Introduction
The Runescape Old School provides its players with a lot of ways of making a profit. These methods range from standard item farming activities present in all MMORPGs, to more unique, and creative ones, like Grand Exchange flipping or converting items. The requirements and profitability of these moneymaking activities differ greatly, and there are a lot of methods with low requirements, that will still net you a lot of Gold per hour. So, if you are a new player, don't get discouraged, as with our Guide, you will certainly find the moneymaking method perfectly suited for you.
This guide will go over some of the more unique and interesting, as well as proven Gold Farming methods available in the OSRS. Both low and high-level methods will be featured, so players at every experience level will find something for themselves.
Gold is within an arm's reach, all you need to do is learn how to grab it, and we will help you with that.
Gold Farming methods with low requirements
These are the easily accessible methods, which doesn't mean that they will not provide you with a worthwhile profit. They will present you with an easy way to sustain yourself during long hours of skilling, leveling, and questing. A lot of them could also be used as an addition to the high-level methods by more experienced players, for even more potential profits. These methods are rather safe and even relaxing (or repetitive, depending on whom you ask), so they can be implemented when you just can't be bothered to do something more demanding, and you just want to take it easy while listening to your favorite music for example.
|
1. Grand Exchange Flipping | |
Requirements - Initial Gold investment (the higher, the better), the Member status (recommended, as it will increase your potential profits greatly, thanks to the additional Grand Exchange offer slots) | |
Description - The Grand Exchange provides players with a lot of Gold making opportunities. Capitalizing on the difference between buy and sale prices of items is one of them. | |
General Strategy - Buy items cheaply, and resell them at a profit. This sounds very straight forward, but in reality, requires some practice and a lot of price research. First of all, you have to check the margins of items which you want to flip. If margins are high enough (for example 200+ Gold per item), you should place a buy order for large quantities of those items, and resell them immediately at a higher price. There are a lot of factors that should be taken into account while flipping the Grand Exchange. These include price margins, daily, weekly, and monthly price changes, item popularities, and so on. Describing all of those factors here would change this guide into a detailed guide about the GE (and we have done one of those already), so if you want to learn more about the Grand Exchange, and ways of making a lot of profit out of it, you should check our detailed Grand Exchange guide, here. |
|
Potential profits - This method should be considered as an additional Gold making method, as it requires a hefty initial Gold investment. When done correctly Flipping can provide you with very high and steady profits, in exchange for a really small time investment. The projected profit: 100k - 500k per hour (depending on the Grand Exchange situation, and the initial investment). Please note that you can engage in other activities after your orders are placed, because setting up a flip doesn't take a lot of time, and most of the process happens automatically. |
2. Level 1 Sapphire Ring Enchants | |
Requirements - Magic (level 7), Enchant Spell (level 1), Cosmic Rune (1 per enchant), Water Rune (1 per Enchant)/Staff of Water, some initial investment | |
Description - With this method, you will be enchanting Sapphire Rings bought on the Grand Exchange and selling them at a profit. | |
General Strategy - You should start the whole process by checking the margins (the difference between buy price of the Sapphire Rings, and the sale price of the Ring of Recoil, which is the Enchanted version) to evaluate potential profits. Items required for enchanting are specified in the "Requirements" section, and prices of those items should be taken into account when calculating profit margin (your profit will be equal to Ring of Recoil sale price - (Sapphire Ring buy price + enchant costs)). If margins are high enough you can proceed to buy Sapphire Rings. These rings are rather cheap and sold by players in large quantities, so buying a lot of them at a time is recommended. Now, that you are stacked up on Rings, you should begin the process of enchanting and reselling them | |
Potential profits - Your profits will largely depend on the availability of Sapphire rings and Grand Exchange margins. With a margin of 150 Gold, and if you can Enchant 1000 Rings per Hour, you will make 150000 Gold/Hour. If margins are better, and there is a lot of Rings available, your profits can reach about 300000 Gold/Hour. The projected profit: 150k - 300k per hour (depending on the Grand Exchange situation). |
3. Level 2 Emerald Neckale Enchants | |
Requirements - Magic (level 27), Enchant Spell (level 2), Air Runes (3 per enchant)/Staves of Air, Cosmic Rune (1 per enchant), some initial investment | |
Description - This can be considered as a continuation of the previous method. With this method, you will be enchanting Emerald Necklaces bought on the Grand Exchange and selling them at a profit. | |
