Runecrafting

Runecrafting, often shortened to RC, is a free-to-play skill released with RuneScape 2 allowing players to craft runes for Magic spells at Runecrafting altars. Runecrafting is a time consuming skill, being currently the rarest level 99 skill other than the recently added skill, Dungeoneering. It is also the only free to play skill besides Dungeoneering without 2 million accounts ranked on the hiscores. Even though an alleged reward of Rune Mysteries is the access to the Runecrafting skill, players do not need to begin this quest to start training Runecrafting.

First Age
When the humans first came to the realm of Gielinor through the World Gate, Guthix created Runestones, allowing the humans and other sentient races to practice the Magic arts. These runestones were created using an ancient artifact, probably created by the Elder Gods, called the Stone of Jas.

Second Age
In the Second Age, the humans continued and expanded the practice of magic.

Third Age
The God Wars commences. All gods participate in this war to conquer Gielinor. Magic is used intensively during the God Wars in order to defeat the enemies. The art of runecrafting is lost in this age.

Fourth Age
Magic was barely used in this age as the limited supply of runes leftover from the god wars slowly dwindles. The art of magic fades with the supply of runes, until essentially being lost.

Fifth Age
Humans re-discover how to perform the art of runecrafting, realizing the connection between imbued talismans at altars. The Fremennik claim that the magic belongs only to the gods, and that it was stolen from them by the Moon Clan and any whom dare to craft a rune, which they feel insults the gods. Runecrafting soon reaches the kingdoms of Asgarnia and Misthalin, were it becomes widely used in many locations. The main concentration of runecrafting and affiliates of the art can be found at the Wizards' Tower and the Runecrafting Guild.

Essence
To craft runes, players need blank rune stones, called essence. There are two types of essence: Rune essence and Pure essence, both unstackable and are most commonly referred to simply as 'Ess.' Several other common slang names include 'Pures,' 'Pure ess,' and 'Rune ess.'

Rune essence
Rune essence is dramatically limit in its potential, including on members servers. It is only capable of being bound into Air, Mind, Water, Earth, Fire, or Body runes. If a member attempts to craft any other type of rune such as Chaos or Nature with this type of essence, they will be unable to do so. This form of Rune Essence is often called "normal essence" or "regular essence" to distinguish it from Pure essence.

Pure essence
Pure essence can be used in the creation of any and all runes. This kind of essence is the only kind of essence that can be used to craft Cosmic, Chaos, Astral, Nature, Law, Death, Blood, and the various combination runes. Runes crafted at the Ourania Runecrafting altar must also be made with pure essence. In order to mine any amount of Pure Essence, a player must be at least level 30 Mining and have access to the Essence Mines.

Obtaining essence
There are multiple ways to obtain rune essence or pure essence. These include trading with other players and purchasing from the Grand Exchange, mining it, monster drops, rewards from the The Great Orb Project, and the daily reward from the Ardougne Achievement Diary.

Altars
At altars, blank rune essence is transformed into Runes by binding the energies of the altar into the runestone. Tiaras, Talismans or Talisman staves are needed to enter altars hidden inside 'Mysterious ruins'. There are a couple of exceptions to this e.g. the astral altar.

Mysterious ruins
A Mysterious ruin is a large, glowing rock surrounded by pillars. They are essentially doorways used to travel from Gielinor to the various specific altars at which runecrafting actually takes place. Entry to each altar requires a specific talisman, tiara or talisman stave which functions as something of a key or trigger which transports the player to the alters. (shown below). By 'Using' a talisman on a Mysterious ruin, players will be transported directly to the runecrafting altar within a landscape related to its theme. A small portal on the floor near the altar provides transportation back to Gielinor.

Both the Ourania and Astral can be accessed without use of a talisman or related accessories. These two alters they have no Mysterious Ruins at their entrance, instead being simply the altar itself.

There is one alternative method to access to all but the Ourania and Astral altars directly, circumventing the mysterious runes entirely, and hence talismans, via usage of the Abyss. This method is related to the quest What Lies Below and its subsequent mini-quest.



