RuneScape is played by millions of people from a great many different countries and a wide range of cultural backgrounds. The RuneScape player community is much like the larger, real-world community: while most people within it are honest, courteous and respectful of others, there are a small number of individuals whose behaviour has the potential to alienate or offend. It is for this reason that we have an Offence System, which has been designed to help protect our players from this disruptive minority.

If, in the course of play, you come into contact with another player whose behaviour you consider offensive or aggressive, there are a number of options available to you. The first is to add the player to your Ignore List, or adjust your chat settings, so they cannot continue to bother you. Most minor incidents can be dealt with in this way, and neither you nor Jagex will need to take any further action.

Sometimes, however, you might encounter a player whose behaviour is particularly offensive. In such cases, you can use the Report Abuse feature to report the player to the Jagex Player Support team. Player Support will then investigate the incident, and if the reported player is deemed to have behaved inappropriately, or broken any of our rules, appropriate action will be taken to minimise the chances of that player causing further disruption.

Occasionally, innocent players might find themselves falsely accused of committing an offence, perhaps because they made an innocuous comment that was misinterpreted by another player. For this reason, reported incidents will be investigated thoroughly, and any evidence will be carefully evaluated, to ensure that innocent players are not given unwarranted penalties. Players who feel that they have been falsely accused of committing an offence should submit an appeal via the account management page.

The RuneScape rules are organised into three categories: Honour, Respect and Security. Please take some time to familiarise yourself with these rules before playing RuneScape.

You can use any world that you like to play RuneScape (with the exception that only members can access members’ worlds), however, there are some activities players like to do in certain worlds and other activities that can only be done in certain worlds. We’ve assigned these activities to certain worlds to make it easier for you to find like-minded players.

In the world list below, the activities in white text shows those worlds we suggest for player activities – e.g. trading, activities, rune running, etc. You don’t have to do these things in these worlds, but you might find it both easier and more enjoyable to do so – imagine a game of Castle Wars with over a thousand other people! We’ve matched these up with what players were already doing in these worlds.

For these suggested activities, if you find that the listed world is unavailable for some reason, feel free to go to any other world – you can still do these things in any world you like. If you can’t find other people doing the same things, please check the Forums; many players post threads explaining which worlds they like going to.

For those activities that can only be done in certain worlds – e.g. game features such as LootShare – we have listed these in yellow text in the Activity column of the table below. High-risk Wilderness worlds are listed in red because of the danger involved; you will be warned of this danger if you attempt to log into one, saving you from accidentally entering these deadly worlds.

The following list shows those worlds with suggested and dedicated activities.

If some of the suggested activities in the table above are unclear, here are a few explanations:

Returning to your gravestone

RuneScape isn’t all rolling pastures and cosy woods, as Lumbridge might have you believe: there are dungeons with streams of magma, tall peaks populated by wolves, the vampyre-ruled lands of Morytania, the Wilderness, and many more dangers besides. On your journeys around these lands it is likely that your character will be slain – probably many times!

This isn’t something to be too afraid of, as your character will always ‘respawn’ in perfect health (although probably missing a few items; more on that later).

If you are a relative newcomer to RuneScape, you will visit the home of the Grim Reaper when you die. Don’t fear the Reaper: he is surprisingly friendly and will give you pointers about dying and what to expect when it happens. At all other times, when your character dies, you will respawn in the grounds of Lumbridge Castle. By completing quests, members will be able to move this respawn location to somewhere more convenient, depending on their needs.

• To respawn in Falador, complete the Recruitment Drive quest.
• To respawn in Camelot, complete the King’s Ransom quest.
• To respawn at Soul Wars, complete the Nomad’s Requiem quest.

In normal situations, when your character dies, you are only allowed to retain your three most valuable items. Be aware that an item’s value is decided by the game, not by the item’s current guide price. Any other items you are carrying will drop on the ground where you died.

To find out which items you will keep, you can look at your ‘Items Kept on Death’ interface. Read the Controls – Inventory article to find out more about this feature.

When outside of the PvP areas of the Wilderness, any items you drop when you die will be protected by a gravestone (see below) for a certain amount of time. Once that time elapses, your tradeable items will be visible to all players, who are free to pick up the items for one minute before they disappear.