General Strategy - First of all, you will have to check the margins (the difference between buy price of the Emerald Necklace, and the sale price of the Binging Necklace, which is the Enchanted version) to determine potential profits. Items required for enchanting are specified in the "Requirements" section, and prices of those items should be taken into account when calculating profit margin (your profit will be equal to Binding Necklace sale price - (Emerald Neckale buy price + enchant costs)). If margins are high enough you can proceed to buy Emerald Necklaces. These necklaces are crafted by players in large quantities, as they are quite cheap to make and therefore a good source of skill experience. We recommend you to put a large order for them because of that. Now that you bought a hefty amount of Emerald Necklaces, you should start enchanting and reselling them. | |
Potential profits - If you can enchant 1000 of these per hour with a margin of 200, you will make 200000 Gold/hour. This number will rise a lot with better margins and the number of necklaces enchanted per hour. When there are a lot of necklaces available on the Grand Exchange, and the margin is closer to 300, you can make around 400000 Gold per hour. The projected profit: 200k - 400k per hour (depending on the Grand Exchange situation). |
4. Making Ultracompost | |
Requirements - Level 22 Mining (optional), Fossil Island Unlocked (optional), Some initial investment (higher if you opt to do not gather Volcanic Ash by yourself) | |
Description - Ultracompost, the best compost in the game is worth more than its components, so making it will net you a profit. | |
General Strategy - There are two ways of doing this, one takes more time, but lets you make more money, and the second one is faster, but requires a more initial investment, and will provide smaller profits per item (but much higher profits overall). With the first method, you'll need level 22 Mining and access to Fossil Island. If you have those covered, you should make your way to the Island, and start to mine Volcanic Ash there, the more the better. After you have filled your bank with Ash, it is time to buy Supercompost on the Grand Exchange (divide the number of Volcanic Ashes you have by 2 to calculate how many Composts you need exactly). When your order is complete (you can place it before farming Volcanic Ashes to speed up the whole process), you should combine 1 Supercompost with 2 Volcanic Ashes to make 1 Ultracompost. Selling Ultracompost on the Grand Exchange will provide you with a nice profit. The second method involves you buying Volcanic Ash on the Grand Exchange, so it saves you time at the expense of some extra initial investment, and a little bit of risk. | |
Potential profits - Your profits will depend on the method you chose, and on the current Grand Exchange prices. Currently making 1 Ultracompost will net you 132 Gold in you use materials from the Grand Exchange (buying it is a great option if you have enough Gold to invest in is, as it will rise potential profits really high, because you could make few thousand of Ultracomposts per hour potentially), and 264 if you'll farm Volcanic Ash yourself. The projected profit: 250k - 500k per hour depending on your chosen method, current Grand Exchange prices, your initial investment, and your ability to relocate quickly (if using the first method). |
5. Tanning Dragonhides | |
Requirements - The Member status, some initial investment (~750k), Agility skill (optional; it will speed up the process by allowing you to run for longer), Stamina Potions (recommended; they will speed up the process, by providing you with some extra Energy, needed for running around) | |
Description - Dragonhide can be converted into Dragon leather with the help of a tanner, and then sold at a profit. | |
General Strategy - Just like with the other Grand Exchange related methods, the first thing you should do is check the margins. If the price difference between Dragonhides and Dragon Leather is high enough, you should buy as many Dragonhides as you can afford. Your freshly bought Dragonhides can be tanned in the city of Al Kharid. This process will involve a lot of running between the shop and the bank (that is why we have recommended Stamina Potions). After the tanning process is complete, you should proceed to sell your freshly made Dragon Leathers on the Grand Exchange at a profit. | |
Potential profits - your profit will mostly depend on the current item margins, and the speed at which you are able to tan hides. With the current margins, your profits should oscillate around 350000 Gold per hour. The projected profit: 300k - 500k per hour (depending on the Grand Exchange situation, and your speed). |
6. Converting basic Elemental Staves | |
Requirements - Level 42 Construction (in order to build a House), Teleportation Ring/House Teleport Tablets (optional - these will speed up the process and increase profit per hour), some initial investment | |
Description - Prices of basic Elemental Staves differ greatly on the Grand Exchange, and you can capitalize on this fact. | |
General Strategy - Firstly, you should compare prices of all basic Elemental Staves (Staff of Fire, Staff of Earth, Staff of Water, Staff of Air), and check the margin (the difference between buy price of the cheapest Staff, and the sale price of the most expensive Staff). Then you have to place a buy order for the cheapest Staves (if the price difference between cheaper staves is not that high, you can buy more than 1 kind, as it will increase the stacking-up process). Now that you are stacked up on cheap Elemental Staves it is time to head to your House. In your House, you need to build a Crystal Ball, and then convert bought Staves, into the ones that were the most expensive on the Grand Exchange, with the help of it. After the converting process is complete, all you have to do is sell your freshly converted Staves on Grand Exchange at a profit. | |
