Runespan



The Runespan is a Runecrafting training method released on 30 April 2012. Using rune essence, players can siphon rune energy from creatures that roam the area, or from intermittent nodes. This gives Runecrafting experience that was designed to be the best in the game. When leaving the Runespan, all runes players have created will be taken away by the guild wizards and converted into points which can be spent on rewards, as the Runecrafting Guild claims ownership of the Runespan, for it is located in the realm of the guild.

Although debated in the Runecrafting Guild, Wizard Finix claims the runecrafting altars currently used to craft runes will become unstable, and the Runespan will become the only method to create runes. It is in another dimension where runes can be pulled from elemental nodes or from the wildlife. The Runespan is located in islands in the "vast sea of nothingness" which surrounds the guild.

Runes obtained in Runespan cannot be used to cast any spells other than for passing platforms as the Runespan is a safe activity. There is nothing to kill a player in Runespan, unless they are poisoned. Gravestones spawn as normal in case of death, but runes collected would be automatically redeemed for points. Completion of the Rune Mysteries quest is not required to participate in the Runespan. Mourning's Ends Part II and Legacy of Seergaze are not required to siphon death or blood runes.

Please note that the Assist system does NOT work to gather runes from creatures or nodes that the player does not have the required level to siphon, nor does it work to cross platforms that the player doesn't have the level to cross.

Location
The Runespan can be found in the Wizards' Tower, by the Runecrafting Guild entrance, after talking to Wizard Finix.
 * Wizards have appeared at every Runecrafting altar, and will offer to teleport players to the Wizards' Tower after a brief conversation.
 * All players can teleport to Draynor Village and walk to the Wizards' Tower.
 * Members can use wicked hood to teleport them to the floor of the Wizards' Tower.
 * Members can teleport to the tower by going through the east portal on the floor of the Wizards' Guild. (Requires level 66 Magic)
 * Members can use the fairy ring code D-I-S, taking them behind the tower.
 * Runecrafting guild teleports can be used to go directly to the Runecrafting guild, then exit the portal and re-enter choosing the Runespan location.

General gameplay


Players do not need to take anything with them into Runespan. An empty inventory allows more space for the items associated with the activity. There are 16 unique items collected in Runespan. All runes and essence stack in the inventory.


 * 1) Start by collecting 25 rune essence from floating essence. If players run out of essence or drop below 25 essence at any point, they can collect more essence from floating essence, to a maximum of 25. However, essence after the initial amount is more effectively collected from siphoning creatures.
 * 2) Optionally buy 10 of each rune available at the player's level from Wizard Finix, enabling movement between platforms immediately. This costs at most 177 points, for runes up to Soul for a player level 90 and above.
 * 3) Interact with creatures and concentrated energy nodes.
 * 4) * Siphon creatures to turn up to 10 essence into runes. Once the creature is drained, it gives an amount of essence based on the creature. Experience is awarded for siphoning. Each different creature produces a specific rune.
 * 5) * Chip away at creatures to turn 10 runes back into essence. Each creature chipped requires 10 of a specific rune. This can bypass the limit of 25 essence per load, but chipping gives no experience.
 * 6) * Siphon concentrated energy nodes for more runes and experience. Each concentrated energy node appears for a fixed time, which can increase when drained by players. Nodes do not give more essence when they are drained.
 * 7) Transport from island to island on each level at the cost of runes. Each transport platform costs different runes, which are displayed on the platforms themselves and in the examine text of the platforms.
 * 8) At specific locations, climb between lower levels and higher levels.
 * 9) Optionally participate in two Distractions and Diversions specific to Runespan (the yellow wizard and the runesphere) for an experience reward.
 * 10) Exit by asking any wizard for a teleport back to the Wizards' Tower or by using any other teleport method. All runes and essence are turned into points when players leave.

There are three distinct levels of the Runespan, each catering to different Runecrafting levels. Free-to-play players only have access to the lower level and part of the middle level. Runes gathered here are taken by the Runecrafting Guild, but members are able to claim points towards wicked robes, new magical staves, and a new massive pouch (requires level 90 Runecrafting) which holds 18 essence. All players are rewarded with Runecrafting experience.

