Ancient Magicks



Ancient Magicks (also known as Ancients) are a branch of Magic unlocked upon completion of the quest Desert Treasure. Unlike the Lunar spellbook, which primarily focuses on non-combat support spells, and the regular spellbook, which is a mixture of combat and non-combat spells, the Ancient Magicks is significantly combat-oriented, including some of the most powerful combat spells in the game. The spellbook contains 17 combat spells and nine teleports (far fewer spells than the other spellbooks). Many of the Ancient Magick spells are very rune-intensive and require expensive runes such as death and blood. Owing to their power (a minimum of 50 Magic is needed to even access the spellbook), Ancient Magick spells are popular in player-versus-player activities.

Background
The Ancient Magicks are a long forgotten and destructive set of spells. In the second age they were very commonly used, mostly by the followers of Zaros, who ruled a very large kingdom at that time.

The very destructive and powerful spells of the Ancient Magicks proved to be very useful during the wars in the era. The spellbook also contained various teleport spells which made it easier for the Zarosians to travel across their kingdom, which stretched from the northern Wilderness, to northern Misthalin and north-western Morytania. As of now, the spellbook contains teleports which lead to places where the currently destroyed Zarosian fortresses once stood.

Unfortunately, knowledge of runecrafting was lost before the Second Age and the remaining supplies Guthix provided humans in the first age slowly disappeared through the use of magic. Back then, many wizards held battles with the few remaining runes as a prize.

After Zaros' banishment, Zamorak and other gods like Saradomin destroyed the entire kingdom. The destruction of the kingdom and the slow disappearance of runestones caused the Ancient Magicks to become a rarely used form of magic. During this time, only the Mahjarrat used Ancient Magicks, mostly because they didn't need runes to use magic.

The God Wars held after Zaros' banishment saw the slow fade of the Ancient Magicks from common knowledge. Many of the remaining followers of Zaros, whom comprised the majority of spell-casters, were killed or imprisoned. The powerful spells caused much destruction during the enormous battles, although the number of people who knew about the spells was extremely limited. Zuriel, one of the most powerful mages at that time, being one of the few who still possessed the knowledge, devised the Miasmic spells, which at one time was the most powerful combat spell set.

Long after the end of the God Wars, at the beginning of the fifth age, the art of Runecrafting was discovered, giving humans a new supply of runes. New spells were invented by modern wizards of the Wizards' Tower, driving the ancient magicks even further into obscurity. Today, Ancient Magicks are used almost exclusively by the Mahjarrat, who have been driven close to extinction in Gielinor. A handful of people, such as Solus Dellagar, and Zenevivia, still possess the knowledge of Ancient Magicks. But furthermore, most mages of Gielinor choose to practice the modern magic created at the Wizard's Tower. Players will learn about the Ancient Magicks during the Desert Treasure quest, where they release the imprisoned Zarosian mahjarrat Azzanadra.

Skill and Quest Requirements
Because unlocking the Ancient Magicks spellbook requires completion of the Desert Treasure quest, the following quests are also required:


 * The Dig Site
 * The Tourist Trap
 * Temple of Ikov
 * Priest in Peril
 * Troll Stronghold
 * Waterfall Quest

Because of these quests, the skills required to obtain the Ancient Magicks can be seen in the table to the right.

Switching spellbooks
Players can switch to Ancient Magicks at the altar inside the Jaldraocht Pyramid (simply "Pyramid" on the World Map) in the Kharidian Desert, southwest of Pollnivneach and north of Menaphos. There is a rear entrance (tunnel) to the south of the pyramid that allows players who have completed Desert Treasure to enter the throne room directly, where the altar resides, without having to navigate the four floors of the pyramid. At the altar, players can pray to switch to or from the Ancient Magicks spellbook, though this drains all Prayer points to zero. (Players can still switch spellbooks even with 0 Prayer points.)

Those who simply wish to switch from Ancient Magicks to the regular spellbook may find it easier to pray twice at the Astral Altar on Lunar Isle, provided Lunar Diplomacy has been completed.

Reaching the pyramid
Various methods of teleportation exist for reaching the Jaldraocht Pyramid:


 * Pollnivneach is a short distance east of the Pyramid and it is accessible via the use of a ring of slaying, the magic carpet network (from either Shantay Pass or Sophanem, after Icthlarin's Little Helper), or Teleport to House for players who have their houses located in Pollnivneach. After Love Story, a player can chisel a Teleport to House tablet to teleport to the Pollnivneach house portal.
 * The Pharaoh's Sceptre, obtained from the Pyramid Plunder activity, teleports players directly on top of the pyramid. Use the Jaldraocht teleport
 * A Camulet provides a teleport to Enahkra's temple, which is just west of Jaldraocht Pyramid.
 * A bandit camp teleport scroll can be used to teleport to the Bandit Camp, which is northwest of the pyramid.
 * Fairy ring code and run south to Nardah and run west till the bridge and cross it and you would see the Jaldraocht Pyramid
 * Home teleport to Bandit Camp through the Lodestone Network. This lodestone is located just northwest of the pyramid.

