Wilderness/Survival guide

Located north of the kingdoms of Misthalin and Asgarnia, the Wilderness is a large and dangerous area. It is easy to die in the Wilderness if you aren't prepared, especially if you have a low combat level. As of 1 February 2011, PvP has been reintroduced to the wilderness, meaning other players may attack you at any time in the wilderness. This makes visits to the wilderness significantly more dangerous than before. The previous inhabitants, the revenants, have been moved to the Forinthry Dungeon. However, this guide aims to help you to safely navigate your way around the dangers of the Wilderness.

The Wilderness levels
When you are in the Wilderness, you may notice the level displayed in the top right corner of your screen. This is the Wilderness level of the area you are in. As you go further into the Wilderness, this level increases, and the strength of the creatures you may encounter will also increase.

A useful piece of information to have is that this Wilderness level also represents the potential combat levels of the other players that can engage you in combat. For example, a Wilderness level of 1 means the player can be attacked by players within 1 combat level of their own; a danger level of 2 means they can fight players within 2 combat levels of their own; and so on.

Most methods of teleportation don't work above Wilderness level 26. There are a few items that can teleport players up to level 40, such as an amulet of glory or a ring of life.

The monsters
There are many different monsters living in the Wilderness, with combat levels up to 305 (or 785 underground).

Most 'regular' monsters in the Wilderness, such as skeletons, hobgoblins, hill giants and green dragons, are always aggressive, no matter the combat level of the player. There are also multiple bosses in the Wilderness (for example, the Chaos Elemental, the King Black Dragon and the Corporeal Beast). They are very strong and can kill high-level players quickly. Many players come to fight these monsters for their notable drops such as the dragon 2h sword from the Chaos Elemental, a draconic visage from the King Black Dragon, or a divine sigil from the Corporeal Beast. In order for players to dare and challenge these vastly superior foes, they must come prepared.

Equipment
When entering the Wilderness, many players equip all their very best armour, wield their strongest weapons and bring expensive amulets and rings as protection. This works very well as a strategy, keeping you safer than cheaper equipment would.

But many other players prefer to do the opposite - bringing their cheapest armour and weapons, sometimes even wearing as little as possible. This is also a good idea if you have a higher than usual risk of dying (for example, if you are exploring an area of the Wilderness you haven't been in before), as it makes dying a very cheap way of teleporting out of the Wilderness.

Do note, however, that if you die in the Wilderness now you will not have a gravestone to return to and your items will be up for grabs by anybody that happens to be around at the time, but they are usually random players or the person that PKed you.

Consider your type of armour carefully, as some creatures in the Wilderness can use negative magic bonuses to give you high damage as a result of metal armour.

With the release of Divination, there are new pocket slot items that can be crafted to aid in the threat of death in the wilderness. Sign of respite I, II, and III all help with the length of your gravestone, and the Sign of item protection, at level 69, allows for an additional item to be kept upon death.

The following are example guides for the former strategy. They are melee-centred, but it is relatively easy to work out the magic and ranged equivalents.

Suggested free-to-play equipment

 * Head: Rune full helm, Green d'hide coif, Wizard hat (blue)
 * Body: Green d'hide body, Rune platebody, Monk's robe (top)
 * Legs: Rune platelegs, Green d'hide chaps, Rune plateskirt
 * Amulet: Amulet of Power
 * Weapon: Rune scimitar, Rune battleaxe, Rune longsword, Rune 2h sword, Maple shortbow
 * Shield: Rune kiteshield, Rune spikeshield, Rune berserker shield
 * Cape: Team cape, Cape
 * Hands: Rune gauntlets, Green d'hide vambraces
 * Ring: Explorer's ring 1-4 (preferably 3 or 4 as these rings have a teleport, to the cabbage field east of the Falador farm).
 * Boots: Leather boots, Fighting/Fancy boots, Swanky boots

