RuneScape:Wiki Post/Editorials/Pures and Non-Pures

This it loosely about my name. A few days ago, in the Fist of Guthix lobby, a level 46 wielding an obsidian maul asked, "Hey real. Why do you hate us pures?" I replied with a quick "I don't" to avoid a long and tedious discussion about how I couldn't use "Not A Pure" as a name. I only wanted to avoid being asked if I was a Defence pure, because I kept coming out of the arena wielding nothing...

Honestly, don't condemn me. Pures are fine by me, I just don't understand them. As far as I can see, the only advantage of being a pure is to have abilities well beyond your combat level. Every pure has a disadvantage. Defence pures can't hit hard enough to kill anything, and end up being meat-shields. Strength pures can inflict serious damage, but a low Attack level makes their accuracy suffer. Attack pures are a bit like Flesh Crawlers. They can hit consistently, but without a Strength level, the damage remains in the low numbers - below 100 damage, as a general rule. Ranged pures are a bit more dangerous, but still die quickly when someone lands a few lucky blows. Magic pures live with the same problem.

As for those who wish to keep Constitution as low as possible (I refer, of course, to those players that enter PvP games to get runes, like Fist of Guthix, and splash Curse, or Stun, until the game ends), I can only ask, "Why?" What possible advantage can running around Gielinor with 100 lifepoints to offer? Quests like Monkey Madness, and others that include a run through high-levelled enemies, are near impossible, as you can be almost 1-hit KOed. Dungeoneering is perfectly possible, but your experience will be severely penalised by frequent deaths. PvP results in being killed quickly by almost anyone able to hit reasonably high. And as for traversing extreme conditions, like the Ice Path or the desert, where constant damage is inflicted, you simply cannot survive!

Now, let us look at a non-pure account. The combination of several combat skills makes a balanced, healthy fighter. I'm not a pure (obviously) and, while I'm not at the same skill standards as some players, I can hold my own in fairly dangerous situations, like fighting Bork, or being attacked by a hulking level 120 while playing Stealing Creation. Non-pures can also switch from one side of the combat triangle to another, to fight those using prayer, or monsters like the Dagannoth Mother, to get around those shields that protect from certain attacks.

Fights between pure and non-pure accounts can be extremely varied, although the pure tends to either lose or be severely damaged by the end of the fight. The most difficult to judge are generally between non-pures and Strength pures (also the most common pure). Sometimes, the pure is killed too quickly for the non-pure to take heavy damage, while at other times, the pure lands several gigantic hits, killing the non-pure. However, this is rare, as the preferred weapon of the Strength pure is the Obsidian Maul (or Tzhaar-ket-om to some), and mauls are among the slowest weapons in the game.

Defence pures can last a long time, but won't deal much damage, for reasons mentioned above. Attack pures deal fast damage, but are usually beaten fairly quickly. Summoning pures rely on a familiar, but Protect from Summoning negates the damage, and the non-pure can easily murder the pure. Magic pures, who have miraculously beaten Desert Treasure at level 1 Defence and Prayer, will unleash Ice attacks at a non-pure expecting melee combat, but the non-pure can quickly switch to Ranged, equip Dragonhide armour, and the pure will die. Similar events take place when the non-pure initiates combat. They can use a Seercull to destroy the pure's Magic level, and happily Melee away until the pure dies. So PvP is out of bounds to pures as well.

I once attempted to use a pure account. Needless to say, I died extremely quickly, to the discontent of my friend, who never let me near his account again. I was so used to having a high Defence level on my account, that I recklessly attacked an ogre, assuming that the high Strength would make light work of the beast. Regrettably, an obsidian maul and a berserker necklace don't give the highest Defence bonuses in the game, and level 1 Attack decreased the likelihood of a hit to almost 0. The ogre immediately smashed the pure wit its club, dealing a hefty 70 damage, then another 40, and reduced the pure to zero life points with a hit worth 30 damage. Can pures actually do anything besides die?

So, I don't hate pures. They just sacrifice large parts of the game and I'm not sure why they would want to. Please don't flame me for it.

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 * By: Real Not Pure

What do you think about pures? I agree with the author. I don't know. I actually like pures and might even have one myself.