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"Ancients" redirects here. For other uses, see Ancient.
The ancient magicks spellbook icon.
Ancient teleport

A player teleporting with Ancient Magicks.

Ice Barrage in Multicombat

A mage casts Ice Barrage on several foes.

Ancient Magicks (also known as Ancients) are a series of Magic spells unlocked upon completion of the quest Desert Treasure. Unlike the Lunar Spellbook, which primarily focuses on non-combat support spells, and the regular spellbook, which is a mixture of combat and non-combat spells, the Ancient Magicks is significantly combat-oriented, including some of the most powerful combat spells in the game. The spellbook contains 16 combat spells and nine teleports (far fewer spells than the other spellbooks). Many of the Ancient Magick spells are very rune-intensive and require expensive runes such as death and blood. Owing to their power (a minimum of 50 Magic is needed to even access the spellbook), Ancient Magick spells are popular in player-versus-player activities.

Background[]

The Ancient Magicks are a long forgotten and destructive set of spells. In the Second Age, they were very commonly used, mostly by the followers of Zaros, who ruled a very large kingdom at that time.

The destructive and powerful spells of the Ancient Magicks proved to be useful during the wars in the era. The Spellbook also contained various teleport spells, which made it easier for the Zarosians to travel across their kingdom, which stretched from the northern Wilderness, to northern Misthalin and north-western Morytania. As of now, the spellbook contains teleports which lead to places where the currently destroyed Zarosian fortresses once stood.

Unfortunately, knowledge of Runecrafting was lost before the Second Age and the remaining supplies Guthix provided humans in the First Age slowly disappeared through the use of Magic. Back then, many wizards held battles with the few remaining runes as a prize.

After Zaros' banishment, Zamorak and other gods like Saradomin, destroyed the entire kingdom. The destruction of the kingdom and the slow disappearance of runes caused the Ancient Magicks to become a rarely used form of Magic. During this time, only the Mahjarrat used Ancient Magicks, mostly because they didn't need runes to use Magic.

The God Wars held after Zaros' banishment saw the slow fade of the Ancient Magicks from common knowledge. Many of the remaining followers of Zaros, whom comprised the majority of spell-casters, were killed or imprisoned. The powerful spells caused much destruction during the enormous battles, although the number of people who knew about the spells was extremely limited.

Long after the end of the God Wars, at the beginning of the Fifth Age, the art of Runecrafting was discovered, giving humans a new supply of runes. New spells were invented by modern wizards of the Wizards' Tower, driving the Ancient Magicks even further into obscurity. Today, Ancient Magicks are used almost exclusively by the Mahjarrat, who have been driven close to extinction in Gielinor. A handful of people, such as Solus Dellagar, still possess the knowledge of Ancient Magicks. But furthermore, most mages of Gielinor choose to practice the modern magic created at the Wizard's Tower. Players will learn about the Ancient Magicks during the Desert Treasure quest, where they release the imprisoned Zarosian mahjarrat Azzanadra.

Skill and quest requirements[]

Because unlocking the Ancient Magicks spellbook requires completion of the Desert Treasure quest, the following quests are also required:

Attack icon 30
Hitpoints icon ----
Mining icon ----
Strength icon 30
Agility icon 15
Smithing icon 20
Defence icon ----
Herblore icon 10
Fishing icon ----
Ranged icon 40
Thieving icon 53
Cooking icon ----
Prayer icon 11
Crafting icon ----
Firemaking icon 50
Magic icon 50
Fletching icon 10
Woodcutting icon ----
Runecrafting icon ----
Slayer icon 10
Farming icon ----
Construction icon ----
Hunter icon ----
Quest point icon ----
Combat icon 28
Stats icon 329

Because of these quests, the skills required to obtain the Ancient Magicks can be seen in the table to the right.

Switching spellbooks[]

Players can switch to Ancient Magicks at the altar inside the Jaldraocht Pyramid (simply "Pyramid" on the World Map) in the Kharidian Desert, south-west of Pollnivneach and north of Menaphos. There is a rear entrance (tunnel) to the south of the pyramid that allows players who have completed Desert Treasure to enter the throne room directly, where the altar resides, without having to navigate the four floors of the pyramid. At the altar, players can pray to switch to or from the Ancient Magicks spellbook, though this drains all Prayer points to zero. (Players can still switch spellbooks even with 0 Prayer points.)

Those who simply wish to switch from Ancient Magicks to the regular spellbook may find it easier to pray twice at the Astral Altar on Lunar Isle, provided Lunar Diplomacy has been completed. Alternatively, players may also switch spellbooks twice with Tyss at the Dark Altar (easily reached with Fairy ring code CIS if the player has activated it), provided they have 60% favour with Arceuus House.

Players who have level 80 in Construction can build an ancient altar within their Achievement Gallery, allowing them to freely switch between the standard and ancient spellbooks without the prayer drain.

Additionally, players who have level 99 in Magic can switch their spellbook up to five times per day with the Magic cape.

Reaching the pyramid[]

Various methods of teleportation exist for reaching the Jaldraocht Pyramid:

Spell summary[]

Ancient spells

The Ancient Magicks spellbook.

