Table of Contents
1.0 - Introduction
Herblore - an intricate art involving the use of plants, and plant extracts to produce brews, tonics and other useful concoctions. For RuneScape members1, Herblore can see you on the way to a successful future. Making potions is not a necessity in being successful with the skill - simply collecting and selling herbs and second ingredients is a fantastic moneymaker. However, for those who wish to train Herblore at a high level, it can be quite costly. Conversely, it is possible to make a living off selling higher-level potions. The subsequent sections will assist you in every way possible, in enjoying your Herblore experience. First, to begin Herblore, you must have completed the Druidic Ritual quest. 1 :: RuneScape Members
Click here to go to RuneScape.com to subscribe. 2.0 - Basics of Herblore
This section outlines the process involved in making potions; where to obtain Herblore tools, herbs, and second ingredients; as well as what to do to avoid boredom. Herb Cleaning
Throughout your travels around RuneScape, you may come across grimy herbs. Without the correct Herblore level, or prior knowledge, you will not be able to clean the herbs to use them. To clean an herb, simply left-click it and it will quickly change to the herb it represents. Second Ingredients
There are many "second ingredients" that can be found throughout RuneScape, which you can add to your potions to complete them. All second ingredients are monster drops; they spawn at certain locations around RuneScape, or stores sell them. Vials [ Water and Coconut Milk ]
There are three methods to obtaining water filled vials. The first being: buy empty vials from a shop, and fill them up using the fountain near the west Falador bank. The second method involves emptying your useless potions (or creating 4-dose potions), then filling them up with water; or alternatively, buying plant cure from farming stores, emptying them, and then filling them with water later on. The final method is just to buy water filled vials from players, or one of the stores in the table below. This can take a lot of time however. You could also kill Water elementals (level-35) in the elemental workshop, as they drop water filled vials all the time. This isn't recommended though, as it does take a long time - the only plus is that they drop herbs as well. An alternative is to go to the Karamja, Entrana or Shilo Village general stores, as they sell water-filled vials.
2 :: Coconut Milk
To make coconut milk, you must obtain a coconut. These can be bought from players, or planted with a palm tree seed, at level 68 Farming. Crack the coconut with a hammer.
3 :: Mature ales
For a higher chance of getting a brew to mature, use 'The Stuff' which is a reward from the Trouble Brewing minigame Farming Herbs
While Herblore is generally a difficult and expensive skill to raise; it is possible to raise your levels through Farming herbs. The only cost is that of buying the herb seeds; or alternatively, stealing them from Master Farmer is free. You can find more information regarding the farming of herbs in the Herbs section of our Farming guide. 2.1 - The Process
Creating a potion is really quite simple. All that is required, is a vial filled with water or milk, a second ingredient, and a primary ingredient, usually an herb.
Note: If you have unfinished potions, and cannot remember which is which, right click and examine it. It will say, "You need another ingredient for this [herb-type] potion." 2.2 - Herb Givers
The NPC's listed below drop herbs. The bolded NPC's mean that they drop herbs commonly, and are therefore highly recommended. Man (level-2), Woman (level-2), Cave Bug (level-6), Dark Warrior (level-8), Warrior (level-9, 24), Thug (level-10), Chaos Druid (level-13), Rogue (level-15), Skeleton (level-13, 21, 22, 25, 45), Zombie (level-13, 18, 24, 25), Bandit (level-22), Cave Crawler (level-23), Flesh Crawler (level-28, 35, 41), Banshee (level-23), Hill Giant (level-28), White Knight (level-31), tribesman (level-32), Druid (level-33), Black Knight (level-33), Speedy Keith (level-34), Black Heather (level-34), Donny the Lad (level-34), Air, Earth, Fire, Water Elemental (level-35, 34), Hobgoblin (level-28, 42), Chaos Druid Warrior (level-37), Cockatrice (level-37), Moss Giant (level- 42), Shadow Warrior (level-48), Earth Warrior (level-51), Ice Warrior (level-57), Paladin (level-59), Basilisk (level-61), Salarin the Twisted (level-70)4, Bloodvelds (level-76), Lesser Demon (level-82), Turoth (level-83, 85, 87), Fire Giant (level-86), Aberrant Specters (level-96), Kurask (level-106), Ice Queen (level-111), Blue Dragon (level-111), Black Demon (level-172), Black Dragon (level-227). 4 :: Salarin the Twisted
By far, the best way of collecting herbs for those with 67+ agility. 3.0 - Herb Varieties
There are many types of herbs in the game. Breaking tradition, Jagex brought nightshades and cactus spines into Herblore, used with the super and extra-strong antidote and weapon poison potions. Guam, Marrentill, Tarromin, and Harralander can be mixed in a mortar and pestle along with 15 swamp tar to be used as fuel for Swamp lizards and coloured salamanders in the Hunter skill. Additionally as an update, you make make the herb tars with a "Make X" option for faster training.
