Wilderness


 * For the music track, see Wilderness (music track).

The Wilderness is a large and dangerous wasteland which makes up nearly the entirety of north-eastern Gielinor, with the exception of the Daemonheim peninsula, directly north of the kingdoms of Asgarnia and Misthalin. On 1 February 2011, Jagex restored PvP combat throughout the Wilderness. There are four "High-risk Wilderness worlds" designated for Player Killing. The Protect item prayer and curse cannot be used in the Wilderness on these worlds. Member High-risk Wilderness worlds are 124 and 137. Non-Member High-risk Wilderness worlds are 57 and 136. The unofficial PKing worlds are 1 (Free World) and 18 (Members' world), in which a player may be able to use the protect item prayer and curse.

Development history
The Wilderness was famous for being the only place where non-members could engage in Player-versus-Player (PvP) combat to gain all items that the defeated dropped until 10 December 2007, when the Duel Arena was opened to free players and the Bounty Hunter and Clan Wars activities were introduced. Later when the classic Wilderness was reintroduced, Bounty Hunter was removed. All the Activities that used to be located in the Wilderness are now in the Gamers Grotto north of Falador.

As of 15 October 2008, players were allowed to attack each other here (and across the rest of RuneScape in PvP worlds) on special Bounty Worlds (These worlds have been rendered obsolete as of the first of February as the classic Wilderness area has been reintroduced). They could not, however, attack each other here on non-PvP worlds.

In the months between December 2007 and October 2008, however, players could only attack each other via activities. The Clan Wars free-for-all portals are very similar to the Wilderness before 10 December 2007, however with the arrival of Bounty worlds the Wilderness returned to being like old player killing. Players had to be careful entering the Wilderness as they could be attacked and likely killed by Revenants.

From 24 December 2010 to 14 January 2011 a referendum to bring back the old wilderness and free trade was conducted, in which ninety one percent of votes were a yes. The Wilderness has now been returned to the original, player killing Wilderness on 1 February 2011. As of 18 January 2011, the "Attack" option was secretly added to the menu while right-clicking on a player in the Wilderness in certain areas. Clicking it yielded "You can only attack players in a player-vs-player area".

In-game history
The area that is now the Wilderness was formerly known as Forinthry. Like the rest of Gielinor, it was shaped by the god Guthix during the First Age and was an area filled with nature and life.

Forinthry was very rich in resources, and so a perfect place to build settlements. Zaros, a god who, like other gods, entered Gielinor after Guthix fell asleep at the end of the first age, fully conquered this area during the second age. Many settlements were built, whose most powerful were Dareeyak, Carrallangar, Annakarl and Ghorrock. Forinthry formed a very big part of Zaros' mighty empire. The empire was the most powerful empire of Gielinor at that time and stretched from northern Forinthry, through the north-west of Misthalin, to the North-east of Morytania. The area's many resources caused Forinthry to be the most powerful part of Zaros' empire, if not Gielinor. Near the end of the second age, Zaros' Mahjarrat general Zamorak wanted to overthrow Zaros and was able to collect a group of followers. Those included the elder demon Thammaron, vampyre lord Drakan, human warrior Viggora and other Mahjarrat such as Zemouregal, Lucien and Hazeel. When Zamorak got his hands on the staff of Armadyl, he attacked Zaros' castle and after a huge battle, Zaros' powers were drained with the staff, leading to his banishment. Later the other gods banished Zamorak as well for defeating one of their kind.

Forinthry, without a leader, soon started to crumble. And it didn't take long until Zamorak returned as a god himself. Many of Zaros' remaining followers, sided with Zamorak and destroyed the remaining settlements of Forinthry. Saradomin also played a big role in the destruction of Zaros' empire. But soon, Zamorak turned against his fellow gods and declared war upon them. These wars became known as the god wars, lasting the entire third age. Many gods wanted to take control of Forinthry and it's resources and soon the entire area became a centre of warfare.

After 4,000 years of battle, Guthix awoke from his long slumber and put an end to the God Wars by creating the Edicts of Guthix, which banned all gods from ever directly influencing Gielinor again. Guthix went deep into the depths of Gielinor and wept, saddened by the effects the God Wars had had on the world that he had created and loved. The Wars ended, but the damage was done. Many races like the Aviansies, Icyenes, Ourgs and Wyrms were driven to extinction. Almost entire Gielinor suffered from the effects of the wars, but not one kingdom suffered as heavily as Forinthry.

