TruthScape.com  9  TruthScape Skill Secrets       9  TruthScape Skill Secrets - A General Guide to RuneScape Skills and Training            9  TruthScape Skill Secrets - General Guide - Overview of RuneScape Skills

Why Skills? The Many Motivations for Training The RuneScape Skill Level Formula and XP-Level Table

In this topic I provide a summary of each of the 24 RuneScape skills. My hope is that this will serve both as an introduction to RuneScape skills for those new to the game, as well as reference material for more experienced players.

For each skill I provide the following summary information:

• Skill Name: You can figure this one out. J
  
  
• Availability: Whether the skill is members’ only or for both members and non-members. If the latter, I provide a rough indication of how much of the skill is members only (where applicable).
  
  
• Summary: A brief summary of what the skill is about.
  
  
• Key Benefits: What the most important benefits are of training this skill.
  
  
• Normal Training Speed: An indication of how time-consuming it is to train this skill using typical training methods.
  
  
• Normal Training Expense: How much it will cost to train the skill at high levels.
  
  
• Powerleveling Speed: How quickly you can raise the skill if making an effort to powerlevel it.
  
  
• Powerleveling Expense: The cost you’ll incur when you attempt to powerlevel.
  
  
• Training Variety: How much breadth the skill offers in terms of ways of training.
  
  
• Moneymaking Potential: How much potential this skill has to earn money when you get to a reasonably high level.

Note that training speed and expense assessments are rough approximations only. Moneymaking potential is evaluated based on what I consider smart use of the skill, and for combat skills, is assumed to be high because of the ability to kill high-level monsters with good drops.

Please see other sections of this guide for more information on issues such as making money with skills and powerleveling.

Agility is one of the oldest members-only skills, added to the game on December 12, 2002. It is a support skill that is raised primarily due to it enabling players to access unique areas of the game, or to use shortcuts to save time. High levels also enable the completion of higher-level quests and cause run energy to be recovered more quickly. Agility is somewhat notorious as being a skill that is very time-consuming and monotonous to raise, though it has a cult following of players who greatly enjoy it.

Here’s the summary information for the skill:

• Skill Name: Agility
  
  
• Availability: Members only
  
  
• Summary: Support skill that improves access to game areas
  
  
• Key Benefits: Access to special areas; shortcuts to save time; faster run energy restoration
  
  
• Normal Training Speed: Very slow
  
  
• Normal Training Expense: Low
  
  
• Powerleveling Speed: Slow
  
  
• Powerleveling Expense: Low
  
  
• Training Variety: Very low
  
  
• Moneymaking Potential: Low

One of the three fundamental melee combat skills, Attack controls a player’s accuracy in landing hits in close quarters combat. Note that high Attack values mean more combat hits, but not more damage (which is controlled by the Strength skill). The skill is also the primary factor in determining whether or not a player can wield certain weapons. Summary information for the skill:

• Skill Name: Attack
  
  
• Availability: Members and non-members, differing only in which weapons are available
  
  
• Summary: Determines melee attack accuracy and weapon wieldability
  
  
• Key Benefits: Higher levels mean more hits and fewer zeroes in combat, and access to more weapon types
  
  
• Normal Training Speed: Moderate
  
  
• Normal Training Expense: Low to moderate
  
  
• Powerleveling Speed: Fast
  
  
• Powerleveling Expense: Moderate to high
  
  
• Training Variety: Very high
  
  
• Moneymaking Potential: High

For years, RuneScape players had anticipated the arrival of the ability to create their own player owned houses (POHs), and rejoiced when the feature finally arrived on May 31, 2006, with the release of the Construction skill. A rare skill that was nearly complete at the time of release, Construction allows you to make anything from a simple utilitarian shack when you begin, to the most grandiose of mansions as your skill gets to high levels. Dozens of types of furniture let you customize your house to your tastes, while special features like teleport rooms and prayer altars have had positive impacts on other skills. This skill is notorious for being very expensive to train, and Jagex has admitted that it was designed as a way for players to show off their wealth in a constructive way (ha ha). J

Here’s the skill’s summary information:

