Wallpaper that came out with the Evil Tree Distraction and Diversion
The Evil Tree is a members-only Distractions and Diversions event, released on 25 February 2009. This event can be done twice daily; the counter resets at 00:00 GMT. Players must log out and back in to reset the clock. A tree will spawn two hours after the death of the last tree in that world. As such, players may kill a tree in one world and switch to another world where a new tree is just sprouting.
Notes:
- Bonus experience from Stealing Creation, Clan Citadels, and Pendants of Skill do work.
- Lumberjack clothes do increase experience recieved from cutting the evil tree.
- Ring of fire & Flame gloves do increase experience received from cutting or lighting the evil tree.
- Woodcutting urns do not work
- However, urns can be useful while cutting (non-evil) trees, when under the spell of the Leprechaun's auto-banking magic
Warning: Interacting with a tree at any stage of development counts as one of the two daily trees. This applies to nurturing trees, even if players do not have the required levels to chop or burn the fully grown tree. However: you can right click and inspect saplings and young trees to find out what they will grow into. This right clicking to inspect and check a fully grown tree's health, or a sapling's type does not count as one of the daily interactions.
A way of making it easier to find evil trees is by joining a friend chat dedicated to tracking evil trees which players may find in the RuneScape Forums. In these, players can share their reports with other players that are also looking for evil trees and then calculations, based on the times given by spirit trees, are used to determine when evil trees may sprout. These calculations do not directly interact with the game engine.
Overview
A small group taking on the evil tree.
The purpose of the event is to kill the Evil tree, after which the player is rewarded; see below. There are seven types of evil trees and twenty-six possible locations.
Farming experience is granted each time the Sapling advances to another stage of development while nurturing. Woodcutting experience is granted every few seconds during chopping. Firemaking experience is granted each time a new section of the Tree is lit on fire from evil tree kindling.
A leprechaun is found near all trees. He will explain the evil tree and is the one to reward players after one is killed. He can also loan out low-level tools if you've forgotten yours.
Stages
An evil tree has a total of six stages: stages 1–5 are different growths of the sapling, and stage six is a fully grown evil tree. The strange sapling may be nurtured by players to make it grow quickly, but it will grow on its own. The type of a sapling could formerly only be determined by checking the farming experience when nurturing or the level requirement needed if the player's farming level was too low, see chart. However, this counts as one of the twice-daily interactions. Currently a much safer alternative is available, which is to right-click the sapling and press inspect. Players may wish to refrain from nurturing trees until they know if they are interested in killing the resulting tree. After the sapling is fully grown, it becomes an evil tree.
Locating
There are several ways to find an evil tree:
- Speak with a Spirit tree (this requires completion of Tree Gnome Village). It will tell you the status of the tree in each world. Once the strange sapling sprouts, it will give players a hint to its location; see here. Each hint leads to at least two locations. Once the Sapling has grown into a full tree, Spirit trees will teleport the player to the exact location. If a quest is required that you have not completed, (such as Legends' Quest for trees in the Kharazi Jungle) the Spirit tree will not teleport you.
- Be nearby. Once the Strange Sapling sprouts, Evil roots will briefly shoot out of the surrounding ground. These roots can appear a good distance from the location of the tree, so search carefully. Roots will only appear beneath the players feet that have not yet interacted with two evil trees that day.
- Get a tip from a friend who can talk to the spirit tree if you can't.
- Join a clan. Many clans will be advertised in the Runescape forums under "Distractions and diversions". People typically don't advertise about their clan through public chat anymore.
- A sapling for an Evil tree will spawn on exactly two minutes from the time a server comes online after a crash or a system update.
- Players that have completed the 2011 Easter event can use their Sunbeam crown or Icicle crown to ask about the tree's type and a hint to its location or, if no tree is alive, the estimated time until one is.
Killing
The evil tree is killed using two methods: cutting with a hatchet and lighting fires at its base. Different levels are required to cut and burn the tree; see below. Chopping the tree and its roots gives Woodcutting experience, and lighting fires gives Firemaking experience.
To chop the tree, a hatchet is needed. As with all woodcutting, higher-level hatchets cut faster than lower-level ones. To burn the tree, the player will require a tinderbox and some kindling, which is attained from chopping down one of the four roots that grow on the north, east, south, or west side of the tree. Upon request, the leprechaun will provide the player with a Bronze hatchet and a tinderbox. It is recommended to use your own hatchet for faster cutting.