Inventory

 * Strength potion
 * Swordfish
 * Rune platebody/Green d'hide body
 * Rune 2h sword
 * Lobster pot, Harpoon (along with a Rune hatchet, a Tinderbox, and 50 Fishing)
 * 1 Law rune, 3 Air runes, and 1 Fire rune (with 25 magic and ability to run back to level 20 Wilderness) for emergency teleport.
 * 43 Prayer (for Protect from Melee, Protect from Magic and Protect from Missiles)
 * A bind for binding an enemy (if you don't have a teleport so you can escape doing this)

Suggested Free-to-play expendable equipment

 * Head: Leather coif, Bronze full helm, Wizard hat (black)
 * Body: Monk's robe (top), Black robe top, Bronze platebody, Leather body
 * Legs: Monk's robe (bottom), Black robe bottom, Bronze platelegs, Leather chaps
 * Amulet: Amulet of power, Amulet of magic
 * Weapon: Silverlight, any elemental staff, Crossbow
 * Shield: Dragonfire shield, Bronze kiteshield, Wooden shield
 * Cape: Cape
 * Hands: Leather gloves
 * Ring: Explorer's ring 3 or 4
 * Boots: Leather boots, Swanky boots

Suggested Members' equipment

 * Head: Helm of Neitiznot, Berserker helm, Dragon helm, Body helmet or Mind helmet
 * Body: Black dragonhide, Karil's leathertop, Agile top, Rune platebody
 * Legs: Black d'hide chaps, Agile legs, Rune platelegs
 * Amulet: Salve amulet (e), Salve amulet, Amulet of fury, Amulet of glory, God stole
 * Weapon: Godsword, Abyssal whip, Saradomin sword, Dragon scimitar, Dragon 2H sword, Dragon dagger(p++ recommended)
 * Shield: Dragon square shield, Dragonfire shield, Obsidian shield, Dragon defender, or Body shield
 * Cape: God cape, Skill cape, God cloaks, Obsidian cape, Ardougne cloak 3, or team cape
 * Hands: Forinthry brace (if fighting revenants in the Forinthry Dungeon), Barrows gloves, Black d'hide vambraces
 * Ring: Jennica's ring, Ring of life
 * Boots: Dragon boots, Rune boots, Climbing boots, Boots of lightness

Inventory

 * Super defence potions
 * Extreme defence potion
 * Energy Potions or Super Energy Potions
 * Spirit Wolf and Howl scrolls OR Spirit terrorbird and Tireless run scrolls OR Bull ant and Unburden scrolls
 * Antipoison (If going over 50+ wilderness)
 * Higher healing food, such as Monkfish, Rocktail, Sharks, or Tuna potatoes
 * Prayer potions
 * Magic tablets (One-click escape if you can make it back to level 20 wilderness and avoid being tele-blocked. Teleport to House works best as it provides a safe death, even if your construction level is 1) or runes for a teleport spell (also can't be used over 20 wilderness)
 * Runes for binding spells. These are a great help if someone attacks you, as you can bind them and run away.

Tactics
If you are planning on entering the Wilderness, it is a good idea to know a few hints and tips to keep you as safe as possible.
 * Since skulls have been removed, you will lose all of your items. To combat this, it is suggested that you use the Protect Item prayer to keep one item (your most valuable item in your inventory/being worn) and you move by clicking on the minimap. If you have over 31 prayer the robes from the monastery are very helpful - they are free to replace, light and help you maintain prayers for longer.
 * It is a good idea to bring as few items as possible, especially if you have a low combat level or constitution level. Travelling light is the best tactic.
 * Jennica's ring is very helpful. If you happen to see a portal that looks like the one from Spirit of Summer and Summer's End, walk on top of it, and operate the ring in your worn inventory. You will teleport to the Spirit Realm which is not in the Wilderness, and therefore most creatures cannot follow you there. You may teleport out of the Spirit Realm regardless of what level you were in. However, you cannot teleport to the Spirit Realm if you are currently teleblocked.
 * If you are travelling through the Wilderness but do not intend to fight anything, it is often a good idea to wear as little as possible and equip boots of lightness, carry teleportation tablets/runes, food, and other weight reducing equipment. In this situation, run as far as you can and proceed with caution.
 * If you are feeling jittery because of a low level or previously bad experiences, keep an eye on your minimap for white dots (meaning other players potentially trying to kill you).
 * It is very possible, and not uncommon, to travel all the way through the Wilderness relatively unscathed, and certainly without encountering many, if any, PKers. Keep an eye out for them, but don't panic.