While in PvP areas of the Wilderness, you will not drop a gravestone and your items will become immediately visible to the player who dealt the most damage to you before your death. That player will then be able to pick up those items for a period of one minute – after this time, the items become visible to all other players. If you are killed by other methods in the Wilderness, or if you drop items deliberately on the floor, your items will become immediately visible to everyone in the vicinity, and they will be able to pick those items up. In all of these instances, it is unlikely that you will be able to return to the point where you died to retrieve your items. This makes the Wilderness a truly high-risk area to explore. Read here for more information on getting started in the Wilderness.

Abyss/PK skull

The number of items you retain on death is dependent on if you are ‘skulled’. This is denoted by a skull, identical to the one above, appearing on your game screen. You are ‘skulled’ when you enter the Abyss, or when you attack a player in a PvP area of the Wilderness (as long as that player has not attacked you recently). If skulled, you will drop ALL of your items, and you will not keep three items as you would have at any other time. A gravestone will appear if you die in the Abyss, allowing you to return to the spot where you died, while no gravestone will appear when you die in the Wilderness. Instead, if you are killed by a player in the Wilderness, your items will be immediately visible to other players. They may then pick up or ‘win’ the items you drop in this way.

If your Prayer level is high enough, you will be able to use the ‘Protect Item’ prayer or curse to hold on to one extra item when you die. So, if you die normally, you will be able to retain four items, and if you are skulled and die in the Wilderness or Abyss, you will hold onto one item. You will not be able to use the ‘Protect Item’ prayer or curse on Extra Hard Wilderness worlds.

There is a chance that you can get your items back, as long as you’re quick or have friends near where you were slain. Unless you were killed in PvP areas of the Wilderness (at which point your items drop to the floor and become immediately visible to other players), you will drop your items when you die and a gravestone will appear at that spot, guarding your possessions and acting as a warning to others. This gravestone will remain in place for between five and fifteen minutes (depending on your gravestone – see below). A timer will appear in the game window letting you know how long your gravestone has left, and the icon to the left will appear on the world map (as long as you have the ‘You are here’ marker visible) to let you know where your gravestone is. Please note that if you died in an area for which there isn’t a map (like the Underground Pass), you obviously won’t be able to see it on the map, but your gravestone will be there and the timer will count down as normal.

If you die in a special area, such as certain times in quests, your gravestone will appear next to the entrance to that area, giving you a chance to collect your items without having to worry about being killed again.

As your time runs out, your gravestone will begin to crumble. A friendly player can fix up your gravestone by right-clicking and selecting ‘Repair’. They need to have a Prayer level of 2 to do so. 

 Alternatively, a player may choose to ‘Bless’ your gravestone, imbuing it with the strength of their faith to keep it in place for up to an hour. This requires a Prayer level of 70.

Note that, regardless of when the gravestone was blessed, it will crumble to dust one hour after you died. It will also collapse if you die again and drop more items, although your items may remain available for a while longer if your gravestone has been repaired or blessed recently. If you lose your connection or log out, your gravestone will continue to count down.

To make it easier to get to your items when you return, you (and only you!) can right-click on your gravestone and select ‘Demolish’. This won’t make your items vanish immediately, so you should still be able to pick them up before they despawn.

To change your gravestone you’ll first need to complete The Restless Ghost. If you’ve done that, you can speak to Father Aereck in Lumbridge Church and offer a small donation to one of his charities for the following options; the more expensive gravestones will protect your items for longer before collapsing, as you can see in the ‘Duration’ column.

Note that the type of gravestone you have will not increase the length of time repairing or blessing it holds it in place.

You will retain your gravestone style until you buy a new one.

Style	Cost	Duration		Style	Cost	Duration
Memorial Plaque	None	5 minutes		Flag	50 coins	6 minutes
Small Gravestone	500 coins	6 minutes		Ornate Gravestone	5,000 coins	8 minutes

Members who have also completed The Giant Dwarf can speak to Blasidar the sculptor in Keldagrim to get access to a greater range of gravestones, as well as the basic memorial plaque. Blasidar’s house can be found just east of the Consortium Palace.

