Runescape is a multiplayer, fantasy role-playing game in which you create and develop your personalized character, exploring a massive world. Compared to Runescape 3 (the newest Runescape version released), Old School Runescape is a separately released video game that adopts older gameplay elements and graphics of the Runescape series. This global video game phenomenon keeps defying time by attracting millions of users every month despite its seemingly outdated graphics and gameplay compared to newer games.
However, the game’s true appeal lies in the nostalgic design and role-playing element, which attracts both seasoned gamers and newer ones. In this article, we will go over various methods beginners can boost their smithing skills in the game with this smithing guide.
Smithing for Beginners
To begin, let’s explain what is smithing in Runescape. You use this skill to create armor, weapons, ammunition, and various utility items. The two most common ways to acquire smithing XP are to create metal bars and to turn those metal bars into useful items. However, if you are just starting your Osrs journey, the best way to gain smithing XP is to complete quests, which will directly boost your smithing skill.
The Knight’s Sword quest is the best way to increase your smithing level, which will give you 12.725 smithing XP, instantly boosting your smithing level to 29. Furthermore, you can complete the Elemental Workshop 1 quest, which will award you an additional 5000 smithing XP. Alternatively, in case you want to avoid these quests, you can get level 15 smithing by forging exactly 193 bronze bars.
Talking about hot stuff, how is your firemaking skills? Check out our firemaking guide.
Smithing items
After at least reaching level 15 smithing, you will need certain items to max out on this skill as soon as possible. Firstly, you will need the ice gloves carried by the Ice Queen that will boost the XP gained from The Blast Furnace, which we will discuss later.
Moving further, you will require goldsmith gloves awarded upon completing the Family Crest Quest, which doubles the amount of XP received when smithing gold bars. The coal bag is another useful item that you can purchase for 100 golden nuggets, as it can carry up to 27 pieces of coal (36 if you own a smithing cape).
The Blast Furnace
On your journey to acquire the maximum level of smithing, you will spend many hours at The Blast Furnace. To access the furnace, you will first need to enter Keldagrim by beginning the Giant Dwarf quest. The furnace itself is a small minigame that is very important because it provides you with the most efficient smithing methods in the game. After beginning the Giant Dwarf quest, you will be able to teleport to Keldagrim with a boat. After entering Keldegrim, you will unlock the option to use the Blast Furnace once every 20 minutes.
Do keep in mind that you will need to pay the workers that help around the furnace by putting coins in the coffer. Additionally, if you are under level 60 smithing, you will need to pay 2.5k gold per 10 minutes of usage to the Blast Furnace foreman.
However, to begin smithing iron bars in the furnace, your character will need to be at least level 15 in smithing, so being temporarily under-leveled is not a big issue. That being said, let’s analyze the process of smithing, which mostly consists of running around the 3 main segments of the furnace: the conveyor belt, the bar dispenser, and the bank chest.
To begin smithing, you will need to remove ores from your bank chest and place them into the conveyor belt. After that, you will need to go to the bar dispenser and acquire bars directly if you are wearing the ice gloves we previously mentioned.
In the unfortunate case of not having the gloves, you will need to run to the nearby tap, refill a bucket of water, and cool down the heated bars placed on the bar dispenser. After attaining the metal bars, run back to the bank chest and repeat the process.
This way of smithing will net you over 70,000 smithing XP per hour and 160k coins in iron bars (including the cost you pay to use the furnace). It is worth mentioning that using this method, you will need only 40 minutes to level your smithing from 15 to 40 and 25 minutes from 29 to 40, depending on the method you have initially chosen to level up.
Once you have reached level 40 smithing, you unlock the fastest way to get to level 99 smithing: forging gold bars. The process is slightly different because you will wear goldsmithing gloves instead of ice gloves, as they increase the XP you gain from forging gold bars.
Just like before, you will need to place gold ores on the conveyor belt. However, this time, you will need to wait for the small announcement in the upper-right corner of your screen, telling you that you acquired the double XP from your golden gloves.
After you know the XP has been allocated, re-equip the ice gloves and take the smithed bars. Repeating this process will net you over 300k smithing XP per hour. Remember that this is the most efficient but expensive way to get to level 99 in smithing, as you will need 231,000 gold ores and over 58 million coins.
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Forging Mithril & Adamant Body Plates
As previously mentioned, smithing gold bars in the Blast Furnace is very expensive, and having a cheaper alternative would be very practical. Luckily, Osrs experts found a way to level your smithing more economically.
Unfortunately, you will first have to level your smithing to 68, unlocking the mithril and adamant body parts that you will forge repeatedly. The best place to perform this action is at the Varrock anvil because you can set up your screen to allow you to click both the bank and the anvil in a single frame.
You will want to craft mithril body plates until level 88, netting you roughly 200k XP per hour. After you’ve reached level 88, proceed to craft adamant body plates until level 99, which will give you around 250k XP per hour. This process costs around 26 million coins, almost half the price you would spend on crafting gold bars.
In conclusion, we will round up some stats that will help you decide which one of these methods is more suitable for your playstyle.
First, let’s look at the Blast Furnace method. Overall, you will need around 30 hours of raw smithing and 58 million coins, which is quite expensive but time-efficient. On the other hand, reaching level 68 by forging golden bars and proceeding to forge plates will take around 50 hours and 26 million coins, which is much more cost-efficient but time-exhausting.
Checkout our fishing guide, which helps you raise fishing kills quickly with simple methods.
In the end, picking the right technique for you comes down to personal preference, as both methods have pros and cons. That said, have fun playing Runescape, and I will see you on Gielinor!
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