Demonic Ruins
When battling Greater Demons, it is a good idea to monitor the east to see if anybody is coming. If a player killer shows up, which can be frequent around there, you should run, as it is likely that you have depleted food stores, whereas the player killer has likely just filled their inventory with food. If you are pay-to-play, the Brimhaven dungeon is a better option.

An Explorer's Ring 3 is recommended for its run restoring capabilities, as well as a teleport. If you are low on health and have no food you should leave the wilderness immediately as your chances of death are very, very high.

Chaos Temple (hut)
This altar is multi-combat in a reasonably high wilderness level. Many player killer clans group together here making it very dangerous indeed. They may even pile-kill you, meaning many players stand on one spot so they look like only one player on the minimap but when you go nearer you get bombarded with range and magic attacks, usually causing almost instant death. Only the immediate area around the church, though, is multi-combat. There is no real use for this area, other than the few reasons listed above.

If you must go here it is recommended that you have very high levels and are very careful. It is also recommended that you take at least lobster and bring at most 3 valuables.

Rogues' Castle
Stay away from the west side as you approach the castle unless you know exactly what you are doing. If you are entering through the west, it is recommended to stay as far north a possible, since the Chaos Elemental rarely goes there. It dwells here and can kill most players very quickly. This is a very dangerous monster, much more dangerous even than most players, so beware that you don't start running away from a PKer and run directly into it's line of fire. You have been warned!

If you see any danger approaching the castle, run, as you do not want to be engaged in combat with another player and the chaos elemental. This would almost certainly mean your death.

If you have not been teleblocked you should run to the Ardougne teleport lever on the small island surrounded by lava. This requires a sharp weapon or item such as a dagger or knife to cut the webbing that blocks the path.

Another option to escape from player killers is to go to the ancient teleport platform, activate it, and stand on the side of it. If you are extremely lucky this may teleport the player that is attacking you away. If you stand one tile off of the portal, players will be able to attack you for only a short period of time before the portal activates and they are teleported away. They can go with you on the obelisk however. Deaths are common by this method as the obelisk cannot teleport quickly.

Western ruins
When being ambushed by a player, you should simply run away.

Eastern Edge
While fishing, it is inconvenient to find a player killer. If a PKer is present, run south to the wilderness level where they will stop attacking you. You may also be able to simply run away for 10 seconds and then log out. Log back in on another world.

Frozen Waste Plateau
Training here is very dangerous as it is in the deep Wilderness, and the frequency of player killers. Usually only the very highest level players come here (level 130+). When you see anybody at all, run south to the gates and close it behind you. Then run to the altar to hide, and recharge prayer if necessary. You should then switch worlds.

Wilderness Agility Course
Training Agility here is risky as frequent high levelled player killers patrol this course. As such, it is advised to train somewhere else. However, if you still plan to train here, bring as much food as possible and some lightweight armour. Dragonhide would be excellent in this situation. Beware of the players as some are willing to kill anything that they see, although that does not happen frequently these days. A good way to stay alive is to be prepared for battle or to hide. An ideal hiding setup could consist of: dragonhide, boots of lightness, spotted or spottier cape, and if you want to, a weapon to fend off single player. You should have you quick prayers or curses set to: Protect Item and Deflect/Protect from Melee (since you have dragonhide, it gives you magic defence bonus). What you should do when a player is encountered: If you've already passed the ladder (from which if you fall from the ropeswing or spike pit obstacles) then complete the course, through the tunnel, run past the ropeswing and run down the hatch. All you need to do now is heal and kill a few skeletons. After that, world hop and you're fine.

Dark Warriors' Fortress
The only good place to train on these and collect runes is the 1st level (ground). Almost all the warriors are level 8.There is a place to use Jennica's ring from Summer's End in the open space in the centre of the castle, in front of the dead body; beware though that there is a level 129 tormented wraith on the other side of the portal. The experience received/ skill it is in for using this portal is Defence exp (note: level 80 Defence is required to receive the exp).

