Old School RuneScape: Complete Beginner-to-Endgame Guide

A practical roadmap for Old School RuneScape (OSRS) in 2026: account setup, your first hours, efficient early quests, all 24 skills including Sailing, combat and Slayer, money making, bossing progression and the systems that matter long term.

Researched September 2026 — current as of the late-September 2026 weekly updates (Summer Sweep Up changes, A Ruff Situation and Crab Quest, Wyrmscraig and the Mad Angel, MES 2.0 on client 240.6+). Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

1. You need a Jagex Account. Since 9 January 2024 all new characters are created through a Jagex Account. You can still launch through Steam. One Jagex Account holds up to 20 characters, but membership is bought per character.
2. Free-to-play is real, members is the full game. F2P gives you 15 skills and a smaller map. Membership unlocks 9 more skills (including Sailing), most quests, most bosses and the bulk of the world.
3. Quests are the fastest early XP. Several quests hand out huge chunks of XP and unlock teleports, gear and areas. A short quest route saves days of grinding.
4. Don't pick an account type blindly. Ironman modes block trading with other players. They are great if you like self-sufficiency, painful if you just want to play.
5. Use the Grand Exchange. In Varrock, it buys and sells almost every tradeable item. Check prices before you sell drops to shops or NPCs.
6. Learn the combat triangle. Melee beats ranged, ranged beats magic, magic beats melee. Most monsters have an obvious weakness.
7. Prayer is a life saver. Protect from Melee (level 43) makes many early bosses and Slayer tasks safe.
8. Unlock teleports early. Walking is the biggest time sink. Fairy rings, spirit trees, jewellery and the house portal network change the game.
9. Use the wiki and a client you like. The Official Client and mobile share your account; RuneLite is an approved third-party client. Features like the Menu Entry Swapper now exist on the Official Client too.
10. Set goals. OSRS has no single path. Pick a target (a quest cape, a Fire cape, a skill 99, a boss) and work toward it.

Account Setup

Account Types

If you are unsure, play a regular account. You can drop Ironman status later but you can never add it.

Clients

• Jagex Launcher / Official Client (Windows, Mac) and the Steam version.
• Mobile apps with full cross-play.
• RuneLite, a popular approved third-party client with plugins.

The Official Client's rebuilt Menu Entry Swapper (MES 2.0) arrived in September 2026 on version 240.6 and up. It lets you reorder and hide menu options (no more accidental pickpocketing). Settings save per device.

Your First Hours

1. Tutorial Island teaches the basics and gives starter gear.
2. Lumbridge is your hub. Train a little Woodcutting, Fishing, Cooking and combat on goblins, chickens and cows.
3. Do the easy quests listed below; many take minutes and give real rewards.
4. Head to Varrock for the Grand Exchange and more quests.
5. Unlock your bank PIN and enable two-factor security on your Jagex Account.

Must-Know Interface Basics

• Right-click everything; the top option is the left-click default.
• Run energy drains while running; Agility and stamina potions help.
• The Collection Log, Combat Achievements and Achievement Diaries track long-term goals and give real rewards.

Early Quest Route

Quests in OSRS are not optional side content; they are the progression spine. Good early picks:

A full quest cape requires every quest; you do not need it early, but the XP and unlocks along the way are worth chasing.

The 24 Skills

Every skill caps at level 99 (XP continues to 200 million). Maximum total level is 2,376.

Skill Notes and Beginner Methods

• Combat skills: train on quests first, then Slayer. Controlled or split XP styles let you balance.
• Prayer: bury bones early; members use a player-owned house altar or the Ectofuntus for much better XP per bone.
• Magic: splash or cast combat spells early; high-level alchemy is a steady XP and money source.
• Runecraft: the Guardians of the Rift minigame is the standard group method.
• Firemaking: from level 50, Wintertodt gives XP and supply crates.
• Fishing: from level 35, Tempoross is an XP and loot minigame.
• Agility: rooftop courses give Marks of Grace for the Graceful outfit (lighter weight, more run energy). The Hallowed Sepulchre is a strong later method; as of August 2026 Floor 4 needs 77 Agility and Floor 5 needs 87, and you can now boost to enter floors.
• Farming: do herb and tree runs between other activities; it is mostly passive XP.
• Hunter: birdhouse runs on Fossil Island are passive, but their XP was cut heavily in the August 2026 Summer Sweep Up (lower tiers by up to 60 percent) while nest drops were buffed. They are now more of a nest and loot run than an XP run below high tiers.
• Construction: unlocks a house with portals, an altar, a jewellery box and a restoration pool. It is one of the best quality-of-life investments in the game.

