OSRS Ironman Money Making Guide
10.06.2024 - 20:20:16
Game Guides , Runescape
The challenges you face in Old School Runescape will never cease to exist. If you want to take things up a notch, then you can try out the Ironman challenges in the game. These are definitely going to take up more of your time, patience, and skill. Of course, as with all things OSRS, there are ways to make the challenge easier.
Earning money in the base OSRS is tough enough already but you can dial that up to a hundred once you turn on the Ironman modifiers in the game. OSRS Ironman money making techniques are wildly different from the standard game as you need to consider the efficiency and overall earning capacity of the tricks you'll use.
Before we talk about those techniques, let's dive deep into the Ironman challenge itself first.
What is OSRS Ironman And How Do I Start It?
You can start playing in Ironman Mode the moment you finish Tutorial Island. It goes without saying however, that it's not ideal for first timers or inexperienced OSRS players to dive into Ironman mode immediately. If you want to take up the challenge, talk to Paul and Adam - the Ironman tutors.
Now, there are key distinctions between the Ironman modes. Here's what they are.
Standard Ironman
- You cannot trade with other players. There are exceptions for certain quest items from quests like Shield of Arrav and Heroes' Quest. You are also allowed to receive bonds.
- You cannot use the Grand Exchange for any kind of transaction except for bonds. For bonds, you can only purchase these but you cannot sell them.
- You cannot pick up any loot from the PVE and PVP kills of other players. If you want to loot from other players or monsters, you have to kill the monster yourself. If the player or monster was damaged by another player during the process of being killed, you won't get killed.
- You cannot gain any XP from PVP encounters. However, the base Magic XP from casting spells during PVP is retained.
- You cannot use the Accept Aid feature.
- You cannot enter another player's owned house.
- You cannot buy items from other players by way of overstocked shops. Simply put, you cannot take advantage of higher sell prices from any understocked shops.
- You cannot receive items from balloons in the Party Room in Falador.
- You cannot join group activities in the Nightmare Zone. You also cannot get any resource rewards from the reward chest, with the exemption of the scroll of redirection.
As you can see, there are huge limitations in even the standard version of Ironman. Just the fact that you cannot trade with other players and use the Grand Exchange will already provide you with a ton of challenges. Now, let's move on to the Hardcore Ironman restrictions.
Hardcore Ironman
Now, in Hardcore Ironman ALL of the restrictions from the standard Ironman will carry over. However, what's different this time is that you only have one life. If you die during your Hardcore Ironman run, you'll be brought back to a Standard Ironman account. Additionally, all of your XP and levels on the Hi Scores table will be locked in.
There are a few activities from which deaths are considered safe. Dying from these minigames and activities below won't revert you back to Standard Ironman.
- Barbarian Assault
- Camelot training room
- Castle Wars
- Chambers of Xeric
- Clan Wars
- Dream World but only during Lunar Diplomacy
- Emir's Arena
- Fishing Trawler
- The 4th Phase of Koschei's Fight in The Fremennik Trials
- Inferno
- Last Man Standing
- Magic Training Arena
- Nightmare Zone
- Pest Control
- Death within a player-owned house
- PvM Arena
- Soul Wars
- TzHaar Fight Cave
- TzHaar Fight Pit
- Random Event
- Rogues' Den (maze)
- Zulrah - Resurrection reward from Elite Western Provinces Diary only
Hardcore Group Ironman
You don't need to tackle Ironman alone. In fact, players do it in a group as it's more fun to try and survive the perils of OSRS Ironman with a few friends. There are a few restrictions that are exclusive to Hardcore Group Ironman but the main limitations from the Standard Ironman and Hardcore Ironman apply here.
- Each player in a Hardcore Group Ironman is given only one safe PVM death per player. All players will share a pooled number of lives which everyone will need to be mindful of. If there are three players in a Hardcore Group, then they all have three lives to use. Lives can be used by any player and a single player can use up multiple lives from the group. Once this is depleted, players will lose their Hardcore status.
- In Hardcore Group Ironman even the deaths from minigames that are considered safe are no longer considered as such. That means dying from the minigames above will result in a lost life. The only exception here is the Fremennik Trials fight with Koschei the Deathless. With that in mind, Hardcore Group Ironman players need to be very mindful of their moves in minigames.
