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The ZMI Ourania Altar - Issues with Efficiently Accessing and Using the Altar The ZMI Ourania Altar - Runecrafting Results and Analysis

After conducting quite a few experiments and performing some analysis, I’ve come up with what I feel is an efficient method of using the Ourania altar that takes into account the issues raised in the prior topic. Below I’ll tell you what I recommend wearing, how to prepare your bank inventory, the best way to do each trip, and how to bank quickly both while you have run energy and after it runs out.

NOTE: This method is geared specifically to high level players. My Runecrafting level is not very high (60) but my combat level is high enough (120) that I can get away with not wearing armor on the short path to the altar. I also have a Prayer level of about 80, so I can leave my prayers on without running out even after three trips. If you are lower level you may have to adjust the method to suit your needs.

Using Lunar Magicks is a must. If you don’t have this spellbook enabled, then you’ll need to go to Lunar Isle to get them turned on, following the usual boring steps. Go to Rellekka, talk to Lokar Searunner on the dock, he takes you in his dinghy, go up the ladders, talk to Captain Bentley, and he ferries you to the island. Don’t forget your Seal of Passage, or get one from Brundt the Chieftain if you destroyed yours. Once at the island, run to the altar and turn Lunar Magicks on.

Incidentally, if you have to go turn Lunar Magicks back on, why not bring a load of pure ess with and make some free astrals while you’re in the neighborhood? J

Once you are on Lunars, get to any bank to prepare for crafting.

There are a few things you need to do before you get started. Be sure you have all of these in place and it will save you time in the long run:

• If you are using pouches and they haven’t been repaired in some time, go to the Abyss and get them restored. (Remember that you don’t have to bring them with you to do this.)
  
  
• Rotate your view screen so that south is up and north is down. This will make life easier for you since you will mostly be running in a northward direction.
  
  
• Place the following stacks of items near each other at the top in your bank: pure essence; super energy or energy potions; and cheap food like salmon, tuna or stews (not cakes, they are too slow.) The potions should be 4-dose.
  
  
• Go to a busy world. I recommend World 70, which has become the “unofficial” world for using the Ourania altar. A busy world means more players on the short path for the ZMI attackers to target, so they won’t all just go after you.
  
  
• Turn auto retaliate off and run on.

I recommend wearing only these six items (see Figure 32):

• Lava Battlestaff: Provides earth runes for the Ourania Teleport spell.
  
  
• Ring of Dueling: To teleport after crafting.
  
  
• Amulet of Glory (charged): Backup in case you forget to get a new dueling ring when your current one is used up—it happens. (The amulet has a weight of 0 kg so it doesn’t slow you down.)
  
  
• Boots of Lightness: Reduces weight.
  
  
• Spottier Cape: Reduces weight.
  
  
• Penance Gloves: Reduces weight.
  

  Figure 32: Equipment and Inventory for Fast Runecrafting in the Ourania Cave

  I wear only what is absolutely necessary, and take no armor. In my inventory I have laws, astrals, pouches and pure essence.

  
  

With this gear, my total weight is -8 kg.

Everyone should at least have the boots. If you don’t have a Spottier Cape, then substitute a Spotted Cape if possible, or omit. If you don’t have Penance Gloves, substitute a Bracelet of Regeneration to increase your healing rate while crafting. (Yes, these actually have a use! J) Otherwise, leave your hands empty.

In your inventory, take out all of your Runecrafting pouches, and a stack of law and astral runes (50 or 100 of each is fine; remember that you will get some when crafting too.) You may find it easier to take the laws and astrals out first so they stay separate from the other rune types that you need to stick in the bank.

My technique involves starting with 100% run energy (or close to that figure), and then doing a sequence of as many trips as possible until it runs out. Then I restore run energy, prayer and hit points and repeat. With my levels and ultralight equipment, I can get three trips in before I fall back to walking, and that should be typical for most players.

1. Take out a full inventory of pure essence from the bank. If you just used up a dueling ring, take one of those out as well.When you are ready to start, follow these steps to take each Runecrafting trip:
   
   
2. Fill your pouches. Wear your dueling ring if you just took one out.
   
   
3. Fill your inventory again with pure ess. (You’ll have to do steps #2 and #3 one more time if you have four pouches.)
   
   
4. Cast Ourania Teleport.
   
   
5. Run northwest, west and south around the horseshoe-shaped path towards the chaos altar.
   
   
6. If this is the first trip in a sequence of three, click the altar to restore your prayer points. Then, if they aren’t already on, turn on Rapid Heal and Protection from Magic (some prefer Protection from Ranged).
   
   
7. Climb down the ladder next to the altar.
   
   
8. Run due south (straight up if you reoriented your display) along the short path, avoiding the ZMI warriors and clicking efficiently so you don’t double back or stop. When you get to the “bend in the road” turn left (east) and keep running until you reach the altar.
   
   
9. Click the altar to craft the essence in your inventory.
   
   
10. If you brought pouches, empty them and click the altar again one or more times to craft the extra ess. All the runes you get take up space, so if you have three pouches, you may have to empty pouches twice and click the altar three times total. If you have four pouches, it will be either three or four times that you click the altar, depending on what runes you get; try emptying the giant and small pouches together and then the medium and large pouches together. In Figure 33 you can see me crafting the last of my pure essence after taking it out of my pouches.
    
    
11. Right-click and operate your ring of dueling and return to Castle Wars.
    

    Figure 33: Runecrafting at the Ourania Altar

    Here I am crafting the last of my pure essence, and you can see what runes I got while crafting. Note that I got 3 laws and 4 astrals, and the 5 death runes are not typical of the results for my level.

    
    

If this is was the first or second trip, you should have enough run energy to do another. In this case, simply open the bank, dump all the runes except the laws and astrals, and continue with step #1 above. Remember to get a new dueling ring if you use yours up. If you’ve just complete the third trip in the sequence (or are otherwise out of run energy) continue with the subsection below.

Note that you do not need to turn off your prayers as long as your Prayer level is reasonably high, nor do you have to recharge every trip. As long as you run out of run energy before you run out of prayer points, you are all set. In fact, you may be able to get back to the chaos altar to restore prayer before your prayer even runs out.

When you run out of energy, do the following to reset for the next sequence of trips:

1. Put your runes (except astrals and laws) in the bank. Then take out one super energy (4) or two regular energy (4) potions, and a few items of cheap food for healing. I usually don’t need very much healing; also remember that you don’t really need to heal all the way up to 100%.
   
   
2. Heal yourself and restore energy using the food and potions. For those who don’t know, there is a trick to this: click the food and then the potion and you’ll eat/drink both in the time it normally takes just to drink. This means the healing costs you no extra time (another reason I don’t wear armor).
   
   
3. Put the empty vial(s) back in the bank and then perform another trip sequence as described in the previous subsection.

Remember to recharge your prayer points and turn your prayers back on when starting a new trip sequence (step #6 in the description of how to do the crafting.)

The ZMI Ourania Altar - Issues with Efficiently Accessing and Using the Altar The ZMI Ourania Altar - Runecrafting Results and Analysis