Runescape: How I Spent My (Bonus Exp) Weekend

Well, Runescape's Bonus Weekend has come and gone again.  I spent about 15 hours playing, so definitely got my time in!  Usually for a Bonus Exp Weekend, I focus on one thing and try to blast through as many levels as possible.  This time was a change of pace.  Spent some time hanging around the GE Crafting Black Dragon Bodies, and Flasks.  Went up two levels, from 86 to 88.  Not a significant mile marker or anything, but it makes crafting flasks require much less Crafting potion.  At 86, sometimes I couldn't even finish a full inventory before it timed out.  At 88, it's easy to do all 50 from one sip of potion.  Since I plan to take on the Fight Kiln soon, having plenty of 6-dose flasks will be very helpful.

After Crafting, I made about 150 Overloads.  No special exp goal, but since I was running out, it made sense to wait until the Bonus weekend to make more.  Already had most of the potions assembled, just had to add the Torstol leaves to it.  No levels gained.  But still, extra exp for the effort.  I certainly wish it wasn't such a complicated timekiller to make Overloads and Super Antifires.  

After that, Monique and I had a date at the ZMI Altar.  She wasn't quite ready, so for me, laps at the Advanced Barbarian Agility Course until she was done with her first project.  Once she was done training her Crafting, We met over at the Lunar Altar to switch spellbooks.  From there, we ran Runes at ZMI.  Talk about blindingly boring...  I only made about 100k exp, she stopped at 50k.  ... Next!

Okay, so that didn't go as planned.  Somedays, you're just not in the mood.  We both switched back to Agility, each to our own course (she's at Gnome Advanced).  Stayed there long enough to level up from 91 to 92 Agility.  It's a slow skill, but just felt more entertaining than Runecrafting.  Making 92 doesn't come with any great benefit, but it's one level closer to 99.

My agenda still includes getting Mining up, so after Agility, I went to the Living Rock Caverns.  Went for a few gold ores.  Only needed 220k exp to get a level, so made that the goal.  Went to world 77 so the Living Rock creatures might leave me alone more.  Talk about lag.  Move a step, pause.  Move a step, pause.  Went that way the entire time.  But still, got that level!

 

Last and finally, we both checked our 'cleanup' levels.  You know, the ones where you just need a few points to level up.  My only reasonable one was Hunter, needed about 16k for a level.  Went off to do Red Chinchompas.  Had no idea how crowded they are.  Wish there was some more space for others there.  Still, managed the 16k, made one more level.  It's my lowest skill, at 74 (75 now).  Usually I just let Juuna train that one.

I didn't focus on one single skill this time.  Just spread it out among different ones.  Made a few levels, had some fun.  In general, just really appreciated the bonus experience.

So that was my weekend... how did you spend yours?

Runescape: Short-term goals and Long-term goals

Now THERE'S a wasted cannonball!

 Didn't think I'd have time last night, but wound up going down to the Frost Dragons.  Lasted the duration of one Pack Yak.  I've been operating under a handicap, lacking a Chaotic Rapier.  I know, 88 Dungeoneering and no Chaotic...  That's because I've always solo dungeoneered, or at most, Monique has gone along with me.  Not knowing at the time how great the Chaotics are, all my points went into the Ring of Kinship.  Looking back, I guess there's no regret.  Boosting the ring does help within the Dungeons.  But now it'll be a long time before getting any Chaotic weapon.  Yes, I know it's faster going in teams, but I enjoy playing solo.  Don't like the stress of working with a team.  As long as it's fun, that's the big thing.

Looking online for guides vs Frost Dragons, there were some that recommended a Vine Whip as an alternative choice.  That seemed good, especially since I do have a Vine Whip.  No money or time spent just trying to get one.  The Vine Whip poisons, so it seemed like a fair compromise.  But something a friend said made me start wondering about Korasi's Sword.  While down there last night, the sword went, and not the whip.  Turns out Korasi's Sword is FAR better than a vine whip to kill Frost Dragons.  What a huge difference... Now when I need a little Soul Split, it's actually an effective solution.  Before, it was very (pardon the expression) hit or miss. 


Eventually, it would be nice to have at least one Chaotic weapon.  But there's so very many goals in Runescape, and just not enough time to play them all.  My immediate goal right now is to make money with Frost Dragons.  This in turn will fund my attempts to beat the Fight Kiln.   (Ha! - You thought I'd forgotten about that by now, huh?) 

I haven't forgotten the Kiln.  I'm just seriously horrible at complex combat.  It's going to take a lot of practice and many tries.  Plus large amounts of gold.  After spending most of my bank getting some Crafting levels recently, the Frost Dragons are helping build it back.  It would be nice to have about 50 Million as a cushion before making a determined effort on the Kiln.