• Skill Name: Construction
  
  
• Availability: Members only
  
  
• Summary: Allows you to build, expand and decorate your player owned house, and install useful features within it
  
  
• Key Benefits: Create and customize your player owned house; exploit features such as teleport rooms, lecterns for spell tables, altars for Prayer training and Barrows repair stands
  
  
• Normal Training Speed: Moderate
  
  
• Normal Training Expense: High
  
  
• Powerleveling Speed: Fast
  
  
• Powerleveling Expense: Very high
  
  
• Training Variety: Moderate to high
  
  
• Moneymaking Potential: Low

One of the simpler skills, Cooking is used to transform raw ingredients into cooked food items, which are eaten by players to heal combat damage, or in some cases, obtain other benefits. It is most often used in conjunction with Fishing to cook raw fish, but there is actually a wide range of interesting food items now available in the game for more enterprising chefs.

Here is a summary of the skill information for Cooking:

• Skill Name: Cooking
  
  
• Availability: Members and non-members; most of the more interesting, newer food items are members only
  
  
• Summary: Lets you cook raw fish, meat and other foods, or combine ingredients and cook them to get higher-level food items
  
  
• Key Benefits: Allows you to obtain food for combat healing, and in some cases, level enhancement
  
  
• Normal Training Speed: Moderate
  
  
• Normal Training Expense: Low
  
  
• Powerleveling Speed: Very fast
  
  
• Powerleveling Expense: Moderate to high
  
  
• Training Variety: Moderate
  
  
• Moneymaking Potential: Low to moderate

Crafting lets players transform a range of materials into finished goods, ranging from leather armor and pottery, to battlestaves and fancy jewelry. It is arguably the most diverse non-combat skill in RuneScape—rivaled only by Magic—offering dozens of different items that can be fabricated, some of which are staple items in the game (like dragonhide armor and amulets of glory).

Here is the skill summary for Crafting:

• Skill Name: Crafting
  
  
• Availability: Members and non-members; most of the skill is members only, with non-members limited mainly to leatherwork, pottery, silver items and certain styles of gold jewelry
  
  
• Summary: Enables you to fabricate a wide range of useful items
  
  
• Key Benefits: Ability to make needed items independently for personal use or resale
  
  
• Normal Training Speed: Moderate
  
  
• Normal Training Expense: Low
  
  
• Powerleveling Speed: Moderate to fast
  
  
• Powerleveling Expense: Moderate to high
  
  
• Training Variety: Very high
  
  
• Moneymaking Potential: Low to moderate

The converse of the Attack skill, a player’s Defence level determines how frequently he or she will be hit when in combat. Note that it does not control how much damage is dealt, only the rate at which hits are taken. Also, just as Attack level dictates what weapons a player may wield, Defence level is the main determinant of what types of armor can be worn.

Here’s the summary information for the skill:

• Skill Name: Defence
  
  
• Availability: Members and non-members, differing only in which armors are available
  
  
• Summary: Determines frequency with which damage is dealt to a player
  
  
• Key Benefits: Higher levels mean fewer hits taken, and access to more types of armor
  
  
• Normal Training Speed: Moderate
  
  
• Normal Training Expense: Low to moderate
  
  
• Powerleveling Speed: Fast
  
  
• Powerleveling Expense: Moderate to high
  
  
• Training Variety: Very high
  
  
• Moneymaking Potential: High

With this skill, players are able to raise their own crops, which in turn are essential raw materials used in other skills—such as Herblore, Cooking and Woodcutting—as well as in combat. Farming is one of the more controversial skills in RuneScape, with players tending to either love it or hate it, generally depending on their own level of maturity and patience, and their understanding of how best to train the skill. Done properly, it can be trained moderately quickly while earning a nice profit; done improperly or powerleveled, and it can be an enormous resource sink.

