Magic - RuneScape Guide - RuneHQ
Rune - Runes are stones with magical qualities that allow you to cast spells.
- Staff - The staff is the basic weapon used by the wizard. Certain staffs are more powerful than others, and some take the place of certain runes (more on that later) agility training .
- Robes - Robes are the only clothing made especially for mages. Robes are very light, which allows mages to run farther than if they were in metal armor, and they also add to our maging capabilities, unlike armor, which lowers the amount of damage you do and the experience you gain.
- Mage - One who uses magic.
Magic can be a very powerful form of combat, especially when you have unlocked the use of Ancient Magicks and have a sufficiently high Magic level as these spells have special effects in addition to high damage. To be able cast combat spells, you will need to be wielding either a staff, wand or magic off-hand (tables detailing all of these are found below). Furthermore, Magic damage is limited by the level of your weapon and so you will need the appropriate equipment for the level of spell you are casting to be able to use Magic in combat to its full potential e.g. surge spells will require you to use a level 80+ weapon to deal their full damage.
Magic is also extremely useful outside of combat are and there are large number of spells specifically designed to aid you in skilling and getting around Gielinor.
To look at the spells you can cast, access the Ability book and click on the Magic tab. Hover your mouse over the spells and you will see the level and the runes required for the spell:
If you have the runes, it will show the amount of runes you have next to the amount required for the spell.
Runes
To get runes to cast spells, you can buy them from either rune store (one in Port Sarim, one in Varrock). The rune store in Port Sarim is cheaper than the one in Varrock, but it only stocks 1000 of each basic rune opposed to the 5000 in Varrock. The stores stock air, fire, water, earth, body, mind, chaos, and death runes. Runes can also be bought in the Magic Guild (Yanille) and the Mage Arena. Another very good way to get runes is to craft them yourself. Refer to the Runecrafting Skill Guide for information. Consult the following chart to see a mini-picture of each rune, and some details:
*Members-Only Runes
Combination Runes (Members-only)
Combination runes act as one of each supporting rune. For example, casting the Earth surge spell (normally requiring 5 Earth and Air) would require only 5 Dust runes. Refer to the Runecrafting Skill Guide for details on making these runes.
Spells and Abilities
The spellbook is accessed through the Ability book and is divided into four sections: Abilities, Combat-spells, Teleport-spells and Skilling-spells. The images below show each section, in the same order as the aforementioned list. The spells that are darkened (all of the ones shown here) cannot be cast because you do not have the right amount of runes or magic level needed to cast them.
Magic Abilities
Below is a table of all the magic abilities that you can use while wielding a magic weapon during combat. For more information on using abilities see our Combat guide.
*Must have obtained and read the Codex Ultimatus after completion of The Dig Site to unlock.
**Requires completion of The World Wakes quest to use.
Magic Spells Table
* Members-only spells
Types of Spells
Certain types of spells are used for certain things. First there are the Missile spells. The missile spells include all of the battle spells that actually cause damage to your opponent during a fight.
The second type of spell is the Enchant spell. Enchant spells are used to enchant jewelry. Jewelry that can be enchanted right now are amulets, rings, bracelets and necklaces. Of these, only amulet spells are available to free players. F2p can enchant Sapphire, Emerald, Ruby, and Diamond amulets, while members can enchant Sapphire, Emerald, Ruby, Diamond, Dragon, and Onyx amulets, rings, bracelets and necklaces.
Conversion spells are very important and useful. Conversion spells are used to convert things into other things. These spells are: Bones to Bananas, Bones to Peaches, Low Level Alchemy, and High Level Alchemy (Low alch and High alch). High alch is a great spell for getting cash. Alchemy turns any item on which the spell is cast into gp. The amount of Gp received is the same as if you sold that item to the item's respective specialty store when the store has no stock of the item.
The final type of spell is the Teleportation Spell. These spells are extremely useful, especially for members who have to travel long distances to go places since their world is so much bigger. Teleportation is not just for teleporting your character though. Tele-grab is another useful teleportation spell. It grabs whatever item you cannot reach but can see so you don't have to actually be next to it and pick it up.
Slayer's staff/Staff of light
A Slayer's staff (55 Slayer and Magic required) is a staff used for activities such as Barrows and for Slaying monsters which require the spell 'Magic Dart.' A Staff of light (75 Magic and Attack required) is a higher leveled version of the Slayer's staff that adds 15% more damage and has a 1/8 chance to not use runes when casting a spell.
When setting spells to auto cast, the Slayer's staff and Staff of light can only auto-cast the following spells:
- Magic Dart
- Wind Wave
- Water Wave
- Fire Wave
- Earth Wave
Ancient Magick Spellbook
To use Ancient Magick, you must have completed Desert Treasure; completing The Light Within will unlock Seren spells as well. To switch between the Ancient Magick and the standard Magic spellbook, pray at the altar inside the pyramid where you finished the quest (this will drain your Prayer), at the Elven grimoire in Cadarn, or using the Magic cape (or Magic master cape) near a bank.
