Ironman guide

Ironman Guide

This guide aims to give general advice, tips, and suggestions for regular and Hardcore Ironmen. Ultimate Ironmen have their own guide here.

Playing as an Ironman or Hardcore Ironman means you must be entirely self-sufficient.

Ironmen accounts have the following restrictions:

• Trading other players is disabled.
• Ironmen cannot use the Grand Exchange to buy or sell any item with the exception of bonds (which can be bought but not sold).
• Ironmen cannot Accept Aid.
• Ironmen cannot gain experience from player-versus-player encounters.
• Ironmen cannot pick up drops from other players' kills.
• Ironmen cannot receive help to slay a monster.
• View the complete list of restrictions here.

Hardcore Ironmen follow these same restrictions, but with the added challenge of only having one life. A dangerous death will revert the account to regular Ironman status and the account's stats on the Hardcore Ironman Hiscores will be frozen. Safe deaths, such as those in many minigames, will not cause the loss of Hardcore status, unless you are a Hardcore Group Ironman.

Ironman modes must be activated by speaking to Ironman tutor on Tutorial Island before being teleported to the mainland.

The game can be represented by three main unofficial phases: the early-game, mid-game, and late-game.

The early-game consists mainly of questing, training skills to ~60–70, and acquiring useful gear. Common milestones include:

• Rune crossbow from crazy archaeologist
• Broad bolts from broader fletching
• Black dragonhide armour from hard clues
• Fire cape from the TzHaar Fight Cave
• Fighter torso from Barbarian Assault
• Barrows gloves from Recipe for Disaster
• Dragon defender from the Warriors' Guild
• Iban's staff from Underground Pass
• Imbued god cape from Mage Arena II
• Berserker ring (i) from Dagannoth Rex
• Zombie axe from Armoured zombies
• Black mask (i) and Slayer helmet (i) from cave horrors

The typical Ironman mid-game is focused on obtaining gear upgrades for higher-level bossing and raids. Key upgrades include:

• Barrows and Moons armour sets and weaponry
• Elite Void Knight equipment from Pest Control
• Deadeye, Mystic vigour, and the Twinflame staff from Royal Titans
• Amulet of fury with 90 Crafting (85 with boost, along with 87 Magic to enchant it)
• Tormented synapses (creating the Scorching bow, Emberlight, and the Purging staff) and Burning claws from Tormented Demons
• Dragon boots from Spiritual mages
• Abyssal whip from Abyssal demons
• Trident of the seas from Cave kraken
• Dragon warhammer from Lizardman shamans
• Basilisk jaw from Basilisk Knights
• Bow of Faerdhinen from The Corrupted Gauntlet
• Saradomin brews with 81 Herblore

Once a player has achieved their mid-game upgrades, they are ready to start participating in diverse late-game content. Highlights include:

• Zenyte jewellery from Demonic gorillas
• Toxic blowpipe and Trident of the swamp from Zulrah
• God Wars Dungeon bosses
  • K'ril Tsutsaroth for the Zamorakian spear and the Staff of the dead
  • General Graardor for Bandos armour and the Bandos godsword
  • Commander Zilyana for the Armadyl crossbow and the Saradomin godsword
• Primordial boots from Cerberus
• Occult necklace from Smoke devils
• Amulet of rancour and Noxious halberd from Araxxor
• Dragon hunter lance and Ferocious gloves from Alchemical Hydra
• Infernal cape from the Inferno