While in the Runespan, players have an interface on the top left of their screen with the following icons.

Area
The Runespan is split into three levels. Different creatures, nodes and platforms can be found on each.

Lower Level


The lower level of the Runespan can be accessed at any Runecrafting level by using the portal on the first floor of the Wizards' Tower. It is completely available to all players. There are 52 islands on this level. All types of esslings are found on this level.


 * Creatures
 * Air essling
 * Mind essling
 * Water essling
 * Earth essling
 * Fire essling


 * Nodes
 * Cyclone
 * Mind storm
 * Water pool
 * Rock fragment
 * Fireball
 * Vine


 * Platforms
 * Float platform
 * Earth platform
 * Ice platform
 * Small missile platform

Middle Level


The middle level of the Runespan can be accessed at 33 Runecrafting by climbing the vine ladder on the lower level. Islands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 15 and 44 are accessible in free-to-play. There are 46 islands on this level. All types of esshounds and esslings are found on this level. Esshounds are quite common in this floor compared to esslings.


 * Creatures
 * Air essling
 * Mind essling
 * Water essling
 * Earth essling
 * Body esshound
 * Cosmic esshound
 * Chaos esshound
 * Astral esshound
 * Nature esshound
 * Law esshound


 * Nodes
 * Cyclone
 * Mind storm
 * Water pool
 * Rock fragment
 * Fireball
 * Vine
 * Fleshy growth
 * Fire storm
 * Chaotic cloud
 * Nebula
 * Shifter
 * Jumper


 * Platforms
 * Float platform
 * Earth platform
 * Ice platform
 * Small missile platform
 * Conjuration platform
 * Missile platform
 * Vine platform
 * Mist platform
 * Comet platform

Upper Level


The upper level of the Runespan can be accessed at 66 Runecrafting by climbing the bone ladder on the middle level. This floor is available exclusively to members. There are 33 islands on this level. All types of creatures and nodes are found on this level. Esswaiths are somewhat common while esshounds and esslings are quite uncommon in this level.


 * Creatures
 * Air essling
 * Mind essling
 * Water essling
 * Earth essling
 * Fire essling
 * Body esshound
 * Cosmic esshound
 * Chaos esshound
 * Astral esshound
 * Nature esshound
 * Law esshound
 * Death esswraith
 * Blood esswraith
 * Soul esswraith


 * Nodes
 * Cyclone
 * Mind storm
 * Water pool
 * Rock fragment
 * Fireball
 * Vine
 * Fleshy growth
 * Fire storm
 * Chaotic cloud
 * Nebula
 * Shifter
 * Jumper
 * Skulls
 * Blood pool
 * Bloody skulls
 * Living soul
 * Undead soul


 * Platforms
 * Float platform
 * Earth platform
 * Ice platform
 * Small missile platform
 * Missile platform
 * Vine platform
 * Mist platform
 * Comet platform
 * Skeletal platform
 * Greater missile platform
 * Flesh platform
 * Greater conjuration platform

Strategy

 * 1) Most strategies involve minimising movement and staying near a central island. If maximum points is the player's goal, they should choose an island with the highest level creature that they can siphon. If maximum experience is their goal, it's best to find an island that has many nodes slightly below their level (these grant the fastest experience) and with the lowest level creature possible (which grant the fastest rune essence).
 * 2) Before entering the Runespan, check the maps above and the tables below this section to find out which runes will be needed to activate the platforms to reach a chosen island.
 * 3) Upon entering the Runespan, the player's first action should be to collect 25 essence from the nearest floating essence; there is always at least one on every island.
 * 4) * If players have reward points already, they can speak to Wizard Finix and exchange reward points for 10 of each rune that they can siphon. The cost will be equal to the value of the runes as if leaving the Runespan. These runes alone should be sufficient to get to a chosen island.
 * 5) * It is recommended to gather a stockpile of basic runes either upon entering the Runespan or on the way to a chosen island. Collecting at least 100 of each rune is usually sufficient for movement around the Runespan as well as to help out yellow wizards.
 * 6) Players should make their way to their chosen island, siphoning from essling creatures as they go. These low level creatures are quick to deplete and every creature yields about 50 or 200 rune essence each. This will help increase the player's stock of rune essence quickly.
 * 7) Once players reach their chosen island, they should stay there. For maximum points, they should siphon the highest level creature on that island repeatedly. For maximum experience, first stockpile at least 1000 rune essence by siphoning esslings, and then siphon any nodes that appear.
 * 8) * Mid-level nodes are faster experience than the highest levelled node siphonable.
 * 9) * If a mid/high level node appears on a connected island, hop there until the node is depleted and then hop back.