Style	Cost and Requirements	Duration		Style	Cost and Requirements	Duration
Memorial Plaque	None	5 minutes		Font of Life	50,000 coins	10 minutes
Stele	50,000 coins	10 minutes		Symbol of Saradomin	50,000 coins	10 minutes
Symbol of Zamorak	50,000 coins	10 minutes		Symbol of Guthix	50,000 coins	10 minutes
Symbol of Bandos	50,000 coins Land of the Goblins	10 minutes		Symbol of Armadyl	50,000 coins Temple of Ikov	10 minutes
Ancient Symbol	50,000 coins Desert Treasure	10 minutes		Angel of Death	500,000 coins	12 minutes
Royal dwarven gravestone	500,000 coins King of the Dwarves	15 minutes

Yes! Your gravestone will look the same even when playing on a free world. Because many people there will not have access to the same range of styles, you’ll be able to spot your gravestone even more easily in an area littered with the bodies of the slain.

The Wilderness is the most dangerous and high risk area of RuneScape. If you have little or no experience of player-vs-player Wilderness, we strongly advise you to read this FAQ before venturing there.

The Wilderness is unlike the rest of RuneScape, as it hosts a number of features that make it a more hazardous and thrilling environment:

• The Wilderness is a player-vs-player environment, meaning that players can attack and kill you.
• In PvP areas of the Wilderness, you will not leave a gravestone behind when you die. Any items you drop will be visible to the player who did the most damage to you if you were player-killed. Only take items that you are prepared to risk!
• Manually drop items on the floor and they will appear immediately to all players.
• Attack another player without them attacking you recently, and you will become skulled. If you die while skulled, you will drop all of your items.
• Many areas of the Wilderness are multi-way, meaning that more than one opponent can attack you at any one time.

1. What is the Wilderness?

The Wilderness is a barren area that dominates the north of RuneScape, and the majority of it is free to be explored by both members and F2P. It has often been considered the most dangerous area in RuneScape.

The Wilderness is the place to go if you wish to fight and kill players that you come across, in an activity known as ‘player-killing’ or ‘pking’. Player-killing is a thrilling and dangerous experience, as death can mean losing your items, but you can also win items from any opponents you manage to slay yourself!

2. Where is the Wilderness? How can I get there?

The Wilderness covers a huge space to the north of RuneScape. To get there from the surface, you will likely travel north from Varrock, Falador or Edgeville, crossing the Wilderness wall that warns players of the dangers ahead. If you accept these dangers, you will jump over the Wilderness wall and enter a small ‘safe haven’ area adjacent to it, where you cannot attack or be attacked by other players. Once past this area, you are in the Wilderness and ready to start player-killing! A skull icon appears on the side of your game screen to note that you are in the Wilderness, and you are given an indication of your Wilderness depth (but more on this later).

Many players cluster and prepare for battle in Edgeville before wandering into the Wilderness, so you may wish to join them here. You can enter the Wilderness from beneath, too: Edgeville Dungeon has a Wilderness gate that can be passed through (again, you will receive warnings before you may do so), taking you into PvP areas beneath the Wilderness.

3. How dangerous is the Wilderness? What happens if I die there?

Whatever your intention when you enter the Wilderness, you are in danger of being attacked and, potentially, killed by another player. As such, the Wilderness is very dangerous, and you should be prepared to lose any items you are carrying.

Dying and dropping items in the Wilderness is not the same as elsewhere in RuneScape. When you die outside of the Wilderness, you leave a gravestone behind, which protects your dropped items for an amount of time before the tradeable items become visible to all players.

In the Wilderness, no gravestones are left when you die. Although you still respawn as you would elsewhere in RuneScape, there is NO timer to pick up your items. Dropped tradeable items are immediately visible to the player who did the most damage to you before you died, and that player can pick up and keep your items as they see fit. If you drop items deliberately on the floor, they will immediately be visible to everyone else.

After one minute of being visible to the player who dealt the most damage, any remaining items then become visible to other players. Untradeable items will either disappear or appear in a tradeable form (cash, in an unenchanted form, in a degraded form, etc).

