Player killing or ‘PKing’ is the term used to describe pvp (player vs. player) combat. Although predominantly referred to when players battle in the wilderness, PKing can also refer to duelling, and even Castle Wars. PKing is a large part of RuneScape, with countless clans who battle in the wilderness to win recognition amongst the RuneScape population.
The wilderness spans the entire northern region of the free-to-play (F2P) lands of RuneScape. The wilderness is a dangerous place to be, for anyone. The deeper in you trek, the more danger you will be in, for every few spaces, you ascend into a higher level of the wilderness. The wilderness level you are in, defines what level players can attack you. For example, if you are level 100 combat, and are in level 20 of the wilderness anyone between level 80 and 120 could attack you. When entering the wilderness, you will be greeted with a WARNING Message asking you if you wish to continue on (Picture).
The best thing about player killing is that you can give it your own personal touch - very few people are truly efficient with all available techniques, as everyone prefers different combat styles or set-ups. This guide is for higher-level PKers, who are over level 70 combat but you may adapt this to your level. It will also explain the basics of PKing, and will give you some insight into what you can wear and take on your trips. Although, feel free to experiment with new items, weapons or armour, as this is the best way to discover what style suits you best, and which style is the most rewarding.
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2.0 - F2P PKing
F2P PKing is where you would most likely begin to learn to PK, as there is a relatively low risk. Warriors tend to dominate the wilderness in F2P, although experienced mages or archers can take the field as well. Due to the lack of binding abilities in F2P, it makes it a lot easier for you, or your opponent to escape. This means that it can be a lot harder to get kills, unless you’re experienced enough to chase after your opponent before they logout. Most clans player kill on free servers as well, so you will have to watch out for them.
Note: this section only covers multi-combat PKing (i.e. team PKing), although single PKing is very similar, so using the same techniques will work for both.
2.1 - Melee in Multi Combat Areas
Requirements:
At least level 70 combat
At least level 43 prayer
Equipment and inventory:
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Strategy:
Warriors are very powerful in F2P PKing, as they are hard to hit with melee or ranged attacks. Although they can deal a lot of damage, and take many attacks, they require a mage to help them PK efficiently. When you are melee PKing, always keep a close eye on your hitpoints and prayer levels. Always try to stay at roughly 75% of your full hp when being attacked, and use protection prayers to half the damage you take. Both protect from magic and melee is very important, so you make sure you have 43+ prayer.
The green dragonhide vambraces are not that important to bring, but they give a small increase in your magic defence bonus. It is not much, but it helps.
Optional:
Use Fancy or Fighting boots instead of leather (Stronghold of Security)
Replace the swordfish with lobsters.
Use the prayers to increase your attack, strength or defence stats by 15%. This is not recommended though, as you will waste your prayer and would not be able to protect for long.
Instead of the rune scimitar, take a rune longsword or battleaxe, as they are efficient too.
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2.2 - Magic in Multi Combat Areas
Requirement: You must have at least 59 magic to cast Fire Blast.
Equipment and inventory:
Strategy:
Although very vulnerable, mages can cause a large amount of damage. They can prevent other players from running by binding them for 5 seconds, and they can hit up to 16 with fire blasts. Although very strong, their main purpose is to aid the warriors - It is suggested that there be one mage for every five warriors or so. Too few mages are bad because your team will waste too much energy when chasing other players, but too many mages are bad because they get killed very easily when not protected by warriors. This means you have to find the perfect balance.
Note that you should not be wearing green dragonhide vambraces, as they will give you a negative magic attack bonus. In addition, there is no mage armour, although you can get a maximum magic attack and melee Defence bonus with the above equipment. Just make sure you do not wear any rune or dragonhide armour - no other shield than the Dragonfire shield should be taken.
Optional:
Use vambraces instead of gloves.
Replace the swordfish with lobsters.