Autocasting
Prior to the autocasting update on 2 September 2009, the Ancient staff was the only way to autocast Ancient Magicks combat spells. It can be obtained once from Eblis, who will sell it for 80,000 coins after the completion of Desert Treasure. Alternately, the staff can be bought on the Grand Exchange for coins, or obtained as a drop from Mummies. As the staff's original purpose has been rendered obsolete, it now provides a 10% bonus to spell damage while it is equipped, and due to its cheap price compared to the Staff of light, it is used by most mage playerkillers.

With the new update, the Ancient staff is no longer the sole option in using Ancient Magicks for combat, and opens new options such as the Staff of Light and Zuriel's staff, albeit being more expensive alternatives.

Combat
The Ancient Magicks combat spells are, as mentioned, the most dangerous combat spells in the game. Not only can they deal a substantial amount of damage, but each of the four classes of elemental spells has a different curse effects:


 * The Smoke spells (air) are able to reduce the target's chance to hit by 5% for 10 seconds.
 * The Shadow spells (earth) can be used to lower the target's damage by 5% for 10 seconds.
 * The Blood spells (fire) will heal the caster 5% of the damage dealt to main target, +3% of the rest.
 * The Ice spells (water) freeze the target in place and prevent it from moving for 10 seconds (2.4-9.6 seconds in PvP).

In addition to these effects, the Burst and Barrage spells are Area of Effect (AoE), which will hit both the target and any other player or NPC standing in a 3x3 zone around the target. Rush and Blitz spells will only hit a single target. "AOE spells now deal slightly less damage to non-main targets."

Note: The special effects and AoE traits only apply to auto-attacks and Momentum. When using abilities, the Ancient Magicks lose their effects and become typical spells, albeit spells of a higher level. So while using abilities negates the use of runes, it also negate the specific AoE and Curse effects. Ice spells are an exception, as they will still bind the target when using abilities.

Some monsters are large, meaning that they take up more than one square of space. When a Burst or Barrage spell is cast on one of these monsters, it will hit the monster plus any surrounding monsters with any square of space standing within a 3x3 zone of the targeted monster's southwesternmost corner square, which is treated as its "origin" square.

While less popular for general training, Ancient Magicks is often used in various player-versus-player activities, such as the TzHaar Fight Pit, Stealing Creation, Castle Wars, Fist of Guthix and Soul Wars. Ice spells, especially Ice Burst and Ice Barrage, are especially popular, due to their freezing effects.

Ancient Magicks are not allowed in Barbarian Assault.

Combat spells
The maximum hits listed here are the spells' base maximum hits, without any modifiers. See here for a list of items that increase the maximum hit of magic spells.

There are four ascending types of spells, these are: Rush, Burst, Blitz and Barrage. For these spell-types are 4 ancient 'elemental' variations for each spell type, in ascending order: Smoke, Shadow, Blood & Ice.

Trivia

 * Of the various Combination runes, only Smoke runes are useful for Ancient Magicks, as the Paddewwa and Dareeyak Teleports are the only spells to use more than one elemental rune.
 * On the day of release, these spells had a glitch where every spell, along with the original effects, would freeze opponents.
 * The animation of the Daemonheim teleport that can be done with the Ring of Kinship is similar to (except for the colour) the Ancient Magicks teleport - and looks similar to the Pharaoh's sceptre's teleport animation. This may suggest a common (teleportation) principle or origin.
 * Each Ancient Magicks spell has a unique sound.
 * The Dungeoneering spellbook includes spells from both the regular and Lunar spellbooks, but none from the Ancient Magicks spellbook.
 * If your membership expires whilst the Ancient Magicks spellbook activated then it will return to the regular spellbook, even when you re-activate your membership.
 * During the early stages of the Evolution of Combat, the spells were called Gale, Rock, Bloodfire and Ice, respectively. Miasmic spells were removed at this time. Smoke poisoned the target (poison damage has been removed), Shadow lowered the target's Attack, Blood healed you for 25% of your life points (now only 5%), and Ice's freezing time varied depending on how strong the spell was (now all Ice spells freeze for 10 seconds when cast on NPC's and varies depending on spell with players), and Miasmic halved melee and ranged attack speed. In early 2014, the name changes were reverted, but the effects were not.

Ancient Magicks Magic/Ancient Magicks Ancient Magicks