Ancient Magicks

Ancient Magicucks (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 Magicucks 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:


 * The Dig Site
 * The Tourist Trap
 * Temple of Ikov
 * Priest in Peril
 * Troll Stronghold
 * Waterfall Quest
 * Druidic Ritual

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, southwest 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.

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.

Reaching the pyramid
Various methods of teleportation exist for reaching the Jaldraocht Pyramid:


 * Pollnivneach is a short distance east of the Pyramid and it is accessible via the magic carpet network (from either Shantay Pass or Sophanem, after Icthlarin's Little Helper), or Teleport to House for players who have their houses located in Pollnivneach.
 * The Pharaoh's Sceptre, obtained from the Pyramid Plunder activity, teleports players directly on top of the pyramid.
 * A Camulet provides a teleport to Enahkra's temple, which is just west of Jaldraocht Pyramid.
 * Fairy ring code and run south to Nardah and run west till the bridge and cross it and you would see the Jaldraocht Pyramid.

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 Smoke spells are the only group of spells that can inflict poison damage to other players and NPCs.
 * The Shadow spells can be used to lower the target's Attack level.
 * Shadow spells can also disorient the Abyssal Sire during its first phase.
 * The Blood spells will heal the caster 25% of the damage dealt.
 * The Ice spells freeze the target in place and prevent it from moving.

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.

Trivia

 * Mind runes, Earth runes, Astral runes, Cosmic runes, Nature runes and Body runes are not used in the Ancient Magicks spellbook.
 * Of the various Combination runes, only Smoke runes are useful for Ancient Magicks, as the Smoke spells and Paddewwa and Dareeyak Teleports are the only spells to use more than one elemental rune.
 * If your membership expires whilst the Ancient Magicks spellbook activated then it will return to the regular spellbook, even when you re-activate your membership.