1. Training Skills
2. Etiquette
3. Making Money
4. Safety
5. Scavenging

1: Training Skills - The Basics

First of all, know that good skill-building is your key to making money and doing well in Runescape. No amount of begging or scavenging will earn you as much as actually building up a skills and utilizing them for capital gain.

There are many skills that will make you decent money in Runescape, and there are guides on RuneHQ which will tell you more about these different skills. That's not what this guide is for, however. This guide is intended to teach you a bit more about different ways to build skills, and we will start first with questing.

Some people detest questing. In fact, they hate nothing more. I personally consider this attitude to be a self-imposed blockade between themselves and fast skill-building, for most quests give decent, if not great amounts of experience in various skills. RuneHQ features a "Quest Experience Guide" which will tell you all you need to know about these quests, the skills they boost, and by how much. You will need to train up to beat a lot of these quests, but they will help you tremendously in the long run. Questing will also allow you entrance to areas that will be unavailable to you without having done a certain quest.

Additionally, explore the environment of Runescape, and you will find a wealth of raw materials to work with in order to build your skills. Shear sheep, pick flax, mine until you can mine iron, and then mine nothing but iron for a long time. Bank all that you collect, and when you have several hundred of a certain item (especially flax and iron) sell a hundred or so. It will pad your bank account and leave you enough material to work with as well. Once you reach the appropriate Crafting level, spinning flax into bowstrings will bring you up several levels, VERY quickly. Save up those bowstrings for fletching, or sell them for about 1 1/2 times what you sold the flax for.

Combat skills are important, of course. As you get to be a higher level player, you will be able to obtain rare items only from certain monsters. This is why it's very important to build your Slayer skill, as well. Some items ONLY come from higher level Slayer monsters, and without the appropriate Slayer level, you will not only be unable to kill these monsters, they may kill you instead, and very quickly!

You can do the combat training next to lumbridge and receive up to 24 XP lamps for learning the mechanics of the game. This is an easy way to quickly level up a few skills you will be using in the future.

It is also worth mentioning that skill building WILL take a long time. There are some shortcuts through questing, and some skill-building activities are easier than others. Do NOT think that you will get much done with high combat and nothing else, unless you ONLY PK (Player-kill). If that's the road you choose, be prepared to die often for a long time until you build combat skills high enough to survive.

VERY IMPORTANT: As a lower level player, bury EVERY BONE YOU FIND. You may not even use prayer until you reach higher levels, but by the time you are a higher level player, you will thank yourself for all the bone-burying you did as a new player. Those prayer points add up and can literally save your life later on.

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2: Etiquette - No one likes a noob

NOOB: Noun, "Noobish": Adverb, Adjective

Synonyms:

n00b, newb, nub, newbie

Definition:

Recent addition to modern "electronic" vocabulary. "Noob", a person who is new to a certain activity. Derogatory term.

There, now that we've gotten that out of the way, allow me to give you some examples of actions and behaviors that will label you as a noob.

- Begging -

I don't know anyone who DOESN'T find this annoying. Standing in the bank and begging for gp or items from higher-level players will gain you nothing but contempt, ridicule, and disgust. First of all, if this tactic has EVER worked and someone did give a beggar money or items, it was a one in a million event. Most of the time, all begging will accomplish is to cause people to dislike you on sight and become less likely to associate with you. Probably the only thing worse than standing in a public place and begging is to follow someone around begging, which brings us to the next item on this list.

- Piggybacking -

Let me get make this perfectly clear. Unless you know someone or have been invited to go somewhere with them, do NOT click on their character and choose "follow". Most players don't particularly like this, in general. Be advised that they will like this a LOT less if you follow while continually asking questions and/or begging. If you ask a random player a question and they do not answer you, then they are probably busy or simply do not care to talk to you at the moment. Please be respectful of everyone else's right to play uninterrupted.

- Harassing other players -

Any of you ever have a little brother or sister (or your mother, for that matter) who will NOT leave you alone? That's essentially what it's like having a lower level player following you around, asking you questions (that they could have looked up the answers to on their own), or adding you to their friends' list for the sole purpose of messaging you to beg or bother you any time they feel like it. If you persist in doing this, you run the risk of annoying someone with a short temper who ALSO belongs to a guild or clan. If this occurs, then the next time you find yourself in the wilderness wearing your best armor (and you will, we all have to go at some point), you will be massacred. If nothing else, think about how much you would enjoy this yourself, and if you decide that you wouldn't appreciate this happening to you, then it's best you avoid doing it.

