Summer's End

Summer's End is the sequel to the Spirit of Summer quest, which was released on 29 July 2008 and the first quest to be released in the Wilderness. The sequel quest was released on 15 September 2008 and continues the story of the Spirit Beast terrorizing Summer and her family in the Spirit Realm. Summer's End is generally regarded as one of the most difficult quests to complete due to the extremely high chance of dying at least once during the quest, along with Monkey Madness, Desert Treasure (For the requirement of defeating four very tough monsters), Nomad's Requiem (For the difficulty of defeating the Level 699 Nomad), and While Guthix Sleeps (which requires 270 quest points, completion of nearly all quests and very high skill requirements).

Forewarning

 * Deposit all unneeded items in the bank, as armour and weapons will not help in this quest.
 * After the update to gravestones on 16 June 2009, if you die while fighting the Beast, your gravestone will appear in the portal to the Spirit Realm, so protect item is not needed since you can easily teleport to Clan Wars (games necklace) and reclaim your items.
 * Protect from magic or any protection prayers will not work or help when fighting the spirit beast; the only time you need prayer is in the 3rd room when blessing the graves.

Background
Items needed: Jennica's ring, a Ghostspeak amulet, a pickaxe (any type is sufficient), 4-5 Summoning pouches made from Blue charms, Games necklace (optional; quick teleportation), high-value foods (Monkfish or better).


 * Travel to the eastern farm ruins located at the Wilderness. The ground trembles as you approach the ruins.
 * Talk to Summer, who will be in or near the Spiritual portal in the farm house. Ask her what's happening, and she tells you to follow her.
 * When you follow her through the Spiritual portal, instead of arriving in the Spirit Realm you appear in The Void that separates the real realm from the Spirit Realm.
 * Erik Bonde, Summer's father, explains that the Spirit Beast is getting stronger and is breaking through the veil separating the two realms.

Preparing the mine
Items needed: Jennica's ring, Ghostspeak amulet, Pickaxe.


 * In order to trap the beast, you have to lure it into a mine.
 * However, the mine entrance is closed in the Spirit Realm. Destroy the mine entrance a bit north of the farm in the real realm, so that the one in the Spirit Realm will open. Return to the Spirit realm by operating Jennica's ring while standing on the portal.
 * Travel north to the mine entrance (it is marked with a dungeon icon on the minimap) and collapse it using a pickaxe.
 * Return to the ruined farm. Travel into the Spirit realm (by operating Jennica's ring while standing at the Spiritual portal.)
 * Travel north until you are near the mine entrance.

Luring the beast
Items needed: Jennica's ring, Ghostspeak amulet, 4-5 Blue charm pouches.


 * The beast is now familiar with the types of spirits you used to lure it in Spirit of Summer. As you used familiars made with gold, green, and crimson charms in the Spirit of Summer quest, the beast is "familiar" with any familiars made with them. So, a new type of spirit is required.
 * Lure the beast using any Blue charm familiar. It is possible the beast can be lured with just one familiar, but bring 4-5 pouches, as the beast will eat your familiar if the luring fails.
 * This can be much more difficult than it sounds. It is best to stay as near the cave entrance as possible while being close to (if not directly on) the beast's "patrol" route.
 * It may help if you position yourself so that you are closer to the mine entrance than your familiar, as it is you entering the mine that counts.
 * Position yourself by walking a bit further away from the mine with your familiar following you, and then walking a bit back towards the entrance. Once you are ready, it may also help to turn run on.
 * Once the beast is focused onto the familiar or you, enter the mine. If the beast devours your familiar, try again with another pouch. If the beast ignores your familiar, it means that the beast was too far away. Position it closer to the beast's route for the next attempt. It's better to be too early than too late when entering the mine.

Before killing the beast
Warning: Even very high-level players are likely to die repeatedly as they confront the Spirit Beast, which can hit very fast causing very high damage: multiple 300s are possible in a single attack. It is highly possible to be killed in a single attack without a chance to heal or teleport out! You should not take any items you aren't willing to lose. Believe the ghosts when they warn you that armour and weapons are of no use against the beast. If you are lucky, you may get to your grave in time after you die. The Games Necklace can be of great aid.


