•Filip Premuš• 10 min read
OSRS
OSRS Herblore Training Guide: 1-99 Methods, Boosts and Costs
Herblore is the skill that turns herbs into the potions almost every other part of Old School RuneScape depends on, from Prayer potions at bosses to Stamina potions on long skilling trips. It's a members-only skill, and unlike gathering skills, nearly every level costs gold, so the potions picked along the way decide how expensive the road to 99 gets.
Herblore training in OSRS can run anywhere from a fairly cheap grind to one of the most expensive skills in the game, while the fastest routes still take a day or more of playtime. Picking the right potion at each level, plus a few quests, boosts and the Mastering Mixology minigame, keeps both the cost and the time under control.
OSRS Herblore Training Summary
Herblore training starts after the Druidic Ritual quest, which sets the skill straight to level 3.
Making a potion takes two steps, but only the second step gives XP: herb plus vial of water, then a secondary ingredient.
OSRS Herblore quests give over 170,000 XP in total, with a handful of easy ones covering the first levels.
Prayer potions, Super restores and Ranging potions make up the cheapest fast route to 99 Herblore.
Mastering Mixology unlocks at level 60 and gets the most XP out of every herb, which makes it a favorite for ironmen.
Herblore boosts like the Botanical pie raise the level by 4, so potions can be made a few levels early.
How Herblore Works in OSRS
Herblore unlocks after Druidic Ritual, a short quest in Taverley that gives 250 XP and sets the skill straight to level 3. Before that quest, herbs can't be cleaned and potions can't be mixed, and since Herblore is members-only, free players need an OSRS bond or a membership to start.
Making a potion follows the same loop at every level:
Clean a grimy herb, which gives a small amount of XP.
Add the clean herb to a vial of water to make an unfinished potion, which gives no XP.
Add the secondary ingredient, such as eye of newt or snape grass, to finish the potion and get the XP.
Most players train at a bank, withdrawing 14 unfinished potions and 14 secondaries per inventory. That pace works out to roughly 2,500 potions per hour, so the XP per potion decides most of the XP per hour. Herbs come from Farming, monster drops or the Grand Exchange, while secondaries come from shops, drops and other skills.
Herblore Quests That Give XP
Quests are a cheap way to skip the slowest early levels. OSRS Herblore quests give over 170,000 XP in total, and a few easy ones cover most of the first 20 levels:
Quest | Herblore XP | Herblore Requirement |
|---|---|---|
Druidic Ritual | 250 | None |
Jungle Potion | 775 | 3 |
Recruitment Drive | 1,000 | None (12 quest points) |
The Dig Site | 2,000 | 10 |
Zogre Flesh Eaters | 2,000 | 8 |
Shades of Mort'ton | 2,000 | 15 |
Bigger rewards come later in the questline. While Guthix Sleeps gives 75,000 Herblore XP and needs level 65, while Song of the Elves gives 40,000 XP at level 70, so saving those two for later turns them into a big jump at higher levels.
OSRS Herblore Training From 1-99
Each level range has one or two potions worth making, and moving to the next one as soon as it unlocks keeps the XP per hour climbing. These potions cover the main training steps from 1-99 Herblore:
Level | Icon | Potion | Ingredients | XP Each |
|---|---|---|---|---|
3 |  | Attack potion | Guam potion (unf) + eye of newt | 25 |
5 |  | Antipoison | Marrentill potion (unf) + unicorn horn dust | 37.5 |
12 |  | Strength potion | Tarromin potion (unf) + limpwurt root | 50 |
15 |  | Serum 207 | Tarromin potion (unf) + ashes | 50 |
22 |  | Restore potion | Harralander potion (unf) + red spiders' eggs | 62.5 |
38 |  | Prayer potion | Ranarr potion (unf) + snape grass | 87.5 |
45 |  | Super attack | Irit potion (unf) + eye of newt | 100 |
52 |  | Super energy | Avantoe potion (unf) + mort myre fungus | 117.5 |
55 |  | Super strength | Kwuarm potion (unf) + limpwurt root | 125 |
63 |  | Super restore | Snapdragon potion (unf) + red spiders' eggs | 142.5 |
72 |  | Ranging potion | Dwarf weed potion (unf) + wine of zamorak | 162.5 |
77 |  | Stamina potion | Super energy(4) + 4 amylase crystals | 102 (4-dose) |
81 |  | Saradomin brew | Toadflax potion (unf) + crushed nest | 180 |
85 |  | Ancient brew | Dwarf weed potion (unf) + nihil dust | 190 |
90 |  | Super combat potion | Torstol + super attack(4), super strength(4) and super defence(4) | 150 |
Levels 3 to 38 go by quickly with Attack potions, Serum 207 and Restore potions, especially after the early quests. Prayer potions at 38 are the first real training potion, since they sell well and usually cost little to make.
