Success In Staking

Success in Staking - everything you need to know before stepping into the Duel Arena.

Just recently, Jagex decided to bring back Free trade, the old loot system and staking in the duel arena. Ever since then, certain few players have been enjoying success at the Duel Arena, making billions of GP. But how exactly do they do it? In this guide you will learn how to stake, which set of rules suit you best and who you should stake.

1. Stats
2. Different types of staking
3. Which set of rules suit you best
4. Bankroll management

1. Stats
Stats are obviously the most important thing in staking. With better stats than your opponent, half the battle is already won. Stakers must never have prayer levels as prayer levels will increase your combat level, and against someone of the same combat level as you, but with one prayer, your stats will be inferior. Therefore, prayer levels is a big no-no, unless you own a maxed account. If your serious about staking, but your current account has a few prayer levels, i would suggest you restart and rebuild a totally new account.

Attack will determine the amount of times you will successfully hit your opponent.

Strength will determine the amount of damage your opponent will be dealt with.

Defense will determine the amount of times you will avoid damage.

Range is a combined of attack and strength in the melee terms.

Magic will determine how many times you successfully hit your opponent, and determine how many times you avoid damage from a magic spell.

For different types of staking, different set of stats will work better. If you are planning to do a DDS/DSCIM/WHIP stake, you would be much better off with 70 attack, 99 strength, 1 defense and 80 hit points than a player with 70 attack 25 strength, 99 defense and 80 hit points. Both players will have the same combat level, but the 1st player will have a bigger edge.

WHY? - In a DDS/WHIP stake, all parts of armor is off. Therefore it defeats the purpose of having 99 defense - to wear stronger and better armor. Although the defense element will still help in avoiding some damage, compared to the bonus damage 99 strength will inflict, it is NOTHING. Furthermore, the dragon dagger specials and the whip will help to effectively pierce through the defense element and the 99 defense will be less effective than if it were a BOXING match.

But...but...How would you find a stake if your stats were so superior?

Let's see : Before each stake, most of your opponents would high score search you, to check your stats out and see if they have an edge over you. Unless they feel they have an edge over you, they will not stake you.

Question is, how are we going to make them feel that they DO have an edge over us, when in actual fact, we instead have the edge over them? Simple! By evading the high scores! Here are some methods that you can use to trick and deceive your opponents into thinking you have inferior stats, when in actual fact, you have them dominated!

1) Confusing and similar display names
This works against less experienced opponents and will not work against experienced stakers. In this technique, players will try to make their names as confusing as possible, so that their opponents will find it hard to high score check them. E.g lIli1i1ilLi1 or mnmrnmnmrn However, if players look carefully they will be able to figure out your name. The good thing is most players search for the wrong name during the first time. If they search for your name but had wrongly spelled it out, they will see : XXXX does not feature in the skill tables....at least one skill.

They will then realize they have spelled it out wrongly, but keep trying till they get your correct name. So how do we trick them? By creating a new account/changing an existing account's username.

Make both accounts to have similar names, e.g : l love gps and I love gps. <- what is the difference between those two names? the first name has an L at the start whereas the second name has a I in the start! With the new runescape display name feature, you can manipulate your name easily so that both names look really alike and potential opponents will fall for it! Zeroes and Os work well too, same as M and N.

So, if you have "L love gps" as your staking account, make sure you make the "L" lowercase so it looks like an i. Next, make sure to train your decoy account "i love gps" up to the same or close combat level to "L love gps", but with crappy stats. Here is an example, "L love gps" has 70 attack, 99 strength, 1 defense, 99 hitpoints and is combat 79. Train "i love gps" till it is : 67 attack, 53 strength, 63 defense, 74 hit points and 52 prayer. It will be the exact same combat, so it will still work if opponents use a combat level calculator! If an opponent happens to mis spell it as "i love gps", he will be deceived into thinking that your stats are lousy and that you have 52 prayer which is a waste of 7 combat levels! Therefore, he will be so willing to stake you...till you 3 spec him out! You can play around with the usernames and many variations will work

2) Hiding from the high scores
This can deceive too, many players but will not work will the most experienced players. This method involves hiding your stats from the high scores! For your defense to show up on the high scores, Runescape requires it to be 60. If your defense level is below 60, it will not show up on the high scores.

For attack, it is 62. Strength, 67. Hit points, 65. Prayer, 43 at 51.4k EXP. Ranged at 56. Magic too, at 56.

You can use this to your advantage by having an account like :

70 attack
84 strength
59 defense
80 hit points

And be at just 84 combat. Most players will assume that you have prayer and your defense is low and will stake you with their 60 - 99 - 1 , 80 hitpoints accounts, which you will have an advantage over.

Another example for range staking ( with ammo on, and weapon on, ranged only, armour all off ) :

55 ranged
64 hit points

This way you will be only 42 combat and other players will see nothing when they high score you! You can also mix it up with different stat builds.

In 2007, i used to stake using the build #1. I was 75 combat or so, with my stats lower than the example given.
Many lv.64s were willing to stake me as they assumed that my stats sucked as only my attack showed on highscores ( and it was a mistake ). I forgot my exact stats and combat levels, but it was very effective. Lower levels were willing to stake me, and my defense gave me an edge over them despite their higher strength.

2. Different types of staking and what set of rules suit you best.

Boxing - Basically nothing is turned on except for melee. Players either use attack styled punch, strength styled aggressive kicks or defensive punches against one another. In this area of staking, Defense and attack is the most important. Strength is less important than attack and defense. The ability of hitting more accurately and avoiding more damage is more important than inflicting higher damage each time.

If you are unable to get the first hit, boxing might be the right thing for you. In box matches, first hit does not give alot of advantage and it is fine if you do not get the first hit. If you are maxed and you want to box, it is really pointless as most matches are just 50/50. Certain PROS claim than switching attack styles during the match gives you an edge. I don't believe in that, and even if it does, it's just a tiny tiny edge. Therefore, boxing matches are just like a coinflip.

If you want to get an edge over most matches, however, it is possible.

If your stats are : 61 attack, 40 strength and 59 defense along with 64 hit points, none of your stats will show up on high scores and most opponents will think that you are just a newbie and a prey. Your combat will be 63. Other players , pures, will have the best stats of 60 attack, 88 strength and 64 hit points. Against them you have an edge. Furthermore, most of them will have 31 - 43 prayer, and most of the times they will have a strength of 75 - 78 only, giving you a big edge over them. You can play around with the stats.

Rapier - Mostly seen on maxed accounts. Armor is all turned off, only leaving a weapon slot. No special attacks are given and both players use a Chaotic Rapier, obtained in dungeoneering. 80 Dungeoneering is required to obtain this weapon, said to be the best dps in Runescape.

It gives a 101 strength bonus, and hits about 140 on average. Lunge and stab are the recommended styles. The 140 damage on average makes the first hit very crucial. If you are unable to get the first hit majority of the time when it is movement OFF, i suggest you either try it with movement ON or switch to other forms of staking. First hitting in Rapier matches is just too important. In movement ON, practise is what makes perfect. Try to fun your friends/other players and practise getting the first hit, soon you will get the hang of it.

Mage Boxing - Players do not equip anything and movement if off. Usually it is started with a smoke or shadow barrage then followed by blood barrages or blitzs all the way through. First hitting is crucial here too. If you do not have the ability to first hit majority of the times, this isn't a very good type of stake to do. Magic, defense and hit points levels are really what matters.

Special on melee - Similar to the rapier, but with the special attacks turned on. Most people claim to be "DDSING" ( dragon dagger special attack ) but they will use a staff of light instead. The staff of light allows them to absorb 50% of whatever damage you deal towards them.
Strategy i Use : However, i find that the Enhanced Excalibur special attack is more effective if you have completed Seers Elite tasks.

The special attack will then heal you for 400 hit points over a period of 20 seconds + it gives you a 15% boost to your defense. Not only that, you can switch to the rapier once you have activated the special attack and still enjoy the benefits of it. Thus, this method can counter the Staff of Light Special.

Special on range - Basically players wield nothing except for the weapon slot and ammo ( optional ). Players will start with a Morg Jav (p++) special attack twice, then either switch to obby rings or rune knives. If players are below ranged 78, special attack should be turned off.

Strategy I use : If special attack is ON, then i will use the morg javs ( p++ ) special attack twice, before switching to rune knives if against 1 defense and obby rings if against higher defense. IF i am winning throughout, i will not switch to the crossbow/javs. However, if i am losing and am about to be killed soon, i will switch to rune cross bow with dragon bolts (E) or Morg javs if ammo is turned off. This is because it will still give me a chance to make a come back.

Imagine : You have 200 lp left and your opponent has 350. If you continue to throw the obby rings/rune knives, the chances of you winning are slim already as both of you, if with equal stats, will deal about the same damage. If you change to a rune c'bow though, you still stand a chance as the rune c'bow is capable of doing high damage.

Special off range - Same strategy as special on range, just without the Javs part.

Armour On staking - Hardly any of these goes on, but if you ever partake in these stakes, make sure you only stake if you have the best armor. If you have rune while he has torags, you stand close to zero percent of winning unless you get really lucky.

If both of you are maxed, i suggest staking armour on only if you have TORVA, Fury, Barrow Gloves, Dragon Boots, Ring of Recoil, Fire cape and chaotic rapier/longsword. If not, he might have TORVA and have you totally dominated.

4) Bankroll management

Now your knowledge of staking should have increased significantly. But this last section is the most important, and it determines whether you succeed of fail. If you don't follow proper Bankroll Management, chances are, your going to get cleaned, real quick.

Bankroll Management refers to how to manage your Gps. If you have 200M, should you stake 50M at a go? How much should you stake?

I recommend and use an aggressive bankroll management, as i only stake players whom i feel i have an edge over. Therefore, i would recommend you have at least 15 stakes. If you plan to stake 10M, have 150M. If you plan to stake 100M, have 1500M.

If however, you stake 50M at once when you only have 150M it will only take 3 losses streak to get you cleaned! Even if you have an edge over your opponent , this still can and WILL happen! Heard of the Black Swan?

Therefore, bankroll management is very crucial is your success in staking. Follow it tightly and move up slowly but steadily!

Yes, i know that some players go from 20m - 7B within a week, or just a few days. But imagine if one huge stake just went wrong, would they still be bragging about their wins?

Remember that staking is a mixture of luck and skill, and tactics with theories. Even if you have the skill, correct theories and tactics, but luck isn't on your side, you can still lose even if your a 90/10 favourite!

Uselesspoop

 

great guide i enjoyed it 8/10 thanks!

 

very nice reading, tho most of it i already knew!

 

Yeah this was a very interesting guide
I will be trying some of the name combinations

 

Great guide 10/10 cheers

 

Honestly, just read through it, and I love it
Amazing guide, and it's kind of you to post it freely

 

great guide, thx for sharing

 

Alot of old info but alot of new info too, I liked it. first time I read a sythe written-guide word for word in a long time.

 

Great guide, all I would say is try and section it off a bit better? Add a bit of color to show a different section to make it easier for people to locate

Other than that great guide!

 

Well detailed guide, good to read 8/10. Pictures would have helped.

 

very nice guide ! thanks. was very detailed... maybe some more pics ?

 

very usefull guide for beginners, too bad i knew everything already

 

Great guide, if I were you I would have tried to sell it

 

thanks for all the kind comments thanks!

 

Very Detailed guide

 

Excellent Guide, lots of new information, very details and was enjoyable to read. 10/10

 

To the TOP it GOES

 

Haven't seen you in a while.

Nice guide nonetheless