The Volatile tool is an item obtained by playing the Stealing Creation minigame and requires level 50 in the appropriate skill to use. When the tool is operated, it will randomly transform into one of the following tools: pickaxe, hatchet, harpoon, butterfly net, hammer, needle, or a fletching knife. Since 8 October 2013, one may store 29,340 bonus experience by transforming the tool, causing the player to earn double experience in that skill until all stored bonus experience is used up. All versions of the volatile tool can also be used for normal actions (such as a knife for Fletching, or a hatchet for Woodcutting), but once the bonus experience is gained it is not necessary to carry the discharged tools around to benefit from it.
This item is similar to the Proto tool, except for a few differences: one cannot choose which type of tool it transforms; one gains 29,340 experience rather than 24,450; the colour is slightly different; and one will receive a Volatile clay tool instead of a Sacred clay tool. Reverting the tool will cause it losing 10% of its potential bonus experience (resulting in 26,406 experience after one revert, 23,472 experience after two reverts, and so on). Reverting the tool after the bonus experience has been gained results the in tool being destroyed.
It is important to note that the volatile proto-tool, and any of its tool transformations, are not stackable in the player's bank. Once the bonus exp is gained the depleted tools do stack in the bank. It is also important to note than many secondary uses of the transformed tools normal forms (hammer, knife, etc.) are not available to the volatile variants. For example, a hammer can be used for Smithing and Construction but not for cracking open coconuts. A Fletching knife can be used only for Fletching, not for Cooking or Hunting.
Note that volatile tools only increase your overall experience per hour if you would ordinarily get less experience than they offer in the time it takes to earn one. For example, if in each twenty minute game you earn 20 points, you stand to earn 3 tools per hour. If you chose to use these as fletching knives for cutting yew shieldbows, then you would have, in effect, have earned 88,020 (3 x 29,340) bonus experience in that one hour, or even more with skilling only games (which takes around 12 minutes). It is possible in some skills, such as construction, to earn experience at a faster rate that these tools would benefit you, by more expensive means. In this case the tools acts as a benefit by saving materials. It would then be up to the player if the money saved by usuing these tools is a greater benefit than the time saved by skilling at faster, more expensive means.
Effective use
Before the Bonus XP Tidy-Up that was part of the Treevolution update on October 8 2013, it was only advised that volatile tools are used if you are using all tools. After the update though they became much better to use. A player may simply buy one tool, and revert it until they get the tool they desire. Then the player can just continually recharge the tool, making it better than proto-tools.
Trivia
- On the day of release, several of the Volatile tools could not be used for many tasks which their normal counterparts could perform, they are now fixed.
- There has been a glitch reported in which when the Volatile tool reverts after use it becomes a sacred clay tool, this glitch has been fixed.
- On the day of release the Volatile pickaxe used the animation of a regular pickaxe when mining rocks and no animation at all while mining mineral veins. This has since been fixed.
- The Volatile tool reward items you get look similar to class 5 items within Stealing Creation.
- Volatile tools do not revert once the bonus exp as been gained from the item, You can recharge the same item over and over giving up to 5,000 more exp per item than proto tools. This means it is worth reverting a volatile tool until you get the item you are after then recharging it over and over for better exp.
| Armour and weapons |
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| Tools |
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| Miscellaneous |
 Proto-tool Volatile clay tool Inactive shield | ||||||