Forinthry is today known as the wilderness and is now nothing but a cursed wasteland feared by adventurers. Today many ruins of the once beautiful cities still remain in these lands, barely recognizable as great cites but rather as piles of bricks, and spirits of the creatures who died during the God Wars were forced by the gods to look after the Wilderness. They started patrolling the wilderness, attacking anything alive they would encounter. These spirits became known as the Revenants. Many of those who died in the Wilderness after that point, have end up within a Spirit Plane, created by the Spirit beast. The origins of this beast are unknown. But everyone unlucky enough to die in the wilderness will be trapped in this realm for the rest of eternity. While the spirit beast slowly drains the souls of the unfortunate mortal victims, making itself stronger in the process.

During the Fourth Age, there were many attempts to recolonize the Wilderness. A new city was built at Dareeyak's old location and the Bonde family managed to build a successful farm in the 1700s. However, they were massacred. There are still many creatures wandering around in the wilderness, like many species of giants and demons. Due to the Wilderness being a site of ancient battles, it is also a place where dragons reside. Some outlaws, mostly Zamorakians, have also managed to set up their bases there, like bandits, dark warriors, rogues and pirates. In year 169, many adventurers, who had grown tired of the Revenants' constant terror, teamed up to fight the Revenants and reclaimed the land from their tyranny. The adventurers' efforts were successful, and the Revenants were banished to a cave known as the Forinthry Dungeon. Despite this, the Revenants still remain dangerous to anyone wishing to explore the cave, but are not nearly as powerful as they were above ground.

Revenants
Revenants were added by Jagex to challenge players after player killing was removed. They would randomly appear and attack players in the Wilderness. Revenants are the ghost-like spirits of creatures killed during the God Wars. All of them could teleblock, freeze, and use all three sides of the combat triangle. In members Wilderness, most of them could also poison the player (except for the Revenant dragon, which could poison players anywhere in the wilderness). They can also unleash hefty damage despite their combat level; even the level 7 Revenant Imps can hit up to 90 LP. The further north players go, the higher the danger level gets. The danger level represents the potential combat levels of revenants you can engage in combat. A danger level of 1 means you can be attacked by revenants within 1 combat level of your own; a danger level of 2 means you can fight revenants within 2 combat levels of your own; and so on.

After the Wilderness and Free Trade Update on 1 February, revenants were removed from the Wilderness surface and banished to the Forinthry Dungeon. They also lost their ability to teleblock and freeze players, but they are still extremely dangerous and should not be underestimated.

Teleport restrictions
Teleports will not work above level 20, except for a select few such as the Amulet of Glory or Ring of Life which may be used by members up to level 30. However, the Tele Block spell will prevent you from using any means of teleportation for 5 minutes.

If you have completed Spirit of Summer, you can use Jennica's ring to activate portals throughout the Wilderness, even from the axe hut at level 55, since the spirit realm is not considered a part of the wilderness as far as game mechanics go.

Items that allow member teleportation to up to 30 level Wilderness:


 * Amulet of glory
 * Combat bracelet
 * Skills necklace
 * Ring of wealth
 * Pharaoh's sceptre
 * Grand seed pod
 * Ring of Life

The Wall


The Wilderness is separated from safer areas by a wall on its southern edge, requiring players to click on it to enter the Wilderness. Formerly a ditch, it required the same action to enter the Wilderness; jumping over. This was to prevent players from wandering into the Wilderness and getting killed, or getting 'lured' or tricked into going into the Wilderness with popular luring techniques such as Tree Luring prior the Wilderness changes. After clicking the wall, players are presented with a screen that asks whether they really want to enter the Wilderness. Players who click yes will then jump over the wall. Above it, there are a few safe spaces. This has, however, reduced the level 1 Wilderness to 4 tiles.

When you jump the wall and are under the effect of an untradeable potion (like Extreme pots or Overload) the effects are reduced to a super potion because you can't use untradeable potions in pvp.

