OSRS Magic 1–99 Guide: Fastest, Cheapest and AFK Training

How to Get 1–99 Magic in OSRS

The fastest 1–99 Magic route is quests to level 34 (22,100 XP), the Arceuus Library or cheap casting to 55, alchemy while you finish Desert Treasure I, then Ancient Magicks from 70. Ice Burst on maniacal monkeys reaches about 310,000 XP an hour, and Ice Barrage at 94 about 400,000, which puts 70 to 99 at roughly 36 hours of active play.

The cheapest route is slower: Lvl-1 Enchant can turn a small profit early on, the library costs nothing, and High Level Alchemy gives 65 XP a cast at close to break-even. Alching alone from 55 to 99 is about 165 hours at the wiki's best standing rate.

Magic XP works differently from the other combat skills. Every spell gives a fixed casting XP even when it splashes, plus 2 Magic XP per damage on combat spells. That is why non-combat spells such as alchemy, Plank Make and String Jewellery are real training methods.

Magic 1–99 Level Path

Quests cover the first 34 levels. From there the route splits on budget: alching, teleports and the library are cheap and slow, and bursting is fast but costs death runes.

1. 1

   1–10: Witch's Potion and Imp Catcher, 1,200 Magic XP with no requirements.

2. 2

   10–34: Fairytale I, The Grand Tree and Watchtower, plus the Lumbridge Guide subquest, give another 20,900 XP. That is 22,100 in total, and level 34 needs 20,224.

3. 3

   34–55: the Arceuus Library (about 210 books, under 2 hours, no runes), Low Level Alchemy (31 XP a cast), Superheat Item from 43 (53 XP) or Camelot Teleport from 45 (55.5 XP, about 80,000 XP an hour).

4. 4

   55–70: High Level Alchemy at 65 XP a cast, or tele-alching for up to 144,600 XP an hour, while you finish Desert Treasure I for Ancient Magicks. The quest itself gives 20,000 Magic XP.

5. 5

   70–99: Ice Burst from 70, then Ice Barrage at 94, on maniacal monkeys or burst Slayer tasks such as dust devils and nechryael. About 23 hours from 70 to 94 and 13 more to 99 at the active monkey rates.

Magic XP Rates by Method

These are the rates the wiki's Pay-to-play Magic training guide lists. Rune prices move every day, so the cost column gives runes per cast rather than GP; price them on the day.

Rates are the wiki's figures for efficient play, so expect less on a slow click day. Elemental staves cover the air, water, earth and fire runes in that column, which is why a mud battlestaff or tome of fire matters so much on the cheap methods.

Fastest XP Methods

The wiki calls maniacal monkeys in Kruk's Dungeon the fastest viable way to train Magic in real time. You need Desert Treasure I for Ancient Magicks and progress in Monkey Madness II to get in.

The bursts unlock at 62 (Smoke), 64 (Shadow), 68 (Blood) and 70 (Ice); the barrages at 86, 88, 92 and 94. Each burst or barrage hits up to nine monsters in a 3x3 square in multicombat, and every monster hit adds 2 Magic XP per damage on top of the spell's base XP. The Bandit Camp works from 68 Magic, at up to 150,000 XP an hour bursting and 230,000 barraging.

At the monkeys, keep Protect from Melee on at all times (43 Prayer) and drink the 1-dose prayer potions they drop. Two alt accounts to stack them make it low effort; solo, the wiki's stacking methods trade clicks for rate.

Two methods beat the monkeys per hour on paper. Enchanting gem-tipped bolts by hand runs from 324,500 XP an hour (ruby, 49) to 533,500 (onyx, 87), but the wiki calls it very expensive and supply is thin for some bolts. Cure Me on Araxytes reaches 414,000 from 71, but only if you click every single tick. Barraging the Wilderness bandits from the lava bridge reaches 330,000 actively and is one of the few fast methods that profits, with blighted ancient ice sacks replacing runes, at the cost of standing in level 19 Wilderness.

On Slayer, bursting your tasks adds Slayer XP and points on top of the Magic. Our Slayer guide covers which tasks are worth keeping.