This means that killing another player in the Wilderness can give you an immediate reward. It also means that some or all of your items are likely to be lost if you are killed in the Wilderness. It is best to see the Wilderness as a thrilling and tempting risk, then, and one that you could potentially reap great rewards from. Try player-killing on a members’ world – you’ll find that the drops you receive are generally of a higher value than on any other world.

4. How many items do I get to keep if I die in the Wilderness? What is being ‘skulled’?

The number of items you retain when you die is dependent on whether you are ‘skulled’. It is also affected by whether you are using a Protect Item prayer or curse.

You can tell that you are ‘skulled’ if your character has a skull and crossbones icon above their head.

Death without a skull above your head: you retain the usual three items when you die. These three items are the ones with the highest alch value in your inventory and worn inventory. You can check which items you will keep by clicking the ‘Items Kept on Death’ button in your worn inventory.

Death with a skull above your head: you keep NONE of your items when you die. Instead, your tradeable items will drop and become immediately visible to the player who did the most damage to you (your PKer), and will become visible to all other players one minute later.

So, what makes you become skulled? You become ‘skulled’ when you initiate an attack on another player in the Wilderness AND that player has not previously attacked you recently. Once skulled, you become a tempting target for other player-killers, as other players know that you will drop all of your items when you die. You will remain skulled for 20 minutes.

You can also affect the number of items you drop by activating a ‘Protect Item’ prayer or curse. The prayer requires level 25 Prayer, while the curse requires level 50 Prayer. Once activated, the prayer and curse allow you to protect one additional item when you die; so, if you are skulled, you will retain one item on death, while you will retain four items if you die while not being skulled. On High-risk Wilderness Worlds, you cannot use the Protect Item prayer or curse in the Wilderness, making them an especially dangerous place to player-kill.

5. Who can I attack in the Wilderness? What does the Wilderness level mean?

There are limitations to who you can attack in the Wilderness. These limitations are designed to stop low-level players from immediately dying at the hands of high-level players waiting at the borders of the Wilderness.

There are three factors that determine who you can attack in the Wilderness: your combat level, your opponent’s combat level, and the depth of the Wilderness. You can view the depth of the Wilderness on your game display. The Wilderness stretches from a depth of level 1 to level 56, increasing as you move further north.

To determine whether you can attack someone in the Wilderness, or be attacked by that person, take your combat level and deduct the current Wilderness depth from that number. This number is the lowest combat level for a player that you can attack or be attacked by. If you have a combat level of 30 in a Wilderness depth of 5, you can only attack players who are level 25 or over, for example.

Now, take your combat level and add your current Wilderness depth to it. This is the highest combat level for a player that you can attack, or be attacked by. That level 30 player could attack or be attacked by players up to combat level 35.

This range of combat levels increases as you go deeper and deeper into the Wilderness. This means that the deepest levels of the Wilderness are the most dangerous, as more and more high-level players will be able to target you; on the flipside, there will be more opportunities to kill low-level players in these areas. Player-killing, then, is a fine balance, and soon becomes the art of picking players to attack and who to leave well alone!

6. What is multi-way combat?

The danger of the Wilderness is increased many times if you are in multi-way combat. Multi-way combat is limited to certain areas and dungeons of the Wilderness, and is denoted by a crossed-swords icon on your game screen. You will find pockets of multi-way combat throughout the Wilderness, with the Revenant Dungeon being a strong example. In these multi-way areas, you can be attacked by any number of players and creatures at one time, and you may attack opponents who are already in combat with other players. This makes multi-way areas particularly demanding, as the chance of dying and dropping items is greatly increased.

Multi-way combat also allows you to use your familiar in combat situations. Read here for more information on using familiars in PvP situations.

7. What can I take into the Wilderness?

It is possible to take all items into the Wilderness. Of course, it’s possible to lose all items in the Wilderness too! Tradeable and untradeable items are welcome in the Wilderness, although untradeable items will not drop on the ground for other players to see. In some cases, untradeable items will drop in a different, tradeable form – as a similar item to the one that was dropped, or as a cache of coins for the killer to collect.

Items cannot be lent in the Wilderness, lent items cannot be equipped in the Wilderness, and players who have lent items equipped will be informed that their item has been unequipped. Lent items cannot be used for non-combat purposes in the Wilderness either; for example, a dragon pickaxe cannot be used to mine runite in the Wilderness.

