Cartography/Training

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Cartography

Before Starting Cartography

There are many bonuses that come from other skills and shop-purchases that can significantly boost Cartography. The base interval for Cartography is 5 seconds which can be reduced with various unlocks shown at the end of this guide. It is strongly advised to grab as many of the Cartography/Survey Interval Reductions. The Superior Cartography Skillcape provides -30% Survey Interval which makes Skill XP boosts very valuable (due to the finite number of high level, high XP hexes) as well if you wish to go for full map mastery.

If you are playing a gamemode that caps your experience gain, it is strongly advised you do not survey while at your exp cap. While you will not be locked out of any content, you will be forced to level Cartography by making paper or upgrading maps which is significantly less exp than surveying.

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    Nysa
    , unlocked at
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    Level 45
    , provides upwards of +8% Skill XP and -5% Survey Interval at
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    Mastery Level 60
    .
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    River Crossing
    , unlocked at
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    Level 10
    and requiring
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    Level 15
    , provides -5% Survey Interval and +5% Skill XP.
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    Ocean Drifting
    , unlocked at
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    Level 80
    and requiring
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    Level 70
    and
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    Level 70
    , provides -5% Cartography Interval.

Cartography has 8 Temporary -2% Survey Interval Points of Interest that last for 10 moves. It's important that you know where these are located since they can only be discovered once. The locations can be seen in the image in the second goal section.

You may want to gather the materials required to purchase all Ship Upgrades from the

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Shop

before starting. It is not necessary to do so however it may reduce the amount of times you need to swap obstacles.

Training Cartography

Since Skill XP boosts will change the pathing of this guide, this guide will be using the following to setup. Note this is not the most optimal setup. Check the XP Table and Interval Table below for other boosts.

This gives a total of 26% Skill XP out of the maximum 66% in the Base Game and 69% with .

Getting Old Spyglass and Cartographer's Enhancement

Visual Representation for Section 1, Steps 1-5

An image has been supplied as a visual aid on where to go. The step numbers align with the numbered point on the map.

  1. Follow the Red Path to the Port at (12, 19) and Survey this hex until you are Level 10. You will not fully survey the Port yet
    • Make sure to Discover Old Village at (13, 17)
    • If you Survey The Southern Lighthouse at (12, 18), make sure you do not Discover this POI. The temporary -2% Survey Interval Discovery Reward will be used later
  2. Follow the Blue Path until you Discover Monuments at (6, 11). From here you will want the following items:
    1. 8 Golden Leaf which can be upgraded into Golden Wreath for +3% Skill XP
    2. 5 Aranite Brush which will help reduce the time it takes to get the Old Spyglass in the next step
    • To dig at the Monuments, you will require
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      Level 24
      . Dig at the Old Village for all the common and uncommon items (and rare items if more XP is needed) and ensure you keep 5 Broken Trowel and get 25 Aranite Sieve for the tool upgrade.
    • Discovering The Monolith at (5, 10) can help reduce the map making interval which will be useful if you choose to upgrade the Coral Wreckage map.
    • At Level 15 you will be able to build
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      River Crossing
      . Levels 20, 35, and 50 unlocks the first 3 Ship Upgrades
  3. If you are not Level 50, get the Shop Purchase in step 4 then return for this step. Follow the Green Path and Discover Coral Wreckage at (7, 22). You are mainly looking for 1-2 key items
    1. The Old Spyglass for -10% Survey Interval
    2. If travel costs are an issue, you may also get Sailor's Compass for -6% Travel Costs
    • If you have the GP to do so, refining the Coral Wreckage map to reduce the Medium Artefact Value will help get the Spyglass faster
    • Upgrading the map is recommended. It will take 2 hours, 19 minutes with a 4.35s action time (not including paper making time) plus between 1 hour, 18 minutes (with an Artefact Value of 1) or 1 hour, 40 minutes (with an Artefact Value of 10) to get the Spyglass, for a total time of 3 hours, 37 minutes to 3 hours, 59 minutes. Without upgrading the map, it is expected to take 2 hours, 12 minutes.
      • While it might be faster to not upgrade the map, if you run out of excavation actions and need to make a new map (a ~1.1% chance of happening), it will take to 4 hours, 38 minutes upgrade a new Excellent Map (plus 49 minutes to make the paper using Magic Logs, plus the extra time it takes to get the Spyglass) or 4 hours, 5 minutes to get the Spyglass using a Poor map. It will also allow you to double your spyglass drop (by refining the map all the way) which can be donated to the museum.
      • If you need to make Paper, it is recommended to do the first
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        Atlas of Discovery Task
        for 2,000 extra paper. Making paper should be done using Magic Logs from
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        Farming
        since Farming is passive. Making the 5,760 paper (with a 2.6s interval) needed to upgrade the map from Excellent to Perfect will take 32 minutes.
    • After obtaining the Old Spyglass, you will want to Discover The Vibrant Coral Gardens at (6, 22) which rewards the 500 Coral needed for
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      Ocean Drifting
      , which will be built later
  4. Follow the Purple Path which will Discover The Jagged Labyrinth at (5, 7) and unlock the ability to purchase
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    Cartographer's Enhancement
    for 3,000,000GP
  5. Follow the Orange Path towards The Pirate's Treasure Trails at (10, 6) and Discover this hex. It is important this POI gets discovered before Surveying the entire map as it's required to survey a few POIs, such as The Cavern of Riches.

