Pray Hit Eat - Melee Combat in Runescape

How do you fight in Runescape?  More specifically, what's your melee style? 

Pray Hit Eat- it pays to have high prayer levels!

 I was discussing Jad with a friend recently, and the subject kind of drifted in sideways.  Being a high-level player, I tend to rely on lots of prayer, Attack/Strength, and hit points.  For most ordinary monsters, that's generally sufficient.  Which is good, because I spectacularly fail when it comes to complicated combat styles.  Jad in the Fight Caves took me two months to beat.  I only succeeded because I found out you can kill him with deflect prayers and never actually have to fight Jad.

Same thing with Nomad.  I studied every guide out there, tried it all, and finally beat him mainly by persistence, luck, and by having high stats.    Before the big fight, when Monique and I were doing the Nomad quest, we came to the maze of exploding floating platforms you had to jump across.  Monique was cautiously threading her way through, trying to jump only to ones that wouldn't explode.  About 1/3 through, she looked over at me, to see me just waiting for her at the end.

"How did you get there?"

Me: "I ran"

Monique:  "How'd you know where to run?"

Me:  "I didn't... I just ran."

Got to the end with hit points to spare, ate some food, ready for the next phase.  And Monique?  Well, she got to the end in pretty good shape, and her method was much more elegant than mine.

This pretty much explains my approach to most combat as well.  I do my research, try to face it intelligently, but rely heavily on the "Pray Hit Eat" method of survival.  I'm just not coordinated enough to get truly elegant.  Survival is the goal, and it doesn't have to be pretty.  Just effective.

In the long run, my technique has limited effectiveness.  But with higher stats, I can afford to be a bit sloppy.  So, how do YOU melee?  With wit, charm, and style?  Or "Pray Hit Eat?" 

Being a Wandering Vagabond in Runescape

Hanging with the StykeWyrms on my beautiful island retreat

 After all this time, working towards one major goal, then another...
First it was 99 Summoning so I could max my combat.  Then, I had to get 99 Prayer, for the same goal.  Once I got 138 combat, it was time to get 99 Construction.  Got that, though I'm still saving up to max out the house.  Can't believe it's 25 million just for one simple little demon throne!
Somewhere in there, the achievement diaries came out, then they became the Task System.  I wanted the Elite level for all tasks.  The armor, the teleports, the special rewards... the Taskmaster Emote!  Killing Jad, which was part of the elite tasks for Karamja.

Now that I'm retired, I can relax and go fishing

I recently got the Taskmaster emote, and while there are plenty of things I want to do, for a change I don't have any obsessively driven things to do.  Sure, I want to get all the new spells and rewards from Livid Farm.  And I want to get at least 90 Agility.  And 99 Slayer.
As an aside, I keep going to Kuradal (spelling?) hoping she'll assign Fight Caves.  It's funny, how I hated Jad and the Fight Cave so much.  But by the time I'd figured out a way I could beat Jad, I kind of enjoyed it.  I don't want to go back for no reason, but I keep hoping I'll get him as a slayer boosted assignment.

I'm at 96 Fishing, and currently am relaxing at the Fishing Guild while I do a little one-handed Barbarian Shark Fishing.  It's kind of fun to be able to do it, though I don't really see a huge speed increase.  I think for normal fishing, I'll stick with Rocktails.
I've been Slaying for the last few days.  Sometimes I'll go over to the Gnome Advanced Agility Course.  I'll flip an  hour or two at the Grand Exchange.  Now maybe I can even explore Dungeoneering - finally!

In all honesty, it's kind of nice just doing what I want to.  I've been driven to reach those difficult goals for so long now, Runescape's almost become like work.  Finally, I'm relaxing.  Whatever the mood is, that's how I play.  I really enjoy combat, so Slayer's been getting a lot of my time.  But I'm not obsessing over it.

Goals are good.  It really gives you a sense of accomplishment to set a hard goal, and after lots of work, actually achieve it.  But wow... just wandering aimlessly has a lot going for it.  I drive hard when I'm going for a goal.  Now, I'm enjoying Runescape.  My biggest goal is to save up enough gold to finish my house.  Let's see, 2 thrones, there's 50 million.  A few dragons in the dungeon, at about 10 million each, that's probably another 50 million.  Maxing the odds and ends of each room in the house, I'm guessing I'll need between 125 million and 150 million.  I'm about a third of the way right now, but I don't want to spend all my seed money.  I use maybe 50 million for trading when I'm flipping.  It fluctuates a lot, based on what I'm trading at the moment, but usually it's commodities.  Essence, Runes, Food, Wood... The stuff that's always in demand.

