Runescape February Update: New Jad, Fight Kiln Minigame, New TzHaar Quest

Preview of the new TzTok-Jad

I haven't been doing anything amazing for a while.  Ever since getting the Skoll boots, I've been on an agility spree.  There's only so many ways I can talk about running round in big circles, even if it is pretty neat. 
Just to give it one final hash, Monique and I both got Skoll boots (and Hati Gloves, but the gloves don't help me.)  So both of us have been training agility while we can.  At this point, my Skoll boots are burnt out.  Nothing left.  Monique's boots still have about 40% to go.  She started at Ape Atoll, and has now moved up to the Advanced Gnome Agility Course.  I started at the Advanced Gnome course, and moved up to the Advanced Barbarian Agility Course.  Currently, I'm about 2/3rds of the way to level 91.  Nice thing about 90 Agility, I can finally use Kuradel's best shortcut without a Summer Pie.  I haven't been to Kuradel since getting Baby Jad, but I do want to go back to her at some point.

One thing I really liked about the Advanced Gnome course was the papaya tree I had planted nearby.  Travel to and from the GE with the Spirit Tree, pick my papayas now and then, and run laps.  It wasn't a lot of money, but with the Papayas you could make a little side money while training agility.  The Barbarian course has nothing extra to recommend it.  No fruit tree to pick.  Not even a convenient route to and from the GE.  I get there by games necklace, and get back by teletab.  Since I still fail at the Barbarian Advanced course, I bring Summer Pies, and take a bit if my character fails the balance beam.

But that's just day to day junk.  The cool news right now is the Tzaar update.  Have you read the February Behind the Scenes? 

Jagex is going to do a graphical rework of the TzHaar, the city, environment, equipment, characters, monsters, and apparently Jad, plus a whole new, tougher minigame.

If you've read any of my other blogs, you've probably noticed I have a love-hate relationship with Jad.  I'm terrible at complex combat, and never thought I'd do jad.  Then I decided I wanted the Taskmaster emote.  Part of getting the emote involved having to defeat Jad.  Spent months learning how, trying all kinds of crazy methods.  Finally wound up winning.  Then wound up kind of liking Jad.  So I've gone back a few times voluntarily, just for fun.  Even managed to get 2 baby Jads, one in my house, one to follow around.

Of course, every time I think I've gotten the hand of Jad, they change him again.  My first win was with the Ancient Curses.  Then they nerfed that technique.  Then I beat him while wearing a knockout aura, which was a really cool final blow.  Now they've changed the sounds I learned to react to.  And before I could go back and re-learn Jad again, Runescape announced it's ALL going to be different this month!!

First there's a new master-level quest called "The Elder Kiln Quest".  Involving, of course, the TzHaar.  It's kind of like a big 'coming out' party for all the new graphics under the volcano.  I very much like that we're going to learn a lot more about the TzHaar race and history.  They're pretty interesting, and I expect them to be far more interesting after the quest.  The rewards sound nice too.  A ring to improve combat damage while fighting TzHaar... Wonder if that will count in the Fight Cave and with Jad?  And how much extra damage you can do?  New title...  might be interesting.  Can't really say one way or the other until we know more.  New mini-game...  Uh-oh.

Yes, a new mini-game with the TzHaar, those wonderful creatures who brought us JAD!  The Fight Kiln Minigame is billed as Runescape's most challenging minigame yet, a sequel to the Fight Caves. 

In the Fight Kiln, you have to sacrifice a fire cape, just to get in the door the first time!!!  Guess it could be worse- giving up a Fire Cape once is far better than having to pay a Fire Cape every visit!  Since I've already traded in 2 Fire Capes for Baby Jad, losing one more won't kill me.

But playing the Fire KIln will definitely kill me.  I can only just barely handle Jad.  The Fight Kiln promises to be so much tougher, that you'll have to face 2 Jads... at once... to get to the REAL boss monster at the end.  Ouch.  I can tell, I'm gonna die... a lot.

What's the new Boss going to be?

So what's the reward?  If you get all the way through the kiln... face down wave after wave of the toughest monsters ever assembled in Runescape... defeat 2 Jads simultaneously... and defeat what may be Runescape's ultimate boss monster (and certainly Runescape's ultimate minigame)... you get a new cape.  It has +8 Strength, compared to the Fire Cape's +4 Strength.  I'm guessing this will be an upgraded version of the Fire Cape.  Hope the graphics are also upgraded.  For that much effort, it should look spectacular. 

