• 1.0 - Introduction
•   1.1 - Significance of pures
•   1.2 - Defining pures
•   1.3 - Important information
• 2.0 - Types of Pures
•   2.1 - Level 1 Defence pures
•   2.2 - Level 20 Defence pures
•   2.3 - Level 40-45 Defence pures
• 3.0 - Pure Training
•   3.1 - First Steps
•   3.2 - Step 1: Training your Magic
•   3.3 - Step 2: Training your Attack with Quests
•   3.4 - Step 3: Training your Prayer
•   3.5 - Step 4: Quests for PKing
•   3.6 - Training Areas
• 4.0 - Player Killing
•   4.1 - Gear for 1 Defence Pures
•   4.2 - Gear for 20 Defence Pures
•   4.3 - Gear for 40-45 Defence Pures
• 5.0 - Strategies & Tips

(Note: When this guide uses the word "pure," it means "PKing pure," or a pure intended for player-killing)

If you have ever walked anywhere near the wilderness, you have seen a pure. They come in many, many different shapes and sizes, but there is one thing that all pures have in common: They are characters created to dominate the wilderness. The wilderness, put simply, is the area in RuneScape where you can kill other players.

This guide will introduce you to important concepts regarding pures, different types of pures, training methods and strategies for your pure, and suggest equipment for PKing. It will mainly cover melee, though often melee is combined with Magic, so this guide will also cover some aspects of Magic training.

It is important to realize that this guide is about starting a melee pure, and the strategies it suggests later on, while useful, are only suggestions. The mission of this guide is really to give you a nudge. The education of a pure is continuous, and the best way to be educated on pures is to be immersed in the "pure culture," meaning watch PK videos, visit pure clan websites, and make friends with other pures.

Whatever it is you choose to do with your pure after reading this guide, we wish you luck.

The idea of a pure was first conceived on RuneScape Classic. It was not until RuneScape 2, however, that they became such an important part of the game. Nowadays, one might say that pures characters are the standard on which the RuneScape market rests. Pures buy thousands of potions everyday, which make Herblore and Farming skills worth training. Pures buy armour, weapons, and amulets, which make Smithing, Mining, and Crafting skills worth training. Pures use the most runes, especially nature runes, to train Magic, and hence make Runecrafting into the biggest business in RuneScape. So too are Fletching and Woodcutting, Slayer, and Fishing made worthwhile by pures and the wilderness.

The definition of what constitutes a pure player is disputed. In the broadest definition, a pure is any character that intentionally trains some combat skills, and stops, or doesn't train others at all. For example, someone who is 40 attack, 99 strength, and 99 defence is just as pure as someone who is 99 attack, 99 strength, and 40 defence. One might differentiate between the two by calling them a "40 attack pure" and a "40 defence" pure, respectively. We denote different types of pures by the levels, or equipment levels, that they intentionally have ceased to train. Pures that do not train defence can also be called by the level of armour that they can wear. A 1 defence pure might be called an "iron pure," likewise a 70 defence pure a "barrows pure." The definition of pure is disputed, however, as the original definition of the word "pure" simply meant "1 defence," but for the sake of greater articulation, this guide will incorporate the broader definition.

1. Start out 1 defence, and see how you like it. If not, train defence using quests as much as possible, as they often unlock other armour and goodies.
2. No matter what level pure you are, always make sure your attack style is on the right mode. It doesn't feel good to put a lot of time in to a pure and have it ruined by levels you didn't want.
3. The idea of combat level is very important to starting a pure. You will notice that as you level your attack skills, your combat will rise. Study how combats are calculated, and memorize what each level up will give your character. Here are some important things to remember:
   1. Every attack, strength, defence, and hitpoints level levels you approximately 1/4 combat levels. This means every 4 will give you a combat.
   2. Every Ranged and Magic level levels you 1/2 combat levels. This means every 2 will give you a combat.
   3. Magic and Ranged can be trained to the same level without any combats. For example, a player with 60 Magic can train to 60 Ranged without any additional combat levels.
   4. If you have trained your Magic or Ranged, and Melee, then every time you reach an odd Magic or Ranged level, you can train approximately 3 more combined melee levels (strength and attack) without any additional combat levels. For example, a player with 9 Magic can train to 6 attack and 6 strength, or 12 attack and 1 strength, etc.
   5. Every Prayer level adds approximately 1/8 combat levels. This means every 8 Prayer levels will give you a combat.

