Runecrafting is an RS3 skill you can train as a member and as a F2P. It involves turning runes or pure essence into various runes at special runecrafting altars around Gielinor. To access most of these altars, you will need a runecrafting talisman, but alternatively, you can access most of them through the abyss. Besides being a faster route in most cases, runecrafting through the abyss will also give you magical thread, which is used for your rune pouches, and more XP than if you were to access the altars the conventional way.
The training methods differ for members and F2P, but if you’re a member, you can always try various methods until you find the one you’re most comfortable with.
F2P
As a F2P, you should always consider using runecrafting urns when training because of the extra XP you'll get from them. If you want more runes, have an Explorer's ring 2, 3, or 4, giving you extra elemental runes. The Ethereal Outfit is a nice one, as it will save you runes when traveling between islands in Runespan and give you a chance to earn double runes. You can also do the Rune Mysteries quest for some initial Runecrafting XP as a F2P.
Training Runecrafting in F2P
The best method to train as a free-to-play player to 99 or 120 is the Runespan. To start training your Runecrafting skill this way, head to the Wizards' Tower and speak to Wizard Finix on the top floor. As a F2P, you have access to 2 of the 3 floors in Runespan, but first, you will need to access the lower level. First, you must collect rune essence from floating essence and then siphon from nodes which will convert your essences into runes.
You should maximize your XP per hour to get to the best nodes possible. At level 1, you can siphon mind storm and cyclone nodes; the former will give you slightly better XP. At level 5, you will unlock water pools, so you should focus on these nodes until level 9, where you can start siphoning rock fragments. At level 14 you'll unlock fireballs; at 19, you will unlock vines. You should do fireballs and vines until level 33, when you can access the middle level of the Runespan. To do this, head back to the top floor of the Wizards' Tower and use the other Runespan portal. You'll have access to two other nodes: Fire Storm and Fleshy Growth. The fleshy growth node will give you the most XP per hour, so you should aim to get them as often as possible.
Members
When training Runecrafting as a member, you can access a few more valuable items than a F2P. For example, you should use the XP-boosting Runecrafting outfit, the Master Runecrafter Robes, which will give you 5 percent more XP. You could also use the Ethereal Outfit, and if you own the Master Runecrafter Robe, the XP boost will still apply, but you'll also get other benefits.
Torstol Incense Sticks
For another XP boost you can also use the Torstol incense sticks. You can also access auras, urns, and 3 very powerful relics: the Pouch Protector relic at level 36 archeology, making all your rune pouches non-degradable. The Nexus Mode relic with level 68 Archeology, which is extremely useful if you choose to runecraft through the Abyss as you will be teleported directly in the centre of the Abyss and thus save some time each trip, and at level 118 Archeology, the Inspire Genius relic which will give you a 2% XP boost.
Questing
There are a few quests that you can do that award Runecrafting XP, and they are a great way to skip some levels. You should start by completing these quests:
- Rune Mysteries
- Rune Memories
- Enter the Abyss mini-quest
- The Eyes of Glouphire
At level 45 Runecrafting, you can also do the Back to the Freezer quest, which will give you 25k XP, and at 61, The Prisoner of Glouphire, which will give you 45k XP.
Abyss
This method has a lot of advantages. For example, you will get 2,5 more XP than the regular altar runecrafting XP. You can start runecrafting through the abyss as soon as you hit level 9, but it doesn’t become profitable until level 27, when you can start crafting cosmic runes. If you do not care about profits and want to do it as soon as possible, start by crafting Earth runes from level 9 to 14, then Fire runes until level 20. From 20 to 27, make Body runes. You will have access to the Medium pouch, so you should start crafting Cosmic runes using both the small and Medium pouches until level 35 when you can start making Chaos runes. From 44 to 54, make nature runes, and keep in mind you’ll unlock the Large pouch at level 50, so you can start using it as soon as level 50.
If you want to prioritize profits, keep making Nature runes until 77, when you unlock Blood. Otherwise, if you want the best XP per hour, craft Law runes from 54 to 65 and Death runes from 65 to 77.
