Ultimate Ironman Guide/Smithing
UIM Guide | ||
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Smithing is most often trained at the Blast Furnace using the nearby shop to provide the ores. The Giants' Foundry minigame is a slower but cheaper and more accessible alternative. As a skill, Smithing is useful as a source of high-level dart tips for Fletching and Ranged. At higher levels, players can also smith valuable adamant and rune equipment, which can be alched for profit.
Levels 1–39: Quests
Completing the quests in the table below will grant enough experience to reach level 39. Most of the quests have fairly low requirements and can be done at a low level.
Quest | Requirements | XP reward | Notes |
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The Knight's Sword | 10
10 to make a redberry pie |
12,175 | Requires 2 iron bars, which can obtained slightly north-west of Ferox Enclave in level 18 Wilderness. |
Sleeping Giants | 15 | 6,000 | Unlocks the Giants' Foundry minigame. |
Elemental Workshop I | 20 , 20 , 20 | 5,000 | Unlocks Skeletal and Fossil Island Wyvern Slayer tasks. |
Elemental Workshop II | 20 | 7,500 | |
The Forsaken Tower | 500 | ||
Recipe for Disaster (Pirate Pete subquest) | 31 | 1,000 | 42 is needed to craft a fishbowl. Alternatively, the player can get one during the Rum Deal quest. |
The Giant Dwarf | 14 , 12 , 16 , 33 | 2,500 | |
Heroes' Quest | Various, see the quest page | 2,257 | Requires the player to go to Entrana. |
Levels 40–99: Gold bars (Blast Furnace)
Smelting gold bars at the Blast Furnace offers the fastest Smithing experience. However, it is very click-intensive, and expensive if buying the ores.
Players will need to have completed Family Crest for goldsmith gauntlets, which increase the base experience from 22.5 to 56.2 experience per gold bar. Without the gauntlets this method is not worth doing, as it would be a lot slower, and more expensive if buying the ores. Players will also need to have level 50 Mining and kill the Ice Queen once for ice gloves. It is also strongly recommended to have some weight-reducing clothing to reduce the run energy drain. Players will also need to store their items at an Item Retrieval Service to make extra space.
Buying the ores
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Buying gold ores from Ordan and smelting them into bars is the fastest way to train Smithing without any supplies needed. However, this method is expensive, costing around 4.25 coins per experience.
To start off, hop to one of the official Blast Furnace worlds and put plenty of coins into the coffer. If below level 60 Smithing, players must pay the foreman 2,500 coins each time the player switches worlds.
- Buy an inventory of gold ore from Ordan, and put the ores on the conveyor belt. Make sure you are wearing the goldsmith gauntlets.
- Buy a second inventory of gold ore and put the ores on the conveyor belt.
- Start running to the bar dispenser, switch to ice gloves, and quickly click the bar dispenser again. When timed correctly, you should open the withdraw interface before getting an experience drop.
- Withdraw the bars, and switch to goldsmith gauntlets to close the interface. This way you get the experience boost from the gauntlets for the second inventory of gold ores.
- Drop the bars, switch back to ice gloves, withdraw more bars and drop them.
- Buy and smelt more gold ore if the world has enough stock.
- Hop to a different Blast Furnace world, and repeat the process.
Players can gain up to around 300,000 Smithing experience per hour from level 60 onwards. The rate heavily depends on stock and how fast the bars are dropped. With the graceful outfit and a decent Agility level, players will not run out of run energy when doing this method. When wearing the Smithing cape, it is possible to gain up to 330,000 Smithing experience per hour.
For maximum experience rates, assuming tick-perfect execution, see Calculator:Smithing/Blast Furnace/Gold.
Using noted gold ores
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Smelting gold bars from noted gold ores is similar to doing Blast Furnace normally. The only differences are that players have less inventory space for the ores and they have to drop the gold bars. Noted gold ore can be obtained from gargoyles, Zalcano, and the Chambers of Xeric.
Players will need to use stamina potions in order to maintain optimal experience rates. It is recommended to have the potions as 2-doses, unnote one 2-dose potion and drink both doses whenever the player needs to restore run energy. If wearing the ring of endurance, having the potions as 1-doses and only drinking 1 dose is sufficient.
To start off, unnote 1 inventory of gold ores at the bank chest, and put them to the conveyor belt while wearing goldsmith gauntlets.
