Is Dungeoneering the new Slayer?
With everyone wanting to do things as quickly as possible these days, a common question heard around the streets is “What is the fastest way to train combat?” Instead of hearing a response telling people to go to a specific place using specific equipment and using a specific techinque, most people just say “Slayer.” Obviously, there’s no place named “Slayer” that you can go to train; when people say Slayer, they mean that the best way to train combat is in conjunction with Slayer, now more so than ever. The reason for this is quite simple – if you have enough money, you can buy yourself a Black Mask, Focus Sight, or Hexcrest, depending on what form of combat that you use, and boost your attack power. At first, the Black Mask was the only boosting item available, but with the release of the latter two items, all classes of fighters get an advantage. Unfortunately, this is only effective while fighting monsters assigned through Slayer tasks.
So going back to the first question – is Dungeoneering the new Slayer? In the recent Dungeoneering update, Jagex also updated the function of the Ring of Kinship. When Dungeoneering was first introduced, the Ring of Kinship wasn’t actually useful except for teleporting to Daemonheim and starting your own party. However, now, when inside a dungeon, a player can permanently upgrade their ring with Dungeoneering tokens and have it boost a variety of stats, including ones under the Melee, Ranged, Magic, and Skiller categories.
First of all, the costs. Each class can be upgraded up to ten times permanently; when Dungeoneering tokens are spent on upgrading a particular class, those tokens can never be refunded, and the boost will never be removed. However, it is important to note that only one specific class can be selected at a time. That means, even if you have invested in two different classes ten times each, you can only take advantage of one boost at a time. For Tier 1, a mere 135 tokens is sufficient to get the initial boost. The second tier requires 175 tokens, the third tier requires 335 tokens, the fourth tier requires 660 tokens, the fifth tier requires 1360 tokens, the sixth tier requires 3400 tokens, the seventh tier requires 6800 tokens, the eighth tier requires 18,750 tokens, the ninth tier requires 58,600 tokens, and the tenth and final tier requires 233,000 tokens. Overall, to get from Tier 0 to Tier 10, a player needs to spend a total of 323,215 tokens.
Warriors can pick among the Tank, Tactitian, and Berserker classes. The Tank class will reduce the amount of damage the wearer of the ring takes from enemies; the damage reduction begins at 6% when at Tier 1, and increases by 1% each time the tier is upgraded. It is required for the player to activate this specific class, use the Defensive option on their weapon, and have a shield equipped to be able to benefit from this upgrade. The Tactitian will increase the chances of the player hitting his or her target; the percent chance bonus begins at +11% and increases by +1% each time the tier is upgraded. It is required for the player to activate this specific class and to use the Accurate stance on their weapon to be able to benefit from this upgrade. Finally, the Berserker class gives a bonus to the player’s Strength level when calculating damage done to a target; the Strength level bonus begins at +11% and increases by +1% each time the tier is upgraded. It is required for the player to activate this specific class with their Ring of Kinship and to use the Aggressive stance on the his or her weapon to be able to benefit from this upgrade.
Archers can pick among the Sniper, Keen Eye, and Desperado classes. The Sniper class will increase the chance of achieving a maximum hit when using the Longrange attack style on the equipped bow. The bonus begins at 20%. Upgrading to Tier 2, Tier 4, Tier 5, Tier 7, Tier 8, and Tier 10 will give a 3% additional bonus from the previous tier; upgrading to Tier 3, Tier 6, and Tier 9 will give a 4% additional bonus from the previous tier. The Keen Eye class determines how often a player using the class and using the Accurate attack style on his or her bow will lower his or her opponent’s defense level by 1. The percentage chance begins at 40%, and steadily increases until it reaches 100% at Tier 10 – that means, when at Tier 10, using the Accurate style while having this class equipped will guarantee that each shot’s accuracy and damage will be calculated with a value of 1 subtracted from the opponent’s defense stat. Finally, the Desperado class will give the Archer’s Ranged level a bonus when using the Rapid attack style and having the class activated; the bonus begins at +11%, and will increase by +1% each time the tier is upgraded.
Mages can pick among the Blazer, Blaster, and Blitzer classes. The Blazer class determines the chance of inflicting an additional 50% damage while having the class activated and using elemental spells. The chance begins at 5% at Tier 1, and increases by 5% for each tier upgrade until it reaches 50% at Tier 10. The Blaster class determines the chance to slow an opponent’s attack speed and snare them while having the Blaster class activated on the Ring of Kinship and using elemental spells. The chance begins at 12% at Tier 1, and increases by 2% for each tier upgrade until it reaches 30% at Tier 10. Finally, the Blitzer class determines the chance of casting an elemental spell faster while having the class activated. The chance begins at 10% at Tier 1, and increases by 10% for each tier upgrade; that means, by the time a player reaches Tier 10, he or she will have a guaranteed speed increase for every elemental spell he or she casts.
Skillers can pick among the Medic, Gatherer, and Artisan classes. The Medic class, when activated, provides a healing bonus when healing another player. The bonus begins at +20% at Tier 1. Upgrading to Tier 2, Tier 4, Tier 5, Tier 7, Tier 8, and Tier 10 will give a 3% additional bonus from the previous tier; upgrading to Tier 3, Tier 6, and Tier 9 will give a 4% additional bonus from the previous tier. The Gatherer class, when activated, will do two different things – first, it will determine the chance that a skiller gains extra resources when gathering. Second, it will determine by how much failed skill damage is reduced by. For example, at Tier 1, the chance begins at 20%; at Tier 1, a Gatherer will have a 20% chance of gaining extra resources when gathering resources, and take 20% less damage when failing any skill-related tasks. The amount the percentage increases is the same as the Medics, and the maximum is reached at Tier 10 at a chance of 50%. Finally, the Artisan class, when activated, does three different things. First, similar to the Gatherer bonus with resources, it will help optimize the use of resources. However, unlike the Gatherer class, which will provide extra bonuses when gathering, the Artisan class will determine the chance of saving resources when actually using. Second, the percentage chance also applies to the amount of damage reduced by failing a skill-related task (the same as the Gatherer class). Third, the tier will also determine the amount the skiller’s Runecrafting level is boosted by when crafting multiple runes. For example, if a skiller has the Artisan skill activated and has it upgraded to Tier 5, he or she will have a 33% chance of saving resources when using resources, take 33% less damage when failing a skill-related task, and get a +5 Runecrafting level bonus when crafting multiple runes. The amount the percentage chance increases by is the same as the Medic and Gatherer classes.
As clearly visible, with an investment of some Dungeoneering tokens, the Ring of Kinship can be a good item to use in Dungeoneering dungeons, and at higher tiers, can be much better bonus-wise than the Slayer items. Thus, this creates an incentive for people to do Dungeoneering some more; although it may be hard at first while a player earns the tokens necessary to upgrade a tier, he or she will get some good benefits from it and get some good combat experience while using the Ring of Kinship.