- PVP minigames such as Castle Wars, Last Man Standing, and Clan Wars are considered as safe deaths for those in a Hardcore Group Ironman.
- Lastly, Hardcore Group Ironmen cannot challenge members of the Nex outside their group. This is regardless of what Group Prestige you are in.
Ultimate Ironman
This is, of course, the penultimate challenge of OSRS. For starters, keep in mind that all of the restrictions you have in Hardcore and Standard Ironman modes apply here. Additionally, there are a lot of other restrictions to consider.
- Bank actions such as depositing or withdrawing items and gold, and noting items are not allowed. Additionally, banks are also not allowed to unnote any items.
- Creating new item sets with the Grand Exchange isn't allowed.
- Resources obtained by managing miscellania aren't allowed. You also can't get sand from Bert which can be done daily on a regular account.
- Sending items to the bank for storage isn't allowed. This involved transport methods such as coal trucks, Daeyat essence, and Dwarven Boatman.
- Sending items to your Servant and then sending them to the banks or a sawmill isn't allowed.
- Your seed vault can't be used to store anything.
- No duplicate items can be stored inside the POH Costume Room.
- Withdrawing items before depositing their entire set isn't allowed in any way shape or form.
- The looting bag's mechanics won't work on any PvP server that's not inside the Wilderness.
- There's no safekeeping of any valuable items on your inventory so everything is lost upon death.
- The Protect Item ability won't work so focus on using other Prayers instead.
- Graves won't be usable on this account so items get dropped on the ground.
- Items and supplies will still be placed inside graves and on the floor respectively whenever you're doing the God Wars Dungeon or any other Instance.
- All item retrieval services are the same except for the one at Zulrah.
- You can get your items from Zul-Gwenwynig for free when using an account like this. Items are given to you automatically whereas in a regular account, you'll have to go through an interface when interacting with the NPC first.
- If you die in the Wilderness, most of your items will be turned into coins. The player that kills you will be able to get these coins. This is what happens to all items you have that cannot be traded.
As you can see, many of the restrictions will limit what you can do with the game, the game's economy and the Grand Exchange. For that reason, money making in OSRS Ironman is definitely more challenging, and requires a more specific set of techniques.
Recommended OSRS Ironman Money Making Techniques
This first set of techniques are the ones which are preferred most by the Ironman community. They feature a perfect balance of yield, risk, and effort required.
| Method | Gold/Hour | Hourly XP | Hourly Resources | Requirements | Notes |
| Picking up ruby rings | 400,000 | 22,000 - Magic | None |
| While a good and effective method, the amount of gold you get will vary depending on the competition since it has a respawn timer of 240 seconds. The amount you earn also includes the time you take to cast High Level Alchemy on the rings. For this, we highly suggest going to less-populated servers to minimize the amount of players you contend with. |
| Wintertodt | 30,000 | 300,000 - Firemaking 20,000 - Woodcutting |
|
| The overall earning here is low but you get a decent amount of Firemaking XP along the way. Once you reach your level goal, move to other methods. |
| Blackjacking (50 Thieving) | 127,000 | 103,000 - Thieving | None |
| Blackjacking is seen as one of the best money making methods on a regular account so it should still be a good choice for Ironman. However, if you're going to train thieves as well, you should skip this as there are more efficient ways to train and earn at the same time. In most cases, it's best to stick with this method and then move on to other moneymaking tricks once you reach Desert Treasure I. |
| Blackjacking (99 Thieving) | 220,000 | 265,000 - Thieving | |||
Battlestaves (bought | 928,000 | 96,000 - Crafting 40,000 - Thieving | None |
| The rates on this will depend on a few key factors. One factor is whether or no you're using Air Orbs for the Staves. To make the process cheaper, make sure to get the staves from the Magic Guild on each world. Each world will give you 5 staves. If you're going to train crafting, you can spend a little bit of time getting seaweed and sand so that you can train Crafting while earning money. If you have unpowered orbs, make sure to blow them while having an Artefact Thieving. This lets you train Thieving at the same time. |
Battlestaves (monster drops) | 2,057,000 | ||||
Green dragons (lance) | 496,000 | Melee - very dependent on various factors. | 320 - dragon bones |
