This app is RuneScape 3, the modern client, not Old School RuneScape. Jagex runs 29 skills here, and the newest of them, Necromancy, arrived on 7 August 2023 as a fourth combat style that sits outside the melee, ranged and magic triangle. Necromancy, Invention and Archaeology all climb to level 120 instead of stopping at 99.
Starting RuneScape can feel overwhelming. This guide tells you exactly what to focus on during your first hours so you don't waste time on things that don't matter yet. For the full progression path, see our walkthrough.
What Kind of Game Is This?
RuneScape is a mmo game built around Necromancy as a fourth combat style and Revolution and Full Manual ability bars. The core loop involves mastering these systems to progress through increasingly challenging content.
What to expect: Time investment in learning mechanics, experimentation, and gradual mastery. The game rewards patience and knowledge.
Choosing Your First Build
| Build | Beginner Rating | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Necromancer | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Melee | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Ranged | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Magic | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Skiller | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
Our recommendation: Start with Melee. It offers the most forgiving experience while teaching core mechanics.
Avoid Skiller as your first pick. It requires deep knowledge of game systems to use effectively. Once you're ready, check our classes guide for all options.
First Session Step-by-Step
Step 1: Learn Necromancy as a fourth combat style
Necromancy ignores the melee, ranged and magic triangle and runs its own gear line, the death guard main hand and the skull lantern off hand. It was the first combat skill built with a 120 cap rather than 99.
This is the foundation. Spend your first 15-30 minutes getting comfortable with how Necromancy as a fourth combat style works before worrying about anything else. Our combat guide breaks this down further.
Step 2: Head to City of Um
The Necromancy hub in the Underworld, home to Kili, the soul forge and the Um Smithy where every death guard, skull lantern and robe upgrade is made.
Clear the main content here before moving on. Everything teaches fundamentals you'll need later. See our maps guide for all locations.
Step 3: Get Your First Upgrade
Look for Omni guard: it's the most accessible early upgrade. A tier 95 Necromancy siphon dropped by Rasial. Its Death Spark passive stacks on each basic attack and empowers the fifth for double damage.
Step 4: Understand Revolution and Full Manual ability bars
Revolution fires basic abilities off your bar automatically while you handle thresholds and ultimates yourself, and Full Manual returns every input for higher damage. Legacy Mode strips abilities out entirely for players who want the pre 2013 click and wait rhythm.
This is the system most new players overlook. Invest time here early. It pays off throughout the entire game.
Step 5: Push to Elite Dungeons
Three linked dungeons: Temple of Aminishi behind the Impressing the Locals quest, Dragonkin Laboratory in the deep Wilderness castle ruins, and The Shadow Reef with 16 possible mini bosses. All three have a story mode with reduced enemy health and damage.
Essential Mechanics Explained
Necromancy as a fourth combat style
Necromancy ignores the melee, ranged and magic triangle and runs its own gear line, the death guard main hand and the skull lantern off hand. It was the first combat skill built with a 120 cap rather than 99.
Revolution and Full Manual ability bars
Revolution fires basic abilities off your bar automatically while you handle thresholds and ultimates yourself, and Full Manual returns every input for higher damage. Legacy Mode strips abilities out entirely for players who want the pre 2013 click and wait rhythm.
Conjures, Necrosis and Residual Souls
Touch of Death deals 90 to 110 percent damage and banks four Necrosis stacks, while Soul Sap banks Residual Souls that Volley of Souls spends. Conjure Skeleton Warrior, Vengeful Ghost, Putrid Zombie and Phantom Guardian each place a minion with its own command ability.
Invention gizmos and augmented gear
Invention needs level 80 Crafting, Divination and Smithing, none of which can be boosted, and it starts at the Invention Guild north east of the Falador lodestone. Augmenting a weapon lets it carry gizmo perks and gain item experience, while disassembling old gear supplies the components.
Kili's Knowledge upgrades at the Um Smithy
Necromancy gear is upgraded at the Um Smithy by finishing Kili's Knowledge assignments, one roughly every ten levels. At tier 70 you pick Deathwarden tank robes or Deathdealer power robes, and the death guard and skull lantern step from tier 70 to 80 to 90.
Common Beginner Mistakes
1. Following an Old School RuneScape guide
OSRS is a separate game on a separate app with no abilities, no Necromancy and no Invention, so its combat advice does not transfer.
2. Staying on Legacy Mode past the tutorial
It removes abilities entirely, which caps your damage far below what Revolution gives you for almost no extra effort.
3. Skipping Kili's Knowledge assignments and then buying gear on the Grand Exchange to compensate
Necromancy progression is crafted, not bought.
4. Chasing a tier 92 weapon while still wearing tier 70 armour
Survivability gates how long you last in a fight, and a dead player deals no damage at all.
5. Training Divination last
It is the slowest of the three Invention requirements and leaving it until the end stalls the whole skill at exactly the point you want it.
First 5 Hours Checklist
- Understand Necromancy as a fourth combat style and Revolution and Full Manual ability bars
- Choose Melee as starting build
- Clear City of Um main content
- Acquire Omni guard or equivalent upgrade
- Reach Elite Dungeons
- Set Revolution up properly before you fight anything serious. Put Touch of Death, Soul Sap and your other Necromancy basics on the bar so the game fires them automatically, and keep the thresholds and ultimates on manual so you learn the timings that actually matter.
- Do each Kili's Knowledge assignment the moment you hit the next tenth Necromancy level. Skip two of them and you end up fighting tier 90 content in tier 70 robes, which reads as a damage problem but is really a gear problem.
Tips for New Players
- Set Revolution up properly before you fight anything serious. Put Touch of Death, Soul Sap and your other Necromancy basics on the bar so the game fires them automatically, and keep the thresholds and ultimates on manual so you learn the timings that actually matter.
- Do each Kili's Knowledge assignment the moment you hit the next tenth Necromancy level. Skip two of them and you end up fighting tier 90 content in tier 70 robes, which reads as a damage problem but is really a gear problem.
- At tier 70 the choice is Deathdealer power robes or Deathwarden tank robes. Take Deathdealer if you have a solid food and prayer supply, and take Deathwarden only if you are learning a boss whose damage you cannot yet dodge.
- Run every Elite Dungeon on story mode the first time. Enemy health and damage drop, you keep every bit of route knowledge, and the drops you give up are ones you would not have lived long enough to earn.
- Plan the Invention unlock backwards from Divination. Crafting, Divination and Smithing all need level 80 and none of them can be boosted, and Divination is the one that stalls most accounts for weeks.
- Augment the gear you never take off before you augment your switches. Item experience only accumulates on equipment you actually use, so a perked main hand outperforms a shelf of half levelled specialist weapons.
- Hold Finger of Death until Touch of Death has landed twice. At six Necrosis stacks it costs no adrenaline at all, which turns your rotation from adrenaline starved into a repeatable loop.
- Check which two Prifddinas districts hold the Voice of Seren before you start a long skilling session. Picking the wrong district costs you the bonus for the entire block of time you were going to spend anyway.
- Leave Rasial, the First Necromancer alone until you hold 95 Necromancy and a complete tier 90 setup. He drops the omni guard, the soulbound lantern and the robes of the First Necromancer, and none of it is reachable on a half built gear line.
- If you are free to play, finish the free quests and push combat before you decide on membership. Necromancy, Invention, Archaeology, Prifddinas and the Elite Dungeons are all members content, and they are most of what a subscription actually buys.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this the same game as Old School RuneScape?
No. This app is RuneScape 3, which has 29 skills, an ability based combat system and content like Necromancy, Invention and Elite Dungeons. Old School RuneScape is a separate release with its own client, updates and community.
Do I need membership?
Free players get a limited map and a subset of skills. Necromancy, Invention, Archaeology, Prifddinas, Anachronia and the Elite Dungeons are all members only, so a subscription is what most guides assume.
Which combat style should a new player pick?
Necromancy. It sits outside the combat triangle, its gear is crafted at the Um Smithy instead of bought, and its rotation of Touch of Death, Soul Sap and Finger of Death is the shortest learning curve of the four styles.
How much experience is level 120?
On the standard curve, level 99 is about 13 million experience and level 120 is about 104 million. That gap is why 120 skills such as Necromancy, Invention and Archaeology are treated as long term goals rather than weekend projects.
What is the fastest way into endgame bossing?
Push Necromancy to 90 plus with Kili's Knowledge upgrades, learn the three Elite Dungeons on story mode, then move to normal mode for ancient scales, draconic energy and eldritch crossbow parts before you attempt Rasial.
More RuneScape Guides
- RuneScape RuneScape Overview
- RuneScape Best Builds
- RuneScape Tier List
- RuneScape Walkthrough
- RuneScape Tips & Tricks
- RuneScape Weapons Guide
- RuneScape Combat Guide
- RuneScape Boss Guide
- RuneScape Maps & Locations
- RuneScape Crafting Guide
- RuneScape Classes & Characters
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