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Crafting is often regarded as one of Old School RuneScape's buyable skills: if you've got a lot of money to spend on it, you can buy all the materials you need to reach level 99 Crafting at once, and then simply put in the grind until you get there. Approaching the skill in this way means that you're usually going to lose a lot of money, especially since Crafting training methods tend to sacrifice profit for fast xp.

RELATED: Old School RuneScape: Beginner Tips

However, there are training methods that do net a small profit, although this comes at the expense of xp-per-hour. The Crafting skill is vast and multifaceted, and there are many ways of training it accordingly, so it's a good idea to decide what's right for you before diving in. Here, we'll go over some of the most popular options that players use to earn their Crafting Skillcapes.

Making Your Way Through The Early Levels

OSRS screenshot of Lumbridge Cow Field

The best way of getting those early levels over with quickly is by crafting Leather Armour. From level one, you can craft Leather Gloves, and from then on you should move to the highest-level leather piece you can craft at your level until you're ready to craft Leather Bodies at level 14. As well as a plentiful supply of Leather, you'll need to pick up some Needles and balls of Thread - both of these are perishable, so you should buy a good stock of each.

Although this method will lose you money in the long run, the loss will be negligible since you will only be doing it for a very short time: you should be able to reach level 20 Crafting in only a few minutes, from which you can move on to other, more bountiful, training methods.

You can also earn a lot of early xp by completing quests, although due to the high xp-per-hour of Crafting training methods this won't end up being as efficient as regular training. Nonetheless, if you fancy doing some questing these are good quests to go with:

  • Recipe For Disaster will net you 3,500xp in total.
  • The Fremennik Trials will earn you 2,812xp.
  • Nature Spirit will provide you with 3,000xp.

Crafting Bracelets

Old School RuneScape screenshot of Edgeville Furnace

Level 7 Crafting is the first milestone you want to pay attention to on your Crafting journey, since at this level you'll unlock Gold Bracelets. From here, you'll want to proceed through the bracelet hierarchy, always crafting the highest level one you can - some players do this all the way to level 99, but others decide to forego it for other faster methods; the choice is up to you.

To craft a bracelet, you'll need a Bracelet Mould, as well as one Gold Bar per bracelet. In addition, if your bracelet includes a gemstone you'll need to provide one of these per bracelet as well - make sure you don't get uncut ones by mistake! For example, if you're doing runs of Sapphire Bracelets, you'll need a Bracelet Mould, 13 Gold Bars, and 13 Sapphires - take these to a furnace to craft your bracelets, deposit them into the bank, and repeat.

You should find a furnace that is very close to a bank for maximum gains: the best location is Prifddinas, although if you haven't completed Song Of The Elves then the Edgeville Bank will work almost as well. Free-to-play players can instead use the furnace in Al Kharid.

Making bracelets provides decent xp-per-hour, ranging from 40,000 for Gold Bracelets to 154,000 for Dragonstone. Moreover, as long as you miss out Opal, Topaz, and Dragonstone bracelets, you can make a good profit on the market; pay attention to Grand Exchange prices to make sure that you're in the money.

Cutting Gems

OSRS screenshot of Grand Exchange

Cutting gems is an excellent, explosive way of training Crafting, giving you massive xp gains if you are willing to lose vast sums of money. The method is very simple: bulk-buy a load of uncut gems from the Grand Exchange, then use your trusty Chisel to cut them into glistening gemstones. You'll need a lot of money to maximise your xp rates, since you'll need to purchase lots of uncut gemstones at once.

From level 20 Crafting you can cut Sapphires, for 135,000xp-per-hour. From here, move on to the best gemstone you have the level (and money) for, up until you unlock Uncut Dragonstones which will give you an incredible 370,000xp-per-hour. This provides the fastest Crafting xp in the game until you reach level 77 Crafting, at which point crafting Red D'hide Bodies takes over.

Crafting D'hide Bodies

Old School RuneScape screenshot of Black Dragons

Once you hit level 77 Crafting, crafting D'hide Bodies provides the fastest Crafting xp out of all viable training methods in the game. You should start with Red D'hide Bodies, giving you 386,000xp-per-hour, and then move on to Black D'hide Bodies at level 84 for a whopping 426,000xp-per-hour.

Similar to leather crafting, making D'hide bodies will require you to have a plentiful supply of Needles and Thread. The difference is that, unlike leather, red and black Dragonhides are very expensive, so this training method will only provide good xp rates if you have enough capital to invest in a large bulk of them.

If you want to 'buy' your 99, this is the best option, since the grind to 99 will take around 35 hours. This may sound like a lot, but it pales in comparison to many of RuneScape's other notorious grinds, and will fly by when you get into the right rhythm.

Cutting Amethyst

Old School RuneScape screenshot of Amethyst Crystals

Cutting Amethysts is an interesting alternative Crafting method that provides less xp than other late-game training methods but can spin a slight profit if you are conscientious enough. Because of this, it's definitely recommended for players who have more time on their hands than money to spare.

This method will see you using a Chisel to turn Amethyst Crystals into various weapon tips for use in Fletching. At level 83 you will unlock the ability to craft Amethyst Bolt Tips - start with these, and then move on to the highest-level option available to you as you level up. At level 89 you'll be able to craft Amethyst Dart Tips, which will make a small profit, in contrast to the other Amethyst items which will lose you a small amount of money.

The xp rates for Amethyst crafting are decent, but don't hold a candle to more money-intensive methods like crafting D'hides. You'll earn a maximum of 165,000xp-per-hour no matter which Amethyst item you choose to craft.

NEXT: Old School RuneScape: Giants' Foundry Guide