| Green dragons aren't extremely powerful but you'll need to have decent greats to make quick work of them for money making. One way to make the fight significantly easier is by fighting them once you've already unlocked Piety. The damage boost received here is going to help you deal a significant amount of damage to the dragons. If you don't have Piety yet, it's best to have the best equipment that you can possibly have at your current level. If not, it's best to avoid farming green dragons as the process to fight them will take considerably longer. |
Green dragons (minimum gear) | 265,000 | 180 - dragon bones | |||
| Hallowed Sepulcher (72-82) | 94,000 | 63,700 - Agility 2,100 - Thieving |
| ||
| Hallowed Sepulcher (82-92) | 181,000 | 72,900 - Agility 2,500 - Thieving |
| ||
| Hallowed Sepulcher (92-99) | 990,000 | 88,200 - Agility 7,200 - Thieving |
| ||
| Corrupted Gauntlet | 915,000 | Combat XP but value is dependent on some factors |
|
| Thanks to the Bow of Ferdinand, this method is very efficient. Getting the bow is going to be very useful so taking this route is highly recommended. Once you've got the bow and the six armor seeds, move to other methods instead. |
| ZMI (banked pure essence) | 1,470,000 | 80,000 - Runecraft | None (accounted as profit) |
| You'll require endgame gear for this as getting Daeyalt isn't easy. If you don't have the right equipment yet, it's best to just skip this money making method first. |
| ZMI (1.5 Daeyalt) | 780,000 | 120,000 -Runecraft | |||
| ZMI (AFK Daeyalt) | 510,000 | 120,000 - Runecraft | |||
| Three Tick Gem Mining | 165,000 | 110,000 - Mining | 23,000 banked Crafting XP |
| To maximize the amount of gold you make, you can first turn the diamonds into amulets. Due to the requirements of doing that, this method isn't going to be efficient up until you're at 37 Crafting. If not, move forward with other methods. |
| Vorgath | 1,950,000 | 26,000 Slayer |
| Dragon Slayer II, Osmumten's fang | Most efficient on task. |
| Processing adamantite ore | 3,150,000 | 80,000 - Smithing | |||
| Processing runite ore | 15,774,000 | 104,000 - Smithing |
Low Requirement OSRS Ironman Money Making Methods
There are other methods to Ironman money making in OSRS. Some of them require minimal effort, which makes it great for those that are just starting out on their run. Aside from minimal effort, most of these require low risk as well.
| Method | Requirements | Category | Description |
| Collecting bronze chainbodies | None | Collecting | This is very easy to do but it's not AFK. First, go to Boot and head north from there. There should be a bronze chainbody that spawns here. Grant it, switch worlds, and then repeat. Once you have a sizable amount of chainbodies, sell it to the store northeast of Nurmof. Repeat the process as much as you like. |
| Collecting iron swords in Shayzien' weapon shop | 20% Shayzien Favour | Collecting | This method is very similar to the one above. Instead of just finding the equipment lying around though, you can instead get an iron sword from Shayzie. Specifically, at Briget's Weapon Store. Get one and then switch worlds. Do this as many times as you want to. The process is relatively slow but it does result in good yields. |
| Collecting steel platebodies | Food | Collecting | This method sounds just as simple as the other ones but is actually challenging in its own ways. The Lava Maze in which you can get it from is located in the Wilderness Area's level 40-45 sections, making it very risky. Aside from steel platebodies, the area will also have earth spawns. Of course, the entire challenge of getting the steel platebodies is the fact that you'll have to go up against PK'ers as well. As this is a popular method for farming gold in an Iron man account, you're putting yourself at risk by potentially going up against other players as well. Grab a few steel platebodies and sell it at stores for 800 coins. You can make more profit by heading to Varrock where it's sold for 1,200 coins. Alternatively, high-alching the coins can help you sell it for 1,200. That said, don't do this method on a hardcore ironman account because there are plenty of risks involved. For a safer alternative, you can farm for steel platelegs within the Eastern Ruins instead. Before going there, make sure to have a looting bag with you. Grab some, switch worlds and do so as long as it fits in your inventory. Steel platelegs sell for 400 coins. You can sell them at a higher price by high-alching them which causes the price to go up to 600. |