Fully Surveying the Temporary Survey POIs

Visual Representation for Section 2, Steps 1-5

An image has been supplied as a visual aid on where to go. The step numbers align with the numbered point on the map.

When surveying the following POIs the goal is to Survey them, not Discover them unless explicitly stated. After you survey POIs a pop-up will ask you to choose between Travel or View Later. It's crucial to always select View Later as this will not bring you to the POI you just surveyed.

  1. Follow the Blue Path and Survey The Pink Kraken at (4, 16) and The Western Lighthouse at (1, 18)
    • The Port at (2, 19) can be Discovered which can help reduce the travel costs later
  2. Follow the Green Path and Survey The Southern Lighthouse at (12, 18), The Watchful Ship at (14, 20) and A Sadge Kraken at (12, 21)
    • The Port at (12, 19) can be Discovered which can help reduce the travel cost later
  3. The next POIs will be towards the South side of the map along the Purple Path. Survey The Sea Noodle at (23, 25). You will need to Discover Fisherman's Enclave at (22, 22) before Surveying the entire map due to it being a requirement to survey Shallow Shores
    • Along the path to Fisherman's Enclave, there is a Port that can be Discovered at (21, 20)
    • At Level 70, you will unlock another Ship Upgrade as well as the Obstacle,
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      Ocean Drifting
      . It is recommended you get both of these if possible.
      • You will need Archaeology at Level 70 for Ocean Drifting. The next step passes by Secret Mines (21, 15) and Quarry (20, 13). Along with Coral Wreckage, you can get all of the Rare and lower Artefacts (plus an extra if it's a useful item) at these dig sites. You could also go to Ancient Market (0, 14) and Stoneworkers (24, 14) for the Aranite Trowel and Aranite Shovel first which would increase
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        Archaeology
        XP rates.
  4. Next up is the Orange Path. You will want to Discover both Old Mine at (23, 14) and The Abandoned Vein Mine at (22, 15). These POIs need to be Discovered before Surveying the entire map
  5. Along the Gray Path, Survey Capital City Lighthouse at (27, 13), and The Pushy Sailor at (29, 9)
    • The Port at (27, 14) can be Discovered which can help reduce the travel cost later. It is recommended to discover this before heading to The Pushy Sailor

POIs with a Temporary Survey bonus

Name Type X Y Requirements Discovery Rewards Discovery Modifiers Active Effect
The Western Lighthouse The Western Lighthouse Other 1 18
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Level 5
-2% Cartography survey interval (for 10 travels)
The Pink Kraken The Pink Kraken Other 4 16 -2% Cartography survey interval (for 10 travels)
The Southern Lighthouse The Southern Lighthouse Other 12 18 -2% Cartography survey interval (for 10 travels)
A Sadge Kraken A Sadge Kraken Other 12 21 -2% Cartography survey interval (for 10 travels)
The Watchful Ship The Watchful Ship Other 14 20 -2% Cartography survey interval (for 10 travels)
The Sea Noodle The Sea Noodle Other 23 25 -2% Cartography survey interval (for 10 travels)
Capital City Lighthouse Capital City Lighthouse Other 27 13
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Level 35
-2% Cartography survey interval (for 10 travels)
The Pushy Sailor The Pushy Sailor Other 29 9 -2% Cartography survey interval (for 10 travels)


Optional: Preparing for Ship Upgrades

The Ship Keel Upgrade at

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Level 85

and Ship Crow's Nest Upgrade at

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Level 99

can save ~17.25 hours each during the mastering the map phase and an upper bound of ~5 hours each on the discovering the map phase, though more likely about 2-3 hours each in practice. If you're confident that you can get both upgrades in less than 35 hours the following steps can be considered. This path is not recommended in Ancient Relics mode as you will exceed 95% interval reduction once the Superior Cartography Skillcape can be purchased and the -25% Cartography Survey Interval relic is found.