5 :: Snapdragon and Toadflax
These herbs are pre-identified when bought from Pirate Jackie the Fruit at the Brimhaven Agility Arena, and when farming them. You can receive unidentified snapdragon as a reward for the Prison Pete random event, unidentified toadflax as a reward in the Temple Trekking minigame, or trade 30 points for a herb pack containing unidentified toadflax at the Void Knight Outpost. 4.0 - Second Ingredients
For every primary ingredient, there is a second ingredient to make a potion. The table below outlines which second ingredient belongs to which potion, and where you can find them.
6 :: Whiteberries
Whiteberries spawn extremely fast; around four seconds. The Tirannwn spawn is best if you have access to Lletya. 7 :: Mort Myre Fungi
A Silver sickle (b) is required to cast the bloom spell. This will drain your prayer; You can recharge at the nearby nature altar in the Nature Grotto. 5.0 - Potions
The table below shows how to make each potion, the level required, experience gained, as well as the effect of the potion.
5.1 - Coconut Milk
Coconut milk is used to make super, and extra strength antidotes and weapon poison potions.
The table below shows these potions:
5.2 - Barbarian Potions
The barbarians up at the barbarian outpost have developed a means by which they are able to enhance the effects of regular potions. The enhanced potions restore 3-6 hit points per dose drunk! To be able to make these potions, you must speak to Otto Godblessed, who will first instruct you in the art of fishing with a heavy rod.
6.0 - Strategies
This section outlines the money making, and leveling techniques involved with Herblore. 6.1 - Training
As a general rule whilst collecting herbs, keep ALL of the herbs you cannot identify. This will save you a LOT of time and money later on. Level 3 to 12
To begin with, you must complete the Druidic Ritual quest. This quest gives 250 XP (level 3), which is the foundation of your Herblore career. At level three, your choice is limited to attack potions, which require one Guam leaf, one eye of newt and a water-filled vial. Level 13 to 25
From now on, the golden rule is to collect, collect, collect! To become successful, you will be spending hours collecting herbs and second ingredients. Now, you should be making strength and attack potions, then restore potions. Continue collecting herbs from Chaos druids. I suggest delving into the wilderness; Edgeville Dungeon members wilderness has a mass of Chaos druids, at around level 1 to 5 wilderness. Training here is recommended, as Edgeville bank is not too far off, and depending on your combat level, you should not be in too much danger. If you have 15 herblore, and have completed the Shades of Mort'ton quest, you can make the Serum 207 potion, which has a much easier to obtain second ingredient (ashes),while giving the same experience as a strength potion. Level 26-38
Level 26 means you have around 8,800 Herblore XP, can identify up to ranarr weed, and can make up to energy potions. The best potion to make at this level is regular energy potions, as they are very useful in quests where you have to run around a lot. Level 39-50
At level 39, you are now able to make prayer restore potions, identify irit with a greenman's ale, and are soon able to make super attack potions. Prayer restore potions are overall, the best experience maker for an herbalist. Not only do they sell for a lot, but also their second ingredient is easy to obtain. Killing higher-level monsters gives you an increased chance of obtaining ranarr, or higher-level herbs as drops. The best place to collect snape grass for these potions is on Waterbirth Island by Rellekka. Take the boat to Miscellania and Etceteria to bank the grass. Level 50 +
From level 50, Herblore becomes much more expensive and time consuming. At level 52, super energy potions are a great way to level, as avantoe is not very expensive. At level 55, you can make super strength potions, and sell them to Player Killers at Edgeville, or to duelers at the Al-Kharid
Duel Arena
. 6.2 - Money Making
Money making for Herbalists is a lot easier then you may think. Money can be made fast, by collecting your own herbs and second ingredients, and then selling the potions. Salarin the Twisted is an excellent herb giver for those with 67 agility, while chaos druids in Edgeville or Taverley dungeon are also great for collecting herbs. Empty vials can also be exceptional money-makers, selling for up to 250gp each, when water-filled. There is a wide ranged of stores that stock vials, and for cheap too! 6.3 - Collecting & Merchanting
To be able to do this method, you must be able to identify Tarromin herbs, though Harralander is preferred. You must also have over 100k cash, and the more cash you have, the more money you will make per day. With this relatively low level, you can gain around 200 of every herb in a day depending on the time of day and general luck. You must remember at all times, that herb collecting is potentially dangerous as scammers do take advantage of this. Just be aware of this and you will be fine. The Method