| Cutting gems at a gem shop | Crafting - 20 Crafting - 27 recommended to cut emeralds | Skilling/shops | This method is actually very simple. First, you'll have to buy uncut gems from any gem shop, cut the games, and then sell it back to any shop which turns a profit. This method only requires a bit of capital for buying the games. You'll also need some levels into your Crafting skill. This method has very low requirements and doesn't put you in harm's way. The method itself doesn't require a lot of work but it does need constant interaction for buying and selling gems, as well as cutting them. If the gem shop in your world is low on gems, you can simply switch worlds to buy more from others. To save time, you might want to stock up on lots of gems before cutting them first. However, this will require a larger investment on your end. As this is a very popular way to earn money in the game, experts say that most gem shops aren't going to be stocked with gems. As such, you might want to focus on doing it in less populated worlds or simply play when there are fewer players around. The safe and easy nature of this method makes it one of the best ways to earn money in ironman and we highly suggest doing it once you have a sizable capital already. |
| Fletching willow shortbows | Fletching -35+ , Woodcutting - 30+ Crafting - 10 | Skilling | Fletching and woodcutting are the easiest skills to level in the game. As such, you'll have easy access to this money making method rather easily. Moreover, the more you use this method, the more you level up all skills involved as well. Once you've created the bows, make sure to high alch them as well so that you can boost their prices even further. |
| Stealing from H.A.M. Store rooms |
| Skilling | The Death of Dorgeshuun is a pretty long quest but luckily, you only need to finish half of it to get access to this money making method. Reaching at least half of the quest gives you access to the HAM Store rooms. The guards there are susceptible to being pickpocketed. Make sure to get keys from the guards as these can be used to open chests that contain jewelry. From there, you can sell, bank or high alch the loot you get. However, make sure to keep the emerald rings and sapphire necklaces. These can be used for a more lucrative money making method later on. This method is risky but you can mitigate that by wearing full HAM robes. Aside from preventing you from being kicked out of the store room, the HAM robes can also increase the amount of keys that you get from pickpocketing. |
| Stealing silk | Thieving - 20 | Skilling | The stalls in the Ardougne market have lots of silk that you can still high enough Thieving. Steal some, wait for 20 minutes, and then resell the silk to the same stalls you got them from. This method doesn't require any investment and is very easy to do. |
| Selling cats for death runes |
| Collecting | The requirements for this method might seem a bit steep but it's actually relatively easy. First, you'll have to finish Gertrude's Cat and the Easy Ardougne diary. Both are relatively easy to do. Once done, you can start trading cats to someone in west Ardougne for 200 death runes each. However, you can only get 100 death runes without the Easy Ardougne diary. To raise a kitten to adulthood, you'll need to wait for 3 hours and then feed it 9 fish. You also need to stroke the cat twice every 20 minutes. The method isn't AFK as you'll have to constantly interact with the cat. On the other hand, you can do this method while doing other money making tricks as well. This helps you potentially double your income boost in the game. |
| Agility Pyramid | Agility - 30 (70+ recommended) | Minigame | If you're going to train your Agility, you'll come across a few worthwhile money making methods as well. At 30 Agility, you can do the Agility Pyramid. While it's doable at that point, you might want to do it once your Agility 70 and up so you can reduce the amount of failed attempts you do significantly. At maximum efficiency, you're looking at 20,000 coins per run. To make the method more efficient, make sure to bring items that you can high acl or darts that you can fletch. You can work on these while doing the agility run. The good thing about this method is that it won't require you to bank any items. You can even do it without carrying anything in your inventory. |
| Selling runes from Guardians of the Rift to Ali Morrisane |
| Skilling | You can make a ton of money by selling catalytic runes. For this, you're going to want to do the Guardians of the Rift. To unlock this, you'll need to first finish the Temple of the Eye and Rogue Trader quests which are both relatively short. Once you hit level 27 in Runecrafting, you can start earning rewards from the Guardians of the Rift. Instead of using the runes, you can sell them to Ali Morrisane's rune shop. However, if you're planning on training your magic, you can also use this as a means to earn runes for free. These runes are also going to be useful for teleporting. The minigame will reward you with a variety runes including chaos, nature, law, and blood runes. With this method, you're getting 30,000 Runecrafting XP per hour, on top of 60,000 coins. Both are going to increase significantly as you unlock access to crafting more catalytic runes. If your level isn't enough to meet the requirements for this method, just do the Enter the Abyss and Temple of the Eye quests first. |
