Pay-to-play Runecrafting training

The massive profits and convenient perks of the skill draws many to Runecrafting. The amount of money that a player (especially those who use Magic extensively) can both save and make honing this skill is nearly unmatched. However, the amount of long and tedious work that goes into levelling up this skill drives many players away from it, leaving those with the required patience to reap great rewards.

Pouches
One of the best ways to maximise your Runecrafting experience and profit per hour involve using pouches. Pouches allow you to craft more runes per each run because they can be filled with rune/pure essence and then emptied to add the rune or pure essence back into your inventory. They can be repaired in the Abyss by talking to the Dark Mage located in the inner ring, or by using NPC Contact via the Lunar spellbook and contacting the Dark Mage. While the Small pouch will never decay, any pouch larger than it will decay so it is highly recommended that you go and repair your pouches once they stop carrying additional essence. Failure to replace your pouches will lead to you having to get new ones from the Abyssal monsters as pouches will eventually vanish upon decay.

The following pouches are available for use:
 * A Small pouch (carries 3 additional essence, obtainable through the Enter the Abyss miniquest, can be used at level 1 Runecrafting)
 * A Medium pouch (carries 6 additional essence, obtainable in the Abyss, can be used upon reaching level 25 Runecrafting)
 * A Large pouch (carries 9 additional essence, obtainable in the Abyss, can be used upon reaching level 50 Runecrafting)
 * A Giant pouch (carries 12 additional essence, obtainable in the Abyss, can be used upon reaching level 75 Runecrafting)

Note 1: It is possible to acquire these pouches by killing the abyssal creatures prior to attaining the required Runecrafting levels; however, players will not be able to store essence inside of them unless the Runecrafting level requirement is met.

Note 2: Holding the Shift key then clicking on a full pouch will empty the pouch, putting the essences into your inventory. This completely removes the unnecessary steps of right-clicking and selecting empty.

Gear
Equipping the following items prior to Runecrafting is recommended as they will reduce your carrying weight in order to lengthen the amount of time you can run.
 * Boots of lightness (obtained from the cellar in the Temple of Ikov)
 * Spottier cape (requires Hunter level of 66)
 * Penance gloves (requires 40 Defence and completion of Barbarian Assault minigame)
 * The Graceful outfit earned from Marks of grace while doing rooftop agility courses.
 * While the above items are helpful in reducing the weight you carry so that you can run for longer, they are not at all required. Stamina potions can be used at a bank to recover and reduce your energy drain. Alternatively, you can level your Agility to allow for faster energy regeneration, which means fewer potions needed in between trips.
 * Black pickaxe if using the Abyss. This is the lightest pickaxe in the game, weighing 0kg.

Abyss Runecrafting
The Abyss is the most common place for people to train Runecrafting, since for most altars it's the fastest way to get to it from a bank. Before you can enter the Abyss, you will need to complete the Enter the Abyss miniquest. You should maximise Defence against the Abyss creatures (Magic-based melee attacks) and still weigh 0kg. Your Runecrafting success in the Abyss is based on your respective level (as well as having the appropriate tool) used to clear an obstacle to get to the inner ring. Your Agility and Mining level are most commonly tested, as your teleport destination will likely be nearby one of the obstacles requiring them.

When playing optimally, it is possible to make approximately 50 runs an hour through the abyss.

Gear setup
Recommended lightweight items:

Players worried about defence can use the listed gear:

It is very likely that players will not need all this gear. At a defence level of 60+, players can probably get away with the full weight reduction listed above. As an alternative, players can drink Jugs of wine as well as Stamina potions, instead of wearing the gear.

Banking
A good layout would be to put your essence in the top right and, next to them, stamina potions. This makes your banking more efficient, especially if you don't use mousekeys.

If you have completed Alfred Grimhand's Barcrawl, you can take 1 dose stamina potions and break the vial immediately once you take the dose, allowing you to save an inventory spot without dropping or depositing the empty vial.

Inventory
Your inventory should consist of your pouches and your essence. Do not take potions with you on the trips as it will lower your experience and gold per hour. Try drinking while filling your pouches. For maximum efficiency, place the pouches on the second row from the bottom so your cursor is over the popup option "Empty pouch" when right-clicked at an altar (this is not needed if shift clicking to empty pouches).

