Runescape Tips: Player Killing

When becoming a player killer in the Runescape universe, going deep into the Wilderness to slay your fellow adventurers for fun and profit, it is important to consider a few things.

Know the risks involved with being a player killer (PK'er, PKer, or PKiller, as some abbreviations go.).

When going into the Wilderness to kill players, it is very important to realize that once you attack another player when they haven't attacked you, you are placed with a player killer skull above your character, which means that when you die, you lose everything on your person--the usual 'three most valuable items' rule no longer applies.

For this reason, when becoming a player killer, it is important to either become self reliant in smithing your own armor and mining your own ore, or already have enough gold to compensate for any losses you may incur, or (and this is probably the best option for most people) become an offensive pure, relying solely on your Attack and Strength as a source of self defense and power.

Some player killers like to focus on Attack and Strength only. This, while effective, is not the course of action I recommend when pursuing the path of the player killer.

When I played Runescape, and it has been a while, I focussed on Attack, Strength, and Prayer. Prayer doesn't contribute much to your leveling, so you can have very high levels in all three of the aforementioned statistics and still be low enough of a level to effectively player-kill.

Prayer skills, at higher levels, allow you to dramatically reduce damage from Melee, Magic, and Arrow attacks when the prayer is used.
These Prayers can, in a pinch, be just enough to deliver you from what would otherwise be a fatal blow so you can escape the Wilderness with your loot and not be killed by your would-be pursuers.

Also, a skill offered to paying players ("Members"), is Agility, a stat which allows you to physically move faster. I strongly advise, if you are a Member, going into the Member Servers to train your Agility stat. Agility can be extremely important in being able to run away from enemy player killers, and running towards and overwhelming your "prey" or target player.

For non-paying players that do not have access to the Agility stat, it is important to know how much weight you are bearing. While it makes but a small difference in your speed when running, this small difference in speed can make a huge difference in wealth, long-term. Dying just a couple of times after a victorious and profitous PKing session can be devastating, psychologically, and a huge waste of time.

For the reason that there is always a small chance you might be slain, it is important to travel with fellow players that you know and trust. As a general rule of thumb, don't go into the Wilderness with someone that you haven't known (in-game or in real life) for less than a week--two weeks, if you want to be especially cautious.

Never take anything into the Wilderness that you had to work very, very hard to afford. For a player killer, it is important to focus on one main item: your weapon. If you're going in on a peaceful expedition, I advise bringing one weapon and a piece of armor or two.

So, for all aspiring Player Killers: know your friends, know your enemies, know your armor and weapons, and make sure that you are prepared emotionally and in-game for the off-chance that you should be slain while PKing and lose items that may've taken you weeks or months to earn.