If you are under the effect of an extreme potion when you enter the Wilderness, it will be reduced to its ‘super’ potion equivalent. Extreme potions cannot be drunk in the Wilderness.

8. Can I use Summoning in the Wilderness?

Members can indeed use familiars in the Wilderness, and we highly recommend them – they can mean the difference between winning or losing! Whether taking a beast of burden into the Wilderness to act as food storage, or bringing a combat familiar to deal additional damage, a familiar can be of great benefit. Familiars can attack or be attacked in multi-way areas of the Wilderness (denoted by a crossed swords icon on your display). When outside of multi-way combat areas, your familiar cannot be right-clicked and attacked, nor can they target other players or creatures.

Familiars do not affect your combat level, in terms of deciding whether you can attack or be attacked by a player in a certain depth of the Wilderness. Instead, if a player is capable of summoning a familiar or has a familiar summoned while they are in a multi-way area, they will have a ‘+ X’ next to their combat level, where X is an addition to their combat level. This is for your reference, and informs you of what your opponent’s combat level would be with a familiar summoned and aiding them in battle.

9. How do I escape the Wilderness? What happens if I start losing a fight?

There will inevitably be battles that you start losing in the Wilderness. In these instances, you might want to escape and get away from your assailant. Be aware that this is the nature of the Wilderness: your death (and resulting items) will be a just reward for the player who manages to overcome you. With this in mind, it is prohibitively difficult to escape from a battle you are losing.

It is not impossible, however, particularly if your opponent is not paying full attention. Teleports will get you out of a combat situation; get hit by a Teleblock spell, however, and your escape attempt will be aborted. Be warned: teleport spells will not work beyond level 20 of the Wilderness, while teleportation jewellery will often not work beyond level 20 of the Wilderness. Only dragonstone jewellery is known to work up to level 30 of the Wilderness.

You might also fancy running away, but this is by no means a certain method of escape. Your opponent can move as fast as you can move, and they may have methods of restoring their run energy in an effort to chase you. To counteract this, it is recommended that you raise your Agility level and bring energy replenishing items to allow for quick getaways. There are other hazards too: wizards have freezing and binding spells that will paralyse you so they can catch up, while wizards and rangers can attack from afar.

Some areas in the Wilderness act as a safe haven, most notably the small area after the Wilderness wall and Daemonheim. Reach these locations and your opponent will not be able to attack. Some safe havens will require that you are out of combat for ten seconds, however, so be aware that you may not be allowed in until that time has elapsed.

10. How do I start player-killing in the Wilderness?

If you aim to start a player-killing career in the Wilderness, you may want to make sure that you have plenty of opponents to face, or players to fight with. Try the following to improve your PvP experience:

• Log into a world that specialises in PvP. You’ll find these on the Themed Worlds page of the Knowledge Base. In these worlds, you’ll find people clustered around the Wilderness areas and Edgeville, fixing for a fight.
• If you are feeling particularly adventurous, you might also want to try High-risk PvP Worlds, where Protect Item prayers and curses cannot be used in the Wilderness.
• Join a PvP clan. By joining likeminded player-killing enthusiasts in the Wilderness, you can organise mass Clan Wars battles, organised skirmishes in the Wilderness, and get tips from people who have player-killed for a long time.
• Visit the official PvP forums. Players discuss tactics here, as well organise events, so you may find something to your taste.
• Travel to Edgeville, west of Varrock. This is the home of PvP preparation, and many fighters gather here to discuss their plans.
• Look on the Forums and on the RuneScape front page for community events that are taking place in the Wilderness.