Potential profits - Your profits will largely depend on the price difference between different kinds of Elemental Staves, your ability to relocate quickly, and your APM (actions per minute), as there will be A LOT of clicking during the Staff conversion process. If the price difference will be equal to around 500 Gold, and you will be able to convert 750 Staves in an Hour, then your profit will be 375000 Gold/Hour (this is a low estimate). If the price difference will be closer to 700 Gold and your APM will enable you to make about 1000 Staves in an Hour, then your profit will reach 700000 Gold/Hour (a high estimate, the real profit will be somewhere in the middle of the two mentioned values)! The projected profit: 375k - 700k per hour (depending on the Grand Exchange situation, your APM, and your ability to relocate between your House, Bank, and the Grand Exchange quickly). |
7. Trading Javelins | |
Requirements - Some initial investment | |
Description - Grand Exchange prices of Javelins are much lower than NPC prices, all you have to do is find the right NPC Trader. | |
General Strategy - Place buy orders for a lot of Adamant Javelins and Rune Javelins on the Grand Exchange. After your orders are complete, head to the Void Knights Squire NPC located at the Void Knight's Outpost. Open the Trade window and sell 50-100 of each Javelin to the NPC (the buy price will decrease after that, so you shouldn't sell more at a time), then change the World and sell another 50 to 100 of each. You should repeat the whole process until all Javelins are sold. | |
Potential profits - Your profits will mainly depend on the difference between the Grand Exchange and NPC Javelin prices. The current prices are as follows, Rune Javelin 240 Gold each (NPC price) and 161 Gold each (Grand Exchange price), Adamant Javelin 96 Gold each (NPC price) and 57 Gold (Grand Exchange price). If you buy 1000 of each, you will make around 118000 Gold, and it will take you just a few minutes to sell them, so there is a potential of making up to 1000000 Gold per hour with this method (if the conditions are right of course). The projected profit: 400k - 1kk per hour (depending on the number of the Javelins available on the Grand Exchange, their current price, the speed at which you can sell them to an NPC, the GE and NPC price difference, and the number of other players currently selling these [the more people are selling Javelins, the more world-hopping you have to do, and world-hopping takes time]). |
8. Buying Death Runes from the Mage of Zamorak | |
Requirements - The Member status, Rune Mysteries quest completed, Enter the Abyss quest completed, Initial Gold investment (more Gold invested = more profit), food for health regeneration, | |
Description - Mage of Zamorak sells runes very cheaply, so runes bought from him can be sold at the Grand Exchange at a profit. | |
General Strategy - You should start by checking the Grand Exchange prices of Death Runes, if they are worth more than 220 Gold a piece, you are good to go (any lower than that, and your profits will be very marginal). Then, stack up on Food and Gold but remember that there is a risk of dying on your way to the Mage, so you should only take the number of Gold pieces that you are willing to risk. With your resources ready, is the time to visit the Mage of Zamorak. He is located around the Southern Wilderness mining site and at the Altar of Zamrok in Varrock (northeast of the Grand Exchange, in level 4 Wilderness). Please be aware that there are a lot of Skeletons surrounding him, and there is a possibility of meeting other, potentially hostile, players. After you reach the Mage, you should open his store and buy Death Runes from him (only buy down to 250). When you are done with purchasing runes and if you have money left, you should change your World and repeat the whole process. If Runes are bought out on a World, there is someone else doing the same thing most likely - it is a good idea to skip some Worlds in a situation like that. After all of your Gold is spent, it is time to make your way back to the Grand Exchange and sell them there at a profit. | |
Potential profits - The Mage of Zamorak sells Death Runes at a price of 195 Gold each, and you can buy up to 250 of them per World. If you manage to buy 250 Runes on 100 Worlds, and the runes are worth 220 Gold on the Grand Exchange, you will make 625 Gold - GE tax per World-change run, and you should be able to complete a run in about an hour. If the price of the Runes is closer to 275, potential profits will rise to about 2000000 Gold (please note that buying 250 runes per World on 100 Worlds will require a total investment of 4,875000 million Gold)! The projected profit: 600k - 2kk per hour (depending on the Grand Exchange situation, availability of Runes, and your initial investment). |
Gold Farming methods with high requirements
These methods are best suited for more experienced and seasoned players with high skill levels. Thanks to higher requirements, and the lower accessibility, you will face less competition, compared to low-level methods, while performing them (most of the time, but you shouldn't treat this as a rule). These methods will also provide a more stable income, as they are not reliant on the Grand Exchange as much as low-level methods are.