  1. If travel costs are not an issue, survey to Lost Temple at (23, 8). You will not be able to Discover this dig site yet however the XP from surveying these hexes will help push towards Level 80 which is required to survey Ritual Site
  2. There are two routes to obtaining the Cursed Logs that are required for the Ship Keel Upgrade:
    1. Combat: By completing the Township Task for defeating 100
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      Soul Taker Witch
      you will be rewarded with 25,000 Cursed Logs. The following will be required to unlock Cult Grounds:
      1. Obtain Ancient Stone Tablet from Monuments and complete Golem Territory
      2. Discover Glacia City Ruins at (17, 25) and obtain Old Route Chart. Afterward complete
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        Unholy Forest
        • If you are not
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          Level 80
          , Survey any Level 65 hex in this area until you reach Level 80. Refer to the Mastering the Map section if you need assistance locating the level 65 hexes
      3. Discover Ritual Site at (2, 2) then obtain the Old Temple Chart
      4. Obtain Torn Scrolls from Lost Temple and complete Trickery Temple
      5. Obtain Lost Cursed Text from Ritual Site
    2. Woodcutting: To survey Ritual Site you must first reach
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      Level 80
      1. There are Level 65 hexes to the right of Monuments which can be surveyed until Level 80. Refer to the Mastering the Map section if you need assistance locating the level 65 hexes
      2. Discover Ritual Site located at (2, 2). This will unlock the ability to cut
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        Cursed Trees
        in Woodcutting
      3. Discover The Ancient Wreckage at (7, 7) for 1,000 Cursed Logs. If your Woodcutting interval for Cursed Trees is at or under 2.6s, this step can be skipped as it's faster to just cut the logs
      4. The time it takes to cut the remaining 11,000 Cursed Logs can vary from 25.4h if done with only
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        Rune Axe
        and
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        Stepping Stones
        to 9.5 hours if
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        Dragon Axe
        ,
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        Master of Nature
        , and Woodcutting Skillcape are used
      5. Obtain the Old Temple Chart from Ritual Site. This will be needed for the next step
  3. Discover the Lost Temple at (23, 8) to unlock Crystalized Dragon Fragment which is required to create the Refined Pure Crystal for the Ship Keel Upgrade
  4. To reach
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    Level 90
    required for Lost Temple it is recommended to unlock a few extra dig sites:
    1. Ancient Market at (0, 14) for Aranite Trowel
    2. Stoneworkers at (24, 14) for Aranite Shovel
    3. Secret Mines at (21, 15) for Shipment Chart to unlock Ancient Forge
    4. Ancient Forge at (20, 12). Once these are unlocked it is recommended to donate 75 Artefacts to the Museum. This can be achieved by getting all the Common and Uncommon Artefacts from all currently unlocked dig sites
    5. Dig at Ancient Forge until
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      Level 82
      then swap to Ritual Site for the Old Temple Chart. If you are not Level 90 after this, continue digging at Ancient Forge for the Ancient Tool upgrades
      • Somewhere between Ancient Forge and Lost Temple you should be able to get 100 donated Artefacts which will give +1 to all Tool levels

Revealing the full Map

For this step, it's ideal that auto survey is not stopped at any point. If this does occur, restart auto surveying around the same location as the original hex. After discovering the interval POIs, refrain from moving unless the guide mentions to move.

This step is optional and can be skipped if travel costs are not an issue. Moving to The Edge of Darkness will cost up to 50,000,000GP, depending on discounts. If you wish to cut this cost down, you can Survey ONE of the following 2 POIs then Survey The Shimmering Sands Outpost at (18, 15).

  1. Seashade Village at (7, 20) which is conveniently located above Coral Wreckage
  2. Rosedale at (27, 18). While this would take a bit longer, it's along the way to Bandit Hideout which is good if you plan to do some
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    Thieving
    .

When you are ready to get the interval POIs, Discover one of the first 2 POIs for -5% Cartography travel costs, THEN Discover The Shimmering Sands Outpost for -10% Cartography travel costs.

With all of the Temporary -2% Survey Interval POIs fully Surveyed, it's time to Discover all of them without traveling to any unnecessary hexes in between. These boosts will only last for 10 moves and there are 8 POIs (+2 if you chose to decrease travel costs). Even though you have 2 spare moves, it is important you do not waste these. You will need to move once at Level 100 and 2-3 more times to hit Level 120. The order for the first 7 POIs is not important however you want to make sure you end on The Pushy Sailor at (29, 9).

