Pest Control

''Pc redirects here. For the communication system, see Private chat.''

Pest Control (often known simply as PC) is a co-operative multiplayer combat minigame. Players must defend a non-player character known as the Void Knight, from an onslaught of monsters, while at the same time destroying the portals from which the monsters come. The minigame is played in the name of Guthix, to retain balance in the world which may be disrupted by an influx of monsters. It is run by an order of Guthix known as the Void Knights. It is a "safe" minigame, meaning a player won't lose anything if the player dies. The player simply be returned to the lander and can rejoin combat immediately. Hitpoints, the special attack metre, Prayer Points, and run energy are restored at the end of each game. The minigame is divided into three boats; access to each boat is determined by combat level.

History
As of July 2007, there have been four updates concerning Pest Control. The first was the release of the game on April 18, 2006. Initially, players of all levels were allowed into games, and there was no damage requirement in order to receive a reward. This was changed on May 16, 2007, along with a game engine update. Players now needed a combat level of 40 to enter the game, and must do 50 damage to monsters or portals to receive rewards. During the first few months of the game's existence, players gathered on world 78 to play Pest Control, often bringing the player count to server capacity. Within a few months, however, higher levels established "PC clans," and began playing on other worlds, in order to reduce the number of low leveled players in the games. This led to very fast experience points for the players in the clans. On February 19, 2007, cats were blocked from entry into the mini-game.

On July 17, 2007, Jagex launched a new update to the mini-game. Pest Control was split up into three boats, one for each levels 40+, 70+, and 100+, a feature long requested on the official forums. Monster and portal difficulty was adjusted so that the lower level boats were easier to play. The three boats now give two, three, and four points as a reward, respectively. However, each point now only gives 35% of the experience it used to. Rewards for Magic and Ranged were reduced a further 10%. However, in order to balance the effects of this, players were allowed to run through all monsters without being blocked apart from Brawlers, and Jagex introduced a "shield" on the portals, effectively making the shortest games two to three minutes long, instead of the thirty seconds possible before. Many players viewed this as unfair, and launched the World 99 riot in response. In addition, up to 350 players were simultaneously on the rants forum the day of the update.

In total, Pest Control has been a source of two controversies. Before the July 17th, 2007 update, some players that it was too easy to raise combat, and had coined the term "PC product," which was usually used as an insult. After the update, there was more outcry.

Skills
The only requirement to participate in a game of Pest Control is a combat level of 40 or above, or even 70 or 100, depending on what boat you wish to take. However, in order to receive a commendation point, a player must inflict 50 points of damage before the end of the game. Repairing a barricade or gate on the island awards the player 5 points, allowing players of a low combat level to achieve 50 points.

Players
A game of Pest Control can be played by five to 25 players. Multiple games may be played at once by many groups of 25 players. Anyone who wishes to play must board the lander. If the lander fills with 25 players, the game will begin automatically. Otherwise, players must wait five minutes for the game to begin.

Restrictions
After complaints, it is no longer allowed to bring cats into the minigame.

The Outpost
The Void Knight outpost from which games of Pest Control start can be reached by talking to the Squire at Port Sarim.

The Outpost is an island, with various utilities, including a bank, a general store, an anvil (Along with a smith who can repair Barrows armour) a ranged shop, and a magic store (Which stocks body, air, water, earth, fire, mind, chaos, and death runes). Harboured at the docks in the southwest corner of the island are three, LCVP-style ships which a player must board to participate in the minigame. The ships carry a combat level requirement of 40, 70 or 100 to board. The ship must have at least 5 users on board before the minigame may begin. Packed worlds such as world 2 are difficult to enter, so players often avoid these worlds for minigames, hence the lack of players on the boat. Some worlds are more popular than others, such as worlds 78, 91, 99, 111, 116, 124, and 144, which are often designated the "PC World(s)", or worlds chosen by players or clans to gather.

Rules
The rules are simple. The Void Knight must be defended until the portals are shut. They can be shut in two ways, either by defending the Knight for 20 minutes as the Knight completes the ritual and banishes the pests, or by players destroying the portals.

Monsters
Monsters are the beasts that spawn out of portals to kill players or the Void Knight.

