Introduction

To start using the runecrafting skill you need to complete a quest. The Rune Mysteries Quest begins in the Castle of Lumbridge, where the Duke has found a mysterious object. Take it to the Wizard Tower south of Draynor Village. Enter the basement and talk to Sedridor the wizard. He'll tell you to take the talisman to the rune merchant Aubury in Varrock. Do so, and he'll ask you to go back to Sedridor. Speak to the wizard again, and you will complete the quest. Congratulations, you can now teleport to the Rune Essence by talking to Sedridor, Aubury, the wizard Cromperty in Ardougne, the gnome wizard Brimstail hiding in a cave in the south west corner of Gnome Stronghold, or the wizard Frumscone in the Magic Guild.

Rune/pure essence looks like this:

You receive 5 points of Mining experience from mining either type of essence. Wield your pickaxe as a weapon to give you an extra slot in your inventory to carry Rune essence. Pure essence is acquired when members with 30 or higher mining receive rune essence; free players and lower-level members miners will receive standard rune essences. The only difference is that pure essence can be used to craft the members-only runes (cosmic and higher runes), whereas normal rune essence can only be used to craft the four elemental runes, mind runes, and body runes -- those that can be made on free worlds.

Getting Rune Essence

There are two ways to get essence:

1. Buy it. Essence prices vary from 30-50 each. Pure essence on the other hand sells from the range of 90-110 each. The higher the amount, usually the higher the price. Don't buy essence unless you can really afford it, or if the rune is worth more than the essence (Chaos, Natures, Laws).
2. Mine it. This is a more popular approach. Take everything off when mining essence! I see people running to and from the bank with full rune on! This is a big no-no! hold your pickaxe and, if you have them, wear Boots of Lightness (obtained during the Temple of Ikov Quest). Even with a full load of Essence and a rune pickaxe, wearing Boots of Lightness will get your weight to -2 kg.

If you're going to mine the Rune essence, there are 6 places where you can get telleported from. You must have completed the Rune Mysteries quest to be able to mine Rune/Pure Essence.

*= Members only area and therefore you can only use that certain wizard in a members world.

1. Wizard Aubury: (Located in the Varrock magic shop just south of the east bank). This is the fastest method to mine Rune essence for non-members as the bank is right north of the magic shop.
   
   
   
   
2. Wizard Sedridor: (Located in the basement of the magic tower just south of Draynor village). It is not suggested you use this method as the closest bank is in Draynor village which is a fairly far for Rune/Pure essence mining.
   
   
   
   
3. * Wizard Distentor: (Located in the Wizards' Guild just west of the Yanille bank, level 66 magic required to enter the magic guild, or lower using Magic Mind bomb). As you can see on the map below it is a straight path from the bank to the Wizards' Guild, therefore this is the fastest way for mining Rune/Pure essence.
   
   
   
   
4. * Wizard Cromperty: (Located in Ardougne, the house just North-east of the Ardougne market area). The closest bank is just south of the market area.
   
   
   
   
5. * The gnome Wizard Brimstail: (hiding in a cave in the south-west corner of Gnome Stronghold). There are no monsters in this dungeon so it is 100% safe to everyone who is willing to enter it. I suggest you don't use this one as the closest bank is the one in The Grand Tree, this is fairly far away from the Wizard Brimstail.
   
   
   
   
6. * Moonclan Island Mine: (Located on Moonclan Island). This location requires partial completion of the Lunar Diplomacy quest, and the nearest bank is the one inside the Moonclan village.

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Talismans

To craft runes, you will first need a talisman. In the quest, you receive an Air talisman for free; you'll have to obtain the others yourself. You can craft the runes without any talisman with you, if you go through a portal in the abyss.

NOTE: All talismans from Air to Nature are also dropped by the Monsters in The Abyss.