It is also worth preparing yourself for the battles ahead. Think about the following before you embark on a player-killing odyssey:

• What items are you risking? Are you going to risk items that are expensive or difficult to get back? If the answer to that question is no, do you feel that your equipment is of a high enough quality to threaten your opponents?
• Think about the level of the Wilderness that you will be spending your time in. The deeper you go, the greater the risk that you will be attacked by higher level players.
• Do you plan to fight in multi-way combat areas? If so, will you bring a summoning familiar? A familiar will generally give you an advantage in PvP combat.
• Do you have an escape route? You might want to think about bringing items that will aid you in getting away from a battle that is going badly: energy potions are a good choice, as are methods of teleportation.
• Always be aware of the combat triangle in the Wilderness. If an opponent is lower level than you, but has an advantage over you through the combat triangle (melee is strong against ranged, ranged is strong against mage, mage is strong against melee) then the fight may not be as one-sided as you imagine.
• You might benefit from practicing your player-killing in other – often safe – environments, like the Duel Arena and Clan Wars.
• It may seem obvious, but it is easy to overlook: think about the supplementary items you are bringing: armour, weapons, food, potions, and items that replenish your special attack, prayer and run energy. Manage your inventory and learn the best setup for your player-killing experience.

11. Can I avoid going into the Wilderness? What game content requires that I go into the Wilderness?

We acknowledge that the Wilderness is not to everyone’s taste, and many will not want to fight each other or risk losing their items. So, although the Wilderness contains a few activities, quests and skill locations – including the Dungeoneering halls of Daemonheim – these can generally be accessed without entering PvP areas.

Dungeoneering can be accessed from the west coast of Al Kharid via a free Fremennik ferry. You can also use your ring of kinship to get to the Daemonheim peninsula, once you have talked to the Dungeoneering Tutor to receive one.

Three popular activities – Stealing Creation, Clan Wars and Fist of Guthix – can be accessed via portals in the Gamers’ Grotto. This is an underground location to the north of Falador, and can be found on your World Map.

The few quests that ask you to travel into the Wilderness – Defender of Varrock, Curse of Arrav, Spirit of Summer, Summer’s End – each have safe methods of getting into the Wilderness, most often through the use of teleports, so you do not have to put yourself at risk at any point.

That’s not to say that the Wilderness is empty of content, however. A number of creatures, big monster battles and expensive resources can be found in the Wilderness: rewards for those willing to risk a venture into the Wilderness. Take them on if you dare!

1. What is free trade?

Free trade is as simple as it sounds: the ability to trade with other players without limits. You can trade as much or as little as you want with other players, as often as you want.

Look: Sell Rs Gold

2. What is trading?

The act of trading is when you and another player exchange coins for items, or items for items. Free trade means that the items and coins being exchanged do not need to be of equal value. Indeed, you can even give coins/items to another player for nothing in return should you choose. There are no restrictions on how much (or little) you can request in exchange for what you are selling.

Of course, all other players have this same freedom, so all items naturally settle on an average value based on the existing level of supply and demand. The Grand Exchange tracks the average value of items; this is referred to as the ‘guide price’.

With free trade, though, you’re able to take advantage of those rare opportunities to sell an item much higher than this guide (if you can find a player willing to buy at such a high price). An example might be to sell law runes somewhere far from a bank where players just want a quick teleport out, and are willing to pay over the odds for it. Another example might be to head to Edgeville and sell food to players preparing for some PvP combat in the Wilderness.

On the flipside, you can clear out your bank of old, useless junk you no longer want by having a “bank sale” – selling things well below the guide price to, hopefully, get rid of things quickly and still get a little bit of money in return. Or you can offer to buy something from another player below the guide price, say, if you’re buying in bulk. Who knows, the seller might say yes, but they might always get a better offer from someone else.

3. What is the Grand Exchange?

The Grand Exchange (GE) is a trading hub to the north-west of Varrock, and is available for use by all players. All trading that goes on through the GE is created by players – you can either put up a listing of items you wish to sell, or put in an offer to buy someone else’s items. Whenever a buy and sell offer are matched, the sale is completed – the seller gets their money and the buyer gets their item(s).

As with direct player-to-player trading, there are no price restrictions on the GE – you are free to charge or offer as many coins as you see fit for what you are selling or buying. That said, the employees at the GE track all trading that goes on in RuneScape and keep note of the average price at which each item is traded for – this is called the ‘guide price’. There are no obligations to buy or sell items at the guide price, it is simply there to show the current relative value of items, so that you can know when you are paying over the odds or getting a good deal.

For information on how to use the Grand Exchange, go to the Controls – The Grand Exchange page.