- Un-note gold ores and put them to the conveyor belt. While running there, switch to ice gloves.
- Quickly run to the bar dispenser to open the interface.
- Withdraw the gold bars, switch to goldsmith gauntlets and start running to the bank chest. When done correctly and fast enough, players should get the extra experience from the goldsmith gauntlets.
- Drop the bars while running to the bank chest, leave 1 bar in the inventory if you need to un-note a stamina potion. Repeat the process, un-note and drink stamina potions whenever needed.
Players can gain up to around 280,000–300,000 Smithing experience per hour. The rate heavily depends on how fast the bars are dropped.
Levels 40–60: Superheating gold
A possible training option for lower levels is to buy gold ores from Ordan and superheat them into bars. This method is good for players who also seek to train Magic, as it offers a lot of passive Magic experience while offering relatively fast Smithing experience as well. Using the furnace is much faster even before level 60, so players should use this method only if they also want to train Magic.
Players will need a decent amount of coins to buy the nature runes and gold ores needed. It is recommended to have as much inventory space as possible for the ores, although this method can be done with less inventory space available.
The method itself is straightforward: buy gold ores from Ordan, superheat the ores into bars, drop the bars and repeat, hop worlds for more stock.
Players can gain up to around 80,000 Smithing experience and 75,400 Magic experience per hour.
Levels 30–99: Giants' Foundry
The Giants' Foundry minigame is a slower, but cheaper and more accessible alternative to Blast Furnace gold. The minigame offers the fastest experience up to level 40, though it remains viable until higher levels. The Giants' Foundry is also one of the best places to use noted bars from drops.
For this method, players will need to store their items at an Item Retrieval Service for more inventory space. Players will also need ice gloves, which requires level 50 Mining and killing the Ice Queen.
Levels 30–70: Buying platebodies from Civitas illa Fortis or Varrock
There are two easy to access shops to get the materials for the Giants' Foundry before the player has access to Prifddinas. In Varlamore, the Blacksmith south-east of the Kualti Headquarters stocks multiple platebodies up to adamant. In Varrock, Horvik stocks a single platebody up to mithril. Varlamore is the quickest way, but requires completing the quest Children of the Sun, while Horvik is accessible immediately. In both cases, the method is very cheap (even profitable in some cases), which makes it a much more accessible alternative to Blast Furnace gold at lower levels. Using this method from level 30 to 70 would cost less than 500,000 coins.
3000K |
To start off, clear your inventory to just coins. Equip ice gloves and a chronicle. The chronicle is lost on death storage so just home teleport and walk to buy one. Once set up, this method goes as follows:
- Teleport with the chronicle and run either north-east to Primio near the Varrock east gate or north to Horvik's Armour Shop.
- Buy 28 platebodies. Hop worlds for more stock, and wear one of the platebodies to fit them all.
- For levels 30 to 50, buy 12 iron and 16 steel platebodies.
- For levels 50 to 70, buy 16 steel and 12 mithril platebodies.
- Rotating between iron & steel for minor profit and steel & mithril to use those profits up can boost experience rates somewhat.
- Use the Giants' Foundry Grouping teleport.
- Smith 4 swords at the minigame. Each sword will take 3 iron and 4 steel platebodies, or 4 steel and 3 mithril platebodies depending on which were bought earlier.
- Repeat the process. The Grouping teleport should be available or almost available by the time you are done with the 4 swords and purchasing new materials.
Experience and profit rates are listed in the table below. The rates assume a trip length of around 20 minutes and 30 seconds, which would result in 11.7 swords made per hour.
Method | XP/h | GP/XP |
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12 iron & 16 steel (no moulds) | 73,000 | 0.37 |
16 steel & 12 mithril (no moulds) | 108,000 | -0.61 |
16 steel & 12 mithril (best moulds at level 69) | 128,000 | -0.20 |
Players who do not wish to deathbank their items can alternatively make 3 swords per inventory and train another skill while waiting for the Grouping teleport to be available. This is recommended if the player is using an alternative account to sell the platebodies back to full stock, as the player would otherwise have to wait for the Grouping teleport to be available or walk to the Giants' Foundry.
