Temple Trekking

Temple Trekking is a members-only activity in which the player must escort victims of vampyre rule from Burgh de Rott through Morytania to the Paterdomus, the temple on River Salve, on the way guiding them through bogs and over rivers while defending them from dangerous packs of monsters, some unique to this activity. (Requires In Aid of the Myreque)

Burgh de Rott Ramble is the reverse route in which the player escorts potential Myreque recruits from the Paterdomus to Burgh de Rott. (Requires Darkness of Hallowvale)

The difficulty of either activity is determined by whether the player chooses weaker or stronger people (called followers) to escort and whether the player chooses to take easier or harder paths through Morytania. Escorting weaker followers means more time and effort in healing and defending the follower when a monster attack event occurs. Taking harder paths means the monsters will have higher combat levels when a monster attack event occurs.

A journey succeeds if the player and follower reach the destination, whereupon the player receives a reward. A journey fails if the player or follower is killed. A journey is aborted if the player chooses the escape path or teleports out of the activity at any time.

Several events are likely to occur in each journey. There are three types of events: friendly events in which the player and follower can be healed and have their defences raised; combat events in Multicombat area in which monsters attempt to attack the player and follower; and puzzle events, which typically involve overcoming terrain obstacles, that the player must solve. All combat and some puzzle events are dangerous.

These two activities provides opportunities to cross-train in most skills. Combat experience (including Prayer) is gained during battle events. Monster drops and activity rewards provide some of the staple materials used in Crafting, Cooking, Farming, Fletching, Herblore, Runecrafting, and Smithing, while Tomes of experience can be awarded for Agility, Firemaking, Fishing, Mining, Slayer, Thieving, and Woodcutting. Players can also pick up pieces of Lumberjack clothes and the Constructor's outfit, which are found only in this activity.

Since the player loses if the follower is killed, one basic tactic in most combat events is for the player to shield the follower from the monsters. This means the player's body will typically be a meat-shield between fairly strong melee enemies and the follower. There are two practical strategies to achieve this:
 * Wear high-defence melee armour. This helps protect the player from the monsters' attacks. This strategy means that the player should typically use melee, as the melee armour will interfere with using ranged or magic.
 * Use protection Prayers. Most monsters attack with melee, so Protect from Melee or Deflect Melee can be used. Giant Snails attack with ranged, so Protect from Missiles or Deflect Missiles can be used. When using prayer, any combat style can be used against most monsters, except Vyrewatch which must be meleed. For magic, Ancient Magicks could be quite useful in some events, as some spells can affect a group of monsters.

Players are allowed to take Summoning familiars into the activity. A beast of burden helps store food, while a combat familiar could fight alongside the player since the activity is multi-combat.

'''Note: This is a dangerous activity. If you die, you will need to return to the starting place to retrieve your items; if you played Temple Trekking, you must return to Burgh de Rott to retrieve your items; if you played Burgh de Rott Ramble, you will need to return to the Paterdomus Temple.'''

Getting there
There are several ways to reach Canifis quickly, where the activity may be started. Some of these include:
 * Fairy ring code C-K-S
 * Kharyrll Teleport (Requires completion of Desert Treasure and 66 Magic)
 * Ectophial and running west to Canifis
 * Teleport to the Slayer Tower just north of Canifis using a slayer ring
 * Walking from Varrock
 * Using a Player Owned House with a Kharyll Teleport

Supplying your follower
A follower can hold 28 items of food in their backpack, also called the Follower Inventory. They will retain items from one trip to the next, even after logout. The Follower Inventory is used by all followers, so anything given to one is available to all followers, regardless of difficulty and location.

It is a good idea to fill their pack before starting a trek, while talking to them, and before agreeing to escort them.