• Early food for tanking the Stronghold of Security can be obtained by purchasing jugs of wine for 1 coin each from Fortunato in Draynor Village. They heal 11 hitpoints each (also draining attack by 2).
• Early food for questing can be obtained by stealing cakes from Bakery stalls in East Ardougne or Great Kourend. They heal 12 hitpoints each (4 hitpoints per bite).
• Boots of lightness reduce weight by 4.535 kg while worn, and they can be found in the cellar of the Temple of Ikov. Players do not need to start the quest Temple of Ikov to obtain the boots. A light source is needed to navigate to the basement, and a slash weapon or knife is needed to cut the web blocking the spawn.
• Wines like Ixcoztic white and Chichilihui rosé can be purchased from shops in Varlamore. These heal 16 hitpoints (and drain attack by 5 among other boosts and drains).
• The Shrimp and Parrot in Brimhaven sells various cooked fish, such as lobsters, swordfish and most notably karambwan.
• Karambwans are a useful food that can be obtained easily after Tai Bwo Wannai Trio.
• Wintertodt, Tempoross, and Guardians of the Rift are activities with relatively low requirements and useful early game rewards. Many Ironmen choose to do these activities early on.

One of the earliest concerns of an Ironman account is transportation. A new Ironman account starts with very few teleports and, before training Agility, run energy will recharge very slowly.

For this reason, training Agility early on is beneficial. Every 10 Agility levels, the rate at which run energy regenerates increases, and levels 10, 20, and 30 can be reached relatively quickly. Higher Agility levels also allow access to time-saving shortcuts. Furthermore, Agility is a very independent skill to train - it doesn't require any supplies but food. Earning the graceful outfit will improve travel time on foot, though it typically takes until 60+ Agility to collect the 260 marks of grace required. In the meantime, players can wear the Hunter gear for -5 kg weight reduction, as well as the aforementioned boots of lightness for an additional -4.535 kg.

Many items and methods allow transportation to specific destinations. Below are some noteworthy transportation methods that are accessible in the early game.

• The Games necklace has low requirements and teleports the player to Wintertodt and other activities.
• The Ring of dueling has low requirements and allows the player to quickly restore their stats and access a bank in the Ferox Enclave.
• The Ardougne cloak 1 requires only the completion of the easy Ardougne Diary and provides unlimited teleports to the Ardougne Monastery. This offers quick access to an altar and is relatively close to a fairy ring, a bank, a spirit tree, and a ship that provides access to Brimhaven and Rimmington.
• Charter ships are available from the start of the game, though they can be expensive. The price can be reduced by completing Cabin Fever and by wearing a ring of charos (a).
• In the very early game players can buy a chronicle from Diango in Draynor village for 300 coins and fill it with charges for 150 coins each. A charge will teleport you to the Champions' Guild near Varrock.
• The log canoe stations might be helpful before you can afford teleportation. Either way it can save you a lot of run energy going back and forth from Lumbridge to Varrock.
• Other teleport methods with low-level requirements include the spirit tree network, gnome gliders, the eagle transport system, and the balloon transport system.
• Sailing, while slower than teleports, can be very useful at getting around, and comes with the added benefit of run energy restoring while travelling. Players should pick up courier tasks that are along the route they are taking.

Minigame teleport is a useful, versatile spell in the early game, although it has a 20 minute cool down and various other restrictions. Right at the start of the game it can be used to teleport to the Burthorpe Games Room, Castle Wars, and the Ferox Enclave. More destinations are unlocked by completing quests and/or levelling skills.

Each magic spellbook has a number of useful teleport spells, all of which require law runes. For early-game Ironman accounts, the best source of law runes is to purchase them from shops. However, at 240+ coins per law rune, they are somewhat expensive.

Paying to move your house, then casting Teleport to house can allow the player to reach otherwise remote locations such as Pollnivneach or Brimhaven.

Without the Grand Exchange, obtaining obscure or high-level items can be difficult. Below is a list of ways to obtain some useful items that would otherwise be a headache, including ways to "cheat" some high skill requirements.