When I get close to enough money, I'll probably start obsessing like usual.  But for now, I'm just the happy wanderer.  Check out the pubs in Falador, Varrock, Brimhaven, etc... you'll probably find me knocking back a few beers with the local rednecks!

New Guide to the Fight Cave - How to Kill Jad the Easy Way!

Fight Cave.

Jad.  Prayer potions, Rocktail, no weapon.

Ancient Curses, Deflects, no healers.

Runescape Fight Cave: How To Kill Jad The Easy Way and Win the Fire Cape
Got it?  If you want a bit more detail, keep reading.  Or just click the link above.

As I mentioned last time, I finally beat Jad, and as promised, have written a guide about it.  I didn't originally intend to turn it into a guide.  It was supposed to be just a blog, a chance to vent a bit and get it out of my system.  But it kept getting longer, and longer... and I finally had to admit there was the makings of a pretty good guide.  So that's what it became.
     I was really wrapped up in TzTok-Jad.  I'm so bad at that kind of fighting, but I'm very good at obssessing over a game.  Worked at it until it worked for me.  But after it was done I couldn't let go.  Close my eyes, I'd see Jad.  In the quiet of the night, I'd hear the "boom-boom" of his magic attacks.
     So I wrote about it.  That's how I clear my head, and it worked.  But when it was done, there was a 6,500 word guide on Jad, designed for people like me... people who just can't seem to figure it out, and when they did, couldn't get coordinated enough to make it work.
     Pictures... it needed lots of pictures.  I had to make a couple of trips back to Jad to get all the pics of the Fight Cave I needed.  My computer's not fast enough to take video while playing the game.  But pics, I can do.  Both times I went back, I used this technique again.  Both times, I got another Fire Cape.

Some of Jad's henchmen

I'm satisfied.  If a klutz like me can beat the Fight Cave, win a Fire Cape, and defeat Jad, then this is a method that works.  In my opening sentence, I gave you the entire technique.  But in the guide, I break it down step by step, and teach you how to get past the 62 Waves without memorizing... 62 waves.
If you have Ancient Curses, and level 68 or higher Prayer...  and could never beat Jad, or even get past those darn healers... I've got the solution.  Read the guide.  Then go kill Jad.  As often as you like!


By the way, for those who remember why I wanted to kill Jad...

I needed to wear a Fire Cape to complete the Karamja tasks

Finished the Power of Lava

After all of that, my last Karamja task.  I now have the Karamja 4 gloves!

Runescape Fight Cave Jad Defeated Fire Cape Mine!

Jad Defeated at last - I finally won the Fire Cape at the Fight Cave!!

If you've read nearly any of my other posts, you know I've been hung up with beating the Fight Cave for a long time now.  Really didn't want to take on Jad at all, but my goal of getting all the Elite Tasks meant I had to sooner or later.
I'd try, get tired of it, do something else.  Then go again.  It's been a couple of months this way, and I just couldn't get the hang of it.  Yes, my hand-to-eye coordination is really bad.  I'm a hard-learner. 
But last weekend, I left work knowing in my heart this was going to be the weekend I did it.  I've been working very hard at learning how, and what to do.  I've learned a technique that simplifies killing Jad, and finally even someone like me can beat him!!  And yes, I'm writing it up as a guide, should have it posted in the next few days, maybe this weekend.  I know, there's tons of guides out there, but this is more for my sake- after finally finding a way that works for me, I just have to write about it!  Most of the writing is done, but I need to go back for pictures.  My computer's not fast enough to take video and play the game at the same time, but I'm at least going to provide my own pictures for the guide.  I wasn't about to worry with pics for my real try, but I'll go back now that I've beat him, just to get the pictures.

But wow, when old TzTok-Jad finally roared and keeled over on his side, you wouldn't believe how excited I got.  In 50 years, I've always been the quiet type.  But I had so much adrenaline, it just had to come out.  Threw back my head, and let out a wild rebel whoop that brought Monique on the run, half afraid I'd had a heart attack!