Strategy
When running through the Abyss, maximizing both experience and profit per hour is crucial to your success. Follow these steps to earn you the most profit in the fastest time possible. After banking, click east or north of the bank. Clicking west or northwest will result in your character running to the door you entered from which makes you lose 1 or 2 ticks. After you exit the bank, click along the western wall of the men building. Clicking inside if it is closed is fine, if the door is open you will start running inside. After that, click on the ditch and then north 6-8 tiles then northeast until you hit the northern end of River Lum (which then becomes a tunnel to black chinchompas). When you reach the water you should have already right clicked the teleport option on the Mage of Zamorak. Upon entering the Abyss, click north. 80% of the time you will have to go north first. Spot the closest obstacle (always Mining or Agility); this is where the skills come in. Your success rate for an obstacle is practically your Level/99, and at 99 you never fail. After entering, click in the direction of your rift (Altar), then right when you enter it make sure you are already clicking on where the altar is. Right-click your pouch which should be on the fifth row in your inventory and lower it to empty, having a pouch in the same column one slot lower will line up the click for that one to empty by just right-clicking then left-clicking it. Make sure when you're crafting the second-third batch of runes you have right-clicked your Glory amulet to teleport to Edgeville without wasting ticks, that way you can also see before you're able to teleport if your amulet is charged, or if you need to teleport to Castle Wars with a Ring of dueling if it isn't. After teleporting to Edgeville, click right in the bank and then right-click the banker to skip the dialogue and directly access your bank. Clicking this way will save you 1 tick instead of walking the last tile to the bank booth. It would be wise to obtain a few extra amulets of glory to make this method as prolonged as possible (20 amulets would cost around, and you can sell them back at a loss of when you need money or take a pause from Runecrafting), and buy as many Charge dragonstone jewellery scrolls as practical, requiring completion of Heroes' Quest to use.

Starting off
To start off, players must complete the Rune Mysteries quest.

If you do the Enter the Abyss miniquest immediately after talking to Wizard Sedridor to complete Rune Mysteries, the 1,000 Runecrafting experience reward given by the miniquest will get you from zero experience to level 9 Runecrafting, allowing you to bypass air, mind, and water Runecrafting. It will take you right away to Earth runes (level 9).

An optional way to skip Runecrafting levels, is completing The Eyes of Glouphrie quest, which gives you a 6000 Runecrafting experience reward and doesn't require a Runecrafting level. This allows you to start off with level 23 Runecrafting and crafting body runes (level 20). However, this quest does require 46 Magic, 5 Construction and The Grand Tree quest.

Air runes (1-9/14)
If you can't do the Abyss miniquest or the optional quest, the only way you can train is by crafting air runes, which grants 5 Runecrafting experience per Rune essence or Pure essence used (140 exp for an inventory of 28). The air altar is just south of Falador, with a bank close by. Keep in mind that in Old School RuneScape, unlike in RuneScape 3, the Air altar is not located west of Varrock. You will end up with a decent amount of air runes, which you may then sell, or retain for your own personal use. Continue to craft air runes until you reach level 9, at which point it is best to move on to crafting earth runes.


 * Experience needed (1-9): 969
 * Pure essence needed: 194
 * № of inventories (28 ess per inventory): 7
 * Total profit: using pure essence

Earth runes (9-14)
Starting at level 9, it is advised you craft Earth runes at the Earth altar, which is just northeast of Varrock, near the Sawmill. Crafting earth runes grants 6.5 experience per rune essence or pure essence used (195 exp for an inventory of 30). The distance between the altar and bank is a brisk walk away, so you can gather a great portion of experience in a short amount of time. Alternatively you may use the Lumberyard teleport scroll to teleport right next to the Earth altar for faster exp, using Rings of dueling to teleport to Castle Wars to bank. Earth runes are handy runes to have, required if you come across any earth based spells. Selling earth runes may prove to be a greater advantage to you than actually saving them, but that is completely up to the player.