The three most popular types of pures are 1 Defence Pures, 20 Defence Pures (Also called Initiate or Mystic Pures), and 45 defence pures (Also called Rune pures). Each type of pure has advantages and disadvantages. As recommended above, you should start out with 1 defence. You can always get defence later.

Level 1 defence pures are the most common pures. A 1 defence pure believes that when all stats and equipment are accounted for, having less armour and bonuses but higher stats will give their character the best advantage. 1defence pures are often players with lower combats than those pures with defence; however, you will see 1 defence pures, who train both attack and strength, with combats in the high 80s and 90s.

A perfect 1 defence pure, with 99 strength, 99 attack, 99 hitpoints, and 1 Prayer will be combat 89 - adding 52 Prayer to this makes this perfect pure combat 95 - well into the higher echelon of combats.

An extremely important thing to keep in mind, when starting a 1 defence pure, is that it's not as easy as it may seem to actually keep your defence at 1. Almost every pure character created gets accidental defence levels, for various reasons. Some of the ways to accidentally get defence are:

1. Turning on a Special Attack, but hitting the defensive attack style instead.
2. Wielding a weapon on strength attack style, such as Dragon Scimitar, and then switching to a weapon with no strength style, i.e. Abyssal Whip, which puts the Abyssal Whip's attack style onto controlled attack style. Controlled attack style gives defence XP.
3. Completing a quest that gives defence XP, i.e. Monkey Madness, in which the extended reward is 15,000 XP in defence.

If you do get accidental defence, don't let it sway you into getting more defence, or abandoning your pure altogether. Everyone does it, and in the long run the extra combats don't make a big difference.

Level 20 defence pures are also called "Initiate Pures" or "Mystic Pures" because of the armour 20 defence allows them to wear. A 20 defence pure believes that the added defensive and attack bonuses that 20 defence armour affords them outweighs the stat advantages that 1 defence pures have. A pure that wears Initiate armour, in addition to defence bonuses, receives a Prayer bonus as well. Initiate pures are the least common of all the pures, but you will see many high-powered pures with 20 defence.

Many times a level 20 defence pure is created because so many mistakes occurred during their 1 defence phase, the added levels to 20 defence were worthwhile for them.

Level 40-45 defence pures are often called "Rune pures." There is some variation with defence levels. F2P players will hit their maximum defence level at 40, however many member pures will level their defence to 45. 45 defence allows a character to wear fremennik helmets. Each helmet gives different bonuses. A rune pure believes that the added defensive and attack bonuses that 40-45 defence armour affords them outweighs all of the attack stats that a 1 defence or 20 defence pure their level has. Rune pures are the highest combat pures in the wilderness.

Training a rune pure is both harder and easier at the same time. It's easier because monsters don't hit them as often as others. It's harder because wearing maxed Rune pure gear can take a lot of quests and time.

Training a pure takes a lot of hard work, especially because you will have to repeat many of the things that you probably have done on your other account. Luckily, you will find the training to be faster and easier.

Be aware that much of the training in the beginning will not be just combat-based. You should be prepared to not only train a variety of non-combat skills, but also complete many quests. When starting a pure, it's always best to do all of the quests as soon as you can, because you will want to train with the best gear possible. Only when you can achieve the max bonuses with quests (also dependant on how much money you have), should you start the hardcore training.

If you are following this guide to start your pure, you should, as suggested previously, start out as a 1 defence pure. This guide will detail the steps and order that you should follow to become the maxed bonus 1defence pure. It will then have separate sections that cover the additional steps to take if you want to be a 20 defence or a 40-45 defence pure.

We suggest that the first thing to do is train your Magic level. Magic is fundamental to RuneScape. The teleport skill is essential to completing quests, getting to training spots, and eventually at higher levels, PKing.

If you are gifted with money, then you should start by getting 55 Magic. High Alchemy (Level 55) is the waypoint level that allows for the cheapest and easiest way to get to the Magic levels that actually matter for PKing. You will notice that when you are pure and you train Magic, you should not use combat Magic spells, because they give HP that you don't necessarily need. You will get hp from melee training. Here is the order and number of spells you will have to cast, from level 1 to level 55 Magic:

1. Cast 26 Wind Strikes
2. Cast 93 Confuses
3. Cast 130 Weaken Spells
4. Cast 135 Curse Spells
5. Cast 201 Varrock Teleports
6. Cast 310 Lumbridge Teleports
7. Cast 726 Falador Teleports
8. Cast 1,896 Camelot Teleport

This entails the purchase of 26 mind runes, 358 body runes, and 3,133 law runes. In addition, you need 12,287 air runes, 1,665 water runes, 1,161 earth runes, and 201 fire runes. You probably should just buy one of each elemental staff, and primarily use the water staff for the spells with the body runes, and the air staff for the teleportation spells.

