Note-This guide is in no way a requirement before you become a member of runescape.This guide will show you how you can make the most of your money/member subscription when you finally decide to become a full member of Runescape
The basics of being a member of Runescape:
When you decide to become a paying member you should know the "basics" of p2p.This means that you should know the following:
1.There are 7 new skills that you will be able to train and use.They are Herblore,Slayer,thieving,farming,agility,fletching and the newest one construction.
2.A lot of monsters can poison you in the members world,it is important to always have a few anti-poison potions in your bank.
3.There are many mini-games in members, they are:
-Barrows -CastleWars -Pest-Control -Tzhaar Fight-Pits -Tzhaar Fight-Caves -Rogue's Den
-Treasure-Trails -Rat Pits -Tai Bwo Wannai clean-Up -Fishing Trawler -Gnome Ball -Bar-Crawl
-Blast Furnace -Temple Trekking -Mage Training Area -Duel Arena -Mage Arena -Champion's Challenge
These "mini-games" range from any level to a very high required level.
4.The wilderness goes much further then it did in f2p.
The "Requirements" of being a member(Item Wise)
-At least 300k, many objects in the members world cost a lot of gold.Even food may cost you dearly.
-Good armor/enough money(not counting the 300k) to buy good armor.It does not matter if it is range,mage or mellee armor.As long as it suits you and is a decent form of protection.
-Around 200 lobsters/swordfish,maybe tuna.While you adjust to being a member you might need some food while you train or do quests.
-Around 500 normal logs and 500 oak logs.These will help you get started on the fletching skill.It can be very profitable at high levels.
-A hammer,chisel,tinderbox, and other "petit" tools.Though you can get them anywhere they are always good to have on-hand.
-A hatchet(preferably rune) and pick-axe(preferably rune).Woodcutting and minning are very important skill!
-Good jewelry such as a power amulet and any kind of ring.
-Lots of law runes and elemental runes.Teleporting is very helpful in the members-world because it is over 3 times as large as the free-player world.
The "Requirements"of being a member(quest wise)
Many will not agree with me but I believe before you become a member each and every f2p quest should be done. There are only 18 of them and all except maybe 2 can be done at fairly low levels.Since you are paying $5 USD it is a plain waste of money to be doing f2p quests in p2p, when they could have been easily accomplished while playing for free.The only exception to this is if you are a certain type of pure and do not wish to raise a stat that one of the f2p quests gives.
The "Requirements" of being a member(skill/stat wise)
This is the most varied part of this guide.People say you should have very high or no stats at all when you become a member.These are the stats I believe are fair.
COMBAT:
Hitpoints-50 to 55
Attack-50-55 (with all the content on p2p,it's fun and easy to raise the extra 5 levels to get to 60 and wear dragon)
Strength-55-60 (this is always good to have a little higher, just for that extra 'Pow' in your hit)
Defense-50-55 (this to can easily be raised with ease to 60)
Ranged-40-50 (many things mage in the members world,it is crucial that you have at least Green-Dragon Hide to protect from it)
Magic-45-51 (It is very expensive to raise so i chose 45.It is a teleport to "Camelot" a midpoint between a major town called "Ardougne" and a tiny town called "Catherby".This will save you the trouble of having to go to Karamja and then go to Ardougne from the other side.
Prayer-40-43 (I always thought prayer was hard to raise and even in members it is a pain.Try to have at least 40 so you only need 3 more levels till "protect from melee".
NON-COMBAT:
Woodcutting-60(it is very easy to lvl it up so there is no excuse for you not to)
crafting-40(this will make it easier in the p2p worlds to do a lot of quests
mining-40+(it's not hard to lvl mining, just boring.Have it at least at 40 so you can get gold.It would be better at 55-60 so you can mine mithril and enter the mining guild)
smithing-50(this goes up with minnng)
firemaking-50(one of the easiest skills to raise,this can help with a few quests)
runecrafting-44(This way you can start making money right off the bat.This level allows you to craft nature runes!)
Fishing-50(This can easily be raised by getting feathers off chickens and then using them to fish.)