Talismans
Talismans are the primary version of the three items which allow players access to the runecrafting alters altars. Each altar has an individual mysterious ruins which reacts only with the corresponding talisman. For example, use of an Air Talisman is needed to enter the Air Altar, Where as attempting to use a Water Talisman on the Air Altar will not produce any result at all.
 * Function:

Most talismans have a 'locate' option, which causes them to function as something of a compass. The result of using the Locate option will be an indication of the direction of the Mysterious Runes corresponding to the talisman being used, as related to the players current location. The message is generated in the chatbox.


 * Downside:

Since talismans occupy an inventory space and rune essence are not stackable, talismans quickly become a hindrance to both players attempting to utilize the skill as well as those simply attempting to train. As such, most players seriously committed to runecrafting quickly upgrade to tiaras or talisman staves.


 * Specialty Talismans:

There are two talismans that are not directly related to a single alter. The Elemental Talisman is a multi-key type talisman which functions for the Air, Water, Earth, and Fire Alters, but no others. Unfortunately, this talisman has no Tiara or Staff form, and is members only. The other specialty Talisman is the coveted Omni-talisman, which is also members only. The Omni-Talisman is untradeable, but unlike the Elemental Talisman, it may be bound into a tiara or staff form. As it is untradeable and may only be obtained within the runecrafting guild, this talisman may be considered to have an indirect requirement of level 50 runecrafting to use. The Omni-talisman, and it's related accessories, provide universal access to all alters.


 * Obtaining Talismans:

All of the Basic Talismans are tradeable, and can be purchased from the grand exchange or directly from other players. Most talismans are common to semi-rare monster drops. Some of the members talismans are not as simple to get, and may be considerably more difficult to obtain. An alternate method of obtaining runecrafting talismans is to purchase them directly from Wizard Elriss within the Runecrafting Guild who will trade all but Elemental, Blood, and Death talismans for tokens earned as a reward from The Great Orb Project. The Elemantal Talisman is an uncommon drop received from Abyssal Creatures. The Omni-Talisman is obtained only within the runecrafting guild by presenting a specific NPC with a complete collection of all the various talismans. Players will receive a replacement if they lose or bind the Omni-Talisman for free.

Tiaras
Function: Tiaras are headpieces crafted by players from silver. Blank tiaras may be imbued with the key-like function of a talisman, which cannot then be changed or removed. An imbued Tiara becomes essentially an equipable version of whatever talisman was bound into it. As this frees an inventory slot and gives the player the ability to directly enter a mysterious ruin, without a series of clicks, tiaras are extraordinarily convenient. All tiaras except Omni-tiaras are tradeable, and some (but not all) are quite valuable.

Creation: To bind a tiara, a player must take a talisman and blank tiara to the altar which matches the talisman they intend to bind. With both items in their inventory, the player must use either item on the altar to initiate the binding process. This will earns players Runecrafting experience, the amounts of which is listed here. Making tiaras does not have level requirements, so players with no runecrafting experience may immediately begin binding body or higher talismans for accelerated experience at low levels. However, unlike rune essence which are all crafted simultaneously, tiaras must be bound one by one with no make-x or make-all options provided, which can be quite tedious in large quantity.

The Omni-Tiara: The Omni-Tiara is bound by Wizard Korvak in the runecrafting guild, not at an altar. The player will need to bring him an Omni-Talisman and a blank Tiara. The result is quite ornate in appearance, and functions to provide the player with universal access to the alters while worn. The Omni-talisman provides the same single click entry option as all other tiaras.



Talisman staves
Function: Talisman staves are the final type of talisman accessory, which functions both as a weak weapon as well as an equipable item which allows access to Runecrafting altars through the mysterious ruins. Talisman staves are untradeable. Just as tiaras, they provide players with a simple left-click to enter the ruins. These staves provide no assistance in magic, and do not substitute for the runes they are related to in any way. These items are considered the symbol of an elite runecrafter. Talisman staves can be in place of tiaras or talismans. In addition, they can be used to distract the eyes in the Abyss, allowing a player to the inner ring.

Creation: A blank Runecrafting staff can be purchased as an expensive reward from The Great Orb Project activity, is untradeable, and cannot be wielded while blank. The process of attaching a talisman to the staff is identical to the process of binding a tiara. Player must take both the Runecrafting Staff and the Talisman they wish to attach to it either item on the corresponding altar. Unlike creating tiaras, this action does not give the player Runecrafting experience.  NOTE:  Players are unable to change the talisman type once the staff is bound. As a blank staff takes many hours of work to obtain, players should carefully consider which staff they want to bind. Completed runecrafting staves are also untradable, and it should be noted that they are destroy only, having no drop option.  If a player is killed while wielding a talisman staff it will be destroyed  (unless included in the 3 items kept on death.)

