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|RUNESCAPE |
|World 16 Air Running FAQ v1.0 |
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_/ \_
| RuneScape |
| JAGeX, Ltd. |
\ http://www.runescape.com /
| Created by: Chris McGowan |
/ Date Started: 1/14/07 \
| Date Finished: 1/17/07 |
|_ E-mail: cmcg@satx.rr.com _|
\ RuneScape Username: Nul Oblivion /
\________________________________/
___________________
*~| TABLE of CONTENTS |~*
\________/\_______/
I. Updates
II. What Is Air Running?
III. The Method
1. The Role of the Runner
2. The Role of the Runecrafter
IV. Profits & Expenditures
V. Credits & Acknowledgements
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<====( | I. U P D A T E S | )====>
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1/14/07: FAQ has begun. "What Is Air Running?" section complete.
1/15/07: Version 0.6 complete. Finished "The Method" section.
1/17/07: "Profits & Expenditures" section completed along with "Credits &
Acknowledgements". Version 1.0 complete! Enjoy!
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<====( | II. W H A T I S A I R R U N N I N G ? | )====>
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You may have heard the term "air running" (or "essence running") many
times during your RuneScape playing, but you never took the time to figure out
or ask what it was. Well, if this sounds like you then look no further. I
was once a player like this until I found out how beneficial it can be for not
only yourself, but for other players as well. With regular Runecrafting, it
requires that you carry a full bag of 28 Rune Essence to an alter (in this
case the Air Alter), craft the Air Runes, then run back to the nearest bank.
In other words, it takes ages to level up after about 40 Runecrafting.
Occasionally, you may read somewhere that someone is hiring several
air runners to help level up their Runecrafting skill. This method allows the
Runecrafter to stay in the Air Temple and craft Rune Essence provided by their
runners without having to make trips to the bank themselves; thus, allowing
the Runecrafter to gain experience super-fast. This may seem like the runners
get nothing out of this deal, but that's definitely not the case. With each
trip, the Runecrafter pays the runner a minimun of 2k (2,000 coins) plus they
give back the amount of Rune Essence (in notes) that you banked for them
(which is always 25 Rune Essence per trip). Sound confusing? If so, allow me
to give you an example of how this transaction works.
Before we begin (whether you plan to be the runner or the Runecrafter),
you must complete the Rune Mysteries quest on the free version of the game.
The quest is incredibly easy and requires no combat what-so-ever, so you
shouldn't have any problem completing it. Upon finishing this quest, you'll
now have the ability to mine Rune Essence and work on the Runecrafting skill
itself. Granted you're not actually gaining Runecrafting experience if you
play the role as the runner, but you need to complete this quest in order to
have access to the Rune Essence mine.
Once you're at this point, you must decide if you want to run Rune
Essence strictly for money, or if you'd like to stay in the Air Temple and
craft the Rune Essence provided by other runners for quick Runecrafting
experience. Keep in mind that if you wish to craft the Rune Essence given to
you by the runners, the process will go much faster and you'll see results
much quicker if you have a lot of money. I would recommend going in with
about 300k-500k so that you can stay awhile. You'll also want to go in with
a hefty amount of noted Rune Essence to trade back. So anyway, if you plan on
being the runner, read through the next section. If you're going to be the
player to craft the Air runes, skip ahead to "The Role of the Runecrafter".
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<====( | III. T H E M E T H O D | )====>
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___________________________
| 1. The Role of the Runner |
|___________________________|
Buy yourself a pickaxe and speak with either Aubury in Varrock
(shopkeeper at the Runes store behind the east bank) or Wizard Sedridor at the
Wizard's Tower located south of Draynor. Ask to be teleported and you'll find
yourself amongst the Rune Essence mines. Mine exactly 25 Rune Essence and
teleport back to the main world via the portal. Make sure you bring either an
Air Talisman or preferably an Air Tiara (since they can be worn) and then log
onto World 16. World 16 is considered the "official" world of Air Running
simply because you'll always find people using this method here. And best of
all, it's a F2P (free-to-play) world, meaning you don't have to be a member in
order to log on there. Now you're about ready to begin!