Sailing (Members)

Sailing is the 24th skill and the only skill exclusive to Old School RuneScape. It released on 19 November 2025.

Getting Started

• Start the quest Pandemonium by speaking to Will and Anne on the docks of Port Sarim.
• Finishing it gives you your first boat (a Raft) and a Captain's log.

Boats

Bigger boats have more capacity and facility slots.

Training Activities

• Courier tasks from port notice boards (deliver cargo between ports), with bounty tasks unlocking at level 30. As of 26 August 2026, courier tasks also award tiered Loot Sacks (Tiny to Huge) containing GP or boat supplies.
• Sea charting: one-off exploration tasks, great early XP.
• Shipwreck salvaging from level 15.
• Barracuda Trials from level 30: obstacle-course racing and the highest-XP method; it needs a Skiff.
• Deep sea trawling from level 56: a hybrid Fishing/Sailing activity with boat-mounted nets.

Early advice: do sea charting and low-level courier tasks first, then unlock the Skiff at 15 to open salvaging.

Wyrmscraig

Released on 29 July 2026, Wyrmscraig is an island with Icyene lore that requires 62 Sailing. It has banking, a furnace and anvil, runite, coal and sunstone mining, goat hunting (60 Hunter), golem crafting and the Wyrmscraig Cavern. The Mad Angel is a repeatable mid-level boss unlocked by the quest Fallen From Grace, and it got its own Combat Achievements on 26 August 2026. A new Slayer master, Mortimer, lives in the cavern.

Combat

The Combat Triangle

• Melee is strong against rangers.
• Ranged is strong against mages.
• Magic is strong against melee users.

Check a monster's weaknesses on the wiki; many have specific ones (for example demons and dragons have dedicated weapons).

Gear Milestones (Typical Path)

• Bronze to rune melee gear as your Attack and Defence rise.
• Dragon scimitar after Monkey Madness I.
• Barrows gloves after Recipe for Disaster.
• Fire cape from the TzHaar Fight Cave.
• Barrows armour sets from the Barrows minigame.
• Endgame upgrades come from raids and top bosses.

Key Prayers

Learn prayer flicking once you are comfortable; it saves prayer points on long fights.

Slayer

Slayer is the members' combat backbone: masters assign tasks, you kill the assigned monster for XP and drops, and you earn points for unlocks.

Slayer tips:

• Use the highest master you qualify for; points per task scale up.
• Spend points on unlocks and blocks, and skip tasks you hate.
• Recent changes added useful drops, like the Necklace of Fangs (+1 Ranged Strength, +12 Ranged Accuracy) from Turoths and four elemental amulets that combine into the Elemental amulet (September 2026).
• Unsired from the Abyssal Sire are now stackable in the bank.

Money Making

• Early: sell raw resources (logs, ore, fish) on the Grand Exchange, do quest rewards, pick up the free item spawns you pass.
• Mid: Barrows, low-level bosses, Slayer drops, farming herbs, and high-level alchemy.
• Skilling: Wintertodt, Tempoross and Guardians of the Rift give loot on top of XP.
• Sailing: courier loot sacks are now a GP source.
• Membership bonds: you can buy bonds with gold on the Grand Exchange and redeem them for membership.

Always check live Grand Exchange prices on the wiki before committing to a method; profits change with the market.

Bossing Progression

A common order for learning bosses:

1. F2P bosses: Obor (hill giant boss) and Bryophyta (moss giant boss), plus Scurrius in the Varrock Sewers.
2. Barrows – six brothers, great for learning prayer switching.
3. Giant Mole and Sarachnis – forgiving mechanics.
4. TzHaar Fight Cave – wave-based, rewards the Fire cape.
5. Zulrah – a rotation-learning boss with valuable drops.
6. Vorkath – after Dragon Slayer II.
7. The Gauntlet / Corrupted Gauntlet – self-contained, no gear needed; pets now follow you in (September 2026).
8. Raids: Chambers of Xeric, Theatre of Blood and Tombs of Amascut.
9. Top-end: the Inferno and other endgame encounters.