Experience
Runespan is playable at any Runecrafting level. Experience is gained by siphoning runes from the creatures and nodes within the Runespan. Experience is also gained from rescuing the yellow wizard.

At higher levels, the experience gained per hour is the best in the game, surpassing even the Ourania Runecrafting Altar. It is calculated that the amount of experience gained may surpass 50,000 experience points per hour at level 60. At 99 Runecrafting, only siphoning soul esswraiths (not siphoning nodes or hunting wizards), players are capable of getting 55,000 experience points per hour. This amount increases to over 100,000 experience per hour if the player is actively siphoning high experience-yielding nodes, hunting the yellow wizard, and minimising time spent moving around. Maximising experience, however, can negatively affect points per hour.

Points
Creating runes awards points that can be used to buy rewards. When players leave the area, the points will automatically be redeemed. Using runes to travel around the Runespan will decrease the player's point total since runes are used to cross platforms. Chipping away at creatures will decrease points too, since runes in inventory are exchanged for rune essences.

Creatures
Inhabiting the Runespan are various creatures who can be "siphoned" for runes to help cross platforms to other islands. Every successful siphon consumes one rune essence and creates a rune of the creature's type. There is a possibility of failing to siphon the creature, which will consume no essence, give no runes, and grant 0-2 experience. The chance of failing decreases at higher Runecrafting levels. Any number of players can siphon runes from one creature at the same time, but if one of the players siphons a total of 10 runes without pause, the creature will be destroyed. When this happens, 50 rune essence is given to those players still siphoning it. The creatures respawn after a few seconds, always at the same location. If all players siphon 9 or less runes from a creature then stop and resume siphoning, it can be siphoned indefinitely.

Creatures can also be "chipped", which requires ten lower-levelled runes and gives 10-20 rune essence. The same creature cannot be chipped twice in a row; players can't chip the same creature until they have chipped three others.

Nodes
A node is an elemental object within the Runespan that can be siphoned for runes, giving Runecrafting experience. If the siphon is unsuccessful, the player can still gain 0-2 experience. A white ring appears below all nodes which shows which runes will be crafted from it. Unlike creatures, nodes do not respawn in the same locations when depleted.

There are basic nodes pertaining to one element (like cyclones, rock fragments, and fleshy growths), but there are also nodes that players can siphon two different types of runes from (like fire storms, which grant air runes and fire runes). Combination nodes such as fire storms will never yield both runes at once, with the higher level rune having a lower chance of being obtained; a fire storm will reward the player with 22.5 experience if it produces an air rune, or 42 experience if it produces a fire rune.

Siphoning a node will give twice the experience as siphoning their respective creature. For example, players who siphon a Death esswraith receive only 60 experience per rune, while siphoning skulls gives players 120 experience per rune. However, it is usually not recommended to be on the hunt for nodes as each island contains random nodes and they can respawn slowly and on another island, unlike the creatures.

Nodes will expire slower when more players are siphoning runic energy from them, so it is in the best interests of all players to have many people focus on the same node in order to slower its consumption. (This means that when a similar node appears near the one many players are siphoning from, it will usually be best that all players switch to the most recent one as it is more likely to be the last one to expire).