 * Experience needed (9-14): 1,138
 * Pure essence needed: 176
 * № of inventories (30 ess per inventory): 6
 * Total profit: using pure essence

Fire runes (14-23/44)
At level 14, it is best to craft fire runes, which grant 7 experience per rune essence or pure essence used (210 experience for an inventory of 30). The fire altar is west of the Duel Arena north of Al Kharid. It is close to Faldi's chest bank by the arena, but if you have the money, the fastest method to level 44 is to use ring of dueling to teleport to Castle Wars, and withdraw essence from the bank. Then use the ring to teleport to the Duel Arena. Run north to the altar, craft the runes, then teleport back to Castle Wars using the ring. With rings of dueling costing, buying enough of them to get from 14 to 44 would cost approximately , requiring 64 rings of dueling.

Fire runes are also very useful for a wide variety of spells, so it may be a good idea to hold onto them in case you wish to train your Magic later on, but once again, that is all up to you.


 * Experience needed (14-20): 2,363
 * Pure essence needed: 338
 * № of inventories (30 ess per inventory): 12
 * Total profit: using pure essence

Mud runes (13-23/44)
Mud runecrafting is the fastest way of getting experience before you are able to craft lava runes. Above that mud runes yield the best profit until at least level 27. The average price for mud runes is per rune, but it is highly unstable and can be anywhere between 120 to 250 gp per rune.

Tips:
 * Always remember to take a binding necklace with you when crafting combination runes.
 * If you have access to the balloon transport system, you might want to shorten the trip by using a ring of dueling and a willow log to quickly move between Castle Wars and the altar.
 * The profit of Mud runes highly outweighs the expenses of your binding necklace and transportation.
 * On the best days you might be able to make 5k per inventory of mud runes, this is after subtracting the costs of a talisman, binding necklace and ring of dueling.

Body runes (20-27/44)
Once you reach level 20, you are now able to craft body runes, which grant 7.5 experience per rune essence or pure essence used (225 exp for an inventory of 30). Body runes are useful for a number of spells, such as "Confuse" or "Weaken" in the normal spellbook, often used for low-intensity Magic training, also known as "Splashing", along with two higher level spells in the Lunar spellbook. They are also used in the Necromancy Spellbook for Ensouled head Prayer training.

Note: Due to their limited use, these runes are less commonly traded between players. However, they give plenty of experience and are the highest level runes that free players are able to craft. With this being said, taking into account the distance from the bank (which is the Edgeville bank) and the amount of experience from each rune (7.5 experience per rune crafted), this is a very good way to level up Runecrafting for low level/free to play players.


 * Experience needed (20-27): 5,260
 * Pure essence needed: 702
 * № of inventories (30 ess per inventory): 24
 * Total profit: using pure essence

Lava runes (23-99)
Crafting lava runes is the fastest, although a costly way of training Runecrafting, granting up to 72,000 experience per hour with perfect ticks. Due to the click-intensive process this method involves, players may be more likely to see rates closer to 55,000 experience per hour.

For the best efficiency, players will need level 82 Magic and completion of Lunar Diplomacy to cast the spell Magic Imbue, which negates the need for a talisman in combination runecrafting. Players should use a ring of dueling and binding necklace to teleport close to the fire altar and ensuring lava runes are crafted 100% of the time. It's also worth noting that the player might only want to use the 2 largest rune pouches they have available to them, as the time saved filling and emptying the pouches could result in faster laps and better experience rates.

The best equipment to use is a fire tiara, your best weight-reducing clothing, a steam battlestaff, and a rune pouch holding air runes, cosmic runes and astral runes for the NPC Contact spell to repair your pouches. The steam battlestaff offers unlimited water runes and fire runes that players will use for Magic Imbue.

Cosmic runes (27-35)
Players with a Runecrafting level of at least 27 who have completed the Lost City quest are able to craft cosmic runes, which grant 8 experience per Pure essence used. Cosmic runes are a very good source of experience, but require the completion of the Lost City quest and the distance from the Cosmic altar to the bank is a bit further than the Body Altar and the Edgeville bank.

