Runescape Runecrafting Guide

You may have heard the term “air running” (or “essence running”) many
times during your RuneScape playing, but you never took the time to figure out
or ask what it was. Well, if this sounds like you then look no further. I
was once a player like this until I found out how beneficial it can be for not
only yourself, but for other players as well. With regular Runecrafting, it
requires that you carry a full bag of 28 Rune Essence to an alter (in this
case the Air Alter), craft the Air Runes, then run back to the nearest bank.
In other words, it takes ages to level up after about 40 Runecrafting.

Occasionally, you may read somewhere that someone is hiring several
air runners to help level up their Runecrafting skill. This method allows the
Runecrafter to stay in the Air Temple and craft Rune Essence provided by their
runners without having to make trips to the bank themselves; thus, allowing
the Runecrafter to gain experience super-fast. This may seem like the runners
get nothing out of this deal, but that’s definitely not the case. With each
trip, the Runecrafter pays the runner a minimum of 2k (2,000 coins) plus they
give back the amount of Rune Essence (in notes) that you banked for them
(which is always 25 Rune Essence per trip). Sound confusing? If so, allow me
to give you an example of how this transaction works.

Before we begin (whether you plan to be the runner or the Runecrafter),
you must complete the Rune Mysteries quest on the free version of the game.
The quest is incredibly easy and requires no combat what-so-ever, so you
shouldn’t have any problem completing it. Upon finishing this quest, you’ll
now have the ability to mine Rune Essence and work on the Runecrafting skill
itself. Granted you’re not actually gaining Runecrafting experience if you
play the role as the runner, but you need to complete this quest in order to
have access to the Rune Essence mine.

Once you’re at this point, you must decide if you want to run Rune
Essence strictly for money, or if you’d like to stay in the Air Temple and
craft the Rune Essence provided by other runners for quick Runecrafting
experience. Keep in mind that if you wish to craft the Rune Essence given to
you by the runners, the process will go much faster and you’ll see results
much quicker if you have a lot of money.

I would recommend going in with
about 300k-500k so that you can stay awhile. You’ll also want to go in with
a hefty amount of noted Rune Essence to trade back. So anyway, if you plan on
being the runner, read through the next section. If you’re going to be the
player to craft the Air runes, skip ahead to “The Role of the Runecrafter”.

The Role of the Runner

Buy yourself a pickaxe and speak with either Aubury in Varrock
(shopkeeper at the Runes store behind the east bank) or Wizard Sedridor at the
Wizard’s Tower located south of Draynor. Ask to be teleported and you’ll find
yourself amongst the Rune Essence mines. Mine exactly 25 Rune Essence and
teleport back to the main world via the portal. Make sure you bring either an
Air Talisman or preferably an Air Tiara (since they can be worn) and then log
onto World 16.

World 16 is considered the “official” world of Air Running
simply because you’ll always find people using this method here. And best of
all, it’s a F2P (free-to-play) world, meaning you don’t have to be a member in
order to log on there. Now you’re about ready to begin!

Make a trek to Falador (or just teleport there if your Magic level is
high enough) and stop at the east bank. The only thing you need in your bag
is the 25 Rune Essence (un-noted). If you’re using an Air Talisman make sure
you have that, but I’m assuming you’re wearing an Air Tiara so you shouldn’t
have anything else.

Walk to the Air Alter located southwest of Falador’s east bank. Just
follow the path south until you pass the guards and then begin walking
southwest. You’ll know if you’re going the right way because everyone and
their mother will probably be doing the exact same thing. When you reach the
Air Alter, just click it to enter and you’ll find yourself amongst a giant
crowd of people. The only people you need to pay attention to are the ones
who are saying something along the lines of: “Open 2k and ess back!”

This means that the player is open to trades and will pay you 2k plus
25 noted Rune Essence for you to continue to run back and forth between the
bank and the Air Temple. It may take a while to finally get a trade through
to the Runecrafter (due to the large amount of runners trying to trade), but
once the trade screen comes up, this is what it should look like:

Your Offer:

0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0

Opponent’s Offer:

0×25 / 2000 coins

The O’s represent each Rune Essence. To
put this transaction into words, you offer him/her all 25 of your Rune Essence
and they will offer 25 noted Rune Essence plus 2k for running the essence for
them. Now all you have to do is return to Falador, store the noted Rune
Essence that was given to you, then withdraw them in the form of items so you
can repeat the process!

NOTE: Oh, and by the way, if you’ve been wondering why it’s always 25 Rune
Essence, it’s because the Runecrafter must have 3 open spaces in their bag for
the money they pay you with, the Air runes that they craft, and the noted
Rune Essence that they give back to you.

Therefore, in a nutshell, the whole idea of running Rune Essence for
other players is strictly for money. It has been argued many times that
running airs for Runecrafters is the fastest way to accumulate money in a
F2P world, and I can agree on many terms (but we’ll get into the whole money
business of it later). So basically, you can run back and forth between the
bank and Air Alter as much as your heart’s desire or until you just get
completely bored of making money (which won’t happen for awhile, believe it or
not).

With earning 2k per trip, it won’t take long at all to get your first
100k. If you’re lucky, you’ll find a player or two who is offering 2.5k per
trip with the essence. Obviously everyone will have the same idea as you and
go for the player who is paying the most, but occasionally you’ll get a trade
through to them with no problem. My advice is to always go for the player who
is paying the highest amount plus the 25 noted essence.

Sometimes you’ll see players who are paying with Air runes instead of
coins. For example, the higher level Runecrafters will be able to craft 125
or 150 Air Runes with 25 Rune Essence (25 * 5 = 125; 25 * 6 = 150). So
instead of paying with money, they’ll trade you the Airs they crafted plus 25
noted Rune Essence (or sometimes just the Air Runes and no essence back).
It’s completely up to you if you want to accept cash only or if you want the
Air Runes. Just keep in mind that Air Runes sell for about 15-20 coins each,
so if you sell 125 Air runes at 15 coins each, that’s only 1,875 coins as
opposed to the 2,000 you’ll get if you accepted straight cash.

However, if
you just happen to find a Runecrafter with a Runecrafting level higher than 55
who is paying in Airs plus giving noted Rune Essence back, you’re extremely
lucky. This way, you’ll get 150 Air Runes back which will sell for 2,250
coins at 15 coins each, thus you’re making 250 coins more with each trade than
if you were to accept 2,000 coins cash. But keep in mind that it’s very rare
to find a player who won’t keep their Air Runes if they’re Runecrafting level
is higher than 55.

The third most common Air Running trade is when a player will offer 3k
coins but no Rune Essence. This, in my opinion, is practically useless to the
runner unless they have a giant stash of Rune Essence in their bank, and even
then they’re not making much more than the runners who are getting paid 2k and
noted essence per trip. Sure, you might be getting paid more, but you’re not
getting any Rune Essence back. So if you only started with the 25 Rune Essence
that you mined yourself, you’ve just messed it up for yourself.

My advice
would be just to stick with getting paid the average 2k and noted essence per
trip, but if you happen to see anyone paying more than 2k per trip (even 2.1k
is better than just 2k), go for them!