Runeology

Once you get the hang of this game you sort of develop your own style and preferences according to your skill. So read this guide, get some insight, but you don't have to follow it completely this is just how I manage to do things.

• Recommended Setup
• Hunting
• Hunted by
• Shake and Bake! (short video)
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Credits
• Revisions

The set up generally depends on your particular account. You don't want to bring items that will slow you down or that you wont use. So try to limit your inventory to important and essential items.

Armor and weapons it can vary, depending on your combat levels and your skill. If you do choose to wear armor here are a few recommendations: Wearing a holy symbol will add +8 to prayer and +2 to defence stats. The explorer's ring is helpful to give a run energy boost. Despite the fancy nature of fancy boots, they do reduce your magic and ranged bonus, so it is better to wear leather boots.

click image to enlarge

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This is the usually the easy bit for me as I can generally find the person pretty quickly and down them just as fast. But its important to keep a few things in mind.

It is a good idea to turn your Sound Effect Volume up and your Sound Area Volume down. This helps a lot if you know how to use it, whenever someone goes into a shack they get hit every 5 seconds or so and you can know for how long they're shacking - once that stops you know they've left.

Another useful tip is turn your assist off as this will limit the number of options and help you when trying to select the correct option for attack.

A lot of hunting has to do with minimizing your opponent's ability to have access to the center. Most players, if they have played a few games, will know that if they want any chance of winning they have to make at least an appearance in the center of the arena. So when in doubt, stay central.

Now the way the game is set up spawns are typically directly across the arena. So basically your first move should be to run to the opposite side of the arena. If you don't spot your opponent you generally have two options, you can start moving around the outer perimeter looking for them, or wait in the middle for them to come to you.

You should always be prepared with multiple attack styles. A lot of the time you have to rely on your ability to change those attack styles quickly enough to confuse your opponent. I generally just range people and I seldom have problems. If you are 80+ range this option should work nicely on most opponents. If range doesn't work well for you a combination of binding, followed by a melee attack, followed by mage attacks seems to also work nicely.

Defending the center is the key to hunting those more skillful players. I generally will stand in the center and make sweeps around the shacks and then run back to the center to recharge my energy. Try not to stay in one place for too long, move around and make sure you haven't let them slip by you.

Another thing is when the other person is shacking you can lure them out by running away from the shack they've entered from towards the shack opposite to you, then you run back once they're out of sight... although this only works part of the time, and only if they don't use portals often.

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This role is generally more complicated. You have to be sneaky. I will generally use the shacks if I am being hunted first as I don't know how well my opponent will do against me. If I am hunting first and I am fairly confident I can stand in the middle and just pray and heal then I wont waste my time shacking to get a few extra hundred points. Be careful not to underestimate your opponent though, games can be close if you are hunted first and don't shack as much as them when they are being hunted. It is a good idea to check your opponents fog rank and stats if you are being hunted first.

east wall statues

A lot of the time you will find you get an opponent who isn't so smart. People casting spells in rune or pure melee attackers (people who forgot to bring another attack style). I generally stick to the center if I get someone like this and just use up my prayer and heal. Hugging the center rocks is one of the best tactics. It not only pisses off your opponent, but you gain more charge per hitpoint lost hugging them than running around in the shacks.

center hug rocks

Shack hugging and shacking are probably the more difficult things to perfect as you have to time your entrances and exits correctly. As I rule I generally wait 5-10 seconds in the shack I enter before deciding to run out if the opponent is no where in sight or to tele to another shack. Something to watch for while you shack is the direction of your opponent. Certain people will move around the arena in a certain direction clockwise or counter-clockwise, now it's not always the case but it's something to think about when you want to decide which direction to run towards. Once I exit the shack I run to a place that isn't easily visible to center, but not too far out that I am not getting any points. Then I wait till my opponent comes to me. Always have an exit strategy, think about how you are going to elude your opponent for longer while outside the shacks. Hugging the shacks for mages and rangers works nicely. You can also run between shacks making sure your opponent gets stuck on the opposite side each time.

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Q: How many tokens and ratings can you get an hour?

A: Typically you can get ~150 tokens per hour and ~180 ratings per hour.

Q: What should I spend my tokens on?

A: This depends on what you are looking to do. If you want to keep the items obviously I would suggest collecting them all. If you want to sell items then I suggest you check market prices and demand of several items comparing the token to gold piece ratio.

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Delinius 7: Inventory tips.
m2m4m6m8: Sound and luring tactics for hunters, fog rank check and stat check when hunted first.
sieg678: Assist off tip.
michaeltnias: What to wear and what not to wear tips.

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April 15, 2008: First revision.
April 20, 2009: Second revision.
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