Make a trek to Falador (or just teleport there if your Magic level is
high enough) and stop at the east bank. The only thing you need in your bag
is the 25 Rune Essence (un-noted). If you're using an Air Talisman make sure
you have that, but I'm assuming you're wearing an Air Tiara so you shouldn't
have anything else.
Walk to the Air Alter located southwest of Falador's east bank. Just
follow the path south until you pass the guards and then begin walking
southwest. You'll know if you're going the right way because everyone and
their mother will probably be doing the exact same thing. When you reach the
Air Alter, just click it to enter and you'll find yourself amongst a giant
crowd of people. The only people you need to pay attention to are the ones
who are saying something along the lines of: "Open 2k and ess back!"
This means that the player is open to trades and will pay you 2k plus
25 noted Rune Essence for you to continue to run back and forth between the
bank and the Air Temple. It may take a while to finally get a trade through
to the Runecrafter (due to the large amount of runners trying to trade), but
once the trade screen comes up, this is what it should look like:
_____________________________ _____________________________
| YOUR OFFER | OPPONENT'S OFFER |
|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|
| O O O O | ___ |
| | | O |x25 2000 coins |
| O O O O | |___| |
| | |
| O O O O | |
| | |
| O O O O | |
| | |
| O O O O | |
| | |
| O O O O | |
| | |
| O | |
|_____________________________|_____________________________|
The O's represent each Rune Essence, so pardon my ASCII skills. To
put this transaction into words, you offer him/her all 25 of your Rune Essence
and they will offer 25 noted Rune Essence plus 2k for running the essence for
them. Now all you have to do is return to Falador, store the noted Rune
Essence that was given to you, then withdraw them in the form of items so you
can repeat the process!
NOTE: Oh, and by the way, if you've been wondering why it's always 25 Rune
Essence, it's because the Runecrafter must have 3 open spaces in their bag for
the money they pay you with, the Air runes that they craft, and the noted
Rune Essence that they give back to you.
Therefore, in a nutshell, the whole idea of running Rune Essence for
other players is strictly for money. It has been argued many times that
running airs for Runecrafters is the fastest way to accumulate money in a
F2P world, and I can agree on many terms (but we'll get into the whole money
business of it later). So basically, you can run back and forth between the
bank and Air Alter as much as your heart's desire or until you just get
completely bored of making money (which won't happen for awhile, believe it or
not).
With earning 2k per trip, it won't take long at all to get your first
100k. If you're lucky, you'll find a player or two who is offering 2.5k per
trip with the essence. Obviously everyone will have the same idea as you and
go for the player who is paying the most, but occasionally you'll get a trade
through to them with no problem. My advice is to always go for the player who
is paying the highest amount plus the 25 noted essence.
Sometimes you'll see players who are paying with Air runes instead of
coins. For example, the higher level Runecrafters will be able to craft 125
or 150 Air Runes with 25 Rune Essence (25 * 5 = 125; 25 * 6 = 150). So
instead of paying with money, they'll trade you the Airs they crafted plus 25
noted Rune Essence (or sometimes just the Air Runes and no essence back).
It's completely up to you if you want to accept cash only or if you want the
Air Runes. Just keep in mind that Air Runes sell for about 15-20 coins each,
so if you sell 125 Air runes at 15 coins each, that's only 1,875 coins as
opposed to the 2,000 you'll get if you accepted straight cash. However, if
you just happen to find a Runecrafter with a Runecrafting level higher than 55
who is paying in Airs plus giving noted Rune Essence back, you're extremely
lucky. This way, you'll get 150 Air Runes back which will sell for 2,250
coins at 15 coins each, thus you're making 250 coins more with each trade than
if you were to accept 2,000 coins cash. But keep in mind that it's very rare
to find a player who won't keep their Air Runes if they're Runecrafting level
is higher than 55.