Replace the Fire staff with an Air staff, and the Air runes with Fire runes. Do note that you need five fire and four air runes for the fire blast spell, so this will be slightly more expensive.
Take more or less bind runes and/or fire blast runes depending on the amount of mages with your team. If you are the only or one of the very few mages, use the amount of runes from the above inventory.
Take a rune scimitar with you. This is not required, but will be helpful if the target is using the Magic Protection prayer. This is not required when you have a large team, however.
Take rune armour and put it on as soon as you get attacked. Try to shake the opponent off and put your mage gear back before resuming the attacking.
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3.0 - P2P PKing
This requires a lot more practice and higher levels, so it is strongly suggested to practice several of the techniques explained in the Castle Wars arena, or the Fight Pits cave. Both places allow you to fight other players from all levels, without losing anything. P2P PKers are generally very dangerous because the lower levels might be stronger than you could tell by their combat levels. These are often referred to as ‘pures’ - characters who train one or two combat skills only to keep their combat level at a minimum. The high-level PKers are most often very experienced and know every trick there is to know to take you down.
P2P PKing is also a lot more expensive, but obviously, this means you can gain more from it as well. You need to be extra cautious at all times when you do not have much cash lying around, however.
This guide will cover some of the most-used techniques, but P2P PKing is truly unique for everyone so it is up to you to experiment. The following information will give you a good head start, but you that you will encounter many more types of PKers that are not documented here.
One tip that is recommended for any p2p strategy is to bring an antipoison as many people will pk with poisoned weapons and healing the poison right away could be the difference between dying and getting to safety.
3.1 - P2P PKing in Multi Combat Area
Unlike F2P multi PKing, a fine balance between the three fighting classes is required here. Bring an equal amount of warriors, rangers, and mages - all three of them have their own disadvantages but as a team, are very strong.
Your main goal here is to work together. Warriors have to protect rangers and mages; mages keep the target at a distance from which the rangers can finish them off. Keep in mind dying is very easy here - even two people attacking you can get you killed within a few seconds. Because of this, do not bring any expensive items such as Abyssal Whips with you unless you want to run the risk of losing them.
3.1.1 - Melee
Requirement: You must be at least 70 combat, and 43+ prayer is strongly recommended.
Inventory and equipment:
Strategy:
Dragon Scimitars are the best weapon for multi combat melee action. You need to complete the Monkey Madness quest in order to buy these, but it is very much worth it. The reason is simple - this weapon has a great special attack. When you use it, you will strike as you always do but if you hit 1 or higher, the target’s protection prayer will be disabled. This means you and your team can, hopefully, kill him up to twice as fast! Remember to use this special attack when the target is using a protection prayer, even when he is protecting from Magic or Ranged. Teamwork is the key to success.
The Dragon Dagger special is good to use whenever you want to get in some fast hits on a target that is not protecting from melee.
Optional:
Replace climbing boots with armored boots. (Same strength, better Defence)
Carry more prayer potions if you intend on using any of the 15% prayers during combat.
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3.1.2 - Ranged
Requirement: You must be at least Level 70 range, and 43+ prayer is strongly recommended.
Inventory and equipment:
Strategy:
The first thing you will no wonder notice is the Karils Crossbow in this setup. Yes, it is very expensive but the only way a ranger can be truly effective; mages hit better with Ancient Magicks spells and warriors hit better with Abyssal Whips. The Karils Crossbow will, in many cases, even up the odds. It is fast, hits high, accurate and has a decent attack range. And best of all, you can protect it when dying using the level 25 Protect Item prayer - the Crossbow is the only really valuable item you have, and the ability to protect it means you would not lose all that much when dying! Using ranger boots now is pretty expensive, as they’ve gone up the price and it’s not suggested to use it, but for the best stats, they are the best boots to use.
Rangers are also very flexible, because they carry less weight than other PK classes. This means you can run longer than mages and warriors, which is why it is even better bring a Super Energy potion as well, because this gives you many advantages.