Bursting vs Alching vs Plank Make

Hours are the XP gap from the Experience table divided by the wiki's hourly rate, so the bursting row is 7,206,987 XP from 70 to 94 at 310,000 and 5,089,817 XP from 94 to 99 at 400,000. Mixing methods is normal: alch through a Slayer task, burst the stackable tasks, and the totals fall in between.

Powered staves vs bursting for 99

A powered staff is a kill-speed weapon for single targets and bosses. It gives Magic XP as you use it, but with no base XP and one target per cast it is not a 99 route. Where monsters stack, bursting wins every time.

Stun-alching is the clicky middle ground: cast High Level Alchemy, then Stun on a guard while splashing, for 184,000 XP an hour from 80. Our alching guide covers stun-alch setups and which items to alch.

Cheapest / Budget Approach

Lvl-1 Enchant from 7 to 27 can turn a small profit: the wiki's profitable-methods table has it at 519 casts, turning sapphire necklaces into games necklaces. Check current prices first, because the margin moves.

The Arceuus Library is the only method with no rune bill at all. Each book gives 15 times your Magic level, so start after the quests rather than at level 1: from 34 to 55 is about 210 books, under two hours at 120 books an hour.

High Level Alchemy is close to break-even when you choose items whose alch value covers the item price plus a nature rune, so 55 to 99 alching costs little even if it is slow. The Alchemists' Playground in the Mage Training Arena pays the alch coins from the room itself, about 120,000 XP an hour casually, and earns the points for Bones to Peaches and the master wand.

Splashing is the cheapest per hour, but at 75,750 XP an hour at best it is a long road to 99: about 170 hours from 55. It suits a second screen better than a main session.

AFK & Lower-Intensity Options

Splashing is the most AFK Magic: one interaction about every 20 minutes, since the game stops you retaliating after 20 minutes idle.

The Gemstone Crab in the Tlati Rainforest only needs Children of the Sun. With autocast you can leave it for up to 10 minutes, then follow it through the cave at any of its three mines. Each hit gives 87.5% of the usual XP (3.5 per damage instead of 4), but with no downtime and no overkill it usually beats other crabs, and you get Hitpoints XP as well.

Plank Make (86 Magic, Dream Mentor) gives about 90,000 XP an hour AFK, and Ice Burst at the monkeys still gives 250,000+ with lower attention. Blood spells at the Bandit Camp heal you faster than the bandits hit, so they also run on auto retaliate.

High Level Alchemy works alongside other activities at 20,000–50,000 XP an hour. Active bursting is the opposite of AFK, so save it for sessions when you can watch the screen.

Magic Gear and Spellbook Tips

• A rune pouch or divine rune pouch saves inventory space for burst runes and is one of the best early quality-of-life buys.
• For bursting, the kodai wand is the best weapon: 15% Magic damage, a 15% chance to save runes on offensive spells and unlimited water runes. The ancient sceptre and master wand are cheaper Ancient Magicks options.
• Magic gear by level: Ahrim's at 70, ancestral robes at 75 (with 65 Defence), Sanguinesti staff at 82 and Tumeken's shadow at 85.
• Powered staves (trident 75, Sanguinesti 82, shadow 85) cannot autocast spells and give no base XP, so they are for kills rather than training.
• Lunar and Arceuus spells are account upgrades as much as XP: greater thralls at 76 (A Kingdom Divided), Death Charge at 80 and Vengeance at 94.

Ironman Notes

On an Ironman, Magic training is limited by runes. Every casting method uses runes you have to craft, buy from shops or collect, so the route leans on free XP (quests and the Arceuus Library) and on casting during content that pays for itself.

High Level Alchemy is not the wrong first choice it is sometimes made out to be. At 55 it is how an iron turns Slayer drops into the coins that buy runes, and the wiki's Ironman Magic guide calls it a significant source of income during Slayer. What irons should skip is buying items purely to alch for XP.