The chances of finding a better node increase as players go up the floors. For example, shifters and jumpers are uncommon sights on the middle floor. The higher-level nodes on a floor (shifters and jumpers for middle floor, skull+ for the upper floor) rarely spawn on the larger islands and are more commonly found on the smaller islands.

Occasionally a node will be replaced, while still active, with another, different node in the exact same location. This is often called "nodemorphing," and can be of two types: When a "nodemorph" occurs, and a player is actively siphoning, the character automatically switches to siphoning the new node, as long as the player is of sufficient level capable of doing so.
 * 1) "Upmorphing," or changing to a node which requires a higher runecrafting level to siphon than the original node (this may be a single or dual type of rune, regardless of the original node style), or
 * 2) "Downmorphing," or changing to a node which does not require as high a level of runecrafting as the original node (this may be also be single or dual type of rune, regardless of the original node style).

It can be speculated that, because of the random nature of nodes, they may sometimes "nodemorph" into the same form as the original, thus prolonging the node without apparent change to the player, but because there is no actual way to track when one ends and the other begins, this is moot.

Platforms
Platforms transport players from one island to another, like bridges. Crossing them uses up certain runes. The symbols on the platforms show which runes are required to use the platform. If players examine the platform, it will show them the runes needed to cross.

In the case of missile platforms, the type of elemental rune used depends on the amount the player has in their inventory. The most abundant rune type would always be used. If more than one rune type is equally abundant, the lower level one would be used. For example, water runes would be used over fire runes.

Runes are not consumed when moving from a small island to a larger one. Moving between two similarly sized islands will consume runes in both directions, as will moving from a larger island to a smaller one. This is a measure to prevent players from getting stuck on dead end floating islands.

Runes
A player can initially start with 25 rune essence by collecting from floating essence. The rune essence is converted into one or more of the fourteen runes by siphoning creatures or nodes. A player can use their current points to buy some runes (10 of each rune that a player can siphon for) from Wizard Finix, but the current points and the points currently held in inventory will not be updated unless another rune is crafted. The points will be deducted and the bought runes will be transferred to the inventory. The runes may then be used for crossing between gaps. Unlike the runes used on the mainland, these runes are not tradeable.

Yellow Wizard
There are a number of wizards on each floor that stand in random locations and periodically teleport to different locations. At any one moment, every wizard appears in the same location for all players. Most of them are wearing blue robes, but one wizard is wearing yellow robes (the one chosen to be wearing yellow is specific to individual players).

Every 10 minutes after logging into or entering Runespan, returning from a random event or successfully handing the yellow wizard runes, a message will appear in the chatbox saying that a wizard needs the player's help. If the players chooses not to find the wizard they will not call out again until the player helps one or leaves Runespan. To find the wizard, talk to any of the wizards in blue robes, including Wizard Finix. A flashing arrow will point to where the yellow wizard is located. He will take up to 10 runes and will grant a reward of Runecrafting experience based on the type of rune provided and the player's runecrafting level. Players may not always be able to reach the yellow wizard because he may be on an island that requires a platform they do not have access to. When called, a player can find a yellow wizard on any floor. Players may also not be able to fulfill the yellow wizard's request, as he can ask for any level rune including soul runes even on floor 1. In this case players can give the wizard a lower level rune at the cost of receiving less experience.

Note that even though the wizard says he is stranded, the wizard in yellow will still teleport with the blue ones every time their positions shuffle. It is possible for a player with very bad timing to speak to the yellow wizard, but have him vanish while selecting the runes to offer him. Under these circumstances, the flashing arrow will update to point to the new location.

Some players choose to wear the yellow set of Canifis robes or Runecrafter robes while in the Runespan; this is more likely in order to confuse newer players who may interrupt their training and cross platforms before realizing that the Yellow Wizard is not present.