Brawler
Brawlers are the largest and most powerful creatures in the Pest Control minigame, and they defend the portals. They look like gorillas with spikes sprouting from their backs and a pointed snout. Normally they will not attack the fort, though they are still a match for any attempting to destroy the portal. Their combat levels can be 50, 75, 100, 128, or 157 and their colouring is based on these levels. Brawlers are the only creatures that you cannot run through - they block your path in a similar manner to the barricades in the Castlewars minigame.

Defiler
Defilers are fast, agile creatures in the Pest Control minigame. They have the appearance of the lower half of a snake, a humanoid top half and a face resembling that of a cat. They can throw barbs over long distances, can inflict a large amount of Range type damage with the barbs, and will actively attack the Void Knight. They can even launch their barbs over walls, though if they're in the spaces right in front of one of the three gates, they can't shoot over it, so keeping them closed will block those directly in front of it. Their combat levels range can be 33, 50, 67, 84, or 100 and their colouring is based on these levels.

Ravager
Ravagers are short, humanoid creatures with large claws in the Pest Control minigame. Their appearance is closely related to that of a mole with oversized claws and red eyes. They are capable of tearing down the gates and so must be killed if the gates are to remain intact. However, they are relatively weak when it comes to direct combat. Their combat levels can be 35, 52, 70, 88, or 105 and their colouring is based on these levels. When attacked, a ravager will often continue destroying it's target (if any) before engaging in combat with the attacking player, and may also destroy anything nearby that gets repaired.

Shifter
Shifters are creatures that excel in melee combat and can teleport across the island and even past walls. For this reason, they're very dangerous for those on defence since they can teleport right next to the Void Knight and attack him. They have the bottom half of a spider with the scythes of a praying mantis (similar to the Abyssal demon). Their combat levels can be 37, 56, 75, 94, or 113 and their colouring is based on these levels.

Spinner
Spinners are creatures that appear as spinning tops and float above the ground. They repair the Portal on the island and must be defeated if the portals are to be destroyed. If the humans overpower the portal and destroy it before the spinner can finish healing, it will begin to spin around and then explode hitting all players within a few squares with poison. Their combat levels can be 37, 55, 74, 87, or 92.

Splatter
Splatters are creatures that appear like a giant ball with a single eye in the middle and liquid inside them. They will go towards the fort and detonate, causing big damage to all players and objects in the immediate vicinity. This will also happen if they are killed, which is often easy since they're often low level and weak defensively. When a splatter "detonates" near another splatter, if the secondary splatter's Hit Points are low enough, the damage may cause a chain reaction, increasing the overall damage. Their combat levels can be 21, 32, 43, 54, or 65 and their colouring is based on these levels.

Torcher
Torchers are creatures that look like winged snakes and will actively attack the Void Knight. They have a long distance magical attack which can harm both players and the Void Knight. They can even launch this attack over walls, though if they're in the spaces right in front of one of the three gates, they can't shoot over it, so keeping them closed will block those directly in front of it. Their combat levels can be 33, 50, 67, 83, or 100 and their colouring is based on these levels.

Portal
Not technically a monster, but is attackable by players. Each one has 250 health, or 200 in the level 40 boat, and will spawn monsters until destroyed but will have to wait for the shields around them to disappear before doing so. Its defence is very high so be sure to have a high attack and strength level when attempting to attack it. Using the Dragon Battleaxe's special attack, using a strength potion, or using attack and strength enhancing prayer is also very useful. Upon the destruction of a portal the Void Knight will gain 60 health back. Beware of spinners, as they can heal the portals.

Pest Control Tactics
On 17 July 2007, as part of their update to the game, Jagex introduced a shield on the portals. Players are not able to attack portals while the portal's shield is up; all portals start with shields up, with the first portal's shield disabled by the Void Knight 15 seconds into the game. Every 30 seconds, another shield is disabled until all portals can be attacked 1 minute and 45 seconds into the game. This was introduced to counter the ability of high levels to play 30 second games and gain massive amounts of experience.

Defensive Measures

 * Keep the gates closed. In the spaces immediately outside the gates, Defilers and Torchers can't attack the Void Knight. Instead, they will all line up outside the gate, waiting patiently for it to be opened or until they're killed. The defilers and torchers on either side will still attack through the air (if there is no South Shifter in place-- Jagex has removed south shifter.), but keeping the gates shut will completely stop those lined up directly outside of the gate.  If a player really needs to get back outside the fort, check the East gate first, as it has a barricade that often protects the gate from attack for a longer time.


