Runescape: Hello, Frost Dragons!

A day or so ago, I posted about retro fun with Red Dragons.  It was enjoyable, relaxing, and easy.  Went to the Blue Dragons for a while, but as suspected, even the resource dungeon was crowded.  Thinking about dragons, and resource dungeons, reminded me of Frost Dragons.

Last time Frost Dragons came up on the radar was when Monique and I were going through all the resource dungeons for the Dungeoneering exp.  At that time, we couldn't get into the Frost Dragon dungeon, and it just hasn't come up again since then. I had read, before the bot-bomb, that it was overcrowded.  Before even researching how to fight them, a quick visit was in order.  Crowds?  Nope.  The place was half empty.  Cool.

Time to study.  Thank goodness for Google!  Found a few guides that got me started.  Following the layout that sounded best, I headed out to do battle.  I died.  Lucky me, saw it coming, and hit the House Teletab.  Death inside the player owned house is desirable, because you don't lose anything.  Relieved, happy, still have my stuff... but what went wrong?

Looking over my mistakes, the first was not bringing enough food.  As a newbie to the Frost Dragons, food should have been a bigger priority.  Would have bought some more time to get used to things.  Other big mistake was just not keeping the proper prayers on, not balancing all the details.  There's a lot to track.  I'm a klutz with combat anyway, but this is good practice.  I probably didn't react quickly enough to the spinning orb, either.  The final error was in not understanding how to use the Yak special, Winter Storage Scroll.  Odd, huh?  All this time with 99 Summoning, I've never bothered to use the Winter Storage Scroll before. 

Rebalancing the inventory, I went out to take my chances once more.  This time went much better.  It was frenetic, nerve-wracking, and crazy.  Kept track of Anti-fires, Overloads, Prayer potions, managed all the prayer switching reasonably well...  and kept my hit points decent the whole trip.  Even kept up with sending the bones to the bank.

Used Reverence Aura.  The Rune Arrows were Frost Dragon drops

 Just before the Yak timed out, the Frost Dragons got me multiple times for more damage than was comfortable.  Time to hit the panic button.  Leave the cannon behind, it's not worth it.  Arrived at my POH with 39 life points left.  Good enough.  Went to Varrock, checked the bank, and found exactly 100 Frost Dragon Bones.  Sold them for about 1 and 3/4 million gold pieces.  Which took about the lifespan of a Pack Yak.  Life is good.

Still need to play with the inventory, but this was the first GOOD one.

During my longer trip, it did get crowded a little.  Not enough to ruin things, just enough to have to wait for a dragon now and then.  When I got out, it was definitely time for a break.  But it was fun, and something worth going back for.  Paying for supplies will cut into the profit, but still, well worth the time.

Runescape: Slacking Off With the Red Dragons

Had a little retro fun recently.  I know, at high combat levels we're supposed to do 'bigger' things, take more risks, defeat major boss monsters.  Well, I'm not so good at that stuff.  And the next big thing for me is going to be the Fight Kiln.  I've had some good suggestions from online friends, Wiki has a lot of info, and when I've rebuilt my income a bit, I'm going for it.

In the interests of making easy money, Monique and I spend a couple of days doing the 'daily tasks' rounds.  You know, battlestaves, yak hides, sand from Bert, chocolate from Lumbridge.  All those things.  We tried to limit it to the most time-efficient and profitable items.  After a couple of days, we realized we can easily make more money using other methods.  The only things that were fast AND profitable were Battlestaves (including Baba Yaga's), and unfinished Broad Bolts.  So we're junking the whole route, and just hitting the high points.  

Plus we're going to keep doing red sand for 6-potion flasks.  Monique sells hers, but I'm saving mine up for my Fight Kiln attempts.  My crafting skill's a bit low, but with last weekend's dragon-hide crafting blitz, I can make flasks with the help of a crafting potion.

In the meantime, I've been looking at moneymaking options and seeing what sounds fun.  Because, after all, this is a game, and the biggest factor is having fun.  After considering and rejecting several tried and true methods, and a few that I haven't tried yet, I decided to slay some dragons.  

What do you consider when you're choosing dragons to kill?  Greens?  Too much competition.  Blues?  Love them- fast and easy.  I may go try the resource dungeon and see how crowded it is.  Black dragons?  Again, I love doing them, but they require more time, and extra resources to fight them efficiently.  

How about Reds?  Hmmm... an often under-utilized dragon.  Not as easy as greens and blues.  Easier than the black dragons.  I did briefly consider the metal dragons, but just wasn't feeling it.  Reds were sounding pretty good.  Especially considering ease of access.  With a modified home teletab, I can teleport directly to Brimhaven, landing very close to the Karamja dungeon.  With the Karamja gloves 4 there's free access to the dungeon, and a direct shortcut to the red dragons.  And with the new toolbelt, a low-level axe is always handy to cut through the vines.  

For the return journey, use a house teletab, and on the way through, recharge summoning and prayer points.  Bring a Yak, and it winds up as a very cost-efficient procedure.  No prayer potions, no super-sets, no overloads.  Just my best melee gear, Dragonfire shield, and anti-fire potions.  24 Red Dragonhides and 24 Dragon Bones per trip, plus alching whatever drops are worthwhile.  (Got a Rune 2-hander last night.)

For healing, it's the Enhanced Excalibur, and Prayer Flashing with Ancient Curses.  Quick Prayers are set to Soul Split and Turmoil.  On a good trip, it takes almost no prayer at all.  On the worst trip so far, I had 190 Prayer points left.  A quick recharge at the POH, drop the swag off at the Grand Exchange, and ready to go again.

