Top Old School RuneScape players know that success requires strategy, patience, and a solid game plan. This MMORPG, often called OSRS, launched in 2013 as a restored version of the 2007 game. It has since attracted millions of players who appreciate its nostalgic graphics and deep gameplay systems.
Whether someone is returning after years away or starting fresh, Old School RuneScape offers hundreds of hours of content. The game features 23 skills to train, countless quests to complete, and multiple ways to earn in-game gold. This guide covers the essential tips, best training methods, and reasons why OSRS continues to thrive more than a decade after its release.
Key Takeaways
- Old School RuneScape (OSRS) is a nostalgic 2007-based MMORPG with 23 skills, countless quests, and a unique community-driven polling system for updates.
- New players should prioritize combat skills, Agility for faster travel, and Thieving for easy early gold to progress efficiently.
- Top money-making methods range from tanning cowhides (100K gold/hour) for beginners to bossing Vorkath and Zulrah (2-4 million gold/hour) for high-level players.
- Essential early quests like Waterfall Quest and Witch’s House provide massive XP boosts that can jump-start a new account’s combat levels.
- Old School RuneScape remains popular due to its meaningful progression system, regular content updates, and flexibility to support any playstyle.
What Is Old School RuneScape?
Old School RuneScape is a fantasy MMORPG developed and published by Jagex. The game uses a point-and-click interface where players control their character through mouse commands. It runs on almost any computer, which makes it accessible to a wide audience.
The game world of Gielinor contains diverse regions, each with unique monsters, resources, and activities. Players can choose their own path. Some focus on combat and boss fights. Others prefer skilling, trading, or completing quests.
OSRS operates on a membership model. Free-to-play accounts access limited content, while members unlock the full game. The membership costs around $12.49 per month, though players can also pay with in-game bonds purchased from other players.
One feature that sets Old School RuneScape apart is its polling system. Jagex proposes new content updates, and players vote on whether to add them. Updates require 70% approval to pass. This system gives the community direct control over the game’s direction.
Best Skills to Train First
New players in Old School RuneScape should prioritize certain skills early. These choices affect how quickly they can access better content and earn gold.
Combat Skills
Attack, Strength, and Defence form the melee combat triangle. Training Attack to 40 unlocks the rune scimitar, a solid early weapon. Strength increases damage output. Defence reduces incoming damage and unlocks better armor.
Ranged combat works well for safe-spotting enemies behind obstacles. Many players train Ranged to 75 for the blowpipe, one of the best weapons in OSRS.
Magic serves multiple purposes. It provides combat options, teleportation spells, and utility abilities like High Alchemy.
Gathering and Production Skills
Fishing, Mining, and Woodcutting gather raw materials. These skills generate steady income and supply resources for other activities.
Cooking pairs naturally with Fishing. Players can cook their catches for food that heals during combat.
Smithing and Crafting turn raw materials into equipment. These skills cost money to train but unlock useful items.
Agility and Thieving
Agility deserves early attention because it affects run energy regeneration. Higher Agility means less walking and faster travel. It also unlocks shortcuts throughout the game world.
Thieving provides easy early gold. Players can pickpocket NPCs or steal from stalls with minimal requirements.
Top Money-Making Methods
Earning gold in Old School RuneScape opens doors to better gear, supplies, and membership bonds. Here are proven methods for different skill levels.
Low-Level Methods
Looting at the Revenant Caves offers decent gold for new players. They collect items dropped by other players who die in combat.
Tanning cowhides at Al Kharid generates around 100,000 gold per hour. Players buy cowhides at the Grand Exchange, tan them nearby, and sell the leather for profit.
Making headless arrows requires no skills. Buy arrow shafts and feathers, combine them, and sell for small but consistent margins.
Mid-Level Methods
Barrows runs become profitable around level 70 combat. This minigame rewards players with valuable armor pieces worth millions of gold.
Killing green dragons in the Wilderness yields dragon bones and hides. Expect 300,000 to 500,000 gold per hour depending on efficiency.
Blast Furnace makes steel and mithril bars profitable. Players with 60+ Smithing can earn over 600,000 gold per hour.
High-Level Methods
Vorkath and Zulrah stand as the top consistent money-makers. Both bosses drop valuable items and generate 2-4 million gold per hour for skilled players.
The Chambers of Xeric raid offers chances at items worth hundreds of millions. The Twisted Bow alone sells for over 1 billion gold.
Runecrafting blood runes at level 77 provides 400,000+ gold per hour with minimal attention required.
Essential Quests for New Players
Quests in Old School RuneScape reward experience, unlock areas, and provide useful items. These quests offer the best value for new players.
Waterfall Quest grants 13,750 Attack and Strength experience with no combat requirements. A level 3 account can complete it and jump straight to level 30 in both skills.
The Restless Ghost takes five minutes and rewards Prayer experience. It introduces the Prayer skill, which provides combat buffs.
Cook’s Assistant teaches the basics of quest mechanics. Players gather ingredients and deliver them to the Lumbridge cook.
Witch’s House gives 6,325 Hitpoints experience. Combined with Waterfall Quest, new accounts gain significant combat levels quickly.
Priest in Peril unlocks Morytania, a region containing valuable content like Barrows and the Slayer Tower.
Lost City requires level 31 Crafting and Woodcutting. It grants access to Zanaris and the dragon longsword, a strong early weapon.
Recipe for Disaster deserves mention as a long-term goal. This quest series unlocks the Barrows Gloves, the best gloves in Old School RuneScape for most combat situations.
Why Old School RuneScape Remains Popular
Old School RuneScape maintains a dedicated player base for several reasons. The game peaked at over 200,000 concurrent players in 2023 and regularly sees 80,000+ online at any time.
Nostalgia plays a role. Many current players started RuneScape as children in the mid-2000s. OSRS lets them relive those memories with familiar graphics and sounds.
The game respects player time differently than modern MMORPGs. Progress feels meaningful because skills take genuine effort to level. A player with 99 in a skill earned it through hours of dedication, not a credit card.
Content updates arrive regularly without changing the core identity. Jagex adds new bosses, quests, and areas while preserving what made the original game special.
The community drives much of OSRS’s appeal. Content creators on YouTube and Twitch showcase creative challenges, speedruns, and hardcore ironman adventures. These videos introduce new players to the game constantly.
Old School RuneScape also offers genuine player choice. Want to become a merchant? Trade on the Grand Exchange. Prefer PvP? Enter the Wilderness. Enjoy relaxed gameplay? Fish lobsters while watching TV. The game accommodates different playstyles without forcing a specific path.