The summary information for Farming:

• Skill Name: Farming
  
  
• Availability: Members only
  
  
• Summary: Lets you grow useful items such as herbs, secondary ingredients, food and trees for Woodcutting
  
  
• Key Benefits: Obtaining materials for Herblore and special items not available in other ways; inexpensive food for Cooking; private trees for Woodcutting
  
  
• Normal Training Speed: Slow to moderate
  
  
• Normal Training Expense: Moderate
  
  
• Powerleveling Speed: Fast
  
  
• Powerleveling Expense: Very high
  
  
• Training Variety: Moderate
  
  
• Moneymaking Potential: Low to high, depending on approach taken

Possibly the most simplistic skill in the game, there’s not really much to Firemaking. It is used to kindle fires, of course, which can be used to cook certain types of foods. Certain Firemaking levels are also required to ignite light sources such as lamps and lanterns, as well as specialty items like the bug lantern used to fight harpie bug swarms (a Slayer monster). It is also used in several minigames.

Here’s the Firemaking summary:

• Skill Name: Firemaking
  
  
• Availability: Members and non-members; free players can ignite certain log types but not others, and cannot light lanterns or use other features
  
  
• Summary: Lets you start fires and light up other devices as needed
  
  
• Key Benefits: Ability to create fires for Cooking without access to a range; ignite light sources; participate in certain minigames
  
  
• Normal Training Speed: Moderate
  
  
• Normal Training Expense: Low
  
  
• Powerleveling Speed: Fast
  
  
• Powerleveling Expense: Moderate
  
  
• Training Variety: Low
  
  
• Moneymaking Potential: Very low

One of the basic resource extraction skills, Fishing allows players to catch raw fish and a small number of other items. As players increase in level, they are able to catch higher-quality fish that heal more damage when prepared using the Cooking skill.

Here’s a summary:

• Skill Name: Fishing
  
  
• Availability: Members and non-members; the latter are limited to low-level catches up to swordfish
  
  
• Summary: Lets you obtain raw fish to train Cooking and combat
  
  
• Key Benefits: Raw fish for personal use or to sell for money
  
  
• Normal Training Speed: Slow
  
  
• Normal Training Expense: Very low
  
  
• Powerleveling Speed: Moderate
  
  
• Powerleveling Expense: Very low
  
  
• Training Variety: Low
  
  
• Moneymaking Potential: Moderate

While Fletching has a reputation for being a great way to make money, this isn’t in fact true; rather, its strength is in its ability to produce items that allow rangers to be self-sufficient in combat. These include bows, arrows, darts, crossbows, bolts and a number of other specialty items. While rather tedious, Fletching is one of the easier skills to train to high levels, and a common choice of players looking to obtain a skillcape.

Summary information for this skill:

• Skill Name: Fletching
  
  
• Availability: Members only
  
  
• Summary: Lets you make bows, arrows and other ranging gear
  
  
• Key Benefits: Create weapons and ammunition for Ranged-based combat
  
  
• Normal Training Speed: Moderate
  
  
• Normal Training Expense: Low
  
  
• Powerleveling Speed: Fast
  
  
• Powerleveling Expense: Low to moderate
  
  
• Training Variety: Low
  
  
• Moneymaking Potential: Low

Herblore is primarily known as the skill used to produce potions from herbs, vials of water and a variety of secondary ingredients. Most potions have various beneficial effects when ingested, such as raising skill levels, restoring health or granting temporary immunities; others are poisons that can be applied to weapons. (There are a few other specialty items that can also be made with the skill, but potions are the primary focus.) Formerly a moneymaking skill, Herblore is now much more about granting players the independence to create potions they need for their own play, or making good use of the outputs from skills such as combat and Farming.

Here’s the key information for Herblore:

• Skill Name: Herblore
  
  
• Availability: Members only
  
  
• Summary: Allows you to mix potions from herbs and other ingredients
  
  
• Key Benefits: Make needed potions without having to buy them
  
  
• Normal Training Speed: Slow
  
  
• Normal Training Expense: Low
  
  
• Powerleveling Speed: Moderate to fast
  
  
• Powerleveling Expense: High to very high
  
  
• Training Variety: Moderate
  
  
• Moneymaking Potential: Low

This is a core combat skill, indicating the maximum health of a character. Damage is taken from this total while in combat, and if it reaches zero, the character dies and appears at his or her chosen respawn point (Lumbridge, Falador or Camelot). This skill is trained automatically by all forms of combat, though at a slower pace than other combat skills.