1. Humidifying Clay | |
Requirements - Level 68 Magic, Dream Mentor quest completed, Lunar Spellbook, Steam Battlestaff, Initial investment needed to purchase large quantities of Clay and Astral Runes | |
Description - Soft Clay is high demand among players training Crafting, you can fulfill those demand by Humidifying a lot of Clay. | |
General Strategy - This is a very straight forward and easy method. Firstly, buy a lot of Clay. Then prepare (buy, most likely) Astral Runes and Steam Battlestaff, these will maximize your humidifying efficiency which in turn will increase your profit per hour. With all those items ready, you should follow these steps: 1 - Withdraw all runes from your bank, 2 - Withdraw 27 Clay (to fill your inventory), 3 - Cast Humidify, 4 - Deposit Soft Clay, and then repeat steps from 2 to 4. This process can be sped up a lot by setting up proper hotkeys (Spellbook and Inventory should be set on Hotkeys). With a maximum efficiency, you should be able to cast about 815 Humidify spells per hour. | |
Potential profits - your profits will depend on your efficiency and Clay prices. If you are able to cast Humidify on full equipment of Clay 815 times per hour, and thus make 22005 Soft Clay per 1h, your profits should reach 450000 Gold per hour (and you will also get 53000 Magic experience), but achieving the efficiency this high will require a lot of practice with your hotkeys and micromanagement. As you can see, this method is not that profitable, but it is great if you want to increase your Magic level quickly, and make some money in the process. The projected profit: 225k - 450k per Hour (depending on your efficiency and current Grand Exchange prices). |
2. Mining Runite Ore | |
Requirements - Level 85 Mining, Food, Teleportation Ring (or some other way of getting back to town quickly), Dragon Pickaxe (recommended) | |
Description - Runite Ore is in very high demand on the Grand Exchange, as it is required for crafting Rune Weapons and Armor. You can take advantage of this, but mining it requires very high mining skill. | |
General Strategy - This is a very simple resource farming activity, but it requires level 85 Mining and skilling takes a LONG time. If your character is skilled enough, all you need to do is make your way to one of the Runite Ore mining locations (for example Lava Maze Runite Mine, Frozen Waste Plateau, or the Heroe's Guild Mine), and start Mining. After the mining site is depleted, you should change Worlds, and repeat the Mining process (server-hopping will increase your profits greatly). If your inventory is filled, it is time to port back to Town, store your newly Mined Ore, and return to the Mining site, or sell all of gathered Ore on the Grand Exchange. You should always be ready for a possible PvP encounters, as Runite Ore mining locations tend to attract a lot of hostile players, just waiting to kill you and take your stuff. | |
Potential profits - Your profits will depend on the Runite Ore Grand Exchange price, and your ability to mine it quickly (this is why teleports/stamina potions etc. are recommended). Current GE Runite Ore price is 11400 Gold, so mining 75 Ores in an hour will get you 855000 Gold. This is a lowish estimate, and your profits will increase if you will farm Ore fast enough. The projected profit: 700k - 1kk per hour (depending on your farming speed and the Grand Exchange prices). |
3. Pickpocketing Master Farmers | |
Requirements - level 38-94+ Thieving skill (the higher the skill, the better the profit), hard Ardoughe Diary completed (recommended), Full Rogue Equipment (recommended, as it will double your loot), Food (if your Thieving skill is below 94) | |
Description - Master Farmers carry a lot of Farming Seeds (some of the rarer ones worth over 35k Gold each), that sell well on the Grand Exchange, you can make a good profit by stealing them. | |
General Strategy - Head to the spot where Master Farmers are located (South of Varrock: Farming Guild, Draynor Village, North of East Ardoughe), and start pickpocketing them. High Thieving level is recommended for this, as it will increase your profits greatly (Pickpocketing success rate at level 40 thieving is only 60%, while at level 90 it rises to 98%). You will start making a quite decent profit at level 50 Thieving, as at this level you'll be able to equip full Rogue Equipment. At level 72 Thieving, you will have the possibility to complete the hard Ardougne Diary which will boost your pickpocketing by an additional 10%. The best profit, of course, is made if you have 94+ Thieving because at this level you will no longer fail your pickpocket attempts. | |
Potential profits - your profits will greatly depend on your current Thieving skill and Rogue Equipment. We recommend that you do not start this activity if you have Thieving below level 50 and/or you do not have full Rogue Equipment. At level 50 Thieving with proper gear, you should make around 300000 Gold per hour, and at 94+ Thieving, with a fully optimized character, over 1000000 Gold per hour. The projected profit: 150k (at level 38 Thieving) - 1,1kk (at 94+ Thieving with Full Rogue Equipment and hard Ardougne Diary completed) per hour (depending on current Grand Exchange Seed Prices). |
4. Death Rune Crafting in the Abyss | |