Levels 70–99: Buying armour from Prifddinas
1000 | File:Stamina potion(4).png | 3000K |
1000 | 1000 | 1000 |
Buying and using mithril and adamant armour is the best method from level 70 onwards. For this, players need to have completed Song of the Elves for access to Aneirin's Armour shop in Prifddinas. The best option is to use a mix of 14 mithril and 14 adamant, though using 16 mithril and 12 adamant is also viable for players who have less inventory space available.
- Buy a total of 9 mithril platebodies, 9 adamant platebodies, 2 mithril platelegs, 2 adamant platelegs, 1 mithril plateskirt, and 1 adamant plateskirt from Aneirin. Hop worlds for more stock, or use an alternative account to sell armour back to full stock.
- If using a mix of 16 mithril and 12 adamant instead, buy 12 mithril platebodies and 9 adamant platebodies.
- Use the grouping teleport to the Giants' Foundry. If it is on cooldown, use the Al Kharid teleport from a mounted glory in your POH. The PVP Arena teleport from a jewellery box can also be used, but is slightly further.
- Smith 3 swords at the minigame, using 3 platebodies and 1 platelegs/plateskirt of each metal per sword.
- If using a mix of 16 mithril and 12 adamant, use 4 mithril platebodies and 3 adamant platebodies per sword.
- Repeat the process. The grouping teleport can be used every other lap with this method.
Players can conserve stamina pot usage by teleporting away without handing the last sword in for experience. The sword will remain in the preform storage upon returning ready to hand in. Handing in the sword restores the player's run energy. By having a sword ready to hand in, players can restore the run energy lost returning to the Giants' Foundry. The weight of the inventory can be significantly reduced by immediately filling the crucible again after a crucible is poured. Players may also consider vile vigor as an alternative to stamina potions if they still require more run energy.
Without any moulds unlocked, players can gain around 160,000–165,000 experience per hour at a cost of around 3.8 coins per experience. Having all the moulds unlocked will increase the experience rate to around 200,000 experience per hour and lower the cost to around 2.5 coins per experience. Wearing the Smiths' Uniform will further increase the experience rate to around 225,000–235,000 experience per hour. Using this method from level 70 to 99 would cost around 28.3 million coins.
Using mithril or adamant bars and buying platebodies for the other metal type will increase the experience rate to around 240,000–250,000 experience per hour at maximum efficiency.
Other methods
For anvil smithing methods, the closest anvil to a bank is in the Trahaearn district of Prifddinas. Players who have not completed Song of the Elves should use the anvil just south of the west Varrock bank.
Levels 15–40/60: Mining and superheating iron
<mapframe align="left" text="The Dwarven Mine is an excellent place to mine, superheat, and smith iron." plane="0" width="250" y="9822" x="3021" height="250" zoom="2" mapID="6"> [] </mapframe> A possible low-level training method is to mine iron in the Dwarven Mine, superheat the ores into bars and smith the bars into iron equipment at the nearby anvil. This method costs money, but it offers a lot of passive Magic experience, which can be very useful at lower levels. Players who are looking for faster Smithing experience are advised to train at the Giants' Foundry minigame.
For this method, players will need to have level 43 Magic to be able to cast Superheat Item. Players should also have at least 20 free inventory spaces for the bars. The fastest training only becomes available at level 33 Smithing with iron platebodies. Players can alternatively make iron dart tips from level 19 onwards, which is a lot slower, but can be useful for early Fletching training.
The experience rates for this method will depend on the player's Mining level. Assuming players make platebodies and have 20 free inventory spaces for four platebodies per run, players can gain up to 27,000 Smithing experience per hour. Players will also gain 25,000 Mining experience per hour and 37,000–46,000 Magic experience per hour, depending on whether or not the player is alching the platebodies.
For more information, see Ultimate Ironman Guide/Mining, Ultimate Ironman Guide/Fletching, and Ultimate Ironman Guide/Magic.
Levels 60–99: Smithing platebodies at the Blast Furnace
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From level 60 onwards, players can smith platebodies at the Blast Furnace. This is a lot slower, but slightly profitable and less click-intensive alternative to gold. It is also more commonly accessible as gold ore is frequently bought by other Ultimate Ironmen. The method involving buying and smelting gold ore is only viable on the official Blast Furnace worlds, making it unviable or extremely expensive if the stock is bought out. Even though platebodies can be smithed at a lower level, the anvils at the Blast Furnace only become available at level 60.
