Runescape: Runetek 7 used in Bestiary Beta Release

Jad isn't the toughest monster - but he's still my favorite boss!

Ever since the EOC, things have been in a state of flux.  The rules change daily, if not more often.  Just when you think you've figured out the best armor and weapons to take down a specific monster, it gets changed again.  Suddenly, you're getting slaughtered because you came to the party wearing the wrong clothes.  It sucks the fun right out of playing.

It also makes writing effective guides impossible.  Who can write a quality guide when tomorrow the advice might not work any more?  Which means, when I want to know the best way to go after a particular monster, there aren't any accurate guides available.  And trust me, I might be maxed combat, but it doesn't mean I'm GOOD at it... just persistent.  I need all the help that can be found!

So, all that being said...  Now we've got the Runescape Bestiary!!!  Now we can make sure we're properly prepared before heading off to fight.

Have you checked it out yet?  You pick a monster/NPC (from a list of nearly 3,000), and it shows up on a large circular podium surrounded by mountains.  You can rotate, zoom in, zoom out, change the angle, and all the while the monster's standing, posing, looking dramatic.  It even tells you where in-game you can find that monster.

To the right, you can choose to see the monster selection menu, or the monster stats page.  You can see attack strengths, weaknesses, life points, defense levels, all the stuff you want to know before heading off to slay.

It's not exactly a guide, but it's pretty darned useful. And graphically, very pleasing.  As long as you meet the technical requirements.  This is the first public viewing of the new Runetek 7 engine, using HTML5.

Given that this is the first time Runetek 7 is being shown to the world, Jagex is considering the Bestiary to be in Beta for now.  They're asking for any feedback you might have, bug reports, and observations.

To use the Bestiary, currently you'll have to be using Google Chrome as your browser.  Apparently it's the only browser that fully supports the Bestiary's requirements.  I'm fine with that.  I've been using Chrome as my Runescape client for a long time now.  The Jagex client has a tendency to randomly crash on my computer, but Chrome is stable.  Firefox is my favorite browser, but I wanted something completely separate for Runescape.  So I work and browse in Firefox, but Runescape in Chrome.

Looks like I'm not alone, either.  Jagex says Chrome is the single most popular browser for Runescapers.

Additional requirements:  Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, Mac OSX, Linux, or Android 4.0 (or higher).  To use Android, you'll have to be running Chrome beta for Android.

Oh, unless you're using iOS.  At this time, the Bestiary cannot be viewed from an iPad or iPhone.  Possibly in the near future.

If you haven't taken a look, click HERE and go see it.  Now if they can create a weapon and armor guide using the same format, that would be cool.
 

Addendum... What I Would Like To See

This is just my wishful thinking, but wouldn't it be cool?

I'd like to see a Weapon/Armor guide:  Like the Bestiary, but your character would be standing on the stage.  You could select what kind of combat you intend (melee, magic, ranged, or the different hybrids), and based on your characters' current stats you would be shown the highest equipment you could currently use.  Arrows up or down would let you see any equipment below or above that, so you can plan for the future, or try to find an option to fit a budget.  Kind of like a point and click combat planner.