Stealing Creation/Strategies

This article mostly covers the technical settings and the basics of Stealing Creation.

Strategies
There are many ways to gather sacred clay, as there are many possible skills to use.

Skillers
Skillers should collect Clay fragments, which are class-1 clay pieces that can be found scattered around the arena. It is possible to collect higher-level clay without a tool, but that takes an extremely long time, so players are advised to create class-1 tools first. After this, players may obtain class-2 or class-3 clay and make better tools out of these. A good method is to get class 2 clay, make it into a hatchet/harpoon/butterfly net/pickaxe and then use it on a class 4 clay to speed the time up.

Once the player has some sacred clay, they should head to the nearest Creation kiln and select which items they wish to process. If there are multiple classes of sacred clay in the inventory, the desired type of clay to be used can be chosen in the menu on the right-hand side of the creation screen. By default, the kiln chooses the highest level of clay available.

Low level skillers should take caution in their places. Most high level players choose to get a fast early kill by attacking them.

The class you are looking for varies, as they are scattered in the corners, bases, and the middle. Remember that you should say "peace" to anyone who is not on your side, as that player will trust you that you will not attack, pickpocket, or place barriers. Remember that there will be fierce competition if there are a bunch of people on your team/other team/both on a resource, so its best to make another gathering item just for such an occasion.



Some possibilities of gathering clay include:
 * Hunting with a clay butterfly net
 * Mining with a clay pickaxe
 * Woodcutting with a clay hatchet
 * Fishing with a clay harpoon

The player should now head over to their chosen skill area, and perform that activity to gain sacred clay and points. Note that no experience is earned for performing those activities - experience from Stealing Creation is given by the rewards.

If players are trying to get the resource, but cannot get it due to their equipment's class or other reasons, they can ask other players to give them a piece of their clay. This does not hurt, and sometimes the players will give you the clay for your own needs.

Furthermore, sacred clay and items can be obtained in a less direct method, which is by pickpocketing opponents using the Thieving skill. Any item the enemy is carrying (not equipped) can be pickpocketed this way. If the theft is unsuccessful, the player is not stunned similar to when a player is pickpocketing NPCs. Players can pickpocket opponents up to 20 Thieving levels above their own. But players should note that enemies will often retaliate against thieves, so it is a less safe option than actually gathering the clay. However, this option is useful when there is a player you can pickpocket and you are using a class 1 tool on something like a class 4 or 5 clay source. If you can turn the clay into your desired resource, and find the class 4 clay either being barried or not your right type, this method is more suitable.

Player-killers
Player-versus-player combat in this activity has no limitations, meaning players can attack anyone regardless of their combat levels. Players can kill their opponents as they go about their tasks. You cannot attack someone who has just begun using the creation kiln, although you can still attack them just after they begin using it. When players die, they will drop all of their items unless the Protect Item prayer is in effect, in which case they will retain their most valuable item. Because of this, skillers that are being attacked may choose to drop all the clay they are holding and activate Protect Item, in which they will be able to retain their tool.

When players die, they will spawn inside the nearest barrier controlled by their team without any items (or one item if Protect Item was active) they had carried or worn when they died. If there are no barriers, they are sent back to the base.

A commonly used tactic is for one team to attack the other team's home base, especially if the levels are uneven (5000 combat levels compared to 3500 combat levels, for example). Typically they would use spells such as Ice Barrage. This keeps the opposing team stuck inside their base (unless somebody manages to escape, however they typically will be caught quickly, unless there is a fog bank nearby), therefore rendering them unable to collect or deposit clay. Teams using this tactic often win by a landslide. The best thing to prepare if this happens (especially if you have uneven teams), is to make weapons and deposit them in base, so that you can retrieve them if needed. Doing this also gives you points (which you will lose when you take your items back), beware other players taking your items though, as once deposited, they are technically fair game. If you have a good thieving level, try pickpocketing mages (magic-users), as they will be rendered ineffective, as stealing their Elemental runes renders them unable to cast any combat spells and stealing their Catalytic runes prevents them from casting all spells in the Ancient spellbook. This tactic is very effective, though it will need a lot of people to catch runners or any player killers. Be warned that if there are some people sneaking around, and the attacking team has no gatherers, the attackers will lose, though even if they were gathering, there is a tiny percentage they will still lose, even though they prevented the other team from gathering. If you don't have Ancient Magicks, or not a fan of magic, another tactic is to get a high level dagger or other melee weapon, and go to the opponent's base and attack. Right before dying, you would put Protect Item on, thus keeping the dagger. This can be a large nuisance to the other team, and they may stop gathering clay and instead take armour, weapons etc. out of their base cache. This would give them negative points, thus making it an effective way to win.