To fill their pack, trade them the desired food. They will accept the trade immediately. It is not possible to see what they already have in their pack, only how many more items that can be given. The follower inventory can only be filled with food. If a player tries to trade the follower something else it gives the following message: 'You can only trade food to trek NPCs'

After giving food to the follower it is recommended to then return to the bank to retrieve additional food for the trip. Once ready, restart the dialogue and agree to escort them.

The best food that can be given to the follower is Rocktail.

During the events the follower can be resupplied with food. For this reason, it is advantageous to allocate one inventory slot for a sack filled with a food, such as cabbages, allowing for the healing and food replenishment of the follower as much as 10 times per inventory slot.

Your follower will lose all of their food if you use the escape option to leave the event or if you teleport out of the activity. (Completing the event or using the evade option to evade an event does not cause follower food to be lost.)

Your follower will also have a Druid pouch.

Requirements to start
The following Quests must be completed to play this activity:


 * In Aid of the Myreque for Burgh de Rott Ramble
 * Legacy of Seergaze for Temple Trekking

Temple trekking starts at the town of Burgh de Rott. Start the activity by speaking to one of the NPCs standing nearby.

Burgh de Rott Ramble starts on the east side of the River Salve just outside the temple. A player can start at either side.

The following items are recommended:



Weapons and Armour

 * One standard weapon (Abyssal Whip shown). Fast weapons are recommended for this activity, especially on route 3: You have to kill a monster quickly when he attacks your follower.
 * Dragon dagger or Dragon Claws for its special attack to protect the follower.
 * Ancient Mace may be used to regain some prayer points mid-trek.
 * Rod of Ivandis (prior to completion of Legacy of Seergaze) or other silver weapon. See below.
 * Ivandis flail is highly recommended after having completed Legacy of Seergaze. It is the only way to deal with the vyrewatch event. The more experience with the flail, the better.
 * Salve amulet (e) many of the combat encounters are undead; a salve amulet (e) boosts accuracy and strength against undead by 20% the non-enchanted version only boosts by 15%
 * Dragon halberd can be very useful to melee monsters safely, especially if they get stuck behind obstacles.
 * A high Melee defence and Prayer bonus setup is recommended. Veracs or Proselyte will conserve both prayer and food.
 * Snelm for fighting giant snails.

Inventory

 * Guthix balance potion for slaying vampyres.
 * Druid pouch to defend against Ghasts. Stock up before starting.
 * Knife to skin Snakes
 * A Prayer potion is optional, and recommended for first time trekking via the Route 3.
 * A hatchet and a Tinderbox may be helpful, however, they are provided in events when needed.
 * Food -- both for personal healing and to heal the follower. Remember that the follower can accept any type of food mid-trip, so a basket or sack of food is highly recommended. A sack filled with food also saves a lot of work with the campsite event.
 * A Combat potion can help you deal damage to normally hard to kill juvinates.
 * Enough open space to pick up items quickly during events.
 * If using prayer it is suggested that you bring a Holy Wrench from Rum Deal as it give a prayer boost when you use a prayer potion.
 * Optional: Bring a wheel of cheese, because in case of a campsite event, it can be cut into pieces for each person, and extra can be used for healing. A full basket of fruit or sack of cabbages both serve the same purpose.

Prayer
During treks it is recommended, but not necessary, to have full prayer points. Certain monsters in the events can hit hard (so Protect prayers come in handy). Also, you need prayer points to collect items for druid pouches, if you need any. The Paterdomus temple and Nature Spirit altar are quite close by to the start of each route. Prayer potions can be used too. However, higher-level players who have brought the correct equipment should have little need of prayer though it does make it safer and easier for lower-level players.