Unique staffs: The Omni-Talisman Staff is not created at an altar. The Omni-Talisman and a Blank Runecrafting Staff are bound together within the runecrafting guild by Wizard Korvak. The Law talisman staff is unique in the fact that it has no stat bonuses. Because of this, it is allowed onto Entrana allowing the player to reach the Law altar while wielding it, as the mysterious ruins of the law altar are located on Entrana.

Ourania Runecrafting altar
The Ourania Runecrafting altar, also called the ZMI altar, converts Pure essence into a mixture of random runes (without the multiple runes factor taking effect). The altar, which requires no talisman, tiara or staff to enter, gives double the normal experience for every rune crafted. Players do not need a specific Runecrafting level in order to craft at this altar, but the chance of crafting higher-leveled runes increases with a higher Runecrafting level. The altar boosts individual Runecrafting training to speeds that were previously only available to people using rune running methods.

Once inside the Ourania Cave, quickly reached by an Ourania Teleport, players may use a bank that requires 20 of any type of runes. They can then go to the altar by taking either a short and dangerous route or a longer and safe route. Note that the long, curving path has no monsters that can distract you from Runecrafting. At the end of the long path, there is a crack that requires no Agility level and gives no agility experience.

Abyss
Members can also be teleported inside the ruins by using the Abyss, a 'focal point' leading to most altars that does not require a talisman, tiara or talisman staff. After a miniquest, players can get teleported to the Abyss by the Mage of Zamorak at level 5-6 Wilderness north of Edgeville. Once teleported, players will be in an outer ring and surrounded by abyssal monsters. They will need to pass through an obstacle to access the inner ring, containing the entries to most altars (except the Astral and ZMI altars).

The popularity of the Abyss has died out since the release of other faster and safer Runecrafting training methods, such as the ZMI altar, Spirit Graahk runecrafting, and The Great Orb Project.

Crafting runes
When a player has entered the mysterious ruins with a tiara,a talisman, or runescrafting staff, all they have to do is click on the altar. They will then craft all the essence in their inventory into runes (except any essence in noted form or stored in pouches or in familiars).

Crafting A Soul Rune
Currently, the only way to craft Soul runes via the random effect of the Ourania Runecrafting altar. The soul altar has yet to be released, although it is expected in eventuality, there is currently no Soul altar or any known plans to release it. However, pictures of the tiara and talisman have been seen on official Runescape Knowledge Base by manipulating URLs. Also, at level 90 Runecrafting, at one point in time, players received a message informing them of their ability to craft Soul runes, which has been removed. This, coupled with the existence of the Soul rift in the Abyss (where "A strange power blocks your exit"), are strong indications that the Soul Altar is fully intended to be released some day.

Soul runes can be crafted in Daemonheim if the player has the correct level. However the crafted runes will vanish if the player exits the dungeon, and the rate of experience has been severely diminished.

Crafting multiple runes

 * For calculations of profit / loss from crafting multiple runes, see the Multiple Runes calculator.

As a player's Runecrafting level increases, the will become able to craft multiple individual runes from a single piece rune essence, including both pure and regular essence, where it can be used. However, making more actual runes does not translate to an increase in experience. The experience players earn while multi-crafting runes is based on the experience-per-essence they craft, with an essence crafted into an air rune netting the same experience if crafted into 1, 3, or 10 individual runes.

The number of individual runes a player can craft increases as their runecrafting level increases, but is very specific to each different runes. Even the most experienced player will almost never double craft a blood rune. As a player's Runecrafting level gets closer to the level required for the next sequential multiple runes crafting level, the players probability of crafting that multiple of runes will increase. For runes which do not actually have a level at which they are designated as being able to be double crafted, the likelihood of creating multiple runes slowly increases with a higher Runecrafting level. After the last set level of multiple runes, players will always craft that multiple, for example, members will always craft double Nature runes after 91 Runecrafting, and will not create triple Natures. For Law, Death and Blood runes, the level for double runes would lie above 99, but there is still a chance of crafting double runes, the probability of doing so will increase as your level increases. A table showing the set levels of multiple runes follows.

