Heyo!

So, when we were asked what we wanted to write about, I naturally picked that I wanted to write about treasure trails. Simply because I enjoy them. They’re diverse, get me moving away from a routine, and are uncommon enough to avoid being a chore (but actually getting them is).

Unfortunately, because the month of February got its last week clipped off because SOMEBODY traveled back in time on tour and accidentally sneezed on the original Gregorian calendar *eyes Nuli*, I’m not going to have enough time to really get into it and obtain a proper analysis out of it.

So, instead, I’m going to do y’all one better:

You get to join me on my journey to complete my first ever Master difficulty Clue Scroll!

Please Note: Even though I had access to the list of costume requirements, I did nothing whatsoever to prepare for this update. This means that should the lava cape be required, I may have to do the Fight Caves before I can finish the clue… or invade my costume room. I could be lucky.

But that’s all a part of the experience, isn’t it? Let’s make this an adventure!

And away we go!

#$%@!

Alright, I can tell we’re going to have a fun time.

IMac it is!

After modifying some settings at the billboard (no more easy/medium clue scrolls; yay me), I am ready to begin! Opened up my fresh new cyan-sealed clue (the best kind of seal) and unravelled the parchment:

Ooh. Already liking the new interface.

Eastern lands are pretty diverse, but they’re not really that big. Should be easy to find provided it’s not on an uncharted isle or anything.

Started off on Tuai Lite, saw it pointed Southeast. Then I tried Waiko and it pointed Northeast. Only island there is Whale’s Maw, so that had to be it.

After resolving our conflict with polite civilized conversation (and dying a little inside), I dug up my first scroll box. If it was anything like how the other tiers progressed, I was probably going to go through this 10 times.

Sounds fun. Let’s see what the next one is:

Oh. Now this is getting interesting. I’ve got the Ghostly Cloak in my costume room and I chiselled my Iban’s Staff from my Runescape Classic days out of the back wall of the vault. All that’s left is… a cavalier.

… a level 3 treasure trail item… that I actually don’t have…

… and it drops fortunate components…

…

… costume-skipping ticket it is! Yeah, I know, I’m kinda cheating, but look at it this way. That’s one less person on the market for one of these now stupid-valuable items, and therefore, one more person will get theirs in due time. I’m a selfless guy!

I butchered a poor helpless international espionage agent and chatted with Uri, who had not changed much, and got my next scroll box. Alright, I’m on a roll!

But I felt bad about the costume skipping ticket. I’ll make an effort to ensure I can secure a cavalier whenever I do more hard clue scrolls.

And for the hidey-hole.

Alright, next one:

Ooh. Dragons. Dragon defender. Good thing I got a spare. Dragon rider amulet comes from the quest, no big deal.

But the dragon mask… another treasure trail reward…

… ah, I’ll just put Nuli on my shoulders and wear a larger outfit.

Apparently Uri wears the cheese. I took my scroll box, tied him in a strait-jacket, and feed him to one of the celestial dragons. It commented on the overwhelming taste of tarragon. I had no comment.

At least this time I could make the hidey hole.

Added my amulet, defender, and… oh, right. Nuli. Can’t add him in there, can I?

Fortunately, while I was pondering a way to trick him into staying in the rock forever, Nuli went and savagely decapitated one of the nearby celestial dragons, hollowed out its skin-covered skull, and gave it to me as an “offering of peace”. I… decided not to think any more of it.

Clue scroll number 4:

Wow, how long has it been since I did one of these?

Unfortunately, the sentence itself kinda gave it away, and it was less than a minute before I was speaking with Dionysus.

Now, I was expecting something from him. Something intense that made the Master Treasure Trail truly something for the intense. A 7×7 puzzle box, or a 5-way celtic knot, or a challenge to count every boarded up window in Miscellania.

… he gave me my next clue scroll and told me to get out of his house and stop my habit of freeloading.

Never fails. Still his Saradomin staff once and never live to hear the end of it. The elves would’ve forgiven me in, like, 20 minutes. Not this guy.

Ah well. Next clue, number… 5, I think?

…

This… this is a master clue, right? Like, the tier 5 one? The super-difficult one? Like, I didn’t just accidentally grab a dreaded “medium” and mistaken it for a master because I only ever read the first letter in every wor-

Yup. Yup, the second letter is an “a”. Has to be a “Master” clue scroll. Unless it’s a Margarine Clue Scroll, but I’m too lazy to look into it further.