Here’s the summary information for the skill:

• Skill Name: Hitpoints
  
  
• Availability: Members and non-members; one of the few skills where it is about the same in both
  
  
• Summary: Determines health of a player
  
  
• Key Benefits: Ability to absorb more damage without dying, permitting combat against more difficult monsters
  
  
• Normal Training Speed: Slow to moderate
  
  
• Normal Training Expense: Low to moderate
  
  
• Powerleveling Speed: Moderate
  
  
• Powerleveling Expense: Moderate
  
  
• Training Variety: Very high
  
  
• Moneymaking Potential: High

The second-newest skill in the game, Hunter is an interesting skill where you capture monsters and obtain resources from them in means other than normal combat. These include various methods such as tracking, trapping and catching them with nets. The skill offers a variety of possible prey to go after, but unfortunately, few options for making money since there are few Hunter products in high demand that are tradeable. The one exception is red chinchompas, but this leads to very high competition for that resource.

Here’s the key skill information:

• Skill Name: Hunter
  
  
• Availability: Members only
  
  
• Summary: Allows players to hunt, trap and catch animals for the resources they provide or other special uses
  
  
• Key Benefits: Ability to obtain useful resources such as chinchompas for ranged combat, and the spottier cape, which reduces weight.
  
  
• Normal Training Speed: Moderate to fast
  
  
• Normal Training Expense: Very low
  
  
• Powerleveling Speed: Fast
  
  
• Powerleveling Expense: Low
  
  
• Training Variety: Low
  
  
• Moneymaking Potential: Moderate to high

Likely the broadest skill in RuneScape, Magic encompasses a huge range of capabilities. There are now over a hundred different spells and effects in the game, spanning three different spellbooks; these enable capabilities ranging from the mundane (teleporting to towns or filling glass vials) to the spectacular (freezing and doing up to 30 damage each on multiple targets.) Until recently, Magic was unique in that it was the only skill used for both combat and non-combat purposes, enabling a player to gain combat prowess by training with non-combat methods. Summoning is now similar in this regard, though.

Here is the summary information for the Magic skill:

• Skill Name: Magic
  
  
• Availability: Members and non-members; free players have access to fewer skills and only ones on the normal spellbook
  
  
• Summary: Permits the casting of a huge variety of spells, with better spells available to higher-level mages
  
  
• Key Benefits: Magic-based combat; transportation; support spells for other skills; alchemy spells to convert items to gold; and much more
  
  
• Normal Training Speed: Moderate
  
  
• Normal Training Expense: Low to moderate
  
  
• Powerleveling Speed: Fast
  
  
• Powerleveling Expense: Moderate to very high
  
  
• Training Variety: High
  
  
• Moneymaking Potential: Low to high, depending entirely on technique

A simple, primary resource extraction skill like Fishing, Mining is used primarily to obtain metal ores, which are smelting into bars for the Smithing skill. There are also certain other special materials that can be mined, such as gems and essence for Runecrafting.

Here’s a summary of the skill:

• Skill Name: Mining
  
  
• Availability: Members and non-members, with most of the skill accessible to free players
  
  
• Summary: Lets you mine ores, gems and other items
  
  
• Key Benefits: Ores for Smithing; gems for Crafting; essence and pure essence for Runecrafting
  
  
• Normal Training Speed: Slow
  
  
• Normal Training Expense: Very low
  
  
• Powerleveling Speed: Moderate
  
  
• Powerleveling Expense: Very low
  
  
• Training Variety: Low
  
  
• Moneymaking Potential: Moderate to high

Prayer is an important support skill that improves the ability of players to engage in combat. Most prayers fall into two categories—those that protect against damage, and ones that enhance combat abilities—but there are a couple of miscellaneous options as well. Players with higher prayer levels are able to remain in combat longer, and get more benefit from using potions that restore prayer points.