Optional:
Replace the Karil Crossbow with magic short and the bolt racks with poisoned rune or adamant arrows.
Replace the ranger or snakeskin boots with any kind of boots. (Lowers range attack bonus, but might get you better Defence)
Bring more prayer potions.
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3.1.3 - Magic
Requirement: You must be at least Level 82 Magic, and 43+ Prayer is strongly recommended.
Inventory and equipment:
Strategy:
Ancient Magicks are the way to go for multi PKing with magic. Regular magic is not quite as effective, not to mention you cannot bring enough food. Potions are not required here since you do not have any stats that need to be boosted, and defence would not help much when you are wearing robes. Now, the reason you need 82 mage is so that you can use the Ice Blitz spell. This spell hits up to 26 and is relatively fast. Do note that you can use Ice Barrage at level 94, which hits up to 30, and which hits multiple targets at once; contrary to popular belief this is not that useful at all, seeing as you hit both your team-mates and the targets - you will probably do more harm than good. If you do decide to use that spell, do not forget to take double the runes displayed in the inventory above.
Do not forget to use your Dragon Dagger when the target is protecting against magic and none of your team-mates are attacking him.
Optional:
Bring prayer potions.
Replace the Wizard Boots with any kind of boots.
Bring a Super Defence Potion.
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4.0 - P2P PKing, Single Combat Area
This is the playground of the average PKer. Test your skills, reflexes and your newfound strategies here. This is also where you can gain the most money from PKing, although losing it is equally easy.
Lower leveled PKers will often find themselves at Green Dragons, Edgeville Wilderness, or Dark Warrior Fortress; whereas the highest leveled, strongest and most experienced PKers can be found near the Mage Arena and Magic Axes hut.
4.1 - Melee
Requirement: You must be at least 90 combat and 43 prayer. It is strongly recommended having 70+ ranged too.
Inventory and equipment:
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Strategy:
Warriors are, once again, very strong and can take a lot of damage from players using range or melee. However, there are many mages going around and a warrior with no ranged equipment is dead meat upon encountering a mage. Ranged is vital in order to protect yourself from the mages, and you do not want to die when melee’ing as the loss will be significant.
Important note: Always have your Protect Item prayer on when fighting, unless you want to lose your Abyssal Whip. Without a whip, melee PKing is pointless because most of your targets will have one, which makes them a lot stronger than you are. Secondly, do not ask yourself if you really have to take the items shown above. The super set and three prayer potions are very important, as is the ranged equipment, the ring and the helm.
Fighting With the Abyssal Whip
First, turn the protect item prayer on at once. Next, take a sip from your super set to give a considerable boost to attack, defence and strength levels or turn all your 15% prayers on. It should look like this:
Why are the 15% prayers so important, you might ask? Simple. Since you are melee’ing, there is no way you can entangle, freeze, or teleblock the target. This means they can run away at all times. Because of this, your goal should be to KO the target - this means you hit so hard and fast, he would not have time to heal and dies before eating all his food. Using the 15% prayers, you drastically improve your chances of KO’ing the enemy because you will hit more often and harder, not to mention you would not have to heal as often either because of the defence prayer, meaning you would not be interrupted while hitting the target.
Important: Whenever you have the opportunity, grab your Dragon Dagger, and use all four specials in a row. Not only will this do a lot of damage in a very short time, but you may also poison him, which will cost him a lot of health.
Optional:
Replace Family Crest gauntlets with Barrows gloves.
Replace climbing boots with armoured boots (Less strength, better Defence).
Replace Rune kiteshield with an Obsidian shield (Strength bonus, but more expensive), or a Rune Defender.
Replace Warrior Helm with Berserker Helm (Slightly less accuracy, slightly higher strength).
Do not bring black dragonhide vambraces in order to save a shark, unless they are spiked since they will give you a strength bonus.
