Table of Contents
1.0 - Introduction
Player killing or 'PKing' is the term used to describe pvp (player vs. player) combat. Although predominantly referred to when players battle in the wilderness, PKing can also refer to duelling, and even Castle Wars. PKing is a large part of RuneScape, with countless clans who battle in the wilderness to win recognition amongst the RuneScape population. The wilderness spans the entire northern region of the free-to-play (F2P) lands of RuneScape. The wilderness is a dangerous place to be, for anyone. The deeper in you trek, the more danger you will be in, for every few spaces, you ascend into a higher level of the wilderness. The wilderness level you are in, defines what level players can attack you. For example, if you are level 100 combat, and are in level 20 of the wilderness anyone between level 80 and 120 could attack you. When entering the wilderness, you will be greeted with a WARNING Message asking you if you wish to continue on (Picture). The best thing about player killing is that you can give it your own personal touch - very few people are truly efficient with all available techniques, as everyone prefers different combat styles or set-ups. This guide is for higher-level PKers, who are over level 70 combat but you may adapt this to your level. It will also explain the basics of PKing, and will give you some insight into what you can wear and take on your trips. Although, feel free to experiment with new items, weapons or armour, as this is the best way to discover what style suits you best, and which style is the most rewarding. 2.0 - F2P PKing
F2P PKing is where you would most likely begin to learn to PK, as there is a relatively low risk. Warriors tend to dominate the wilderness in F2P, although experienced mages or archers can take the field as well. Due to the lack of binding abilities in F2P, it makes it a lot easier for you, or your opponent to escape. This means that it can be a lot harder to get kills, unless you're experienced enough to chase after your opponent before they logout. Most clans player kill on free servers as well, so you will have to watch out for them. Note: this section only covers multi-combat PKing (i.e. team PKing), although single PKing is very similar, so using the same techniques will work for both. 2.1 - Melee in Multi Combat Areas
Requirements: Equipment and inventory: Strategy: The green dragonhide vambraces are not that important to bring, but they give a small increase in your magic defence bonus. It is not much, but it helps. Optional:
2.2 - Magic in Multi Combat Areas
Requirement: You must have at least 59 magic to cast Fire Blast. Equipment and inventory: Strategy: Note that you should not be wearing green dragonhide vambraces, as they will give you a negative magic attack bonus. In addition, there is no mage armour, although you can get a maximum magic attack and melee Defence bonus with the above equipment. Just make sure you do not wear any rune or dragonhide armour - no other shield than the Dragonfire shield should be taken. Optional:
3.0 - P2P PKing
This requires a lot more practice and higher levels, so it is strongly suggested to practice several of the techniques explained in the Castle Wars arena, or the Fight Pits cave. Both places allow you to fight other players from all levels, without losing anything. P2P PKers are generally very dangerous because the lower levels might be stronger than you could tell by their combat levels. These are often referred to as 'pures' - characters who train one or two combat skills only to keep their combat level at a minimum. The high-level PKers are most often very experienced and know every trick there is to know to take you down. P2P PKing is also a lot more expensive, but obviously, this means you can gain more from it as well. You need to be extra cautious at all times when you do not have much cash lying around, however. This guide will cover some of the most-used techniques, but P2P PKing is truly unique for everyone so it is up to you to experiment. The following information will give you a good head start, but you that you will encounter many more types of PKers that are not documented here. One tip that is recommended for any p2p strategy is to bring an antipoison as many people will pk with poisoned weapons and healing the poison right away could be the difference between dying and getting to safety. 3.1 - P2P PKing in Multi Combat Area
Unlike F2P multi PKing, a fine balance between the three fighting classes is required here. Bring an equal amount of warriors, rangers, and mages - all three of them have their own disadvantages but as a team, are very strong. Your main goal here is to work together. Warriors have to protect rangers and mages; mages keep the target at a distance from which the rangers can finish them off. Keep in mind dying is very easy here - even two people attacking you can get you killed within a few seconds. Because of this, do not bring any expensive items such as Abyssal Whips with you unless you want to run the risk of losing them. 3.1.1 - Melee
Requirement: You must be at least 70 combat, and 43+ prayer is strongly recommended. Inventory and equipment: Strategy: The Dragon Dagger special is good to use whenever you want to get in some fast hits on a target that is not protecting from melee. Optional:
3.1.2 - Ranged
Requirement: You must be at least Level 70 range, and 43+ prayer is strongly recommended. Inventory and equipment: Strategy: Rangers are also very flexible, because they carry less weight than other PK classes. This means you can run longer than mages and warriors, which is why it is even better bring a Super Energy potion as well, because this gives you many advantages. Optional:
3.1.3 - Magic
Requirement: You must be at least Level 82 Magic, and 43+ Prayer is strongly recommended. Inventory and equipment: Strategy: Do not forget to use your Dragon Dagger when the target is protecting against magic and none of your team-mates are attacking him. Optional:
4.0 - P2P PKing, Single Combat Area
This is the playground of the average PKer. Test your skills, reflexes and your newfound strategies here. This is also where you can gain the most money from PKing, although losing it is equally easy. Lower leveled PKers will often find themselves at Green Dragons, Edgeville Wilderness, or Dark Warrior Fortress; whereas the highest leveled, strongest and most experienced PKers can be found near the Mage Arena and Magic Axes hut. 4.1 - Melee