Talisman	Picture	Who drops?
Air		Given by Sedridor when completing quest; dropped by level 2 goblins and wizards
Mind		Dropped by Imps, Wizards, Yanille Tower Guards, Colonel Radick
Water		Dropped by Wizards, Dark Wizards, and Giant Frogs
Earth		Dropped by Men and Women around Runescape, Al-Kharid Warriors, Farmers, Rogues, Wizards, Dark Wizards, Vampires, Lesser Demons and Greater Demons
Fire		Dropped by Guards, Wizards, Dark Wizards, and Skeletons (lvl18)
Body		Dropped by Guards, Giants, Wizards, and Dark Wizards
Cosmic		Dropped by Lesser Demons, Ice Giants, Mysterious Old Man, Otherworldly Beings and Caskets (Big Net Fishing)
Chaos		Dropped by Lesser Demons, Skeletons, Giants, Chaos Druids, Moss Giants, Otherworldly Beings, given by the Mysterious Old Man Random Event, Chaos Dwarfs, Black Demons, Ice Warriors, Greater Demons, Baby Dragons, Hobgoblins, Fire Giants, Shadow Warriors and Mountain Dwarfs
Nature		Dropped by Moss giants, Barbarians, Green Dragons, Red Dragons, Lesser Demons, Thieves, Greater Demons, Blue Dragons, Hobgoblins, Paladins, Black Knights, White Knights, Ice Warriors, Jogres, Mountain Trolls, and Cyclopes
Law		Reward from Troll Stronghold Quest
Death		Reward from Mourning's Ends Part II Quest and Dropped by Dark Beasts

When you have a talisman, you'll need some Rune essence. They are not stackable in free-play (for members, see Essence Pouches later in this guide), but are fairly easy to mine, taking no mining level; the better pick you have, the faster you get Rune essences. Talk to one of the teleporters listed above (make sure to bring a pickaxe), and ask to go to the Rune Essence. Mine however many you'd like and use one of the portals to go back.

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Temple Locations

To craft the essences into runes, you need to find the temple of the element matching the runes you wish to make: for example, the Air temple for Air runes. Use the Locate option on your talisman and follow the direction, or look here to find the temples:

Element	Picture of Location	Temple Location
Air		Southwest of Falador's south gate
Mind		On the hill above Goblin Village, 3 steps from wildy
Water		Lumbridge swamp, southeast from the place where you start the Lost City quest
Earth		East-northeast of Varrock
Fire		Northeast of Al-Kharid, east of the mining chasm and just north of the duel arena
Body		North-west of the Barbarian Village
Cosmic*		Inside Zanaris (lost city), south of the cow pen, there's a long tunnel and at the end is the cosmic altar
Chaos*		In level 9 wilderness, north of Edgeville, there is a large maze inside, but don't get your hopes up about this one as it takes easily twice as long to make chaos runes than cosmic runes, and PKers tend to hang around the altar from time to time.
Astral*		Moonclan Island, southeast of the village. Requires completion of Lunar Diplomacy quest. The altar is not ruined and there is neither an Astral talisman nor a tiara; you may simply walk up to it and craft runes.
Nature*		Deep Karamja jungle, just north of Shilo Village
Law*		Northern side of Entrana, just over the bridge leading to the Unicorns and Firebird.
Death*		Inside the Temple Of Light, see Mourning's Ends Part II
Blood*	None Yet	Not Yet Available
Soul*	None Yet	Not Yet Available

*Members-only

To enter the temple, use your talisman on the mysterious ruins, wear a tiara and enter, or use a rift in the Abyss. To craft the runes, just click the Craft-rune option at the altar inside the temple. This will automatically make all the essence you carry into the corresponding rune. Each temple represents their element in construction, so the Fire temple is a volcano, the Cosmic is deep space, and the Chaos is a maze, fit for panicking. (For help with the Chaos maze, see the Chaos Altar Maze Map).

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Tiaras

Tiaras may be crafted from Silver (see Crafting Skill Guide) and can be combined with any Rune Talisman of your choice to create an enchanted tiara that can be worn in your helmet slot. This will allow you to enter the appropriate temple simply by left clicking on it, rather than the normal method of using a talisman on the temple. You can make a tiara by using a tiara on the desired altar while carrying the matching talisman in your inventory (the talisman will be consumed and you will gain some experience).