Wizard hunting
To increase the potential experience rate, and the number of wizards saved per hour, here is a technique for the middle floor that will help players along. Once logged into or entering the Runespan, start a stop watch or take note of the time on a computer. After roughly 8.5 minutes has expired, a wizard will call out in 1.5 minutes time, to prepare for this run towards Wizard Finix at the centre of the map (players can also place a marker on the world map). He is always in the same spot making him the best option. Players should then ask him to point them to the yellow wizard. Locate and talk to him and use the recommended rune (see XP rewards). If arriving early, start siphoning some nodes. After giving the wizard runes, reset the stop watch/timer and repeat the process. If this method is done perfectly, players can do 6 wizards in roughly 1 hour.

On the upper floor, all of the blue wizards appear randomly on the islands, and it will take too long to reach Wizard Finix. The general technique applies, but leave early to start searching for a blue wizard. However, if players find the Yellow Wizard too early, he may teleport away before he calls for them. Players might also have to travel the entire floor along the edges, only to find out the Wizard teleports, or discover that he is on a platform they cannot reach. Unless they have blood runes to quickly move across the entire floor, this may severely slow down point and possibly experience gains as well.

XP rewards
At runecrafting levels under 33 (players limited to floor 1), it is not recommended to find the yellow wizard as the extra experience is very little and players can easily gain 5-10 levels between wizard callings. Giving the wizard the "requested rune" yields more experience than fire runes.

At level 76 and below, players should turn in the highest level rune available and not the requested rune as they reward more experience, and if a wizard requests the highest level rune the player has, it is actually more beneficial to give the wizard the second highest rune. Because of this it is strongly  recommended that players read what rune the wizard wants before handing over a rune. At level 77 the experience for requested runes jumps and the highest possible rune, blood runes, will give only 4,600 experience (if not requested) while the requested rune (no matter how low level) gives roughly 5,100 experience. Due to this, players with at least level 77 should follow the request.

Non-members should start giving the requested rune when their runecrafting level is near 60.

Runesphere
The runesphere is a rare occurrence in the Runespan which requires multiple people to successfully siphon off its many layers of runic energy, using up rune essence and giving runes of whatever layer the Runesphere is currently on. Players also receive rune dust, which can be exchanged with the runesphere core for 10 Runecrafting experience per dust. The runesphere will disappear after an hour regardless of whether or not all of the layers have been siphoned. Players can siphon up to 1,000 dust per day, although they may only hand in dust once per day. Players may work on additional runespheres after handing in dust, but they will not earn dust.

When a runesphere is active, an icon will appear at the top left of the screen, saying "runesphere active". Players can then find the runesphere on one of the 3 floors at their world. It is not always located on the floor the player is currently on, so going up or down floors may be required to find it. Also, although this has not been proven yet, the Runespheres tend to appear in the most crowded floor of the world. That means that, if there are 10 players in the first floor, 9 in the second and 11 in the third, it will probably appear at the Third Floor with a 60% chance (witnessed 60 of 100 times).

When players have found it, they can start drawing runes and experience from it by siphoning it. The runesphere will begin on a particular rune, and as it is siphoned from, will gradually decrease one rune at a time (law to nature to astral and so on) until it reaches air, after which it will become a runesphere core.

Siphoning a runesphere is generally not recommended due to the low experience recieved from it. The layers of the runesphere also need an increased Runecrafting level than their other counterparts, such as Shifters and esshounds. The rewards given are minimal and is usually not recommended as it affects XP per hour drastically as the rune dust only awards up to 10,000 Runecrafting experience. At higher Runecrafting levels, a node like an Undead Soul or Bloody skulls can award more experience than a Runesphere.

Rewards (m)
Runes gathered in Runespan are taken by the Runecrafting Guild if players leave the Runespan. In return, players receive Runespan points to spend on various rewards, only available to members. It is possible to buy a second wicked hood, but it will not give extra free runes, essence or teleports each day. However, extra wicked hoods can be given different colours.

Each other part of the robes provides an additional 25 free essence and 1 rune claim per day, and owning all 3 adds an extra daily altar teleport. They do not have to be worn for the bonus to count.

Points can be spent in Wizard Finix's reward shop next to the Runecrafting Guild portal. To buy everything in the shop, players will need 282,360 points.