Let's not forget Bonus Experience Weekend coming up, too.  There's a lot on my plate for that weekend, but Monique and I still intend to maximize our bonus exp.  Will probably spend more time crafting.  Herblore too, since it's time to make more Overloads.  Monique has invited me to train Runecrafting at the ZMI altar with her.  Unless we decide to do gold mining in the Living Rock Cavern.  Then there's always Agility.  At 91, I can't think of any serious in-game advantage to be earned with a higher Agility.  Except that in the long run, I want the Completionists Cape, so ALL the 99s are important. 

Man, there's just so much to do... Anybody want to hire me full-time to play Runescape?
... Nah, didn't think so.  Guess I'll just keep playing in my spare time.   :^)

Runescape Bonus Experience Weekend Final Results

Well, Monique and I took the bit in our teeth and ground out about 19 hours of play during Runescape's Bonus Exp Weekend.  When I got up this morning, it was still active, so I managed another 30 minutes before work.  When it was all said and done, I'm pretty pleased with the results. 

Monique leveled up some Herblore, and some Agility, even a bit of fishing.  Even now, while I'm writing this, she's still leveling something up every time I turn around.  She just went up a level on Construction, using the Sacred Clay Hammer she got from Stealing Creation before the weekend started.
I stayed with Agility the whole weekend.  My reward for running around in circles for 19 hours?  4 levels of Agility!  Doesn't sound like much, until you realized it's levels 82 - 85. Started off with Ape Atoll, because after level 75, you no longer fail on it.  But after a long while, that got boring, so it was time to visit the Dorgesh-kaan agility course.

 Didn't need ranging experience, so the entire trip was done on the eastern half.  It's pretty fast experience, but it... feels... slow.  So after gaining a level and a bit, it was back to Ape Atoll.
For those who haven't done it, Ape Atoll has a beautiful Agility course.  Lush hills, plenty of greenery, a variety of agility hazards.  It's probably the most attractive agility course in all of Runescape (I haven't been to the Advanced Barbarian course yet, but I don't expect it to look any better.)  There's a Fairy Ring access point, but you have to have done Fairy Tale III, Battle at Ork's Rift before you can use it.  After the quest, you go back and unblock the log, then you have full access to the fairy ring (access code CLR).

The fairy ring takes you to the middle of the agility course, on top of a hill a bit east.  You have to be wielding a small ninja greegree to use it, but that's the best greegree for running the Ape Atoll course anyway.  It's kind of fun seeing your character and everybody elses running around as monkeys.  Still, the fun wears off after a few hours.  It helps to find a mental zone where you lose track of what you're doing.  Sometimes music helps, or maybe I'll play an old favorite movie.  (Has to be one that won't distract me from making the rounds, so I pick old ones I can listen to and know what's going on.)  Or call a friend and talk on the phone.

When all this finally wears off, just grit your teeth and keep reminding yourself how much closer the goal is getting.  I hit this point with about 168k to go, to finish level 84.  Kept at it until achieving 85

Then it was time to head over to the Gnome Stronghold Advanced Agility Course.  Worked that one for about 200k, then it was bedtime, and the end of Bonus Exp Weekend.

Maybe it's because of the newness, because I'd never been to the Gnome Stronghold advanced agility course before, but it was a lot of fun.  Plenty of variety, fast-paced and fun graphics/animation.  The only thing I didn't care much for is that I failed running the sign about half the time.  At first, it was okay.  After a while, it got frustrating to lose so much time whenever the sign slowed me down.  So I bought about half a million Summer Pies.  They raise agility by 5 levels.  Hopefully that'll let me earn at least enough levels to not fail so often.  If I'm lucky, it'll get me to 89 agility, at which point I won't fail the Advanced Gnome course any more.

Of course, by level 90, the Barbarian advanced course will be calling my name.  I'm looking forward to getting the Agile Top and Agile Legs.   The Agile Legs are earned by making 250 perfect runs (not consecutive) around the Gnome advanced course.  The Agile Top is earned by making 250 perfect runs around the Barbarian advanced agility course.  Both reduce weight, and will be very nice for any skill where I need to run a lot.  I can see a lot of Runecrafting in my future wearing this gear.  And, definitely for Penguin Hunting!

I'm in the back... but this guy in front looks pretty cool!

So, it was a great weekend, got a lot done, and very happy with the progress we made.  Now it's time to get back to normal.