Ironman and UIM Magic route

1. 1

   1–33 or 34, quests:

   the wiki's ironman order is Witch's Potion (325), Imp Catcher (875), The Grand Tree (2,150), Watchtower (15,250) and The Giant Dwarf (1,500), 20,100 XP and level 33. Swap The Giant Dwarf for Fairytale I and the Lumbridge Guide subquest to reach 34.

2. 2

   Arceuus Library:

   about 210 books from 34 to 55, no runes and nothing to bank. Mark book locations with the Kourend Library plugin.

3. 3

   Early combat casting:

   strike and bolt spells on Slayer tasks, or Zamorak warriors in the Ourania Cave for rune scimitar drops. Splash or use the Gemstone Crab for AFK time.

4. 4

   43–55:

   Superheat Item on gold or iron ore for Smithing XP at the same time, if you have the nature runes.

5. 5

   55+:

   High Level Alchemy on Slayer drops and crafted items: unstrung maple longbows, gold bracelets, battlestaves.

6. 6

   Mage Training Arena:

   enter from 33 with Telekinetic Grab and buy Bones to Peaches first, about 353 law, 1,075 nature and 810 cosmic runes and 2.6 hours. Getting it earns up to 127,000 Magic XP along the way.

7. 7

   70–99:

   Ice Burst on dust devil, nechryael and smoke devil tasks, Ice Barrage from 94, with teleports, alching and reanimation spells adding passive XP.

From 68 Magic the Enchanting Chamber can be free training: Lvl-5 Enchant earns 5 enchantment points per shape, which buy back the cosmic rune it cost, with a mud battlestaff covering the rest. Our Mage Training Arena guide lists the point costs for every reward.

Where irons get runes

UIM and HCIM notes

1. 1

   UIM:

   get a rune pouch early (Last Man Standing, the Mage Training Arena or Slayer points). The library needs no inventory space, and Superglass Make adds about 5,000–6,000 passive Magic XP an hour while you train Crafting.

2. 2

   HCIM:

   Lundail's shop is in the Wilderness, so the wiki points hardcores to Ali Morrisane instead. The Gemstone Crab can still land small hits, and the wiki warns hardcores not to AFK it on low hitpoints.

3. 3

   Abyssal demon tasks:

   the wiki's UIM guide suggests Smoke Barrage there rather than ice spells.

When Paid Training Makes Sense

The Magic levels worth paying for are 82 (Sanguinesti staff), 85 (Tumeken's shadow) and 94 (Ice Barrage).

If you do order it, specify the route as well as the level range. Barraging, alching and AFK splashing are different jobs on this skill, with different timelines and different supply bills for the same 99. Our Magic page lists what we need from you, and the work is played rather than botted. Arena unlocks such as Bones to Peaches or the master wand are a separate Mage Training Arena order.

Common Mistakes

1. 1

   Skipping the quest XP.

   Six quests give 22,100 Magic XP and level 34, and Desert Treasure I adds 20,000 more.

2. 2

   Reaching 70 without Desert Treasure I.

   Ice Burst needs Ancient Magicks, and the quest needs 50 Magic, 53 Thieving, 50 Firemaking and 10 Slayer, so start it while you alch through the 50s.

3. 3

   Going to the monkeys without Protect from Melee.

   The wiki's setup keeps it on at all times, so 43 Prayer comes before Kruk's Dungeon.

4. 4

   Alching items that lose money.

   Check that the alch value covers the item price plus a nature rune; Low Level Alchemy on items like rune armour is a guaranteed loss.

5. 5

   Training 99 with a powered staff.

   A trident or Sanguinesti staff gives no base XP and hits one target, so it is far slower than bursting the same task.

FAQ

Still stuck on a mechanic? Ask the team on our Discord, it is free.

Final Takeaway

Quest to 34, use the library or cheap spells to 55, alch through Desert Treasure I, then burst from 70: that is the shortest real route to 99, at about 36 hours from 70. Alching and Plank Make are the slow, cheap alternatives, and ironmen should add the library and Bones to Peaches early.

If you would rather have it done, see Magic training; the other skill guides and the full blog cover the rest of the account.