If you are not gifted with money, you should at least get 45 Magic, for teleport to Camelot. You can do this cheaply by following these steps:

1. Cast 26 Wind Strikes
2. Cast 93 Confuses
3. Cast 130 Weaken Spells
4. Cast 1,985 Curse Spells

This entails the purchase of 26 mind runes and 2,245 body runes. In addition, you will need 26 air runes, 5,159 water runes, and 6,401earth runes. You probably should just buy an earth staff in this case. If you have a good friend with a few million, you can also ask to borrow a Mud staff, which grants unlimited earth and water runes. In that case, levelling your Magic this way becomes extremely cheap.

If you are feeling more ambitious, then you can use 5,610 curse spells instead of 1,985, which will get you the 55 Magic and not 45.

Of course, there are other ways, but whatever it is, be sure to have Camelot teleport available.

In the beginning, you should do all of the quests that give attack XP without defence. Training your attack at low levels is difficult, and you will be surprised how high you can get without touching a weapon. If you have done the Magic training, you should have a sufficient Magic level to make these quests a breeze. Here is a suggested order of quests:

1. Complete Vampire Slayer. This should raise your attack level to 20.

2. Complete Tree Gnome Village. This should raise your attack level to 31.The easiest way to kill the Khazard Warlord (Level 112) is to use a Dwarf Cannon, but you will have had to complete the Dwarf Cannon quest. That also costs more money. You can also simply use Magic. Start using Magic at a distance and the Warlord will move away from you, and your character will move with him. He will then come at you, at which point you can step back, and start using the spells from a distance again. Repeat until he has been defeated.

3. Complete The Grand Tree. This should raise your attack to 39. You will face a Black Demon (Level 172) during the quest, but you can easily kill him by standing behind the rocks in the dungeon, and using Magic.

4. Complete Waterfall Quest. This should raise your attack to level 42, and also your strength to 30. The hardest part is avoiding the skeletons in Glarial's Tomb. One strategy is to drop 3 lobsters before you enter the tomb. Run into the tomb, grab the urn, then go back outside and eat a lobster. Run back into the tomb, grab the amulet, and go back outside again and eat the other lobsters. The rest of the quest is a piece of cake.

5. Complete Death Plateau. This should raise your attack level to 43. More importantly, you receive the ability to buy and wear Climbing boots. Climbing boots add +2 strength bonus, and are an essential part of pure PKing gear and training.

6. Complete Fight Arena. This should raise your attack level to 45. Congratulations, you have done all of the attack training possible!

Prayer levels are optional; however, you will find that most pures do have them. A pure should never leave their Prayer at a useless level. Pures are careful with their Prayer, because every level contributes 1/8 combat levels. For melee pures, here are the following levels that pures should stop at:

Picture	Prayer Level	Name	Effect	Advantages
	1	Thick Skin	Increases your defence by 5%	You will find that pures with 1 Prayer will have much higher melee stats than those with Prayer, however, the bonuses that the extra strength levels and attack levels do not allow you to hit higher for the combat than someone with any of the 2 higher strength prayers instead. 1 Prayer becomes useful in the duel arena with Prayer-off-duels, where you have the element of surprise.
N/A	11	No prayer	No effect	While there is no level 11 Prayer, some melee pures will acquire 11 Prayer from the quest Priest in Peril, which is required to complete Desert Treasure for Ancient Magicks. It is essentially a 1 Prayer setup, but with Ancient Magicks unlocked, it is once again useful for duelling.
	13	Superhuman Strength	Increases your strength by 10%	Some pures stop at 13. Mathematically, 13 Prayer will give the best boost for the combat level, but it will cost you more money to PK, and cost you wasted potential hits, because you have to drink your Prayer potion more often. 13 Prayer may be for a pure who wants to balance PKing with duelling.
	25	Protect Items	Keep 1 extra item if you die	25 Prayer is an important milestone, but the least suggested level to stop at. Protecting your weapon can make the difference between PKing and making a profit, and not.
	31	Ultimate Strength	Increases your strength by 15%	This is the most common level for pures to stop at. Using this prayer is the equivalent of drinking a super-strength potion.
	34	Incredible Reflexes	Increases your attack by 15%	Increasingly more pures get 34 Prayer. It's intended to counter defence bonuses, and is used most often in conjunction with the Abyssal Whip. It is the equivalent of drinking a super-attack potion.
	43	Protect from Melee	Protection from Melee Attacks	Protect from Melee (and the others, Ranged and Magic) will do several things for your pure. It will make potentially difficult quests easier, some training can be done with it, but it's mostly a PKing tool. It is considered dishonourable and unfair to use it in the midst of a fight, unless your opponent begins using it first, however it is useful directly following a successful fight. The wilderness is filled with players looking to "Pile jump" your every fight, and flipping it on after a fight will significantly reduce your opponent's chances of killing you.
	52	Smite	1/4 of damage dealt is also remove from the prayer of your opponent	Smite is another common Prayer level to acquire, and also the last Prayer level a pure should get. Your pure should not get 52 until you have PKed a lot, and your combat skills are in the higher realms. The extra levels to get here will significantly offset the extra strength/attack levels that you could get instead. Getting and using Smite is also expensive, and it drains fasts when used with the melee-enhancing prayers.
	60	Chivalry	Increases your Defence by 20%, your Strength by 18% and your Attack by +15%. You must have completed King's Ransom and the training room in Camelot.	Chivarly is one of the newest prayers. If you don't want to gain 10 more prayer levels to get Piety, then Chivarly is already a great benefit to use in Wilderness.
	70	Piety	Increases your Defence by 25%, your Strength by 23% and your Attack by +20%. You must have completed King's Ransom and the training room in Camelot.	Piety is a new prayer which boosts up all of the melee stats. It gives great benefit in the Wilderness. Getting 70 prayer and finishing King's Ransom quest is a great way to be better in the Wilderness.

If you want to level your Prayer, you should first do quests that give Prayer. This is to make sure that if any new updates come out that give important bonuses, but require any of the Prayer-giving quests, you won't be in trouble. Be careful, because some give defence! If you are a 40 defence pure, or a 20 defence pure, doing quests to get Prayer levels is imperative to being successful. Carefully calculate what the XP rewards will give you, so that you don't overshoot your goal.

Suggested quest list for a pure to get 31 Prayer:
(If you are a 20 defence pure, you must complete Recruitment Drive. If you are 45 defence, you should follow the complete list. Quest Points will be important for your development).

1. Start The Restless Ghost. While you don't need to finish this quest for any reason, there's no reason not to, unless you want to stay at 11 or 13 Prayer. Once you get the Amulet of Ghostspeak, you can keep it in your bank for later. The other reason not to complete this is that if you follow this list of quests, you won't get any XP over 31. You will need it for other quests. If you do finish it, the reward will boost you to level 9 (1,125 XP).
2. Complete Priest in Peril. This should boost your Prayer to 11 (1,406 XP; if you've completed The Restless Ghost, you'll be at level 15).
3. Complete Ghosts Ahoy. This will boost your Prayer to 18.(2,400 XP; if you've completed The Restless Ghost, you'll be at level 20).
4. Complete Mountain Daughter. This will boost your Prayer to 22 (if you've completed The Restless Ghost, you'll be at level 23). Warning: This will also give you 1000 attack XP! If you don't want anymore attack XP, skip this step.
5. Complete Recruitment Drive. This will allow you to respawn in Falador when dying - although the lumbridge castle bank is now closer. This will boost your Prayer to 23 (1,000 XP; if you've completed The Restless Ghost, you'll be at level 25). Warning: If you are a 20 defence pure, Initiate pure, you MUST do this quest! It allows you to wear the Initiate armor.
6. Complete Spirits of the Elid. This will boost your Prayer to 30 (8,000 XP; if you've completed The Restless Ghost, you'll be at level 31 Prayer). Note that completing this quest, along with The Restless Ghost, will put you 1,098 Prayer XP over level 31, and only 525 Prayer XP from level 32 Prayer.
7. You are now just 27 XP from your goal. Go ahead and bury 6 regular bones, or 2 big bones, and that will bring you to 31 Prayer.