Tiara	Picture	Exp for making
Air		25
Mind		27.5
Water		30
Earth		32.5
Fire		35
Body		37.5
Cosmic *		40
Chaos *		42.5
Nature *		45
Law *		47.5
Death *	deathtiara	50

*Members-only

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The Mage of Zamorak and the Abyss (members only)

On June 13, 2005, Jagex made some upgrades to Runecrafting. Visit the Mage of Zamorak, located by the mouth of the river just North of Edgeville, to begin the mini-quest which offers "a potentially dangerous, yet also potentially faster method of RuneCrafting."

The mage is at the skeletons north east of Edgeville, in level 5 Wilderness. Talk to him and he will quickly tell you to meet him in Varrock at the Chaos Temple, which is located southeast of Aubury's Magic Shop. Talk to him there to get a Scrying orb. He tells you to teleport to the rune essence mining area from 3 different locations. The choices are Aubury in Varrock, wizard Sedridor at the Wizard's Tower near Draynor, wizard Cromperty in Ardougne, the gnome wizard Brimstail hiding in a cave in the south west corner of Gnome Stronghold, or the wizard Frumscone in the Magic Guild. Go to three of them and get transported to the Rune essence. (There is no benefit in going to all 5 of them.) The orb will then begin to glow. Take this back to the Mage of Zamorak and speak to him twice to get your rewards. He will give you 1000 Runecrafting xp, some research notes and a Small pouch used to hold Rune essence.

If you visit him again in the wilderness he will teleport you to the mysterious Abyssal space. Note that in the Abyss you are 'Skulled' as soon as you enter and all of your prayer is drained. It would be best to take some teleportation runes with you as well.

In the Abyss, you can kill Abyssal leeches, Abyssal guardians, and Abyssal walkers for larger essence pouches, talismans, and the Elemental talisman. The Elemental talisman gives access to all of the four elemental temples: Air, Water, Earth, and Fire, but cannot be used to make combination runes or a tiara.

Abyssal space also offers access to *all* of the existing altars except the Astral rune Alter (two portals to altars that don't yet exist are also present). You may need to use Thieving or Agility, or a tinderbox, pickaxe, or hatchet in order to overcome traps to reach the inner level where the rift portals to the altars are located. Refer to the Abyss Map for information.

It would be advised that if Runecrafting through the abyss you carry a dose of Prayer Potion on you at all times. This way, if you get trapped by a PK'er while Runecrafting, you can simply take the dose of prayer potion and put on protect item prayer, ensuring that you keep your precious glory amulet.

Now, many people are put off about the fact you may be killed and lose their glory amulet if they use the abyss, then teleport to edgeville. But, you can run into the abyss wearing a ring of dueling, then teleport to castlewars arena, use bank to withdraw a glory amulet, and teleport to Edgeville. Then bank your glory amulet, and it's safe!

Some quick tips for the abyss:

• If using a Glory Amulet, wear a Ring of Life, this will save you if your HP drops under 10%.
• *Use Dueling Rings instead of a Glory Amulet, Teleport to Castle Wars, bank there and then teleport to Edgeville.
• *Drop your pouches if you are going to die. YES; your pouches will remain on the ground for two minutes IF you drop them. When you die quickly teleport back with a Glory Amulet and pick them all up.
• If recollecting pouches and you have access to the Fairy Rings, use the Alternate Abyss, you won't be skulled and prayer is not drained.
• *Run to the mage on the far side of the river, less pkers camp this side so your chance of being killed is significantly less.

Abyss Bracelets:
These bracelets prevents you from being skulled when you enter the Abyss (this will not work if you are already skulled). The bracelet has 5 charges when new, and is worn in the gloves space. When you enter the Abyss, one charge is used up, and you do not gain a skull. The bracelets are made with a gold bar and a diamond, and enchanted with the 'Level 4 enchant' (level 57 magic required).

Important note: this bracelet DOES NOT however prevent prayer drain, so your prayer will still be drained even when using this bracelet.

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The Zamorak AMI altar (Members Only)

The Zamorak ZMI altar is an ancient and powerful altar Zamorak controls that allows a user to craft any rune at any level, but not just one. When you craft on this altar, you will get a variety of runes instead of just one type (Air-Soul).