Here are the key stats for the skill:

• Skill Name: Prayer
  
  
• Availability: Members and non-members; prayers above level 45 are members only
  
  
• Summary: Allows you to enable effects that protect you from damage, increase combat prowess or provide other effects
  
  
• Key Benefits: Temporary immunities in combat; ability to access superior prayers and use prayers longer at high levels
  
  
• Normal Training Speed: Slow to moderate
  
  
• Normal Training Expense: Low to moderate
  
  
• Powerleveling Speed: Moderate to Fast
  
  
• Powerleveling Expense: High to very high
  
  
• Training Variety: Low
  
  
• Moneymaking Potential: High (indirectly, in enabling high-level combat)

This is the skill that in most other RPGs would be called something like “Archery”: it is a combat method that involves using bows, arrows and other projectile weapons to inflict damage from a distance. Ranged is one of the three primary combat methods in RuneScape, the others being melee (represented by the Attack and Strength skills) and Magic. It is a very popular skill for monster hunting due to it enabling combat while protecting the player from melee damage, and is used in PvP primarily to combat mages.

Here is the key information for the Ranged skill:

• Skill Name: Ranged
  
  
• Availability: Members and non-members; members can use a much larger variety of weapons and ammunition
  
  
• Summary: One of the three major combat methods, allowing attacks to be made using projectile weapons
  
  
• Key Benefits: Ranged combat with a variety of monsters; effective method of fighting magic users in PvP settings
  
  
• Normal Training Speed: Slow to moderate
  
  
• Normal Training Expense: Low to moderate
  
  
• Powerleveling Speed: Moderate to fast
  
  
• Powerleveling Expense: Moderate to very high
  
  
• Training Variety: High
  
  
• Moneymaking Potential: Moderate to high

This skill has just one real purpose, which is to let players create various types of runes for casting spells. It is a very simple skill conceptually, yet very important, because it underpins many types of combat and non-combat Magic activities in the game. It is also one of the few bona fide good moneymaking skills in RuneScape.

Here’s a summary of information for the Runecrafting skill:

• Skill Name: Runecrafting
  
  
• Availability: Members and non-members, with free members limited to making only elemental, body and mind runes
  
  
• Summary: Transforms rune essence or pure essence into various types of magic runes
  
  
• Key Benefits: Self-sufficiency in magic training; moneymaking
  
  
• Normal Training Speed: Slow
  
  
• Normal Training Expense: Low
  
  
• Powerleveling Speed: Moderate
  
  
• Powerleveling Expense: Moderate to high
  
  
• Training Variety: Low
  
  
• Moneymaking Potential: High

Slayer is not a combat skill, but rather an auxiliary skill that is intended to make combat more interesting and rewarding, while being trained in parallel with it. In this skill, players are given assignments by NPC slayer masters to kill particular types of monsters, some of which have special requirements for fighting. By engaging in combat with the assigned monster, players get both combat and Slayer XP; as their Slayer level increases, they gain the ability to fight better, exclusive monsters that non-Slayers cannot damage. It is one of the most demanding skills, but can be quite rewarding for those with the patience to train it.

Here is the key information for this skill:

• Skill Name: Slayer
  
  
• Availability: Members only
  
  
• Summary: A special way of training combat where players complete combat assignments instead of just fighting the same monsters over and over
  
  
• Key Benefits: More variety in training combat; access to special monsters, many with unique drops, that cannot otherwise be defeated
  
  
• Normal Training Speed: Slow
  
  
• Normal Training Expense: Low
  
  
• Powerleveling Speed: Moderate
  
  
• Powerleveling Expense: Moderate to high
  
  
• Training Variety: High
  
  
• Moneymaking Potential: High

Smithing is the skill that lets players transform raw materials into various types of metal objects. The skill consists of two basic operations: smelting ores (obtained from the Mining skill and combat) to create bars, and then forging the bars into finished products, most frequently armor, weapons and the precursors of Ranged ammunition. This is one of the oldest skills in the game, and one that is notoriously difficult to raise without spending a great deal of money.

