Ironman Guide/Herblore

Ironman Guide

Herblore is arguably the hardest skill to train on an ironman since collecting the herbs and most of the secondary ingredients can be slow and time-consuming. Therefore, it is advised to put the rewards of every experience lamp and book of knowledge into Herblore if possible. By the time all hard diaries are completed, if making all potions obtained along the way, the player should have around level 67–69 Herblore, just enough to start boosting to make ranging potions.

Early training: Quests

Main article: Quest experience rewards § Herblore

Druidic Ritual is required for unlocking Herblore. Afterwards, some early levels can be skipped by completing quests that reward Herblore experience. Completing Druidic Ritual, Jungle Potion, and Recruitment Drive rewards in total 2,025 Herblore experience, enough to get level 13. Questing alone will grant a total of 9,350 Herblore experience, elevating a level 1 Herblore to 26, granting the ability to make energy potions without having made a single potion before.

• Druidic Ritual rewards 250 Herblore experience.
• Jungle Potion requires 3 , and rewards 775 Herblore experience.
  • For lower levels, infinite Volencia moss can be obtained from the rocks in this quest, and cleaned for roughly 1600 xp/hr, hopping worlds every 3 herbs. This might be of particular use to Ultimate ironmen.
• Recruitment Drive requires Black Knights' Fortress, Druidic Ritual, rewards 1,000.5 Herblore experience.
• Zogre Flesh Eaters requires Big Chompy Bird Hunting, Jungle Potion, 8 , 4 , 30 , rewards 2,000 Herblore experience.
• The Dig Site requires 10 , 10 , 25 , rewards 2,000 Herblore experience.
• Shades of Mort'ton requires Priest in Peril, 15 , 20 , 5 , rewards 2,000 Herblore experience, plus an additional 330 Herblore experience for giving the Diary of Herbi Flax to the Apothecary in Varrock.
• Heroes' Quest requires 25 , 55 , 53 , 53 , 50 , and many quests, rewards 1,325 Herblore experience.

General information and tips

Mid-level players may wish to kill spitting wyverns for their high drop rate of 4-dose Prayer potions. This method obtains ranarr seeds, ranarr weeds, and prayer potions at a fairly quick rate.

A long-term method of achieving stamina potions for the player-owned house revitalisation pool is to always carry a clean torstol for the chance of a Jekyll and Hyde random event. Doing this significantly decreases the time required for higher tier player-owned house pools.

Level 3+: Cleaning herbs, making potions/tars

It is advisable to work towards having access to Managing Miscellania as early as possible, since it is one of the best ways to get herbs passively over time. Training Thieving to high levels is a quick way to get coins for funding the Kingdom; in addition to this, with high Thieving players are able to effectively pickpocket Master Farmers for early herb seeds. When the kingdom is obtained, have 10 workers on herb farming at all times for the most effective yield.

After completing hard tasks of the Desert Diary, Zahur in Nardah will make unfinished potions for 200 coins per potion (works with noted herbs and vials of water). Wesley will crush items that require the use of a pestle and mortar for 50 coins per item (also works with banknotes but does not require the diary completion).

