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Artisan revisited

Introduction
We’ve received a huge amount of feedback on the new artisan skill and we want to take it all on board and update the concept for the new skill.

The largest portion of feedback was that you wanted the skill to incorporate gathering skills, be able to unlock additional content, open new areas and give you help and new ways to level existing skills. Writing a skill is not a small job and with the scale of the changes we think should be made it is not something which we feel should be rushed. Therefore, we haven’t a fleshed out skill for you today, however we wanted to let you know the basics behind the changes so you can tell us if we are on the right track.

The overall aim of what we have changed is to add extra content to almost every non-combat skill which is unlocked via your artisan level. This may mean making new items, gathering new resources or access to new areas. To make this happen we have included gathering skills with the option of turning the gathered resources into brand new items which will benefit existing skills. Creating these items will also give you points which you will be able to use to customise the assignments your artisan master gives you.

Gathering resources
To level your artisan skill you still need to visit an artisan master and get assignments from them. Your artisan master will first give you an assignment to gather some resources. What the artisan master will ask you to collect will depend on your levels and the level of artisan master you are talking too. Here is our initial thoughts on what he could ask you to collect.


As you can see from the table above there are some new resources you can gather, quartz, ash logs, elm logs, redwood logs and great kyatt fur. Here is a breakdown of how we see them fitting into each skill.


Each artisan master will grant you access to a resource area which contains the new resources plus a selection of other resources which you will find useful. You will be able to access this area whether you have an artisan task or not. Once you have gathered the resources your artisan master has asked for you should head back to talk to him and he will give you some artisan XP based on the XP you earnt gathering them.

Using your resources
Once you have collected your resources and have received your artisan XP you will have the option of asking the artisan for another gathering assignment or a crafting assignment. If you choose another gathering assignment, your artisan master will give you one and you can keep the resources you have already gathered.

If you ask for a crafting assignment your artisan master will ask you to use the resources you have gathered to make an item. The items you will be asked to make will be brand new items specific to the artisan skill. You will use only the resource from your gathering task and your level in another skill to make this item, you will receive XP in both artisan and the other skill you have used.

For example, your gathering task may be to collect 160 pure essence. If you ask for a crafting assignment you might be asked to create elemental runes (runes which act as all of the elements), you will receive runecrafting XP when crafting the runes and artisan XP when that task has been completed. When you next speak to your artisan master, he will give you another gathering task.

In order to craft anything in a crafting assignment, you will need to use an artisan’s workshop. Each artisan will give you access to their workshop if you have the right artisan level. Alternatively if you have the right construction level, you can build your own in your POH. The majority of the items you can make for artisan will only be able to be made while you have an assignment to make it, however they will be tradable.

Artisan points
Each time you complete a gathering assignment and the corresponding crafting assignment you will receive some artisan points. These points can be used to customise the assignments you are given or block skills that you do not want to level. For example, you might want to block getting any assignment skills for smithing if you already have 99 smithing. Alternatively, you might prefer to not do mining and block that skill. If you don’t want to spend your time catching dark crabs, you can block specific tasks too. The amount of tasks and skills you can block will be limited.

Artisan crafting task items
Here are some of the concepts we have for some of the items you can make while doing artisan. Your feedback is much appreciated as are any ideas you have for items that you would like to be able to make.

Slow burners – Slow burners are made from grinding coal in to dust and then applying it to logs. This helps a log to burn for longer but is also more difficult to set alight. You will receive herblore XP for making the slow burners and each log you burn will give you a small amount of extra XP than the log would give on its own.

Bracelets – Silver and gold bracelets will give you greater chances to receive resources when levelling gathering skills. These bracelets will degrade over time. When making a bracelet you will receive crafting XP

Combining runes – You will be able to use artisans runecrafting altar to create new runes which act as multiple types of runes . For example you can create a doom rune which will act as both a death rune and a chaos rune. You will receive runecrafting XP when making these runes.

Quartz figurines – You will be able to craft quartz into figurines. When you honour the Gods by placing this figurine in your house, you have a chance to create two flat packs from the materials for one along with the corresponding XP. You receive construction XP for making the figurines.

Construction shortcuts – You can turn granite into slabs which can be used to build shortcuts on the world map, for example building a bridge across the River Lum. When making the slabs you will receive construction XP. These construction shortcuts will need repairing if you want to continue using them.

Adapted pickaxes and hatchets – You can make pickaxes and hatchets which have no combat requirements to equip and no combat stats. Creating these will give you smithing XP.

Totems – You can use logs you receive to make a wide variety of totems, when burnt totems can increase the resources you receive from gathering skills, reduce the chances of burning food, replenishing your run energy more quickly or give you a damage boost against certain types of creatures.

What else does artisan unlock?
Levelling artisan will also unlock new items that you will be able to make at any time. For example, you will unlock the ability to be able to make your own clothing including clothing that will aid you gather and craft items during artisan assignments, low level magic robes and a large selection of clothing which you can dye to really customise your appearance.

We'd love to hear your ideas for other things the artisan skill can unlock, please do let us know.

A word about balancing
Balancing a new skill is something which is very tricky. At this stage in the process we can’t be sure what the XP rates will be, but we will make sure you are all well aware of the XP rates prior to release. What we can say though is that everything we do for the skill will be designed not to devalue any existing skills but act as an alternative to levelling other skills. We don’t want to devalue the effort players have put in to getting their skills where they are and we want to maintain the ethos that those who put the hard work in will get the benefit of higher skill levels.

What next?
The next step is to see what you have to say about this and make any adjustments that you want to see. If we are on the right track, we will start fleshing this out further and putting in detail on the new items and how they work. If you do have feedback, please leave it in this thread and please do tell us why you feel the way you do. Just saying ‘that’s great’ or ‘I’m voting no’ is about as much use as a chocolate teapot, so say why you think it is great or why you are going to vote no.

Mods Alfred, Ash, John C, Mat K, Reach and Weath
The Old School Team