Start by manually Surveying (28, 9) and (27, 8) then afterwards, Auto Survey (26, 8). If you cannot survey (26, 8) due to it being out of survey range, do not move. Survey whichever hex you can reach, ensuring that you auto survey the furthest one. The purpose of surveying this hex specifically is so Auto Survey reaches the higher level hexes near the top middle of the map. Occasionally, you will see POI prompts appear and for these you should click "View Later" to avoid moving from this position. At Level 90 you will want to restart Auto Survey at (28, 12) so the Level 90 Hexes around (30, 16) get Surveyed. Levels 85 and 99 unlock 2 more Ship Upgrades.

Upon reaching

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Level 100

, you want to manually Survey (diagonally) towards the East wall of the map then upwards, leaving the last hex in your survey range so you can start Auto Surveying it without moving. Ideally you want to be somewhat active here since auto survey, if left for too long, will survey all the hexes in your sight range when you are standing on (31, 0), forcing you to move to start auto surveying again. Upon surveying (31, 0), move there. Moving to The Edge of Darkness will unlock the Shop Purchase,

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Cartographer's Knowledge

for 50,000,000GP. Traveling to this hex will also cost up to 50,000,000GP.

After moving to The Edge of Darkness, Auto Survey until the remainder of the map is fully surveyed. Start Auto Surveying a few hexes away from your current position. This will allow you to restart auto surveying in the event you stop surveying. You should not need to move from (31, 0) until the map is fully surveyed.

Mastering the Map

With the map fully revealed you will unlock the ability to master all hexes, which allows you to survey every Hex up to level 5.

Cartography Map showing the level requirement for each hex. Credits: @draedon123 on Discord

To reach level 120 you will want to explore areas with higher XP. Hex experience is based on the level of the hex, and the best XP can be found clumped near important POIs. The provided map can help visualize where the highest XP zones are.

  1. The hexes surrounding The Edge of Darkness at (31, 0) are Level 100. If you followed this guide you are already there so start by surveying these hexes.
  2. You will need to move to the second location which is the snowy area in the bottom middle, around (17, 25), since there are many high level hexes in this area.
    • Upon reaching
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      Level 110
      , the final Ship Upgrade, Ship Combat Overhaul, can be purchased.
  3. The top middle is going to be the third location, around (12, 2) so you can grab the Level 80 and 90 hexes to the East and West
  4. The last location will be the center of the map, around (16, 11). For this step, either manual or auto surveying can be done. If you have more XP boosts than this guide was using, you may hit Level 120 faster by manually surveying. If you choose to auto survey, ensure you auto survey a hex or two away from your location to ensure auto survey can be restarted at any point without having to move.

Upon reaching

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Level 120

, you will want to purchase and equip the Superior Cartography Skillcape then Auto Survey until all 944 hexes have they are fully Mastered.

With the map mastered, you can now explore all of the POIs that you have unlocked. Good luck!

Boosters

Ship Upgrades

Other Shop Purchases

Upgrade Name Level Cost Purchase Requirement X Y Modifiers
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Cartographer's Enhancement 3,000,000GP Discover The Jagged Labyrinth 5 7 +2% Cartography Skill XP
-5% Cartography survey interval
-5% Cartography travel costs
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Cartographer's Knowledge
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Level 100
50,000,000GP Discover The Edge of Darkness 31 0 +2% Cartography Skill XP
-5% Cartography survey interval
-5% Cartography travel costs
Travel Token
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Level 80
100,000 Donate 150 Artefacts to the Museum -10% Cartography travel costs
Enhanced Spyglass Lens
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Level 50

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Level 50
10,000 Donate 75 Artefacts to the Museum When combined with Old Spyglass
+5 Cartography Sight Range
+4 Cartography Survey Range
-10% Cartography travel costs

XP

The following things can be used to increase the amount of Cartography XP received.

Action Time

This table lists boosts to Survey, Map Upgrade, and Paper Making intervals.


Melvor Idle Skill Guides
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Combat
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Prayer
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Farming
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Township
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Woodcutting
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Fishing
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Firemaking
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Cooking
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Mining
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Smithing
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Thieving
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Fletching
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Crafting
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Runecrafting
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Herblore
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Agility
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Summoning
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Astrology
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Alternative Magic
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Cartography
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Archaeology
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Harvesting