Ancient Effigy

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The saying that knowledge equals power has never been so literal as in the form of these ancient effigies, rare drops from a range of creatures. Let's just hope that these relics are not also the literal embodiment of that other saying about how power corrupts...


You will need to be a member to receive ancient effigies as drops. You will also need various skills between the levels of 91 and 97 to feed them knowledge and retrieve the object stored within them. If you do not have the levels youself, you will be able to get aid from someone else who does through the Assist System.


You may occasionally receive an ancient effigy as a rare drop from certain monsters (the higher their level, the more likely the drop). Upon being dropped, effigies will always be starved of knowledge - the creatures that have scavenged them know only of combat and war, and rarely hold the kind of knowledge that would fuel the effigy.

Although inanimate, there is something about these strange relics that cannot be seen with the naked eye, only felt with the mind's eye. Each one craves to absorb knowledge, and in return grants power, though what knowledge an effigy craves differs with each one you find, and changes as its cravings are satisfied.

The skills which can be used to successfully investigate an effigy will always be paired, though, so you at least have some choice of which to use. The pairings are:

• Agility or Crafting
• Construction or Thieving
• Cooking or Firemaking
• Fishing or Farming
• Fletching or Woodcutting
• Herblore or Hunter
• Mining or Smithing
• Runecrafting or Summoning

It's not quite so simple, though, as you will need to be particularly knowledgeable in at least one of the pair of skills craved by the effigy to investigate it successfully.

• Starved ancient effigies require a skill level of at least 91 to investigate, and become nourished.
• Nourished ancient effigies require a skill level of at least 93 to investigate, and become sated.
• Sated ancient effigies require a skill level of at least 95 to investigate, and become gorged.
• Gorged ancient effigies require a skill level of at least 97 to investigate, and will crumble to dust, their mysterious purpose fulfilled.

Each time you successfully investigate an ancient effigy, it will reward you with experience in the skill that you used to feed it. Starved effigies award 15,000XP; nourished effigies award 20,000XP; sated effigies award 25,000XP; and gorged effigies award 30,000XP.

For example:
A player receives a starved ancient effigy as a drop that craves knowledge of either Fishing or Farming. Their Farming level is only 65, so they cannot use that skill to investigate the effigy, but they do have 94 Fishing, which is above the level 91 minimum requirement. They use their Fishing skill to investigate the starved ancient effigy and receive 15,000 Fishing XP; the ancient effigy becomes nourished and now craves knowledge of either Herblore or Hunter.

The player now needs one of these two skills to be at least level 93 to investigate the effigy further. They do not have those levels, though, so will either need to train them up or find someone to aid them through the Assist System (you will always be able to get assistance with at least one of the skills an effigy craves).

If you are able to continue to feed the effigy knowledge until it is gorged, then fulfil its final craving, it will crumble to dust and reveal...well, that is for the knowledgeable to discover.

Should you find yourself in a position where you do not have the required skill levels to investigate an effigy yourself AND are unable to find someone to aid you through the Assist System, your last course of action is to take your ancient effigy to Historian Minas on the first floor of Varrock Museum. The museum is always on the lookout for relics of days gone by, and will happily trade you a more traditional experience lamp in exchange for your effigy. The lamp will not provide as much experience as an effigy would, but at least it is something.


Developer: Chris E
Graphics: Kavi M, Chris W
Audio: Adam B
QA: Dan O, Dan G, James H

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