Forinthry Dungeon
The only thing that is good to do here is to either kill green dragons or revenants. If PKers come in to kill you, teleport out with basic teleportations (the lower part of the Green dragon's chamber is level 19), or either run out the lower level entrance. The lower part of the Forinthry Dungeon (from the path upwards to the Greater demons or Green dragons), can accept teleports of the Explorer's ring and basic teleportation. If you're killing anything else, run south or teleport out.

Revenant hunters have a more different story. In F2P, PKer's will rarely or never even come. However if they do, immediately start running around in a path which forces them to use a shorter way, which potentially allows other higher levelled revenants to begin attacking them, potentially having the ability to kill them. If you can't lure the PKers to the revenants, run south until you are in a safe zone where they cannot attack you.

For members, they have even worse luck. PKers often teleblock and cast ice spells on you, range you or melee you. If this happens, run south with the appropriate protection prayer or teleport out (highly recommended). It is highly recommended to not come to the Forinthry Dungeon to kill revenants unless the world is highly underpopulated, as the aggressiveness of players makes it harder for others to come here to kill revenants.

Always run south or north (if you're luring PKers to dangers like the revenant demon or dark beast) depending on what happens. A teleport is absolutely necessary if you are going to kill revenants here.

Wilderness Runite mine
The mine is very far from a bank, so it is advised to not come back with a full inventory. Using wilderness obelisks can be an efficient way of banking ore though. The closest bank for P2P is the Mage Arena, while free players have to bank at Daemonheim or Edgeville (since the Wilderness Volcano bank has been removed). There is the small chance as soon as you log in a person will be waiting there, either just recently coming to mine some ore or to kill you and loot your runite ore. Run south as fast as you can or lure them to the Greater demons.

Bandit Camp
The Bandit Camp is mainly visited for cooking and clan purposes. In the room to the north, there is a NPC called Fat Tony. He sells pizza bases to players. There is 1 tomato and 1 cheese that respawn on a table, which can be used to make pizza. There is a pond just outside the house were players can fish anchovies. Giant rats are a good source to get raw meat. Players killers must enter though the main gate, so if you are trying to avoid a fight go into the house with Fat Tony, go to the general store, go over the pond in the east, and then teleport. If you have a decent number of life points, run from your hiding spot to the eastern exit near the rats. Log out and log in to another world, but keep still until you can be sure that it is clear. If you don't have sufficient life points, close the doors in the building where Fat Tony is and eat the tomatoes and cheese until you're back to a safe number of life points.

Lava Maze
Player killers are very common sights here; therefore it is nearly impossible for a lower levelled player to escape this deadly place, as it contains webs and confusing routes. The lava river is not very wide, so the PKers may be able to mage/range you. If a PKer is in sight, run directly to the ending of the maze, just outside of the Lesser demons. If the centre is far away, logging out is recommended, however it may not be possible if you are under attack. On members, if one is attacked near the back/northern part of the maze, behind the web guarded by the giant, your best bet is likely to run past the Lesser Demons and down the ladder.

Hobgoblin Mine
Training Mining here is considered one of the best places in RuneScape as it contains a lot of adamantite, mithril, coal, and iron rocks. However, a high-levelled player killer may pop up at any time and attack you. To avoid this, run through the Chaos ridge, and the level they will stop attacking you. Or arrive at the Chaos ridge, and stay away from the cliffs and log out, then come back and continue mining. Otherwise, run west to the Chaos temple, close the door and hide there, or log out. You are strongly advised to log out the second a white dot appears on your minimap and change worlds. This may seem like an annoying waste of time but it only takes 45 seconds unlike dying which can take you time to recover from.

Chaos Temple
Located in level 12-15 wilderness, there is a small range of other players that are able to attack you. In the case that you DO encounter a PKer either run away or use the altar to continually recharge your prayer. As this is below level 20 wilderness, a teleport is useful. This is a great place to train prayer at a low level, as there are countless bone respawns.