| Giants' Foundry |
| Skilling/shops | The profitability of this method depends on a few factors. One of which is the allot you use for the minigame. Aside from a decent amount of money, the Giants' Foundry also provides a sizable amount of Smithing experience when done right. If you have a limited amount of gold to spend as capital, the cheapest you can buy for the bar output are claws. That said, you should get the mithril claws from Jatizso's weapons galore instead. This greatly reduces the amount of bars needed for combinations. However, if you really want to make a profit out of Giants' Foundry with purchased equipment, you should only focus on buying bronze or iron/steel equipment. Also, try to get better molds as well. The Giants' Foundry does require a bit of work to make it truly profitable but once you get the hang of things and you start investing in the right gear, you'll see that this is actually one of the best money-making methods out there. |
| High alching rune arrows from Last Man Standing | Magic - 55 Runecraft - 44 recommended, staff of fire. | Minigame The Last Man Standing PvP minigame is a beloved means to make money in an Ironman account for a few reasons. For starters, there's no risk of death while doing this minigame. Head to Justine's Stop and get a stack of 300 rune arrows which you can get for 3 points each. Relatively small compared to other items in her shop. If you high-alch these arrows, then they can be sold for 240 coins each instead. Once you have the arrows, you can then teleport to the Ferox Enclave if you have a ring of dueling. If not, then you'll need to find other means to get there but this is the most efficient. Once inside, stay patient and try to kill one player inside the minigame. If you successfully do this, make sure to hide in a part of the map. You can go upstairs and into another building. Hold your ground up until only four of you remain. Charge at one of the players and let the other two fight. Since they're busy, it's not likely for them to notice you anyway. With only two of you remaining, you can either let the remaining player kill you or you can run to the fog. Choose the quicker way to die for maximum efficiency. With this method, you can earn around 3 to 4 points in the game with minimal effort. The downside is that you'll be getting combat XP with this method so Skillers will have a harder time making this work. If you're a Skiller, you can buy 350 adamant arrows for every point that you have instead. Sell all of the arrows to Bring who's located in Rimmington. This process is much less efficient since there's a 50 arrow limit per world. |
High Requirement OSRS Ironman Money-Making Methods
If you're looking for something more lucrative but requires more effort and time, then these are the methods for you. These are perfect for endgame money making and the overall yield is better than the previous methods listed above.
| Method | Requirements | Category | Description |
| Pickpocketing Knights of Ardougne |
| Skilling | This is a better alternative to Blackjacking. Knights of Ardougne pickpocketing can yield you around 270,000-280,000 coins per hour. It's a bit more difficult though and will require a higher Thieving level as well. |
| Crafting blood runes |
| Skilling | You'll need to use any pickaxe and chisel to mine dense essence. You'll need to venerate them and run them to the Blood Altar. Rinse and repeat this process until you get your desired gold. A single run can give you around 212 Blood Runes which you can sell to Ali Morrisane for 200 coins. You can make up to 330,000 coins per hour and get a ton of Runecraft XP at the same time. |
| Blast mining and smithing runite |
| Skilling | Blast mining will give you decent Mining XP while giving you good profit at the same time. Once you hit 75 mining, you can start getting runite from blaster ores which give you a ton of money as well. You'll need a lot of dynamites for this method and this is going to take up a huge chunk of your time. You can get these from the Chambers of Xeric. If you've completed elite tasks from the Kourend and Kebos Diary, you can claim 80 dynamites from Thirus a day. Don't buy dynamites as it can cut down your money and experience gain by a huge margin. You should then smelt the ores from Blast mining using a Blast Furnace. You can get more coal from Miscellania. Lastly, make sure to smith all runite bars into rune items like rune swords. Use alch on them for even more money. |
| Crafting amethyst javelin heads |