Alright, one shark. Let’s do this.

Unfortunately I caught, like 15 Great White Sharks before catching a regular one.

Alright.

… now what? I caught a shark… I use it on the clue scroll?

I use it on Dionysus?

Huh. Suddenly this got a lot more interesting.

I looked at the clue again. Particularly at the last line. “That don’t impress me much”. Naturally, I checked out the lyrics and singer, but that didn’t give me any clues.

So I thought, maybe I’m thinking too literally. I took a step back and thought; since when do people get impressed by fishing? Or rather, who is not easily impressed? Of course, I tried the fishing colony and Miscellania (Ghrim still hates me for setting fire to his house – it was a thought experiment).

So I opened the world map. Maybe the fisherman in Relekka?

 

Nope.

So, I decided to just try fishing there. Maybe something interesting will happen-

I caught two shark at once. Because prawn points.

Wow. Totally didn’t see that coming. That… was actually really cool! A happy little accident, yes, but still very clever. It wasn’t an NPC to talk to nor was it song lyrics; it legitimately was a challenge from the clue scroll. Mind, it would’ve made a little more sense if it was a question mark after “catching only one shark”, but I never thought the “me” actually referred to the clue itself. Crafty.

Right, enough praising a piece of paper. What’s next?

OK, NOW it’s on!

I’ve already got the cithara. I stole it from the abbey by replacing it with a large stick of celery. They’ve yet to notice.

Saradomin’s Murmur is an amulet dropped by Zilyana that I’ve never gotten (come to think of it, a lot of NPCs hate me). A ring of devotion is a noob ring you get from giving a clay ring to the Father in Lumbridge.

Let’s see if I can’t get that Murmur from the G.E…

Easy. Ran to Lumbridge to get the ring, and I was ready.

… to not use a costume ticket. I mean, I basically spent 2 million coins to not use a 200,000 coin ticket, and I’m going to spend more on the hidey-hole.

But darn it, you gotta pay to have fun!

Bring it on, Marco!

Uri still wears the cheese, by the way.

You may notice I don’t take pictures with him. That’s because whenever I try doing that, he takes my scrying orb and does things with it that would make Zamorak himself squirm at night. You think Marco is scary when he’s mad? Well… don’t get on Uri’s bad side.

Got yet another box. What are we at now? 7? If this was an elite, this would be the last one. Hopefully it’s not…

Oh, back to the Eastern Lands. And to a relatively small island with a relatively huge scan range. I feel spoiled all of the sudden.

Alright. I guess I kinda called that one.

So that was it. That was my first ever master clue scroll treasure trail! It was a lot of fun seeing some of the new riddles and trying out the new actions. I’m glad they kept to the roots of the treasure trails and expanded on existing riddles rather than invent new ones because they maintained a familiar territory.

Thank you so much you guys for being with me throughout my journey, and-

… wait wait wait, what?!

Well son of a gun!

You guys know that puzzle in Daemonheim that everyone likes to skip? This is the evolved form. You got three types of tiles that you gotta match, and there’s forcing.

…

YEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAH!

PUZZLE PUZZLE PUZZLE!

*CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK*

GOOD ENOUGH!

*click*

That’s right. There was a casket inside the casket.

I went home.

So yeah. That was it. My first master clue. All in all, I had a great time. It wasn’t too different from the usual tedium that treasure trails had to offer. The prospect of creating 58 hidey-holes all around Runescape filled with junk is something I’m looking forward to.

Otherwise, yeah. More rewards, a new treasure trail store that lets you buy gear to help you out, new clues and puzzles that span even more of Runescape; this was a great update. Couldn’t have been easy because of the sheer scope of the game.

There is also a nice big list of treasure trail achievements to do, but I imagine that all future updates will add to this list. It’s how we get “score” in this game now. We need the points. All the points.

Although I don’t think I’ll be affected by it, I do like how you complete the treasure trail right as you get the casket, not when you open it. This means that players can stockpile caskets and open them whenever they want. Maybe as a video promotion, or maybe just out of sheer superstition.

Or, maybe it may benefit some players to start stockpiling them and wait until the summer weekends where clue scrolls may get a bonus (free re-rolls?). Just a thought.

I’ll always be opening them right from the get-go, though.

And before I let you guys go, I’m going to answer the question I’m always asked.

Is it worth it?

My answer:

Always.

(Those are pyjama slippers. Now my feet won’t get cold in the morning.)

Until next time,

Cheers, cannoneers!