Level	Primary ingredient		Secondary ingredient		Used for		Method of obtaining secondary
3		Guam leaf		Eye of newt	File:Attack potion.png	Attack potion	Eye of newt packs can be bought from Betty in Port Sarim.
15		Tarromin		Ashes	File:Serum 207.png	Serum 207	Can be collected after logs have burnt out, this also works for fires which have been made by other players. The fastest method is to go to the Nightmare Zone and choose Practice mode with Fareed as a quest boss. Attack him with darts with ice gloves equipped and pick up the ashes he drops. Also dropped by Cerberus.
26		Harralander		Chocolate dust	File:Energy potion.png	Energy potion	Chocolate bars can be bought from the Culinaromancer's Chest after completing subquests of Recipe for Disaster, from Rok's Chocs Box in Nardah (25 in stock), or from Hudo at the Grand Tree Groceries (20 in stock). Hudo also sells chocolate dust (10 in stock). Chocolate bars also spawn at the Cooks' guild and at Zanaris.
38		Ranarr weed		Snape grass	File:Prayer potion.png	Prayer potion	Can be grown in allotment patches at 61 farming. Many spawn on the hobgoblin peninsula east of Hosidius. Spawns on Waterbirth Island. Teleport to Waterbirth Island (requires 72 Magic), collect a full inventory of snape grass and bank at Castle Wars via a ring of dueling. Alternatively, if the easy Fremennik Diary is completed, one can deposit the snape grass at Peer the Seer. Also spawns on the peninsula behind the crafting guild.
39		Tarromin		Swamp tar		Tarromin tar	Swamp tar can be found in Lumbridge Swamp and Mort Myre Swamp. For higher levels, large amounts of Swamp tar can be obtained from Zulrah. Swamp tar can also be obtained from the Lunar Chest.
45		Irit leaf		Eye of newt	File:Super attack.png	Super attack	Eye of newt packs can be bought from Betty in Port Sarim.
52		Avantoe		Mort myre fungus	File:Super energy.png	Super energy	Can be obtained by cutting sulliuscep mushrooms, or in Mort Myre Swamp by casting Bloom with a blessed silver sickle near some dead logs. The fastest method to passively gather is by cutting Sulliuscep mushrooms. The fastest method to actively gather requires having a fairy ring and rejuvenation pool in the POH. Use fairy ring BKR, (Salve Graveyard Teleport from the Arceuus spellbook) run a little bit south where there are 3 logs close to each other, collect a full inventory of fungi, Teleport to House and use a demon butler to bank the fungi. Use the pool to restore Prayer points when needed. Having completed the hard Morytania Diary doubles the amount of fungi collected when casting bloom. Alternatively, if one has access to Drakan's medallion and wishes to save on teleportation runes, the Ver Sinhaza teleport option provides quick access to four logs to the north (Ardougne cloak provides a quick method to restore prayer points)
55		Kwuarm		Limpwurt root	File:Super strength.png	Super strength	Can be grown in flower patches at level 26 Farming. Limpwurt seeds are commonly dropped by Kurasks, Nechryaels, and Deviant spectres. Alternatively, they can be obtained by pickpocketing master farmers, exchanging mole parts to Wyson the gardener and opening the seed nests, or completing farming contracts and opening the seed packs.
63		Snapdragon		Red spiders' eggs	File:Super restore.png	Super restore	Spawns in various places (such as Edgeville Dungeon). Can be obtained in larger amounts by killing spidines in the Tower of Life or by killing temple spiders in the Forthos Dungeon. Venenatis also uncommonly drops 500 noted eggs. Also Sarachnis has a tertiary drop of 100 red spider's eggs in the form of a giant egg sac.
66		Cadantine		White berries	File:Super defence.png	Super defence	Can be grown in bush patches at level 59 Farming. Also uncommonly dropped by Kurasks. A more risky method involves collecting them from Lava Dragon Isle where they spawn very quickly. Just make sure to bring a looting bag and an anti-dragon shield.
69		Lantadyme		Dragon scale dust	File:Antifire potion.png	Antifire potion	Blue dragon scales spawn in Taverley Dungeon near the blue dragons. After completion of Dragon Slayer II, collecting these in the Myths' Guild basement becomes a better option.
72		Dwarf weed		Wine of zamorak	File:Ranging potion.png	Ranging potion	Can be telegrabbed in the Asgarnia's Chaos Temple or the Chaos Temple south-west of Chaos Fanatic where it spawns every 28 seconds. A more risky choice is the Deep Wilderness Dungeon where it respawns every three seconds. A riskless alternative is gathering Zamorak's grapes through the Tithe Farm minigame, and making the wines yourself. Also dropped by the Kalphite Queen.
76		Lantadyme		Potato cactus	File:Magic potion.png	Magic potion	Can be grown in cactus patches after 64 farming. Dropped by the Kalphite Queen and completing the Tombs of Amascut.
77	File:Super energy.png	Super energy	File:Amylase crystal.png	Amylase crystal	File:Stamina potion.png	Stamina potion	10 Marks of grace obtained from Rooftop Agility Courses or 100 Termites obtained from Colossal Wyrm Agility Course can be exchanged for a Amylase pack, containing 100 File:Amylase crystal.pngAmylase crystals.
81		Toadflax		Crushed nest	File:Saradomin brew.png	Saradomin brew	Bird nests can be obtained from random drops while Woodcutting, bird house trapping on Fossil Island, Managing Miscellania and exchanging mole parts to Wyson the Gardener.

