is a cool achievement for a noob, but is not even halfway to level 99 so I wasn't exactly partying. Picture, of course:

 

[spoiler=The Wall Represents My Long Woodcutting Journey]

 

 

I finished a fairly long day by training combat skills on the hill giants under the Edgeville dungeon, which has become a very popular hangout for me. I leveled both attack and constitution to 65, and defense to 62:

 

[spoiler=130 Attack and Strength Combined]

 

 

Those levels enable me to accomplish two things I've been eagerly awaiting: I can now get a dragon defender, and because I hit combat level 85 I can also do Smoking Kills (after Icthlerin's Little Helper), which will enable me to start earning slayer points.

 

The PK notwithstanding, it was a very good day, resulting in eight levels.

 

Total levels = 1,434

[A_Gardener]

I really enjoy reading your blog! It's a different take on gameplay, and really reminds me that RS is an 'adventure' game.

I'd recommend doing Smoking Kills as soon as possible; it's not tricky to do at 85 combat (I did it!) and the points really do add up when you slay.

 

Best of luck with the rest of your goals - if you fancy a chat (when you're not being attacked in the Wilderness arena :P), my chat is always on 'All'. :)

[SwreeTak]

Sorry to hear about you getting PKed in the Wilderness. At least you just lost some food! It could have been a lot worse for sure. Myself I have lost many millions of gp by dying in the Wild :(

Congratulations on those recent levels. Keep it up and good luck.

[GregorDGrim]

Thanks for the recent comments; it's nice to 'hear' from readers. A_Gardener, I'll be doing Smoking Kills very soon, so stay tuned.

 

I haven't played a whole lot over the past four days, but I did manage to level 13 times. How have you accomplished such an amazing feat, must be the question on your lips right now. Well, I'm here to tell you how.

 

The Jack of Trades aura got me two levels - level 36 in hunter, and level 40 in farming:

 

[spoiler=Getting Subsidized To Not Farm]

 

 

Achieving level 40 in farming means only my hunter skill is below that threshold. I see a swamp lizard safari expedition in the near future.

 

I spent a fair amount of time fletching about 1,500 yew longbows, resulting in level 85 in that skill:

 

[spoiler=There Are Mother-Fletching Snakes...wait, did I use this pun before?]

 

 

My coin purse was feeling very heavy, so I decided to do some home improvements and level my construction skill. I purchased 1,000 oak planks, banked them, and teleported home. Once I got into my house, however, I was unconcerned with actually making my house look better, so I spent my time putting up a new oak larder, ripping it down, and building it back again, repeating enough times to level the skill eight times (to 50):

 

[spoiler=The Butler Made Me Do It]

 

 

A few thoughts went through my mind as I was building and destroying larders. First, it sure is nice to have a butler; makes leveling construction much quicker. Second, why the heck didn't I do this during bonus exp weekend? I could have leveled another five times at least. Third, this skill is damn expensive to train if you want to go at any sort of speed.

 

Did you notice something in those pictures? In all three, I'm carrying a hatchet, even though it has nothing to do with any of the three skills I was training. I must really love that hatchet.

 

During some down time I chopped some ivy, and also burned a bunch of maple logs, which resulted in leveling firemaking to 76.

 

I used my Greater Surefooted aura again at the Wilderness agility course. This time there was only one other person running the course, and he didn't say a word to me (or more importantly, attack me), so it was a pleasant 30 minutes and level 56 in agility. I also picked up a gorilla mask from the talent scout.

 

While not resulting in any levels, I turned in three pairs of strange rocks at the Varrock Museum. I was granted 3,000 smithing, 1,600 farming and 4,400 crafting experience. I also spoke with one of the guys working on specimens next to the statue, and he generously gave me a statue collection bag. No more cluttered bank, at least with respect to the rocks.

 

Finally, I decided to head to the Warrior's Guild to earn a dragon defender. I spent about an hour figuring my way around the place, and earning points in each of the five rooms. I like fighting the re-animated black armor the most, since I earned some experience while doing so. The other rooms I found mostly boring, but necessary to earn additional time in the cyclops room at a discounted rate. Unfortunately, I ran out of time after killing about a dozen cyclops, and logged off without earning even the most basic defender, so I may be in the guild for awhile. I plan on not leaving without a dragon defender.

 

Total levels = 1,447

[Low Levelled]

Smoking kills, and getting a dragon defender are two very important things. Nice levels!

[SwreeTak]

Good luck with earning that dragon defender!