So, now I've got a Fire Cape.  I may not have wanted to fight Jad for it, but since I have it now, I'm going to enjoy it.  Best of all, now I'm clear to get the Karamja Elite Tasks reward.  All I have to do is a few more slayer tasks, and I'll have it.

Okay, these guys weren't so much fun

My tasks have been pretty fun so far... mostly.  Wasn't too thrilled with the Skeletal Wyverns.  Loved getting the Abyssal Demons.  Got two Abyssal Whips during that task, about 2 minutes apart!  Then there was the Nechryaels, which go by quickly at least.  So far, 2 Dark Beast assignments, those are fun.  I knew they dropped the Dark Bow, and assorted mildly interesting items.  But the big surprise was the 1,000 noted Raw Swordfish!  That was pretty neat.
 In case you didn't know, Raw Swordfish currently sells for 278 gold.  So 1,000 noted swordfish is worth 278,000 gold!  Add that to the nearly 1/2 million gold a Dark Bow is worth, and it was a profitable trip!

I especially like the Dark Beasts because they're so easy, if you've got a little strategy going.  Dress for Prayer, use Ancient Curses.  Set for Deflect Melee, and Leech Attack.  When you're out of prayer, use Ardougne Tasks cape to teleport to the Kandarin Monastery, recharge prayer. 

Use an Elf Crystal with a Temple teleport to get back to the Dark Beasts.  When you need a quick bank trip, use the Ring of Kinship for infinite free teleports to a bank.  I usually kill 6 or 7 per prayer recharge. Dark Beasts never quit being aggressive, no matter how long you've been there.  So it's very easy to get there, set up, and then just monitor it now and then to make sure you're not out of prayer. 

In the meantime, I can do something else... like write this blog!  I'm fortunate enough to have a desktop computer, and a netbook.  While Runescape's playing on the top monitor, I'm typing away at this guide.  And taking pictures for the blog in real-time as I type...

I know the description of how I fight Dark Beasts is very abbreviated.  If you're interested in more detail, leave me a comment.  If there's any interest, I'll post a blog with a better step by step to the method.  But I kept it short, because I kind of figured if you have the things I mentioned, you'll know what I mean.  And if you don't have them, or know what I'm talking about, chances are, the guide wouldn't do you any good for a long time.

Always on the run!

As of this moment, I've got about 111 more Dark Beasts, then one more assignment berfore I can get the Elite Karamja Gloves!

Runescape Book for Christmas, and Mr. Mordaut Random Event

 Got the Runescape book, Betrayal at Falador; haven't started it yet, but it's going into my "books to be read" stack, pretty near the top!
I haven't been playing too much over Christmas.  Aside from the usual holiday upheavals, I wound up with strep throat over the entire weekend.  If I logged into Runescape at all, it was mainly to update my grand exchange transactions.  If I let them sit unattended, it tends to lose money rather than make money.
I've finally bitten the bullet and tried to beat Jad in the fight cave.  Getting there takes forever, but is easy enough to do.  But Jad?  I really stink at prayer switching.  The first time he killed me before I even saw him.  The second time, I got to see him, and managed to survive for a few seconds before he took me out.  Getting there is such a pain, I hate spending an hour or two only to be killed right away.  I wish they had a 'practice Jad'.  Something that lets you walk right in, fight him, but get no rewards if you win.  Then you could go for the real thing with a better chance of success.  Oh well, if they made it too easy it would devalue the fire cape.  I'll just keep at it.  If a million monkeys on a million keyboards in a million years can randomly result in a bestselling book, then sooner or later I should be able to win just through sheer persistence.  I wish I could devote some serious time to practice, but I'll have to make do with one or two tries a week.
In the meantime, I got my favorite random event this weekend.  I'm speaking of "Surprise Exam", with Mr. Mordaut the erudite dragon.  I like the way he looks and acts.  The graphics are excellent, and the way he takes his glasses off and examines them really does make me think of a teacher I once had.  It's pretty cool too when he thumps the desk.  His classroom is fun, with plenty of characters at their desks. (and the imp marching a circle in his dunce cap!)

But, as enjoyable as all these features are, that's not why I love his event.  The part I really like is the payoff... The Book of Knowledge!  Where most randoms give you the genie lamp, Mr Mordaut's book of knowledge gives 'pay and a half'.  It pays out half again better than the genie lamp!

