Combat Observation: Agressive Monsters

Let's face it, training your combat level for hours at a time gets really boring. But we still want to kick butt in the dual arena don't we? So how do we level up and have fun at the same time? It's a question that a lot of level 50 (about the time when leveling up seems to take a while) characters are trying to answer.

It is very hard to level up quickly when you're bored out of your mind because you are distracted easily. You will find that you have a sudden urge to go work on other skills like fishing, woodcutting, mining, or anything besides combat. The key to getting strong fast is to have fun while you are advancing.

In that case, there are a couple of solutions to this predicament. First, you can train your character in the duel arena, clan wars, or other PvP activities. These are exciting and keep you on your toes looking for new challenges and adventures. But, of course, there is a catch. Fighting against other players is one of the slowest methods in the game for getting experience because you will spend a lot of your time looking for people to fight. Players also have intimidating defense levels when you compare them to monsters.

The other solution is to fight aggressive monsters. Aggressive monsters will attack you automatically, so it involves a lot less clicking. But how is this more fun than fighting normal monsters? Because you can do whatever you want while you are fighting! Okay, that sounded a little strange. What I meant was:

• Get your character into an area with aggressive monsters so he will not stop fighting.
• Make sure these monsters do not hit hard enough to deal massive amounts of damage to your character.
• Now do whatever you want! Watch TV, read the Runescape Observer, play another computer game, or eat your lunch! Just check on your character every 15 minutes or so and make sure to make sure he/she is alright. 
• Eventually, monsters will lose their aggressive attribute (in most cases at least) towards you. This can be solved by leaving and re-entering the area.

Problems arouse from fighting aggressive monsters when you use Range. If Rangers want to pick up their arrows, they have to be watching the screen at all times. It takes three minutes for your arrows to disappear and then they are gone for good. Rangers have two options if they want to use the aggressive monster technique:

1. Check your character more frequently, about every 3-5 minutes. By this time, only large stacks of arrows will remain and you can recover the majority of the arrows much faster than if you picked them up one by one.
2. The other option is to simply ignore your arrows, and don't pick them up. Vast amounts of Rangers like to purchase bulk amounts of bronze arrows and brush off the urge to retrieve them. This makes range training very easy, although more expensive.

You can find aggressive monsters throughout Runescape. I recommend using the Runescape Wiki to check monsters (See Picture To Left).

Flesh Crawlers and Zombies in the Stronghold of Security are great aggressive monsters to fight. Bring a fly fishing rod and feathers, and just fish at the Barbarian Village every time you get weak. Flesh Crawlers stay aggressive for about 15 minutes.

You can also fight aggressive skeletons in the Karmja Volcano. You can catch the swordfish and lobsters off of Karmja Island when you get weak. You might even consider taking on the Lesser Demons here if you feel like a real stud (be careful if you are leaving for 5 minutes or more). 

These are just a few of the many aggressive monsters. Please comment with your own training areas and strategies!