Jagex added the ditch/wall functionality on 18 April 2007. They also added the option not to receive this warning message every time on 17 July 2007. Players can toggle this and other warning messages on and off via the Doomsayer in Lumbridge. Before the Z-buffering update, the Wilderness Wall was actually a ditch, but was removed due to problems with graphics coding.

Player killing
Reintroduced into the Wilderness on 1 February 2011, PKing (Player Killing) is one of the most popular and profitable activities in RuneScape, though it is also one of the most dangerous. Player Killing can take place in the Wilderness. When a player is killed in the Wilderness, their lost items do not drop under a gravestone. Instead, they are dropped on the ground and available to the killer, or if the player was killed by a monster, to everyone. Moreover, a third party may see the drop after one minute.

PKing also saw the return of looters, low level accounts (some named specifically) for the purpose of picking up the remains of a drop after the killer finished taking the most expensive items. They are a hindrance (by who?) to PKers since they almost always stand on top of the loot and plant Marker plants to hinder the killer from picking it up quickly. If a player gets a kill and must teleport away or is killed right after by a PKer, all of the loot could become visible to everyone after a short amount of time, and experienced looters will pick up the best right away. (Formalise)

Economic effects of player killing
In the weeks following the return of player killing, the price of commonly used PKing gear, including armour, weapons, and food plummeted. Abyssal whip, Rune platebody, legs, and sharks crashed to almost half their price before the update. Rune scimitar went from 30k to 17k. Barrows equipment also crashed significantly. While its demand rose, this can be explained: However, the special PvP drops that were formerly only acquired from PvP, and now from Revenants, such as Vesta's longsword, skyrocketed. This is because they were much easier to get from PKing rather than killing Revenants now, whose drop rate of these items is extremely low.
 * With Bounty and PvP worlds, when a player is killed not all of their items became the killer's loot. Oftentimes the loot was a lot worse than the value of their lost items, and there were Ancient artefacts, which were sold to an NPC Mandrith for coins. As a result, the supply of gear was low as it was constantly removed from the game and the coins added into the game caused inflation; therefore prices rose.
 * After 1 February 2011, the drop system changed. All tradeable items such as the gear used in PKing lost upon death remained in the game as players picked them up and sold them. So the supply remained constant, unlike its decrease in PvP worlds. The effect of prices was particularly strong on Abyssal whips, which were mostly not transferred when one was lost in a PvP world. Now, all of them remain in the game as well as new ones coming in from Abyssal demons.
 * The return of free trade came with the return of Real world trading. They began using bots again to gather resources, including high level fish: shark, rocktail, monkfish, etc. The supply of them increased dramatically and lowered the prices. Unused food lost in player killing was also picked up by looters.

Why enter the Wilderness?
Many players enter the wilderness to PK (Player Kill),

There are also two Boss monsters located within The Wilderness:


 * King Black Dragon
 * Located in level 42 Wilderness, near the lava maze. The entrance to the King Black Dragon's lair is located in the wilderness, but the lair itself is not.


 * Chaos Elemental
 * Located in the highest levels of the Wilderness, west of the Rogue's Castle.

The Wilderness Volcano is also a good area to train since it has Greater Demons and Hellhounds. There is always plenty to kill since the monsters spawn fast and there is usually a small amount of players. Some places in the Wilderness spawn runes which players may collect for free although it can be quite dangerous if other players pass by. Some players like to get together with friends and take the risk of hanging out in the Wilderness just for the fun of it.

For access to the Abyss
Pay to play players can use the Abyss Via Wilderness to access the various altars throughout RuneScape to craft runes; the Zamorak mage that teleports players to the abyss is in level 5 Wilderness. Many players will risk being killed to craft runes here as it is the fastest way available to train Runecrafting until the ZMI altar becomes feasible; normally only runes above cosmic are crafted here as any rune below this is not considered worth the risk, and/or it takes less time to reach the appropriate altar by other means.

For resources
There are many useful respawns in the Wilderness. Particularly, in the non-members' world, there are only two spawn points for the planks required in the Dragon Slayer quest: There are also many respawns for bones in the Chaos Temple and the Bone Yard, and members can collect White Berries (a valuable potion ingredient) at Red Dragon Isle.
 * 1) In the Graveyard of Shadows, level 22 Wilderness. This place is multi-combat and is filled with aggressive level 18 and 24 zombies, so lower levels may want to bring some food and/or armour.
 * 2) The lava maze (level 43) contains several item spawns such as iron full helm, gold necklace, staff of earth, steel platebody, along with coin respawn points. Bring food, as it contains black knights, king scorpions, hill giants and lesser demons.