Daemonheim
Daemonheim is the home of Dungeoneering, a team-based skill. The entrance to Daemonheim, located in the most easterly part of the Wilderness, is not an actual part of the Wilderness, and so classified as a 'safe zone' where you cannot be attacked. As a result, if you are being chased by a player that you cannot defeat, escaping into Daemonheim is a good strategy.

However, if you wish to go Dungeoneering, it is recommended to teleport using the ring of kinship or by sailing on the Fremennik ship, located behind the bank in Al Kharid.

Tips


A little-known fact is that other players CAN be teleported away by the obelisks in the wilderness, making them an invaluable evasive option. It is recommended to use this method only in the deep wilderness obelisks (i.e. Frozen Waste Plateau, Rogue's Castle). Here's what to do:


 * 1) Lure the player into the middle of the obelisk.
 * 2) Activate the obelisk.

If you're teleblocked you can stay in the middle of the obelisk with the player beside you. However, this is only recommended for high levelled players because the other player will continue to attack you, dealing significant damage. As the teleport activates, the player will be gone with it, but a message in your chat will appear saying that you have been teleblocked, leaving you behind. These are recommended for players with a high combat level (110 or above).

Always bring a ring of life, as it may save your life. If you're not teleblocked, you may be able to just move behind one of the pillars where the players can't directly reach you, then, as they move up towards you, trigger the obelisk, move out from behind the pillar so they'll move towards the obelisk, and they should be teleported. Do not bind or entangle the player, or they will not be teleported (since they will count as having been recently attacked). Be aware that the PKer may run out of the obelisk and use Ranged or Magic.

It may be somewhat useful to bring basic survival utensils such as: a hatchet, a tinderbox, around 200-1000 gold pieces, and a fishing net, though at times all they do is take up inventory space and increase your weight, which may be fatal. If you are around wooded areas when a player attacks, run into the woods, as this will disrupt their attacks and give you a chance to log out or escape.

Another tactic for shaking off a persistent player killer is to lure them to a single-combat zone with aggressive monsters. Although player killers can attack a player that is in combat with a monster in a single-combat zone, they can only stay in combat if the target fights back immediately. Otherwise, if the monster is aggressive, it will attack the PKer and give them the message "I'm already under attack.". The PKer will not be able to continue attacking the target player until they deal with the monster first by anyway needed (killing or running).

Example:
 * Player A is killing green dragons in a single-combat zone with an abyssal whip.
 * Player B spots Player A in combat with a dragon and attacks him with a dragon dagger.
 * Player A receives the message, "I'm already under attack.", but does not retaliate.
 * The dragon that Player A was originally fighting, now no longer in combat, attacks the next closest target: Player B.
 * Player B receives the message, "I'm already under attack.", and Player A escapes while Player B deals with the dragon.

The best way to escape the wilderness is to run south and hope for the best, or find an obelisk to teleport your killer away (if they are not teleblocked).

Daemonheim is not counted as the wilderness. Fleeing here is an excellent way of escaping, but you will not be able to enter if another player is attacking you.

If you intend to go in land marks be prepared for an attack, as other players know where the busiest spots in the wilderness are and they camp them. These places include the Bandit Camp, the edges of wilderness volcano, Red Dragon Isle, etc.

If on a Treasure Trail, meerkats are very useful. They act as a sextant, so you will not need to bring a sextant, chart or a watch, and they can dig without getting into battle with a mage, thus lowering your time in the wilderness to a minimum, and allowing you to not have to carry a spade.

If you find you are low on money or are a beginning player, you may want to venture into the wilderness with nothing at all and take your chances rather than risking more than you should. It is not a guarantee that you will be attacked during a trek through the wilderness and therefore, if you bring a couple of runes and a few materials, there is a chance you will come out safely. And if you do not, at least you have not lost anything. If you plan to visit the wilderness regularly, or to stay there for an extended period(s) of time, choose carefully which items you are going to bring, and ensure you can easily replace items if they are lost, and ensure you have a good supply of cash so that you won't end up spending all your money on replacing lost items. Bring some cheap food like tuna, salmon or trout so you can heal in case your life points drop to critical levels.

Überlebenstraining in der Wildnis