Suicide
Since you get points for causing damage in combat, and there is no point penalty for taking damage or dying, one of the best ways of getting points is to be a suicide fighter. Provided that you either have no items or one item and Protect Item enabled, there are no penalties for dying.

Gathering clay effectively
Class 1 clay is the weakest clay and will produce the weakest weapons and equipment when used in the Creation kiln. Players can gather higher levels of clay from trees, rocks, pools, and swarms if they have the required levels. Getting higher levels of clay by hand is incredibly slow, however, so players are advised to use equipment to speed up the process.

To effectively gather higher levelled clay, players should start by getting a clay fragment and making it into a piece of equipment of their choice. The highest level clay that can be used should gradually be worked towards. Without any tool, it will take a very long time to get clay from a gathering spot at least 2 clay levels above the tool. A player can start at class 5 clay, but it is highly recommended to get at least a class 1 tool before gathering higher level clay. That being said, if there is a class-2 or class-3 resource right outside your starting base, it can be faster to collect from one of these than to run around searching for fragments - particularly if your level in the appropriate skill is very high. Players should remember to turn their higher level clay into a tool before continuing to gather clay.

The Protect Item prayer may protect the tool, provided there is no clay in the inventory. This way, if the player dies, the higher levelled tool need not be remade, and the player may continue gathering clay. Therefore, it is strongly advised to set Protect Item as your quick prayer while playing Stealing Creation.

Creating barriers around the gathering spot and the nearest Creation Kiln may be a good strategy as it allows you to continue gathering clay without being attacked by an opponent. However you will need to repair the barriers around your gathering spot and/or the Creation Kiln. This strategy enables you to gather more clay and gather more points by processing your clay into barriers; thus increasing your final score.

Processing the clay
Once players have gathered the sacred clay, they can use it on the Creation kilns scattered around the area. This is the same method used to make tools, however, the player will have to choose different options.


 * {|class="wikitable"

!colspan="2"|Clay type !1 !2 !3 !4 !5
 * colspan="2"|Level required
 * 1
 * 20
 * 40
 * 60
 * 80
 * colspan="2"|Food
 * Heals 200 LP
 * Heals 400 LP
 * Heals 800 LP
 * Heals 1200 LP
 * Heals 1600 LP
 * colspan="2"|Potions
 * 1 dose
 * 2 doses
 * 3 doses
 * 4 doses
 * 5 doses
 * rowspan="3"|Summoning
 * Familiar level
 * 25
 * 37
 * 58
 * 93
 * 139
 * Storage capacity
 * 1
 * 6
 * 12
 * 18
 * 24
 * Amount of Scrolls
 * 1
 * 2
 * 3
 * 4
 * 5
 * colspan="2"|Runecrafting
 * 15 runes
 * 30 runes
 * 45 runes
 * 60 runes
 * 75 runes
 * colspan="2"|Fletching
 * 15 arrows (level 1)
 * 15 arrows (level 2)
 * 15 arrows (level 3)
 * 15 arrows (level 4)
 * 15 arrows (level 5)
 * colspan="2"|Smithing
 * level 1 armour/weapon/tool
 * level 2 armour/weapon/tool
 * level 3 armour/weapon/tool
 * level 4 armour/weapon/tool
 * level 5 armour/weapon/tool
 * }
 * 15 arrows (level 5)
 * colspan="2"|Smithing
 * level 1 armour/weapon/tool
 * level 2 armour/weapon/tool
 * level 3 armour/weapon/tool
 * level 4 armour/weapon/tool
 * level 5 armour/weapon/tool
 * }
 * }


 * Cooking


 * Players can make food using the kiln. The amount of life points the food heals depends on the level of the sacred clay used.