One more thing to note- if you finish the quest within two weeks of release, you'll get double XP for the quest reward.  And if you reach wave 30 of the Fight Kiln within the same two-week time limit, you get an extra 70,000 XP.  Jagex is calling it the Early Bird Bonus. 

I'm not even mentioning the other planned updates for February.  But there's a bunch.

One last thing- Jad will be visually updated to look very sleek, dangerous, and... dangerous.  The picture up top is his new look.  And the video right here is the preview of the new TzHaar graphics, and Fight Kiln, plus Jad in action.

Am I going to like the new minigame?  Probably not.  But am I going to try my best to beat it?  Darned right I am!!

Runescape Fight Cave: Waves 1 - 61 Guide

 Runescape Fight Cave: No Shortcuts to Winning- Jad Takes Practice

It's all over.  I finally learned how to beat Jad, in a normal, average, repeatable way.  Posted the video on Youtube, linked to it in my blog.  For fun, I even took a knockout aura with me, and it worked.  Jad got owned by the Blue Light Special!
Now, I've decided to post the video guide to the 'other' part of the Fight Cave.  The part where you fight wave after endless wave of monsters just for the privilege of facing TzTok-Jad. 

I had worked on technique for a long time.  Finally found a hybrid style that works well for me.  Given how sloppy I am at combat, that's saying a lot.  But like I said, it works.  I get to Jad with plenty of supplies left, and in very good shape.  It actually uses melee, ranging, and magic. 

To begin with, my style was pure ranging.  Worked, but I got there after more than 2 hours.  Needless to say, I really hated spending 2 hours just to get killed by Jad within seconds.  Then I found a guide in youtube that recommended a pure melee approach.  Tried it.  Wow, really fast.  Got there in around 40 minutes... if I got there at all.  Yes, I found out that if my attention wandered even a little bit, they tended to kill me.  Tried a mixed melee/ranged method.  Better, but slow.  And I couldn't always arrange things to use Soul Split and heal.  Gave me some real trouble.

Then I saw a video of someone Blood Barraging Jad.  It really struck a chord with me.  Heal, attack with magic, pray against those pesky 360s...all at the same time!  Now I was cooking with gas! 

Barrage really worked in getting me to Jad.  I made a few attempts to beat Jad with Barrage, but that wasn't so effective.  Still, it got me to Jad, and in just over an hour.  Seemed a fair enough compromise between speed and safety. 

Once I nailed the technique down, I recorded it and posted an entire trip on Youtube.  But I didn't just upload the video.  I edited the heck out of it.  Put my equipment and inventory at the beginning.  Annotated comments all over the video, and included clickable links to go directly to any wave.

  It was a lot of work, and took several days.  Now it's done.  I hope you like it!

Runescape: Fight Caves- Finally learned how to beat Jad with Ranged

 Runescape Fight Cave: No Shortcuts to Winning- Jad Takes Practice

It's been a long time coming.  From earlier this year, when I learned to beat Jad in the Fight Caves, using Ancient Curses/Deflect Prayers... to the day I found out they nerfed the Ancient Curses method... to last week.  Last week, I finally decided to get serious about Jad.  I've beaten him in the past, have earned 2 baby Jads as pets, and it just doesn't feel right that I can't beat him any more.
I've wanted to mess with him for months, but there's always something else to work on.  Those other goals kept getting in the way.  But about a week ago, the mood descended upon me, and it was time to learn the Zen of Jad.  Again.
For nearly a week, I tried different things, kept going back, got stomped on by Jad.  Over and over.  But that's okay now.  Way back when, I learned how to beat Jad just because I wanted the Taskmaster emote, which required all the elite tasks to be accomplished.  One of those requirements was to own a Fire Cape, which of course means I had to defeat Jad.
Basically, I didn't want to fight Jad, but had to in order to get another goal.  So I really hated it.  This time, my motivation was unclouded by hidden agendas.  I just wanted to learn how to beat the Fight Cave.
Many players just sail through the cave, making it look easy.  "Look, I beat Jad with a spoon!"... "Look, I beat Jad with 1 prayer point!"... tons of creative players showing off how good they are.
Not me.  My combat skills are atrocious.  I survive most fights because I've got maxed combat stats.  If it requires real skill, I'm sunk.  Nomad took me over a week to beat.  Jad just seemed way beyond my abilities.