The evil roots will strike and stun players who are standing nearby. They will also force players who are standing on their spawn location off the way each time they spawn. Machetes are more effective at cutting roots than most hatchets are. If you have a Rune hatchet and a Red topaz machete in the inventory, your character will automatically use the machete to cut the roots, indicating that it works better. However a Dragon hatchet and Inferno adze are still faster than any of the machetes.
There are eight spots at the base of the tree to light. The fires do damage to the tree over time and help you earn reward faster; therefore it is recommended to light the fires as early as possible to maximize damage.
It takes one minute until new roots strike up again on each side.
The tree begins with 100% health, and the player with 0% reward. As players chop the tree and the fires burn, the tree's life drops and the player's percentage of reward increases. This can be checked by right-clicking and inspecting the tree. Doing so will stop the player from chopping, note, so do so sparingly. The tree does not die when it reaches 0% health, if none of the players cutting it have obtained 100% reward. The amount of players that need 100% depends on the total amount of players cutting the tree. Eventually the tree will die and become a Fallen tree, from which you can receive your rewards. A fallen tree will remain for 10 minutes before disappearing.
If an evil tree takes too long to die, it gets struck by lightning; see below.
It is often best to kill a tree with at least a few other people to get the best reward. Also, with more people, the evil roots get killed faster, letting you get back to chopping for experience and reward. A good crowd between 4 and 12 seems to get the maximum reward for everyone.
Skill Requirements
Evil Tree Woodcutting Level Farming Level Firemaking Level Examine Text Normal evil tree 
1 1 (Gives 20 exp) 1 This looks like a challenge anyone can deal with. Evil oak tree 
15 7 (Gives 45 exp) 15 His bite looks tougher than his bark. Willow evil tree File:Willow tree.gif 30 15 (Gives 66 exp) 30 He'll weep when he's done being evil! Maple evil tree
45 22 (Gives 121.5 exp) 45 Where did his red leaves go? Yew evil tree
60 30 (Gives 172.5 exp) 60 A tough evil tree! Magic evil tree
75 37 (Gives 311 exp) 75 An incredibly tough challenge! Elder evil tree
90 42 (Gives 687.5 exp) 90 The most fearsome of evil trees!
The invisible boosts of summoned familiars do not work to get the required levels. They only increase the rate of cutting.
Locations with hints
- Hints are given by Spirit trees when there is a Strange Sapling, and the Tree Gnome Village or The Grand Tree quest must be completed in order to speak with a Spirit tree. Hints are also given by the spirit of summer via a icicle crown or sunbeam tiara.
- Some hints/locations require other quests. Some are simply easier to access with certain quests.
- There are currently 26 possible known locations.
- All hints refer to at least two possible locations (occasionally three or four).
- Hints start with "It can be found...".
- Many new players are unaware of the need to click continue, the Anima Mundi is not the location hint.
