Runescape 3 uses spirit shards in two ways. First and foremost, Spirit Shards are an essential component of summoning skill training.
A set number of Spirit Shards, as well as a bag, a charm, and a distinct component, are used in each summoning pouch created by players.
Second, due to a mechanic specific to the item, Spirit Shards serve as a store of value, allowing players to buy and sell the item at the same price.
How do Spirits Shards serve as a store of value?
Spirit Shards have a unique interaction in that they are always exactly 25 gold. Runescape 3’s pet shops in Taverley and Yanille sell and buy Spirit Shards in near-unlimited amounts for that precise price, which is how it works.
While this may seem futile to newcomers to the game, there is a reason why Spirit Shards are so popular among end-game players as a form of trading.
The problem with Runescape’s max cash stack of 2,147,483,647
Because Runescape uses a 32-bit integer data limit, the game’s item stack limit has always been capped at 2,147,483,647. That implies players can’t have more than a certain number of “coins” in their stack.
Many items in Runescape3’s economy, however, have a value that exceeds the 2,147,483,647 GP limitation.
Party Hats and other discontinued things (4-20 billion), certain PvM items such as the Fractured Staff of Armadyl (4-5 billion), and certain clue items and other rare awards, for example, all surpass the limit.
Players have begun to change their excess currency to Spirit Shards because these things exceed the “max cash” cap by such a large amount. Players can trade up to 25 times the “max cash” limit this way.
