Skill mastery


 * See Hiscores for the relative total rankings of the different skills.

Skill mastery is achieved by reaching level 99 in any skill. Level 99 is achieved by reaching 13,034,431 experience points in a skill with the exception being Invention (36,073,511 experience to reach skill mastery). Level 99 is the maximum level in most skills. Dungeoneering and Invention are only skills with a maximum level of 120 (refered to as true skill mastery), achieved at 104,273,167 experience points for Dungeoneering and 80,618,654 for Invention. The current maximum total level is 2,715 (level 99 in all skills and level 120 in Dungeoneering and Invention). When level 99 is reached in any skill, there is a different fireworks animation that can be heard by everyone nearby.

Pay-to-play players reaching level 99 in a skill are entitled to wear a Cape of Accomplishment for that particular skill. This cape is bought from a specific skill master for 99,000 coins. Every Cape of Accomplishment gives access to a unique emote. Furthermore, it can be used to boost the corresponding skill's level to 100 for a short time. If the player reaches level 99 in more than one skill, the player's skill cape becomes trimmed and any more skill capes the player obtains will also become trimmed along with the newly received cape.

Before the Skill interface update, players with a level 99 skill could view the experience needed to earn level 100. With the virtual levels update, players could once again view the experience needed, all the way to level 120.

In RuneScape Classic, the maximum total level was 1,782. With the addition of Runecrafting (1,881), Slayer (1,980), Farming (2,079), Construction (2,178), Hunter (2,277), Summoning (2,376), Dungeoneering (2,496), Divination (2,595), and the newest skill, Invention, the maximum total level is now 2,715.

Rarity of level 99s
Strength is currently the most common 99 skill in the game, followed by Magic, Constitution, and Cooking. The rarest are Divination, Construction, Agility, and Hunter. Most people consider Cooking and Fletching to be the easiest 99s to achieve. It should be noted however, that although they are considered the easiest by many people, they are not necessarily the fastest. For example, it is possible to earn several hundred thousand Construction experience points per hour, but only by using extremely expensive methods. Opinions on skills vary greatly, so it comes down to the individual to decide for themselves which they prefer and dislike.

Announcements
When a player achieves level 99 in a skill, a message will appear in orange text to the other players on the same server. However, one may only see another player's achievements if they have the 'Broadcast Messages' button toggled to on, located next to the trade and assist button. Broadcasts may be disabled by untoggling the 'Broadcast Messages' button.

Achieving 120 Dungeoneering or Invention, reaching 99 in every skill, or earning the right to wear the Completionist cape or its trimmed version will be announced on all of RuneScape's servers in red text. A similar message, again in red text, was displayed when the first player reached 99 in Divination (on 29 August 2013) reading: "Congratulations to Im Choice for being the first to reach 99 Divination!"

When a player achieves a 99 and their private chat is set at least on 'friends', it will be announced in green text to all logged-in players on their friends list regardless of whether they are on the server.

Level 99 parties
A level 99 party may be held by a player to celebrate his/her achievement in getting a level 99 in a skill. This party can happen anywhere; many players have them at their POH, and some choose to be near the skill master so they can get their cape quicker.

Players tend to invite friends to follow them as they level up from 98 to 99. After levelling, they usually head to the master of that skillcape. The player will then buy the cape (value of 99,000) of the 99 skill and equip it.

Players may take videos or get a friend to take a video of their journey to 99 and of them getting their cape. These videos are some of the most common RuneScape videos shown on sites such as YouTube. These videos are made to congratulate, or in memory of another user, or the owners themselves and to commemorate their efforts in receiving 99 in the particular skill they have achieved.

First players to achieve level 99
When level 99 skills first started appearing, players with such stats were often well known around the RuneScape community since they were one of the few to have achieved a skill mastery.

Below is a chronological list of the known first players to reach level 99 and level 120 in their respective skill.