Alex here. I think it’s about time to share my knowledge and experience with you and directly tell you, up front and personally, how to actually DO treasure trails. This isn’t a big-time answer-sheet, but instead a direct how-to on how to actually do the treasure trails themselves. If you don’t understand, then let’s just say that this article is directed to those who have had clue scrolls in their banks for weeks on end.

Most likely all of you. You know who you are.

I understand that some treasure trails are for some, but not all treasure trails are for everyone. Some people like a challenge, and consider level 1 trails too boring. Others find level 3s too confusing and prefer to stick with level 2s just for that extra boost. But ultimately, you need to know what you like on your own. I’ve discovered by experience that you can’t just jump from level 1 to 3 in an instant. No, you need to be prepared for these if you want to do them, as I would call it, “properly”. You need to prepare. For the style, and for the challenges.

What I’m trying to say is that you should try one of each level, figure out which type you like better; not because of the rewards, but because of the do-ability. If you like level 2s much better than level 3s, you’re way better off doing a hundred level 2s to earn the money to buy 3rd Age than doing a hundred level 3s just to get that third age directly.

I can’t stress this enough. Runescape is a GAME! The more you treat it like a game, the more fun it is. Follow the rules, and the rules follow you. Get it in your head. There’s no fun in wasting countless hours repeatedly speeding through level after level of fletching just to wear the cape. It’s the fun in having the ability to just make a bow and arrows from out of nowhere whenever presented with a threat. That’s how it used to be, at least, in the times of RSC. Die in the wilderness or whatever, and then you run to the mines, mine some metal to be made into arrowheads, chop a few trees, and boom, you’re back to ranging in no time.

Now that that’s out of my system (and yours, hopefully), let me teach you how to do clue scrolls in such a way that they’re fun, easy, fast, and easily profitable.

Insofar, there are 3 levels of clue scroll. One day, the time will come where level 4s, gotten from King Black and other “boss” monsters will appear discouraging all use of coinshare for the chance to get Pure Armor or whatever, but it’s not going to be for a few months. Yes, you heard me, I made a prediction. There WILL be level 4 clues, and they WILL have some pretty wicked rewards.

For now, though, we have 3 levels of clue. Easy, moderately easy, and challenging-unless-you-do-them-a-lot hard. To discover which one you like best, I’ve written up a simple and quick test. Won’t even take a minute of your time. Answer these 5 questions with a yes/no answer. NO MAYBES, NO SORTAS, just yes or no, straight across. GO!

• Are you Runescape street-smart?
• Are you patient?
• Are you ambitious?
• Are you determined?
• Are you rich?

If you could only answer yes to one of them (or none at all), then I recommend level 1s for a while until you can say “yes” to a few others. Take this test as much as you want, but it won’t work unless you answer honestly.

If you answered yes to 2 or 3 of them, no matter which ones they are, I highly recommend level 2s. However, if one of the “no”s is the “smart” question, then stick with level 1. I doubt this will be the case for you, though.

But, if you trudged through, and answered all the questions while admitting you are poor or undetermined, then I would definitely say you should go for the big one – level 3. It’s challenging enough to be fun, and profitable enough to make itself worthwhile to do in the first place.

That wasn’t so bad, was it? All right, onto the clues.

There are 4 types of clues altogether. Riddles, coordinates, map, and spy. Some are as annoying as the next, especially those coordinate clues. With those, though, just remember that each square is 2 minutes, there are 60 minutes in a degree, and the astronomy on the world map is 0N 0E.

Riddles are easy. If you’re having trouble figuring out where to go, actually go to potential spots that you might think is the right one. For example, if you read “where the guards carry maces”, think about where guards are, and teleport there. Go to Edgeville, Falador, and Ardougne to see just which guards actually have maces. Make a quick mental note of it the next time you see this clue (or even screenshot it), because if you become an avid treasure trailer, the chances are 42 / 43 that you will see it again. This is another reason why I highly advise you stay on one level.

Map … also easy. Just throw up the world map and scan it over. If a place looked even remotely possible simply due to shape, then actually go there and check it out. 9/10 times it’s the right place. Otherwise you’ll know it when you see it, despite the intentional lack of detail.

Lastly, spies. Wield 3 items and emote. Expensive if you don’t have that runite plate, though. This is yet another reason why you should stick with one level. Once you do a spy clue, KEEP WHAT YOU USED, and put it in the bank. They should only take up to 20 slots maximum, give or take the odd super-easy-to-get item (like bronze pickaxes). That way, if you go another trail and get the same clue again, boom. Trip to the bank and you’re set.