It's good to have Runescape goals

Well, I've been laying low recently.  I just got back into my writing
after the last long break, when I decided maybe it was time to get
some things done in Runescape.  Firstly, to level up all skills
necessary for every Elite Achievement Task.  So I started making
Decorated Fishing Urns, then Decorated Cooking Urns, until my
Crafting was high enough for the Relleka requirements, if I take a
skill-boosting potion with it.  Once Crafting was high enough, that
left me with a stock of Cooking Urns in the bank.  I also had several
thousand uncooked Rocktail in the bank, so decided to cook them up
before continuing with the skills.
In the process of cooking the Rocktails, I made it to level 98
Cooking, then about 1/4 of the way to 99.  Figured, what the heck,
let's get the Cooking 99.  So I bought something like 4,000 raw
Rocktail, while at the same time selling 4000 from my stock of cooked
Rocktail.  By the time the new ones were cooked, my stocks were
replenished, and a small profit of a nearly 200k had been made.  It
was kind of an accidental 99, but I'll take it any way I can!
At that point, the only skills that still didn't meet the Elite
Achievement requirements were Agility and Slayer.  Slayer only needs
about 3 levels, no big deal.  It's fun, so I don't mind working on
it.  Agility, on the other hand, needed around 10 levels...  That's
going to be a LOT of running around the Ape Atoll course.  I'm
sticking with it because once you hit level 75, you quit falling. 
Otherwise I'd go do the Dorgesh-kun circuit.
Looking at all the agility running, I decided this might be a good
time to focus on Jad for the Fire Cape.  I truly, deeply, suck at
prayer switching.  If I didn't want the Elite Achievement rewards so
much, I just wouldn't mess with him.  But, I really want the Elite,
so Jad's been seeing me a lot recently.  I got him down to the
healers time before last.  Then the next time, he killed me before I
could even find him.
I've combed the net looking for ways to beat him.  With very high
combat stats, and a lot of luck, I might be able to dragon claw,
vengeance, and ancient curse him to death.  Maybe.  On the other
hand, if I get really good at prayer switching, Jad can be beat
entirely by Deflect prayers from the Ancient Curses.
In the meantime, it's Runescape's Extra Experience Weekend (their third one).  Monique and I have been grinding away at those skills that we hate.  For me, that's agility.

No pics right now, this is just a quick update.  I want to spend all the time I can getting my bonus experience from Runescape.  Even though at this point I'm down to the 1.1% bonus, it's still extra.
After the weekend's over, I'll update, with some pics too.  Hope you're making the best of it, too!

Runescape Bonus Experience Weekend Coming Up Again

Dinner should be ready in a moment

If you haven't heard yet, it's true... Runescape will be hosting a Bonus XP Weekend from the 11th to the 13th of March.  Last time we had one, I used it to get my 99 in Construction.  Monique used it on a multitude of skills, but she played consistently all weekend and really maxed out her bonus points!
     If you don't remember how it went, you generally get a 2.7x experience bonus the first 30 minutes.  The next 30 minutes nets you 2.55x exp.  Every thirty minutes, the XP bonus reduces a bit, until you get to 10 hours.  After that, you get a constant modifier of 1.1x until the weekend is over.
     Some skills don't get any improvement.  For instance, if you're using a player owned house, or the ectofuntus to work on Prayer, the skill bonus won't apply.  That's a downer, because Prayer is the main skill Monique is trying to raise.  In lieu of raising Prayer, she's going to work on Herblore.  She's always enjoyed it, and wants her next 99 to be Herblore.  Though she might spend some time working on other skills.  In particular, Agility.  We both need to raise that a lot.

Crafting...I'm Urning this experience (bad pun)

     I'm going to be working on Smithing and Crafting.  Smithing is easy, I'm smelting gold ore for that.  But Crafting is a weak spot for me.  I don't like messing around with it, and as a result, I'm pretty low on Crafting.  On the good side, now that Urns have come out, I can make Urns to raise my crafting level fairly cheaply.  But it's still slow and boring.  So I'll spend most of my XP Bonus Weekend on Crafting.  I need nearly ten levels for my Elite Achievements. 
     I think it makes a lot of sense to use the extra experience on skills you hate, so you can knock them out of the way faster... or expensive skills, so you can afford to level up more.  I'll save the free and fun skills for normal times.  Though like Monique, I may spend some of that time on Agility.  It's free, but tends to be boring.
     Regardless of how you plan to spend your Bonus XP Weekend, I'm sure Runescape has something to offer for at least some of your skills.  Even if it's not the one you most want. 
     Believe it or not, there are a small group of immature whiners (name-calling, yeah, I really shouldn't, I know) who like to complain about everything.  They figure since they had to walk to school uphill, in the snow, both ways, every day of the year, then nobody else should get to ride the school bus.  Or, in Runescape terms, since they earned their 99's the hard way (whatever way that was) then it cheapens the skill for someone else to have it easier.
     Speaking as someone with several 99's, and several skills close to 99, I don't mind.  Sure, maybe I got some of mine the hard/expensive/long way.  But that's okay, because... I was a) having fun and b) playing a game.  If someone is not enjoying the game, maybe it's time to find a new game.  If they're truly upset that someone else gets to play and have more fun than they did, maybe it's time to turn off the computer and play in the real world for a while. 
     Seriously, it's just a game.  If it quits being fun, I'll find something else to do.  I play Runescape to get away from working, jobs, responsibilities... for a while.  If it starts feeling too much like work, why the heck would I keep playing?
   
     I thought very hard about not expressing my opinions here... but decided to let it stand.  Those of us who simply enjoy the game often get shouted out and flamed by those who can't tolerate other opinions.  So, there's my opinion.  Comments are welcome, even opposing comments... as long as we can keep it civil and express our thoughts coherently.  So if you disagree, and can say so nicely, I would be happy to discuss it, and share our thoughts.