You're probably tired of quests by now, but you haven't seen the half of it! The most effective pures need to use the best weapons, and the best equipment that they can.

Here are the quests that you should complete; notation indicates what types of pures should complete them, and in the order of importance. Keep in mind that if you a 40 defence pure, you may want to complete all of these.

1. Lost City [All pures] - The ability to wield dragon weapons is a no-brainer. The Dragon dagger unlocked by this quest is the most powerful weapon in the game. This quest is easy. You should just use combat Magic to kill the tree-spirit by hiding behind one of the objects in the room.
2. Monkey Madness [All pures] - At 60 attack, you will want to wield a Dragon Scimitar, for both training and PKing. What it lacks in special attack and strength bonus compared to the Dragon Longsword it makes up in speed. The quest will test your patience, but if you let the gnomes do the dirty work on the demon, and step in only at the last moment for the kill, it isn't too bad. Once you have talked to the Gnome King, do not take the extended reward from the quest, which is experience in two combat skills. You can stop once you have unlocked the ability to wield the Scimitar. You will get defence xp if you do not stop there. Even if you plan on using an Abyssal Whip, you should complete this quest up to that point, so that you can train your strength with it. The Abyssal Whip cannot effectly train strength (shared XP).
3. Horror from the Deep [1 defence, 20 defence] - The Prayer books that you gain access to this quest are invaluable to training your 1 defence pure, and PKing. If you have the money to fill a Book of Zamorak (Unholy Book), the +8 to all offensive attack stats will speed up your training, and help you hit better when PKing. The +5Prayer bonus will come in handy as well. If not, pick a cheaper one, and use it for its Prayer bonus. There are no better options for 1 defence pure. While a 20 defence pure can use a better shield, in the Mithril Defender, some 20 defence pures will choose the Book of Zamorak because of the Prayer bonus. If you die with the book equipped, you will not lose it instantly. If you teleport back to where you died in time, you can retrieve it, even if it was another player who has killed you. If you do happen to lose it, return to the lighthouse where you received it, and Jossik will give you one for free.
4. Recruitment Drive [20 defence, 1 defence] - This is, as mentioned in the Prayer section, the quest to become an Initiate pure. It unlocks the ability (with 20 defence) to wear Initiate armour, which gives solid defence and Prayer bonuses. 1 defence pures can complete this quest too, as part of their Prayer training. It gives 1,000 Prayer XP.
5. Recipe for Disaster [All pures] - The introduction of combat gloves (gauntlets) into the game has made the pures job considerably more difficult. You should be able to wear the highest gloves that you can. The gloves require no defence, but the quests to unlock some of them do, and unfortunately, each pure has a limit. There is no way around them. If you die with the gloves equipped while PKing, you will lose them. Here is a list of the "sub-quests" that you will need to complete, depending on your pure type, and the gloves you can wear:
   1. 1 defence pure [Mithril Gloves] - Dwarf, Goblin Generals, Pirate Pete, Evil Dave, and Skrach Uglogwee. These quests are not hard, but take time. Have patience!
   2. 20 defence pure [Adamant Gloves] - Dwarf, Goblin Generals, Pirate Pete, Evil Dave, Skrach Uglogwee, and Lumbridge Guide. The Lumbridge Guide sub-quest has a plethora of other quest requirements. One of them is Nature Spirit, which gives you 2,000 defence XP. You should do this quest before training your defence to 20, it will give you 13. The rest you can train without quests.
   3. 40 defence pure [Barrows Gloves] - All sub-quests complete, Horror from the Deep complete, and Desert Treasure complete. Finishing all of the parts is very difficult. It requires 175 Quest Points, 43 Prayer, and you will actually get 41 defence from quests if you pursue these gloves:
      1. Nature Spirit: 2,000 XP in defence
      2. Monkey Madness: 20,000 XP in defence
      3. Dragon Slayer: 18,650 XP in defence
      4. Heroes Quest: 2,625 XP in defence Total: 42,915 XP in defence (Level 41)
6. If you have the willpower, you should complete the quests for Barrows Gloves. They are expensive for PKing, but excellent for training. You should PK with them if you have the money. For the lazy 40 defence pure:
   1. Lazy 40 defence pure [Rune Gloves] - Dwarf, Goblin Generals, Pirate Pete, Evil Dave, Skrach Uglogwee, Lumbridge Guide, and either Awowogei or Sir Amik Varze. The easier is Awowogei in terms of quest requirements, but that quest requires 70 cooking. Sir Amik Varze will require you to have started Legends Quest. Many 40 defence pures use Rune Gloves to PK with. They are economical, and provide solid bonuses.
7. Desert Treasure [Suggested for all pures] - The completion of this quest is recommended, to unlock the Ancient Magicks system. It is very difficult to complete alone, but it also very powerful in conjunction with melee at high Magic levels. If you have friends who have completed it, bring them along, and they can block monsters for you if you block properly. Blocking properly is somewhat difficult, but if you try enough times, you'll get it. The Ancient Magicks provides a useful teleport to Edgeville.
8. The Fremennik Trials [45 defence pure] - The completion of this quest will give you access to an array of Fremennik Helmets, which give defence bonuses, in addition to offensive bonuses. More specifically, a melee pure should use the Berserker Helmet when PKing. You must have 45 defence to wear these.