Getting the clue scrolls themselves is the hardest part. They’re as frequent as gem drops, if not, less. You can only get one at a time, so oce you get one, “accidently” click your teleport and go out and do it. The more quickly you do them, the more you will get. Simple as that. For every monster you kill if you already have a clue scroll, that’s one potential less clue scroll, and the lost possibility of something worth millions! Unacceptable!

A word of advice: If you want to get clue scrolls, find a monster that you like fighting that drops them, and stick with it.

If you have just become a member, and are wanting to get some quick riches, armor, and involvement in the vast land of Runescape, look no farther than the quick-and-easy level 1 treasure trails. Say good-bye to having to beg for members items and hello to one of the easiest and funnest first-time money-makers on the members server.

There are lots of enemies you can fight to get level 1 clues. You can fight the abundance of guards in Al Kharid, or the multitude of men in Seers Village Bar, or even the grandeur of goblins in Lumbridge. However, if you want your clue scrolls in 15-minute intervals almost guaranteed, look no further than the HAM fanatics camp. Make a priority to get level 15+ thieving, and pick their pockets dry. If you get and wear full HAM robes, I can almost guarantee that with persistence and perseverance, you will get clues within 15 minutes each time (especially with higher thieving and agility levels and proper food).

Level 1 clues are incredibly easy, since they always directly tell the player exactly where to go. There are only riddle clues and map clues, and even those are super-straightforward. Even if you don’t know who to talk to, just teleport or run over to the location (known via world map), and ask a random adventurer for a direction or two.

Level 1 clues last from 2 to 4 clue scrolls each. I once even had a glitched clue from a chest that opened twice and gave me the treasure on the first location. All you need to do these are a few law runes for teleports, which I am confident you can easily replace with the rewards from the treasure trail. Very rarely you can’t.

With these clues, you either seek out an NPC and talk to them, seek out some drawers or a chest, appease a spy with equipment or emotes, or dig via treasure map. A spade is a must-have, since you can’t complete those without it. All the locations either require an incredibly quick and easy quest solved, or none at all. Sometimes, you will encounter a locked drawer bearing a note. It will subliminally mention a creature that exists nearby, which you need to kill in order to obtain a key. They’re usually very easy, like a man or rat, so don’t worry too much about fighting equipment or food.

Unfortunately, you will occasionally get the ever-annoying Spymaster Clues, which involve you obtaining some cheap armor and equipment (gold rings, iron chains, bronze larges, steel swords, etc). These items are, for the most part, buyable from somewhere (most likely Varrock or Falador). Otherwise, they don’t involve a very high level to smith or craft. I highly advise that, once you get that clue and those three items, you stick them in a tab of your bank space. This way, should you continue doing these clues, you’ll have the equipment needed for all spymaster clues and won’t have to spend another coin on them. Plus, when you upgrade yourself from Level 1 to Level 2 clues, you can simply dispose of these items or even donate them to other level 1 trailers.

If you can, though, walk or run as much as possible. I highly recommend you get the level 3 Lumbridge Achievement Diary reward for free energy recharges and a suitable in-the-middle-of-it-all free teleport ability. I also recommend you get as many different types of teleports as possible, namely doing the Biohazard quest and the Watchtower quest for the Ardougne and Yanille teleports. Either that, or find another good source of restoring run energy. Spirit Terrorbirds or Bull Ants, energy and super energy potions, or even a high agility level is all beneficial to this cause.

So, to summarize, here’s a quick-tip list of everything I explained:

Best Way to Obtain Level 1 Clue Scrolls:

• Pickpocket HAM members.

Equipment Needed:

• Spymaster equipment, ranging from bronze and brass to steel and gold
• Spade

Efficiency-Boosting Items (Entirely Optional)

• Law and elemental runes for teleportation
• Level 3 Lumbridge Diary Reward
• Energy Potions
• Level 3 Lumbridge Diary Reward

Level 2 treasure trails are perhaps some of the least popular, since there’s no real super-eay way to get them. All the monsters worth fighting drop level 3s, and you get level 1s very easily from HAM, leaving the level 2s to be fairly uncommon. This is why the animal masks still cost quite a number, because there simply aren’t that many excessive level 2 treasure trailers. They’re not much harder than level 1s, but they do require quite a bit of street-smarts. But again, it’s simply asking around that you’ll find your way easily. Otherwise, trial and error.

Again, find a favorite monster and stick with it. The easiest things to fight for these clues are guards of every nature: Ardougne, Edgeville, Falador, Varrock, etc. There are some other monsters that drop them, but they’re usually either somewhat obsolete or simply too annoying to fight, as they take more to fight than they give. However, there is one creature that stands out from the rest: The Lighthouse Dagannoth. After doing the Horror of the Deep quest, you’ll have access to the best source of level 2 clue scrolls in Runescape insofar. Not only are they easy to fight and hardly ever damage you should you wear the right armor (Guthan or something tough like dragon), but their defense is low, there’s a large number of them in a small space, and the area is multi-combat so you can take your canon there for Runescape’s fastest (and expensive) possible method of ranged training. Once the cannon’s set up, it’s only a matter of scanning the ground and picking up the goodies, including snapdragon seeds, raw fish (Bunyip special for the win?), caskets, and, of course, clue scrolls.