Prior to an update on 17 November 2009, players could only craft multiple runes after reaching the set levels.

Combination runes
Members can craft combination runes which are a fusion of two of the elemental runes in a single rune. The combinable elemental runes are limited to: Air, Water, Earth and Fire runes. Players cannot, for example, combined a fire and a nature rune, nor can any combination of non-elemental runes, such as cosmic and death, be made.

Actually crafting combination runes is mildly complex. Players will need to bring: One pure essence will be used for every combination rune crafted, so the amount of Pure Essence brought should equal the number of runes brought. The usual maximum inventory is 1 talisman, 26 elemental runes, and 26 pure essence. The ingredients must be brought to an opposing altar from the runes being crafted. Players must be able to enter the opposing altar of their choice, which will require either another talisman, related accessories, or usage of the abyss. Once the player has accessed the altar whose element is the desired other half of the fusion, the player must use the Runes on the altar, NOT the pure essence. If the player uses the essence on the altar, all essence in their inventory will be crafted as usual and the player will resultingly be in possession of two stacks of unfused runes. The talisman may also be used on the altar, but this may generate an interface asking about tiaras and other options, using the runes themselves completes the combination without further prompting. The result will be thus:
 * A selected type of elemental runes (air, water, earth, fire, or a mix if desired)
 * One matching talisman for every elemental rune type brought. (If the player brought fire and water runes, they will need a fire and a water talisman)
 * Pure essence (regular essence will not work.)
 * The matching Talisman is consumed in the process. One talisman is used every binding, so essence withdrawn from pouches and familiars will require another talisman.
 * All essence in the players inventory will be consumed
 * A number of elemental runes equal to the number of essence in the players inventory will be consumed
 * There will be a 50% failure rate in crafting the combination runes. The failed runes will simply vanish.

The Necklace of Binding:
The Necklace of Binding is crafted through a combination of the Crafting and Magic skills, and are tradable. It is an Emerald Necklace, which is crafted from an Emerald and Gold Bar, which has been enchanted using the Level-2 Emerald Enchant spell. If this item is worn while crafting combination runes, players will be rewarded with a 100% success rate for each combination rune. However, each Necklace of Binding will function only 15 times before dissolving into dust, at which point it will need to be replaced. The counter related to charges is player specific, and not connected to the item. If a player were to attempt to sell an necklace which they believed to have 1 usage left, and purchase a replacement, the replacement will sill function as if it only has one usage, and will dissolve upon the next crafting. Conversely, the player which purchases the mostly used necklace will find that it will function as many times as their individual charge counter dictates.

When a charge is used, or the necklace breaks, the player will receive a notification in the chat window, which is easy to miss. Players are advised to pay careful attention to these messages or they will be unpleasantly surprised bu an unexpected and abrupt return of the 50% failure rate if continue to craft do not realize they have lost the necklace. As such, players planning on mass crafting combination runes will want to have a small stock of these stored in their bank, in plain sight.

Function and Usage of Combination Runes:
A combination rune saves inventory space when used for Certain Spells. This can also be especially useful on quests, where the players inventory is often very restricted. Mud runes are now highly sought after by members as they are an ingredient (when crushed) in a high level Herblore potion, but are also a common drop in decent quantity from various monsters. Runes which have been combined with the air element, are especially useful in combat. Also, each combination rune counts as two separate runes, when applicable. For example, a Lava Rune will count for both 1 earth and 1 fire rune in any spellcast which uses these runes simultaneously. However, if a player casts a spell which only uses a fire rune and not an earth rune, the combination rune will still be expended. Combination runes have usage priority over basic runes. As an example, were a player were to withdraw and utilize the runes to cast the spell Teleport to Varrock with a stack lava runes in their inventory, they would find that they had accidentally used one of their lava runes and still be in possession of the single fire rune required to cast the teleport.