This time, though... it was different.  I kept going back, persistently.  Once or twice a day.  Each time I'd try something different, learn a little more.  Without realizing, I was actually practising.  A lot.

Last night, I finally took him on, using the traditional ranged approach.  It was a thing of beauty.  I was in the zone.  No panic, no fear, no mistakes.  Once Jad and I squared off, every step went perfectly.  For my first time ever, I ranged Jad to halfway, popped the each of the healers with a bolt, got them lined up, and finished Jad.  Finishing him off with the Knockout Aura was just icing on the cake.

I know, probably not a big deal to most players.  But for me, it's huge.  Now I feel like I can beat Jad (nearly) every time I go.

I got good at Jad by accidentally practicing too much...How cool is that?

Runescape: TzTok-Jad Interlude... Getting Stomped on by Jad One More Time!

 After months of off and on Slaying, and a recent dedicated push to 99 my Slayer skill,  Kuradel finally... FINALLY... assigned Jad to me as a Slayer task!  I didn't want to waste time trying for him without some/any exp benefit, so I've been waiting till I got an  assignment to try.  My old guide on beating Jad by Ancient Curses/Deflects no longer works.  Jagex 'fixed' it.  Man, I really hate that.  They also 'fixed' the Vengeance technique.  As a result, I can' beat TzTok Jad any more.  There are no more non-combat methods to use.

I want to go back and figure out another way that works for me, but am focused right now on Slayer.  Making it a bonus assignment is the perfect practice.  I get to try it, and if I fail, at least there's some basic Slayer experience.  

So, spent the weekend practicing to Jads new sounds.  Yep, that's new sounds, courtesy Jagex, as of sometime mid-2011.  Have to learn new sounds to trigger the reflexes.  Hunted for techniques I thought might work for me.  Decided to get him halfway down, then Dragon Claw him to death.  Since I can't do Overloads, but I CAN do Extreme Strength, Attack, and Defense, I figured that would be sufficient.  I don't have a Godsword, but I've got Karamja Gloves 4, which let me die and be reborn at Jad once a day.  So I figured I'd slap him as hard as I can, get killed, and hit him a couple more times.  Seemed reasonable.  

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough.  Those darn healers topped him off faster than I could damage him.  Once I realized I wasn't going to make it this trip, I got crazy.  Running at Jad, chasing him, trying not to get hit while I took my shots at him.  In a strange way, it was kind of fun.  He still killed me, but I've never done so well at Jad before.  Usually, I can't handle the prayer switching.  This time, I was doing all kinds of other things, and still surviving.  Pretty cool.

I can't wait until I get Jad assigned again.  I'm still searching for better ways to kill him.  I'm a Prayer Switching Klutz, so I need something pretty simple to follow.  But I'm getting better at Prayer Switching.  Maybe better enough to eventually switch Prayer and still manage eating, drinking, potting, and dealing with the healers.

Below is the setup I used.  It got me there with all my food, and lots of prayer pots left.  It even let me get Jad down halfway, then chase him all over the cave.  When I died, I still had plenty of supplies.  I just missed one prayer switch too many…

If you're reading this, and looking at my setup, I'd appreciate any suggestions.  Not stupid stuff, please.  But I'd really appreciate some honest help and suggestions.

Here's what I wore:

Slayer Helm

Amulet of Fury

Armadyl Chestplate

Armadyl Chainskirt

Rune Crossbow

Dragonfire Shield

Soul Wars Cape

Broad-tipped Bolts (5,000)

Barrows Gloves

Ranger Boots

Archer's Ring (Not imbued)

Aura: Reverence (But I'm thinking on trying "Knockout Blow" next try.)

Inventory:

Dragon Claws

Karamja Gloves (for fighting Jad so I'll respawn on the spot when he kills me)

Diamond Bolts (e)

Excalibur (Elite Enhanced)

Prayer potions (4 serving) - 10

Rocktails - 7

Runes for Vengeance (Lunar spellbook- 4 Astrals, 8 Deaths, 10 Earths per cast)

(I brought 40, 80, and 150 just for the heck of it)

Extreme Att, Str, Def

Range Pot

Before going in the fight cave, I sip a super set and range pot from the bank just to make the beginning faster.

On wave 61, I took a break.

Killed the 1st 360, and before killing the 2nd:

Turn off auto retaliate long enough to:

Cast Vengeance

Switch to Karamja Gloves

Switch to Diamond Bolts and set Range to Long Distance

Make sure Quick Prayers are set to Turmoil and Soul Split for Meleeing

Sip Pots (Extreme Att, Str, Def, and a Ranging pot)

Turn Auto Retaliate back on and kill the remaining 360.

