TruthScape.com  9  TruthScape Skill Secrets       9  TruthScape Skill Secrets - Herblore            9  TruthScape Skill Secrets - Herblore - Introduction, Overview and Training Basics

Overview of the Herblore Skill The Drawbacks of Training Herblore

Herblore was once a skill that could be exploited by smart players to make money, but major changes to the game over the last year have impacted this—I discuss the matter further when I look at the economics of the skill. For players who only think about money, the inability to turn a profit easily now makes the skill unattractive, but those who look deeper understand that there are still several important reasons to train it. (And it is still possible to make some money from Herblore if you approach the skill with creativity and patience.)

Note that this topic assumes that you have read through the general discussion of the reasons why players train skills, building upon those concepts.

For many players, this is the primary reason to train Herblore: because they need specific Herblore levels to complete certain quests. In other words: they do the skill because they to. J Hey, it’s as valid a reason as any, as I see it…

Herblore is a skill requirement for two particularly prominent quests: the Heroes’ Quest (level 25 required) and the Legends Quest (level 45). Most RuneScape players know people who have trained this skill solely to enable them to complete these two quests. Incidentally, the quest with the highest Herblore requirement is A Fairy Tale Part II: level 57.

In my opinion, the most important reason now for training the Herblore skill is gaining the ability to use the Herblore skill. By attaining a reasonably high level, you will be able to make potions for your own use whenever you require them, rather than constantly having to buy what you need. This was one of my own primary motivations for training the skill (Figure 147).

Here are a few aspects of this benefit to consider:

• There’s more of a feeling of satisfaction in making one’s own supplies than buying them from other players, even if it is strictly less cost-effective than selling the potion ingredients and buying the finished potions.
  
  
• If you can make your own potions, you won’t be put in the position of being “held hostage” by the Grand Exchange when sudden demand makes a type of potion hard to buy. At the time that I write this, for example, Saradomin brews have been nearly impossible to buy, in quantity, for almost two full weeks!
  
  
• When you have a reasonably high Herblore level then you automatically gain the ability to make any new products that are added to the game below your current level. This means that if a good new potion comes out, you won’t have to compete with thousands of others who neglected the skill to powerlevel it up so you can make the new item.

Of course, these concepts won’t appeal to all players, and it’s certainly not necessary to get to a very high level in the skill just for this reason. Remember, though, that the XP you gain by making potions represents a positive feedback loop: it raises your level, letting you make more types of potions, so you can get more XP, and so forth.

I recommend getting up to at least level 38 to make prayer potions, if you are the sort of player who does any sort of combat.

Increasing the total level count of your character means you’ll have to work on Herblore as well. I suppose that this is somewhat like suggesting that one train Herblore “just because it’s there”, but this can be a valid motivating factor for some players. J

Believe it or not, some people actually find it fun to work on the Herblore skill. Okay, the skill really isn’t that exciting, but I do enjoy making a few potions now and then. And hey, it’s certainly no more boring than several other RuneScape skills… J

The degree to which training Herblore is enjoyable depends most on the approach you take to training. Doing the skill slowly over time, as you train related skills like Farming, will generally yield better results than trying to make thousands of potions hour after hour—which really would, at least in my view, put the skill squarely in the negative side of the ledger!

Overview of the Herblore Skill The Drawbacks of Training Herblore