The third most common Air Running trade is when a player will offer 3k
coins but no Rune Essence. This, in my opinion, is practically useless to the
runner unless they have a giant stash of Rune Essence in their bank, and even
then they're not making much more than the runners who are getting paid 2k and
noted essence per trip. Sure, you might be getting paid more, but you're not
getting any Rune Essence back. So if you only started with the 25 Rune Essence
that you mined yourself, you've just messed it up for yourself. My advice
would be just to stick with getting paid the average 2k and noted essence per
trip, but if you happen to see anyone paying more than 2k per trip (even 2.1k
is better than just 2k), go for them!
________________________________
| 2. The Role of the Runecrafter |
|________________________________|
Now, for those of you who want quick Runecrafting experience and have
the money and Rune Essence to afford it, this is the section for you. Like
the runner, you'll obviously need to complete the Rune Mysteries quest. You'll
also need to calculate exactly how many Rune Essence you'll need along with
the money you'll use to pay your runners. Assuming you're paying 2k per trip
along with 25 Rune Essence, I'm going to use a budget of 500k coins just for
an example. With 500k, your inventory should only have the 500k coins and
6,250 noted Rune Essence. Using this simple equation, you can find out
exactly how many Rune Essence you'll need with the money you're using:
1) 500,000 / 2,000 = 250 <=== # of transactions you can complete
2) 250 * 25 = 6,250 <=== # of noted Rune Essence you'll need
If you're not using 500k, just simply substitute your budget where the
500,000 was in the equation and continue accordingly. Now, you can either
mine all 6,250 Rune Essence (which would take a while), or buy them for 25-30
coins each. So if you paid 25 coins each, that would be 156,250 coins for
6,250 Rune Essence. So in actuallity, you'll need 656,250 coins for the whole
process to begin.
Once you have your money and your noted Rune Essence, put on your Air
Tiara and head to the Air Temple. Enter there and just stand by the Alter
shouting: "Open 2k and ess back!--(insert name here)". It's wise to type at
least a segment of your name so people can visually see who's open. Otherwise
with all of the conversation going on people can't read fast enough to find
out who said what. On the same note, you'll definitely want to put your chat
option on Hide simply for the fact that you can see who's trading with you
without the conversations bumping it up. After saying you're open, you'll get
trades coming from every direction. Accept a trade with somebody and put up
25 noted Rune Essence along with 2k coins. Make sure they offer their 25 Rune
Essence and then complete the trade. You'll now have a bag with your coins,
your noted Rune Essence, and 25 Rune Essence ready to craft (leaving one empty
space for the Air Runes you make). Click on the Air Alter and craft the Air
Runes, and then you're ready to engage in another trade. Continue doing this
over and over until either you run out of money/essence, or you've reached
your Runecrafting goal! At this point, be courteous and tell everyone that
you're now closed. Otherwise, people will continue trading you even as you
walk out of the Air Temple and back to the bank... trust me, it's happened to
me. Oh, and be sure to at least say "Ty" (Thank you) after each completed
trade to show some appreciation. Think about it; without runners this method
couldn't be possible and it wouldn't be nearly as efficient.
That's all there is to it as far as the method goes. Now we can get
into the profits, expenses, and experience gains of this process.
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<====( | IV. P R O F I T S & E X P E N D I T U R E S | )====>
<==\+-------------------------------------------------+/==>
This section is mainly for the Runecrafters because the runners really
don't spend any money in the process (unless you decide to be lazy and buy
your 25 Rune Essence). So if you plan on obtaining fast Runecrafting
experience with this method, let's start with how much money you'll need to
spend just to get started.
To get this process going, you'll need three things: A TON of Rune
Essence, A TON of money, and an Air Tiara (not a Talisman; takes up space).