• Players who wish to fight Wintertodt as soon as possible can obtain logs for early Firemaking training on the roof of Lumbridge Castle. Hop worlds to pick up a full inventory of logs, then light them using a tinderbox.
• A 4-dose Agility potion for Tai Bwo Wannai Trio can be obtained without 34 Herblore by giving an irit to Dr Jekyll.
• A 1-dose superantipoison can be found near the entrance to the Observatory Dungeon. Hop worlds to pick up multiple doses.
• Antipoisons can be purchased from Jiminua's Jungle Store in Karamja.
• Jewellery for enchanting can be obtained without high Crafting levels by stealing from H.A.M. Store rooms or as rewards from Tempoross.
• A stamina potion can be obtained without 77 Herblore by giving a torstol to Dr Jekyll.
• Magic logs can be obtained without 75 Woodcutting by catching Nature implings or as drops from Calvar'ion.
• An amulet of glory can be obtained without 80 Crafting and 68 Magic by catching Dragon implings.
• A rune axe can be bought from the Woodcutting Guild at 60 Woodcutting, or obtained as a drop from lava dragons in the Wilderness or tree spirits in the Enchanted Valley.
• A rune scimitar can be obtained by catching Ninja implings or as a drop from Zamorak warriors or Fire giants.
• A mith grapple can be obtained without 59 Smithing and Fletching by killing Barbarian spirits in the Ancient Cavern.
• A yew bow for Temple of Ikov (note: this can be skipped by bringing Darts or Knives. See the Quest page for more info) can be obtained by completing medium clue scrolls or hard clue scrolls or as a very rare drop from a young impling.

Since Ironmen cannot trade, making money can be difficult. For example, a regular account could kill Zulrah, receive a tanzanite fang and then sell it to the Grand Exchange for 9,979,603, but an Ironman would only get 66,000 coins from its High Alchemy value.

At very low levels, players can sell items to shops. The General Store in West Ardougne buys items at 55% of their value instead of 40%. Martin Thwait's Lost and Found pays the full High Alchemy value. Once the player has the money to buy the nature runes and cast High Level Alchemy themselves, it is recommended to alch items instead, as it generates more profit and it can be done in "zero time".

Another common moneymaking technique for early game ironmen is to make use of the thieving skill. Blackjacking and stealing valuables are two common methods used to obtain early money, requiring 45 and 50 thieving respectively. Blackjacking is generally more profitable and rewards more experience but also requires much more attention. Stealing valuables, while slightly less efficient, requires significantly less attention while still boasting good profit, experience and some passive prayer experience in the form of blessed bone statuettes.

In the mid-late game, money is typically made by casting High Level Alchemy on valuable items. If seeking maxium efficiency, players should alch during other activities which can be done on the normal spellbook, do not require a full inventory and have some downtime to cast the spell. Such activities include farm runs, bird house runs, questing, training Agility, training Hunter, and melee combat.

For players who are struggling to reach 55 Magic for High Alchemy and/or who have difficulty with blackjacking, completing the Agility Pyramid provides 10,000 per artefact sold to Simon Templeton. While this course becomes available at 30 Agility, it is recommended that players train Agility to at least 60 and complete the Graceful outfit before attempting it, as Agility level and player weight affect failure rate.

More advice can be found on the full Ironman Moneymaking guide.

Completing quests is the most efficient way for Ironmen to level skills in the early-game. This saves time by avoiding very slow training methods. For example, instead of killing chickens with a bronze dagger, the player can complete Waterfall Quest and The Feud to be able to start training with an adamant scimitar before even touching a monster. Because many quest bosses can be easily safespotted, a player can make very quick early-game progress by completing quests.

When skilling, Ironmen benefit from considering the full range of uses for the supplies and resources produced. For example, one popular Mining training method is to mine iron ore. For the highest rate of Mining experience per hour, some players drop the ore after mining it. However that ore can be smelted with coal in the Blast Furnace to produce steel bars and Smithing experience. The bars could then be smithed into many useful things, such as dart tips for Ranged training, nails for Construction, cannonballs for Slayer, or platebodies to be sold or alchemised. Because Ironmen can't simply purchase skilling supplies through trading, much skilling will follow a similar progression.