 * Herblore


 * Players can make potions with the kiln as well. The amount of doses that are in the potion depends on the level of the sacred clay used.


 * The potions that can be made are:
 * Prayer potion
 * Energy potion
 * Attack potion
 * Super attack potion
 * Strength potion
 * Super strength potion
 * Ranging potion
 * Defence potion
 * Super defence potion
 * Magic potion
 * Summoning potion


 * Construction


 * Players can make barriers that serve as blockades around resources. When a barrier is built, only members of the team who made the barrier can access the resource. A barrier cannot be built if an opposing player is near the resource. Members of the other team can attack the barrier to make it wear away and disappear, similar to the Castle Wars barriers, except that players can continue to build onto the barrier while it's being attacked (thus replenishing and healing the barrier's life points). Also, if a member of the team dies, they will end up inside one of the barriers, if the team has built one. When a barrier is built, it will start degrading even if it is not being attacked, so if you build a level 2 barrier and you want to repair it, then you need a level 2, 3, 4 or 5 barrier to repair/upgrade it. You cannot repair it with a barrier of a lower level than the current level of the barrier. It is best to use the barrier of the same class, since reparing it with a class 4 barrier on a class 1 does do a lot, but the barrier will still not last a long time.


 * Summoning


 * Summoners will find themselves the ability to call upon the aid of new familiars inside the minigame. All the new familiars are beasts of burden. The higher the level of clay, the higher the combat level of the familiar. The familars are good at dealing high damage on players lower then their combat level, and if they are using armour. As the tiers go up, they will have more health and defence, making it harder to kill the familiar. Lvl5 familiar.png.]]


 * Note: Familiars are very useful. Players can maximise their scores by making a familiar, and depositing stackable items in it. The player can then use the deposit scroll to send the item(s) to the base. This can allow players to easily get very high scores.


 * The familiars will not disappear until the game ends. They can be lost only when slain or their owner is killed.


 * Along with pouches, players can create scrolls that will automatically return the items in the familiar's inventory (NOT the player's inventory) to the player's team base. The higher the level of the sacred clay, the more scrolls are made from each sacred clay.


 * Special note: What pouch a player can make is based upon the player's CURRENT remaining Summoning Points. For example: if your summoning level is 72 but you have used it to 54 points, you will not be able to create or summon Level 4 familiars.
 * Runecrafting


 * Players will also find that they are able to make special runes in this minigame that are the same as the ones used in the Fist of Guthix minigame: Catalytic runes and Elemental runes. The Catalytic rune substitutes for the Mind, Chaos, Death, Blood, Nature, Cosmic, Law, Soul, Astral and Armadyl runes, while the Elemental rune substitutes for Air, Earth, Fire, and Water runes. The higher the level of the sacred clay, the higher amount of runes there is made with each sacred clay.

Note: Ancient Magicks, Lunar Spells and modern spells can be used in the minigame.


 * Smithing


 * Smithing is used to make the melee armour and weapons. It is also used to make the equipment such as pickaxes and hatchets. Again, the higher the sacred clay, the stronger the smithed items.


 * Crafting


 * Crafting is used to create various objects such as mage robes, mage staves, ranger's armour, and crafting tools (Harpoon and Butterfly net). The higher the sacred clay, the stronger the crafted items.


 * Fletching


 * Fletching is used to make long bows and arrows. The higher the sacred clay, the stronger the bow/arrows.


 * Thieving


 * Players can steal items from players and take anything in their inventory. No points are gained for thieving, and the player will receive no experience.

''Tip: If a player steals runes from a mage, the entire stack of runes will be stolen. This renders the player unable to cast spells requiring the stolen type of rune. Since there are only elemental and catalytic runes it makes the player unable to cast any Ancient Magicks. For standard spells, all elemental spells only require elemental runes and curses only require catalytic runes.''

Players may add the sacred clay they have collected to the base for others to take when needed. In addition, unneeded tools, armour, weapons or potions can be stored at the base for the same reason. Or, if the player is in need of sacred clay or sacred clay items, they can look for these items in the base. The downfall is taking items will lower your score. As mentioned before, depositing items in the base is one of the best ways to earn points.