| Hints | Possible Locations | Quests Required | Map |
|---|---|---|---|
| Due west of a town called Lumbridge | North of the wall between Lumbridge and the swamp | none | File:Lumbridge Swamp Evil Tree map.png |
| South of Draynor Village near the willow trees | none | File:South Draynor Evil Tree map.png | |
| Just outside a City you call Varrock | North of Varrock Palace, near the Wilderness wall | none | File:North Varrock Evil Tree map.png |
| East of Varrock, near Tolna's rift | none | File:Tolna's Rift Evil Tree map.png | |
| Close to a place called 'Draynor' | North of Draynor Village near Draynor Manor | none | File:North Draynor Evil Tree map.png |
| South of Draynor Village near the willow trees | none | File:South Draynor Evil Tree map.png | |
| Close to the town you call "Seers" | South of Seers' Village Flax Field by the Yew trees | none | File:Catherby Evil Tree map.png |
| Heart of McGrubor's Wood | none | File:McGrubor's Woods Evil Tree map.png | |
| North-west of Seers' Village bank | none | File:Seers' Village Evil Tree map.png | |
| North as the crow flies from Seers' Village | North-west of Seers' Village bank | none | File:Seers' Village Evil Tree map.png |
| East of the house portal in Rellekka | none | File:Rellekka Evil Tree map.png | |
| North as the crow flies from the market of Ardougne | Heart of McGrubor's Wood | none | File:McGrubor's Woods Evil Tree map.png |
| South-west of the Ranging Guild | none | File:Ranging Guild Evil Tree map.png | |
| Close to the home of "Legends" | North of Legends' Guild | none | File:Legends' Guild Evil Tree map.png |
| South of Legends' Guild | none | File:South Legends' Guild Evil Tree map.png | |
| Close to the town you call Yanille | North of Yanille | none | File:North Yanille Evil Tree map.png |
| South of Tree Gnome Village, West of Yanille | none | File:West Yanille Evil Tree map.png | |
| On the island known as Karamja | Near the nature altar, north of Shilo Village | none | 
|
| East of the Teak trees in the Kharazi Jungle | Legends | File:Kharazi Jungle Evil Tree map.png | |
| Close to a dungeon entrance and within a tropical jungle | Near the entrance of the Brimhaven Dungeon | none | File:Brimhaven Evil Tree map.png |
| Ape Atoll, near the entrance to Ape Atoll Dungeon (This is a dangerous area with poisonous spiders. A gree-gree will also keep you from being poisoned) |
Monkey Madness | File:Ape Atoll Evil Tree map.png | |
| On the southern coast of a tropical island | East of the teak trees in the Kharazi Jungle | Legends | File:Kharazi Jungle Evil Tree map.png |
| Ape Atoll, near the entrance to Ape Atoll Dungeon (This is a dangerous area with poisonous spiders. A gree-gree will also keep you from being poisoned) |
Monkey Madness | File:Ape Atoll Evil Tree map.png | |
| To the south of a tree gnome settlement | South of Tree Gnome Stronghold, East of the Outpost | none | File:Tree Gnome Stronghold Evil Tree map.png |
| South of Tree Gnome Village, West of Yanille | none | File:West Yanille Evil Tree map.png | |
| In the lands inhabited by elves | Lletya, South of the Magic trees | Mourning's Ends Part I | File:Lletya Evil Tree map.png |
| East of Tyras Camp | Regicide | File:Tyras Camp Evil Tree map.png | |
| Close to a runecrafting altar | Near the Body altar, South of the Monastery | none | File:Monastery Evil Tree map.png |
| West of Nature altar, North of the Shilo Village | none |
| |
| Close to a mine on the outskirts of a city | West of Falador | none | File:Falador-evil-tree-new-location.jpg |
| South of Legends' Guild | none | File:South Legends' Guild Evil Tree map.png | |
| Close to a large collection of willow trees | South of Draynor Village near the willow trees | none | File:South Draynor Evil Tree map.png |
| North-west of Seers' Village bank | none | File:Seers' Village Evil Tree map.png | |
| South of Legends' Guild | none | File:South Legends' Guild Evil Tree map.png | |
| South-west part of Tree Gnome Stronghold, north of Brimstail's cave and east of the bridge | none | File:Tree Gnome Stronghold (inside) Evil Tree map.png | |
| By a collection of Yew Trees | South of Seers' Village Flax Field by the Yew trees | none | File:Catherby Evil Tree map.png |
| North of the wall between Lumbridge and the swamp | none | File:Lumbridge Swamp Evil Tree map.png | |
| With rare trees and ogres nearby | South of Castle Wars (North of fairy ring BKP) | none | File:Castle Wars Evil Tree map.png |
| West of Oo'glog, East of Mobilising Armies. (This is dangerous area with aggressive wolves and ogresses.) |
none | File:Oo'glog Evil Tree map.png |
_Evil_Tree_map.png){kind=link}
Rewards
Experience
- When an evil tree is still a sapling, Farming experience can be gained from nurturing it. No items are required to do this.
- When an evil tree is fully grown, chopping the evil roots and the tree itself grants Woodcutting experience.
- When an evil root vanishes, the player gains Evil tree kindling, which can be used to set fire to a part of the tree. This awards Firemaking experience.
- Sacred clay hatchets give double experience when chopping evil trees.
