History of PvP combat
Originally, after the release of Version 3,
players could select whether or not to play
as "player-killer" characters or not. The
player could switch from player-killer mode
to non-player-killer mode (in which the
character could not attack or be attacked by
other players) three times, after which they
remained at their chosen setting forever.
Player combat could take place at any point
in the RuneScape world, with some
exceptions noted below. The rules of combat
were the same as in the modern Wilderness;
however, the village of Lumbridge was
designated as a neutral area in which
players could not attack each other, to
prevent "spawn camping" in which recently
killed players were immediately killed after
they respawned in Lumbridge. In addition to
this restriction, NPC Guards and White
Knights patrolled the cities of Varrock and
Falador, and broke up player fights by
attacking the aggressor. These guard units
were limited in number, however, and if all
the units in a city were already in combat,
player combat could go on freely. This
system was scrapped on August 13th, 2001 due
to unpopularity among players who were
unable to leave Lumbridge without being
attacked by packs of hostile player-killers,
and were unable to switch back to
"non-player-killer" mode as they had already
switched three times. It was replaced by the
Wilderness.
The Wilderness
For a long time, before the advent of Castle
Wars, etc., the only way to fight other
players was to visit the Wilderness. The
Wilderness, frequently referred to as "the
wildy" or "the wild", is a large area of map
located in northern RuneScape. Most
commonly used areas and cities are located
safely outside of it. Exceptions to this
include the Mage Arena and the Abyss, both
common spots for players to camp and attack.
The Wilderness has great rewards, but also
great risks. Players who attack first are
shown with a skull fixed above their head.
If a player is killed without a skull over
their head, they will lose all but their
three (3) most valuable items unless the
"Protect Item" prayer is used to save a
fourth item; all four are then saved. If the
player dies with the skull above their head,
they will lose all of their items, unless
the "Protect Item" prayer is active, in
which case they will keep their one (1) most
valuable item. The skull above the head
disappears after twenty (20) minutes pass
without the murdering player attacking
anyone, or after the hated killer dies.
Killing another player in this area is
commonly referred to as "pking", i.e., "pk-ing",
short for player-killing (used as a gerund).
Some areas of the Wilderness only allow
one-on-one battles, whilst other areas,
known as multi-combat areas, allow combat
between multiple players and potentially
huge team wars. When in a multi-combat area,
that fact is indicated to the player by the
appearance of two small crossed swords in
the bottom right area of the viewscreen.
The level of the Wilderness tells players
what level players they can engage in combat
above and below their own combat level. For
example, if a character is in level 3 wild,
they can attack only players up to 3 levels
above or below, a player in level 20 wild
can attack up to 20 levels above or below,
etc.
There are also many
attackable non-playable characters (NPCs) in
the Wilderness. Unlike most aggressive NPCs,
NPCs in the Wilderness (with the exception
of Rogues) are always aggressive, without
regard to the player's combat level. Many of
the most powerful creatures in RuneScape
reside in the Wilderness, such as the
King
Black Dragon
and the
Chaos
Elemental
on member servers.
Duel Arena
The Duel Arena is only
available to members. Located in the
Al
Kharid
desert, it allows a more formal fight where
players can agree the exact terms of their
fight. Players can choose either to duel for
fun (in which case no items change hands),
or to wager items which the winner will
receive. Players may choose from a list of
options ranging from restricting the style
of combat used (for example: no range,
magic, melee or prayer), to which particular
parts of the body cannot be used (for
example: helmet, body, arms or quiver).
Traveling to the Duel Arena is made easier
with the Rings of Dueling. When activated,
this ring teleports the player to Duel Arena
and castle wars, and lasts for 8 uses before
being destroyed.
Castle Wars
Castle Wars is a
mini-game involving two teams (Zamorak vs.