The Mad Angel on Wyrmscraig is a newer mid-level option if you have 62 Sailing.

Use the Combat Achievements tab to set goals per boss; completing tiers unlocks rewards.

Travel and Quality of Life

• Fairy rings (after starting Fairytale II) and spirit trees.
• Player-owned house portals and jewellery box.
• Achievement Diaries give region rewards like extra teleports (the Ardougne cloak, the Varrock armour and more).
• Graceful outfit from Agility.
• Log basket, seed box, herb sack and similar storage items save inventory space.

Recent Changes Worth Knowing (Aug–Sep 2026)

• A Ruff Situation (8 September): Novice members quest at Ice Mountain's new Dog Shelter, requiring 15 Crafting. You adopt a dog that can help dig for Treasure Trail steps.
• Crab Quest (8 September): talk to crabs on Dognose Island.
• Summer Sweep Up: Hunter, Agility, Sepulchre, Guardians of the Rift, Tempoross and pet changes. Pets now follow you into The Gauntlet, Corrupted Gauntlet and Impetuous Impulses, and you no longer need to bank pets for most minigames (Temple Trekking excepted).
• 23 September: Celestial Ring and Signet's double-ore effect applies to Daeyalt Shards; Poison Dynamite needs 1 Nightshade instead of 3; deadfall and pitfall traps use logs from your log basket; an optional farming compost overlay on the Official Client.
• Shark Lures now shorten harpoon fishing delays.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Skipping quests. They give the best early XP and essential unlocks.
• Choosing Ultimate or Hardcore Ironman on your first account without knowing the game.
• Selling valuable drops to shops. Check the Grand Exchange.
• Walking everywhere. Invest in teleports.
• Wandering into the Wilderness with valuables. Other players can kill you there and take your items.
• Ignoring Prayer and Defence. Low defence makes Slayer and bosses expensive.
• Getting scammed. Nobody gives away free items or "doubles money"; Jagex staff never ask for your password.
• Buying gold or accounts. It breaks the rules and risks a ban.

Advanced Tips

• Tick manipulation and efficient clicking make big XP differences in some skills; learn them only after the basics.
• Plan quest cape order with the wiki's optimal quest guide.
• Batch passive skills (Farming runs, birdhouses, kingdom management) around main activities.
• Keep a death pile plan. Know how item retrieval works at each boss before you fight it.
• Leave spare inventory slots for drops when bossing.
• Check the PvP rota if you enjoy PvP; special worlds rotate periodically (for example Bounty Hunter and LMS Competitive worlds).
• Read each weekly update post. OSRS changes every week and many changes are quality-of-life buffs you would otherwise miss.

FAQ

Is Old School RuneScape free? Yes, the free-to-play version is free. Membership unlocks the full game, including 9 members-only skills and most quests and bosses.

How many skills are there? 24. Sailing, added in November 2025, is the newest and is members only.

How do I start Sailing? Complete Pandemonium, starting with Will and Anne on the Port Sarim docks.

What are the fastest early combat levels? Quests: Waterfall Quest alone takes Attack and Strength from 1 to 30, and Fight Arena, Tree Gnome Village and Witch's House add big chunks.

Should I play Ironman? Only if you enjoy doing everything yourself. Regular accounts are easier and you can't add Ironman later.

Do I need a Jagex Account to play on Steam? New characters must be created through a Jagex Account; you can still play them through Steam.

What is the max combat level and total level? Max total level is 2,376 (every skill at 99). Max combat level is 126.

Can I use RuneLite? Yes, it is an approved third-party client. Official Client features like MES 2.0 don't affect third-party clients.

Sources

• Old School RuneScape on Steam
• OSRS Wiki – Sailing
• OSRS Wiki – Wyrmscraig
• OSRS Wiki – Jagex Account
• OSRS Wiki – Slayer Master
• OSRS Wiki – Skills
• OSRS Steam news (weekly update posts)