Magic Imbue:
Members with a high level in Magic and access to the Lunar Spellbook, there is another method to craft combination runes. Players who are able may use the Lunar spell: Magic Imbue to circumvent using a talisman at every crafting. This is very effective at saving money, but is no more efficient at crafting the runes as players must carry astral runes in the place of the talisman, saving no inventory space. When the spell is cast the player will be given a window of around 15 seconds to initiate the binding which must still be done at an altar opposing the runes you wish to combined, and still also requires pure essence present in your inventory. Astral Runes are comparably much cheaper and easier to obtain in quantity than any amount of talismans, and Members can wield the appropriate combination staff to avoid carrying spellcasting runes in their inventories. The final benefit of this method of runecrafting is that it provides players with an amount of magic experience in tandem with runecrafting experience, making the entire venture more useful.

The recommended invantory and/or for players intending to use this method is:
 * A Steam Staff
 * Omni-tiara, or one of the four Elemental Tiaras (Air, Water, Earth or Fire.)
 * A sizable stack of Astral Runes. (2 for every binding run)
 * A sizable stack of Elemental Runes (Air, Water, Earth or Fire) in denominations of 26.
 * 26 Pure Essence

List Of Combination Runes and Experience rates:
Player will notice that it is possible to craft each type of combination rune at two separate alters, however doing so would require inverting the elemental ingredients. Players will receive less experience if they chose to craft at the lower-leveled altars. For example if a player makes Mist runes at the Air altar they will receive will give 8 Xp for each rune made, while the same runes at the Water altar will give 8.5 Xp for per rune. The following list reviews both the components and xp rates of the different combination runes. The 'low' list relates the Xp from crafting at the lower level alter, the 'High' list relates the Xp if crafting at the higher level alter.

Pouches
Within the Abyss as well as the Abyssal Area (which are separate locations), there are monsters that drop the varieties of untradable pouches occasionally when killed. Players can only be in possession of one of each type of pouch at any time, including familiars and banks. Players will not be able to receive a pouch as a drop until they have completed the Miniquest subsequent to What Lies Below quest which accesses the Abyss. Players with access to the Abyssal Area and not the Abyss will not receive pouch drops.

Players can store various amounts of Pure or Rune essence in these pouches (but not both in the same pouch), effectively increasing the amount of essence that may be carried per trip. The amount of essence held varies from pouch to pouch. There are four types of pouches, a graduated set holding an increasing number of essence. Players must acquire each smaller pouch in order for the next pouch to become available to them, with the exception of the medium pouch which is handed out at the runecrafting guild with no restrictions, including no quest requirement.

Runecrafting pouches degrade after a certain number of uses, with the larger pouches degrading faster than the smaller pouches. When a pouch degrades, a message will appear in the chat box and the pouch will turn darker in colour. When a pouch degrades, its carrying capacity is reduced. The Dark Mage in the center of the Abyss, who can be contacted through the NPC contact spell, repairs pouches for free, regardless of whether the pouches are in the player's inventory or bank. He will also repair the pouch before it degrades, effectively resetting the amount it has partially degraded back to zero. These pouches can also be bought and repaired by Wizard Korvak in the Runecrafting Guild, but he charges rather heavily for his services. For his fees view Wizard Korvak's NPC info page. If a pouch is allowed to continue to degrade, it will eventually fall apart entirely, at which point the player will have to acquire another one.

Abyssal familiars
Abyssal familiars are the only familiar capable of carrying unnoted rune essence, any other beast of burden cannot handle them. These familiars are to help members with Runecrafting, as they essentially increase the inventory size of the player, although some are also quite combat capable. Members may use one of the three following familiars to carry essence: the Abyssal Parasite, Abyssal Lurker, or Abyssal Titan. These special Beasts of Burden, they will hold 7 Rune or Pure essence, but cannot hold any other kind of item. Note that these familiars are not allowed onto the isle of Entrana, making them difficult to use involving law rune crafting.

Note: While normal familiars cannot hold essence, they can hold filled pouches.

Explorer's ring
Among its other benefits, wearing an Explorer's ring (versions 2 or 3) gives the wearer a 10% chance of receiving an extra rune as well as extra XP for each essence when crafted at the Air, Water, Earth, or Fire Altars. These versions of the ring can only be obtained after completing the easy or medium tasks of the Lumbridge and Draynor Achievement Diary. Another benefit of the Explorers Ring 3 is that, when used properly, can cheaply shorten runecrafting runs via the infinite reusability of the cabbage port ability the ring provides. Using this teleport to reach Draynor bank, in tandem with other teleports such as the teletabs from the runecrafting guild, can considerably shorten most runecrafting runs. This method, in some instances, is notably cheaper then other teleport jewelry, and can be useful to low combat level players who wish to avoid using the abyss. Unfortunately this method is invalid for crafting law runes, as the ring is not allowed on Entrana.

