TruthScape.com  9  The Truth About Luring in RuneScape       9  Non-Wilderness Luring Methods and Locations

Non-Wilderness Luring Methods and Locations Dagannoth King Luring

The simplest and most widespread type of luring outside the Wilderness involves a nasty person who leads an unsuspecting victim into a dangerous place where he can be killed; the lurer then takes his items. There are, of course, many places in RuneScape that are dangerous, especially for newer players, but a few are widely used for this type of scam because they are near areas where new players hang out, or they seem safe but are not.

My first personal experience with this type of scam came not long after the mole cave in Falador was released. This is an area where you must have a light source to avoid quickly being killed. I was fighting the giant mole there when I came upon two players. One seemed to be wandering around lost, and the other was following him talking to him, offering to “hold his stuff” for him and so forth.

The first player had been taken down into the cave, and his light source went out, which causes you to quickly die. The lurer was pretending to be his friend, even though he was the one who led him there in the first place! The victim asked me for help in finding the exit, but before I could even reply, I was amazed to receive a private message from the lurer offering to “split the profits” if I refused to help. Of course, I ignored this and helped the poor guy to the exit—at which point the lurer began hurling insults and profanities at me because I didn't let him die. Lurers are such nice people, aren't they?

Anyway, this example gives you an idea of how these scams operate. The lurer will usually make up some silly story, promise the victim that there are great items to be found in the dangerous spot, pretend to be holding a drop party or similar. He will of course not tell the victim about the danger until it is too late.

Jagex eventually fixed the mole cave so that the lure described above no longer works, but there are several other common places used for luring outside the Wild:

• Lumbridge Caves: These are similar to the mole cave in that you die quickly without a light source. Even worse, if you take an open flame down there, like a candle, it will blow up (damaging you) and then go out, and to make matters worse, Jagex put a candle seller right near the cave entrance, which fools people into thinking candles are okay in the cave! There are also monsters that will hit you for damage if you walk past them without wearing a special piece of equipment called a spiny helmet. See Figure 122 for an example of what happens to the unprepared.
  
  Never go down into this cave without a covered light source like a lantern, and a tinderbox to relight your source if it goes out. Also bring a spiny helmet (available from any slayer master); an anti-poison potion is also a good idea.
  

  Figure 122: How to Die in the Lumbridge Caves

  In this little animation I simulate a new player doing all the wrong things in going into the caves in Lumbridge swamp. I brought a candle but didn’t wear a spiny helmet, so my head gets grabbed by a wall beast, doing 16 damage (Frame #1). Undaunted, I continue into the cave, but my candle ignites the swamp gas, which explodes doing me about 18 damage. Everything goes dark so I panic and relight the candle, which explodes again (Frame #2). At this point I figure I better leave the candle alone and try to head back for the exit. However, the cave is totally dark without a light source and the minimap goes black, so I can’t find the exit, and then I start getting hit 3-4 damage a second by insects. I then clicked my home teleport tablet—bringing that was my only smart move!

  
  
  
  
• Ranger Guild Tower: The Ranger Guild near Seers' Village contains a “practice area” located up a ladder in a tower. There are several groups of archers who shoot arrows at you, and you're supposed to shoot them back. Well, this is actually a terrible place to train the ranged skill, because the rangers do tons of damage on you, and you can't pick up your arrows. Lurers will try to get victims to meet them in this tower for trades, then lead the victim to the higher-level rangers, which will cut down an unprepared person fast.
  
  
• Tribesmen (Karamja): These are only level 38 and seem fairly harmless, but their weapons have the strongest poison in the game: 11 points! Scammers will sometimes make up a story to get a victim to attack one, then watch as they die very quickly. The victim usually won't be carrying an anti-poison, and at 11 points a hit most die before getting to a bank.
  
  
• Chaos Temple / Wine of Zamorak: Far to the north of Falador you will find the Chaos Temple, and on a table within, a jug of wine called Wine of Zamorak. Lurers will take new players there and tell them some sort of lie, such as the wine being very valuable. Why, they will claim, it is so valuable that each character can only take it once! (This nonsense is offered so the victim doesn't ask why the lurer doesn't just take it himself.) The lurer then offers to buy the wine after the victim takes it.
  
  These wines do have value—about 1k each, since they are used in a high-level potion—but are not rare nor valuable. If you try to take it from the table, you get hit for damage by the god Zamorak, all your combat skills are lowered, and then every monk in the place attacks you. Oh, and it's a multi-combat area to boot! Don't fall for this one. (Incidentally, this used to be an even worse death trap before Jagex changed the temple so you could not close the door on people inside it, which was a smart move.)

There are others too, I am sure. For example, a new lure popped up in the summer of 2007 that involved killing people by convincing them to take Karamja rum to the Tzhaar City, where it would explode doing damage. (Jagex eliminated this lure by making the rum no longer cause damage, just three days after I documented it here!) Just remember that in general, you should never let someone you don't know lead you to any place where you do not understand the risks and dangers. Also, real drop parties aren't held in dungeons, and there are no “special rare items you can only take once.”

These lures all involve someone lying to you to get you to go to a place where you die so they can get your items. This is lying for personal gain and prohibited by Jagex rules, so report the scammer under Rule #2 (item scamming).

Non-Wilderness Luring Methods and Locations Dagannoth King Luring