RuneWeb - Summoning Guide

Summoning Guide

By: Data/Loggy, Mysticallity, and Bethyy

(This is a members-only skill.)

Getting Started
Equipment
Obelisks
Familiars
Technique Scrolls
- Headdresses
Summoning Pets
Extra Summoning Info
Summoning EXP Quest Rewards

Summoning is one of the more interesting and interactive skills of Runescape. It involves summmoning creatures to your aid, known as 'familiars', to help you and fight for you. It's not quite as simple as that, however. To begin Summoning, you must have completed the Wolf Whistle Quest.

Getting Started

As you will have learned from the Wolf Whistle Quest, Summoning is performed by creating the appropriate pouch and selecting the summon option. If you are the kind who doesn't pay much attention to quests, then read on. In order to summon a familiar, you must first make a summoning pouch so that you can bind the creature to the RuneScape world. To do this you have to have the following items:

Spirit Shards

Empty Pouches

Charms

Familiar-Specific Item (each familiar requires a unique item to create its pouch)

Once you have the above items (see the next section) you can continue to an obelisk of your choice and infuse the empty pouches with the power of the ingredients combined. Familiars are used for many different reasons, all the way from helping you fight your opponent to producing spider eggs or even acting as a fishing net. While each familiar can do various things, they all have a unique 'special attack'. To be able to use your familiars special attack you will need to have the scroll which corresponds with the pouch you used to summon your familliar.

Scrolls are simple to make: all you need to do is get a pouch of the familiar you wish to make and then go to the obelisk of your choice. Once there select to 'Infuse-Pouch' and go to the second tab at the top of the interface. This is where you make scrolls. One of your summoning pouches will transfer into 10 scrolls for that familiars special move.

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Familiars are fun and useful to have around, but remember that you only have so much time to keep them out - depending on your Summoning level. With your familiar out, your Summoning level will drain over time, just like Prayer. When this runs out, you'll have to recharge it at an obelisk. When you first start your familiar will only stay at your side for a mere three minutes, however as your level increases so does the length of time.

Equipment

There are a few items that you will need to help you make your pouches and scrolls so you can go gallabanding across Runescape with weird antlered bears and caged squids. Information on the various Summoning related items is given below.

Item	How To Obtain	Use
Pouch	Bought in Summoning Shops (1 gp)	Used to hold the power of your familiar until you summon it
Spirit Shard	Bought in Summoning Shops (25 gp)	Used to infuse the power of familiars into pouches
Charms	Dropped by monsters	Defines the type of familiar to be infused in pouches

Charms are one of the reasons Summoning is so hard to level: you can't just go and buy them - you have to get them as drops from various monsters.

Gold Charm	Crimson Charm	Blue Charm	Green Charm	Abyssal Charm

Most monsters in Runescape drop charms, and if they do, usually drop them often. Fire Giants, Ice Giants, Ogres, Mogres, Blue Dragons, Basilisks, and Bloodvelds have good charm drop rates. If you are prowling for charms, it's a good idea to simply kill monsters assigned to you through the Slayer Skill, as many assigned monsters will drop charms.

Obelisks

As you've learned from the above sectionsand the Wolf Whistle Quest, Summoning Obelisks are required to create pouches and are thus needed to summon your familiars in the long run. Obelisks are also used to create technique scrolls (see below).

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Obelisks are also used to recharge your Summoning Points, which are drained while you have familiars out. In some cases, there are Summoning shops right next to the obelisks. You cannot summon or bring familiars too close to obelisks.

Obelisk	Location	Store?
Taverly Obelisk	Beneath Pikkupstix's house	Yes
Gu'Tanoth Obelisk	Southwest of Yanille, just before the gates leading into Gu'Tanoth (ogre lands)	Yes
Mort Myre Obelisk	Nature Spirit Grotto in Mort Myre in Canifis	Yes
Isfadar Obelisk	Just inside the Underground Pass (when entered from Isfadar)	No
Brimhaven Obelisk	West of Brimhaven, on the penninsula	No
Piscatoris Obelisk	Outside of the Piscatoris Fishing Colony	No
Desert Obelisk	In a cave near the bridge southwest of Pollnivneach in the Kharidian (Shantay) Desert	No

Familiars

The main concept of Summoning is, of course, the ability to summon up familiars to aid you in your adventures and devices. However, it isn't as simple as all that. First off, there are certain places where you cannot summon familiars, known as 'summon-free' zones. These are listed below. If you teleport to any of these locations, your familiar will stick with you; however if you want to move further into the area you'll need to dismiss your familiar.