Other methods

Level 60+/81+: Mastering Mixology

Main article: Mastering Mixology

At level 60 and with completion of Children of the Sun, players can go to Aldarin and take part in the Mastering Mixology minigame, however it will become more efficient at higher levels, with the last unlock at level 81 Herblore. Mastering Mixology does not require specific herbs or any secondaries, and grants much more experience per herb, making it a very useful option for when gathering large amounts of high-tier herbs and secondaries for traditional Herblore training might not be easily possible. It is also the only source of some powerful utility items and features, such as the Prescription goggles, Alchemist's amulet, Chugging barrel, and Potion storage, so it can be advisable to do even if Herblore experience is not needed.

Level 80+ Hunter: Herbiboar

Main article: Herbiboar

At level 80 Hunter (and 31 Herblore), players can track herbiboars on Fossil Island, which yields herbs and a small amount of Herblore experience upon harvest.

Bossing and Raids

High-level players will get a notable amount of herbs and Herblore experience (from dark relics and making potions inside the raid) from the Chambers of Xeric. Those with Craw's bow and/or Viggora's chainmace can focus on killing the Wilderness bosses Venenatis, Vet'ion and Callisto as they rarely drop 100 noted herbs (snapdragon, ranarr weed and toadflax, respectively) as well as a generous amount of ranarr and snapdragon seeds. Notably, Venenatis also occasionally drops 500 noted red spiders' eggs.

Sourcing ingredients

Herblore ingredients come from three primary sources: farming, monster drops, and minigames (notably Managing Miscellania).

For Farming, you can obtain seeds through farming contracts and pickpocketing Master Farmers. You should be doing as many farming contracts per day as possible, they provide a lot of Herblore and Farming experience and are your main source of herb/tree seeds.

While training Slayer, you will also obtain many grimy herbs and secondary ingredients.

Herbs and herb seeds

Low-level ironmen can get their starting Herblore supplies from Wintertodt. Alternatively, kill chaos druids or flesh crawlers for their common low-level herb drops to train the first levels.

Pickpocketing Master Farmers is the fastest method of obtaining ranarr seeds for prayer potions, and it also yields various other seeds for Herblore experience. Players will need to have a very high Thieving level in order to do this effectively. Players stop failing to pickpocket Master Farmers at level 94 with the hard Ardougne Diary perk, or at level 99 when wearing the Thieving cape. It is recommended for players to have at least 75 Farming due to an update on the Master Farmer's herb seed loot table.

Doing farming contracts in the Farming Guild is currently the best method to obtain herb seeds at any levels. For more information, see the Farming section.

In addition to farming contracts, training Slayer is one of the primary methods of obtaining herbs and herb seeds, as many slayer monsters (most notably Nechryael, Aberrant spectres and Dagannoths) frequently drop assorted types of them. Should one need herb seeds, complete Nechryael tasks in the Slayer Tower with melee instead of burst/barrage spells in the Catacombs of Kourend as Greater nechryael do not drop as many herb seeds in comparison.

Farming herbs

Main article: Ironman Guide/Farming

Players will need to do herb runs frequently and consistently. Clean the herbs whilst running to the next patch to save time in future.

Always use ultracompost on herb patches to minimise the chance of disease, and to ensure the minimum amount of 6 herbs per seed when used along with magic secateurs. Herb patches cannot be protected by NPC gardeners, and seeds will typically be in short supply, so use the best compost possible.

The Fertile Soil spell, requiring 83 Magic, on the Lunar spellbook is particularly convenient for herb runs since it negates the need to spend time making ultracompost. However, getting an ash covered tome for unlocking the ultracompost version of the spell can take a while due to the Volcanic Mine. When access to Fertile Soil is obtained, do herb runs whilst on the Lunar spellbook and use teleport tablets or Spellbook Swap for patches which aren't easily accessible without the use of the standard spellbook. Having a lunar or occult altar in a POH is recommended for switching spellbooks quickly, however the use of Moonclan Teleport or Teleport to House is also viable to teleport to Lunar Isle.