Esteem
Esteem is purely cosmetic; it does not affect siphoning rates. For every level earned, esteem changes the design/symbol on the wicked hood, cape and robes.

The symbol for the corresponding rank is also displayed on the back of the wicked hood, the left shoulder of the wicked robe top, and the front of the wicked legs.

Rank 1 (the highest tier) is required for the trimmed completionist cape and costs 211,860 points total. Because of this very few players can currently wear a trimmed completionist cape.

Buying a rank subtracts the cost from the higher ranks. For example, buying the tier 10 rank at 15 points will reduce the cost of all ranks by 15 points so buying tier 9 after tier 10 would only cost an additional 45 points.

Re-colour
Players can re-colour their equipped wicked equipment for 2,000 points total. If a full set of robes of one colour is desired, it would be cheapest to obtain the full set, equip it, and then purchase the re-colour.

Lower Level

 * Runearia
 * Runebreath
 * Runecalm
 * Runesque
 * Runeward

Middle Level

 * Runeiverse
 * Runenergy
 * Runespan
 * Runesphere
 * Runetine

Upper Level

 * Runefear
 * Runefire
 * Runescar
 * Runewaste
 * Runewrath

Trivia

 * On 28 April 2012, 8:00 PM UTC, when the See the Future event began, rifts to the Runespan opened in the Grand Exchange near the west wall, at the Catherby fruit tree patch, and in the central market of East Ardougne. Esslings also appeared with them. Wizard Finix was also seen for a brief time during this teaser, and left along with the rift orbs. Approximately 10 minutes after the rift spawned, the esslings disappeared, a Runesphere appeared in place of the rift. It also disappeared after a few minutes.
 * On 30 April 2012, Runespan was officially released to both F2P and P2P members. There was a glitch which had a effect on how many nodes could spawn during each level, this was since then fixed by Jagex but not without making another glitch which would require a system update to fix. During the first glitch nodes on level one had around 14-20 nodes per island. Level two had a constant 5-8 nodes per island and level 3 had a constant 2-3 nodes per island. When they applied a hotfix shortly after its release these nodes became very rare at level two and three which people have spectated they decreased the spawn rates by 2/3 of the original which had serious issues. On 1 May, another system update occurred in which nodes are now spawning 1/3 the amount when first released. It appears the constant node glitch is caused by an active runesphere.
 * On 2 May 2012, Runespan received another hotfix to correct the problems with node spawns. Mod Pi rewrote the spawning code of the nodes so that they do not cluster or randomly despawn as they were.
 * Players can obtain strange rocks and spin tickets from the Runespan.
 * If a node spawns on top of a player, the player's body will disappear. This can be easily seen with a fire or air node. However, the bug does not occur if the player siphons the node.
 * There is currently a graphical bug which causes the white circle under a node to not be completely drawn. This normally only occurs if the node spawns near another feature, but is unpredictable in its nature.
 * There is currently a graphical bug which makes it sometimes appear as if a player using a platform which creates "stepping stones" to the next platform (i.e., skeletal, earth, ice, flesh) appears to walk in place at the departing platform while the stepping stones appear underneath the player, then walks across open air to the intended platform.
 * It is currently possible as a free player to receive chaos runes on the second floor if a node upmorphs into a chaotic cloud, however member's platforms still cannot be used.
 * Proximity to/distance from to a creature or node does not increase or decrease the speed of siphoning.
 * Members can craft every runes with rune essences, while out of Runespan you need Pure essence for P2P runes.
 * There is currently a glitch which occurs if a player encounters a random event during their time in Runespan. If the player logs off during the random event, upon returning to Runespan, the player will find all their runes exchanged for points and that they are without any runes or rune essence. Jagex have stated on the offical forums that they are aware of the problem and are working to fix it.
 * Oddly, 65 Runecrafting is needed to siphon Skulls, Death Esswraiths, and use Skeletal Platforms, but 66 Runescafting is needed to access them on the third floor.