Requirement: You must be at least 90 combat and 43 prayer. It is strongly recommended having 70+ ranged too. Inventory and equipment: Strategy: Important note: Always have your Protect Item prayer on when fighting, unless you want to lose your Abyssal Whip. Without a whip, melee PKing is pointless because most of your targets will have one, which makes them a lot stronger than you are. Secondly, do not ask yourself if you really have to take the items shown above. The super set and three prayer potions are very important, as is the ranged equipment, the ring and the helm. Fighting With the Abyssal Whip First, turn the protect item prayer on at once. Next, take a sip from your super set to give a considerable boost to attack, defence and strength levels or turn all your 15% prayers on. It should look like this: Why are the 15% prayers so important, you might ask? Simple. Since you are melee'ing, there is no way you can entangle, freeze, or teleblock the target. This means they can run away at all times. Because of this, your goal should be to KO the target - this means you hit so hard and fast, he would not have time to heal and dies before eating all his food. Using the 15% prayers, you drastically improve your chances of KO'ing the enemy because you will hit more often and harder, not to mention you would not have to heal as often either because of the defence prayer, meaning you would not be interrupted while hitting the target. Important: Whenever you have the opportunity, grab your Dragon Dagger, and use all four specials in a row. Not only will this do a lot of damage in a very short time, but you may also poison him, which will cost him a lot of health. Optional:
4.2 - Ranged
Requirement: You must be at least Level 70 ranged, and 43+ prayer is strongly recommended. Strategy: The Karils Crossbow is once more the weapon of choice although you should be warned that it is possible for Ancient Magicks mages to mage you from a big distance without you being able to retaliate, even on long range. It has some disadvantages for those mages as well, which is covered later on. Rule of the thumb is that you should not underestimate anyone. The average warrior will tear up your Defence, and although you will most often have the upper hand anyway, an ancient mage can deal a lot of damage. Regular magic generally does not hit anywhere as good on your black dragonhide, but ancients seem to negate the magic Defence bonus. Optional:
4.3 - Magic (Teleblocking)
Requirement: You must be at least Level 85 magic, and 43+ prayer is strongly recommended. You must have completed the Mage Arena mini-game. Inventory and equipment: Strategy: Unlike any other PKing class, you should not focus on getting kills. A teleblocking mage is only truly effective when operating in a small team, even if it is only two people; you should simply make sure not to mage all on your own. You can carry little food as it is, and if you decide to bring melee or ranged equipment to, you would not be able to carry more than roughly 11 sharks! Thus you have to greatly rely on your team, but do not worry as they most likely cannot kill the target without having you teleblock him either. The runes in the inventory are for Teleblock, Entangle, Charge, and your god spell of choice. Note that those runes are for the Flames of Zamorak spell; you need to bring more or less fire/air runes depending on your spell. Do note that you have to wear the right cape as well - e.g. a Zamorak cape will strengthen the spell Flames of Zamorak while a Guthix cape will strengthen the spell Guthix Claws. When the Charge spell has been used and you are wearing the correct cape, you can hit up to 30. Because you are so vulnerable, you should take extreme care in all situations. Do not give your target the chance to run up at you. Always keep a minimum distance like this: Note that you should ALWAYS entangle the target. This will keep him stuck for 15 seconds. Use this time to use the charge spell, and start casting the God spell of choice on him. Count to 15 or just watch him when he moves - as soon as he does manages to move, run away from him for roughly 2 seconds and cast another entangle. Your character will keep running for a bit, but the target is stopped in his tracks. You have to play around with this a bit to understand - but do not worry, it is not that hard to learn. Optional:
4.4 - Ancient Magicks
Requirements: You must have at least 82 Magic and 43 Prayer. 94 Magic will be a huge bonus but is not required. Desert Treasure quest has to be completed. Inventory and equipment: Strategy: Another great part of the Ancient Mage is that he can carry loads of food. You do not need any prayer potions, super sets or super energy potions but as a mage, you should not be eating all your food in the first place and if you die, it is more likely because of a KO than the fact you are all out of food. Note that none of the other spells are quite as useful. Although it never hurts to poison them, absorb their hp, or lower their stats, you would have to bring more runes and therefore lose more sharks. In Addition, you can choose to auto cast the Ice Blitz/Ice Barrage spell with your Ancient staff, which is always faster than manually casting the spell. Optional:
4.5 - Ancient Magicks and Melee Combination
Requirement: You must have at least 82 Magic, 43 Prayer, and 90 Combat. 94 Magic will be a huge bonus but is not required. Desert Treasure quest has to be completed. Inventory and equipment: Strategy: Crucial note: You should always turn Protect Item on when fighting just in case you are killed. Be sure to keep this in mind at all times!
5.0 - Conclusion
PKing is something you have to master yourself. No guide can teach you how to be truly efficient with PKing. The most important thing to keep in mind is that most of these things are random. A mage would not hit much on a ranger, but it is possible he still hits five 30's in a row. A ranger is not supposed to be strong against a warrior, but can still hit a lot. Not only that, but the people you will run into will be random too! You are bound to run into some big and powerful clan eventually, but you will also find yourself lucky enough to find a newbie who accidentally skulled and can not escape . All these things depend on your own luck, although your skills can change a lot. Stay alert, keep calm even when you just killed someone and you will be fine. It will take some time to find your own preferences but it is assured you will find something that fits your liking. Be it f2p PKing or p2p PKing, Magic or Melee - you have to experiment yourself. Keep in mind that PKing is a different game from RuneScape and it is constantly changing as new people get good at PKing, new updates are released, and new clans are born. We cannot predict what the future may hold and it is entirely up to you to attempt to stay up-to-date with the way Wilderness is run. 6.0 - Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What will I lose if I die?
A: You will lose everything but the 3 most valuable items you have. If you are skulled when you die, you will lose everything. If you use the protect from items prayer, you will lose all but 1 item (Picture). |
Author: Tha Hanzz |
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