Runecrafting gloves
There are three types of runecrafting gloves, one for Air, Water, and Earth. The gloves are an untradeable graduated set of rewards received from the Fist of Guthix activity, costing 75 tokens. Runecrafting gloves give players double the experience per essence crafted. These gloves have a limited number of usages and will crumble to dust after crafting 1,000 essence. Players can then play the minigame to receive another pair. Players may only have one pair of each type at a time.

Runecrafting Guild
The Runecrafting Guild is a guild accessible to players having at least level 50 Runecrafting through a violently purple portal on the first floor of the Wizards' Tower.

The Guild features a map of all the Runecrafting altars that are entered through mysterious ruins, wizards, and a two-party activity called The Great Orb Project with rewards including the Talisman Staff, Runecrafting Teleport Tablets, Rune or Pure essence, the various sets of Runecrafter Robes, and Talismans. The runecrafting guild is the location where players may obtain an Omni-talisman. Also Wizard Korvak sells and repairs the various pouches, and will give the player a medium pouch for free, without having to complete any of the related quests.

Runecrafting training

 * Free-to-play guide
 * Pay-to-play guide
 * An alternate method to training is available to all players in the dungeoneering skill. This method involves the gathering of coins and essence throughout the dungeon then buying more essence and crafting it into the highest level runes and then selling them in order to buy more essence. The difficulty in this method of training is you will only receive 2% the normal exp and you craft 10 essence at a time in an animation slightly faster to that of using bones on an altar. Please note this needs to be done before clicking on the dungeon exit otherwise the countdown timer will beging to move on to next dungeon. It is advised you solo or inform your team that you are doing such in order to ensure nobody clicks on dungeon exit. This method is should no longer be considered as a viable method for powerlevelling since the exp was decreased from 10% down to 2%.

Running and equipment tips
Players who are intending an a long haul runecrafting session will be constantly irked by depleted run energy. Players should ensure that they are as light as possible by removing any and all items not essential to the runecrafting process from their person. Weight reducing clothing is reccomened for Members, as they will entend the distance their run energy will carry them. Players should equip only either a talisman staff or imbued tiara, and applicable teleport jewelry. Pouches, essance, and/or a talisman should be the only items presant in players invantories during a runecrafting run.

Temporary boosts

 * Players may boost their Runecrafting level by eating orange spicy stews from Evil Dave. However, the boost is random and varies between -6 to +6.
 * After completing the Land of the Goblins quest, players can speak to Oldak using the "What have you discovered?" chat option and get a random boost between -2 and 2 to either Runecrafting or Magic.
 * Operating the Runecraft cape increases a player's Runecrafting level to 100.
 * There are no runecrafting boosts avalable to free players.

99 Runecrafting
Once a member has reached level 99 Runecrafting, Aubury in the Varrock rune shop will sell the Runecraft cape for 99,000 coins.
 * Before the dungeoneering update, runecrafting was one of only 4 skills where a new feature or ability is unlocked at level 99 - other than buying a skillcape. (The other three being Summoning, Smithing, and Construction.)
 * No player has managed to reach the 200,000,000 experience cap in Runecrafting so far, however, Phoenix Odin has 199,159,213 experience and is well on his way to become the first.
 * A bug on 14 April 2010 lead to an exponential increase in runecrafting experience when crafting within daemonhiem (on the order of 2000 experience per nature rune) This lead to a high number of players reaching level 99 in runecrafting within half an hour of the glitch being released, with players making 2 and 3 levels at 70+ with a single crafting session. This forced Jagex to shut runescape down for approximately 4 hours during which time they made a rollback of player data to before the glitch was released. This action caused a massive rant on the forums, during which many people behaved extremely irresponsibly, spamming the official sticky at a rate reaching 3-5 pages every second. F-mods stated that people were being banned for this, and due to the sheer volume of spammers, many accounts are likely to have been punished.