Varrock (excluding the palace)

Falador (excluding the White Knight's Castle)

Lumbridge (excluding the castle courtyard)

The Grand Exchange

Seers' Village

The Barrows

The Mage Training Arena

While you have your familiar out, a special 'Familiar Tab' will become available, which contains options & information pertaining to your familiar, such as the time remaining, the special technique meter, and any other special skills unique to your familiar. With each creature you can summon there's a few things to be known about it. Please note that you cannot summon a familiar while you have a pet out. Each Summonable creature, along with a link to information pertaining to it, is listed below.

Familiar		Summoning Level Required
Spirit Wolf		Level 1
Dreadfowl		Level 4
Spirit Spider		Level 10
Thorny Snail		Level 13
Granite Crab		Level 16
Desert Wyrm		Level 18
Spirit Scorpion		Level 19
Albino Rat		Level 23
Spirit Kalphite		Level 25
Compost Mound		Level 28
Vampire Bat		Level 31
Honey Badger		Level 32
Beaver		Level 33
Bronze Minotaur		Level 36
Bull Ant		Level 40
Macaw		Level 41
Evil Turnip		Level 42
Evil Cockatrice/Variant		Level 43
Iron Minotaur		Level 46
Magpie		Level 47
Bloated Leech		Level 49
Spirit Terrorbird		Level 52
Abyssal Parasite		Level 54
Spirit Jelly		Level 55
Steel Minotaur		Level 56
Ibis		Level 56
Karamthulhu Overlord		Level 58
Smoke Devil		Level 61
Abyssal Lurker		Level 62
Spirit Cobra		Level 63
Stranger Plant		Level 64
Mithril Minotaur		Level 66
Barker Toad		Level 66
War Tortoise		Level 67
Bunyip		Level 68
Fruit Bat		Level 69
Arctic Bear		Level 71
Granite Lobster		Level 74
Prayer Mantis		Level 75
Adamant Minotaur		Level 76
Giant Ent		Level 78
Hydra		Level 80
Spirit Dagannoth		Level 82
Rune Minotaur		Level 86
Unicorn Stallion		Level 88
Wolpertinger		Level 92
Pak Yack		Level 96

Scrolls

Scrolls are to familiars what special attacks are to certain (usually Dragon) weapons. Each familiar has a certain scroll, which can be activated when the familiar is out by selecting it from the Familiar Tab menu. Using these technique scrolls will drain the special move bar (also located on the Familiar Tab), but it will recharge overtime. Scrolls are made by using pouches at Summoning Obelisks, and each pouch makes 10 scrolls for that familiar. The experience info for each scroll is listed in the table below the following one.

Note: 'Points' refers to the number of 'Special Move Points' it takes to activate the scroll.