- Scamming (or at least, really poor merchanting) -

To be terribly honest, the people who are scam the most (and most effectively) are higher level players, and they usually pull these scams on lower level players. The most obvious reason for this being that the higher level players usually know the value of items better than lower level players, and will exploit their less advanced counterparts for financial gain. I have a low opinion of players who scam others, and most Runescape players do.. the game can be challenging enough without dishonest people trying to make it worse. The reason I added this topic to this section, is that not only am I trying to discourage future high level scammers, I am trying to warn you against the practice for other reasons; namely, that attempting to scam as a lower level player, with only a budding understanding of the game, will make you look like a complete idiot. Nothing will make people call you a noob faster than trying to sell something like "RARE EYE PATCH!!!! 50k!!!!!!" in the middle of the bank. First of all, it's such a lame scam that only a gullible new player would fall victim to; secondly, you just identified yourself as not only a scammer, but a poor one at that.

Honest business practice will get you repeat customers, and this will serve you far better in the long run than potentially getting yourself reported while simultaneously making a fool of yourself.

- Arrow Stealing -

One of the downright lowest, dirtiest, offensive, and most pathetic of all noob actions. This will almost definitely label you as target practice in player-vs-player areas, and almost nothing is more obnoxious than an arrow stealer. Scavenging is, believe it or not, OKAY.. but only in certain instances, as I will describe in the section "Scavenging".

- Summary -

When you get to be a higher level player, it takes a very long time to keep building your skills. Every level of every skill requires more experience points than the last; trying to make money and build these skills takes a lot of time and effort. It takes all of these things when you are a lower level player as well, but this game makes you work to earn every level you attain. If you encounter a higher level player who ignores you, there have probably been MANY lower level players before you who either begged or harassed this individual to the point that he or she no longer wants to bother with lower level players at all. Don't follow someone around who may be off to build skills or complete a quest, and don't ask questions that you could come to RuneHQ and get (often better and more accurate) answers to. It's not the fact that you're new which causes higher level players to dislike you; it's usually because you're being rude, or many before you have been rude and inconsiderate of that player's time and right to play without harassment.

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3: Making Money (and building skills at the same time!):

(Note: There are many other skills that will help you build your bank account, but these are a few to get you started.)

- Combat -

When fighting monsters, you will get all kinds of interesting drops. Coins, runes, and all other stackable items should be collected, every chance you have to collect them. As a new player, you should NEVER leave runes behind if you can possibly help it. Bury all bones, keep yourself well-fed and healthy, and do not leave behind any monster drops. You can always sell them at general stores or bank them for later. Slayer is a great way to do this. At higher levels, you can kill monsters that drop mid-high level items worth quite a bit while training a valuable skill.

- Crafting -

Collect and spin as much wool as you possibly can, and bank it. You will need it as you become able to make amulets and holy symbols, which are worth selling and can greatly advance your crafting level. As soon as you can spin bowstrings, pick all the flax you possibly can and get busy spinning in Seer's Village. These can sell (as of today, which is December 15, 2005) for 150 gp each. It may not sound like much per bowstring, but let's do a little math.. 150 X 100 = 15000!!! That's 15k for very little work and a great bit of experience in crafting. If you pick flax and spin it in Seer's Village, you don't even have to travel very far. There's a bank right in the middle of town, full of people who buy and sell fletching materials. Currently, Seer's Village is one of the busiest trading areas in Runescape, and by spinning bowstrings, you'll make good money and good progress in crafting. Over several days spinning bowstrings (and not the WHOLE time, but a lot of it), I brought my own crafting skill up by 12 levels!

While you have the option of picking flax and selling it, unspun, for 100 gp each, be advised that just picking flax does not currently help to build any skill.

- Mining -

Mining takes some time, but is an excellent skill to build. Once you can mine iron, I suggest mining it as much as you can possibly stand it, and banking it until you have quite a bit of it. You will need to smith with it to bring up your smithing level (once you are able to smith iron, that is), but you can also sell it for about 100 gp a piece. 100 iron ores can get you an easy 10k, because most higher level players would rather mine coal or higher to bring up their own mining and smithing levels. I wouldn't bother smithing iron unless you can afford a Ring of Forging. Without this ring, you have only a 50/50 chance of obtaining an iron bar from an iron ore. I suggest that when mining coal and gold, you bank a good bit of it and keep it for yourself. You will need the gold for crafting jewelry, and the coal for smithing steel and everything higher than steel. You can easily sell coal for 150 gp each, but you might kick yourself later when you realize how much coal you've sold that you could be using now to boost your smithing.

- Fletching and Smithing -

I put these two skills together because you can utilize them to make arrows. Arrows are always in demand, and while you should bank quite a few for your own purposes later, iron arrows (and higher) will always fetch a decent price. Additionally, you can make them very easily and they will end up helping to build your fletching skill. One bar (of any metal other than silver and gold) will make 15 arrowheads, and one regular log will make 15 arrow shafts. You'll need to kill quite a few chickens for feathers, but it will be worth it in the long run. I suggest keeping all bronze arrows for yourself because they don't fetch much of a price, and they are the most "disposable" of all ranging-type ammunition, and you will need them later to build your range skill.