 * The East or West gates can be broken by ravagers or splatters. When the gates are damaged, they can become unmovable until repaired. At the East and West gates, the pests only fire if the gate is breached or open. East/West side pests do not shoot at the Void Knight from the sides of the gate. This is why it is important to attack the South portals first.  South side portals are the portals that spawn the pests that kill the Knight quickly.  As long as the East and West gates are kept repaired and closed, no damage to the Knight occurs from the sides.


 * The South gate can't be damaged by the pests. Ravagers, Brawlers and Splatters do not attack the South Gate, so it is a waste of effort to kill them on the South side. The only way the South Gate becomes compromised is if someone kills a splatter next to it, or if someone opens the gate.  Keep The South Gate Closed!


 * A common reason for losing a game is a spinner getting trapped in front of the portal, and one or more Brawlers blocking access to the spinner. When this happens, attack the Brawler until it changes its focus from the player who caused this problem to you. Once the brawler is facing you, walk backwards and the brawler will chase you. When the brawler does this, the logjam will free up and people can then deal with the spinner.  If there are multiple brawlers, repeat until the problem is resolved.  This usually happens on the Purple portal when someone keeps pushing the monsters toward the portal rather than killing them closer to the gate.


 * If you want to be on defence, there are four places you should look at. They're set in order of importance.


 * 1. On the platform with the Void Knight. This is a good place for lower level players. You are within easy range of the lander in case you die, and there's always plenty of Shifters attacking the Void Knight.


 * 2. Outside the South gate. From here, you can close the doors after all those people who refuse to close the gate. You can also kill all the Defilers and torchers that are firing over the walls. Do not waste your time on those who are stuck outside of the gate and can't fire unless there are no other tasks that need your attention.


 * 3. The East gate, if it's broken and you didn't bring an axe and hammer to repair the gate. Stand just at the gate on the South square. You'll block the Defilers and Spinners entering the area. The rest will line up in a polite little line waiting for you to kill them. If you stand in the right place, only the one in the front will be able to attack. If someone is standing in front of the line, hit each other monster in the line so they all start attacking you.  Then when the first in line dies, all the rest are attacking you instead of the Void Knight.


 * 4. The same as 3, but on the West gate.


 * Consider wearing dragonhide armour to the game. It blocks magic, melee, and range in good amounts. This is useful since all three styles of combat are seen in Pest Control.


 * An effective strategy to reduce the damage on the knight is to deliberately distract every monster you can. If you can hit the pest before it "sees" the Void Knight and starts firing, the monster will shift its attention to you - which means it is ignoring the Knight.  Protecting the Knight is the objective, not protecting yourself from dying.


 * Level 37 shifters almost always hit the Void Knight for zero points. They actually protect the knight from the other defilers and torchers - and most importantly they keep the higher level shifters away from the Knight.  Shifters can only melee when they are on an adjacent square.  Killing low level shifters actually hurts the defence of the Void Knight.


 * Try different attack styles on each type and strength of monster. Most of the monsters are much weaker to the defence style than to attack or strength.


 * Turn off auto-retaliate in your attack options. If the option is on, your character will run around randomly responding to being hit through the air. This makes your character much harder to control, should several monsters attack from different directions.

Offensive Measures

 * When attacking a portal, stand in front of it but one step to either side of the exact centre between the portal and the Void Knight. As enemies spawn, they will cluster around the portal unless they have a clear path towards the fort. If a player is anywhere but at this location, they won't be able to fight their way there to attack any Spinners that appear. Even if the player manages to kill surrounding monsters blocking their way, there will be half a dozen others that have spawned while the player was fighting that will swarm into the open space. The player will then just watch helplessly as the Spinner(s) heal the portal and the player's Void Knight's health gradually deteriorates. Standing on the centre square hides the spinner from the other players, and the player will be unable to attack the spinner unless there is an open square next to them.  Standing behind the portal is effective at protecting the player, as long as another player is properly positioned in front and doesn't die.


 * Use prayer bonuses appropriate to the style of combat used. In an offensive game, it helps to equip gear that increases offensive capabilities at the expense of defence.


 * Use the special effect energy. The Dragon Battle Axe (in combination with a restore potion), Dragon Dagger, Dragon Halberd, the Composite Magic Bow, and the Magic Shortbow all have special effects that can be of helpful use in offensive PC games.


