Gameplay and getting going

The Story

Now I have 99 woodcutting I decided to work on my mining a bit, I have set myself a challenge to get all my stats to 80 and probably farming as my next 99, but I set about getting 80 mining, I use my normal trick of taking ore mining coal and superheating addy bars on site, click here to review my guide. I had help from my Lava Titan giving me a 10 mining boost, click, click, click, click, click, click, heat and repeat, not as boring as click * 28 then bank but still very boring, I had heard about people getting mining xp from the meteors from the Distractions and Diversions mini game and decided to give it a go.

I went to my house and had a look out of the telescope, it said a meteor was going to land in the next 1hr 20 minutes to 1hr 40 minutes (similar time but for indication only), I went and did some farming and came back after 1hr 20 min and the meteor was going to land in 0 to 20 minutes, I trotted off to the area and ran around the mines and banks looking for it, I couldn't find it so I went back home and it was still going to land in 0 to 7 minutes, I couldn't see any point in running around so I kept looking through the telescope until it no longer gave a time, I then quickly teled to one of the likely sites and ran around all the sites that it may land, I eventually found it next to the magic shop with a tele-tubby stood in the middle, poop I got there too late, it must have been a low level star because it only lasted a few minutes at most.

I wasn't going to be beaten and decided to try again, went to my house and had a look, made a note of the time and trained a skill until the time it was estimated to land, I then went back to my house and watched until the time was not given and teled to the first likely place, it wasn't there so ran to the next and there was a ring of white dots on the mini map, I ran around and started to mine the level 4 star getting mining xp and star dust.

The mining xp was good so I decided to train on shooting stars a bit more, the next day I found a quiet world and found a star on my own I got the finders xp and continued to mine for 20 minutes before someone else turned up.

The Guide

First you need a telescope in yours or someone else's house, you can use the one at the observatory but home is a lot more convenient.

You will get an indication as to when and where it will drop, If you have a friend have a look through the telescope you will have a different set of time scales so you can narrow it down even more, Use the latest minimum time and the earliest maximum time from both players.

Example
Your time 1hr 20 minutes to 1hr 40 minutes
Friends time 1hr 30 minutes to 1hr 50 minutes
Narrowed time 1hr 30 minutes to 1hr 40 minutes

Using a better telescope reduces the size of the drop window, a mahogany scope reduces the window to 2 minutes, this makes it a lot easier to plan your star hunting time around your skill times.

Go and train a skill and wait until your drop window and get to your house just before, you will have an indication where it will drop so have tele runes and jewellery to tele to the places and some super energy pots so you can keep running.

Keep looking in the telescope, look then close the window then look again when its in the time window as soon as it stops showing a meteor tele to the first place and run to the next location as quickly as possible until you locate it.

Then mine.

Apparently the higher level shooting stars give more xp per star dust, I haven't checked yet but I do know you will get more xp from the lower level stars, I guess the xp is greater at higher levels but because you have a higher mining level than the requirement for the small stars the xp will be less but more often, you can watch the xp shoot up frequently on the small stars.

The shooting star will drop in predetermined areas and there are about 6 places for each area, its luck if you get it the first time.

Places it may fall are

Asgarnia

• By the mine entrance North East Falador
• The mine over the wall West of Falador
• Rimmington mine
• Mine Inside the Crafting guild (Brown apron required)
• Falador Square
• East mining guild

Crandor or Karamja

• Crandor mine - north or south
• Brimhaven, near metal dragon dungeon entrance
• Nature altar mine North of Shilo Village
• Shilo Village gem mine
• Gold mine on the peninsula North of Brimhaven

Fremennik lands or Lunar Isle

* The mine in Rellekka
• The mine in Miscellania
• The mine ladder North West of Jatizso
• North East Neitznot, South of the rune rock peninsula
• Mine South of entrance to Keldagrim, East of Relleka.
• Essence mine North East Lunar Isle

Kandarin

• Coal Trucks Near Seers
• Outside Yanille bank
• Near Monastery Mines
• Mine East of Ardougne, south of legends
• Mine North East of Yanille and South West of port khazard

Kharidian Desert

• Outside Nardah bank
• Clay Mine North of Uzer
• Vultures Gold Mine North West of the Agility Pyramid
• Outside Al Kharid bank
• Scorpion mine North of Al Kharid
• Duel Arena near hospital
• Quarry, South of the bandit camp

Misthalin

• Lumbridge Swamp west or east mine
• Varrock west or east mine
• East Varrock, beside the magic shop

Morytania or Mos Le'Harmless

• North of Canifis bank
* North of Burgh de Rott bank
• South of Mos Le'Harmless bank

Piscatoris, the Gnome Stronghold or Tirannwn

• South of the fishing colony, North East of Fairy ring AKQ
• Gnome Stronghold - North of bank, west of spirit tree
• Lletya South of the Elf teleport crystal destination

Wilderness

• Skeleton mine
• Zamorak mage mine
• Bounty Hunter banker
• Hobgoblin Mine
• Rune rocks
* Pirates' Hideout mine
* Outide Mage arena bank

These are places located by myself and friends and may not be conclusive, if you know any more please let me know.

If you can not access all places you can change world and find a meteor landing somewhere else, you can even mine 1 and change world and mine another one.

After you have 200 stardust you can no longer mine any more until you trade it in with the star sprite in the centre of the star, after trading in you can mine a further 200 stardust but not trade in until the following day, even with it in your bank you will not gain any more stardust.

Even if you do not get stardust you will still get good mining xp so it is well worth doing.

Shooting Star Hunting Clan Chat
You can join a clan with other shooting star hunters, this will make locating a star a lot easier, the problem is you will have many hunters mining the same star and a high level star will be demolished very quickly giving you little star dust and little xp, clans are for social meetings not for xp so I would suggest you avoid them.
There is a small benefit with clans and that is you can monitor different worlds, if you finish 1 star on one world you can hop and mine another on a different world.

Chop, chop, chop, chop chop, chop.

I have chopped and chopped and chopped and now I have a shiny new cape to show for it, today 2nd November 2008 I got my woodcutting skill cape, this is one of my greatest achievements because it can only be obtained by working for it, you cant buy supplies to speed it up you need to chop every log using just xp and stat boosting equipment as a aid.

I have not rushed this skill, because I quite enjoyed it I did find myself coming back to it on an almost daily basis, when I had 1m + xp for the last few levels I kept focused by watching the xp and not being overwhelmed by the magnitude I broke it down into smaller chunks, a target of 10 x 100k a go is a lot easier to stomach than 1m xp, every time I started I would aim to get to the next century, sometimes I would go for 200k if I was enjoying myself and chatting to other choppers and 50k if I wasn't and wanted to kill something.

I am not one for shouting about my achievements but a few of the woodcutters there kept asking how far to 99, and my countdown went from 50k to 760xp at very regular intervals, I banked my logs just before levelling and everyone was watching as I chopped my last log.

Considering I knew no one there before I started chopping they all congratulated me on my 99, it was really nice to see lots of strangers all congratulating me on my achievement, I have always made a point of congratulating people for every level I see them gain no matter how low, a level is always an achievement and it is one step closer to a 99.

Another piece of news I got the last helmet for my void set, void range helmet is now sitting in my house with my void mage and melee hats and full void armour, I have maxed combat and no need for the points at Pest Control I just enjoy it there so used the points to get void armour as a trophy, I wonder what I shall get next there, perhaps some charms for summoning, who knows.

I have been training woodcutting since I first started playing Runescape, in fact woodcutting was one of my first 2 skills to get a fairly high level, the second being mining, I am not a great fan of woodcutting or mining now.
I decide to go for 99 woodcutting because over the years I had got it to 96 and just a few levels would get me another cape.

To get to 96 I cut the best tree I could, I wasn't bothered about time because it was not my main cash generating skill and I was in no hurry, oaks are a very good tree to chop at lower levels (not to bad at higher levels either), xp is fast and you get loads of birds nests and tree seeds, my favourite spot for oaks was just outside the west gate at Varrock, easy to chop as there are 3 trees, you only need to chop 2 because they respawn quickly.
Had I done it for speed I would have stayed there for a few levels above the minimum for cutting willows, instead I went to willows when I could and chopped there until I could chop yews, the best willow place is Draynor Village chop and bank and repeat.

As soon as I could chop yews I chopped yews, I wasn't bothered about cash I just wanted to chop yews, the xp although not as good as willows was adequate for me and I enjoyed chopping there, the spot I preferred was west of Catherby using the Catherby bank to unload, the fun at Catherby is its a fancy dress chopping area, players like to wear their full Dragon, Dharoks, elegant and Ringmaster now, dress to impress is the dress code for Catherby.

I like to change training spot so would normally chop yews at catherby, occasionally chop willows at Draynor and oaks at Varrock just for a change of scenery.

When I could chop magics I had a go at them, Magic trees are very slow, and when I say slow I mean verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry slow, but none the less they are fun to chop for a while if you want to sleep, chat or just fight of randoms, Lletya is my place of choice for magic trees, use the teleport crystals to bank and run the short distance back to the trees.
When magics were first there they were very noisy and only choppable if you turned sound off, luckily Jagex have reduced the sound so you can still listen to what you are doing, its quite relaxing to chop at Lletya.

Even with the ability to chop magic trees it is still a lot quicker xp to chop willows, even more so than yews, there is the option to chop teaks which are better xp than willows, the only problem with teaks is there is no bank near so you either burn or drop, I personally don't want to play with every log that I chop so I stick at willows, teaks are great if you want to train fire making at the same time but guaranteed RSI if you don't, if you want to chop teaks the best place is Ape Atoll, you can chop as a monkey so you don't get attacked.

Chopping aids
There are numerous ways to help your chopping efficiency, this is where the term "noob bait" comes in, this is a name I made up to describe a situation to guarantee questions from many players.

Lumberjack
Lumberjack clothing is obtained from the Temple Trekking mini game, it adds a small amount of xp per log when chopping, with the full set it adds 2.5% more experience, over time the 2.5% adds up quite considerably, with this set alone you will get 99 wood cutting 2.5% faster than without, you need level 44 woodcutting to wear Lumberjack.
The down side is it can take a very long time to get the Lumberjack Jacket, it took me 2 weeks almost constant playing the mini game, I may have been able to get more xp chopping for the 2 weeks but I wanted the set and there are other good prizes from the trekking game.

Beaver
The beaver familiar gives you a woodcutting boost of 2, this is invisible so it can not help you chop a tree 2 levels higher than you can currently chop but you will be chopping at a speed that a player 2 levels higher can, this works out as a 2% woodcutting increase so you can get 99 woodcutting 2% faster, the beaver also collects planks and logs up to yew, this can cover the cost of the shards for the beaver pouch and it uses a willow log to make so you are chopping them anyway.

Inferno Adze
The Inferno Adze doesn't give you a woodcutting boost but it burns a percentage of the logs you chop, they simply catch fire and whiz over your shoulder, I have included it here because if you burn the logs you do not need to bank so often, they are burnt as you chop so no time is wasted burning them, I estimate that about 1/4 to 1/3 are burnt as you chop so you can save as much as a bank trip per 3 to 4 full loads.
I have got my last 2 firemaking levels without burning a single log, firemaking is a waste of time as far as I am concerned so levelling with no direct intervention from me is a bonus, although it is a waste of time it is still a skill and one day I will master it, just not a priority at the moment.
You need 92 firemaking to get and wield an Inferno Adze, you obtain the Inferno Adze by completing the mini game after the All Fired Up quest.

Rabbits foot
Wearing a Rabbit foot around your neck is reported to increase the amount of bird nests you can get when chopping, I cant say that I have noticed but if Jagex say it does then it must, birds nests are desirable beacuse the ground nests have value for herblore and the tree seeds are worth up to 180k for magic seeds at current prices.

Noob bait
Just because people are low level or don't understand something doesn't make them a noob, I just call it this as a bit of humour.
I wear all the above and you can imagine the amount of people who ask where I get this where I get that, does it do this, does it do that, its OK but after the 5th person in 2 minutes asks it can get a bit tedious, luckily other players like to show off their knowledge and tell the next person who asks.

I no longer wear my slayer cape chopping as that gets far too many "Do emote" comments.

Strategy
There is a tendency for people to chop their own tree, there is no reason to have your own tree, in fact it is detrimental for all people chopping, it is far better to go to a tree that everyone is chopping, this will make the tree fall quicker but at least if the tree falls and you move onto another there is always a tree to chop, if every one has a different tree at the same time and they all fall (this often happens) then everyone is stood around gaining no XP.
The trees fall at the rate of the lowest level woodcutter so if you are a high level woodcutting player and you join a low level the tree will fall quicker but at least you can chop.

My top tip is, Chop and enjoy, if you don't enjoy take a break, I take slayer breaks very regularly.

My son wanted to set up a new Runescape account, he is 9 and well capable of using the internet, he knows what to avoid and how to avoid the adult/unpleasant side of the internet, he ought to be he has spent most of his Internet life with me drumming it into him. he went through the process of starting his new account, he found a name that is available, a name he liked and a unique name so he didn't need loads of numbers after it.

He answered the questions that were asked to set up his new account and he entered the (at the time) new tutorial island equivalent in the tutorial Lumbridge.

He did all the tasks and escaped to the real Lumbridge, then I hear a shout, "Daaaaaaaad I cant speak", "what do you mean you cant speak I just heard you" was my reply, I trotted off into his bedroom to see what had happened, sure enough his account was in Real Lumbridge and nothing he typed came out on screen, I checked to see if he was on a slow chat (officially quick chat) world and no he was in a normal world, quick chat worked but he couldn't speak.

I looked at his account settings and couldn't see any reference to being muted, no reference to any offences on his account (I would have been concerned if there was with it being a new account). I quickly came to the conclusion that he is only allowed quick chat because he is under 13 years of age.

I understand Jagex covering their back by only allowing minors to use quick chat, it does seem a little strange that they are not forced to use quick listen, the things they can hear can be just as dangerous and disturbing if not more so then the things they can say, the thing that gets me is that I can not as a parent over ride the option, my son wants to chat to his friends, I know he is as sensible and capable of using free speech as anyone else and I am happy for him to be able to say his own sentances.

If a player swears on Runescape, if they are racist and unpleasant they can be muted and only use quick chat, that is basically saying if you are older and bad on Runescape then you are given the same rights as a minor, my son is not as bad as the people who use unpleasant words and should not be given the same punishment.

I personally think players muted for their words/actions should be given a punishment, taking their speech away for good is not a deterrent its a way of banning them, would you continue to play if you had a permanent mute? I know I wouldn't, how about removing an armour option as a deterrent, removing the head slot would be a handicap but not stop them playing, they wouldn't be able to use Barrows armour but could use Bandos, they wont be able to train on Aberrant spectres and banshees so lose slayer points, have this for a month and they would think before swearing again, it doesn't need to be an armour slot how about an inventory row depending on the severity of the offence, only being able to use 8 inventory slots would be a deterrent for anyone.
If they continue to abuse the system regularly then a ban is in order not grouping them with under 13's.

My son wanted his account with his name but being muted it was no fun for him, I found him a new name and told him to put another date of birth when registering, I told my son to lie, I have always taught my son to tell the truth and making him lie just to have an account that I am happy for him to have goes against my beliefs, I hope Jagex find a way around this.

I was visiting a popular Runescape website that incorporates a stats, skills and other banners facility for use on websites, forums and blogs, I wont mention the name because they were prominently showing a banner that if the services are used you stand a very good chance of you losing your account and real life money, the site was named after a village where people like to cut willows and there is a manor house with chairs that follow you around, hopefully this is enough to give experienced players an indication what the site is and the less experienced (the ones more likely to be fooled by the adverts) wont.

Real world trading was a problem before the GE, fair trade and pking updates and the problem has almost diminished, as a matter of interest I decided to take a look, my computer is protected by virus scanners and spyware scanners (Not Microsoft defender so it does work) and I use Firefox.

I get to the first page and it looks like an OK site nothing major, probably a little better than a 12 year old could make on his BBC electron, They were still advertising gold, I was a little curious how they would transfer it so decided to dig a little deeper, the first thing they ask for is your username and password and ask that you do not change your password after they have been given it, who in their right mind would give out their login details to anyone let alone a company that sell Runescape accounts? well the answer is obviously the very gullible and yes I know there are many out there.

The way they get you the cash is by using your account and doing skills to make cash for you, you leave them with the account for a set amount of time and if you can login after you may have the cash, or they will have your account and credit card details ready to sell to someone else.

They also do quests and train levels for cash.

This sounds OK if you like to take risks, I don't but look at just some of the risks listed here.

You give your account details to a strange company or it could be a 12 year old in the Netherlands*, either way you stand a chance of losing the account.

If it is a company and they have your account details and your credit card details to pay for it you can lose your account and any amount from your card up to and exceeding your credit limit.

If it is a company and they respect your card and do the service requested you get your account back and credit card is not abused you can then play with your new characters skills and all is OK, 10 days later (can be longer) Jagex realise that the IP address the company use is a gold selling company they will ban all accounts that have been trained on that IP address.

Is it worth the risk?

*Age and country picked at random could be any age or country