Players will need to store their items at an Item Retrieval Service to make enough inventory space for the bars. For the equipment and inventory setup, the player will need the following:
- Ice gloves (requires level 50 Mining and killing the Ice Queen)
- Nature runes and a staff of fire for casting High Level Alchemy
- Hammer
- Coins
- Weight-reducing clothing (recommended)
- 25 empty inventory spaces for smithing 5 platebodies per inventory
Doing this method with less than 25 inventory spaces for the bars is not recommended, as it would be a lot slower.
This method works as follows:
- Hop to a world that is not one of the official Blast Furnace Worlds.
- Buy inventories of coal and iron/mithril ores from Ordan and place them on the conveyor belt.
- After buying all the required ores, hop to one of the official Blast Furnace worlds while running to the bar dispenser.
- Wait for the experience drop, and hop to another world that is not one of the official Blast Furnace worlds.
- Withdraw the bars from the dispenser, and smith 5 platebodies at the nearby anvil.
- If the current world has very low or no stock, hop to a different World.
- Cast High Level Alchemy on the platebodies while buying coal for the next round of bars. Buy iron/mithril ores only after all the platebodies have been alched.
The furnace can hold up to 254 coal. This is enough for 10 inventories of steel bars, or 5 inventories of mithril bars.
Levels 60–68: Steel platebodies
Smithing steel platebodies is only recommended to do up to level 68, after which smithing mithril platebodies becomes a lot faster. 1 inventory of steel bars requires 1 inventory of iron ores and 1 inventory of coal. Players can gain up to around 65,000–75,000 Smithing experience per hour.
Levels 68–99: Mithril platebodies
At level 68, players can smith mithril platebodies. 1 inventory of mithril bars requires 1 inventory of mithril ores and 2 inventories of coal. Players can gain up to around 100,000–110,000 Smithing experience per hour with maximum efficiency, depending on competition for stock. This method should give a slight profit in coins over time due to the coins from alching mithril platebodies outweighing the cost of the supplies for each one.
Levels 88–99: Using noted ores at the Blast Furnace
3173 | 2597K |
Players can smelt adamantite or runite ores into bars, smith the bars into alchables, and alch them for profit. This works similarly to making platebodies at the Blast Furnace, except the main ore is unnoted at the bank chest. The coal is still bought from Ordan, as unnoting the coal is slower than buying it.
If using adamantite, it is only recommended to make adamant platebodies. Lower-tier items will be much slower, and they give less coins per bar made. For making adamant platebodies, players will need to use the Imcando hammer to be able to fit 25 bars per inventory, so they can make 5 platebodies at a time. Making adamant platebodies would offer around 120,000 Smithing experience per hour.
If using runite, having at least 24 inventory spaces is recommended. The best items to make are listed in the table below. The profit rates include the money spent into coal and nature runes.
level | Item | XP/h | Ores used/h | Profit/ore | Profit/h | |
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89 | Rune sword | 72,000 | 576 | 11,744 | 6,764,544 | |
93 | Rune sq shield | 86,000 | 691 | 10,884 | 7,520,844 | |
99 | Rune 2h sword | 108,000 | 864 | 12,197 | 10,538,208 |
Smithing platebodies from noted bars
2025 | 2032K |
Noted bars can be smithed into platebodies, which can be alched for profit. While smelting gold bars is much faster, smithing platebodies still offers decent experience and is worthwhile for most players due to the profit and money saved.
For smithing platebodies, players will need to have the Imcando hammer and the rune pouch, so they can fit 25 bars in their inventory. This allows players to make 5 platebodies per inventory and alch them for profit. Alternatively, players can wear a Bryophyta's staff and a tome of fire, but both are rare and most likely not available for most players. If the player can only make 4 platebodies per inventory, wearing any staff that provides unlimited fire runes is recommended to save some money on runes.
Smithing dart tips
High-level players who have the toxic blowpipe will need to make darts to use it. Rune dart tips can be made at level 89 Smithing. However, obtaining runite bars (or ores) in bulk can be somewhat difficult. Players will also miss out on a lot of cash from not making alchable items instead of rune darts (such as rune swords), effectively making them very expensive. Using lower-tier darts, such as adamant, is only recommended for short-term use, as they are much weaker.
Players can make up to 6,170 rune dart tips per hour at the Blast Furnace when using noted runite ores. This would also give 77,000 Smithing experience per hour.
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