 * It is necessary to run to avoid the beast's attacks. Using the "infinite" run energy boost from the quest As a First Resort... is therefore highly recommended (the infinite run is recommended over terrorbirds or bull ant). If you have not done the quest, you should consider bringing several Super energy potions, or, if you have level 40 or 52 Summoning, a Bull Ant or Spirit terrorbird with many Tireless run or Unburden scrolls. (It takes several seconds to use a scroll, so make sure you find a place out of range of the beast before using the scrolls.)
 * The beast makes long-ranged attacks, similar to a catapult attack. An attack is not instantaneous, but takes a short time to reach its target point. When launched, the attack targets where you are standing and does not track you if you move. When the attack hits the ground, it splashes into several secondary attacks, which hit you if you are still nearby. These attacks can hit into the 300s, and mid-200s are common. You can be hit by several of the splashes at once - being hit by all of them at once is nearly a guaranteed death.
 * The key to survival and eventual victory is to avoid the beast's attacks. The earth shakes when the beast is unleashing its attack. You can thus avoid an attack by watching for this sign. Also, the attack makes a "whoosh" sound while in flight, which can alert you if you missed the shaking. You have less time to react when you hear a whoosh. Run away from the attacks.
 * As the beast is weakened, it attacks faster, the attacks splash into more secondary attacks, and the splashes travel further.
 * You can run into any of the other rooms the beast is not in (but not the cave entrance) if you need to replenish your run energy or eat in peace. The beast can not attack you there. However, the beast will wait just outside the room's entrance and can attack you almost as soon as you enter the room again. If this is a problem, you can log out of the game without losing your progress. When you log in again, you are back in the real realm at the portal in the ruined farm. You can re-enter the Spirit Realm and resume the struggle in the cave (or you can take this opportunity to restock at the bank).
 * The beast cannot melee; however it still can be dangerous to get close to it, as at very short range its regular attacks take little time to hit the ground. Also, some players have reported that it seems to take them longer to start running when they are close to the beast, though this may just be lag.
 * It is often useful or necessary to watch the beast while being able to run far from it. This can be done by turning on the fullscreen mode. If your PC lags go on fixed mode. In the fixed mode, it works best to use both the main view and the minimap. Move the camera down near the ground and point it at the beast, turning it as you move. However, move by clicking on the minimap rather than the main view, so that you can run away further.
 * When the beast moves into a new room, you remain behind in the previous room. You can move on to the next room, but this is a good time to leave the cave and restock. Every time you restock, it is recommended that you make another visit to the Oo'glog spa to restore infinite run energy. (As always, you can get back quickly by using a Games necklace to teleport to the Wilderness Volcano or Clan Wars.)
 * Remember that all the characters you meet during this quests are ghosts. Except for one occasion, you must wear the Ghostspeak amulet to communicate with them. (The exception is that Summer will still intelligently speak to you at the end of the quest even without the amulet.) You do not need to wear the amulet to fight the beast, however, so you could switch to a Phoenix necklace at those times if necessary.
 * For each room, be patient and repeat what you need to do until you succeed.
 * Turn on "ambient sounds" in the audio options, it is easier to know when the beast is attacking if you can hear it shooting a blast.
 * Avoid listening to any music while doing this quest, as you may not realise that you are about to be hit.

First room: The Fire
Items needed: Jennica's ring, Ghostspeak amulet, tinderbox, hatchet (rune hatchet or Dragon hatchet recommended), at least one empty inventory slot, food.


 * Once you've lured the beast into the cave, a cutscene ensues. Meranek Thanatos explains that he has discovered the beast has a weakness in its chest, where it stores the energy of the souls it devours.
 * Logs cut from the cursed willow roots in the room burn with exceptional brightness, and the beast mistakes the fire for souls. So, he needs you to make the fire to distract the beast, which is when Meranek strikes.
 * You need to build 3 pyres, each pyre requiring 5 logs. Cut Cursed willow logs from the roots growing along the walls of the room and place them in any of the three fire pits. You can choose to fill one pit first and then move on to another. Or, since you're likely to be running all around the room anyway, it's quite feasible to fill 3 pits as you go. There is no need to fill more than 3 pits.
 * Because the beast attacks faster after each fire is lit, it is recommended to build all 3 pyres completely before lighting any of them. Light the three pyres with a Tinderbox. (Note: The pyres do not have to be made and lit in the same session, you can log out and the number will be remembered.) (Note: If you leave the cave for some reason the logs that have been stacked but not lit will be removed.) When lighting a fire make sure the beast is only a few spaces away; it is easy to miss the window of range.
 * After lighting a fire, a cutscene will play showing the beast investigating the fire and being attacked by Meranek Thanatos. If you do not see the cutscene, your pyre had no effect and you may have to try again.
 * It is possible to trap the spirit beast between two fires due to his large size; once you have done this, hug the wall to keep out of his max range: then you can chop to your heart's desire. Resting would also be wise.
 * When Meranek has attacked the beast three times, it moves into the second room.
 * This is a good time for you to eat. This is also a good time to leave the cave to restock food and recharge run energy.

