1-99 Runecraft Guide OSRS

Guardians of the Rift against lavas against the double-rune altars, and an honest answer to whether Runecraft is still the worst grind in the game.

Sell your OSRS gold

Fastest: Double nature and law runes at high level
Standard route: Guardians of the Rift from 27
Most AFK: Nothing here is AFK
Best profit: Blood and soul runes, wrath runes

The short answer

Guardians of the Rift from 27 is where most accounts should train, and it is the single biggest change to this skill in its history. It is usable across essentially the whole level range, it hands out rewards that matter, and it turned Runecraft from a skill people paid other people to do into one people voluntarily train.

Lava runes from 23 remain the straightforward alternative, and lava runes with runners are faster again if you have them. The double-rune altars are the high-level route: double cosmics from 59, double astrals from 82, double natures from 91 and double laws from 95.

Blood runes and soul runes in Arceuus from 77 are the profitable answer, and wrath runes from 95 sit at the top end of both experience and gold.

Every method, by level

Every current training method in the skill and the level each one opens at, so you can find the row for the level you are on rather than reading a whole guide to get to it. This table is generated from the game's current method list and regenerated when it changes, which is why it includes methods most guides have not caught up with yet.

Level	Method
1 to 50	Making talisman tiaras
1+	Ourania Altar
1+	Arceuus Library
6+	Other combination runes
23+	Lava runes
23+	Essence runner methods
23+	Lava runes with runners
27+	Guardians of the Rift
50+	Imbuing desiccated pages
59 to 91	Double cosmic runes
77+	Crafting blood/soul runes in Arceuus
82+	Double astral runes
90+	Aether runes with runners
90+	Aether runes
91+	Double nature runes
95+	Double law runes
95+	Wrath runes

17 methods. Level 1 to 99 is 13,034,431 experience.

The thing that makes the numbers move

Essence supply, not the altar. The rate you get from any altar is set by how much essence you can put through it per hour, which is why runner methods and the Ourania Altar exist as separate entries at all, and why daeyalt essence matters so much to a serious Runecraft grind.

This is the skill where the method names on a ladder tell you the least. Two players at the same altar with the same level can be a factor of two apart purely on how they are feeding it.

Pure essence

Nature rune

Law rune

Blood rune

Wrath rune

Is it still the worst skill in the game

It is no longer the obvious answer to that question, which was not true a few years ago. Guardians of the Rift did most of the work: it gave the skill a training method with a reward loop attached rather than a pure walk between an altar and a bank.

What has not changed is the shape. Runecraft has no AFK option worth the name, the rates below 77 are modest against almost any other skill, and the high-level methods that pay well are the ones that also demand the most setup. It rewards preparation more than attention, which is an unusual profile and the reason opinions on it are so split.

Frequently asked questions

What is the fastest way to 99 Runecraft in OSRS?

The double-rune altars at high level, with double natures from 91 and double laws from 95, fed by as much essence per hour as you can sustain. Below that, Guardians of the Rift from 27 is the best all-round method and the one most accounts should use.

Is Guardians of the Rift worth doing?

Yes, and it is the reason Runecraft is no longer automatically the worst grind in the game. It works across almost the whole level range, it pays rewards that matter rather than just runes, and it replaced a training loop that was purely walking between an altar and a bank.

What is the most profitable Runecraft method?

Blood and soul runes in Arceuus from 77, and wrath runes from 95. Both sit at the top of the skill for gold and experience at the same time, which is unusual and is why they are the endpoint for most accounts.

Why do two people at the same altar get different rates?

Essence throughput. The altar sets the experience per rune, but the rate per hour is set by how much essence you can put through it, which is what runner methods, the Ourania Altar and daeyalt essence all exist to solve.