Note: You may also want to tackle Watch Tower to teleport to the Magic guild for buying runes, and Eadgar's Ruse, to make Desert Treasure easier.

Now, hopefully you have done the quests that give attack XP, considered the Prayer, and maybe some of the quests that give bonuses. There are still things to be done, namely, the other 99% of your training! If you area Rune pure, you will have fewer problems choosing training spots. 1 defence pures are especially limited. Here are the three basic training spots for pure, their pros and cons, in order from best to worst:

Pest Control - A relatively new addition to the game, Pest Control (PC) is a mini-game where you must destroy 4 portals, along with a team. It is found on the Void Knight Outpost, and you can reach it by taking a free boat from Port Sarim (Second Most Southern Dock). If you inflict 50 damage on either the monsters there, or the portals, and your team wins, then you will receive a point that you can exchange for XP in any of the combat skills.

Pros: It's faster training than anything else on game. At 100 points, you receive a significant boost of 10% more XP. You can put aside the hitpoints juxtaposition by using your points on them. If you are a Rune pure who has completed Heroes Quest, you can use the Dragon Battleaxe Special every round, and any pure with Prayer can use their melee and protection prayers.

Cons: The key is finding the right server to play it on - Ask a friend for advice, or join one of the IRC channels on SwiftSwitch. It can be hard to find a winning server sometimes, which will inhibit your training time. Training at PC also effectively negates hitpoints training, besides the little that you get from killing the monsters or portals in-game. You also can't use potions, as they stop working every round, and every time you die. The creatures do not drop anything.

Experiments - You can access the Experiment monsters by doing the beginning of Creature Of Fenkenstrain. You must have completed Priest in Peril as well. The Experiments that you should attack are 25 combat, and have 100 hitpoints, and an extremely low attack, strength, and defence.

Pros: Out of all the monsters in the game, they are the safest to battle against, and you get 400 XP per Experiment killed. They hit a max of 1, and barely ever at that. You can meet some nice pures sometimes. Unlike Pest Control, you can and should use potions to train, and can stay for many hours with just one load of food, potions, and weapons. Bring multiple weapons to make your training more entertaining, and use an unpoisoned Dragon Dagger.

Cons: It can get crowded with pures. It's slightly out of the way, and compared to Pest Control, it is slow. They have no drop but bones.

Rock Crabs - You can access the Rock Crab monsters in Rellekka. The Rock Crabs appear to be rocks, but when you step near them, they activate into killable monsters. They are 13 combat, have 50 hitpoints, and like experiments, extremely low attack, strength, and defence.

Pros: They are safe to battle against and 200 XP per Rock Crab isn't too shabby. There are more Rock Crab respawns than Experiments, and to access them, you don't need any Prayer or Magic. They also have drops. The drops aren't great, but they can keep you entertained.

Cons: It is almost always crowded with pures, and they don't give as much XP as the Experiments, and not anywhere close to that of Pest Control.

Notes: While Pest Control is the fastest training, you may come under criticism for having lower HP. The lower HP will also be made clear in battle. When you play Pest Control, you should try to attack the portals. That's the only way that the mini-game stays afloat. When you are fighting Experiments, if someone takes the monster that you wanted, don't get angry at them. It's a popular place, and everyone wants to train. Instead, you can respectfully request for both of you to each "take" some of the Experiments. When you are fighting Rock Crabs, picking up the drops will noticeably slow down your training.