- Fishing and Cooking -

Players ALWAYS need food. Skip cooking a lot of other foods and just level yourself up to the point that you can cook fish. Save all fish lower than lobsters for yourself, and when you are able to cook and catch lobsters, do NOTHING ELSE for several days. Before you know it, you will be able to catch and cook swordfish. Sell lobsters and swordfish and keep a few for yourself. Whenever you get up to the point that you can catch and cook sharks, your fortune is made. They sell for at least 1k each.

- Banking -

In case I haven't said it enough, BANK EVERYTHING. Things that may not appear useful to you now, may prove very useful later. For example, you should keep ALL herbs that you find. You can sell unids (UN-IDentified herbs) for about 1k each, but you will also need all of those herbs at some point, when your herblore skill builds. It's just a matter of making money, but also putting aside some of those materials for later. Save every rune, herb, ore, seed, gem, and feather that you find. They will always prove useful later on, and a lot of these items are stackable in your carried inventory.

- Kingdom of Miscellania -

In a kingdom far away, you can slowly make some sweet gains. After diong the Kingdom of Miscellania quest you can have access to a kingdom of which you put money into, and in return and with upkeep, they will give you items back. It can be a long process to do, and sometimes it may not seem like you made a lot of money, but its worth it in the long run. Make sure to check it out.

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4: Safety

I am only going to address some very basic safety precautions that ALL players, regardless of level, should take note of.

- Bank PIN -

Be SURE to set a PIN code on your bank account, and also be sure that this PIN code is in NO WAY related to your password.

- Account Basics -

NEVER share an account with another person, if not especially someone who you've never met. I realize that this seems an obvious thing to avoid, but you might be surprised at how many people "forget" this and end up losing items and money over this, if not being outright suspended from Runescape.

NEVER tell another player your password or PIN code.

ALWAYS make sure your password contains both letters and numbers. It must not be something that can be easily guessed, nor should it have any significance to anyone but you. For example, your dog's name is Ralph and your mother's birthday is May 24th. You could make your password "ralp524h". No one is likely to make a random guess and come up with that exact password.

- Sharing/Trading In-Game -

If you make a trade, it's FINAL. As far as Jagex is concerned, you've agreed to it if you click "Accept" at the second trade window. With this knowledge in mind, please think very carefully before agreeing to "loan" someone your full rune armor, or any other valuable items. If they decide not to give it back, there's pretty much nothing you can do about it. Personally, I don't loan anything to anyone. Within guilds and clans, sometimes there are some borrowing arrangements, but I would still exercise caution before making an agreement of this nature.

When making a trade, look very carefully at both the first and second trade screens. In noted form, a mithril or adamantite sword can look suspiciously like a rune one. Please READ the item description before clicking "Accept", otherwise, it's really your own fault when you don't end up with what you paid for. Additionally, being scammed or hacked is NOT an excuse to beg random people for money or items. Remember, no one likes a noob; people like mid-level noobs even less.

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5: Scavenging

While waiting around while someone is ranging to steal their arrows is NOT okay, there are some instances wherein it is not harmful or terribly rude to take things from other player's kills. The only way that you will know if this is an acceptable thing to do, is to observe. Allow me to give an example.

If you are in the Slayer's mansion in Morytania (northwest of Canifis) and you see a level 80+ player killing banshees, watch a moment or two and see what it is that he is leaving behind from kills. If you see bunches of Marrentill and Harralander appearing, then this player has probably identified these herbs and discarded them to preserve room in his inventory for higher level herbs. I find it more appropriate to ask first, but most likely, this player won't mind one bit if you pick up the items he has discarded.

Most often, that level 80+ player doesn't care one bit if you take the identified herbs which he has dropped on the ground, but it's always more polite to ask. By scavenging, and taking items discarded by other players, you can not only help to build your bank inventory with items you may need (or need later), you can also make a profit which (at your level) would be a decent one for you, while to him, it's not worth taking up space in his inventory. He's probably hunting for higher level herbs or mystic gloves, not coins, runes, gems, or otherwise. Ask first, and if that higher level player doesn't care, then feel free to take anything that becomes visible on the ground. At that point, he now knows you're watching for items to appear, and will take care not to leave anything that he'll want to keep from the kill.

Now, alternately, if the player appears annoyed with you, I would suggest that you leave and seek another scavenging ground. No need to make anyone else uncomfortable, and more players than not won't care one bit if you pick up what they leave behind. To be honest, most higher level players kind of expect that if they leave something on the ground, someone else will probably pick it up.

Hopefully, this guide has been some help to newer players, and will help cut down some potential animosity between players in the future. Good luck!