Subduing Wintertodt has very few requirements, and offers decent starting cash and skilling supplies for low-level Ironmen. While players will miss out on most of the better loot with low stats, the rewards benefit much more at lower levels. Getting at least level 60 Woodcutting (achieved at around level 88–90 Firemaking) is recommended for access to the Woodcutting Guild, where players can buy axes up to rune. This way, players do not have to waste time killing monsters for an axe upgrade from steel. Experience gained here scales with the player level in each corresponding skill. It is recommended to both unlock and raise skill levels such as Construction prior to spending an extended amount of time there, as this can dramatically increase total experience gained.

In addition to Fishing experience, Barbarian Fishing gives small amounts of passive Agility and Strength experience. If done early, it allows players to bypass a significant amount of Agility and Melee training if done for a long period of time. However, this does take a long time and may become too boring for many players.

Training from 58 to 99 costs a few hundred thousand gold to buy all the necessary feathers for bait. This can be compensated by cutting the fish with a knife, which often provides fish offcuts that work as bait and nets a small amount of Cooking experience.

Players will get around level 74 in Agility and Strength if training Fishing from level 58 to 99. However, if players do not wish to train Fishing for a long period of time, there are a few good stopping points:

• Level 74 Fishing for level 50 Agility and Strength.
  • Level 50 Agility is required for the Rogues' Den minigame for the rogue equipment, and is also a reasonable level for doing Agility Pyramid.
• Level 84 Fishing for level 60 Agility and Strength.
  • This allows access to the Seers' Village Rooftop Course, which is a significantly better option compared to the lower-level courses.
• Level 91 Fishing for around level 67–68 Agility and Strength.
  • At level 91 Fishing, players can +5 boost for the Morytania Diary elite task requirement.
• Level 94 Fishing for level 70 Agility and Strength.
  • Allows access to the Pollnivneach Rooftop Course.
  • Unlocks most of the useful shortcuts (such as the one to blue dragons in Taverley Dungeon).
  • Level 70 Strength unlocks the Warriors' Guild as soon as the player reaches level 60 Attack.

After finishing Barbarian Fishing, it is recommended to train Agility on the Rooftop Courses and get the graceful outfit for questing. Having a high Agility level combined with the graceful outfit ends up saving a lot of time, as players have very limited access to run energy restoration.

Tempoross is another fishing option beginning at Level 35. In many cases Tempoross is preferred to barbarian fishing due to the consistent rewards to include unenchanted jewellery, multiple types of fish scaling with your Fishing level, rune items, certain rares, planks, and uncut gems to include dragonstone which will come in handy later. Utilizing this method one can expect to also gain passive Cooking, Strength and Construction experience if cooking the harpoonfish, using bare-handed fishing and fixing totems and masts as they break.

For an efficient guide to Ironman questing, see the Optimal Quest Guide / Ironman.

Many low- and mid-level quests award access to new areas, skilling methods, or items that are of great importance to Ironmen. Some of the most important unlocks are noted below.

• Bone Voyage unlocks Fossil Island, which also unlocks bird house trapping for Hunter training, ultracompost for farm runs, and yields some tree seeds for Farming experience. Furthermore, Ammonite Crabs are an efficient low-level combat training method.
• Lost City unlocks access to Zanaris, which also unlocks fairy rings (after Fairytale I - Growing Pains), the dragon dagger, Chaeldar the Slayer master, and the Cosmic Altar.
• In Aid of the Myreque unlocks Temple Trekking, an effective source of multiple skilling resources. Temple Trekking is more efficient after finishing Darkness of Hallowvale.
• Some quests give cheap God Wars Dungeon protection. Horror from the Deep gives access to all god books with the Book of War being one of the easiest for Bandos alongside the Ancient Mace from Another Slice of HAM. If you side with the Guardians of Armadyl during the Temple of Ikov quest then you receive the Armadyl pendant. Zamorak robes are always dropped by disciples of Iban during the Underground Pass quest. The disciples leave after you complete the quest so stock up while you can. Monks of Zamorak still have a 1/20 drop rate chance with a good spot near the altar north of Castle Wars near the red salamander hunting spot.