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4.2 - Ranged
Requirement: You must be at least Level 70 ranged, and 43+ prayer is strongly recommended.
Strategy:
As you may have noticed, rangers do not need anything extra for single PKing. Once again, flexibility and your awesome magic Defence bonus is your biggest advantage here and since you can carry plenty food, take a super energy potion. Once again, it all comes down to personal preference so feel free to change it.
The Karils Crossbow is once more the weapon of choice although you should be warned that it is possible for Ancient Magicks mages to mage you from a big distance without you being able to retaliate, even on long range. It has some disadvantages for those mages as well, which is covered later on.
Rule of the thumb is that you should not underestimate anyone. The average warrior will tear up your Defence, and although you will most often have the upper hand anyway, an ancient mage can deal a lot of damage. Regular magic generally does not hit anywhere as good on your black dragonhide, but ancients seem to negate the magic Defence bonus.
Optional:
Replace the Karil Crossbow with magic short and the bolt racks with poisoned rune or adamant arrows.
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4.3 - Magic (Teleblocking)
Requirement: You must be at least Level 85 magic, and 43+ prayer is strongly recommended. You must have completed the Mage Arena mini-game.
Inventory and equipment:
Strategy:
This is where it gets interesting, and it is strongly suggested not PKing with magic until you have had lots of practice already. As a teleblock mage (one who is on regular magic), you are the most important member of your team. Your magic attacks are not quite as strong versus other mages and rangers, but you can teleblock anyone - this is without a doubt the most useful spell for PKing. This means your target cannot teleport out anymore, which is good for low level PKing - so that they cannot use teleport runes or amulets - and for high level PKing, to prevent the target from using teleport levers.
Unlike any other PKing class, you should not focus on getting kills. A teleblocking mage is only truly effective when operating in a small team, even if it is only two people; you should simply make sure not to mage all on your own. You can carry little food as it is, and if you decide to bring melee or ranged equipment to, you would not be able to carry more than roughly 11 sharks! Thus you have to greatly rely on your team, but do not worry as they most likely cannot kill the target without having you teleblock him either.
The runes in the inventory are for Teleblock, Entangle, Charge, and your god spell of choice. Note that those runes are for the Flames of Zamorak spell; you need to bring more or less fire/air runes depending on your spell. Do note that you have to wear the right cape as well - e.g. a Zamorak cape will strengthen the spell Flames of Zamorak while a Guthix cape will strengthen the spell Guthix Claws. When the Charge spell has been used and you are wearing the correct cape, you can hit up to 30.
Because you are so vulnerable, you should take extreme care in all situations. Do not give your target the chance to run up at you. Always keep a minimum distance like this:
Note that you should ALWAYS entangle the target. This will keep him stuck for 15 seconds. Use this time to use the charge spell, and start casting the God spell of choice on him. Count to 15 or just watch him when he moves - as soon as he does manages to move, run away from him for roughly 2 seconds and cast another entangle. Your character will keep running for a bit, but the target is stopped in his tracks. You have to play around with this a bit to understand - but do not worry, it is not that hard to learn.
Optional:
Take runes for God spell of your choice. (They all have their own advantages)
Take one of the God books with you. (Same prayer bonus, but different combat bonuses)
Take a super attack and/or super strength potion with you to enable you to hit higher with the dagger.
Replace the Wizard boots with Mystic boots.
Replace the Mystic armour with Ahrims armour. (Much more expensive, but has a great magic bonus.)
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4.4 - Ancient Magicks
Requirements: You must have at least 82 Magic and 43 Prayer. 94 Magic will be a huge bonus but is not required. Desert Treasure quest has to be completed.
Inventory and equipment:
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Strategy:
When used correctly, this setup can be very strong. Although the Ice Blitz spell is very expensive, it is in fact the strongest attack spell in the game. You can compare it with the Entangle spell and a God spell combined; it can hit up to 26 and will hold the target, preventing it from moving. This spell is also very effective versus rangers, so even though you are very vulnerable, you are strong versus any fighting class. Your main function in a team is to take care of the warriors; they will be very vulnerable to your spells but be careful, as many of them have ranged armour and/or a bow in their inventory so they can still defend themselves.
