Ancient Magicks



Ancient Magicks (sometimes known as Ancients) is 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, Ancient Magicks is made up of combat-oriented spells, including some of the most powerful combat spells in the game. The spellbook contains 20 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 which were used during the reign of Zaros in the Second age. The Ancient Magicks were commonly used by almost all of Zaros' followers. The powerful combat spells were very useful for Zaros' followers in the wars they had with other kingdoms. The spellbook's teleport spells also made it easy for Zarosians to travel across Zaros' entire kingdom that 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, when Zaros was betrayed by his Mahjarrat general Zamorak, Zaros was banished and Zamorak, who became a god, 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.

The God Wars saw the slow fade of the Ancient Magicks from common knowledge. Many of the remaining followers of Zaros, who comprised the majority of the users of the spells, were killed or imprisoned. The powerful spells caused much destruction during the enormous battles, although the amount of people who knew about the spells was extremely limited. Zuriel, one of the most powerful mages at that time, was one of the few who still possessed the knowledge and even devised the Miasmic spells, which are currently the most powerful combat spell set still in use.

Long after the end of the God Wars, when the art of Runecrafting was re-discovered, new spells were invented by the modern wizards of the Wizards' Tower, driving the spells even further into obscurity. Today, Ancient Magicks are used almost only by the Mahjarrat, who have been driven close to extinction from 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 by the Wizard's Tower. Players will learn about the Ancient Magicks during the Desert Treasure quest, where they release the imprisoned Zarosian mahjarrat Azzanadra.

Switching spellbooks
The player's spellbook can be changed to Ancient Magicks at the altar inside the Jaldraocht Pyramid (simply "Pyramid" on the World Map) in the Kharidian Desert, west 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 at the Astral Altar on Lunar Isle twice, 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 the player to directly on top of the pyramid.
 * A Camulet provides a teleport to Enahkra's temple, which is just west of Jaldraocht 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.

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 five classes of combat spells have a different effect:


 * The Smoke spells are the only group of spells that can inflict poison damage to other players and NPCs.
 * The Shadow spells can be used to lower the target's Attack level.
 * The Blood spells will heal the caster 25% of the damage dealt.
 * The Ice spells freeze the target in place and prevent it from moving.
 * The Miasmic spells halve the attack speed of Melee and Ranged for a limited time. Miasmic spells require Zuriel's staff to be cast, and furthermore, the special effect only works on players, not NPCs.

The specific duration/effectiveness of each of the standard effects (aside from the blood spells, which always heal a flat 25%) depends on the level of the spell cast; Smoke Burst will deal more poison damage than Smoke Rush, for example. In addition, half of the Ancient Magicks combat spells (Burst and Barrage) are Area of Effect spells, which will hit the target and any other player or NPC standing in a 3x3 zone around the target in a multicombat area. With regards to large monsters, Burst and Barrage spells will hit all targets that are within a 3x3 area of the monster's southwesternmost corner square, which is treated as its "origin" square. The other half (Rush and Blitz), only hit a single target.

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 and a lower cost when compared to the other combat spells.

Ancient Magicks is 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. '' * All Miasmic spells require Zuriel's staff, which increases magic damage by 10%; therefore, technically all of the miasmic spells have 10% higher maximum hits than their officially stated base numbers. Zuriel's staff requires an attack level of 78.''

Trivia

 * Mind runes, Astral runes, Cosmic runes, Nature runes and Body runes are the only runes not used in the Ancient Magicks spellbook. Until the introduction of miasmic spells, Earth runes were also not used.
 * Of the various Combination runes, only Smoke runes are useful for Ancient Magicks, as the smoke spells and 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.
 * On free worlds, Home Teleport will teleport a player to Lumbridge instead of Edgeville.
 * Each Ancient Magicks spell has a unique sound.
 * Although 50 Magic is required to access the spellbook, it is not possible to use Ancient Magicks at 50 Magic, as completion of Desert Treasure grants enough Magic experience to reach level 51.
 * The Dungeoneering spellbook includes spells from the regular and Lunar spellbooks, but none from the Ancient Magicks spellbook.
 * The teleport to daemonheim spell has the same design as the ancient magicks teleport, as bricks fall around the player in both teleports.