On the average, profits are near 200k per trip, and each trip usually runs around 20 minutes.  At +/- 600k per hour, I've made more money doing other stuff, but this is fun, easy, and keeps me going back and forth enough to stay interesting.  I suppose I could even work some 'flipping' on the GE in between, but haven't felt like it recently.

You say I'm wasting my time?  Could be making more, working more efficiently, doing higher-level things?  I say I'm having fun.  And making money.  Both goals of the moment.  When it becomes tiresome, I'll switch to something else.  Or, when it feels like I've recovered enough gold, it might be time to give the Fight Kiln a serious run.  I'm pretty eager to try the Fight Kiln, so maybe I'll rotate back and forth a bit.

 

And to my friend who offered helpful advice, commiseration when I've had a bad day, and has recently had one of the worst Runescape days in history...  Thanks for the help, the thoughts, and I hate that you had such a huge loss - Best of luck in recovering what you lost.

Runescape: They Ruined Baby TzRek-Jad!

I logged in today, took one look at my favorite pet, and all I could say was "Oh, No!"

Now that the TzHaar update has come and gone, I figured Baby Jad wasn't going to get an update.  And honestly, while I had been hoping for something cool, it really didn't bother me when they left him alone.

New Baby Jad

But today, I logged in while sitting down to lunch, and my heart just sank.  Now he's got this stupid lavender armor, and lost a lot of the really cool crackled lava look.  His skin is smoother, and a lighter red. 

I want to stand under the moon and howl "Ruined!!"...

Monique was teasing me, and said I should get rid of him.  With great dignity, I told her you don't kick a loved one out just because they've lost their looks.

Old Baby Jad

So, yeah, he's still Baby Jad.  He's still mine.  I'm still proud of him.  Took a lot of work and time to get.  But I wish they hadn't done it.

Given Jagex's history, I'm sure they won't roll him back.  All I can hope is they'll take another crack at it, and do a better job.  Small hope, but it's what I've got.  I don't usually complain about Runescape.  Most of the time I really enjoy it.  Just needed a short rant.

Thanks.  I'm better now.  Baby Jad and me are gonna go play.

Runescape: Mining, Agility, Crafting, Fight Kiln... need more Gold!

I usually have no trouble staying focused.  But with all the recent events and updates on Runescape, I've been bouncing from one thing to the next without ever giving it my whole attention.
Way back before Hati  and Skoll came out, I was happily mining concentrated gold in the Living Rock cavern.  Working toward a 99.

Nice walkthrough for Hati and Skoll

Before getting very far, the wolf twins started harassing our friends in Fremennick.  So Monique and I geared up, and trundled over to give the wolves what for.  Not really that hard, but fun for a change of pace.  Skoll was interesting, simply because he was new and different.  The graphics were very well-done.  Runescape has come a long way in the look and feel of the game.  Hati, of course, gives the double-combat-exp gloves.  Monique got her mileage from them by getting 98 in Defense at Ape Atoll.  Dharok, gorillas, prayer... very fast experience.
Skoll dropped boots, which gave double Agility, which I can defenitely make use of.

So, goodbye concentrated gold.  Hello, Advanced Gnome Agility Course.  The boots brought me to 90, and most of the way to 91 at the Barbarian Advanced course.  (The new Elder Kiln quest did the rest of that level.)

Then, of course, the Elder Kiln quest... Love it.  Intrigued by the Fight Kiln minigame.  I suck at Jad, but have actually beaten him a few times.  Really looking forward to doing the Fight Kiln.  I'm sure I'll die many times, but still want to try.  But... need more money first, to fund all the needed supplies.

About this time, Monique told me she's been making good money mining her 50 Red Sandstone a day, and turning it into Robust Glass Flasks.  Sounded good, so grabbed my pick-axe, and hi-ho... off to work I go.  Mining, no problem.  Using the machine to make Robust Glass, easy.  Uh-oh...  my crafting is too low!!!!!

Doggone it.  So, with Monique's tremendous assistance (From buying my first 1000 black dragon hides, to helping me get Sacred Clay Needles) I spent the weekend getting 86 Crafting.  Took quite a few crafting potions to do it, and something like 20 million gold.  Wait a minute, I was supposed to be MAKING money!

Mining the Sandstone

Okay, now with the help of more Crafting potion, I can make Robust Glass Flasks.  Hmmm, weren't they supposed to be useful in the Fight Kiln?  Maybe I won't sell them after all.  So here I am, with my brand new Crafting levels, down by 20 million gold, and... NOT making money from flasks.  :^(

Making Robust Glass

Got that critical level now!

In the meantime, I did take just a couple of minutes to get killed quickly in the Fight Kiln.  No intention of truly trying for it.  Just wanted to pay the Fire Cape, and try a wave or two.  Went in with Armour and whip.  No food.  No potions.  No bolts.  Didn't want to spend ANY money yet.  Made it to level 5.  Fair enough.

And Finally Making 6-potion Flasks!

Now, I'm back to needing money to fund my Fight Kiln attempts.  Runecrafted for a while.  Boring.  Flipped some essence.  Slow.  So, it's either my old favorites, the Avies, or maybe Black Dragons.  Dragons are fun.  Decent profit, with the chance of some good special drops.

So, let's sum it up.  I've recently been a miner, acrobat, crafter, and fighter.  Now it's time to make more money.

Focused?  About as tightly focused as a butterfly in a field of daisies.  Well, we'll see how it goes.