Put it this way, for every 80k coins you dish out to runners you'll be using
up 1k Rune Essence (assuming that you pay 2k each load). But before we even
start, you must either buy the desired amount of Rune Essence you'll need or
mine them all. And if you plan on achieving 60+ Runecrafting, it's probably
wise to purchase your essence rather than mine them all unless you're
extremely patient and you have a long attention-span. Let's say you purchase
10k Rune Essence to get started. That's 300k coins spent (assuming you buy
for 30 coins each), plus you'll need another 800k coins to pay your runners!
This can easily be figured out in the following equation:
1) 10,000 * 30 = 300,000 <=== amount of money spent on Rune Essence
2) 10,000 / 25 = 400 <=== # of transactions you can complete
3) 400 * 2,000 = 800,000 <=== amount of money you will pay the runners
4) 300,000 + 800,000 = 1,100,000 <=== total amt. of $$ spent on whole process
As you can see, this isn't a cheap process. However, if your
Runecrafting is 77 or higher, you'll actually make a profit in the end (and
you'll see why). For those of you who have a budget on how much you can
spend, use the equation provided in the "Role of the Runecrafter" section
above. Just keep in mind that the 500k coins that I used as an example does
not include the money spent on buying the Rune Essence.
Now that you know how much money you'll need to spend before we start
this method, we can look at the money you will recoperate or lose (depending
on your Runecrafting level). Granted, the more Air Runes you can make per
Rune Essence (and in this case with each 25-essence load) the more money you
will gain from the whole process. Below is a chart that shows how many Air
Runes you can make with 25 Rune Essence at the indicated Runecrafting level:
__________________
| LVL | Air Runes |
|_____|____________|
| 11 | 50 |
|_____|____________|
| 22 | 75 |
|_____|____________|
| 33 | 100 |
|_____|____________|
| 44 | 125 |
|_____|____________|
| 55 | 150 |
|_____|____________|
| 66 | 175 |
|_____|____________|
| 77 | 200 |
|_____|____________|
| 88 | 225 |
|_____|____________|
| 99 | 250 |
|_____|____________|
So as you can see, every 11 Runecrafting levels you'll be able to make
25 more Air Runes with each load of Rune Essence. Now, the reason why I
mentioned earlier that at 77 Runecrafting you'll be making a profit is because
you'll be making 200 Air Runes with every 25 Rune Essence. So looking back on
the numbers we used in the equation above the chart, you'll notice that we
spent 1.1M (1,100,000 coins) total on the process. So after you've crafted
all 10k Rune Essence that you started with, you'll have 80k Air Runes to sell.
Assuming that you sell them at the average price of 15 coins each, you'll rake
in 1.2M (1,200,000 coins). Therefore, you may have only made 100k in profit,
you still made a profit nonetheless.
However, even at level 55 Runecrafting there's a possibility you can
make the same 100k profit with 10k Rune Essence to start with. If you can
find a buyer who will pay 20 coins each for your Air Runes, you'll make the
same 1.2M coins if you were to sell all 60k Air Runes. Figured out in this
equation:
1) 10,000 / 25 = 400 <=== # of transactions you can complete
2) 400 * 150 = 60,000 <=== # of Air Runes you'll make at 55 Runecrafting
3) 60,000 * 20 = 1,200,000 <=== amt. of money made
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
So there you have it! Hopefully you've learned something and will use
this information to your best interest. If I've missed anything or if you
have any comments/criticism please don't hesitate to e-mail me at the address
provided at the top of this FAQ or drop a line in the game (my RuneScape
username is listed underneath my e-mail). I'd love to chat!
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<====( |V. C R E D I T S & A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S | )====>
<==\+-------------------------------------------------------+/==>
First and foremost I'd like to thank JAGeX for making this game as
enjoyable as it is. They allow non-paying players to enjoy possibly one of the
largest free versions of any MMORPG on the net. Thank you!
I'd also like to thank the RuneScape fansite Tip.it for providing loads
of information that I've used so far in my RuneScaping times.
And last, but certainly not least, I want to thank Um Bong0 for his
excellent player-made guide on Air Running on the Tip.it forums. Thank you
for the inspiration!
(c) Ramina 2007
