Controls - The Assist System
The Assist System is a game feature that lets you use someone else's skill levels temporarily to make items. In exchange, the person assisting you will earn the experience for standing around while you work. The advantage of this is that you will get to do things for yourself without items ever leaving your inventory.
Note that you cannot make any untradeable, quest, minigame or Achievement Diary items using the Assist System (Achievement Diary tasks will not be marked complete), and there are still lots of things you'll need to get your skill levels up in order to make. You also cannot use resource gathering skills (like Woodcutting or Mining), so if you need assistance you'll still need some raw materials. You can only gain access to things that you could get by trading anyway, so there's always a reason to work on your skills!
Important Note: The Assist System is designed primarily as a safer alternative to obtaining assistance via the trading system. If you had a willing friend, then all the things you can do with the Assist System were already previously possible (at the same speed) by trading items with your friend. The main difference is now that you can do those same things without the risk of an unbalanced trade. For example, a level 3 player with a high-level friend could always obtain cooked sharks, high level jewellery etc... The Assist System doesn't make that any more possible than before! (Or any faster, as the person assisting can't do anything else while helping you.) If you can find someone willing to give up the time to help you cook sharks, they would already have been willing to just cook you the fish previously, so the Assist System is no replacement for putting in the work and levelling-up yourself.
If you want assistance
Previously, if you had a Smithing level of 42 and you wanted a steel platebody (requiring a Smithing level of 48) you could ask a friend with a high enough Smithing level to make it for you, giving them the steel bars and waiting for them to smith it and give you the armour. With the Assist System, on the other hand, you can simply ask your friend to assist you and do the job yourself.
To request assistance from another player, right-click on them to bring up the options (as shown to the left). Selecting the 'Req Assist' option will send them a request for assistance.
If you are assisting someone
If you are assisting someone, it allows you to relax and chat to friends while earning experience! Should you receive a request for assistance and wish to help out, simply click on the request in your chat window to begin. This will open a window showing your assist options:
The skills shown are those that you can choose to assist in. You'll notice that there are no options to assist with combat skills: this is for your own protection - while you are assisting you cannot move. Because you cannot move, you will not be able to work on any skills yourself - this is to stop players from getting twice as much experience as normal.
To begin assisting, select the skill or skills you wish to help the other player with by clicking on its name or icon. This will highlight them in the interface as shown below:
You will now assist the other player in those skills for as long as the skill is highlighted. They will be able to do anything in those skills that you can do provided they have the necessary tools and resources (e.g. willow logs and a knife for Fletching willow longbows). If you assist a player in a skill that they do not need help with (because they already have a high enough level), you will not receive experience for it.
Because you can control which of your skills you can assist someone with, you do not need to worry about getting experience in any skills you don't want to gain experience in.
To stop assisting someone, simply click the 'x' in the top-right corner of the Assist System interface. If the person you are assisting wanders too far away (20 squares), you will automatically stop assisting them.
If you are being assisted, a convenient icon will display in the bottom-right corner of your game window.To control who can ask for assistance, you can right-click on the Assist button. You can then set it to 'On', 'Friends' or 'Off'.
Notes
You should be aware that there are a few exceptions and restrictions in the Assist System.
- You can earn a maximum of 30,000 experience in any 24-hour period by assisting people. When you reach this limit, the text in your interface will turn red and anyone you are assisting will be told that they are no longer receiving assistance.
- You cannot use the Assist System to gain access to skill-restricted areas like guilds.
- You cannot assist someone with a quest, an Achievement Diary (they will not be able to mark a task complete if they were assisted in this way) or a minigame.
- Non-members cannot be assisted with members' skills.
Skill Exceptions
Please note: The Assist System cannot be used with Hitpoints, Attack, Strength, Ranged, Prayer, Defence, Slayer (because these are combat-only skills), Agility, Firemaking, Thieving or resource-gathering skills (Woodcutting, Mining, Fishing, Hunter). This is because the system is designed to help players work with resources they already have, not to help them gather those resources or fight.
The following is a list of the restrictions regarding what you can or cannot do with each skill when you are being assisted.
| Skill |
Restrictions |
| Runecrafting |
You will only be able to craft multiple runes per essence if the assister has a high enough level. |
| Crafting |
You cannot craft demonic sigils, lightning rods or silvthrill rods (because these are all quest-related items). |
| Fletching |
You cannot fletch ogre arrows (because they are quest-related items) or blurite bolts (because they are untradeable) using the Assist System. |
| Construction |
You can only make flat-packed items. |
| Farming |
You will not be able to plant trees, bushes, calquat or cactus (because the potted versions of these plants are untradeable).
If you later harvest your produce without assistance, you will get no experience for doing so unless you have a sufficient level. |
| Magic |
If you need help with Lunar Spells, you must have your spellbook set to Lunar Magic.
From the normal spellbook, you can only cast the following spells using the Assist System:
- Enchant bolt spells (all)
- Enchant jewellery spells (sapphire, emerald, ruby, diamond, dragonstone, onyx)
- Charge orbs (water, earth, fire, air)
- Alchemy (low and high level)
- Bones to Bananas
- Bones to Peaches
- Superheat item
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| Smithing |
When being assisted, you must have completed Tourist Trap to smith darts or Death Plateau to smith claws.
You cannot smith blurite items (because blurite is untradeable). |
| Cooking |
You cannot use the Assist System to make any of the food prepared in gnome cooking (because it is used in the Gnome Restaurant minigame).
You cannot cook lava eel (because it is a quest-specific food). |
| Herblore |
You cannot use the Assist System to make Sanfew serum, Guthix balance, blamish oil, Magic essence or Relicym's balm (because these are all quest-related potions). |
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