There is a small hill at level 50 wilderness north of the border where cut sapphires spawn. It is guarded by low-level spiders.

For ores
The risk factor and the aggressive monsters mean these mines are rarely mined-out, unlike the Mining guild at busy times.

The Wilderness has one of the few places to mine runite ore in all Gielinor, being the only place free-to-play players could mine runite until the 19 July 2010 Dungeoneering update. After the 1 Feb 2011 Wilderness update, the runite rocks near the Lava Maze began spawning their ore much faster, making it well worth the risk for those who are bold enough to mine in level 40+ Wilderness.

While the best metal armour enables players to shrug off most of the monsters that frequent the mines, other players will frequently attack with Magic as well, so ranged armour may be preferable to avoid a negative magic defence bonus. Protect from Magic may also be used to ward off magical attacks.

For clue scrolls
Pay to play players can obtain Clue scrolls from monsters. The higher level Clue scrolls often involve visits to the Wilderness, including to the parts with a very high danger level. Be warned that you can still be attacked by other players while fighting off any of the wizards that may attack you while digging for a casket, so be prepared for anything. Most of the time you will be incapable of teleporting, so you should be sure to bring a lot of food, preferably lobster or better.

For Agility training
Pay to play players have an Agility training course in the deep Wilderness. It is one of the fastest Agility training areas, though also the most dangerous, as you can be attacked at any time.

For monster killing
The Wilderness has monsters that can be interesting to kill for their drops or their experience e.g. Greater demons. In member worlds, Green Dragons and the King Black Dragon are killed for Dragon bones and dragon hide, the Chaos Elemental for valuable items such as the Dragon 2h sword, Black unicorns for unicorn horns, and the Corporeal beast for sigils worth millions of coins used to make spirit shields, are examples of monsters that attract players into the Wilderness.



For music
Some players wish to unlock as much music as possible, since they can get the Air Guitar emote upon unlocking 500 songs. Approximately 40 music tracks are unlocked in the Wilderness, in which 28 tracks can be unlocked in F2P. Exploration and training specific skills will unlock soundtracks and music in the wilderness area.


 * List of music that can be unlocked in the Wilderness
 * Army of Darkness
 * Attack3
 * Attack5
 * Close Quarters
 * Complication
 * Crystal Sword
 * Dangerous
 * Dark
 * Dead Can Dance
 * Deep Wildy
 * Doorways
 * Eruption
 * Everlasting Fire
 * Faithless
 * Forbidden
 * Inspiration
 * Into the Abyss
 * Lightness
 * Mage Arena
 * Pirates of Peril
 * Regal
 * The Route of All Evil
 * The Route of the Problem
 * Scape Sad
 * Scape Wild
 * Shining
 * Troubled
 * Undercurrent
 * Venomous
 * Wild Isle
 * Wild Side
 * Wilderness
 * Wilderness2
 * Wilderness3
 * Wildwood
 * Witching
 * Wonder
 * The Wrong Path
 * The Wrong Path

For money
Many players engage in player killing throughout the Wilderness to obtain valuables. When they kill a player, they will get all or nearly all of the items that the player was holding. Then the player killer takes the dropped items and does whatever they may wish to do with them. This includes using the High Alchemy or Low Alchemy spells on them or selling them for money.

Also, many players visit the Wilderness to kill Green Dragons, as the hides and bones they always drop are very profitable.

Another way to make money is by walking/running back and forth from Edgeville bank to the Red Dragon Isle, where players can pick up White berries, banking them, and later selling them at the Grand Exchange. White berries sell for coins each.

Another way many players make money is killing black unicorns and collecting unicorn horns. When they get a full inventory of horns, they deposit them in the stealing creation bank deposit box. You can not do this anymore because Stealing Creation was moved to the Gamers Grotto. After getting many unicorn horns, they can be sold on the Grand Exchange. Unicorns horns sell for coins. Finally, pkers often leave relatively valuable items, namely potions, on the ground, which can be picked up by other payers for a decent profit.