[Syd]

Make sure to get atleast 2 dragon defenders while you're at it (doesn't really take much longer), incase you ever end up losing the first one. It will be pain in the butt to go through all the stages from bronze to dragon again. Even if it doesn't take that long, in the first place. :smile:

[GregorDGrim]

I said I was not going to leave the Warrior's Guild until I earned a dragon defender, and I was true to my word. I did not think I would be there quite as long as I actually was, however. Let's get the good stuff out of the way first, shall we? Yes, I got it:

 

[spoiler=Dragon Defender Drop]

 

 

It felt great! I definitely earned it, as I had to spend a lot of time playing the mini-games to earn tokens (wow, I really don't like the kegs-on-my-head game) and even more time killing cyclopes. I'm not certain exactly how many I killled, as I was picking up noted big bones left by others, but my estimate is around 375 before the eighth and best defender fell to the ground. I managed to avoid a prolonged fight with the level 156 cyclossus, by running out the door each time one engaged me, and then running quickly back in to fight the smaller ones until the cyclossus disappeared. I gained levels in strength (66), attack (66), constitution (66) and defense (63), and my total combat level increased to 86. In all, I collected more than 450K worth of big bones; I'm not sure whether I'll sell them or use them to train prayer. A loot pic:

 

[spoiler=I Have A Bone To Pic]

 

 

After spending so much time in brutal combat, I was more than happy to spend a couple of hours skilling in the clan citadel. At fealty level 3, I earned a cloak reward which enabled me to level hunter to 37. The experience is also excellent skilling at the various plots, with a 45% bonus. I spent time skilling and leveling summoning (41), smithing (56), crafting (68) and mining (61), and finished maxing at the cooking plot. I charged my clan ring with a woodcutting bonus, and spent about 45 minutes chopping ivy until I simply became too tired to continue.

 

Add nine more levels to my total, please. Now it's time for Icthlerin's Little Helper, and then Smoking Kills.

 

Total levels = 1,456

[Low Levelled]

It took me foreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeever to get a dragon defender as well. I had a friend who got all defenders, in 54 kills. Talk about luck.

[killer223]

I said I was not going to leave the Warrior's Guild until I earned a dragon defender, and I was true to my word. I did not think I would be there quite as long as I actually was, however. Let's get the good stuff out of the way first, shall we? Yes, I got it:

 

[spoiler=Dragon Defender Drop]

 

 

It felt great! I definitely earned it, as I had to spend a lot of time playing the mini-games to earn tokens (wow, I really don't like the kegs-on-my-head game) and even more time killing cyclopes. I'm not certain exactly how many I killled, as I was picking up noted big bones left by others, but my estimate is around 375 before the eighth and best defender fell to the ground. I managed to avoid a prolonged fight with the level 156 cyclossus, by running out the door each time one engaged me, and then running quickly back in to fight the smaller ones until the cyclossus disappeared. I gained levels in strength (66), attack (66), constitution (66) and defense (63), and my total combat level increased to 86. In all, I collected more than 450K worth of big bones; I'm not sure whether I'll sell them or use them to train prayer. A loot pic:

 

[spoiler=I Have A Bone To Pic]

 

 

After spending so much time in brutal combat, I was more than happy to spend a couple of hours skilling in the clan citadel. At fealty level 3, I earned a cloak reward which enabled me to level hunter to 37. The experience is also excellent skilling at the various plots, with a 45% bonus. I spent time skilling and leveling summoning (41), smithing (56), crafting (68) and mining (61), and finished maxing at the cooking plot. I charged my clan ring with a woodcutting bonus, and spent about 45 minutes chopping ivy until I simply became too tired to continue.

 

Add nine more levels to my total, please. Now it's time for Icthlerin's Little Helper, and then Smoking Kills.

 

Total levels = 1,456

youve been going on strong :o, you should add me so i can help u with stuff etc. :P rsn: thefunnel123

[GregorDGrim]

Thanks to those who commented, and to those who continue reading.

 

My last two sessions of the month resulted in a total of six levels. I used the Greater Surefooted aura twice to train agility at the Wilderness course. The first time I activated it, I was PKed within five minutes. Fortunately, the second time went better, as I was not bothered for the entire 40 minutes, and I leveled agility to 57. I then switched to the Five Fingered aura, and trained on the pickpocket trainer in the Thieves Guild. An hour of pilfering handkerchiefs and picking door locks resulted in me leveling thieving three times, to 58.