 * Spinners will quickly heal the HP of a portal, and must be dealt with as fast as possible. It is not necessary to kill the Spinners - only get them to shift their focus to attacking players instead of healing the portal. If the portal is regaining health, it means there is a Spinner that hasn't been dealt with yet. Spinners also make a specific sound with healing the portal, even if there is no spinner in sight. Use Right Click menus to pick the spinners out of the hordes of monsters that often accumulate in front of the portal.


 * Ancient Magicks are very useful, since you can target multiple enemies with some of the spells. This is particularly useful in situations where Spinners are out of reach from melee players.


 * Ranging with Chinchompas is very effective at Pest Control as it hits multiple targets in multiple squares. Like Ancient Magicks, this is very effective in dealing with Portals with piles of enemies.


 * The towers are rarely used in this game, but the ideal team will have 6 high level mages or rangers in the towers to pick off unreachable spinners or brawlers. Also a thing to do is to get a magician to kill a splatter that is near a monster to kill them both (make sure no players are around), have 3 high level melee players with the Void Knight, and the rest of players attacking a portal (attack them all together).


 * Being a monster itself, each portal has a weakness which makes attack easier. The blue (East) portal is weak to Magic attacks.  The purple (West) is weak to ranged attacks.  The yellow (Southeast) portal is weak to melee.  The pink (Southwest) portal has a balanced defence.


 * In an offensive PC game, monitor your hits and keep an eye on the other portals. The main point is to reach 50 hits before the game is over. When large numbers of high level players attack the portal, switching to another enemy may produce enough hits to reach 50, without adversely impacting the time to close the portal.

Pest Control Clans

 * Pest Control Clans are a group of players that play the mini-game as a group. The style of PC game depends on the offensive capabilities of the team, so PC clans tend to cluster around a certain range of combat levels.


 * When the balance of a PC clan is disturbed, such as when a group of lower levels wanting to play the game, the players of a clan tend to "hop" to another RuneScape world. Usually the clan uses a scout to select a world and all players migrate to the new world. Communication between clan members used to be very low to non-existent. In those cases, the private messages are turned to friends and even can be completely off when the Pest Control clan uses another communication channel (such as IRC) to announce world changes. After the clan chat update this problem has been fixed.

Communication

 * The landing boat lands on the North Side of the island! New players are often confused and don't realize that South is in front of the boat, People are instructed to "Go East" or "Go West", then people go in the opposite direction. Telling people colours of portals is less likely to cause confusion.


 * Not all players are experienced in the game. Give them advice if they ask.


 * A lower combat player in a purely offensive game still can help by dealing with spinners around the portal. This can allow the attackers to concentrate on the portal.

Rewards
Depending on your boat, you will gain a different number of commendation points upon winning a game:
 * Boat #1: 2 points per game won.
 * Boat #2: 3 points per game won.
 * Boat #3: 4 points per game won.

If the player's team destroys all of the portals, they will receive coins equal to 10 times their combat level as well as the commendation points. Commendation points can be traded in for:
 * Experience in any combat skill that is equal to or greater than level 25. Originally the game calculated this as your level squared, divided by 6 (or 12 for prayer). Jagex decided that was too generous, and changed the way it was worked out. Players who had pest points left over after the update had to spend all of their points to be able to get more, but they still had the more beneficial formula. The new formula, if a player are using Excel, is "=CEILING((Level+25)*(Level-24)/606,1)*N", where N is 18 for prayer, 32 for magic and range and 35 for all others. The experience this generates is summarised below:

If a player trades in 100 points in one go, they get an extra 10% experience per point. If they trade in 10 points, you get an extra 1% experience. Some players save points up to 100, then trade in, and repeat because of this.


 * Void Knight equipment


 * Herb packs


 * Mineral (ore) packs


 * Seed packs. (See: Farming)

Worlds



 * Ideal worlds to play on are World 144 and World 78.

Note: The most commendation points a player can have at any time is 250. If you board a boat while holding 250 points, a warning will be given to the player to trade the points in. If a player continues to play with 250 points, subsequent games will not award any commendation points. You will also get a warning if winning the next game would result in wasting points, for example if you had 248 points and you were playing in the Veteran boat (4 points per game). In this event, winning the game would only take you to the maximum 250 points, wasting the other two.