Many players have items that are of very little value to merchants and skill specialists. The General store in the Bandit Camp buys items for close to high alchemy prices because the "Tax collectors do not visit his store." All Wilderness merchants are very high-level as a matter of personal safety.

For capes
Some players want to collect team capes, so they go in the wilderness just to enhance their collection. These handy capes can vary in colours and designs.

You can find these capes by searching for men with big bags on their backs. Their location are in different places but are always near one place.

To Slay Revenants
Many players seek out revenants in the Forinthry Dungeon to kill them for their valuable drops, such as corrupt dragon armour, statuettes and Ancient Warriors' Equipment. The dungeon can be entered in either level 17 or 31 Wilderness near the western wall. Be warned that the dungeon is still considered a PvP area, and it's multi-combat, making it extremely dangerous. There are a lot of places that players would like to explore. However, curiosity can sometimes kill you, and this applies best to the Wilderness. But if a player is ready, why not go ahead and have a look around?

For quests or miniquests
On 29 July 2008, the first Wilderness quest, Spirit of Summer, was released. The quest mainly focuses at the centre of the wilderness. The sequel Summer's End is also started in the Wilderness, and on the 29 September, the third quest, Defender of Varrock brought players to the Graveyard of Shadows and to the Chaos Temple which are both located in the Wilderness.

Also, the Ghostly robes (miniquest) takes a player into the Wilderness at least once.

On 1 February 2011, it is stated that the quests will be moved to another place outside the Wilderness. If there are any quests, they will most likely be in a safe spot.

For beacons
If the player has finished the All Fired Up quest, then the player may need to head into the Wilderness to light some beacons for the activity of the same name. The beacons in the Wilderness are in the following locations: one on the Frozen Waste Plateau, one beacon is located in the low-level Wilderness north of the Grand Exchange, two other beacons north-east of the Lumber yard and one beacon is located north of the altar in level 43 Wilderness.

For trade
There is a shop selling pizza bases located in the Bandit Camp, as well as a general store which buys items from players for the high alchemy price rather than the standard low alchemy used in most general stores. However, due to the remoteness of the bandit camp, the stores are rarely used.

For Dungeoneering
Because Daemonheim is located in the wilderness, some players may walk through the wilderness to get to the peninsula. However, it is faster to get to Daemonheim by taking the Fremennik ship at Al Kharid or to teleport there via the Ring of Kinship.

For fishing
Around level 35 in the wilderness, on the east coast, there is a second F2P fishing spot for lobster, tuna and swordfish. However, it's easier and safer to fish from Karamja to avoid the risk of player killers. Also, in the Lava Maze, is the only lava eel fishing spot besides the one in the Taverley Dungeon near the group of baby blue dragons.

For penguin hunting
Sometimes penguins from Penguin Hide and Seek will be in the wilderness, so if a player would like to maximise their weekly reward they would have to go in to the wilderness to find the penguins. However, often penguin hunting clans can lead the penguins to relatively safe spots and thus reduce the risk.

Why not enter the Wilderness?
There is one main reason for players to refuse to enter the Wilderness: fear of death. A player can be killed very quickly in the wilderness in many ways:
 * By other players - the level of players that can attack you increases as you go deeper into the wilderness, so a person can be killed by a player who's combat level is much higher than their own.
 * By high-level monsters - some of the chief wilderness attractions are some of the most likely places to die. Powerful monsters such as green and red dragons can be dangerous, and the chaos elemental makes the region from the scorpion pit to the skeletal fence to the wilderness volcano nearly unapproachable.
 * By 'regular' monsters - almost all monsters in the wilderness attack players on sight even if they are passive elsewhere. These creatures attack everyone - level 100+ players will still be attacked by giant rats.
 * By Revenants - only in the Forinthry Dungeon. These undead creatures are much more dangerous than their combat level suggests. After the return of the wilderness update, killing revenants is much more rewarding than before.

Features
All of the areas to the right (the F2P/P2P Wilderness border is Danger Level 48) except the Red Dragon Isle are available to Free to play users. A basic outline of some features is given below, for a more in-depth description click on the link.