Strategy

 * Rune hatchet or Dragon hatchet is recommended because they cut faster than other hatchets. Speed is important, since the beast's attacks will interfere with your woodcutting.
 * Empty inventory slots are used to hold the logs you cut from the roots. You can get by with just one, but it may be more efficient to be able to hold five at a time (enough for one pyre). You are very likely to free up slots as you stay in the room, as you will need to eat food often.
 * Good timing is very important to succeed. Stay at least five squares from your goal (roots or fire pit) and prepare your action:
 * Chopping roots: Position your mouse on the closest root.
 * Building a pyre: Left click on a log (use logs) and position your mouse to the fire pit.
 * When the beast signals it is attacking, left click your target.
 * When chopping roots, try to chop for 2–3 seconds to try to get a log. The roots in the north and north-west of the cave are close enough together that you can cut for a moment at one then run to cut another, all on the same screen, each time dodging the attacks of the beast. Alternatively, you can cut the roots towards the west as soon as you enter the room. The beast may not see you at first, but he moves around so be careful.
 * When dodging, move to another place 5 squares from your new goal.
 * If you die in this room the damage the beast has already taken from the fires will not reset. (For example if you manage to successfully place five logs, build a fire and then die; you will only need to build two additional fires.) Any unlit logs you have placed in the fire pit will disappear if you die.
 * You may wish to cut the 15 logs required and have a games necklace with you. This way, when you die, you can merely teleport back to Clan Wars or the Wilderness Volcano, pick up the logs, and return to the cave.
 * The beast makes a noise when it attacks, a player can simply listen out for the attack rather than looking at the beast, your screen will also shake a bit when the beast attacks.


 * When you enter the cave the beast may not see you or attack for some time. Run in and cut along the most southern root along west wall. This is the one closest to the cave entrance. Cut there until the beast attacks, then run outside the cave. You will keep your logs and the beast will be reset. Repeat this process cutting 2-5 logs every time without taking damage. Continue this until you have 10 or 15 logs.
 * You may use this strategy for the fire pits as well. The beast will not attack for a while if you use fire pit closest to the door. You sometimes have enough time to put five logs onto this pit and light it. This will create the cut scene. After the cut scene you may leave the cave and do it again.


 * Note: You can loot the skeleton at the cave entrance for a Mithril hatchet and tinderbox.

Second room: The Dark Core
Items needed: Jennica's ring, Ghostspeak amulet, spade.

Important Note: You may have started this quest without having the Hunter level required; however for this step, you need it.


 * As you enter the room, a cutscene plays. Jallek Lenkin knows how to damage the Spirit Beast more and needs your help. The dark core must be lured out from inside the Spirit Beast and trapped in a hole. When the beast goes to retrieve its core from the hole, Jallek attacks. He needs to attack it three times.
 * Run around avoiding attacks until the dark core comes out. When the core is out, use your spade next to a patch of the soft soil to dig a hole. The core will head toward you if it is close enough. Otherwise, get nearer to it to get its attention.
 * Put the hole between yourself and it, and it will fall in. When successful, a cutscene of Jallek's attack plays. Failure means the beast will come up and retrieve the core. (If the core touches you, you will take a small amount of damage. Although Jallek warns you to avoid this, it is not necessary to bother. The damage pales in comparison to what you take from one of the beast's attacks.) (Note) If you manage to get the core into a hole then you can leave the cave to restock and come back and do it two more times.
 * Each time after Jallek attacks, it takes longer for the dark core to come out, and the beast attacks faster, with more splashes.
 * When Jallek has attacked the beast three times, it moves into the third room. This is a good time for you to eat. This is also a good time to leave the cave to restock food and recharge run energy.