Most randoms are just annoying, even with the experience reward.  Though it's much better since the update that allows you to choose your own reward.  Not going to turn down the smaller rewards, but I like Mr Mordaut the best.  He and his classroom have a lot of personality, and the rewards are more worthwhile.

Change of Pace - Trying out the Chaos Dwarf Battlefield

With Thanksgiving, time to do my usual routine is severely curtailed.  But I had my goal of re-purchasing my set of Armadyl armor by this weekend, as part of my Fight Caves attempt.  Lack of time to do my grand exchange flips slowed me down a lot.  And then, the market price of most things I like to flip had begun fluctuating wildly, making it hard to consistently profit from it.  So I pulled some of my G. E. orders until things settle.  And I spent that money on my Armadyl suit.  I know, bad budgeting.  Now I'll be forever building up enough gold to keep all six slots full with my grand exchange flips.  But... I got my armor!  You'd think I would dash straight to the fight caves and make some practice runs.  I almost did.  Then I decided to do some moneymaking activities.  I've been tanking Avies for a few days, that always goes well.  But I wanted a change of pace, and I'd seen on the Runescape forums where people were doing well on the Chaos Dwarf Battlefield.  I've never really gone back after the quest that opened it (Forgiveness of a Chaos Dwarf).  So I geared up, and went to the battlefield.  It lived up to it's name - chaotic!  But after a while, when they quit being hostile, it settled into a standard routine.  I was a bit of fun, but the best drops I got were ammo for the hand cannon, and muddy keys.  When I can play again, I don't know if I'll go back immediately.  The Chaos Dwarf Battlefield looks like more of a long-term commitment than a steady income, and I prefer the Avies for a good steady income while having fun. 
If you'd like to try the Chaos Dwarf Battlefield out for yourself (after all, it's the only place Dragon Pickaxes are dropped, which are worth 14 million) Wiki has a good guide to get you started:  Chaos Dwarf Battlefield Wiki
In the meantime, as much as I'm dreading it, the fight caves are looming closer and closer on my horizon.

Marking time and making money on Runescape... Jad and the Fight Caves

The last few days have been focused mainly on trying to recover some gold.  After buying the Armadyl Chestplate, it had left me pretty strapped for cash.  So I'm still flipping investments on the Grand Exchange, and actually have done pretty well.  I'm not a high-level investor, I just flip a few things when they're buying/selling well.  Like Pure Essence, that's always done pretty well.  As of tonight, I'm back up to about 8 million.  I've been supplementing my flips with trips to the Aviansies.  They may not be the fastest cash I could do, but they're reasonably fast cash, and fun.  If I really wanted fast, I'd make double natures.  I think that's probably the fastest skill I have for making money. 
Regardless, I'm working toward buying back my Armadyl armor.  It was sold to help level up a skill, and I want it back now because I'm going to do Jad at the fight caves.  I've never cared about the Fire Cape, and didn't want to be tied down for hours without being able to stop at my leisure.  Plus, I'm not very good at multi-tasking.  I think Jad will kill me many many times, because I don't think I'll be very good at prayer switching and keeping everything going all at once. 
But it's time to try.  All my combat skills, including ranging and magic, are maxed.  I've done all the quests.  My character has the levels to get me there, but I lack the real-time fighting skills.  If it weren't for the Elite Acheivement Diaries, I'd be happy just to let Jad live.  But I want all of the Elite rewards.  Not so much because they're cool, though some of them are.  But just because that's a goal I set for myself.  I got the Ardougne Elite Cape back when it first became available.  Then I got the Seers Village Elite, which gave me the double-enhanced sword Excalibur.  I really wanted that sword... healing 400 points and getting 15 extra defense every few minutes is a huge plus!  Then I got the Falador Elite Shield.  Now, I have all the required skills to get the Karamja Elite reward, but I have to actually beat Jad in the fight caves to get it.  Which leaves me where I am now, scrambling to get enough money to buy the gear I want to use. 
This is going to be tough, because I'm so bad at that kind of fighting.  Usually, I just bulldoze my way through things and hope for the best.  This time, it's going to take finesse.  I'll probably be down in the fight caves for months.  Wish me luck.  Oh, if you've got any advice, please share it with me!