4. Where can I trade with other players?

Pretty much anywhere! The Grand Exchange is still a good place to visit to buy and sell items in bulk, but you may not always be getting the best deal. With direct player-to-player trades you have the opportunity to negotiate with another player so that you both get what you want. You can also trade items for other items – you don’t always have to use gold coins to buy and sell.

Aside from the Grand Exchange, other popular trading centres from RuneScape’s history were: Varrock’s market/west bank (on world 1, for F2P items); Falador’s park/east bank (on world 2, for members’ items); and, much earlier in RuneScape’s history, around the back of Varrock Palace for rare and discontinued items.

5. Can I give and receive gifts?

Another benefit that free trade provides is the ability to give gifts to other people of whatever value you wish. So, you could give your best friend in-game a valuable item as a present, or on indefinite loan, or you could help out a struggling quester or someone new to the game with some helpful items (without having to worry about trade restrictions).

If you are planning to loan an item to another player that you don’t know very well, you might wish to consider using the Item Lending system instead of simply trading it to them. This system lets you set your own terms of the loan. There’s also no reason why you cannot ask for some money in return, should you wish.

You should also be aware that some players may ask you for gifts (typically, by saying something akin to “Free stuff pl0x”). If such players are after something specific, then, again, Item Lending may be a good way to go. Often, the best thing to give such players is friendly advice on how to earn money for themselves – it will do you both better in the long run.

6. Can I share loot drops with my clan/friends?

Clans and groups can also benefit from free trade, as they have the ability to help gear each other up for an upcoming clan or boss fight. It also comes in handy for clans where high-value drops are concerned, as they can decide who of the clan is most in need of receiving a rare drop, or in what proportion any loot is shared between the group. There are systems in place to help with these things – namely LootShare and CoinShare – and these are still of use in some circumstances or with certain groups or clans, but free trade enables clans and groups with more choice.

7. What are drop parties?

Drop parties are held at Falador’s Party Room, which is run by RuneScape semi-celebrity Party Pete. Anyone is welcome to place items in the party chest and then, when someone pulls the nearby lever, balloons drop from the ceiling containing those items. It’s good fun rushing round, bursting balloons, and, who knows, you might even get something interesting out of it.

There is no value limit on items that can be placed into the party chest, so, if you want to get involved in one, pop by the Party Room yourself or arrange one with a group of other players.

8. How do I make money as a new player?

Players who are new to RuneScape would do well to complete the Blood Pact quest and then return to the Lumbridge Catacombs to collect the statuettes – Xenia rewards players with some coins for their troubles. Completing Tasks is another good way to earn some money as, although new players will not have the levels to complete many Tasks, the rewards earned from those you can do can help you to increase your skill levels to then complete more Tasks.

Collecting lower-level resources that are still of use to higher-level players is also a solid money-making tip for newer players. Items like ores, rune essence, logs, herbs, feathers and flax are typically in constant demand. If combat is your thing, then the Slayer skill might be a good place to start – it can become quite profitable when you reach higher levels (but can still be a nice bit of income for lower-level players).

Please bear in mind that these are NOT the only ways that can help you to earn money, so experiment with different skills and activities to see what works best for you. Also, one thing you should probably avoid is asking for handouts – it does not make you any friends and you’ll not be learning how to be self-sufficient.

9. How do I make money as a trader?

Making money in RuneScape through trading comes down to the basic economics of supply and demand, and buying low/selling high. One tool we offer to help with this are the Grand Exchange section of the website, which tracks the guide prices of tradeable items.

Figuring out which items are about to rise or fall in value is something you will need to learn through experience, and by making educated guesses based on new content (and the changing popularity of old content). Investing in oft-used resources for training skills is a more reliable way to earn money, but the profit margins for such items tend to be small.

10. Can I set up a business?

Trading does not necessarily have to mean items and coins, as you can also trade services in-game (so long as neither the service nor the payment for that service break RuneScape’s rules). Some examples of this include rune running (paying other players to deliver rune essence to you at a RuneCrafting altar); selling quest kits (sell all the items required for the latest quest); renting out your items for fee (e.g. “50k per h” would be 50,000 coins per hour of rental); or setting up a forum shop (check out the various Marketplace forums).