There are two shortcuts to the altar: one at 46 Agility and one at 66; these make the trip quite a bit shorter. Alternative options include using the Quest point cape or Necklace of passage to teleport to a fairy ring to get to the altar faster and teleporting to Edgeville using an Amulet of glory, or Castle Wars using a Ring of dueling to bank. For those with the ability to teleport to the Grand Exchange via Varrock teleport will find this a very efficient method to bank and return back to Zanaris if you don't have a quest cape or otherwise opt out of the other options.


 * XP per run: 280
 * Value of runes:
 * Experience needed (27-35): 12,676
 * Pure essence needed: 1,585
 * № of inventories (35 ess per inventory): 46
 * Total profit:

Chaos runes (35-40/44)
At level 35, players can now craft chaos runes, which grant 8.5 experience per Pure essence used. They are involved in the majority of attack spells and can yield great profits as well. However, if you're in it just for the Runecrafting experience, then this method may not be the most efficient for you.

If you do however wish to use the chaos altar, it is advised that you use the Abyss, as it will save you the hassle of going through the 3 level "maze" of the Chaos temple every time you wish to craft chaos runes. Additionally, it would take 9-12 hours collectively depending on how much you are able to run to reach level 44 if the maze is consistently used.
 * XP per run: 297.5
 * Value of runes:
 * Experience needed (35-40): 14,818
 * Pure essence needed: 1,744
 * № of inventories (35 ess per inventory): 50
 * Total profit:

Astral runes (40-44)
At level 40, players can craft Astral runes (requires completion of Lunar Diplomacy) that grant 8.7 experience per Pure essence used. Astral runes are used for Lunar spells. The Astral altar is located to the south-east of the village on Lunar Isle. To get to the altar, a talisman or tiara is not required, but neither can it be accessed through The Abyss. The fastest method for crafting Astral runes is by equipping an Earth staff, law runes, a small and/or medium pouch, run to the altar (note: there are Suqahs in the path, so be careful. Activate Protect from Melee when walking besides one to avoid taking any damage.) after crafting the runes, activate the Lunar Spellbook, and use Moonclan Teleport, this is a recommended method to players who don't want to go through The Abyss. Note that using Tele Group Moonclan instead of the regular Moonclan Teleport is slightly more efficient, as it puts the player slightly closer to the bank at the cost of 2 more Earth runes.

WARNING:: If you have not completed Dream Mentor, do not bank your Seal of passage or you will be kicked from the island when trying to use the bank.


 * XP per run: 304.5
 * Value of runes:
 * Experience needed (40-44): 18,425
 * Pure essence needed: 2,118
 * № of inventories (35 ess per inventory): 61
 * Total profit:

Nature runes (44-59/82/99)
At level 44, players can craft nature runes that grant 9 experience per Pure essence used. Players can gain up to/around 27,000 experience per hour.

Nature runes are used in numerous spells and can be sold quickly for decent profit. The Nature altar is located in Karamja, north of Shilo Village. Unless you have people running pure essence to you outside the nature altar, this will not be the fastest method for crafting Nature runes.

The fastest method for crafting Nature runes involves completing the Enter the Abyss miniquest and entering the Abyss. After completing Enter the Abyss, the Mage of Zamorak (located in the southern Wilderness mining site north of Edgeville) will teleport you to the Abyss upon right clicking him. Once in the void, you will instantly become skulled and lose all of your prayer points so this method is not recommended for low-level players as there are monsters up to level 81 inside.

Similar to Cosmic runes, two other options are to use Quest point cape or Necklace of passage to teleport to a fairy ring to get to the altar faster by teleporting to Edgeville using an Amulet of glory or Castle Wars using Ring of dueling to bank.


 * XP per run: 315 at 44, 387 at 50 , 486 at 75
 * Value per run: at 44,  at 50 ,  at 75
 * Experience needed (44-59): 192,237
 * Pure essence needed: 21,360
 * № of inventories (35 ess per inventory): 611
 * Total profit:

Law runes (54-59/65)
Players with a Runecrafting level of at least 54 are able to craft law runes, which grant 9.5 experience per Pure essence used. At this point you should be using the abyss system with a way to teleport to Edgeville, via either house or Amulet of glory. Another efficient method is using the balloon transport system from Castle Wars to Entrana, take a regular log to fuel the balloon. After crafting your laws teleport back to Castle Wars using your ring of duelling and repeat. The Law altar is located on Entrana, so when using the law altar make sure you don't have anything equipped because otherwise you won't be allowed in through the portal in the Abyss. However, players can still use bronze pickaxes and drop them prior to entering the portal. Players using balloon transport are advised to click straight north upon arriving at Entrana, as this will result in the pathfinder generating a path to run all around the island, which can be then be cancelled after crossing the bridge to get to the law altar.