Note: the Ring of fire, Flame gloves, Penance horn and Lumberjack clothing give no additional experience, and the Inferno Adze will not automatically light any kindling received. Mahogany logs, Achey tree logs, Teak logs, Arctic pine logs, and Eucalyptus logs cut under the leprechaun effect won't be banked, instead you'll receive the usual 'Your inventory is too full to hold anymore logs.'
Evil Tree Experience Nurturing Firemaking Chopping roots Chopping tree Normal 20 200 3 15.1 Oak 45 300 6.4 32.4 Willow 66 450 9.1 45.7 Maple 121.5 675 11.1 55.8 Yew 172.5 1,012.5 12.8 64.4 Magic 311 1,517.5 14.1 70.9 Elder 687.5 2,000.5 15.5 77.8
Items
A log being escorted to the player's bank.
- You can sell the Evil tree kindling to the leprechaun for 25 coins each, or choose to keep the kindling to use on future Evil trees. All trees give the same type of kindling, keeping the kindling for the next tree could be of great help getting it lit faster.
- When the tree dies, it turns grey and wither. Players can get the following items from the evil tree as a reward:
- Noted logs of the same type as the tree. With the exception of the Elder Evil Tree offering an assortment of noted Yew, Magic, Teak, Mahogany and Elder logs
- Coins
- Tree Seed or Bird's nest
- 1-10 Morchella mushroom spores
- 1-11 Fellstalk seeds
- Level 1 Clue scroll
- Key halves. Elder trees offer a very rare chance of receiving a piece of the Crystal triskelion key
- Key tokens
- The normal reward received appears to be Logs (noted), Coins, and Tree Seed or Bird's Nest, with Clue Scrolls and Key Halves as an additional reward. This requires inventory room of three or four spaces. The Ring of Wealth has been found to affect the chances of obtaining Clue Scrolls and Key Halves from a dead Evil Tree.
- Prior to the late introduction of Elder Trees, an Elder Evil Tree gave an assortment of logs, as there was no Elder Log. Now they give all sorts of logs including Elder logs.
Further woodcutting
For a period of time after the tree is killed, players are given several advantages when cutting trees. The amount of time depends on the percent damage done to the evil tree, and the type of evil tree; see below. This ranges from 2 to 30 minutes. These abilities only apply to cutting Normal, Oak, Willow, Maple, Yew, Magic, and Elder trees. (Does not include other evil trees, cursed magic trees, or any other non-standard tree.) This bonus does not disappear when you log out. When you log back in granted time will continue.
- Significantly reduced chance of a tree being felled when a log is harvested (This also works with normal trees). For this to apply, nobody else may be cutting the tree. (This does not apply to trees in farming plots.)
- Significantly increased chance of having birds' nests fall out of trees. (This does not apply to trees in farming plots.)
- Ability to have logs "magically escorted" to the player's bank while Woodcutting if their inventory is full. Sparkles can be seen above the players head when a log is sent to the bank, although it is not possible for other players to see this effect. Note that this only happens when you have a full inventory and you are cutting one of the allotted logs.
- Note: Teak, Mahogany, Arctic Pine, Achey and Eucalyptus tree logs will not be transported to the bank. The player receives a "Your inventory is too full to hold any logs." message instead. This is because the magic log banking ability only applies to normal class logs, not special ones.
Players collecting the reward from a farming leprechaun afterwards will receive only half of the magical banking time.
Logging out pauses the remaining time of these effects.
Players wishing to take advantage of this feature should consider cutting trees which yield logs quickly. The most efficient trees to chop for Woodcutting experience for the duration of the reward are willow trees. Some of the best places to make use of the automatic banking are:
- Willow trees outside Crafting Guild or Fishing Guild (using Skills Necklace)
- Willow trees near the Lumbridge Lake (Home Teleport)
- Willow trees to the north of Seers Bank (Camelot Teleport)
- Willow trees west of Draynor Village, by Port Sarim (Amulet of Glory Teleport or Cabbage Port)
- Willow trees south west of Ardougne bank. (using Ardougne Cloak)
- Willow trees just West of Barbarian Assault (using Games necklace )
- Willow trees in the resource dungeon on the Daemonheim Peninsula (using Ring of Kinship). Level 30 Dungeoneering is needed to enter this dungeon.