Combat[]

Ice Barrage in Multicombat

Ice Barrage being cast in multi-way combat.

The Ancient Magicks combat spells are, as mentioned, the most dangerous combat spells in the game. Not only can they deal a substantial amount of damage, but each of the four classes of combat spells has a different effect:

The specific duration/effectiveness of each of the standard effects (aside from the blood spells, which always heal a flat 25%) depends on the level of the spell cast; Smoke Burst will deal more poison damage than Smoke Rush, for example. In addition, half of the Ancient Magicks combat spells (Burst and Barrage) are Area of Effect spells, which will hit the target and any other player or NPC standing in a 3x3 zone around the target in a multicombat area. The other half (Rush and Blitz) only hit a single target.

Some monsters are large, meaning that they take up more than one square of space. When a Burst or Barrage spell is cast on one of these monsters, it will hit the monster plus any surrounding monsters with any square of space standing within a 3x3 zone of the targeted monster's southwestern most corner square, which is treated as its "origin" square.

While less popular for general training, Ancient Magicks is often used in various player-versus-player activities, such as the TzHaar Fight Pit and Castle Wars. Ice spells, especially Ice Burst and Ice Barrage, are especially popular, due to their freezing effects and a lower cost when compared to the other combat spells.

Ancient Magicks are not allowed in Barbarian Assault.

Icon Spell Magic icon Level Runes Description Base Exp Base max hit[1]
Smoke Rush icon Smoke Rush 50 2Death2Chaos1Fire1Air Poisons (starts at 2) 30 14
Shadow Rush icon Shadow Rush 52 1Soul2Death2Chaos1Air Lowers attack by 10% 31 15
Blood Rush icon Blood Rush 56 1Blood2Death2Chaos Caster is healed for 25% of total damage dealt to enemies 33 16
Ice Rush icon Ice Rush 58 2Death2Chaos2Water Binds for about 5 seconds 34 17
Smoke Burst icon Smoke Burst 62 2Death4Chaos2Fire2Air Poisons (starts at 2) 36 18
Shadow Burst icon Shadow Burst 64 2Soul2Death4Chaos1Air Lowers attack by 10% 37 19
Blood Burst icon Blood Burst 68 2Blood2Death4Chaos Caster is healed for 25% of total damage dealt to enemies 39 21
Ice Burst icon Ice Burst 70 2Death4Chaos4Water Binds for about 10 seconds 40 22
Smoke Blitz icon Smoke Blitz 74 2Blood2Death2Fire2Air Poisons (starts at 4) 42 23
Shadow Blitz icon Shadow Blitz 76 2Soul2Blood2Death2Air Lowers attack by 15% 43 24
Blood Blitz icon Blood Blitz 80 4Blood2Death Caster is healed for 25% of total damage dealt to enemies 45 25
Ice Blitz icon Ice Blitz 82 2Blood2Death3Water Binds for about 15 seconds 46 26
Smoke Barrage icon Smoke Barrage 86 2Blood4Death4Fire4Air Poisons (starts at 4) 48 27
Shadow Barrage icon Shadow Barrage 88 3Soul2Blood4Death4Air Lowers attack by 15% 49 28
Blood Barrage icon Blood Barrage 92 1Soul4Blood4Death Caster is healed for 25% of total damage dealt to enemies 51 29
Ice Barrage icon Ice Barrage 94 2Blood4Death6Water Binds for about 20 seconds 52 30
  1. Max hit may be increased by using equipment which increases magic damage.

Teleportation spells[]

Icon Spell Magic icon level Runes Experience Description
Home Teleport icon Edgeville Home Teleport 0 None None Teleports to Edgeville.
Paddewwa Teleport icon Paddewwa Teleport 54 2Law1Fire1Air 64 Teleports to the entrance of Edgeville Dungeon.
Senntisten Teleport icon Senntisten Teleport 60 1Soul2Law 70 Teleports to the Digsite Exam Centre.
Kharyrll Teleport icon Kharyrll Teleport 66 1Blood2Law 76 Teleports to Canifis.
Lassar Teleport icon Lassar Teleport 72 2Law4Water 82 Teleports to the top of Ice Mountain.
Dareeyak Teleport icon Dareeyak Teleport 78 2Law3Fire2Air 88 Teleports to the ruins west of the Bandit Camp in the Wilderness. (Level 23)
Carrallangar Teleport icon Carrallangar Teleport 84 2Soul2Law 94 Teleports to the Graveyard of Shadows in the Wilderness. (Level 19)
Teleport to Bounty Target icon Teleport to Bounty Target 85 1Law1Death1Chaos 45 Teleports the player within 12 squares of their assigned target in the Bounty Hunter minigame, provided that they have unlocked the spell via Bounty teleport scroll.
Annakarl Teleport icon Annakarl Teleport 90 2Blood2Law 100 Teleports to the Demonic Ruins in the Wilderness. (Level 47)
Ghorrock Teleport icon Ghorrock Teleport 96 2Law8Water 106 Teleports to Ice Plateau in the Wilderness. (Level 45)

Autocasting[]

Unlike the standard spells, Ancient Magicks combat spells can only be autocast with particular Magic weapons. The weapons are:

Trivia[]


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