Silver weapon
Vampyre Juvinates can only be harmed by relatively weak silver weapons. A Rune defender or Dragon Defender will greatly increase accuracy against Juvinates if using a one handed weapon.
 * Rod of Ivandis will perform capably, and using its special with Guthix balance potion allows the player to finish off Juvinates at slightly below 50% health.
 * Wolfbane is fast and has a prayer bonus, but will not perform as well.
 * Darklight or Silverlight
 * Blessed hatchet
 * Silver bolts used with a crossbow (iron or better.)
 * Silver Sickle (b) (Also good against Ghasts)
 * Ivandis flail is recommended if accessible, since it acts as both a silver sickle(b) and rod of ivandis, thus allowing the player to deal with both ghasts and juvinates. It is also essential since it is the only known way of dealing with vyrewatch, which may appear during a trek, so having one after completing Legacy of Seergaze is necessary.
 * Rune throwing axes will not hurt Juvinates, but using their special at the beginning of an encounter will keep them from attacking, and likely killing, the follower (especially on harder routes).

People to escort


There are a total of six people that can be escorted - three people for the journey to the Temple and three for Burgh De Rott. You can choose who to escort by using the noticeboard at the start point at Paterdomis or in Burgh De Rott. Each of the three people on each journey has a different difficulty - easy, medium and hard. For Temple Trekking, all three are villagers, and for Burgh De Rott Ramble all three are adventurers.

By being escorted, the follower will gain experience and levels. As they do so, they will gain new abilities and become more adept in combat. It will also allow the player to unlock certain rewards - some rewards require all of the followers to have reached a certain level

Routes
Once you have chosen someone to escort, you will need to choose which path to take. There are three paths, each a different difficulty, the main difference being the combat level of the monsters faced. This will only be the difficulty of the next event faced. Choosing the best path will be dependent upon combat level, available gear and which character is being escorted.

After each encounter, players will be given the option of changing the path that they are currently taking. If players find themselves having a hard time, they can take an easier route for instance or take a harder route when things are too easy.


 * Easy route: Players can choose to evade any combat events. The monsters on this path are around level 80. Rune armour should be a minimum for combat events on this route. If monsters appear there will be at least 3.
 * Medium route: In order to evade combat events, the player must complete at least 50% of the event first. Monsters will be around level 110. Prayer may be useful for certain events depending on the player's level, so choosing pure defence armour or prayer armour will be at the player's discretion. If monsters appera there are at least 4.
 * Hard route: There is no way to evade any event. The monsters are around level 140. Prayer will be important to surviving this route at any level, so having Prayer boosting gear is recommended. Escorting a weak follower is not recommended for this route but is still possible. If monsters appear there are at least 5.

Events
There are 3 different types of events that might happen when you're moving forward - friendly events, combat events, and puzzle events. The specific event and difficulty of completing may depend on the difficulty of the route taken, although most events are possible regardless of difficulty.

Once an event occurs, the player and follower are pulled into the event area. The player will start in front of a section of path with blue stones. Right-clicking will display an Escape option, which completely abandons the trek and leaves the player wherever they have reached on the map, often in the middle of Mort Myre Swamp. At the opposite end of the area is the path that allows the player to "Continue-trek", once the event is completed. In combat events on the easy and medium routes, there are paths that evade-event that when used will skip the event and continue trekking, adding no reward and increasing the chance for another event. On the medium route, 50% of the monsters must be killed before being able to use Evade-event.

Friendly event
A man named Abidor Crank will appear as an event and heal you and the follower, above maximum health if applicable and buff defence. He also turns all Rotten foods into Stews. Getting this event adds nothing to the end reward.

Combat events
In combat events a certain number of enemies will attack the player and the escort. For most of the combat events, the monsters give a few seconds before attacking. This is the player's chance to position themselves between the follower and the monsters. All combat events are multi-way combat. Combat events provide the majority of the end reward when completed.

Rewards


After successfully completing a trek, the follower will give a Reward token, which can be blue, yellow, or red tokens depending on the chosen route. The reward amount is determined by how many monsters are fought and what level they were, and how many puzzle events were completed. This is further explained below. You can exchange your token by left clicking on the token. This table shows the max reward possible on any trek for each item.


