I'd have to say summoning
Keep your Summoning points up! If your points run out, you'll be unable to summon your familiars, so if you plan on spending a fair bit of time with your familiar, you should head to an obelisk first to recharge, as well as grabbing some Summoning potions.
Skill-based familiars (like the macaw) can help out with a few skills at once, so you can be working on your Herblore, for example, while getting Summoning experience.
Keep an eye on your familiar's timer! They might just disappear right when you need them the most...
Consider unlocking the Spiritualise Food spell for your lunar spellbook. This spell allows you to heal your familiar with food, as well as boost its combat stats and regenerate its timer.
Trading Pouches and Scrolls for Shards
Bogrog, the ogre who manages the Gu'Tanoth Summoning obelisk, is eager to get his massive hands on as many Summoning pouches and scrolls as possible for reasons known only to himself, and to this end is willing to pay summoners for their efforts with spirit shards.
Bogrog will give you 70% of the shards required for a pouch, and a few less for scrolls, provided you have proven yourself worthy of this reimbursement. You need at least level 20 Summoning to trade in pouches and scrolls. In addition to this, you usually need a higher level to trade in a pouch or scroll.
This is a sliding scale; the table below shows a few examples to give you an idea of the level required to trade in pouches and scrolls. If you want to know the exact level required, Bogrog will tell you if you click the "Value" option on your pouch or scroll.
Pouch/Scroll Level Summoning Level Required to Trade
9 20
21 30
31 39
41 48
51 57
61 66
71 75
81 84
91 92
99 99
Familiarisation
The druids of Taverley are one of the main sources of spirit shards for sale in RuneScape, but have you ever wondered where all those shards actually come from? Well, the recent upsurge in new summoners means the druids are in need of a little help in gathering this much sought after resource, so are willing to share their secrets and teach you the art of familiarisation. Once per week, you'll have the mental fortitude to project your consciousness into the spirit realm itself to gather the raw materials the druids require to make spirit shards. The rewards for helping them will allow you to gain charms faster or earn you some ingredients for infusing summoning pouches with.
Charm Sprites
If you'd like to get hold of charms without engaging in combat, then you might be interested in hunting charm sprites. These little critters can be found south of the Tree Gnome Stronhold, on the way to the Arandar Pass. Hunters of at least level 72 will be able to buy the necessary tools from the gnome hunter Yaktwee, then use them to blast critters and transmute them into charms.
The Ex-ex-parrot
Those summoners who have completed the dastardly Rocking Out will have the option to speak to 50-Ships Mufassah about some other, erm, 'duties'. Doing so, of course, will earn you the 'right' to carry about a very dead parrot - of course, in RuneScape, nothing piratical is quite so simple...
As you'll face a terrible and violent fate if its true owner discovers that the parrot is now an ex-parrot (don't worry: no one is going to try to convince you that it's just sleeping), you will need to revive it... sort of. To convert the ex-parrot into an ex-ex-parrot, you will need some special equipment, which you can use with the ex-parrot. Using the ex-parrot-in-magical-cage on an evil and mysterious black rock will restore it to life or, erm, something like life.
Having revived the ex-parrot, you are now the proud owner of a brand new ex-ex-parrot (if such a thing could ever really be called new). Like all Summoning pets, you will need to feed it, but, unlike other Summoning pets, it will not eat food. Instead, you can simply use it on the black rock to feed it the evil and unnatural energies there.
The ex-ex-parrot has no growth stages, but only becomes hungry very slowly.
Spirit Cape
If you have a Defence level of 50, a Summoning level of 50 and a Dungeoneering level of 50, you may be able to purchase a spirit cape from the Rewards Trader of Daemonheim. While the cape is worn, the special attack cost for combat summoning familiars is reduced by 20% (this does not include the special moves that are activated by using scrolls). The cape also gives a small boost to your base defensive stats:
Item Level
Required
Attack Bonuses Defence Bonuses Other
Spirit cape 50
50
50 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 0 + 0 N/A
Summoning Training in Dungeoneering
It is possible to train all of your skills while dungeoneering, and Summoning is no exception. Familiars are particularly useful to aid you in combat and better manage the resources you receive. You can also gain Summoning experience by completing summoning skill doors.
Source:
http://www.runescape.com/kbase/guid/summoning_extra_features
