Tasks (formerly called Achievement Diaries) are small challenges that players may complete in order to earn rewards. Tasks are usually tied to a specific area and are meant to test the player's knowledge about that area. There are currently nine areas that have Tasks to complete. The Tasks of each area are split into five categories, based on their difficulty. The easiest tasks usually do not require any skill levels to complete, but most higher level tasks require the player to have high skill levels and difficult quests completed, as well as in-depth knowledge of a particular area within RuneScape, such as the TzHaar Fight Caves. With the exception of the Lumbridge and Draynor Tasks plus a small part of Varrock and Falador Tasks, the Tasks are for members only, as many tasks involve members' skills or quests. As of 27 March2012, there are a total of 534 tasks.
The first set of Tasks was released on 8 May2007. It was then named an Achievement Diary and had three difficulty levels; Easy, Medium and Hard. The interface resembled that of the quest list and was actually a sub-menu of the Quest Tab. A total of six more Achievement Diaries were later released. The Ardougne Tasks, released on 20 October2009, was the first set to have a fourth difficulty level, Elite. Elite Tasks were added to most other areas on 7 September2010. On 24 November2010, the system of Achievement Diaries was changed into the current Task system. The interface was redesigned, extra rewards were added, and more tasks (not considered to be part of the Lumbridge and Draynor Tasks set) were released for the Lumbridge area, meant as an introduction to the Tasks system for new players. Since then, more tasks have been periodically added to this generic set. Many of these "Miscellaneous" tasks are very simple to complete (e.g. Use the "Run" feature) and as such have a Beginner difficulty level.
To access the Task system, players should click on the icon in their interface. Doing so will fill up with information on how many Tasks the player has already completed out of the total amount of Tasks in that area. To view a complete list of Tasks, the player should click on the 'Open Task List' button at the bottom of the side screen. The Task list will open, displaying all Tasks of the current area. They are broken down into four colour-coded difficulty levels, from Easy to Elite Tasks (the Lumbridge and Draynor Tasks have Beginner to Hard Tasks instead).
Green - Easy
Red - Medium
White - Hard
Purple - Elite
Lock icon - You lack one or more prerequisites to complete this Task
+ - Pinned Task to refer to it from the side window (right click to Pin/Unpin)
Check mark - Completed Task
Players can view Tasks of another area by selecting a different area in the drop-down menu in the top left corner of the interface. In the Task list the player can also see the total amount of Tasks they have completed, and filter out Tasks they don't have the requirements for yet or that are not part of an area set.
When the player hovers their mouse over a Task, its name will be displayed. The player can click on a Task to see more information about it, including a detailed description of the Task, the rewards that will be earned upon completion, the requirements needed to complete the Task, and in some cases a hint about how to complete it. Here, players may also select to 'pin' the Task. A pinned Task will always be displayed in their Tasks side interface, wherever they are. Since the 31 Janurary2012 update, pinned Tasks also appear in a small window on the left side of the screen. Currently only one Task can be pinned. Attempting to pin a different Task will automatically unpin the player's prior choice.
Tasks that are part of an area task set have the icon next to them. Completion of all of a particular area's easiest grade of area tasks enables players to claim a Magic lamp, claim a unique wearable item for that area that has special abilities, and unlock extra benefits from resources in that area. Completion of each subsequent grade of tasks upgrades the wearable item, unlocks better benefits, and provides more lamps. Tasks that lack the are not part of the area tasks and do not need to be completed to gain these benefits. These other miscellaneous tasks generally give small cash rewards that can be collected from Explorer Jack. Following the update on 3 December, cash rewards were added directly into the money pouch, though other rewards still needed to be claimed from Explorer Jack.
The Task list
To start an area Task set, players will need to talk to the NPC found near the Task icon in that area on the minimap. This is not true for Beginner level tasks. For example when the Burthorpe and Taverley Tasks were added, most players already had several completed upon logging in after the update.
When a player completes a task.The side bar that pops up when a task is completed When a Task is completed, players will be informed in the chat interface, and that particular Task will be struck out in the journal. A popup at the top of the screen will also inform the player that the Task is completed. These popups may be disabled from the Task list.
If 350 Tasks are completed, the player will unlock the music track The Task at Hand. If all tasks are completed, including those that are not part of an area set, the player will unlock the Taskmaster emote. This currently requires 533 tasks to be completed.
The message received after completing 350 tasks and unlocking The Task at Hand.
There currently is no Task Tutor, although many NPCs, such as Sir Vant in the tutorial, have mentioned one.
Additionally, the Recommendations given by the skill experts the in the Burthorpe and Taverley areas are somewhat like tasks. They do not appear in the in-game task interface, but are listed on the Runescape webpage as tasks and have a completion interface much like a normal task.
The top table to the right shows the skill levels required to complete all Tasks. This does not include the levels needed to complete quests that also are required to complete some Tasks.
The bottom table to the right shows the skill levels required to complete all Tasks available in Free-to-play.
Temporary boosts may be used to obtain the required level to complete certain Tasks.
The current XP required to complete all of the Tasks is 101,006,390, excluding skill requirements of quests required for some Tasks and assuming no skill boosts are used. This is roughly 5 times the amount of experience required to complete all current quests and earn the Quest point cape.
Chance of smelting two bars at once (up to and including adamantite) in Edgeville
Chance of Mining two ores at once (up to and including adamantite)
Chance of Smithing at a faster rate
Five free bolt enchantments per day (up to and including Diamond bolts)
Better chance of getting a piece of the Skull sceptre as a drop while wearing Varrock armour, and the sceptre gets 10 charges instead of 5 if made while wearing Varrock armour
At all times:
Option of switching Varrock Teleport to south of the Grand Exchange by talking to Rat Burgiss, Reldo or Vannaka
Gain access to a new area in Jatizso mine containing 3 adamantite and 2 mithril rocks. A new NPC inside the area, Hallvar, will also offer to note the ores in your inventory.
The Lodestone Network Tasks were released on 13 March2012 along with the Lodestone Network update. This task set does not reward the player with an item, but does allow the player to Home teleport to a variety of towns. There are a total of 11 tasks that can be completed; one for each Home teleport than can be unlocked.
After the Tasks and Skill Targets update, players who had already done things that were in Tasks, were welcomed by a massive load of congratulations (and a hefty cash reward).
On 15 February2011, along with the Urns update, a new 418th task "Urning a Living" was added (requiring the player to craft an urn). However, the task was not initially displayed in the task menu. Players who had completed the previous 417 tasks but not the hidden task were unable to use the Taskmaster emote. This was fixed on 29 March2011 along with the release of 9 new generic tasks.
The error with the music unlock messageWhen reaching 350 achievements total, you unlock a music track. When first released, there was a slight error with the message upon unlocking in which it would say: "You have unlocked a new music track: ."
While standing within the northern walls of Falador, it shows as if you are using the Burthorpe/Taverley diary.
It is currently impossible to complete certain tasks in the Falador and Varrock sets, regardless of whether you are a member or not. However, you can do any that require member quests and/or skills.
When the Tasks interface on the sidebar is open and one talks to Oziach and browses his shop, the current tasks are replaced by "NO TASK".
Many areas that do not have a current task list such as the Kharidian Desert, the Wilderness, the Gnome Lands, the Outer Planes (Zanaris) and Daemonheim are still displayed as locations in the tasks tab when visiting the area.
Lots of task names are references to songs, movies, TV shows, internet memes, etc.