Here is a summary of the skill information for Smithing:

• Skill Name: Smithing
  
  
• Availability: Members and non-members; most items can be made by both types of players
  
  
• Summary: Allows you to transform ores into bars or finished metal products
  
  
• Key Benefits: Ability to forge armor and weapons for one’s own use; possibility of making money under certain circumstances
  
  
• Normal Training Speed: Slow
  
  
• Normal Training Expense: Moderate
  
  
• Powerleveling Speed: Moderate to Fast
  
  
• Powerleveling Expense: Moderate to high
  
  
• Training Variety: Low
  
  
• Moneymaking Potential: Very low to moderate, depending greatly on the approach taken

This skill is the counterpart of Attack; where that skill determines a player’s accuracy in combat, Strength determines how much damage will be dealt on a successful hit. The two combine to determine a player’s offensive melee capabilities. Strength is a prerequisite for using certain types of weapons and armor, though far fewer than the number that have Attack or Defence requirements.

Summary information for the skill:

• Skill Name: Strength
  
  
• Availability: Members and non-members (I believe weapons requiring a Strength level are all members only)
  
  
• Summary: Determines maximum damage dealt on a successful hit
  
  
• Key Benefits: More damage in combat and thus faster kills and training
  
  
• Normal Training Speed: Moderate
  
  
• Normal Training Expense: Low to moderate
  
  
• Powerleveling Speed: Fast
  
  
• Powerleveling Expense: Moderate to high
  
  
• Training Variety: Very high
  
  
• Moneymaking Potential: High

RuneScape’s newest skill, Summoning allows players to draw familiars from another realm to aid them, as well as to obtain pets that act as simple followers. Familiars are special creatures that have a variety of special abilities; most can assist in combat, and many also have unique non-combat powers or provide bonuses or special features to players. This skill is still in its infancy, but has enormous potential to be a game-altering skill in many ways.

Here’s a summary of the skill’s key information:

• Skill Name: Summoning
  
  
• Availability: Members only
  
  
• Summary: Lets players have several types of pets, as well as summoning familiars to assist with combat and non-combat activities
  
  
• Key Benefits: Assistance in combat and a variety of enhancements to non-combat skills and activities
  
  
• Normal Training Speed: Slow
  
  
• Normal Training Expense: Moderate
  
  
• Powerleveling Speed: Moderate to fast
  
  
• Powerleveling Expense: High to very high
  
  
• Training Variety: Moderate
  
  
• Moneymaking Potential: Moderate to high

While many players might not think of it as such, Thieving is a resource gathering skill that is fundamentally similar to Fishing, Mining and Woodcutting—you are just stealing the resources instead of coming about them honestly. J In addition to providing a way to earn gold and get useful materials like seeds, gems, runes and food, Thieving also enables access to special areas in the game that are closed away behind locked doors.

Here’s the skill summary:

• Skill Name: Thieving
  
  
• Availability: Members only
  
  
• Summary: Used by players to steal items from stalls, pickpocket NPCs, break into locked chests and picklock doors
  
  
• Key Benefits: A variety of useful materials and resources; ability to picklock doors
  
  
• Normal Training Speed: Slow to moderate
  
  
• Normal Training Expense: Very low
  
  
• Powerleveling Speed: Fast *
  
  
• Powerleveling Expense: Low *
  
  
• Training Variety: Moderate
  
  
• Moneymaking Potential: Low to moderate

* This is one of the few skills that can be powerleveled quickly at low cost, because of the Pyramid Plunder minigame.

Woodcutting is the third of the three primary resource extraction skills, the others being Fishing and Mining. The skill is used simply to obtain logs from trees, which are then used by the Fletching and Firemaking skills. Higher skill levels yield logs faster and provide access to higher-level trees. Woodcutting is also used for a few other special features, such as carving canoes for transport.

Here’s a summary of this simple skill:

• Skill Name: Woodcutting
  
  
• Availability: Members and non-members, the latter limited to only four tree types
  
  
• Summary: Lets you cut woods to obtain logs
  
  
• Key Benefits: Obtain logs for Firemaking, Fletching or to sell for cash
  
  
• Normal Training Speed: Slow to moderate
  
  
• Normal Training Expense: Very low
  
  
• Powerleveling Speed: Moderate
  
  
• Powerleveling Expense: Very low
  
  
• Training Variety: Low
  
  
• Moneymaking Potential: Moderate

Why Skills? The Many Motivations for Training The RuneScape Skill Level Formula and XP-Level Table