Strategy

 * Learn to move around the room so that you are often near a patch of soft soil. This lets you dig a hole as soon as the core comes out. The room is quite large and the patches are only near the walls, so it is easy to end up far from a patch if you do not pay attention.
 * Keep the beast in view so that you can see the core coming out. If you miss it coming out, the beast stops attacking you, which clues you in. However, in this case, the beast may retrieve the core before you can do much.
 * When the dark core emerges you get a green message in the chat box telling you that "the dark core has emerged from the beast." Until you get that message, there is nothing to do except running around the beast.
 * When the beast signals it is attacking, run away.
 * Holes you dig collapse quickly, so it is not a good idea to dig holes while waiting for the core to emerge.
 * When the beast is attacking quickly, run in the direction you are facing. Do not turn around as you will get hit.
 * There are two recesses in the room's wall, right before the entrance to the third (western) room. These make partial safe spots from the beast's attacks. If you go to one and see the signs that the beast is attacking, run across to the other one, as splash attacks can strike you in the first one. However, the beast will then approach the recesses so closely that it will not make another attack while you are in the recess. This gives you a chance to rest and eat. When ready, run out into the room, being careful to avoid the beast which will be close to the recesses, or log out and log in again. Doing this will bring you back to the real realm at the Spiritual portal in the ruined farm.

Final room: Blessing the graves
Items needed: Jennica's ring, Ghostspeak amulet.


 * In the final room, you will finally help destroy the beast. When you enter the room a cutscene plays, and the three spirits explain that this room has their graves. If the player blesses the graves at the right time, the spirits can hurt and destroy the beast.
 * There are five graves in the room. Each spirit will inhabit one grave at a time. Each also has its own colour: red, yellow, blue.
 * Once the cutscene ends, you will see each coloured spirit fly to a grave. The beast then starts attacking.
 * For each attack, the beast charges with a colour the same as one of the three spirits. If you bless the grave containing the spirit with the same colour as the attack being charged, the attack when made will rebound against the beast.
 * Do this once (and only once) for each of the three colours. After the beast attacks, the spirits may or may not change graves. (The cursed nature of the ground in the cave means the spirits cannot stay in one grave long.)
 * Blessing a grave costs a fair amount of prayer points. (On the order of 17, but this has not been fully confirmed yet.) When your prayer points run low, you can recharge them at the altar in the south of the room.

Strategy

 * Track just one spirit colour at a time, and be near the grave it is in. When the beast begins charging an attack of that colour, bless the grave.
 * Alternatively, track two spirit colours at a time and bless the proper grave at the proper time. This is more difficult to do. (Trying to track all three colours at once is very difficult to do.)
 * Remember which spirits (colours) have caused the beast's attack to rebound. A spirit will only rebound the attack once. Simply ignore the spirit once it has had its effect.
 * Blessing a grave can be dangerous. You must bless it when the beast is charging. If you are too late, you cannot bless it in time and instead will be hit by the attack. If you bless the wrong grave (i.e. an empty grave, or the blue spirit's grave when a yellow attack is charging), the attack will hit you. Finally, if you bless the grave of a spirit that has already had its effect, the spirit will 'not rebound the attack a second time. Instead, you will be hit. So, in all cases when you are unsure if you are at the correct grave, it is better to dodge out of the way and try again when you are sure.
 * If you die in this room the damage the beast has already taken from the colours will not reset. (For example if you manage to successfully counter the beast's yellow attack and then die you will not need to counter the yellow attack again.)
 * Erik's soul is red, Jallek's soul is yellow and Meranek's soul is blue. Should you die or want to re-stock, make note of the writing in green and figure out which colours you still need to bless.
 * Note: Even if you bless the correct grave, the Beast's attacks may still ricochet into you.

Finishing up

 * After the beast is destroyed, Summer will appear and tell you that her energy is feeling more powerful already. She is still a ghost, but she will still talk to you even if you are not wearing the Ghostspeak amulet.
 * For example, if you were wearing a Phoenix necklace during the final battle, you will not have time to change to the Ghostspeak amulet before Summer speaks to you.
 * She tells you to speak to the elder spirits in the cave. Equip the Ghostspeak amulet (if you aren't wearing it), and speak to the spirits to hear their story.
 * Agree to leave the cave with them, and you will be transported out of it. Speak to them again to obtain the rewards.

'''Congratulations. Quest complete!'''

Rewards



 * 1 Quest point
 * 1,500 Summoning experience
 * 5,000 Hunter experience
 * 5,000 Mining experience
 * 5,000 Woodcutting experience
 * 10,000 Prayer experience
 * 15,000 Firemaking experience
 * A 'basic' Spirit shield and the ability to wield all Spirit shields.
 * An upgraded version of Jennica's ring which gives access to the new spirit portals.
 * Ability to fight the level 785 Corporeal Beast.
 * Ability to fight the level 129 Tormented Wraith.
 * Ability to fight the level 42 Ghostly warriors.