While they boast perhaps the same sorts of clue types as the level 1s, they also introduce the newer player to a new type altogether – the coordinate clue. In order to do these clues, one must first complete the Astronomy Quest, so if you’re not a quester, you’re pretty well stuck on level 1s. Not to worry, the quest itself is very straightforward (get some molten glass from Entrana). Once you get your first coordinate clue, head up to the astronomy building, which, yes, involves taking that annoying maze through, and you’ll do a quick mini-quest to obtain a sextant, watch, and chart used to pull these off. Mind you, even if you decide to cheat and use the fabled RSBANDB Interactive World Map to pinpoint your coordinates, the game will not let you get the casket unless you actually have the sextant, watch, and chart (and spade) in your inventory, so this mini-quest and quest is a given.

Of course, you could be lucky and pull off a level 2 without a single coordinate clue, which is possible since they only last 3-5 clue scrolls, but that’s taking your chances. Should you get your fifth and it’s a coordinate clue, you’ve wasted your time.

Now then, how to do them. You already know from how to do level 1s on how to do the spymaster (steel to adamantite items), maps, and riddles, but coordinates are a whole different story. Using the astronomy as a general hub, you need to almost estimate where the location is before heading over with your sextant and testing it out. If you want to do it without aid, you will be doing a lot of trial and error. Just remember these simple tips:

• There are 60 minutes in a degree in whichever direction.
• One walkable square is equal to roughly 2 minutes
• If you get a difference of an odd number of minutes, round it up to the higher number (Ex: If you need to go 7 minutes east, walk 4 squares)
• You will get the casket if you dig in the 3×3 square around the exact coordinate, so guessing the spot is easily done.

The spymaster clues, aside from their upgrade in armor requirements, also involves you doing a double-emote. Simply enough, do the first emote to summon the spymaster Uri, and then when he appears, do the second one. Then talk to him. If you didn’t do it right, he’ll say “I don’t believe we have any business”, but he won’t vanish, so just try the second one again until he turns over the goods. Also, only one Uri can appear at a time, so if there’s somebody already trying to appease the paranoid HAM dude, wait until Uri vanishes before you try to summon him. Also, I noticed a number of them involves green dragonhide something.

The riddles are a little tougher. They only mention the general area without proper names (except to mention a rather obsolete name), referring the town as “where —- does —-” instead of using the name. There are also anagram clues, which involve a little practice with scrabble before you can master them. Also, some of them reside in Morytania, so you’ll need to do the Priest in Peril quest to get through.

The maps don’t really change, except for the fact they’re a little more obsolete.

You will also come across challenge scrolls, which involve a little mini-quest. Usually a calculator is involved with a few of them, but I’m almost positive you’ll find one on your computer. Otherwise, Google’s got a calculator built-in.

So, to summarize, here’s a quick-tip list of everything I explained:

Best Way to Obtain Level 2 Clue Scrolls:

• Cannon against the Lighthouse Dagannoth (Horror from the Deep quest required)

Equipment and Quests Needed:

• Spymaster equipment, ranging from steel to adamantite with the occasional sapphire and emerald jewelery
• Spade
• Sextant, watch, and chart (must have all three)
• Priest in Peril Quest and the Observatory Quest.
• Full green dragonhide (as they are the premise of about 75% of the spymaster clues)
• A few clues are in some fairly obscure locations that you need rope to get to.

Efficiency-Boosting Items (Entirely Optional)

• Law and elemental runes for teleportation
• Level 3 Lumbridge Diary Reward
• Energy Potions
• Spirit Terrorbird or Bull Ant. Basically anything that helps restore energy.

Level 3 clue scrolls. The big daddy of traveling puzzles. A challenge in mind and body, these things boast the chance of death with almost every single coordinate clue you get at their level. And when you’re not praying to protect your hide, you’re struggling to solve subliminal ciphers and forcing focus frantically on philosophical flaws for fortune.

… yes, I’m over-exaggerating. Yes, I sound cheesy. I know, I know.

4 out of 5 times, you can ask someone why they won’t do their level three clue scroll, and their answer will be “Because I can’t get to it”. We’re talking clue scroll locations wedged in the wilderness, trapped in Tirannwin, grabbed in Gu’tanoth, and kept in the Kharazi Jungle. Either a high-level skill or a quest requirement is needed for roughly 40% of all the clues, and a large chunk of the rest are smack dab in the middle of the wilderness. Yes, the wilderness, where the last 1 out of 5 will say they will give up on their because.

