Clue bottle | OSRS Index

Clue bottles are bottles that can be found while training Fishing. Opening them will destroy the bottle and leave players with a clue scroll of the same difficulty as the bottle given. Players will not receive a clue bottle if they possess a clue scroll of the same difficulty tier. Like clue scrolls, players can only have one of each type of clue bottle in their possession. Players can toggle whether or not to receive clue bottles by speaking to Arthur the Clue Hunter in Lumbridge. Clue bottles are replaced with scroll boxes if the player has completed X Marks the Spot, and opening one after completing this quest will give players a scroll box of the corresponding difficulty instead of a clue scroll.

If the player receives a clue bottle with a full inventory, it will be placed on the ground.

There are five types of clue bottles:

Rates

The chance of obtaining a clue bottle depends mainly on the player's Fishing level together with the type of fish that is caught, similar to how the drop rate of skilling pets is determined.^[1] In addition, the reward tiers unlocked by completing Combat Achievements grant a 5% boost to the drop rate of the corresponding clue tier, that is to say the easy, medium, hard, and elite clue bottles.

Equipping a ring of wealth (i) doubles the rate of finding clue bottles while fishing in the Wilderness.^[2]

The benefits provided by Rada's blessing or spirit flakes do not apply to clue bottles, and hence their activation will not result in a second clue roll.^[3]

template = Calculator:Fishing/Clue bottles/Template
name = Clue bottle chance calculator
form = bottleCalcForm
result = bottleCalcResult
param = playername|Name||hs|fishingLevel,11,1
param = fishingLevel|Fishing Level|99|int|1-120|
param = caTier|Combat Achievements Tier|None|select|None,Easy,Medium,Hard,Elite+

This calculator requires JavaScript to run.

Formula

Upon a successful skilling action, a roll is made for each clue tier one is eligible to receive (based on which types of clue are already owned) independently of the outcome of any of the other rolls.^[4] For each tier of clue bottle, the following formula is used to determine its drop chance, whereupon a roll is made if the player is eligible.^[5]

The chance is in

Where:

The base chance of receiving a clue bottle from catching a specific type of fish. These are the same base chances that determine the drop rate of the heron pet.

A multiplier of if the corresponding reward tier of Combat Achievements has been unlocked, or if it has not.

The player's visible Fishing level. Visible boosts beyond level 99 are taken into account.^[6]

The clue tier modifier applied at the end based on the type of clue that is rolled.

Base chance

The table below displays the base chance of obtaining a clue bottle according to fish type.^[7]^[8]^[9]

Fish	Chance
Shrimp	870,330
Anchovies	870,330
Karambwanji	443,697
Sardine	1,056,000
Herring	1,056,000
Mackerel	1,147,827
Cod	1,147,827
Bass	1,147,827
Trout	923,616
Salmon	923,616
Pike	305,792
Rainbow fish	137,739
Tuna	257,770
Swordfish	257,770
Lobsters	116,129
Aerial fishing	636,833
Cave eels	257,770^[10]
Monkfish	138,583
Karambwan	170,874
Leaping trout	1,280,862
Leaping salmon	1,280,862
Leaping sturgeon	1,280,862
Sharks	82,243
Infernal eels	165,000
Anglerfish	78,649
Minnow	977,778
Dark crabs	149,434
Sacred eels	99,000
Guppy	820,330
Cavefish	300,792
Tetra	257,770
Catfish	152,120
Stranglewood	99,000^[11]
Fortis park	152,120^[11]
Swordtip squid	257,770^[12]
Jumbo squid	257,770^[12]
Giant krill	257,770^[12]
Haddock	247,770^[12]
Yellowfin	237,770^[12]
Halibut	227,770^[12]
Bluefin	217,770^[12]
Marlin	207,770^[12]

Clue tier

The following modifiers are applied to the denominator of the drop chance, depending on the type of clue for which a roll attempt is made.^[13]

Clue tier		Modifier
	Beginner	0.2
	Easy	1.7
	Medium	2
	Hard	3.3
	Elite	10

Changes

Date	Changes
21 July 2021 (Update)	Clue bottle rates are now affected by completion of Combat Achievements. Clue bottles no longer roll to determine which tier of clue you get after the initial roll to give you a clue bottle.