Maximizing Points
Depositing clay items is the key to earning points in the activity. Each item deposited will give 30 points per class. For example, one level 4 item will give 30 times 4 points, which is 120 points. Combined with a level 4 familiar, which can carry 18 items, a player can earn well over 5000 points every time he/she deposits items in the base. The points gained will increase with stackable items such as arrows and runes.

This is the recommended way for players to manage the 20 minutes of each game:

The player should make the highest level tool they can and start collecting clay to make armour. Also, if the player plans to fight later, they can make a weapon and some arrows and runes. With a good tool, this will not take long.
 * The first 5 minutes

The majority of a player’s points will come from this part. The player should summon the highest level familiar they can. The next part depends on the distance the player is from a Creation kiln and their base. At this point you have 3 options:
 * The next 10 minutes

A. If the player is close to the base and a Creation kiln, they should begin collecting clay to fill both their own and their familiar’s inventory. Once full, they should run over to the nearest Creation kiln, make all the clay into items, and deposit all the items into the base. The player may repeat for more points.

If the player is far away from his base, they should make a couple of scrolls along with summoning a familiar, and start collecting clay. Once the player’s inventory is full, they should deposit as much clay as they can into the familiar’s inventory, run to the nearest kiln, make the items (arrows or runes highly recommended), deposit it all back into the familiar’s inventory (this can be done several times before continuing to use less scrolls), and activate the scroll. All the items will be sent to the base. The player may repeat for more points.

B. If the player does not wish to do option A, their other option (although risky) is to maximize their inventory, then go back to the kiln and transfer all the clay into either runes or arrows. After they have gotten enough or there is 1 Minute left, they should return to their base and deposit it all at once. This option has proved to be quite useful for maximizing points, and is widely used in the game.

C. If you have very little gathering skills, you can get clay from the base, run over to the kiln and turn clay to arrows/runes, and deposit. However, team-mates will usually choose to create items out of clay, rather than depositing it at the base, so this option may not always be available but there is a possibility.

The player may continue to collect clay and make items, although by this time most of the clay will probably be gone. If so, he or she can spend this time attacking players on the other team. 5 points are gained for every point of damage dealt. One suggestion for players with 25 prayer or more, but relatively low combat to store all but one weapon and turn on Protect Items, so that in case of death, they keep that item. Retribution, Redemption, and Smite are also helpful to deal extra damage for those who have low strength.
 * The last 5 minutes

NOTE: The Redemption prayer will consume ALL your prayer points if it's activated and your life points drop below 10%. If you are using the 1-item-ing method, do not use Redemption.

If you are a low level player (no stealing creation related skills over 60) you should concentrate on getting as much and as high a level clay as you can and deposit it for higher level players who can turn it into an item.

Altars
Across the arena, there will be an altar for all players to use. Unlike other altars, these will restore the players Summoning, Run Energy, and Prayer all to full percentages. Using barriers on them will prevent other players from doing the same thing.

Fog
Players may hide in areas of Fog scattered around the arena. This hides their presence completely, as players outside of the Fog will not be able to see them or their white dot on the mini-map. Players cannot summon, attack or use magic while hidden in fog. If the player enters the fog while the range or mage attack has already cast on him both will miss. No damage can be caused inside fog. Players can pickpocket another player without being exposed from the fog if the target is within 1 square of the fog. Players may also eat or drink potions from inside the fog. Despite the protection, leaving causes your movement to be slowed slightly, making you vulnerable.

Note: If your teammate is close enough, you will be able to use certain Lunar Spells on them within the fog, such as Vengeance. This is very useful, as you can assist other players without the threat of other Player Killers or thieves. Be careful, though, as you can use these spells on the enemy as well, so don't mis-click!

Rifts
These are large holes that players can jump over using their Agility, which prevents melee attackers from hitting, but does not stop ranged or magic attacks. Requires 40 Agility.

Walls
If players have 60 Agility, they may climb over or run around walls that prevent magic and ranged attacks from hitting when opposite the opponent.