Scroll	Pouch	Level	Effect	Points
Howl	Spirit Wolf	1	Causes NPC enemies to flee	3
Dreadfowl Strike	Dreadfowl	4	Magic attack that inflicts up to 3 damage	3
Egg Spawn	Spirit Spider	10	Creates a random number of red spider eggs	6
Slime Spray	Thorny Snail	13	Attack that inflicts up to 8 damage	3
Stony Shell	Granite Crab	16	Boosts your Defence	12
Electric Lash	Desert Wyrm	18	Magic attack that inflicts one damage and stuns your opponent	6
Venom Shot	Spirit Scorpion	19	Has a chance of making your next Ranged attack mildly poisonous, provided the ammunition you are using can be poisoned	6
Cheese Feast	Albino Rat	23	Fills the rat's inventory with cheese	6
Sandstorm	Spirit Kalphite	25	Strikes up to 5 nearby opponents for up to 2 damage	6
Generate Compost	Compost Mound	28	Fills a nearby compost bin with compost with the chance of creating supercompost	12
Vampire Touch	Vampire Bat	31	Inflicts up to 12 damage on an opponent, with a chance of restoring 2 of your Hitpoints	4
Insane Ferocity	Honey Badger	32	Reduces your Defence, Magic and Ranged to increase your Attack and Strength	12
Multichop	Beaver	33	Cuts up to 3 logs from a nearby tree	3
Bronze Bull Rush	Bronze Minotaur	36	Magical attack that does up to 4 damage, with a chance of stunning your opponent	6
Unburden	Bull Ant	40	Restores run energy based on your Agility	12
Herbcall	Macaw	41	Chance of creating herbs	12
Evil Flames	Evil Turnip	42	Magic attack that drains the target's Ranged skill	6
Petrifying Gaze	Evil Cockatrice/Variant	43	Deals up to 5 damage against an opponent, as well as reducing a combat skill (varies by type of cockatrice)	3
Iron Bull Rush	Iron Minotaur	46	Magical attack that does up to 6 damage, with a chance of stunning your opponent	6
Thieving Fingers	Magpie	47	2 point Thieving boost	12
Blood Drain	Bloated Leech	49	Heals stat damage, poison and disease at the cost of Hitpoints	6
Tireless Run	Spirit Terrorbird	52	2 point Agility boost, and restores your run energy based on your normal Agility	8
Abyssal Drain	Abyssal Parasite	54	Magic-based attack that drains opponent's Prayer	6
Dissolve	Spirit Jelly	55	A Magic attack that inflicts up to 7 damage and drains the target's Attack	6
Steel Bull Rush	Steel Minotaur	56	Magical attack that does up to 9 damage, with a chance of stunning your opponent	6
Fish Rain	Ibis	56	Produces fish up to cod	12
Doomsphere Device	Karamthulhu Overlord	58	Inflicts up to 16 damage on the target	3
Dust Cloud	Smoke Devil	61	Inflicts up to 3 damage on up to 6 adjacent opponents	6
Abyssal Stealth	Abyssal Lurker	62	4 point boost to both Agility and Thieving	20
Ophidian Incubation	Spirit Cobra	63	Turns an egg into a cockatrice egg	3
Poisonous Blast	Stranger Plant	64	Attack with 50% chance of poisoning your opponent and inflicting 2 damage	6
Mithril Bull Rush	Mithril Minotaur	66	Magical attack that does up to 12 damage, with a chance of stunning your opponent	6
Toad Bark	Barker Toad	66	Inflicts up to 18 damage on your opponent	6
Testudo	War Tortoise	67	Boosts your Defence significantly	20
Swallow Whole	Bunyip	68	Allows you to eat an uncooked fish, assuming you have the level to cook it	3
Fruitfall	Fruit Bat	69	Produces random fruit nearby	6
Arctic Blast	Arctic Bear	71	Magical attack that does up to 11 damage, with a chance of stunning your opponent	6
Crushing Claw	Granite Lobster	74	Inflicts up to 14 damage, as well as removing up to 5 Defence from your opponent	6
Mantis Strike	Prayer Mantis	75	Binds, causes Magic-based damage and drains target player's Prayer	6
Adamant Bull Rush	Adamant Minotaur	76	Magical attack that does up to 16 damage, with a chance of stunning your opponent	6
Acorn Missile	Giant Ent	78	Inflicts up to 11 damage on up to 3 opponents. Chance of acorns being dropped	6
Regrowth	Hydra	80	Chance of replicating standard fruit or vegetables in your inventory	6
Spike Shot	Spirit Dagannoth	82	Ranged attack that inflicts up to 18 damage and stuns your opponent	6
Rune Bull Rush	Rune Minotaur	86	Magical attack that does up to 19 damage, with a chance of stunning your opponent	6
Healing Aura	Unicorn Stallion	88	Heals up to 15% of your Hitpoints	20
Magic Focus	Wolpertinger	92	Boosts your Magic level significantly	20
Winter Storage	Pak Yack	96	Pack yak banks one random item in its inventory. The pack yak must have a full inventory	12

The table below will give information on the experience gain for scrolls.

* - The experience listed is the experience gain when you transform a pouch into a scroll, so is thus the experience gain per creating 10 scrolls.

Scroll	Summoning Level Required	Creation XP Gain *	Activation XP Gain
Howl	1	0.1	0.1
Dreadfowl Strike	4	0.1	0.1
Egg Spawn	10	0.2	0.2
Slime Spray	13	0.2	0.2
Stony Shell	16	0.2	0.2
Electric Lash	18	0.4	0.4
Venom Shot	19	0.9	1
Cheese Feast	23	2.3	2.3
Sandstorm	25	2.5	2.5
Generate Compost	28	0.6	0.6
Vampire Touch	31	1.5	1.6
Insane Ferocity	32	1.6	1.6
Multichop	33	0.7	0.7
Bronze Bull Rush	36	3.6	3.6
Unburden	40	0.6	0.6
Herbcall	41	0.8	0.8
Evil Flames	42	2.1	2.1
Petrifying Gaze	43	0.9	0.9
Iron Bull Rush	46	4.6	4.6
Thieving Fingers	47	0.9	0.9
Blood Drain	49	2.4	2.5
Tireless Run	52	0.8	0.8
Abyssal Drain	54	1.1	1.1
Dissolve	55	5.5	5.5
Steel Bull Rush	56	5.6	5.6
Fish Rain	56	1.1	1.1
Doomsphere Device	58	5.8	5.8
Dust Cloud	61	3	3.1
Abyssal Stealth	62	1.9	1.9
Ophidian Incubation	63	3.1	3.2
Poisonous Blast	64	3.2	3.2
Mithril Bull Rush	66	6.6	6.6
Toad Bark	66	1	1
Testudo	67	0.7	0.7
Swallow Whole	68	1.4	1.4
Fruitfall	69	1.4	1.4
Arctic Blast	71	1.1	1.1
Crushing Claw	74	3.7	3.7
Mantis Strike	75	3.7	3.8
Adamant Bull Rush	76	7.6	7.6
Acorn Missile	78	1.6	1.6
Regrowth	80	1.6	1.6
Spike Shot	82	4.1	4.2
Rune Bull Rush	86	8.6	8.6
Healing Aura	88	1.8	1.8
Magic Focus	92	4.6	4.6
Winter Storage	96	4.8	4.8

* - The experience listed is the experience gain when you transform a pouch into a scroll, so is thus the experience gain per creating 10 scrolls.