Requirements - Level 65-99 Runecrafting (99 Recommended, as it will grant the ability to craft 2 Death Runes per essence), Level 21 Mining (70+ recommended), Good amount of Hitpoints, Food, Pickaxe, Enter the Abyss and Mourning's Ends Part II quests completed, Runecrasfting Pouches, charged Amulets of Glory (recommended, for teleportation), A lot of Pure Essences, | |
Description - Crafting High-Level Runes in the Abyss can provide you with very good profits, and Death Runes, being the most expensive are the best, but also the most demanding choice for crafting. | |
General Strategy - Make your way to the Mage of Zamorak, and ask him to teleport you to the Abyss. Your way will be blocked by rocks, use your pickaxe to create a way into the inner part of the Abyss, and find a Death Portal. Craft Death Runes at the portal (you will double your yield of runes if you have high enough Runecrafting skill, for Death Runes it is 99), teleport back to the bank, store your runes, and make your way back to the Death Portal; repeat until you run out of resources, and then sell freshly made Death Runes on the Grand Exchange. This is also a good way to increase your Runecrafting skill if you don't have it maxed out You can also make Runes with lower skill requirements, those will provide you with a bit less profit, but should be still worth your while. Nature Runes require level 44 Runecrafting skill to make and 91 Runecrafting for doubles, and Law Runes require Level 54 Runecrafting to make and 95 Runecrafting for doubles. |
|
Potential profits - Your profits will largely depend on your Runecrafting skill, your ability to relocate quickly, and the current Grand Exchange prices. If under level 99 Runecrafting you should be able to make about 2750 Death Runes per hour and at level 99 Runecrafting about 5500 Death Runes. Current Death Rune price on the Grand Exchange equals 228 Gold, and the price of the Pure Essence is 3 Gold. The projected profit: 600k - 1,25kk per hour minus consumables costs (depending on your skill level [when under 99 Runecrafting you will make less than half of the maximum projected profit], and current Grand Exchange prices). Making Nature Runes will get you about 500k - 1,1kk per hour minus consumables costs, and making Law Runes will get you about 450k - 1kk per hour minus consumables costs. |
5. Raiding | |
Requirements - level 90+ in all Combat stats, High-end Combat Weapons and Gear, Melee and Range Void Equipment, a strong team (if you are able to complete a Raid with fewer teammates, your profits will be higher), appropriate skilling stats (these will depend on your team composition) | |
Description - Raids are a great source of valuable items, that are in very high demand among players. With a strong team, Raids can be completed in under 30 minutes which makes running them very profitable for highly skilled players. | |
General Strategy - Raids have a scaling Difficulty level, so the better the Team, the Harder the Raid, and the better the potential Rewards. Currently, there are two Raids in the OSRS, Chambers of Xeric and the Theatre of Blood, and both of them feature unique and valuable rewards for those brave enough to venture into them. Now, when it comes to Raiding... first of all, you should have an alt character strong enough for Scouting Runs inside the chosen Raid, as proper scouting will greatly increase the speed of your Raid progress. Then, most importantly, you should gather or join a team (all of your teammates should have strong Combat Gear and very high Combat stats). When your Team is sorted out and ready for action, you should Scout the chosen Raid properly to determine the optimal strategy and route. After Scouting is complete, it is time to lead your Teammates into the Raid and overcome all challenges that it has to offer, which will result in a hefty amount of valuable loot. This loot can be sold to other players at a large profit. | |
Potential profits - your profits from Raiding will greatly depend on your Team's experience (experienced teams will be able to complete Raid runs quicker which will increase the overall profit), your and your Team's Combat levels (difficulty and rewards scale with average Combat Level), The size of your Team (fewer people to share the loot with equals more loot for you), loot splitting methods, and the current Grand Exchange prices of looted items. Overall, very strong, experienced and skilled Teams will make roughly twice as much as below average to average Teams. The projected profit: 2,5kk - 6kk per Hour (depending on the size of your share and the factors mentioned above) |
|
END NOTE We have featured only a small portion of available OSRS Gold Farming methods, as we wanted to focus on some of the more unique, and yet somewhat proven ways of making a good profit. We hope that you have found this Guide informative and at least somewhat helpful. Please do note that this is an early version of our guide, and we will be happy to receive constructive criticism, that will help us improve it, so leave your suggestions in the comment section below. We also plan to add further Gold-making activities to the list in the foreseeable future. |
Pictures used in this article are the intellectual property of Jagex.