This guide will not go into extensive detail on how to actually PK. That's the whole fun of a pure, and for you to discover. Go out to the wild and just watch some other PKers, see what works and what doesn't. Watch PK videos, and of course talk to your pure friends.

One thing we can suggest are possible equipment setups. Here are some basic equipment setups for different types of pures. Feel free to stray from these:

• Monk robes/Full iron/Dragonhide chaps - Prolongs your prayers/defence bonus/magic defence
• Strength Amulet - +10 strength bonus
• Mithril Gloves - +6 attack and strength bonus
• Climbing Boots - +2 strength bonus
• Ring of Recoil - Extra damage to your opponent
• Combat Bracelet - +6 Strength Bonus, also gives decent Attack and Defence bonuses too.
• Zamorak Book - +8 attack bonus, +5 prayer bonus
• Dragon Scimitar/Abyssal Whip - Weapon for 60 or 70 attack

• Prayer potions - Restores prayer; take more or less depending on Prayer level
• Super-attack potion - +15% to attack
• Super-strength potion - +15% to strength
• Anti-poison (Optional) - Counters effects of a poisoned weapon
• Dragon Dagger (p++) - Special attack for quick kills
• Ring of Recoil - A backup ring
• Sharks - Eat these during the fight

If you also plan on using Magic, you can use Zamorak Robes for Magic bonus, or if you have started or completed Desert Treasure, use Ghostly Bottom, Top, and Hood. Put on a God cape from the Mage Arena mini-quest if you have it, or the Ghostly Cape if you have it. Bring the same inventory, with the runes you are going to use. Make sure you have enough spaces for sharks, so plan your runes meticulously.

• Initiate Sallet (Helmet) - Defence and Prayer bonus
• Initiate Hauberk (Platebody) - Defence and Prayer bonus
• Initiate Cuisse (Platelegs) - Defence and Prayer bonus
• Strength Amulet - +10 strength bonus
• Adamant Gloves - +7 strength and attack bonus
• Climbing Boots - +2 strength bonus
• Ring of Recoil - Extra damage to your opponent
• Zamorak Book/Mithril defender - +8 attack bonus, +5 prayer bonus/+10 attack and +3 strength bonus
• Dragon Scimitar/Abyssal Whip - Weapon for 60 or 70 attack

• Prayer potions - Add more or less depending on level
• Super-attack potion - Boosts your attack level 15%
• Super-strength potion - Boosts your strength level 15%
• Anti-poison (optional) - Counters poison
• Dragon Dagger (p++) - Use this weapon's special attacks for quick kills
• Ring of Recoil - A backup ring
• Sharks - Eat these during the fight

If you also plan on using Magic, you can use Mystic Robe Top, Bottom, and Hat. Put on a God cape from the Mage Arena mini-quest if you have it. Bring the same inventory, with the runes you are going to use. Make sure you have enough spaces for sharks, so plan your runes meticulously.

• Rune helmet/Berserker Helmet - Defence bonus (40-44 defence)/Defence and + 2 strength (45 defence)
• Rune Platebody - Good defence bonus
• Rune Platelegs - Good defence bonus
• Strength Amulet - +10 strength bonus
• Rune/Barrows Gloves - +8/+12 attack and strength bonus
• Climbing Boots/Rune boots - Boosts your strength +2/Defence bonus +2 strength
• Legends Cape - Better defence bonus
• Ring of Recoil - Extra damage to your opponent
• Zamorak Book/Rune Defender - +8 attack bonus, +5 prayer bonus/+20 attack and +5 strength bonus
• Dragon Scimitar/Abyssal Whip - Weapon for 60 or 70 attack

• Prayer potions - Add more or less depending on level
• Super-attack potion - +15% to attack
• Super-strength potion - +15% to strength
• Super-defence potion - +15% to defence
• Anti-poison (Optional) - Counters poison
• Dragon Dagger (p++) - Special attack for quick kills
• Ring of Recoil - A backup ring
• Sharks - Eat these during the fight

If you also plan on using Magic, you can use Mystic Robe Top or a Splitbark Top, and Mystic Bottom. Put on a God cape from the Mage Arena mini-quest if you have it. Bring the same inventory, with the runes you are going to use. If you have 70 Ranged, it's a good idea touring Black Dragonhide Body and Black Dragonhide Chaps to have better protection against Magic attacks. Red Dragonhide will suffice as well. You should not bring the Magic equipment, Melee equipment, and Ranged equipment, however, or you will find yourself looking at too few sharks.