For more information, please visit the ZMI Altar guide in our Special Reports section.

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Essence Pouches (Members only)

Obtain the new Rune essence pouches by doing the above mini-quest, then killing monsters in Abyssal space. You can only have one of each size Rune pouch at a time (and the game knows about the one in your bank!) When found, they are 2/3 full of essence, which can be used regardless of your level. However, further uses have a Runecrafting level requirement to place essences in the pouch, as shown in the table below. Pouches degrade over time and become "damaged". When damaged, the picture of the pouch turns a darker colour, and it holds fewer runes. You can get pouches repaired by talking to the Dark mage in black robes at the center of the abyss.

Being proactive about your pouches can help keep them from degrading. When you're runecrafting using pouches, your pouches are bound to degrade after too many trips. While you're going through the abyss, if every now and then (Every 4- 5 trips works out very well if using all four pouches. Anything lower it would be recommended to do every 7 - 10 trips as the smaller the pouches get the less they tend to degrade), you visit the dark mage in the center and use the fourth option "I need your help with something..." you'll get 2 options. Choose the "Can you repair my pouches" option, like you would if your pouch had degraded. You will tell him you think you pouches are degrading(see pic) and he will restore your pouches to "like new".

Pouch	Image	Level to Use	Essence capacity
Small		1	Three
Medium		25	Six
Large		50	Nine
Giant		75	Twelve

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Combination Runes (Members only)

Combination runes can be made by having existing runes of one type, a talisman of the other type, and pure essence in your inventory. For instance, to make lava runes, you could have fire runes, an earth talisman, and pure essence (the same amount as you have fire runes). Then, go to the earth altar, making sure you can get in with either an earth talisman or earth tiara. Use the fire talisman on the earth altar, and lava runes will be crafted. It is possible for this to fail to produce runes, thus you can use the Necklace of binding which will allow a perfect binding rate for 15 uses, after which it disintegrates. The necklace is made by enchanting an Emerald necklace (27 Magic required).

Rune	Image	Level to Make	XP (Low)*	XP (High)*	How to Make
Mist		6	8	8.5	Water and Air combo
Dust		10	8.3	9	Earth and Air combo
Mud		13	9.3	9.5	Earth and Water combo
Smoke		15	8.5	9.5	Fire and Air combo
Steam		19	9.3	10	Water and Fire combo
Lava		23	10	10.5	Fire and Earth combo

*You receive less experience at the lower-leveled runecrafting altar. For example, making mist runes at the water altar will cause you to receive more experience than making mist runes at the air altar.

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Runecrafting Experience

When you achieve a certain level of runecrafting, you will automatically make additional runes from each essence. The table below lists the levels required and experience earned. Please note that you get experience only for each essence used, and not for each rune made, so even if you make eight air runes per essence, you will only gain 5 experience.

*Members only

The pattern for how many levels you need for additional runes per Essence was submitted by Tomiz.
The pattern for calculating the level for 2x was submitted by DaDennis.

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Chaos Altar Maze

When you enter the top level of Chaos altar, go to the very Southwest ladder, and go down it. Then go to the ladder that is to your east, and a little bit north (it should show up on your map). Go down that ladder. On this level, you can see the tops of the ruined pillars from the altar. Then, to your west, and a little bit north (on the opposite side of the ruined pillars) there is a ladder, go down it. You should be able to see the altar from here, but it is east of where you are. Jagex has added a new portal just east of the altar that allows you a quick exit from the altar maze - Yay! Or, for the hard way you could follow the same path in reverse to get out, and on the top floor, head north and east, until you see a portal, then exit, and go on to Edgeville, or wherever else you want to go!

Chaos Shortcut:

With the completion of the quest "What Lies Below" you will unlock access to the chaos shortcut. The entrance of it is located north-east of Varrock, and slightly south west from the saw mill.

After following the tunnel you can use the portal which brings you to the second level of the chaos maze. Proceeding through the maze to the chaos altar and crafting your runes. From here you have two options, you can either use the portal at this level and exit to level 13 wilderness, or head back up to the second level and use the portal there to take you back to the tunnel.

Happy runecrafting!