• 1.0 - Introduction
•    1.1 - What to Bring
• 2.0 - Monsters
• 3.0 - The Pouches
• 4.0 - Getting There - The Zamorakian Mage
• 5.0 - Inside the Abyss
• 6.0 - PKers
• 7.0 - Strategy

On June 13th, 2005, the "Abyss" was introduced into RuneScape, which dramatically affected both the Runecrafting skill its and related economy. More specifically, it reduced the time and effort needed to Runecraft. Effortlessly Runecrafting with the Abyss can net over 300k an hour making Nature runes. As easy as it may be, there are some associated risks with using the Abyss. This guide will elucidate on these risks and provide helpful solutions and tips to these risks. It will also give you the basic information that you need to use the Abyss.

You should wear the gear that has the highest possible magic defence bonus for your level, without weighing you down too much. This is because the main threat to your Runecrafting are greedy PKers who try to stop you from reaching the Abyss. Here's what you should wear:

• Best dragonhide armour set you can use (red dragonhide and above are recommended)
• Coif ( Although the best helmet to use is a bear head, which you receive upon completing Mountain Daughter. Bear head gives +9 defence to ranged and +7 to magic defence.)
• Pickaxe ( To lose less money, use pickaxes from bronze to mithril )
• God cape (if you've done Mage Arena)
• Spotter/Spottier cape ( Reduces weight and comes more effective while running )
• Elemental shield (if you've done the Elemental Workshop I quest, mind shield if you've done the Elemental Workshop II quest, or a holy Saradomin book)
• Boots of lightness
• Amulet of Glory
• Ring of dueling
• Karamja Gloves(3) - Gloves which you can wear and they give you a chance to teleport to Shilo and can protect you against PK'ers.

With your respect Runecrafting level, you should bring:

• Levels 44-49: One small pouch and one medium pouch
• Levels 50-74: One small pouch, one medium pouch, and one large pouch
• Levels 75+: One small pouch, one medium pouch, one large pouch, and one giant pouch

The rest of your inventory should be ( Pure ) essence. Don't forget to fill your pouches! Having your pouches in a vertical position in the inventory is really effective and faster while emptying your pouches.

Note: I would also suggest having at least 5 fully charged Amulets of Glory in your bank. Over 10 is recommended. If at any time during Runecrafting you need to recharge your Amulets of Glory, you should do so. If you don't want to use Amulets of Glory, bringing a Teleport to House teleportation tablet would be a good idea if you have an Amulet of Glory on the wall. Also, keep in mind that you need a fair amount of rune essence in your bank. A good Runecrafter will always have a decent amount of essence stocked in their bank. Bringing the ring of life instead of the ring of dueling is another common strategy; if you suffer from lag while trying to operate the ring of dueling, it could result in your death.

There are three kinds of monsters inside the Abyss: Abyssal Leech (Level 41), Abyssal Guardian (Level 59), Abyssal Walker (Level 81).

These monsters drop all four of the pouches. They also drop every single kind of talisman, but the higher level talismans, such as the nature talisman, are rare. They can drop Rune essence in note form and in item form, ashes, Binding Necklaces, which are used to bind two types of runes together, and Elemental talismans, which are members only, and allow you to enter any elemental altar. The fastest way to gather pouches is to kill Abyssal Leeches ( Level 41 ) as they only have 10 hitpoints.

To use the pouches you'll need a certain Runecrafting level. The better the pouch is the higher the Runecrafting level requirement. While a pouch is in use, it will degrade. Only the highest level pouch you have on you will degrade. When degraded, they hold two less essence. To get them fixed you'll have to talk to the Dark Mage in the center of the Abyss.

Pouch Table
Picture	Name	Level Required	Holds...
	Small Pouch	1	3 essence
	Medium Pouch	25	6 essence
	Large Pouch	50	9 essence
	Giant Pouch	75	12 essence

The Abyss is only accessible after you have aided the Zamorakian Mage in his Abyss Mini-Quest. Speak to him at the source of the river north of Edgeville (level 5-6 Wilderness), and he will tell you to meet him at the chaos altar in Varrock. The chaos altar is south of the east Varrock bank.. Speak to him, and eventually he will ask you to take his Scrying Orb and teleport to the Rune Essence Mine from three different people. (For example, the Rune shop in Varrock, the mage north-east of Ardougne, and the mage at the bottom of the Wizard's tower.)

Once you have done this, return to him and give him the orb. He will give you a book on the Abyss, a small pouch, and 1,000 Runecrafting experience. When you meet the mage back at the source of river north of Edgeville (level 5-6 Wilderness), he will be able to teleport you to the Abyss, and can also sell you runes. He stocks 500 of each rune.

Warning: When you are teleported to the Abyss, you will be skulled and your prayer will be drained. The monsters there can hit hard, but are fairly inaccurate.

The Abyss is made up of an outer ring, an inner ring, and a center. When you are teleported there, you appear in the outer ring with all the monsters. The inner ring contains the portals that will take you to every rune altar. In the very center of the Abyss, there is a Dark Mage and a swirling rift. The Mage is keeping that particular rift open, but you can speak to him to repair your pouches.

The outer ring and the inner ring of the Abyss are separated. To get into the inner ring from the outer, you will have to go through a tunnel; however, the tunnels are guarded or blocked. You can get past the obstacles, but you need certain items or skills:

The portals, or rifts that take you to the altars are located on the wall of the inner ring, and they look like small caves. These rifts are the only way (save teleporting or dying) out of the Abyss if you get caught. Once you exit through a rift, there is no way back into the Abyss, so you will have to walk or teleport to get out. Abyss Runecrafting using this method is faster for chaos and nature runes than for elemental runes.