For players with higher woodcutting levels, maples in an uncrowded area are also good for using the magical log-banking. The best location for this is the forest of maple trees west of Sinclair Mansion (near fairy ring code C J R), north of Seer's Village, wearing Seer's headband 2 or higher will gain an extra 10xp. Also Maple trees in the resource dungeon on the Daemonheim Peninsula (using Ring of Kinship). Level 30 Dungeoneering is needed to enter this dungeon.
Some players may also wish to cut oak trees to later turn into planks for construction.
Maximum rewards
A dead Evil (Magic) Tree.
The following table shows the highest reported reward possible. A lower percentage reduces the rewards.
The same percent will not always equal the same amount of gold or logs.
Evil Tree Logs Gold coins Duration of log teleportation Normal 12 185 6 minutes Oak 24 326 10 minutes Willow 226 1,127 14 minutes Maple 131 1,280 18 minutes Yew 17 2,334 22 minutes Magic 10 4,737 26 minutes Elder 375 Teak/102 Mahogany/59 Yew/18 Magic/7 Elder 9,482 30 minutes
Treasure Hunter
A different distraction and diversion is chosen each week to give the player a Key token for simply participating. Once every 4 weeks, the player may gain a key token for chopping an Evil Tree. Key tokens can only be received when the Evil Tree D&D is the designated D&D of the week.
Lightning
An Evil Tree is struck by lightning
If an evil tree takes too long to die, it gets struck by lightning. If the tree's health is above 50% 10 minutes after it has appeared, lightning will strike and bring its health down to 50%; after 20 minutes the same applies for 25% health and after 30 minutes, the tree is then killed by a third lightning strike. This also has a lightning sound effect to go along with it. If the evil tree is struck with lightning for the third time and dies, you will still get your rewards if you participated.
Clans/Friends Chats
There are many Distractions & Diversion Friends Chats to help with various D&Ds. For Evil Trees, these chats rely on a 'lister' and 'scouters' method, where by the scouters hopping worlds and reporting the time until the tree sprouts on that world and then the lister will calculate when it will be close to sprouting and will direct the scouters to that world to check, report back and if desired, Nurture, Cut and burn it. When a world is checked, it will be reported in the format "world ## 60+" or whatever the time given by the spirit tree/ Easter crown is. If there is a tree on a world, the world, type, location and health will be reported to the chat as information for others in the chat to see and if they want to, hop to that world and go to the tree. A spirit tree will give a timeout as one of 7 different times: "over an hour", "over 30 minutes", "under 30 minutes", "less than 15 minutes", "about to sprout" (less than 5 minutes), "strange sapling" (sprouted, but still a sapling) or "dispatch the evil tree" (sprouted and fully grown - health between 0-100%).
Music
Music track unlocked:
Trivia
- With the release of Evil Trees, pures who had completed Monkey Madness gained the ability to travel to Ape Atoll without receiving the experience rewards from Daero. This was accomplished by using a spirit tree to teleport to a tree located there. This prompted Jagex to simply allow players to return to Ape Atoll normally without claiming the experience reward.
- When right-clicking the music track "Trees aren't your Friends" in the music list and choosing the "Unlock hint" option, the hint will state "This track was unlocked during the Evil Tree activity." This might be an indication that the Evil Tree distraction was intended to be an activity at first. The Evil Tree is also under the Activities index in the in-game Woodcutting guide.
- If you are interrupted by a system update while participating, you will find a new sapling sprouting in its place upon login. This may take a few minutes to start. Your rewards from the original tree will be awarded if you talk to the tool leprechaun.
- If you try to use a ring of stone or ghoulish mask next to an Evil Tree, instead of transforming you get the message: "The magic from the nearby Evil Tree could make the effects of the transformation unpredictable."
- If you don't have a woodcutting tool in your inventory when killing an Evil Tree, your character will cut the Evil Roots with a machete if it is in your toolbelt and cut the body of the Evil Tree with a hatchet.
- The magic log banking reward takes priority over Signs of the Porter, which were added with Divination.
- On 2 April 2012, the Squeal of Fortune gained an update allowing players to gain a Spin Ticket for a free spin for the Squeal of Fortune. The tickets can only be obtained on the Evil Tree designated week. The Squeal of Fortune has since been removed and replaced with Treasure Hunter.
References