There are some final things that you should know before exploring the melee pure. You should start out PKing just above Edgeville, in the low single Wilderness, and as you get more experienced, head out towards the Green Dragons, and even higher.

These days, the Rune pure is becoming more and more common, as RuneScape continues to add bonuses for players with defence. The way to counter that is high Attack. The future will contain a mix of Rune pures, and players with combinations like 90 attack and 70 strength, or 80 attack and 80 strength. Strength loses its importance when you can't hit, and it's important to hit consistently. Hitting consistently is a defence bonus in itself - if your opponent is eating, he isn't hitting you, which is like hitting 0s. You will also begin to see more Initiate and Adamant pures, or other effective Glove/Defender pures. PKing isn't really about your stats- It is about the bonuses you have, and the way that you PK, the timing of your eating, and things like that.

Most players, in the midst of PKing, will eat food and drink Prayer potions at different times during fights. When they drink a Prayer potion, they lose an entire hit to the other player. Here's a secret: In fact, both eating and drinking can be done at the same time! Try it out. Eat a food item, then immediately after clicking on it, drink a pot. Amazing! Prayer can definitely be the deciding factor in a fight, and Smite can work wonders if you hit consistently. Your opponent, when Smite is on, has to drink Prayer potions much more frequently (unless they know our secret). When Smite is on, your opponent will be more careful about protecting his item, rather than winning the fight. While you may not always get their weapon from Smite, there is an increase in not losing, which is important.

Because of the impact of Smite, you will also begin to see pures with high Prayer. For example, a player with 70 attack, 90 strength, 1 defence, and 75 Prayer.

You should always use your protect item prayer, your strength prayer, and your attack prayer, and Smite if you have it. Don't use Protect from Melee/Ranged/Magic unless you are being pile-jumped, or you have just won a fight.

Many pures deviate from the suggested gear in this article by not bringing an anti-poison. Here's another (not-so-secret) secret: Bring one, and drink it before your fight, along with your other potions! That way, your opponent will not be able to take off that 6 damage at any point, and it can be a life-saver in many cases. Even if you have +80 hitpoints, and your opponent hits a 30-30 with a dragon dagger, with an additional 6 from the poison - see you in Lumbridge, the next hit can now be 6 less hitpoints to knock you out.

You should also practice switching between weapons, and using your special attack. Go to the duel arena with a friend and do it a hundred times. Right after your character begins the animation of one hit, click your secondary weapon, switch your inventory to your combat style menu, and click on the special bar four times. Become a foolproof switcher, and you'll increase your odds of winning ten-fold.

The most common way of getting defence accidentally is wielding a dragon weapon on Aggressive mode (to train strength) and then switching that weapon to an Abyssal Whip. If you do that, make sure to always put the Abyssal Whip back on Accurate mode, or you will gain defence XP on Controlled. Likewise, check your Dragon Scimitar to ensure that it's on Aggressive mode when PKing. Aggressive mode allows your weapon to hit one more than on Accurate.

One thing you will hear these days is "safe-eating." Safe-eating essentially means eating when it's not necessary, for example, eating when you have 60 hitpoints left out of 80. It's supposed to be an insulting term, but take it with a grain of salt. In fact, Safe-eating is not bad because it puts the other player at a disadvantage; it's bad because it puts you at a disadvantage. You can only win a tough fight by taking a risk, getting down to low health, and taking the chance that you can hit better than your opponent.

Don't go out into the Wilderness and do something that PKers call "one-iteming." It means when you go out in the Wild with one item, and just leave your protect item Prayer on, and fight. You take no risks, and it's just a cheap shot at the players who play because the game is fun. If you want to watch fights, go out with nothing on. Nobody will attack you, and nobody will assume that you're there to fight.

Both "one-iteming" and "safe-eating" come under a category called "PKing honour." It's a very important part of pure culture. Having honour means telling someone when you want to fight, it means not using protect from combat prayers, it means not running from a fight just because you are losing, and it means telling someone who kills you that you respect their skill, and not that you hate them. If you gain the respect of pures, they will treat you with similar respect, and that feels good.

You will die all the time in the beginning, but that's fine, it's part of being a pure. People may insult you, call you a "noob." That is not part of PKing, it's just as rude as someone insulting you in real life. Tell them that you just started, maybe ask for tips.

Most importantly, have fun, get some sun, and follow your dreams!