Position yourself in a well packed bank, but not too packed. I would suggest a world with at least 1,000 to 1,500 people in it, in Seers' Village or Varrock. Keep a nice round figure of cash in your bank, like 1,000,000gp, and all your unidentified herbs in your bank. What you are aiming to buy is unidentified herbs, and these come in eleven different stacks. Some are more common than others, like Guam and Marrentil, while some are much sought after like Ranarr weed and Kwuarm. Stand in an open spot, and type something like `Buying all unid herbs 1k each`. Try and spell everything correctly, as people are more drawn to respectable language. Fairly soon you should receive a trade request. Be patient as people have to withdraw all their herbs, and this does take time. Assuming the trade is real, you should be presented with a screen much like this. Now, you need to check a few things on the trade screen before accepting. First, make sure they are noted so you can see what stacks are what. If they are not, ask for them to be noted. Those who don't are probably hiding something, so keep an eye out for them. Secondly, they must all be 'Unidentified herbs'. If not, check. Some herbs may be of high value meaning added profit, but Guam Marrentil and Tarromin will result in a loss. Ask them to remove the herbs you don't want. Other sellers may offer vast quantities of herbs, but only one to four stacks. BE CAREFUL. They know what you are collecting and may be attempting to sell their cheap herbs for a big profit. Do not accept a trade like this. Another common scam or mistake are players selling 'Doogle leaves'. These look like unid herbs, but are worthless so watch out for those. For most, you will have over five stacks of herbs, with random quantities. Count them using a calculator, and offer 1k per herb. For example, someone offers 56 noted unids of different quantities. You offer 56k and accept. Assuming the trade is accepted, you have your first herbs! Repeat these steps until you have spent all the money you wanted to. For example, you spent 1Mil gp on 1,000 herbs. Now you have a choice depending on your Herblore level. Take out one from every stack and identify all you can. If you can only identify Tarromin, identify those and below and keep them. For Harralander, do the same. If you have a higher level, only identify Ranarr weed. You could also go to Nardah (the best way being taking the magic carpet from Shantay Pass to Pollnivneach and crossing the river), and get your herbs identified in the herblore shop for 200 each. This is a risky move, but can make you money as well. Keep in mind that Nardah has a bank. Now you need to sell the herbs, preferably using the Runescape, or Runescape Community forums. Post that you are selling unids, and how many stacks. List the stacks from highest to lowest and wait for the trades. You could also sell your Ranarrs and low level herbs in the same topic. You should get between 1.5k and 2.5k per unid, as long as you sell them all. Ranarrs should go for 6k to 7k, and lower leveled herbs will sell for less. Guams, Marrentil, Tarromin, Harralander will go for 300, 400, 600 and 1000 coins respectively. In some cases, you may receive unidentified Toadflax, Snapdragon, or even Torstol. These should be sold separately for a small profit. Now you need to count your money. If you sold all, this is a rough estimate of what you would have.
You could make 300k profit in one sale, and continuing to buy and sell can make you over 1,000,000gp per day, making it relatively easy to earn money for an average player. For a player with just 100k, divide that by ten. Depending on the amount you spend at a time, you will, on average gain more money much faster. Players are drawn to bigger sales of oh-so-important herbs. Another method is exactly the same except you get the exact herbs you want. This takes time however, and is only recommended for experienced herb merchanters. This time, you will need one unid herb of every herb you want, noted, and in your inventory (you will need to know what unid stack is what, by identifying one from each, and keeping them in a set order). You then need your coins, and enough non-stackable items to fill the rest of your inventory such as logs, essence, ores or any other junk can be used. Before you trade anyone, check your inventory looks like this. Buy your herbs as usual, one stack at a time though. If the stack is the one you want, the trade will work. If it is another type of herb then the trade will automatically decline telling you that you have no space. As stated earlier, this will take a while, especially finding someone willing to trade. Once you have a good number of herbs, identify them or sell them, depending on what they are. When selling specific unid stacks, never be suspicious. If you get something wrong, people will suspect you are scamming and stop the trade. A nice clean trade will get you your sale and keep respect amongst others. Finally, if you want to obtain herbs this way instead of making money, simply identify everything you have bought and use them. 7.0 Miscellaneous
This section gives a brief overview of Salarin the Twisted, and the many quests that give Herblore XP. 7.1 Salarin
Confined to a small room, Salarin the Twisted is an evil druid who is in the Yanille Agility Dungeon. Only the bold adventurer with level 67 agility may gain access to his hideout. Salarin is immune to all forms of attack - melee, ranged, most magic - except strike spells. Remember those weak little spells that you used to train with on chickens a long time ago? Yes, those strike spells. Salarin is found amongst four or five Chaos druids, who are also good for collecting herbs while waiting for him to spawn. 7.2 Quests
Below is a list of all the quest that give Herblore XP:
Quests with a choice Experience
8.0 - Frequently Asked Questions
Q: I have many grimy herbs. What do I do with them? Q: What herbs are the best to collect? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Author: Ben_Goten78 |
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