Headdresses

During your adventures with your familiars, you'll probably get it into trouble as always. While in the exciting battle of you versus whatever unimaginable foe you've ticked off now, you may find it irritating to always have to activate your familiars scroll to help you. Headdresses can be obtained two different ways:

Antlers and Lizard Skulls are sold in Summoning Stores

Feather Headdresses must be crafted using a coif, needle, thread, and 20 Hunter Feathers; Feather Headdresses require level 79 Crafting to make

Thus, there are headdresses. These headdresses can be infused with scrolls, which, when worn with the correct familiar out, will randomly activate the scrolls when you enter combat.

Headdress	Level	Magic	Range	Stab	Slash	Crush	Magic	Range	Summoning	Holds...
Antler	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	+8	5 Scrolls
Lizard Skull	30	-	+1	+2	+3	+4	+2	+3	+12	10 Scrolls
Feather Headdress	50	-1	+2	+4	+6	+8	+4	+4	+20	15 Scrolls

To charge a headdress with scrolls, use the scrolls you want to store on it. A charged headdress glows blue. You can remove the scrolls by selecting the 'Uncharge' option on the headdress, and you can check how many scrolls are left by selecting the 'Commune' option.

Pets

As your Summoning Level increases, you will open up a few more perks: pets! Pets, unlike familiars, can be taken in and out of your inventory at will. Most eat specific foods and take along time to mature. You can only have one type of each pet at a time. If you have a pet out, you cannot summon a familiar. Kittens and Cats, not officially a part of the Summoning Skill, are covered in the Cat Care Guide.

* - These pets are originally obtained in eggs, and these eggs must be taken to a Pet Shop (located in Taverly or Yanille) and incubated.
** - Flies, nuts, and beetle bits can be bought from a Pet Shop (located in Taverly or Yanille).

Pet	Level	Source	Food
Pet Dog	1	Bought at Pet Shops	Eats raw meat (not fish)
Gecko	10	Caught using Hunter	Eats flies and beetle bits **
Platypus	10	Caught using Hunter ***	Eats raw fish & ground fishing bait as a baby; eats raw fish and fishing bait as an adult
Penguin *	30	Ardougne Zoo	Eats raw fish
Giant Crab	40	Bought from Mogres	Eats raw fish
Raven *	50	Birds' Nests	Eats ground fishing bait (pestle & mortar + fishing bait) as a chick; eats fishing bait as an adult
Squirrel	60	Caught using Hunter	Eats nuts **
Saradomin Owl *	70	Birds' Nests	Eats ground fishing bait (pestle & mortar + fishing bait) as a chick; eats fishing bait as an adult
Guthix Raptor *	70	Birds' Nests	Eats ground fishing bait (pestle & mortar + fishing bait) as a chick; eats fishing bait as an adult
Zamorak Hawk *	70	Birds' Nests	Eats ground fishing bait (pestle & mortar + fishing bait) as a chick; eats fishing bait as an adult
Raccoon	80	Caught using Hunter	Eats raw meat and fish
Vulture *	85	Egg is dropped by Vultures	Eats ground fishing bait (pestle & mortar + fishing bait) as a chick; eats fishing bait as an adult
Chameleon *	90	Eggs can be found on Cairn Isle (island west of Shilo Village)	Eats flies **
Monkey	95	Caught using Hunter	Eats bananas
Baby Dragon *	99	Dropped by Dragons	Eats large amounts of raw meat, fish, & chicken

* - These pets are originally obtained in eggs, and these eggs must be taken to a Pet Shop (located in Taverly or Yanille) and incubated.
** - Flies, nuts, and beetle bits can be bought from a Pet Shop (located in Taverly or Yanille).
*** - You must have completed the As A First Resort Quest to keep a platypus as a pet.

Extra Summoning Info

Summoning also involves a few other miscellaneous things that are useful to know about while raising it.

Summoning Potion

Just as people drink Prayer Restore Potions to restore Prayer Points, so can you restore your Summoning Points with a Summoning Potion. See the Herblore Guide for more info.

Cape of Accomplishment

The ultimate reward for getting level 99 Summoning is not only the great ability you will have in the skill, but the Cape of Accomplishment that you will have the oppurtunity to purchase. For more information on Capes of Accomplishment, see the Skill Capes page.

Summoning EXP Quest Rewards

The following quests give Summoning EXP Rewards upon completion.

Quest	Exp
Wolf Whistle	276 exp