Ironman Beginner Guide

The wiki's Ironman guide is blunt: quest XP beats early monster grinding. Example — Waterfall Quest has no skill requirements and raises Attack and Strength from 1 to 30 if you started at 1 (wiki trivia). Pair that with other Kandarin combat quests instead of cows.

Follow the wiki Optimal quest guide / Ironman through at least Holy Grail — that early block is built around shared areas, travel unlocks, and skipping bad grinds. Do not invent your own order for the first ~50 quests.

• Druidic Ritual — unlocks Herblore (and letting lamps go into Herblore).
• Rune Mysteries — Runecraft path.
• Tree Gnome Village / The Grand Tree — spirit trees and gnome gliders.
• Lost City → start Fairytale I → partial Fairytale II until fairy rings work (Dramen / Lunar staff).
• Bone Voyage — Fossil Island (birdhouses, ammonite crabs, ultracompost path).

Check reqs on our quest requirements tool.

Early iron time sinks are walking and run energy. Wiki priorities that pay off fast:

• Easy Ardougne Diary → Ardougne cloak 1 (unlimited monastery teleport — altar, near fairy ring / spirit tree / ships).
• Games necklace — Wintertodt and other low-req teleports. Craft or buy from shops / jewellery sources.
• Ring of dueling — Ferox Enclave bank + restore.
• Boots of lightness (Temple of Ikov cellar — no need to finish the quest) + early Agility. Graceful is ideal but marks take a while; weight reduction still helps before full set.
• Fairy rings once Fairytale II is started far enough — use our fairy ring codes.

Law runes for teleports: early on, buy from shops (expensive). Minigame teleport (20-minute cooldown) covers Burthorpe / Castle Wars / Ferox early.

• Draynor: Fortunato sells jugs of wine for 1 gp (heal 11, −2 Attack) — Stronghold / early tanking.
• East Ardougne bakery stalls: cakes (12 HP total) — steal while near diary / market quests.
• Wintertodt, Tempoross, and Guardians of the Rift — low requirements, crates/supplies that punch above their weight for irons. Wiki notes many irons do them early; WT loot scales with your other skill levels, so a bit of Construction / etc. before a long WT camp helps.
• Lumbridge Castle roof logs (world-hop) → light them if you need Firemaking before WT.

Uniques are not bank value — High Alchemy value is. Wiki money notes for early/mid:

• Sell junk to shops early; West Ardougne general store pays 55% of value vs 40%.
• Martin Thwait's Lost and Found pays full High Alchemy value on sold items.
• At 55 Magic, High Alchemy on nature runes becomes the core cash loop (often while doing something else).
• Thieving: blackjacking (~45+) or stealing valuables (~50+) for cash + XP when you are stuck.
• Agility Pyramid artefacts → Simon Templeton (10k each) if Magic/Thieving are lagging — wiki recommends ~60 Agility + Graceful before leaning on it.

Related: Alch calculator (GE prices are for mains — use HA values mentally on iron).

Wiki early-game phase: questing, skills toward ~60–70, and useful gear. Treat these as checkpoints, not a ranked order:

1. Quest through the wiki iron optimal path past Holy Grail / early Kandarin block.
2. Ardougne cloak 1 + fairy rings + spirit trees / gliders online.
3. Wintertodt (and/or Tempoross / GotR) for cash, seeds, herbs, junk to alch.
4. Bone Voyage → birdhouses + crabs — Fossil Island unlock, birdhouse calculator.
5. Push toward Recipe for Disaster / Barrows gloves — common “leaving early game” marker.
6. Mid-game handoff: Slayer for gear (whip, trident path, etc.) — see our Slayer guide and Slayer calculator.

• Wiki optimal path flags Witch's House Hitpoints XP before riskier quests like Waterfall if you want a buffer.
• Safespot Fight Arena / quest bosses; bring food even when “easy”.
• Skip optional dangerous content until you understand death rules for that activity.
• Do not Wildy for early loot — one mistake ends HC status.

• OSRS Wiki — Ironman guide
• OSRS Wiki — Optimal quest guide / Ironman
• OSRS Wiki — Waterfall Quest (1→30 Attack/Strength)