Guide for returning players

This is a guide for returning players.

Introduction
Due to a number of updates throughout the years, individuals may return to RuneScape and find that it seems to be a shadow of its former self, a completely new game that, yes, at its core this was the game they played before and reminisced over, but that it had fundamentally changed.

One such fundamental change came in 2012 with the introduction of what is known as the Evolution of Combat (abbreviated as EoC). This update totally revamped the combat system and combat triangle in the game, becoming in some ways unforgiving to combat style clashes, while allowing a lot more freedom of choice and interactivity in combat through the use of abilities. However, this was not the only thing that has changed, since any given returning player was last active, and perhaps unsurprisingly because the constant updates and evolution to the game have always been something which made RuneScape really quite special. Some of these such changes include the introduction of entirely new cities (the most notable of which being the elven city of Prifddinas, unlocked after completion of the quest Plague's End), skills (the most recent skill is known as Invention, and is an "elite" skill requiring level 80 Crafting, Divination, and Smithing), items, and not least of all, quests, primarily focusing on the dawn and progression of the Sixth Age of Gielinor with the return of the gods.

These updates may have changed the game to such an extent that it does feel like a shadow of its former self, but the shadow simply has so much more to offer and, once you get past the most fundamental of changes (EoC), you will find that RuneScape is still the same game you know and love. This guide offers a brief re-introduction to the game for returning players, covering some of the most fundamental changes to the game between RuneScape 2/HD and RuneScape 3, and will hopefully allow for a much easier transition back into Gielinor, where your adventure awaits.

Evolution of Combat
Evolution of Combat or EoC, is the new combat system, which was introduced in November 2012.

For old players, this system may seem very complex and hard to learn, but it can be just as simple as the combat system always has been or you can make it very complex to fight hard bosses or just be more efficient in general.

The first thing you should do, is to go to this page and copy those bars for appropriate combat style. After that you should enable revolution, how to do that, can also be found in the link.

In short terms are there 3 different Combat Settings right now.

Full manual where you have to use the abilities manual, this is for more experienced players.

Revolution where it uses abilities automatically, this is a good way to learn the abilities without having much knowledge beforehand and is recommended for new or returning players.

Legacy Mode which removes abilities and let you fight like it was before EoC. This might seem like the easy solution, but you should give EoC a chance.

Action bar
Together with EoC came actions bars.

The action bar is an interface that features numbered slots onto which various abilities, prayers, spells, emotes or items may be dragged. This allows the usage of the assigned ability or item quickly by simply clicking on it in the action bar rather than searching for it in its respective menu, or alternatively pressing the corresponding key on their keyboard if the option to do so has been enabled.

Prifddinas
Prifddinas is the elven capital, the requirements are several high level skills and the quest Plague's End, Prifddinas has a lot of skilling activities, Grand Exchange, NPCs, the highest level slayer master (Morvran), etc.

This is where most high end players spend a lot of their time.

The Arc
The Arc is a new region, where you can find new skilling activities. The Arc is where you will need level 90 in several skills and completed the quest Impressing the Locals.

You will be able to visit Uncharted Isles in the Arc, and have your own personal island, which you can train on.

Menaphos
Menaphos is a city for mid level players, it will arrive on 5 June 2017.

Lodestone Network
The Lodestone network was released in March 2012, it makes transportation a lot easier.

The lodestones are placed around the world, usually close to cities. To teleport to one of the lodestones, you will have to unlock them first by visitting them, after that you will be able use the hometeleport to teleport to them.

Slayer level 120
Slayer is the first skill to be increased to level 120 with more content, it will be released on 5 June 2017 together with Menaphos.

Skilling pets
Skilling pets are followers that can be obtained by training various skills, they can be very rare to obtain, and some people have gone over 200 million experience without getting one, where other players have had them within a couple of thousand experience.

These pets are purely for the achievement and cosmetic value, and does not apply any bonuses.

Dailies
Daily challenge

Distractions and Diversions

Solomon's General Store
Solomon's General Store was released in July 2012.

Solomons generalstore sells a lot of different things, such as cosmetic outfits, emotes, pets, titles and auras these can be bought for Runecoins and/or loyalty points.

Legendary pets
Legendary pets can be bought from Solomons's General Store, these pets have several abilties and are very important when you enter late game.

They can only be bought for Runecoins which you can either get from in-game coins with a bond or buy with real world money.

Bond
A bond is an in-game item, that can be bought for real world money and traded to other players for in-game coins.

A bond allows a player to pay for selected account-related and out-of-game benefits such as membership, RuneCoins and Treasure Hunter keys.

This means that you can sustain membership, only by paying with in-game currency.

The bonds' in-game price is set by supply and demand, just as all other tradeable items.

Treasure Hunter
Treasure hunter is a remake of Squeal of Fortune.

It is a daily activity, where you can open chests with keys, and gain a lot of different rewards.

You get a certain amount of keys each day, this depends on if you are f2p, p2p or have bought a special membership package.

To get more keys for treasure hunter, you can either do Daily Challenges, complete quests or buy them for bonds or real world money.

Interface
With the release of RuneScape 3 came the New Interface System, or NIS for short, the interface can now be edited, so a player is now able to make a unique interface, exactly how they like it.

It is recommended to go to Youtube and search for RuneScape interfaces, you will find a lot of guides there and be able to get inspiration to how to make the perfect interface.

Tier System
Equipment tier is an important value for worn equipment. This is a number which determines the accuracy and damage of weapons, and the armour value, damage bonus, and life point bonus of armour. It is often, but not always, the wield/wear requirement.

Tier is a natural number; it is always strictly greater than 0, and is not fractional. Equipment without bonuses is tierless. Currently, the highest tier is 100.

What to use
This will depend on your levels and amount of coins you have.

There are links here to many of the different weapons for each style, look at the level requirements and value to see what will be the best choice for you.

Magic

 * Magic armour
 * Magic weapons

Melee

 * Melee armour
 * Melee weapons

Ranged

 * Ranged armour
 * Ranged weapons

God Wars Dungeon 2
God Wars Dungeon 2 is the successor to the original God Wars Dungeon. In this version their are 4 areas, each representing their own faction and boss.

Beastmaster Durzag
Vorago

Tips and tricks

 * 1) If you want to know more about something, use this Wiki as it has information about (almost) everything in RuneScape.

FAQ
What happened to the price of dark bows and abyssal whips?

With new and more powerful weapons being introduced to the game, the overall demand of many former high-end items such as abyssal whips and dark bows have fallen due to the weapons now being considered mid-level equipment.

Increased popularity of the Slayer skill together with updates such as the Evolution of Combat and higher level equipment allowing Slayer monsters to be killed considerably more easily and faster than before has also lead to significant increase in the supply of many Slayer monster drops, furthermore lowering their value.

Despite the attempts to rise the value of Slayer monster drops like abyssal whips and dark bows with updates such as the weapon add-ons from lava strykewyrms, the prices of the weapons have remained low.

How do I make money now?

You can check for money making guides here: money making guide.