From there, Super attack and Super energy carry the mid levels, and Super restores at 63 are the potion most players stay on for a long stretch. Ranging potions at 72 add more XP per potion, while Saradomin brews and Ancient brews push XP rates even higher for players with a bigger budget.
Fastest and Cheapest Ways to Train Herblore in OSRS
Higher-XP potions are the fastest route, since the number of potions per hour stays about the same. Saradomin brews at 81 and Ancient brews at 85 give some of the highest XP per potion, but they're also among the most expensive potions to make.
Players who want even faster XP can use tick manipulation on potions with a stackable secondary, such as Stamina potions, extended antifires, anti-venoms and extended super antifires. This method nearly doubles the potions made per hour, and tick-manipulated Stamina potions reach over 500,000 XP per hour, though it takes constant, precise clicking.
On a tighter budget, Prayer potions and Super restores are the core of the cheap route, because both sell for close to what their ingredients cost. Adding Ranging potions from level 72 speeds things up without a big jump in cost, and Super combat potions from 90 often cost less per XP than brews.
Price changes on the Grand Exchange can make any potion cheaper or pricier from week to week, so checking current herb and secondary prices before buying in bulk saves a lot of gold. A cheaper route also takes a little longer, usually adding several hours compared to the fastest brew route.
Is Herblore Profitable in OSRS
Most Herblore training costs gold, but a few methods can turn a profit:
Cleaning herbs: Buying grimy herbs and selling the clean ones can earn gold, and it still gives a small amount of Herblore XP.
Making unfinished potions: Adding herbs to vials of water gives no XP, but unfinished potions often sell for more than the ingredients.
Mastering Mixology: Reward points can be spent on items like aldarium, which sell for a lot, making Mixology one of the few profitable ways to train.
Close-to-even potions: Prayer potions and Super restores sometimes break even or make a small profit, depending on prices.
Mastering Mixology
Mastering Mixology is the Herblore minigame in Aldarin, an island off the south-west coast of Varlamore. It needs level 60 Herblore and the Children of the Sun quest, and every new level adds more recipes until all of them unlock at 81.
Instead of making potions at a bank, players refine herbs into three kinds of paste, mix those pastes into potion bases and finish them at different workstations to fill orders. Mixology gives less XP per hour than bankstanding, but it gets the most XP out of every herb, which is why ironmen and budget players lean on it.
Filling orders earns resin, which buys these useful rewards:
Alchemist's amulet: Gives a 15% chance to make a 4-dose potion instead of 3.
Prescription goggles: Give a 10% chance to keep the secondary ingredient.
Reagent pouch: Holds 26 of each secondary ingredient, so one inventory makes 26 potions instead of 14.
Potion storage: Adds extra bank space just for potions.
OSRS Herblore Boosts
Herblore boosts raise the level for a short time, which lets players make a potion a few levels before they unlock it. These are the main Herblore boosts in OSRS:
Botanical pie: Boosts Herblore by 4 and is the most common pick.
Greenman's ale: Boosts Herblore by 1 and lowers Attack, Strength and Defence, while the mature version boosts it by 2 and only lowers Attack and Strength.
Spicy stew: Changes Herblore by a random amount from -5 to +5 when made with three doses of brown spice, so it can lower the level too.
Boosts only change the level, not the XP per potion. On top of them, cost-saving gear stretches every herb further:
Amulet of chemistry: Gives a 5% chance to make a 4-dose potion.
Alchemist's amulet: Raises that chance to 15% and holds more charges.
Prescription goggles: Save the secondary ingredient 10% of the time.
Ironman Herblore Training
Ironmen can't buy herbs or secondaries, so Herblore training on an ironman depends on Farming, drops and shops. Herb runs supply most of the herbs, while secondaries like eye of newt come from shops and others come from monsters and other skills.
Mastering Mixology is the best ironman Herblore method from level 60, since it gets the most XP per herb. Below that, ironmen usually make the potions they can supply easily, like Attack potions, Serum 207, Energy potions and Prayer potions, and save their best herbs for potions they'll actually use, such as Prayer potions, Super restores and Stamina potions.
FAQs About OSRS Herblore Training
Final Words
Prayer potions, Super restores and Ranging potions keep the cost reasonable, brews and tick manipulation cut the hours down for players with a big budget, and Mastering Mixology from level 60 gets the most out of every herb, which makes it the go-to for ironmen. Mixing in the early quests and a Botanical pie before each new unlock smooths out the whole climb to 99.
OSRS & GameBoost Products
“ Kristina joined GameBoost in 2024 as an SEO specialist and quickly became the go-to writer for third-person shooter and competitive games. She covers titles like Fortnite, Valorant, League of Legends, GTA 5, and Roblox, focusing on how-to guides, practical tips, and updates.”
