Zamorak Crafter - Access and Combat Recommendations

Access Directions

The Ourania Cave is the home of the special Ourania Altar that provides additional Runecrafting XP and a selection of rune types when used. Using the altar requires you to navigate either a long path that is free from monsters or a more direct route populated by a variety of monsters.

By far the fastest way to get to the cave is to use the Lunar Magicks spell Ourania Teleport. After casting, Go northwest, then west over the lava, south to the prayer altar and down the stairs. This leaves you near a bank that you can access by paying 20 runes of any type. The short path to the altar (and the monsters we are discussing) can be found by running due south from the banking area.

If you can't use the teleport spell (or aren't on Lunars) then the next best option is to use the spirit trees. The most convenient access point is just northeast of the Grand Exchange; take it to the Battlefield of Khazard. Then run west, through the battlefield, drifting slightly south as you go, until you find the path to the altar.

Another alternative is to use a ring of duelling to go to Castle Wars, then run north past the Observatory and the small goblin village to the altar area.

Equipment

I recommend using Karil's armor (or the best dragonhide you can wear), as it provides the best balance of defence against the three combat styles that you'll be attacked with.

An alternative would be to try something like Veracs armor and use Protection from Magic. It gives good melee and ranged defence, and prayer bonuses to make prayer last longer. There's an unlimited prayer altar just before you enter the cave. This does mean stopping to recharge prayer frequently, though. (You could also use prayer potions.)

Supplies

Definitely use super sets to increase kill speed and improve your defence. You will also need some food since you can't defend against all the attack styles you will face.

Be sure to bring with a stack of cheap runes (like fires or bodies) so you can easily access the bank.

Familiar

The area is multicombat so you can bring with a combat familiar to help you kill the various monsters. Alternately a healing familiar like a bunyip would be quite handy.

Combat Notes

There are eight monsters in this area. These include six fighters of the Zamorak Magical Institute (ZMI): the Zamorak Warrior (Level 84) and Zamorak Warrior (Level 85), Zamorak Ranger (Level 81) and Zamorak Ranger (Level 82), and Zamorak Mage (Level 82) and Zamorak Mage (Level 84). All of these are aggressive and will attack you with their respective combat styles. In addition, there are Zamorak Crafters, which walk up and down between the bank and altar, and are not aggressive. These are clearly meant to emulate player runecrafters, though they aren't entirely like real players: they seem to sometimes spawn out of nowhere, and at other times seem to disappear. So they cannot be fought predictably, only when you see them. Finally, there are the Cave Lizards, annoying pests that sometimes attack players and sometimes attack the ZMI fighters.

Here's the best way to fight these monsters. Put on your gear and take out your super set and some food from the roving bank; then head south to the bend in the short route to the altar. In and around that area you'll find several ZMI mages and warriors; just to the north and to the east, there are ZMI rangers. There are also lizards throughout the vicinity. Fight the mages and warriors and take their drops. Keep an eye out for the crafters that wander by and kill them as well; they are easy and they have some decent rune drops (like 3 soul runes at a time). The crafters can also drop 3 or 10 pure essence; this is unnoted, so if you get one of these drops and have room, pick up the essence and run to the altar to craft it! The cave lizards are just a nuisance; they have no drops, so avoid fighting them unless you need to. Also, be sure to attack only the ones attacking you; let the ones that attack the ZMI fighters do some of your work for you.

Drop Notes

Most people just consider the monsters in the Ourania Cave a nuisance to avoided as they runecraft, for obvious reasons. However, you can certainly use them for training if you like; their drops aren't anything to write home about, but they are better than those of some monsters people train on.

The ZMI warriors, mages and crafters have the best drops; the mages drop coins and runes, the warriors coins and weapons (including rune scimitars) and the crafters runes and pure essence. The rangers drop coins and the occasional bow, arrows and once in a while, noted bow strings.