 * Blue token 10-30 low herbs, Yellow token 3-11 med herbs, Red token 2-7 high herbs.

Average Profit (assuming maximum reward):

* The Herbs are lesser amounts of Toadflax, and greater amounts of either Harralander or Tarromin. The amount of Toadflax is 1/3 the other herb plus one, so the max Herb reward is 26 Toadflax and 75 Harralander or Tarromin.

Occasionally, Tomes of Learning are given as a reward. Unlike most experience tomes, the skill is predetermined and not selectable. These tomes give some experience in one of the following specific skills: Agility, Thieving, Slayer, Firemaking, Fishing, Woodcutting, or Mining. The colour of the tome depends upon which route the player has chosen.

Trek ratings
The rewards above are distributed based on the difficulty of the Trek. Trek ratings are theoretical numbers, as there is no display in game to show how a Trek is rated. Assuming that when less than the maximum reward is given, a certain percentage is given according to a rating accumulated on a Trek, and that any rating in excess of 100 will result in a 100% reward is received, then each event adds the following amount to the Trek rating.


 * Abidor Crank and Bridge with Lumberjacks add nothing.
 * Bridge (with trees), Bog, and River add about 6.5 to the trek rating on all routes.
 * The swamp creature only appearing on Route 3 adds 50 to the Trek rating.
 * The remaining combat events and the Campsite event add the following approximate amounts of reward based on the number of monsters and the difficulty of the route. The table below shows how much is added per event completed.


 * A Trek with no rating will give 4% of the reward.


 * The amount of experience given by a Tome of experience is unaffected by Trek ratings.

It is possible (and common) to exceed a 100 Trek rating on Route 3, and even a 200 rating with the hardest combination. However, there is no extra reward for exceeding a 100 rating. A case study of 30 Treks shows that guiding the strongest followers on Route 3 tends to average a Trek rating of 89.9, with a reward average of 88.0% when excluding Tomes of experience, and an expected reward value of 82.3% had those Tomes been measurable rewards. The approximate market value of the rewards totalled 786,000 Coins, with 23,843 experience from Tomes.

History

 * Before the 13 March 2007 update it was required you travel back to Burgh de Rott to collect the reward and restart the game. Now, the player has the option to escort mercenaries from the Paterdomus to Burgh de Rott for a reward in the same fashion if Darkness of Hallowvale is completed. This allows the game to be endlessly repeated with rewards at each end of the trip.
 * Before 24 April 2007, Wildblood seeds were given instead of Watermelon seeds, the maximum amount being 55.

Revamp
On 17 August 2011, the minigame received a major overhaul. A great deal was changed with this update. Previously, there were many more followers that could be selected (see below), and the follower would not take part in combat. There was also no levelling system for the followers. The treks were started by talking to the NPC. A few new followers were added with the update.

The trails themselves functioned differently - the player would select the difficulty before the trail and would have to complete the whole trail at that difficulty. Two new events were added - the graveyard of skeletons and the nature grotto.

The rewards system was also slightly different before this update - previously, players could not choose rewards, they were received at random by turning in the reward token. A number of new rewards were added with the update, such as the constructor's outfit, the shortcut to the Nature Spirit's grotto, the teleport to Burgh de Rott and the Ghast familiar.

Additionally, the events received a major graphical update, as did the monsters, such as Ghasts and Vyrewatch.

The previous followers available, now removed from the game, were:
 * Easy: Fyiona Fray, Dalcian Fang, Mage and Adventurer
 * Medium: Valantay Eppel, Ranger and Apprentice
 * Hard: Woman-At-Arms and Forester

Trivia

 * When you examine lumberjack zombies, it will say “He's the one, but he's not alright” which is a reference to Monty Python’s “Lumberjack song”.
 * In the August Behind the Scenes, a Temple Trekking rework was announced. This announcement includes XP rewards for each of your partners, as well as new rewards and the ability to choose your own reward.