You don’t always have to run business like this for coins and, indeed, not even always for financial profit. Also, remember that you don’t necessarily need free trade to set up a business – the Assist and Item Lending systems can be useful for many endeavours. There are many examples of in-game player-run businesses in the Businesses & Services forums.

11. What is ‘staking’?

Staking is the act of wagering on the outcome of a one-on-one contest in which you’re involved, and can be done at the Al Kharid Duel Arena, Conquest, and at the various Rat Pits around RuneScape. Figuratively, you’re putting your money where your mouth is, by saying that you can be victorious over another player in these activities.

There are limitations to how much can be staked in the Rat Pits, as these are just meant for a bit of fun, but there are no limits on what can be staked at the Duel Arena or Conquest. Staking can be a great way of making money if you win, but just remember not to stake more than you can afford to lose!

Getting started in RuneScape is a quick and easy process. Within a few minutes you can create an account and start playing the game!

You can create a new account by navigating here and clicking ‘Play Now’. If this is your first time to RuneScape, you may be asked for permission to find the best graphical options for your computer. This will only take a minute or so, and will create the optimal RuneScape experience for your computer specifications.

If you are presented with a screen that asks for your login details, click ‘Create Account Now’ at the bottom of the interface. This will take you to a screen that requests several details from you. Input those details and click ‘Continue’ to be taken in-game, where you will be able to create your character (see below) and choose a character name. You are now able to begin your RuneScape adventure!

If you are instead presented with a screen that requests several details from you, including your email address, then input those details and click ‘Continue’ to be taken in-game. Here you will be able to create your character (see Character Creation) and choose a character name.

To access the RuneScape game, click ‘Play Now’ on the RuneScape main page, as shown in the ‘Creating an Account’ section. The initial download process will then start. Once complete, you will be taken to the login screen, where you will need to input your login details. You will then be taken to the RuneScape lobby.

The RuneScape Lobby

The RuneScape Lobby brings together a number of useful features before you get into the game proper. The lobby has five sections accessed via the tabs at the top of the screen:

• Player info – shows where and when you last logged in, status of email registration, recovery question status, how many messages from Jagex are in your Message Centre, how much credit you have left, and the message of the week.
• World select – this shows a list of all available worlds. This is more fully explained here.
• Friends chat – shows your Friends List and Ignore List, and lets you chat to your friends before you log in. This is more fully explained here.
• Clan Chat – lets you log into a Clan Chat channel before heading into the game. This is more fully explained here.
• Options – these are the display options, letting you set your display mode, screen size, and graphics and audio settings. This is more fully explained here.

All tabs have the ‘Click here to play’ button and your favourite worlds for instant access. The Friends Chat and Clan Chat tabs both have the Report Abuse button, should you need it.

When you log out of the game, you can choose to come back to the lobby, so will not need to re-enter your password when you click to play again. To fully log out of the game, click on the ‘x’ next to the lobby’s Options tab.

If you have logged into the game for the first time, you will be presented with an interface to create your character, as shown on the left:

The interface presents a wide variety of outfit options for your character. Choose an outfit and it will be displayed in the bottom-right corner of the interface; you can then ‘Modify Further’ to change character details like skin colour, hair, torso, legs, boots and facial hair. Later, you may pay some characters in-game to change your look. Click here to read about changing your look in-game.

Once you have finished, you should click the ‘Confirm’ button. This will take you to an interface where you can choose the character name for your character: the name that all other players will see when you log into the game. Once you have a name that has not been taken by any other player, you can launch your character into the opening quest, Unstable Foundations, where some friendly and not-so-friendly citizens of RuneScape await you.

Your character will begin their RuneScape life with a mini-quest called ‘Unstable Foundations’.

In the darkened cellar of Unstable Foundations, you will be introduced to the basics of playing RuneScape. You will be taken through a variety of activities, including combat, navigation, Mining, Woodcutting and much more. This should only take about 15 minutes to complete. When you’ve finished, your character will be free to explore Lumbridge, and your RuneScape adventures can truly begin!

For more information on what you can do when you first enter RuneScape and how you can do it, please see the Beginners’ Guide section.