Ancient spells can be cast and auto-cast with any type of staff. To do so, Right-click the spell and select the Auto-cast option. Each different class of spells can effect your target(s) in different ways. These effects, excluding ice which will always freeze on a successful hit, possess a 10% chance of activating if used with a Magic ability. Use of the Dark Form curse will double this chance. Simply using auto-attack grants it a 100% chance of activating.
- Blood spells (Fire) restore your life points by 5% of the damage dealt to your target (3% from secondary targets)
- Ice spells (Water) stop your target from moving for 10 seconds - This is only 2.4-9.6 seconds in PvP
- Shadow spells (Earth) reduce your target's damage by 5% for 10 seconds
- Smoke spells (Air) reduce your targets chance to hit by 5% for 10 seconds
Multi-target spells can hit a up to 9 targets at a maximum as long as they are standing in the 3x3 grid where the spell is cast.
- Rush spells are medium level single target spells
- Burst spells are medium level multi-target spells
- Blitz spells are high level single target spells
- Barrage spells are high level multi-target spells
Note: Seren spells are marked with an asterisk (*).
- Prism of Restoration - restores special attack energy by 3 instead of 1 per cycle
- Prism of Salvation - reduces teleport cooldown from 9.6 seconds to 6.6 seconds (or 3.6 seconds with Light Form curse
- Prism of Loyalty - causes the prism to drain 10% fewer life points
Resources that CANNOT be crystallised include:
Lunar Magic Spellbook
To use Lunar Magic, you must have completed Lunar Diplomacy; completing Dream Mentor and the Livid farm minigame will unlock additional spells as well. To switch between the Lunar Magic and the standard Magic spellbook, pray at the Astral Altar on Lunar Isle, at the Elven grimoire in Cadarn, or using the Magic cape (or Magic master cape) near a bank.
All Lunar Magic requires use use of Astral runes. Unlike with Ancient spells, there are not typical combat spells in Lunar Magic; thus there is no auto-cast option for these spells (excluding the Polypore strike spell, available on all spellbooks). Much of Lunar Magic involves teleportation, as most of the teleport spells have a group-based variant. Other Lunar Magic spells involve object manipulation and aiding other players in the area. Be aware that to be affected, or to affect another, with a group spell that "Accept Aid" must be turned on; aid options found in the "Social" section of the Settings.
Note: Spells unlocked by Dream Mentor are marked with an asterisk (*) and those from Livid farm are marked with a plus (+).
Dungeoneering Spellbook
While Dungeoneering, you have access to a wide variety of spells found in the standard spells table listed above and various Lunar spells. In addition, there are multiple teleportation spells that are unique to Dungeoneering; Note that none of these teleportation spells grant experience.
Enchanted Jewelry
Jewelry containing gems (see Crafting Skill Guide can be enchanted using spells from the list above. Cosmic runes are always required to enchant jewelry. Different enchanted items have different uses, as shown in the table below. There are only a few non-member options in this particular field. To activate teleportation jewelry, you can either right-click the item in your inventory and select 'rub' or right-click the item while equipped and select 'operate'.
* Members-only
** WARNING: If your opponent can hit more than 10% of your health, be careful! If you fall to 0 before you fall under 10% e.g. If you have a maximum of 500 lifepoints and are down to 50 lifepoints and are then hit for 50+ life points, you will NOT be saved!
Enchanting Bolts
Any gem tipped bolt can be enchanted using your Magic skill. Enchanting your gem tipped bolts will result in it having a special effect. These special effects are different for each enchanted gem tipped bolt. To enchant a gem tipped bolt you must be wielding or carrying it, click on the level 4 spell and an interface will pop up, click on the bolt you wish to enchant (you must be carrying or wielding it).
In the following table you will find more info about what effect the enchanting has on the certain gem tipped bolts (this table is sorted from the magic level needed, from low to high).
Staves
Basic Staffs
There are many different kinds of staves available to use, including some that are members-only. The basic elemental staves can be bought at Zaff's Staff shop in Varrock, on the northwest side of the town square. While wielding the elemental staves, you will not have to use the elemental rune that pertains to your staff. For example, if you wield an Staff of Air, you can cast air strike with no air runes.
Battle Staffs
Battlestaffs are stronger than normal staffs, but with a Powered Orb attached, they still take the place of certain runes. For example, if you have a Fire battlestaff, you wont need any fire runes, and your magic will hit harder than if you had a non-enchanted staff. To get a Battlestaff, you must use a Powered Orb (either Air, Water, Earth, or Fire orb) on a Battletaff (this requires various Crafting levels).