Extra rewards
After completing this quest, all the Wilderness spiritual portals are opened. See the Spirit Realm article for more information on Spiritual portals.

You also gain access to the Rogue jewellery shop.

Tips

 * Jennica's ring can be found on the ground, just one step west of the farm ruin's spiritual portal. You can only have one ring at time (you cannot drop it, only destroy it).
 * A Ghostspeak amulet can be retrieved from Father Uhrney south-east of Draynor village, near the Lumbridge Swamp. You can get multiple amulets by repeatedly dropping them and getting a new one from Father Uhrney. Remember to pick them all up when you have the required number of amulets. However, you only need the amulet when talking to the spirits, not while fighting the Beast.
 * You can bank after each room (or after each fire, dark core, or blessed grave attack), as all progress is saved.
 * The pyres can all be built up before lighting them (only 3 of the 5 pyre locations need be made).
 * Consider using the following items:
 * A Ring of life may activate if you get hit badly (to below 10% hitpoints) but do not die. Players debate the value of the ring in the quest, as the beast can easily hit so hard that you simply die without the ring activating. Other players believe even an occasional save by the ring is worth it.
 * A Phoenix necklace can restore some hitpoints when you take a lot of damage. This may increase your staying-time in the cave.
 * A Forinthry bracelet prevents Revenants from teleblocking you in the Wilderness. Some players believe the chance of being teleblocked is so low that it is not worth bringing the bracelet. Others think the ability to teleport is important to the quest and should never be blocked.

Music
Music tracks unlocked during quest:
 * Bane of Summer
 * The Vacant Abyss

Trivia

 * On the day of release, the spoiler in the Quest Help stated that The reward scroll is currently coiled up within the Dark Core...
 * At level 752, the new version of the Spirit Beast is an even higher level than its old form from Spirit of Summer.
 * On the day of release, new items (such as spirit shields and sigils) were added to the Grand Exchange, though no one could buy them yet. There are currently 6 spirit shields ("Plain", Arcane, Blessed, Divine, Elysian, Spectral), 4 sigils (Arcane, Divine, Elysian, Spectral), and the Holy elixir.
 * This quest has the highest level monster in all the quests.
 * Many players regard this as possibly being the most dangerous quest, since even very high level players can die, frequently, during it. However, death in these cases need not be ruinously expensive. There is no need to bring costly items other than food during the quest. The most expensive item you should bring is a rune or dragon hatchet, for the first room, and therefore you will retain it as one of the three or four items you keep on death. Death thus entails losing food, which can be somewhat expensive, and items that are either cheap to replace (such as tinderboxes) or free to regain (i.e. Ghostspeak amulet, Jennica's ring).
 * There was a fault if you had not started the quest and opened its entry in the Quest List. If you had less than 23 Summoning points remaining, even if your Summoning level was over 23, the requirement would not have a strike through it.
 * The name of the quest could be a possible reference to the song Summer's End by the Foo Fighters.
 * There was a glitch in the last room. If you completed the last room and chose to leave the cave immediately with the elders, the elders would disappear after taking you outside the cave. You can fix this by re-entering and then exiting the cave. This glitch has been fixed.
 * The quest was also the last quest to be introduced before the end of the summer of 2008, making it a play on words in several ways.
 * There was a glitch so that when riding a magic carpet, the spirit shield received after the quest would not disappear when you crossed your arms. Instead you would appear to be holding it to your throat with the spiked part facing out. This has since been fixed.
 * It should be noted that since the spirit realm is the opposite of the real world (Open drawers in the spirit realm will be closed in RuneScape) and since you defeated the spirit beast in the spirit realm, the corporeal beast now exists in RuneScape.
 * In the Adventurer's Log of players that finished the quest, there stands that they have defeated the Corporal Beast in the quest, but in fact it was the Spirit Beast. (The Corporal beast can only be found in his cave after the quest) This has yet to be fixed.
 * Cursed Willow Logs can be bought outside the realm when you teleport out. Unlike Cursed Magic Tree logs, they remain as Cursed Willow Logs. When burnt, they turn white.
 * This quest was released during September, the end of the season, summer.
 * The reverse rule is broken if you kill the Corporeal beast because the spirit beast does not resurrect.