Deflect, Vengeance, and Range Jad till the Healers show up.

Set Quick Prayers to Turmoil and Soul Split, turn them on as the healers arrive.

(Healers will heal Jad - even if you distract them - if you're too close to Jad.  I think this was part of my problem)

At half hit points, go all or nothing and Dragon Claw Spec Jad.

(Should I bring Spec Restore potion for extra hits?)

 I can be killed and revived on the spot once a day with Karamja Gloves 4

Maybe I should bring a Restore Potion for Special Attack?

I've got maxed combat stats, so I know my character can do it.  I'm just very clumsy at Prayer Switching, and easily lose my focus.

Anyway, that's my gear, and a few random thoughts that might help.  I'd love to hear some ideas from someone who's been there and won!

Runescape Troll Invasion - New Solo Distraction and Diversion

Troll Invasion came out just yesterday.  Monique and I did penguins, and didn't feel like figuring out something new so waited till today to try it.  I'm not usually big on mini-games.  But this one gives experience that you can put on any skill you want. 

Get the trolls close enough, and your ranged support will help you.

Turns out it's a good thing we waited a day.  Apparently it was still a bit buggy, and a lot of players wound up not getting credit for this month's attempt.  Yes, this months.  You can play it as often as you like, but you only score the big exp on your first attempt of each calendar month.  So brace yourself, get ready, and do your best straight out, because you'll have to wait a month to try again (for points, anyway)!!
There's two sides to it, you can just go and fight all the way through, or you can work defense to protect the keep.  Monique took defense, and I took combat.  She did well enough, scoring about 22k of xp.  I was very happy with mine, finished all 20 waves and got 42k of xp, which went on my lvl 73 dungeoneering, raising me up one level.
Since we went together, I didn't get to watch Monique's part.  It sounded like she did pretty good.  But for me, the combat was pure fun.  Lots of variety, good graphics and sounds, and the occasional bit of humor.  This being a 'safe' minigame, there was no risk of losing anything by getting killed.  Just the same, I'd rather not die.  I've heard you get better points scored if you don't die. 
If you enjoy combat, this is a blast.  Jagex makes it pretty easy to survive.  Not that you won't take damage, just that it's pretty easy to manage your resources, and you have plenty.  I still brought my own, and definitely needed them near the end, but only because I let an explosive troll blow my resource table up.  Not on purpose, I didn't even see it happen.  But I went to heal up and my table was blown away!
The Troll magicians were cool, especially their ability to summon me to them.  It was awesome to see me being dragged rapidly from wherever I was to fight with them.  And welcome, since I really wanted to kill the magicians as a top priority.  It was also pretty neat to see summoners conjuring creatures up. 

Of course the big news was the big guy himself, Cliff.  He was huge, and made my Steel Titan look tiny.  Of course, the bigger they are...  and wow, when he fell, he fell hard.  It's a little bit like the fight cave and Jad.  You go through waves to get to the boss, and he uses multiple styles of attack.
I've read that you should vary your protection prayers according to which attackers your facing.  I tried that, but eventually realized it worked out just fine if I left my prayer on Deflect Melee and Turmoil (Ancient Curses) the whole time.

Also, based on advice from Wiki, I took my best melee armor, best summoning creature, and 3 weapons.  Whip, Rune Crossbow, and Dragon Claws (for special attack on the boss monster).  Whip for normal fighting, crossbow for the ones that refuse to come into melee range.  Brought 5 Prayer Pot (4)s, and the rest of the inventory was Rocktails.  Only used 2 Prayer pots, and about 1/3 of the Rocktail.
With this setup, it was pretty easy to just bull through.  Didn't really need any finesse or skill, just kept prayer on and kept fighting.






All in all, this was a very fun diversion, and I loved getting 42k of exp for just a few minutes of play.  I assume if I'd put it on a higher skill it would have been more, but 42k was great for the skill it went on.  We only tried it the one time.  Based on what I could see of Monique's part, I think the combat was more fun.  I might even come back before the new month and try the harder combat, the one with only 7 (very intense) waves.  Just to get a feel for it before trying it for real points.  I'm sure it'll be more challenging than the easier 20 waves.

If you're thinking about trying it, I'd say give it a shot.  It was enjoyable, and well worth the time spent!