Cooking-50(this will go up by cooking all the fish you catch)
The reason i say these levels for the skills is because when i became a member my skills where at very low levels and i wasted like 2 months just fixing that when i could have done the same exact thing in f2p without wasting my money.Just because it is only $5 USD doesn't mean you should just waste it
As soon as you become a member (I am assuming you followed this guide and have your stats around the models.)
Do the following quests-
-Gertrude's Cat (possibly the easiest quest in the entire game,not just members, it also allows you to have a pet kitten)
-Plague City (this quest is done in the new city "Ardougne" and gives you the ability to teleport there when you have 51 magic)
-Druidic Ritual (This is the quest you must do to start herblore, it also provides you with enough exp to get to level 3 herblore automatically)
-Dwarf Cannon (Not that i think you will use it now,but this is an easy quest that allows you to use the all-mighty cannon,a ranged weapon that shoots all around)
-Elemental Workshop (This quest lets you make a neat elemental shield that is fine mage protection for lower and mid level players.It requires some smithing levels though )
-Fishing Contest (this quest gives a reward that allows you to use a very helpful passage under White Wolf mountain)
-Jungle potion(this take you to the new side of karamja and gives a little bit of herblore exp)
Equipment to have when going into members(keep in mind,i am assuming you are not a pure)
MEELE:
Rune Full-Helmet
Power amulet (or an added 70k-90k for a glory amulet)
Rune-plate (chain if you didn't do "dragon slayer" quest)
Rune plate-legs
Boots (or an extra 190k-200k for rune boots, anything under is just a waste)
Gloves
Cape (or an added 290k-310k for an obby cape)
Rune scimmy
Rune Kite-Shield
RANGE:
Coif
Green dragon hide body
Power ammy (or same as above for it)
green dragon hide chaps
Cape(or same as above)
Gloves
Boots
1K iron arrows
maple long/short bow
MAGIC/MAGE:
This is a little more complex because f2p does not really offer any mage bonus's except basic wizard, I would still advise full wizard, but have around 200k extra for full blue mystic as soon as you become a member)
Wizard (blue) hat
power ammy/mage ammy
wizard (blue) top
blue skirt
boots
Gloves
Cape( or same as above)
One of every elemental staff, around 1k airs,500 water,earth and fir runes,100 laws and 500 chaos/death
Note:In case you do not know here is a small explanation of a few items-
-Amulet of glory-This is an enchanted dragonstone-amulet.It gives +10 to all attack,+3 to all defense's,+6 strength and +3 prayer.When it is charged (Can be charged at hero's guild), it has 4 charges of teleportation which let you go to Edgeville,Karamja,Draynor Village and Al Kharid.After all 4 charges are gone, it becomes a regular "Amulet of glory" with all the same bonus's as before.It can be recharged at the "hero's guild"
-Obby Cape-A cape that can be bought or received as a drop from the monsters at Tzhaar, a village inside a volcano.It is the second best cape in the game(defense wise) and gives +9 to all defense attributes.
-Abbysal Whip-Considered one of the best weapons in all of runescape, this can only be obtained as a drop from lvl 113 abyssal demons which require 85 slayer to kill.The whip gives +82 slash and +82 strength bonus's.It requires 70 attack to wield and the only "back-lash" of this amazing weapon is that it has no "strength/aggressive" mode to train with.It only has accurate,defensive and controlled.You would have to use controlled if you decided to train strength with it.
-Blue/Red/Black dragon hide armor-This is almost the same as green dragon-hide but it gives better defensive bonus's and requires higher range levels such as 50,60 and even 70!
***Keep in mind that if you have a higher defense of 60 (for example) or range thats 50 or over you, even a higher attack level...you can go into members with nothing as long as you have enough cash(gp) to buy the members armor and weapons like higher level dragon hide armors (blue,red or black) maybe some dragon stuff.Or if you have 70 attack even the "ALL MIGHTY" Abby Whip.Again you don't need all this, but it makes it much easier.
After this you are on your own.Choose whatever quests you wanna do now,whatever skill you wanna train.You might even want to check out all the cool mini-games members has to offer.HAVE FUN!
Just a tiny final note:This whole guide is kinda based on the fact that you are not a pure.If you are make sure to double check each quest to make sure none of them give exp that you do not want!
--------Special thanks to:-------------------
'co2 man', he helped me understand how to put pictures in and stuff,i will be doing that shortly