Ah, but why would Third Age be so expensive if they were easy? Why are you looking at half a million minimum for a piece of Zamorak trimmed armor? Why is the top hat such a novelty item? Yes, despite the high risk and level of difficulty, these things can turn you into a multi-millionaire in 5 or less trails if you’re lucky enough. Even if there’s no Third Age, who can say no to a free set of runite armor pieces, purple sweets (energy rechargers and Runescape’s only stackable food item [just don’t take them to More Myre …]) gilded furniture flatpacks, and black dragonhide sets? Totally worth it.

If you’re an excessive level 2 treasure trailer, these clues will boast nothing extraordinarily new to you. You’ll still be flipping that sextant and reading those maps. But whatever you do, there will usually be some form of danger involved. That’s why, to do these clues properly, you’ll need to prepare yourself. And that means: Get yourself some gear dedicated directly towards the cause.

Naturally, it’s gotta be armor that’s tough, but inexpensive. Proselyte, runite, granite, or even a set of Karils. I personally prefer proselyte due to the prayer bonus and that it’s comparatively tough. A neitiznot helmet, boots of lightweight, and the Falador shield are also items I prefer to use, since they’re easy and cheap to replace should I lose them. For the wilderness, I equip a salve amulet (more on that later), Jennica’s ring, and a forinthry bracelet. The ring gives you access to teleports in the middle of the wilderness so you can make quicker, easier escapes. The bracelet, an enchanted diamond one, prevents you from being teleblocked (you still get teleblocked, but with the bracelet on, you can teleport regardless!). And the salve amulet … well, since when did I tell you that you have to “run” from the revenants? Slug a super attack, strength, and prayer, flip on piety, and drill those revenants down to dirt (Jennica’s ring even gets you better drops). Just remember that, under any circumstance or situation, whatever you do, do NOT engage in combat against a revenant dragon. Don’t be afraid to overstock your inventory with food. Grab the casket and get to the safety of a nearby bank before you open it. Simple as that.

… I’ve pretty much said all I can about the basics of clue scrolls now. The anagram clues will now point to names rather than professions, and make them as obscure and long as possible (Shiratti the Custodian, Cam the Camel, etc.). If you can, try to find smaller words in there like “the” or “wizard”, because they’ll help a lot if you can isolate a familiar pattern within them. Riddle clues, well, they are usually very subliminal, but once you understand them, they should be very clear. Sometimes they are anagrams, other times they are same-sounders, like “Surprising” (Sir Prysin). Usually anything in quotation marks or oddly-colored text are secret anagrams. Maps are all the same, but they include locations in the wilderness. Fortunately, they never spawn Zamorak wizards (only the coordinate clues spawn wizards).

If there’s a quest of skill requirement in order to get to a specific location, then consider this clue as a way of motivating you to get this skill or quest done. Assume that every trail that involves this will yield Third Age, since when it doesn’t, at least you will have the skill and quest done and still be on top.

And puzzle boxes … well, all I can advise there is trial and error. After enough practice, you’ll find a workable pattern with them, and become a master. You just have to practice, that’s all.

And, of course, here’s a quick-tip list of everything I explained:

Best Way to Obtain Level 3 Clue Scrolls:

• Aberrant Spectres or Mighty Banshees, but only if you have a salve amulet and slayer level. Otherwise, jellies.

Equipment and Quests Needed:

• Spymaster equipment, ranging from runite and blue dragonhide, to diamond and dragonstone jewelery.
• Spade (usually guaranteed you’ll need one)
• Sextant, watch, and chart (must have all three)
• Priest in Peril Quest and the Observatory Quest, as well as several others. Heck, just have a quest cape and you’d be perfect.
• Full blue dragonhide (as they are the premise of about 95% of the spymaster clues)
• Extreme street-smarts
• Highly recommended Wilderness Explorers Kit: proselyte body and legs, Neitiznot helmet, whip, Falador Shield, lightweight boots, salve amulet, forinthry bracelet, Jennica’s ring, and whatever else you want to bring, including food, potion, and escape teleport.

Efficiency-Boosting Items (Entirely Optional)

• Law and elemental runes for teleportation
• Level 3 Lumbridge Diary Reward
• Energy Potions, Spirit Terrorbird, etc. Especially in the wilderness.
• Anti-poison or some way to cure it, since it’s easy to get poisoned against Saradomin mages and revenants.

… yeah, that’s it. I advise you get into clue scrolls, because even if they aren’t rewarding, easy, or worthwhile, they still are fun and interesting no matter what happens. It’s the suspense that trailers live for, after all. Good luck, and save me a few sweets out there!