 

I spent a long time fletching yew logs and chopping ivy, and during the fletching marathon I received a random event, resulting in a book of knowledge which I used to level hunter to 38. I finished the second session fishing and cooking lobsters in Catherby, leveling cooking to 72. I earned a total of 342K experience, my third highest one-day total.

 

Total levels = 1,462

[GregorDGrim]

March Monthly Update

 

Some number crunching:

 

Experience earned for the month - 4,825,000. This was 1.6 million more than my total in February, which was my previous best for a month.

 

Total experience - just under 16.7 million.

 

Levels earned - 96. This was a fantastic month for me, well in excess of my goal of 50. I gained at least one level in every skill other than herblore (too expensive), slayer (waiting to complete Smoking Kills) and dungeoneering (just didn't feel like it). I gained the most levels in prayer and thieving (9), with at least four levels gained in 12 other skills - construction (8), summoning and farming (6), attack, fletching, firemaking and agility (5), strength, constitution, crafting, runecrafting and hunter (4).

 

Most experience earned in a single skill - 1.33 million in fletching, followed by 1.23 million in woodcutting.

 

Hours played - 535 total hours, 84 for the month. This was significantly more than I had planned to play, but I spent much of free time in Runescape, which I owe in large part to both my sons deciding to play again.

 

Experience earned per hour - 57,440 in March, thanks to bonus exp weekend and a ton of fletching and woodcutting. Overall exp/hour increased by about 4,900 to 31,200.

 

Biggest disappointment - no quests completed. Again. I guarantee that I'll have at least two completed during April, however (Icthlerin's Little Helper and Smoking Kills).

 

Goal for April - reach 1,500 total levels. Definitely doable, but not a certainty as I'm unsure how much free time I'll have this month.

[GregorDGrim]

I skilled while watching the NCAA college basketball championship game, which was not close and so was not very interesting. I did manage to level hunter to 39, thanks to my JoT aura, along with woodcutting to 91 while chopping ivy:

 

[spoiler=No Ivy League Teams in this Championship]

 

 

...and fletching to 86, thanks to stringing 1,000 yew longbows and fletching a few hundred unfinished maple longbows:

 

[spoiler=Fletch Lives]

 

 

The clan chat was abuzz tonight with discussion over the ability to buy Squeel of Fortune spins. I don't think it was a good idea for the game, but it doesn't bother me as much as other updates (e.g. putting in the Squeel of Fortune in the first place, removing free-to-play players from the high scores list). I have a hunch that Jagex will be modifying this in some way, however, and fairly quickly.

 

Total levels = 1,465

[SwreeTak]

You certainly have done some nice progress. March was indeed a great month from you, with all those nice levels. You are getting to the really high levels in woodcutting and fletching now (beating me in both of them). Now you can also start opening your first couple of effigies (if you get any woodcutting ones, that is).

Congratulations on your progress. Keep it up, and as usual, good luck!

[GregorDGrim]

Thanks, swedishboy. That was actually kind of exciting, seeing that I'm now eligible to open a starved ancient effigy in woodcutting. The very little I know about effigies has been gleaned from reading the 200M in all skills thread.

 

Yesterday was another unglamorous session, spent primarily skilling in the clan citadel. I spent time training summoning, crafting (level 69), smithing (level 57), mining and cooking. Afterwards, I used my JoT aura to level hunter to 40:

 

[spoiler=I Should be Hunting Wabbits This Easter]

 

 

See how I made that picture festive? That is as involved as I'm going to get with this Easter event.

 

The cool part (to me) of reaching level 40 in hunter is that I reached a milestone of being at least level 40 in every skill:

 

[spoiler=Level 40 in....Everything!]

 

 

With seven skills in the (mostly low) 40s, it is going to be a while before I reach level 50 in all skills.

 

Once I maxed in the citadel, I charged my clan ring at the woodcutting plot. After grabbing the JoT bonus tome for the day, I went back to the comfort of southern Falador and chopped ivy. I clicked on an ivy and then chopped, and chopped, and chopped...to the tune of 26 straight on a single click, before a bird nest fell and I broke off from the ivy. I don't know what my old personal best was, but this has to be my new record. I also passed six million experience in the skill. It was just five months ago (November 4th) that I had less than six million total experience. Heck, it was only January 12th when I passed seven million total experience. I've played more, and have become more focused, over the past two and a half months. I'm beginning to feel a bit less like a newbie.

 

One side note: my eldest son reached the 1,500 total level milestone over the weekend. He's feeling the heat from me, though!

 

Total levels = 1,468