There is no universal consensus on when an Ironman account transitions from early-game to mid-game — some players use milestones like completing Recipe for Disaster, while others focus on broader progression. In general, an account is considered mid-game once it has addressed basic concerns such as transportation, money-making, and gathering equipment and supplies for efficient combat training.

In Ironman mode, the core of the mid-game stage of account progression is training Slayer. Slayer training provides a wealth of benefits to Ironmen, including combat experience, gold, skilling supplies, and equipment upgrades. Many critical weapon upgrades, such as the abyssal whip and trident of the seas, are accessed by levelling Slayer. See the Slayer guide for more information.

The highest Slayer level to unlock an equipment upgrade is 95, for the alchemical hydra, which drops components for the dragon hunter lance and ferocious gloves.

Alternatively, players may opt to skip the mid game slayer grind in favour of a more PvM focused progression.

The Barrows minigame may be worthwhile to play in order to earn Barrows equipment. In particular, Dharok's set and Guthan's set are useful for combat training and some PvM activities. Karil's armour and Ahrim's robes have high offensive and defensive stats. Karil's crossbow offers higher damage per second than the rune crossbow or crystal bow, bridging the gap between those weapons and the toxic blowpipe.

Note that it may take hundreds of Barrows completions to finish a single set, or obtain the specific desired pieces.

Access to Barrows Teleport will significantly increase the efficiency of Barrows runs. At 78 Magic, Barrows Teleport can be added to a portal chamber in the player-owned house while boosting with a red spicy stew.

Additionally, completion of the hard Morytania Diary is recommended to get 50% more runes from the Barrows chests, and for a teleport to Burgh de Rott, if Barrows Teleport hasn't been unlocked.

Finally, completing the medium tier Combat Achievements significantly eases the difficulty of the minigame as equipping the rewarded Ghommal's hilt 2 prevents the Barrows prayer drain effects.

After completion of the Perilous Moons quest, players gain access to the Moons of Peril. Moon equipment, such as the blood moon armour is sought after as alternative strength equipment to Bandos armour, while the eclipse moon armour with the eclipse atlatl is a powerful ranged setup. Players do not have to bring their own supplies, as the encounter provides its own prayer and combat potions, and the Lunar Chest rewards helpful common loot such as herbs, seeds, and crafting supplies.

It is beneficial to acquire a tank set of Barrows armour, a good shield, a strong slash and crush weapon, such as a zombie axe, and Piety to assist with the bosses.

Scurrius offers an opportunity to practice high-level mechanics with a less punishing boss, boasting competitive combat xp rates as a reward.

Sarachnis can be tackled with a mid-game crush weapon such as Dragon mace, Leaf-bladed battleaxe or Zombie Axe.

Giant Mole is time-consuming to kill before completing the Hard Falador Diary, but afterwards can be farmed consistently for nests.

For non-hardcore and non-ultimate irons willing to risk being PK'd, wilderness bossing is an option. Certain wilderness bosses like Crazy archaeologist and Calvar'ion have a low barrier to entry, even when bringing only three valuable items in case you are killed by PKers.

The journey to access Dagannoth Kings can be challenging for players attempting it for the first time. With some preparation however, mid-level players can reliably set up a safespot for Rex in order to obtain the Berserker ring for melee training.

Midgame irons who have completed Beneath Cursed Sands can start attempting Tombs of Amascut at low invocation settings, especially when guided by more experienced players. Irons receive rewards normally from raids, unlike other group combat encounters.

Approaching the late-game stage of account progression, irons can tackle the game's greatest challenges, including bossing and raids.

The quest point cape, earned by completing all quests, is desirable due to its unlimited teleport to the Legends' Guild and a fairy ring. Note that Desert Treasure II can pose a considerable challenge to players unaccustomed to bossing. However, The Forgotten Four are designed so that their early phases teach players what to expect in later phases, and detailed guides exist to walk players through the difficulty curve.

Desert Treasure II will give players a solid foundation for endgame bossing mechanics. After completing this quest, players who have not done so may choose to unlock Boss slayer and pursue the medium and hard combat achievements. These will give the opportunity to learn the specifics of individual endgame bosses.