Powering Orbs
To enchant an orb you will need the following items:
1. A glass orb
2. 3 cosmic runes
3. 30 basic runes of the type of orb you want to make (ex. 30 Fire runes if you want a Battlestaff of Fire)
Take the above items to the Obelisk location indicated below. Cast the appropriate spell to Enchant the orb. Then you may use the Crafting skill to attach the powered orb to a Battlestaff.
Mystic Staffs (Enchanted Battlestaffs)
The next best staffs are the Mystic Staffs (Enchanted Battlestaffs). These are pretty much the same as the Non-Enchanted Staffs, but they are even stronger. To enchant a battle staff, you must have completed the Scorpion's Catcher quest, which means Mystic Staffs are members only. Then you can get Thormac the wizard to enchant your battlestaffs for 40k. Thormac can be found in the Sorcerers' Tower just north west of the Legends Guild, by the Temple of Ikov.
Special Staffs
The remaining staffs are obtained from quests, minigames and monster drops. For example, the Iban Staff is received after you beat the Underground Pass Quest and the Staff of Light is obtained as a drop from Ice strykewyrms.
Damage Bonus
Since magic spells don't require staffs to auto-cast, some of the more advanced staffs give an additional damage bonus when used. The damage bonus is limited to the following staffs.
- Ahrim's staff
- Master wand
- Void Knight mace
- Zuriel's staff
- Corrupt Zuriel's staff
- Ancient staff
- Polypore staff
- Armadyl battlestaff
Note: Polypore staff only requires 75 magic to wield, but the Polypore Strike requires level 80 magic!
Wands
Wands are one handed, accurate and fast magic weapons. They allow you to use an offhand item while casting spells and still have an accuracy bonus in combat as opposed to just using an offhand item and runes.
Off-hand equipment
Books and orbs are off-hand items that enhance your spell casting abilities. When wielded with a wand, books will double the casting speed of combat spells. Orbs act as off-hand wands and allow the player to cast spells while wielding a main-hand melee or ranged weapon, but still have a magic accuracy bonus.
What to Wear
You can vary what you wear when training magic. In some cases you don't have much money and in others you have all the money you can spend! The following is divided into Free play and Members and displays the best equipment you should wear for the best magic bonus (this is only our suggestion):
Free players and Members with a low budget: (Click links to find how to obtain and other info)
Batwing hood
- Any Team cape
Amulet of magic
Bat wand or an elemental stave
Batwing torso
Batwing shield or Bat book
Batwing legs
Batwing gloves
Batwing boots
Members with a high budget: (Click links to find how to obtain and other info)
Ganodermic visor
Ganodermic poncho
Ganodermic leggings
Ganodermic gloves
Ganodermic boots
Master wand/Ahrim's wand or a Chaotic staff/Staff of light
- Any God cape/Skillcape
Mages' book or a Farseer kiteshield
Arcane stream necklace
Seer's ring
Members with a very high budget: (Click links to find how to obtain and other info)
Virtus mask
Virtus robe top
Virtus robe legs
Virtus gloves
Virtus boots
Virtus wand or a Chaotic staff/Staff of light
- Any God cape/Skillcape
Virtus book or an Arcane spirit shield
Arcane stream necklace
Seer's ring
There are a few quests that give magic experience. It is advisable to do these quests before you actually start training, because you do not want to have to start out with Air strike. For more information, please refer to the Quest Experience Guide.
Wizard's Mind Bomb
The Wizard's Mind Bomb is a drink that temporarily raises your magic level by 2 or 3; it raises by 2 under level 50 magic, and 3 above. It is useful at times when quests or other things require a certain level and you are very close, but not quite there. For members, If you have 63-65 magic, you can use it to gain entrance into the Wizard's Guild. This drink can be purchased in Falador and Burthorpe Inns. It can also be brewed; mature Wizard's Mind Bombs increase your magic by 4, the same amount as a magic potion.
Wizards' Guild
The Wizards' Guild is in Yanille, and information about it can be found in the Wizards' Guild Guide. You will need 66 Magic in order to enter the guild. (This can be achieved through the use of potions.) Different kinds of runes and all elemental staffs can be bought at the Magic Guild, as well as Mystic robes. The Robe Store Owner, the Magic skill master, is also located here. Speak with him to purchase the Cape of Achievement in Magic.
Temporary level boosts and Quest rewards
For more information on how to boost your level, see the Temporary Stat Leveling Techniques special report.
For XP rewards from quests, see the Quest Experience Guide special report.
Capes of Accomplishment
Once you have achieved level 99, you may visit the Robe Store owner to purchase a Magic cape for 99,000 Coins.
Once you have achieved level 120, the Robe Store owner will sell you the Magic master cape for 120,000 Coins.
Discount
Note that as of December 2018, another one of Mod Daze's Easter Eggs have been found. This enables you to purchase a Skillcape for half price (only from the Robe Store owner, not Elen) if you are wearing a Ring of Charos (a). Be aware that "Half price" is 92,000 Coins as the experience at level 92 is approximately half way to level 99.