When you enter the Abyss, you are automatically skulled and your prayer is drained to 0. This paints a gigantic bullseye on your forehead for PKers. Melee PKers are less to worry about than mage PKers. The two types of mage PKers that you will find near the Abyss: Ancient Mages, who will like freeze you in place, and kill you with ice spells, and regular mages, who can entangle, tele-block, and use combat spells on you.

Here are a few things you can do to ensure your safety:

1) Wear dragonhide armour. This has some pretty decent magic defence to protect against mages, and can be a life-saver.
2) Know who is in the wild. If you make it past some PKers who could have attacked you, it is probably best to switch servers to save yourself from that risk the next time around.
3) Know your location. Are you closer to the Zamorak mage, or the non-wild? If you are closer to the Mage of Zamorak, he's a better option to get out of a bind than the non-wild.
4) If attacked by Ancient Mages, teleporting with your glory is still an option. With regular mages, you can be tele-blocked, so then clearly you cannot teleport. If you enter the Abyss and you are teleblocked, than the only solution is to wait, until the effect is gone. This was recently updated by Jagex, so logging out unfortunately doesn't stop the effect of the spell now.
5) Wear (mostly) easily replaceable items. Abyss Runecrafting in your party-hat is dumb.
6) While the equipment at the top of this guide is recommended, many Runecrafters prefer to carry nothing but pouches, essence and a ring of dueling (Using the ring to teleport to Castle Wars, then using an Amulet of Glory to teleport back to Edgeville). While this reduces the cost of death, it also increases the chances of being killed by PKers and the monsters in the Abyss alike.
7) Bring a teleport tablet or an ectophial. Even if you're worried about the PKer tele-blocking you, don't worry. Nine times out of ten they will try to freeze or entangle you before casting their tele-block.
8) Dropping your items. For this procedure to be initiated correctly, precise timing is needed. To prevent yourself from losing your glory amulet, simply drop your amulet at the last possible second. If timed correctly, you can run back to where you died and pick it back up before it becomes visible to the public, however you must be very fast when doing this.
9) Teleport via your house. Using your house teletablets when runecrafting via the Abyss can come in very handy. Assuming you have to correct materials, you can then use your mounted glory and teleport back to Edgeville, resulting in having no risk whilst entering the Abyss.

• Heroes' Guild
• Recommended: Elemental Workshop I
• Recommended: Elemental Workshop II

• 44 Runecrafting
• Recommended: +60 Defence
• Recommended: +50 Ranged

• Abyss Mini-Quest
• Recommended: Mage Arena

First, head to Edgeville bank. Once you fully meet the requirements and prepare your supplies, you are ready to start. Head north-east and follow the river until it ends. There should be the Zamorak Mage which you helped earlier. Right click on him, and ask him to teleport you to the Abyss.

(Note: If there is any other PKers that are 4, 5, or 6 combat levels within yours that are near you, they are likely to attack you. Since you are armoured up with the best magic defence, the best thing you can do is run by them to the Zamorak mage for the sake of the current trip and switch worlds when you are ready to go back.)

He will immediately chant a phrase and teleport you to the outer rim of the Abyss. You will see that it is filled with level-41 Abyssal Leeches, level-59 Abyssal Guardians, and level-81 Abyssal Walkers. These creatures have a decent strength and defence level, but low accuracy. Your dragonhide armour should provide fair protection against their attacks.

With your current equipment, you have 4 ways to proceed into the inner ring:

1. The Rock - Find a path blocked by rocks that look like giant teeth. Use your pickaxe to mine through the rocks and enter the inner rim of the Abyss. It also gives 25 experience in Mining.

2. The Eyes - Find a pair of eyes in the ground watching over another one of the passages. Use your Thieving skills to distract them, and run by when they're not looking. It also gives 25 experience in Thieving.

3. The Passage - Locate an un-guarded and un-blocked passage, and simply enter through. There is only one of them in the entire Abyss, so you will not frequently bump into those.

4. The Gap - This is a rather tight entry to the inner rim, so you will have to use Agility. It also gives 25 experience in Agility.

5. The Tendrils - Find a path blocked by vine-like Tendrils. Use your Woodcutting axe to chop them down and get to the inner ring of the Abyss. It also gives 25 experience in Woodcutting.

6. The Boil - When you find an entrance blocked by a giant mound, you will be at the right place. This is the boil. Use your tinderbox to burn down the boil and enter the inner rim of the Abyss. It also gives 25 experience in Firemaking.

Once you have reached the inner rim, head straight for the nature-rift on the west side of the ring.

Note: Using pouches, they will degrade over time, so after you've used them for about 20 - 30 trips, it is a good idea to ask the Dark Mage in the center of the abyssal place to fix them for you with a simple transfiguration spell before you enter through the nature rift. You can still use pouches when they are degraded, but they will look a lot darker than normal, and will not carry as much essence as they initially did.

From here, it's relatively easy to figure out. Enter the nature-rift, bind your rune essence, empty your pouches and bind your essence again. Use your Amulet of Glory to teleport back to Edgeville and repeat the process.

Note: For those who wondered why you brought a ring of dueling, it will save you from having to run if you forget to bring a charged Amulet of Glory. This happens frequently. Alternatively, you can use your free home teleport and use the bank in Lumbridge.