Phantom Muspah can be lucrative and gates equipment upgrades in the form of the ancient sceptre and eventually the venator bow. After gaining access to anti-venom, Vorkath and Zulrah become much more accessible and provide considerable upgrades such as Ava's assembler and the toxic blowpipe.

Irons can attempt God Wars Dungeon bosses for their useful unique drops, however soloing these bosses is more challenging. Damage from General Graardor, Zilyana, and K'ril Tsutsaroth can be mitigated or avoided using advanced methods.

For a detailed dive, see the strategy article.

Many irons commit to mastering The Corrupted Gauntlet for end-game crystal equipment. For players who have never attempted it before, getting a single completion of the standard Gauntlet alone poses a steep learning curve, and its corrupted counterpart is even more punishing. Jumping into it blind is unlikely to succeed. However, attempting this challenge requires no resources, allowing players to get comfortable with different elements of the Gauntlet at no cost.

For the purposes of getting familiar with the challenge and its mechanics, players new to the Gauntlet can attempt to make stronger armour so as to adjust the difficulty of the fight. Wearing a full set of tier 2 or tier 3 armour lowers Hunllef's max hit considerably. The standard Gauntlet gives players a bit more time to prepare, making it more realistic to gather higher tier armour and weapons as well as more food and potions. If the current layout makes this difficult, players can leave and reset the challenge at zero cost.

The fight itself consists of multiple mechanics, namely the following: prayer switching, weapon switching, moving off the glowing floors, and dodging tornadoes. Popular guides and plugins exist to make learning considerably easier, such as calling the overhead prayers or visualizing the true tile when running.

Players who have completed the standard Gauntlet a few times, but have yet to succeed at the corrupted version, may choose to complete the standard gauntlet with lower tier armour or within time constraints, as outlined in the combat achievements. Players may choose to pursue some of the elite or master-level achievements for the Crystalline Hunllef in order to ramp up the challenge.

While extremely punishing, the Corrupted Gauntlet is a much more efficient way to obtain crystal equipment. Nonetheless, the standard Gauntlet can serve as a free training ground as well as a source of alchable drops and crystal shards.

Players can group up with other raiders on dedicated worlds, chat-channels, or searching online. Tombs of Amascut serves as the most accessible raid due to its modifiable difficulty settings. Chambers of Xeric scales with the highest level player in the raid, but the mechanics have a manageable difficulty curve with similarly levelled players and proper communication. Once they've dipped their toes in the water, players can consider the challenging but rewarding Theatre of Blood.

If desired, this is also the time to earn the max cape by levelling all skills to 99 or to the levels required to obtain the Achievement diary cape.

After completion of Throne of Miscellania, Managing Miscellania is an excellent way to passively get various resources for skill training, including food. However, players will need a relatively large amount of capital before investing into the kingdom, so it is recommended that one have a safe amount of coins and/or a consistent money-making method.

Players usually opt for either herbs or hardwood log production, generally teak logs for mythical cape racks or mixed hardwood as an option as it's more productive than switching between both hardwood options manually. Mahogany logs can be a good option if you find yourself with an excess of coins for construction training. Mahogany logs gathered here are also a viable option for birdhouse runs, if you do not have better logs from other sources.

Make sure that the maximum amount is withdrawn every day by having at least 500,000 coins or 750,000 coins after Royal Trouble in the coffers each day for maximum amount of rewards collectible.

The maximum amount withdrawn from the coffers each day is 75,000 coins after completion of Royal Trouble, making upkeep past the initial investment relatively easy for even low level Ironmen.

Skill
	Agility
	Construction
	Cooking
	Crafting
	Farming
	Firemaking
	Fishing
	Fletching
	Herblore
	Hunter
	Magic
	Melee
	Mining
	Prayer
	Ranged
	Runecraft
	Sailing
	Smithing
	Slayer
	Thieving
	Woodcutting