 * Must have completed Troll Stronghold
 * XP per run: 408.5
 * Value per run:
 * Experience needed (54-59): 97,014
 * Pure essence needed: 10,212
 * № of inventories (43 ess per inventory): 238
 * Total profit:

Double cosmic runes (59-65/82)
At level 59, you can craft two cosmic runes per Pure essence used. This method yields a reasonable profit and decent experience. Another option is to use the quest point cape to teleport to a fairy ring to get to the altar faster. This method takes about 58 seconds if you bank at Edgeville using an Amulet of glory. It should be noted this is not faster than the Abyss. Profit can be increased by using the best shortcut (requires 66 Agility) and by using a giant pouch (requires 75 Runecrafting).


 * XP per run: 344 at 59, 432 at 75
 * Value of runes: at 59,  at 75
 * Experience needed (59-65): 201,542
 * Pure essence needed: 25,193
 * № of inventories (43 ess per inventory): 586
 * Total profit:

Death runes (65-82/91)
At level 65, players can craft Death runes with completion of Mourning's Ends Part II, which grant 10 experience per pure essence used. The most efficient way to craft death runes is through the Abyss, as the Death altar is difficult to access by normal means and is far away from a bank.
 * XP per run: 430 at 65, 540 at 75
 * Value per run: at 65,  at 75
 * Experience needed (65-82): 1,971,669
 * Pure essence needed: 197,167
 * № of inventories (43 ess per inventory): 4,585
 * Total profit:

Ourania Altar (1-99)
At any level of Runecrafting you can access the Ourania Altar. The altar creates random runes that improve in cash and experience value as you level Runecrafting. It has varying amounts of experience due to the random rarity of runes.

Having access to the Ourania Teleport spell (requires 71 Magic and completion of Lunar Diplomacy) is essential for this method, as it provides the fastest teleportation to the altar.

To access the bank, you need to pay 20 of any kind of rune (excluding combination runes). You will also need to clear your earth, law, astral, and essence pouch space holders and fill your entire bank with bank fillers so that you can efficiently deposit all your random runes without depositing what you need in your inventory. Like most Runecrafting methods, this method only begins to make money at around 45 Runecrafting.

The official world for the Ourania Altar is world 327. It is recommended to use this world to reduce damage taken from monsters inside the cave.

Experience rates vary depending on your Runecrafting level, higher the level the higher the rate. With good banking, the player can expect roughly 33,000 experience per hour at 50 Runecrafting, 42,000 experience per hour at 75 and 48,000-50,000 experience per hour from 90 to 99. From 99 onwards (with the Runecrafting cape perk) the maximum possible experience rate is around 54,000 experience per hour.

Gear setup
As the player will have to tank various NPCs while running to the altar, wearing some defensive gear mixed with weight-reducing clothing is recommended. The graceful outfit along with a tank shield, an amulet of fury and an imbued ring of suffering will usually suffice if the player has high Defence and is using the official world. Wearing the Hitpoints cape and a regen bracelet will most likely outheal any damage you take, however you will lose the set bonus of the graceful outfit. Lower-level players should focus more on defence (such as a black d'hide body and helm of neitiznot) and use cheap food to heal themselves.

Having a dust battlestaff equipped is recommended, as it provides runes for both Ourania Teleport and NPC Contact spells. Alternatively, you can equip any staff that provides earth runes and use air runes for payments for banking.

Blood runes (77-90/99)
At level 77, you can craft blood runes that yield 23.8 experience per dark essence fragment. Players can gain up to 40,000 experience per hour if using the Abyss, or 37,000 experience per hour if running to the altar. In order to craft blood runes, players must have 100% favour with the Arceuus House in Great Kourend.