Saradomin) in a
capture
the flag
type game. If players do not particularly
favour a certain
RuneScape
god,
they can enter the Guthix portal, which
teleports them to the team with the least
amount of players in it. The aim of the game
for players is to get the enemy's standard
(flag) from their castle and take it back to
the standard in their own castle to gain
points. Players must prevent the opposing
team from taking their flag by blocking them
from their castle, or by killing them. Slain
players will respawn inside a protected room
in their castle, so both sides are
constantly fighting in most games. Each game
lasts for 20 minutes, and the team with the
most points at the end of the game is the
winner.
Every player on the winning team of a match
will receive two tickets at the end of the
game, and in the event of a tie, each player
will receive one ticket. In member worlds
with fewer players logged in, high level
players (usually 100+) usually dominate most
matches, they then have the option of
switching the team they fight for after
every victory.
A duelling ring can be rubbed for quick
access to the Castle wars arena.
TzHaar Fight Pit
The TzHaar Fight Pit
is a massive, free-for-all arena in which
players can attack each other with no time
limit. Some players use tactics in order to
survive longer in the pits but, ultimately,
only one player can survive. The game is
based on "last man standing" rules, so there
are no limitations regarding a player's
attacks. If the fight continues for too long
however, monsters from the "audience" may
appear in the arena. These monsters start
out at combat level 22, and appear in
increasing waves, combat level rising from
22 to 45 to 90[1],
after which the players start to receive
constant damage due to extreme heat. As with
the Castle Wars mini-game, dying in the
Fight Pit allows a player to retain their
items with no penalty. Instead, the player
is sent to the waiting area, ready for the
next battle. If a player manages to defeat
all opponents in the Fight Pit, they receive
a number of
Tokkul,
which can be used to purchase new items in
the TzHaar City.
Pures
Players who train a select few, or even just
one of the combat stats that affect their
combat level are known as a "pure".
Virtually the only reason for the existence
of pures is killing other players in the
Wilderness. Often a player will have a
strong "main" character that trains all of
the available skills as well as a pure
character made for specialised training.
Pures will set high goals in Attack and
Strength but will maintain a comparatively
low Defence. A pure has the illusion of
having a low combat level and therefore is
portrayed as being weak. Despite this
smokescreen, pures will use their
specialised skills to hit with comparatively
high damage. This makes pures very efficient
player killers, ending fights quickly to
make up for their lack of defence. Pures
come in many varieties and are often hybrid
between the three combat styles.
A pure aiming to stay in non-member worlds
will often keep their attack and defence at
40 thus just being able to wield a rune
weapon and receiving the large strength
bonus this gives without gaining extra
combat levels. While aiming for high attack,
would help with killing players with high
defence and good armour, the general opinion
is that getting higher strength is much more
important in making a successful pure.
In the members world
of RuneScape, the optimum attack
level for a pure is 60, which just allows
pures to wield dragon
weapons.
Due to the big attack bonuses dragon weapons
give and the potions available in members,
this does not need to be raised at all as
high and consistent damage can be inflicted
on Rune
armour.
A common variety of pures seen on member
servers are a combination of magic and
melee. They often have some kind of binding
spell (ice barrage from the Ancient Magicks
being the most effective) to keep opponents
from running and then finish them off with
melee.
Other players neglect combat training,
focusing on non-combat skills like mining
and woodcutting to earn money. Such players
are sometimes referred to as skill pures,
although it is generally less intentional
than combat pures.
Combat level
A player's combat level is calculated
using seven skills: attack, strength,
defence, hitpoints, magic, prayer and
ranged. The maximum combat level in
RuneScape Classic is 123, and the
maximum in RuneScape is 126.
Combat level, in RuneScape, can also
be determined by combat type. A warrior, for
example, will have higher melee stats than
magic or ranged, and would have their combat
level based on their melee (i.e: attack and
strength) stats. A mage, however, would have
a combat level based on magic, and a ranger
would have a combat level based on range.
Prayer, defence, and hitpoints will always
influence combat level in all three types.
Fighting styles
Different fighting styles train different
things. Accurate trains attack, aggressive
trains strength and defensive trains defence.
Controlled trains all three.
Melee
-
Accurate reduces a player's
chance of hitting 0 on the opponent;
this by definition improves the player's
Accuracy.
-
Aggressive increases the amount
of Damage a player does to an opponent
when battling.
-
Defensive decreases Damage done
to the player by an opponent.
-
Controlled gives a third of the
normal experience received to Attack,
Strength, and Defence, allowing melee
fighters to gain experience in all three
skills at the same time.
Ranged
Combat Triangle
RuneScape combat is generally divided
into 3 class: melee, magic and ranged. These
three divisions form the Combat Triangle.
The Combat Triangle is a chart of strengths
and weaknesses:
-
Warriors are strong against
Rangers, but weak against Mages.
However, with armour taken off and
fighting at close range the outcome of
the battle will depend on the attack and
strength levels of the warrior and the
mage's defence and magic level. Since a
higher magic level means more accuracy,
usually mages with at least 80 magic and
a high defence level that is greater
than the attack level of the warrior has
a pretty good chance of winning.
Alternatively a warrior with an attack
level greater than the mages defence and
a decent strength level will most likely
result in the warrior winning.
-
Mages are strong against
Warriors, but weak against Rangers due
to their Dragonhide Armour, which
provides great Magic Defence. Mages are
able to bind warriors with spells to
prevent them from moving and attacking,
but even though Rangers can be binded,
they can still continue to attack due to
their long-range.
-
Rangers are strong against Mages,
but weak against Warriors, due to the
fact that they can not hit well enough
through a Warrior's armour.
Melee
See also
Melee-related weaponry
and
Melee-related armour
Melee based combat is the simplest form of
combat a player can choose to specialize in
- those who do so are named "warriors".
Warriors dominate over
rangers, as
melee
armour
provides a relatively high amount of defence
against range attacks. Although range armour
provides a considerable amount melee defence
as well, it cannot compare to the defence
given to warriors, and therefore rangers are
still placed at a disadvantage. In short,
warriors hit proportionately more damage on
rangers than rangers hit on warriors.
-
Attack level determines the
chance of a successful strike, as well
as what melee weapons players can wield.
-
Strength level
determines the maximum damage a player
can deal. Some weapons are tied to this
stat as well, such as the
Barrow Weapons
Dharok's and Torag's.
-
Defence level increases the
chance of receiving no damage during an
opponent's attack. Defence also
determines what kinds of armour
available to wear.
Magic
Once considered only a
supplement to Melee, Magic is now a battle
skill in its own right. Mages may wield
various
staffs
and wands to assist them. Mages even have
some types of armour specific to them. Magic
is a skill intertwined with the skill of
Runecrafting.
Mages have an advantage over warriors as
melee armour gives negative magic defence
and mages are able to use spells such as
Entangle to bind a warrior in place for a
period of time. Upon completing the Desert
Treasure
quest,
which is members only, players are allowed
to use the Ancient Magicks, which is a
powerful type of magic.
Ranged
See also
Ranger-related weaponry
and
Ranger-related armour
Ranged is another
combat skill, dealing in the art of throwing
or firing projectiles at opponents. Range
attacks are particularly effective against
mages.Ranged
armour
provides magic defence to the powerful
combat spells, causing spells to fail more
frequently. While ranging, some of the
ammunition fired may spawn near the target
intact. These can be picked up, and reused.
The Ranged skill is useful in fighting foes
from a distance, possibly using hit and run
tactics.
Ranging is also
intertwined with the member's skill of
fletching.
As result many members who develop one skill
will work at the other at the same time. In
any case, Ranging can a be way to reap the
benefits of other production skills and
provide an alternative way to kill other
players (in the
wilderness
only) and monsters.
The Ranging guild, is available to members
with a Ranged level of 40 or above.
Prayer
Prayer is a skill based on the burying of
bones that are dropped when creatures die.
This skill is the most time consuming skill
as bones only give minimal experience and
are hard to obtain as they require players
to kill monsters. More powerful monsters,
such as giants, and then dragons, drop
different bones which provide more prayer
experience. Once called necromancy in the
extremely early stages of RuneScape, it was
the last of the original skills for players
to get level 99 in. |