References

^ Jagex. Mod Ash's Twitter account. 4 March 2023. Archived from the original on 6 March 2023. Mod Ash: "I did some spot-checking of the Wiki pages and the "base chance" numbers still look correct there, as does the formula for how your level is applied. The CA buff is applied to the "base chance" number *before* the formula is applied."
^ Jagex. Mod Ash's Twitter account. 24 August 2023. Archived from the original on 24 August 2023.
^ Jagex. Mod Ash's Twitter account. 13 March 2023. Archived from the original on 30 July 2023. Mod Ash: "[Oh, one more thing - I'm guessing double fish from Rada Blessing and Spirit Flakes don't result in another Clue Bottle roll, correct?] They do not. You're welcome :)"
^ Jagex. Mod Ash's Twitter account. 11 March 2023. Archived from the original on 15 July 2023. Mod Ash: "[For Clue Geodes, Bottles, and Nests, if you already have a Beginner, Easy, Medium, and Hard Clues in the bank, the next clue received from skilling will 100% be an Elite Clue at the full rate, correct? (...)] No, the elite rate wouldn't be changed by that. It rolls for each *eligible* tier independently of the others; you simply wouldn't be doing a roll for beginner/easy/medium/hard clues, but this wouldn't affect your chance of getting an elite one."
^ Jagex. Mod Ash's Twitter account. 6 March 2023. Archived from the original on 6 March 2023. Mod Ash: "[(...) Then is it 1. Base chance 2. CA buff 3. Level formula 4. Clue tier multiplier] Ah, yes - that seems right."
^ Jagex. Mod Ash's Twitter account. 22 September 2022. Archived from the original on 10 June 2023. Mod Ash: "The formula for dropping clue nests only benefits from visible boosts. So the +7 invisible one won't help, but a visible boost would help beyond 99 if you can get one."
^ Jagex. Mod Maz's Twitter account. 1 March 2016. Archived from the original on 5 May 2026. Mod Maz: "As promised - Clue Bottle Rates!"
^ Jagex. Mod Tide's Twitter account. 24 May 2019. Archived from the original on 24 May 2019. Mod Tide: "I know its been a while since the clue expansion but here is the information on clue scroll drop rates and loot chances! If anything changes I will keep you posted. [1]"
^ Jagex. Mod Ash on Discord. 21 June 2025. Archived from the original on 5 May 2026. Mod Ash: "I'll give you the full list." Note: This citation references heron pet rates, but the base rates are the same for pets and clue bottles.
^ Jagex. Mod Ash's Twitter account. 6 June 2022. Archived from the original on 9 July 2022. Mod Ash: "Same as for tuna: 257,770"
^ ^11.0 ^11.1 Jagex. Mod Ash on Discord. 6 May 2026. Archived from the original on 6 May 2026. Mod Ash: "The Stranglewood one is using the Zulrah eel constant, which is 99,000.... The Civitas Park one is using the catfish constant, which is 152,120."
^ ^12.0 ^12.1 ^12.2 ^12.3 ^12.4 ^12.5 ^12.6 ^12.7 "More Sailing and Interface Changes". Old School RuneScape News. Jagex. 17 December 2025. Archived from the original.
^ Jagex. Mod Ash's Twitter account. 6 March 2023. Archived from the original on 6 March 2023. Mod Ash: "Looks like you multiply the chance denominator by Beginner: 0.2 Easy: 1.7 Medium: 2.0 Hard: 3.3 Elite: 10.0 e.g. if the chance had been 1/100, for a beginner that'd become 1/20, and for an elite it'd become 1/1000."

Items

Clue nests

Reward caskets

Scroll boxes

Unlocks

Scroll cases

	Mimic
Minor	Beginner Easy Medium Hard Elite Master
Major	Beginner Easy Medium Hard Elite Master

Guides

Full guides	All clue scrolls Beginner clue scrolls Easy clue scrolls Medium clue scrolls Hard clue scrolls Elite clue scrolls Master clue scrolls
Sub-guides	Anagrams Challenge scrolls Ciphers Coordinates Cryptics Emote clues Hot/Cold Light boxes Maps Puzzle boxes

NPCs

	Arthur the Clue Hunter Cecilia Charlie the Tramp Falo the Bard Jorral Reldo Sherlock Strange casket Uri Watson
Monsters	Ancient Wizard Armadylean guard Bandosian guard Brassican Mage Double agent The Mimic Third Age Mage Third Age Ranger Third Age Warrior Saradomin wizard Zamorak wizard

Other

Source site	Old School RuneScape Wiki
Canonical source	Clue bottle
Content license	CC BY-NC-SA 3.0
License status	declared
Picture	Clue bottle (beginner) · file details