Because the essence blocks are untradeable, players must mine Dense essence blocks from the Arceuus essence mine (granting 12 Mining and 8 Crafting experience per block), then use the blocks on the Dark Altar (granting 2.5 Runecrafting xp per block). Then, players must use a chisel on the Dark essence block to create dark essence fragments (granting 8 Crafting experience per block chiselled) and after that use the fragments on the altar. The most efficient way to do this is to get a full inventory of dark essence blocks, chisel them into dark essence fragments and after that get a second inventory of dark essence blocks before going to the altar. From 77-99 Runecrafting, players can expect to gain around 1,646,000 Crafting and 1,235,000 Mining experience, if solely crafting blood runes from 77-90 and immediately moving on to soul runes at 90.

In order to craft blood runes via the Abyss, players must use a dark essence block on the blood rift before being able to use it permanently.
 * Experience needed (77-90): 3,870,751
 * Blood runes crafted: 158,475
 * № of inventories (204 fragments per inventory): 777
 * Total profit:

*From 77-99 Runecrafting, players can expect to gain around 1,646,000 Crafting and 1,235,000 Mining experience, if solely crafting blood runes from 77-90 and immediately moving on to soul runes at 90.

Double astral runes (82-91/99)
At level 82, you can craft two astral runes per pure essence. Many players choose this method because it is almost the same income as double nature runes, far more experience per hour (up to 35,000 per hour at maximum), and far safer. While doing this, make sure you use any staff which provides earth runes and have unlocked the Tele Group Moonclan spell. After banking (4 pouches for the best xp/hr), run south and click over the river, the pathfinder will find the most efficient path for you to get to the bridge and usually you will only waste 1 tick running east. Finally, wear a rune kiteshield/blessed spirit shield/dragonfire shield/toktz-ket-xil/crystal shield (i) because suqah can hit very accurately against players who are not wearing any armour, or just prayer flick at the bridge. After runecrafting, use a dueling ring to bank at castle wars, for a tremendous increase in xp/hr. Having a rune pouch will give you a distinct advantage. This can be bought from the bounty hunter store for 1,200,000 points, and it will hold up to 16k of any three rune type. Using a dust battlestaff with law, cosmic, and astrals in the rune pouch is the best way to negate the need to take out any runes to teleport back to moonclan, and NPC Contact. Once you teleport to castle wars, store your astrals in your rune pouch while running to the bank chest.

If using the method of teleporting to Castle Wars to bank, and group teleport back to Moonclan method, the profit will be (82-91/99): /
 * XP per run: 469.8
 * Value of runes:
 * Experience needed (82-91/99): 3,481,744 / 10,613,344
 * Pure essence needed: 400,201 / 1,219,925
 * № of inventories (54 ess per inventory): 7,412 / 22,592
 * Total profit: /

Soul runes (90-91/99)
At level 90, you can craft soul runes that yield 29.75 experience per Dark essence fragment. Players can gain up to 45,000xp/hr. To craft soul runes, players must gain 100% favour with the Arceuus House in Great Kourend.

In order to craft soul runes via the Abyss, players must use a dark essence block on the soul rift before being able to use it permanently.

Because the essence blocks are untradeable, players must mine Dense essence blocks from the Arceuus essence mine (granting 12 mining and 8 crafting xp per block), then use the blocks on the Dark Altar (granting 2.5 Runecrafting xp per block). Then, players must use a chisel on the Dark essence block to create dark essence fragments (granting 8 Crafting xp per block chiselled) and after that use the fragments on the altar. The most efficient way to do this is to get a full inventory of dark essence blocks, chisel them into dark essence fragments and after that get a second inventory of dark essence blocks before going to the altar.


 * Experience needed (90-99): 7,688,099
 * Soul runes crafted: 253,107
 * № of inventories (204 fragments per inventory): 1,241
 * Total profit:

Double nature runes (91-99)
At level 91, you can craft two nature runes per pure essence used. Training Runecrafting from level 91 to level 99 using this method requires 792,400 pure essence and yields 1,584,800 nature runes, which can be sold for tremendous profit.


 * XP per run: 486
 * Value of runes:
 * Experience needed (91-99): 7,131,600
 * Pure essence needed: 792,400
 * № of inventories (54 ess per inventory): 14,675
 * Total profit: