I normally would write about Magic: The Gathering, but Jagex, the makers of RuneScape, has announced some pretty exciting news: two skills would be recapped at 120! This means new skilling methods, new areas perhaps. Which ones are they going to be? Let’s look at the likelihood of each one!
13) Attack, Strength, Defense, Magic, Ranged. This is easy: the lowest on the list are the combat skills. Combat is a central part of the game, and while they make better and better equipment, the skills will remain maxed at 99 for a good long while. Increasing the level means more accuracy, more damage, higher combat level, and so forth, making the player much better against bosses. Them announcing only two skills means if they boosted these skills, there would be an unbalancing of the combat triangle which they absolutely do not want. Therefore, lowest on the list.
12) Crafting, Runecrafting, Mining, Smithing, Fletching. Much like the combat skills, those that tie directly into them are ranked much lower on the list. Crafting, Fletching, and Smithing would allow better armour and weapons, Runecrafting would likely mean more runes, and Mining would have to be allowed by the extension of Smithing.
11) Hunter. They just rebalanced the experience rates AND introduced a new training method. They’re not going to do it. The only reason this isn’t lower is because the combat and combat tie-ins are on the bottom.
10) Woodcutting, Firemaking. These are pretty low because Firemaking is not a really popular skill. They could rework it to tie in better with other skills (like they did with Smithing), but I don’t see a way other than reducing burning chance with Cooking. They did comment about reworking the Lumber Yard, so maybe Woodcutting deserves a higher slot on the list, but I’m tying it here because Firemaking would have to be boosted as well, which is unlikely.
9) Thieving. Despite being popular, I don’t think this deserves a 120. After unlocking the safecracking perks there’s no real reason to train this other than a few achievements in Prifddinas. A recap could make it relevant, but eh.
8) Prayer, Constitution. Amazingly, these made it up higher despite being combat skills. The reason behind this is that they are point-based skills and thus have a cap on usefulness, although 210 more Prayer and 2100 more Hit points would make combat a lot easier. I put them higher because Prayer desperately needs a new way to train beyond the Ectofunctus/POH gilded altars and now would be a great time to introduce it. Constitution ties in because it’s a point-based skill, as I’ve said. No real reason beyond that.
7) Divination. Divination is an interesting skill, tying into almost every other one and allowing some daily high experience concentration training. It definitely has the ability to fit another 21 levels and still feel interesting. I’d rank it higher, but it’s too new to really make it.
6) Fishing, Cooking. These tie in to the combat skills as new foods means better healing. These could tie in to Herblore and Farming to make combination foods and new effects like what jellyfish and cheesecake did.
5) Herblore. New potions? Sure. It’s really popular, and though it’s a combat tie-in, the juju potions have shown that they can make more skilling versions and make it relevant to everyone.
4) Agility. Much like Divination, this needs a new training method besides running around in circles. Every time they mention a rework, the comments explode with mentions of Agility. How they will do it I have no idea (treadmills? minigames?) but I have full confidence in their ability to do so.
3) Farming. Top three! Yes, they rebalanced the POF rates literally this past week, but it’s a popular skill, it could introduce new foods for Cooking, and possibly other training methods for the POF or in minigames.
2) Summoning. This absolutely MUST happen. It is a huge money sink, is extremely popular by both skillers and fighters, and really, really needs new training methods besides making pouches. Boosting it to 120 means more Summoning points, new familiars, and possibly a complete rework of the skill as it is. MAKE IT HAPPEN!
1) Construction. Number one, hands down, is Construction. If Summoning is a money sink, Construction is a money bathtub. It’s ridiculously expensive to train (barring Warbands; I’m nearly 99 with hardly any effort or expense except for time) and incredibly useful for Prayer training, teleports, pet storage, socializing, and so much more. People have been asking for a rework for years, citing the above reasons. Pushing it to 120 would mean more rooms, a possible rework, new training methods, a minigame, perhaps? The POH is incredibly popular and a rework is in high demand by the players. It’s high time it happened.
Thank you so much for reading! Let me know what you think. I can’t wait for the announcement at RuneFest on October 4th! I love RuneScape, and Jagex has rarely ever made a decision I’ve disagreed with, so I have full confidence that the skills they chose will definitely be worth it. Shoot me a Tweet or leave a comment below to let me know what you think!