| Skilling | Mining amethyst to craft and subsequently cast High Alchemy on amethyst javelin heads stands as a remarkably low-intensity and semi-AFK approach to maintaining a steady gold flow. With a high Mining skill and optimized equipment, players can efficiently mine between 80 to 100 amethyst per hour, resulting in a yield of approximately 400 to 500 amethyst javelin heads. These javelin heads translate to a substantial sum of gold, ranging from 364,800 to 456,000 coins when alched. Particularly advantageous for ultimate ironman players, this method demands minimal inventory space, necessitating only the ability to cast High Alchemy, a chisel, and sufficient inventory to accommodate at least one amethyst. To further enhance efficiency, completing the Varrock Elite Diary unlocks Varrock armor 4, affording an additional chance to mine an amethyst. Equipping expert mining gloves, available for purchase within the Mining Guild, provides a 25% chance that the mining node will not deplete, allowing continuous mining until depletion. Additionally, wearing the Celestial ring bestows an invisible +4 boost to Mining, albeit without granting an extra chance to mine ore. These optimizations optimize the mining process and bolster the overall profitability of this method. |
| Killing Vorkath |
| Combat | Killing Vorkath is both challenging and rewarding. That's because this challenge rewards you with rune and dragon equipment drops. You're also going to get Dragonhide and a lot of skilling supplies of course. If you want to make the fight easier, you'll need Dragon Hunter Lance or a Dragon Hunter Crossbow. You should kill it on a blue dragon task as well so that you get extra Slayer XP. |
| Killing rune dragons |
| Combat | Compared to killing Vorkath, killing Rune Dragons is relatively easier. You'll need lesser effort but the cash in return is big thanks to runite bars and valuable alchable materials. Again, Dragon hunter lance is very recommended. |
Tips For IronMan Money Making
These methods are good and all but they can only do so much for you in the long run. As a player with an Ironman account, there are a few things that you need to be mindful of. With these extra tips, you'll be making your way into even more riches in the game.
1. Don't Get Greedy
One of the biggest mistakes you can make while playing in an Ironman account is getting too greedy. Even if a certain method involves minimal risks, you should still consider moving with a lot of caution. One of the last things you want is losing all of your progress simply because you got too greedy with a certain method.
If you think that you have too much to lose already, don't be afraid to head out. Always recuperate and save your progress as much as possible. You only have one chance at an Ironman account so not being greedy is going to help you immensely. Besides, earning money isn't supposed to be a single-step process.
2. Find A Method That Suits You
Some methods are obviously more efficient than others. You shouldn't fully make that a consideration when it comes to finding which methods suit you best. You should also consider what you're more comfortable doing. For instance, the Last Man Standing PvP might be hard for others but if you find it easy, then it's a good money-making method to focus on.
Don't opt for money making methods that are complex or ones that you're not comfortable doing. At worst, you're just going to put yourself at risk by doing them. There are lots of methods to choose from so it's best to just do what you can do without worries.
3. Don't Treat It As Regular OSRS
One of the biggest mistakes you can make is actually treating an Ironman account like a regular OSRS account. There are a lot of other things to consider but most importantly, you should be more careful and wise when farming for money in an Ironman account. If you want to make sure that your character is safe, you should always take the extra steps to be careful.
For starters, don't bring valuables all the time and try to make do with what you have. Being resourceful and being smarter when it comes to buying certain items will help save you lots of coins that you could use elsewhere.
4. Consider Buying Gold
Press for time or you're simply not confident in your money making skills on an Ironman account? Then you might want to consider buying gold from actual sellers instead. Doing this helps save you a ton of time in farming on your account. Best is that the gold you can buy online is relatively cheap.
There are lots of legit sellers of OSRS gold including RPGStash. However, you need to be very mindful of who you transact with online. Just keep in mind that doing this goes against OSRS' rules but we've actually never heard of players getting banned because of this.
It might be looked down on in the community but if it makes you and your Ironman account happy, why deprive yourself of this luxury!
Get Rich In Iron Man
Getting rich in Ironman is just one of the many challenges that you'll need to overcome.With this money-making guide, however, that challenge will be a lot less hard to do. As always, make sure to enjoy the game, especially when you're on an Ironman run. Don't let the stress of the challenge take out the OSRS.
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