SKILL OF THE MONTH

The skill I would like to talk about this month is: AGILITY.

Not very many people take the agility skill seriously. For starters, they teleport all over the place rather then walk (or run) to save time. Also, one of the more popular and well-recommended agility training spots is in the middle of the highest-level wilderness, which is something that nobody would like to have to experience for hours on end. Lots of people also believe that the agility skill is quite useless, since it doesn’t make you easy money.

However, I’m not here to agree with them. I’m here to tell everyone out there who is taking the time to read this (May Holy Saradomin shine upon thee and cast thee luck for a hundred dragon chain mails upon thy dust devil slayers) just how good the agility skill is and how much they are missing out by leaving it at a low level.

First and most obvious, the energy recharge rate. When you run around the land of Runescape, you slowly run out of run energy. Although it can easily be replenished by a super energy potion, not very many people like to spend large amounts of money paying for the capability to run for much longer.

Instead, those high in the level of agility will find that their run energy recharge rate will recharge faster with each surpassing level.

As an example, Karl 67 and I have a 10-level difference in our agility levels (Darn him). We timed our energy recharge rate from 0% and by the time that Karl had gotten to 100%, I was still in the low 90s. Not much of a difference now, but imagine the difference when you train yourself from level 20 agility all the way to level 80. Your energy recharge rate could close to double its speed! Very useful, especially out in the wilderness when you need to escape Pkers. With the addition to the recharge rate, your drain rate slows down while you run, giving you more time and ability to run away and live to fight again.

Another key feature to the agility skill is the shortcuts. The Jagex Team had strategically placed the shortcuts all around the map to shorten the time needed to access those areas as well as prevent teleports from getting around them.

For example, a high level slayer might enjoy the battling of abyssal demons in the slayer tower. Inside are 2 chains that he can climb, which would not only decrease the time it takes him to get there by nearly 300%, but they would also help him avoid a number of monsters like the banshees and gargoyles, saving him more health and prayer for the task at hand.

Or, somebody might like fighting the Black Dragons or Black Demons in Taverly Dungeon. A shortcut that leads from the starting ladder straight to the poison spiders in mere seconds is available for those with level 80 and above agility. Not only does it revert the minutes it takes to get there into its amount of seconds, but it also saves an inventory space since the player would no longer need the dusty key required to access it. A good herbalist might also like to take the opportunity to achieve level 70 agility to access the shortcut to the blue dragon scales for making weapon poisons and anti-dragon breath potions almost instantly.

There are even some areas out there that can only be accessed by a high agility level. The Isaffdar forest being one of them, since level 56 agility is required to do the Regicide quest. What good is it? Well, once the Regicide quest is done, a player would be allowed to start Mournings End Part 1, which will give them access to the town of Lletya (and a teleport crystal for there), which is home to the closest flax to a bank in the whole of Runescape. The flax are 4 times closer to a bank then the ones in Seers Village, only being about 4% run energy points away, which is easily recharged while the player picks flax. Anyone who enjoys fletching would love this amazing shortcut they can unlock with level 56 agility.

Another amazing shortcut is the agility dungeon near Yanille. If a player gets level 67 agility, he would be able to access the home of Salaran the Twisted. He can only be killed by mind spells, which unfailingly do vast amounts of damage (fire strike deals 12 damage), giving the caster lots of exp for mind spells. This training spot not only benefits mages, but also herbalists, as not only chaos druids litter the area, but salaran himself might drop a key that opens a nearby chest, giving the herbalist access to a large amount of high-level herbs, including Ranarr, Kwuarm, Lantadyme, and even Torstol.

Sounds amazing? It IS amazing. But how does one go about training this skill without getting his hide shot down by someone in full Karil? Look no further then the Brimhaven Agility Course. For a mere 200 coins (and an entire inventory of food), a player can access the cavern of agility traps and pillars and attempt to grab as many tickets as they can as fast as they can. It’s challenging, and never boring, especially when they bring some friends to compete with, and the exp gained from the tickets is extremely effective.

Karl 67 got 1000 tickets from the course, and his level jumped from level 63 to 70 in that one moment he clicked the 1000 ticket-to-exp trade button. He not only got 1000 tickets for exp, but he also went ahead and got enough tickets for 2 pirate hooks – 2600 in total! And how long did that take him?

Only about 2 weeks, average of 6 hours a day. Each ticket only takes an average of 2 minutes to get.

So what are you waiting for? Grab some food and a number of friends and train your agility today! You won’t regret it!