Another great part of the Ancient Mage is that he can carry loads of food. You do not need any prayer potions, super sets or super energy potions but as a mage, you should not be eating all your food in the first place and if you die, it is more likely because of a KO than the fact you are all out of food.
Note that none of the other spells are quite as useful. Although it never hurts to poison them, absorb their hp, or lower their stats, you would have to bring more runes and therefore lose more sharks. In Addition, you can choose to auto cast the Ice Blitz/Ice Barrage spell with your Ancient staff, which is always faster than manually casting the spell.
Optional:
Do not bring any potions to save food.
Replace the Wizard boots with Mystic boots.
Replace the Mystic armour with Ahrims armour. (Much more expensive, but has a great magic bonus.)
Take more runes if you are going to use Ice Barrages.
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4.5 - Ancient Magicks and Melee Combination
Requirement: You must have at least 82 Magic, 43 Prayer, and 90 Combat. 94 Magic will be a huge bonus but is not required. Desert Treasure quest has to be completed.
Inventory and equipment:
Strategy:
This kind of PKer, when used properly, he is the strongest form of PKer in Wilderness. Although he is still very vulnerable to melee and range attacks, he can defend himself quite well and he can deal more damage than any kind of PKer. Simply Ice Blitz/Ice barrage the target and once he turns his Magic Protection prayer on, take out your Abyssal Whip and attack him. Be careful because at this point, the target can fight back but more than likely he will try to switch his protect prayer to melee. When this happens, take your distance again and continue maging.
Crucial note: You should always turn Protect Item on when fighting just in case you are killed. Be sure to keep this in mind at all times!
Secondly, if you have 94 magic, be sure to use the Barrage spell instead of the Blitz spell. It is much more accurate and hits better.
Optional:
Replace the Wizard boots with Mystic boots.
Replace the Mystic/Splitbark armour with Ahrims armour. (Ahrims armour does NOT protect over whips).
Take more runes if you are going to use Ice Barrages.
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5.0 - Conclusion
PKing is something you have to master yourself. No guide can teach you how to be truly efficient with PKing. The most important thing to keep in mind is that most of these things are random. A mage would not hit much on a ranger, but it is possible he still hits five 30’s in a row. A ranger is not supposed to be strong against a warrior, but can still hit a lot. Not only that, but the people you will run into will be random too! You are bound to run into some big and powerful clan eventually, but you will also find yourself lucky enough to find a newbie who accidentally skulled and can not escape .
All these things depend on your own luck, although your skills can change a lot. Stay alert, keep calm even when you just killed someone and you will be fine. It will take some time to find your own preferences but it is assured you will find something that fits your liking. Be it f2p PKing or p2p PKing, Magic or Melee - you have to experiment yourself.
Keep in mind that PKing is a different game from RuneScape and it is constantly changing as new people get good at PKing, new updates are released, and new clans are born. We cannot predict what the future may hold and it is entirely up to you to attempt to stay up-to-date with the way Wilderness is run.
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6.0 - Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What will I lose if I die?
A: You will lose everything but the 3 most valuable items you have. If you are skulled when you die, you will lose everything. If you use the protect from items prayer, you will lose all but 1 item (Picture).
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Within PvP worlds there are a number of ’safe zones’. These are areas where players are prevented from attacking each other entirely. You can identify these areas by spotting the icon to the left. Safe areas include: 
Some areas are considered exceptionally dangerous, because they are popular areas for players to go or because of the combined danger of monsters and other players. These are called ‘hot zones’, and are marked by the flaming skull icon to the left. There are advantages to being in these areas, however - the amount you win from kills will increase more rapidly. 
