Magic - The Basics

Introduction | Runes | Casting Spells | Autocasting

Introduction

Magic is one of the most useful and versatile skills within RuneScape. Once you have learnt to use it properly, you'll find that it complements many other skills within the game, while also acting as an incredibly powerful tool in its own right.

There are two sides to Magic: combat and non-combat. The use of Magic in a fight may be vital in gaining the upper hand and ultimate victory. Outside of combat, Magic can be used to teleport around RuneScape quickly, used in combination with other skills, or even for making money out of items you have obtained or made yourself.

Runes

To cast spells you will need the correct runes. Each type of rune contains a different type of power and is used when casting different types of spells, as shown below:

(m) = Members Only

Rune	Name	Description
	Air rune	One of the four elemental runes. A building block of Magic
	Earth rune	One of the four elemental runes. A building block of Magic
	Fire rune	One of the four elemental runes. A building block of Magic
	Water rune	One of the four elemental runes. A building block of Magic
	Body rune	Used in curse spells
	Mind rune	Used in strike spells
	Cosmic rune	Used in enchantment spells
	Chaos rune	Used in bolt spells
	Nature rune	Used in transmutation spells
	Death rune	Used in blast spells
	Law rune	Used in teleport spells
	Soul rune (m)	Used in high level spells
	Blood rune (m)	Used in high level spells
	Astral rune (m)	Used in high level spells
	Dust rune (m)	A rune which represents earth and air
	Lava rune (m)	A rune which represents earth and fire
	Mud rune (m)	A rune which represents water and earth
	Mist rune (m)	A rune which represents water and air
	Smoke rune (m)	A rune which represents air and fire
	Steam rune (m)	A rune which represents fire and water

There are a number of ways in which you are able to obtain runes, as shown below:

Make them yourself, through the use of the Runecrafting skill.
Runes may be bought from other players.
Runes are often dropped by monsters on their death.
Runes can often be found within chests.
Runes may be bought from the rune shops in Varrock and Port Sarim.
Runes may be bought from the Magic Guild.
Runes may be bought from the Mage Arena.
Runes may be bought from Ali M.
Runes can be stolen/bought from Ape Atoll.

Combination Runes

Each combination rune counts as 1 rune for each type of element bound within it. For example, a mist rune counts as 1 water rune and 1 air rune at the same time, meaning that you could cast water strike (Level 5 Magic: 1 mind, 1 water, 1 air to cast) with 1 mist and 1 mind rune.

For more information on how to obtain combination runes, please visit the Runecrafting section of the manual.

Casting Spells

Clicking on the book on your side interface brings up the magic spellbook. This will show all of the spells available to you within the game. If the picture of a spell is darkened, it means that either you do not have a high-enough level to cast it, or you do not have the runes in your inventory to do so. If a spell is lit up, then it means your level is high-enough to cast it and you have enough runes in your inventory.

To cast any spell, just left-click on its icon and then click on your desired target. Some spells can only be cast on monsters and players, while others can only be cast on yourself or items.

To get more information on a spell, simply move your mouse cursor over its icon.

You can use the three buttons in the bottom-right corner of your magic spellbook to change the order that spells are listed. By default, this will be in level order, but you can click the 'fireball' icon to put all of the combat spells first or the 'teleport' icon to put all of the teleport spells first. You can use these ordering buttons with any of the spellbooks.

To the left of the ordering buttons, at the bottom of the spellbook interface, there are 2-4 buttons that remove spells from your spellbook view. Each button removes a different type of spell: you can click the 'crossed swords' icon to hide/unhide all combat spells, the 'teleport swirl' icon to hide/unhide all teleport spells, the 'random blobs' icon to hide/unhide all miscellaneous spells, and the 'graph' icon to hide/unhide all skill spells. Clicking on these icons again will add them back to your spellbook view.

On the bottom-left of the magic spellbook interface is an icon that looks like a shield. This shield represents 'defensive casting'. If you click this button, you will gain Defence experience whenever you cast combat spells, at the cost of receiving a reduced amount of Magic experience. To return to casting your spells normally, simply click the button again.

When you cast combat-related spells, there is a chance of failure. This is dependent on a few factors such as your magical attack bonuses, the magical Defence bonuses of your opponent and your Magic experience. For offensive spells, if you fail to hit your opponent, you will still get the 'base experience', which is the experience for casting the spell. If your spell does inflict damage, you will be awarded extra Magic experience.

The spellbook interface

A description of the spell and a list of which runes are required will be shown when you move your mouse over it. Each required rune has two numbers shown below a picture of it. The first number indicates how many of that rune you have and the second number indicates how many are required in order to cast the spell.

The numbers will be in red when you do not have enough of those runes.

You will find that heavy armour, particularly metallic armour, conducts Magic. Mages will often find themselves more effective against a hand-to-hand fighter in full armour than other enemies. You will notice enemies in full metal armour will be hit harder by spells, and wearing heavy metal will negatively affect your ability to cast spells successfully.

It is recommended that mages wear light robes, which allow magical power to flow through their form freely.

Sometimes spells will fail to work. If a spell fails, you will still gain the base experience for casting the spell and you will still use the runes required to cast it, but you will see a 'splash' effect on your opponent showing the failure of the spell. The higher level spells are more likely to fail, but as your Magic ability improves, you will cast spells successfully more of the time.

Autocasting

There are two ways of casting combat spells. If you left-click on a spell in your spellbook and then choose a target, you are automatically choosing to 'autocast' it. Autocasting means that you will continue to cast that spell unless one of the following occurs: you elect to stop, you cast another spell, the opponent is defeated, you select a combat style from your combat side interface, or your rune supply runs out. While a spell is selected as an 'autocast spell' - it will have a light blue outline around it on your magic spellbook - you will autocast that spell when you target your next opponent.

To stop selecting your autocast spell is very simple: just left-click its icon in your spellbook. To choose a different autocast spell, simply click on another spell icon (assuming you are able to cast that spell, of course).

The second method of casting a spell is 'single cast'. This will cause you to cast a single instance of that spell, and you will not continue to cast after this instance. To single-cast, right click on a spell icon and choose the 'single-cast' option.

You are only able to autocast combat spells. The default action for non-combat spells is single-cast.

Click here to view the Magic FAQs

Click here to view the magic spells available in Daemonheim

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