The short version
30-second read- The colossal pouch is the biggest upgrade. Combine all four pouches with an abyssal needle at 25 Runecraft and 56 Crafting; it holds 40 essence from 85.
- The abyssal needle costs 750 abyssal pearls. It also drops from the Rewards Guardian at 1/300, and the full Raiments of the Eye cost 1,350 pearls.
- Do Enter the Abyss despite it being a miniquest. It gives 1,000 XP and the small pouch, and Temple of the Eye requires it.
- Lava runes need Magic Imbue at 82 Magic. It comes from Lunar Diplomacy, and carrying talismans instead is one of the common mistakes.
Overview
The standard Runecrafting route is Temple of the Eye at level 10, which takes you straight to 27, then Guardians of the Rift until you have the pouches and the Raiments of the Eye, then lava runes for speed or blood runes from 77 for low effort. On the OSRS Wiki's numbers, lava runes with Magic Imbue and the colossal pouch run 65,700 XP an hour at 50 and about 102,000 at 99. Guardians of the Rift gives 40,000–70,000 from level 50 up, and Arceuus blood runes give 36,000.
Your XP per hour is limited by how much essence you carry per trip, so the colossal pouch matters more than which altar you pick. The Raiments of the Eye add runes, not XP.
Below: a method picker with the wiki's rates, the quest unlocks that change the route, pouch tiers, hours to 77 and 99, a full ironman route with essence sources, and the four Runecraft boosts that exist.
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Skill type | Artisan |
| Main constraint | Essence you can carry per trip |
| Best all-round method | Guardians of the Rift (from 27, after Temple of the Eye) |
| Fast method | Lava runes with Magic Imbue, about 102,000 XP/hr at 99 |
| AFK / profit method | Blood runes at 77, about 36,000 XP/hr |
| Ironman method | Guardians of the Rift, then blood runes or ZMI with daeyalt essence |
| Rune outfit | Raiments of the Eye (up to 60% more runes, no extra XP) |
| 99 reward | Runecraft cape |
Pick Your Method
XP rates are the Runecraft training page's figures for efficient play. GP per XP is the wiki's live calculation on 14 October 2026: a plus sign means the method makes money.
| Method | Levels | XP/hr (wiki) | GP per XP | Attention | Needs | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quests (Enter the Abyss, Temple of the Eye) | 1–27 | 10,210 XP in total | Free | Low | Rune Mysteries; 10 Runecraft for Temple of the Eye | Everyone |
| Guardians of the Rift | 27–99 | 25,000 at 40–50, 40,000 at 50–75, 50,000 at 75–85, 65,000 at 85–98 (small team), 70,000 at 99 | Profit (runes, pearls) | Medium | Temple of the Eye | Mains, ironmen, UIM |
| Lava runes, Magic Imbue | 23–99 | 65,700 at 50, 80,000 at 75, 100,800 at 85, 102,100 at 99 | +0.8 to +1.3 (no outfit), +2.5 to +3.0 (Raiments) | High | Lunar Diplomacy, 82 Magic, pure essence, earth runes, binding necklaces | Mains who want speed |
| Talisman tiaras | 1–50 | 36,300 (air) to 58,000 (elemental) | −11 to −75 | High | Tiaras and talismans | Mains rushing early levels |
| Ourania Altar (ZMI), pure essence | 1–99 | 42,077 at 50, 57,270 at 75, 77,121 at 99 | Profit, about 350,000–400,000 GP/hr at high levels | Medium | Lunar Diplomacy, 71 Magic for Ourania Teleport | Mains; irons with an essence stock |
| Ourania Altar, daeyalt essence | 1–99 | 63,115 at 50, 85,905 at 75, 115,682 at 99 | Free, but you mine the essence | Medium | As above, plus Sins of the Father and 60 Mining | Ironmen |
| Arceuus Library | 1–99 | 750 × your level at 150 books/hr (52,500 at 70) | Free (stamina potions) | High (running) | None | Quest-free accounts, UIM |
| Blood runes (Arceuus) | 77–99 | 36,000 | Profit, about 508,000–864,000 GP/hr | Low | 38 Mining, 38 Crafting, chisel, pickaxe | AFK, ironmen |
| Soul runes (Arceuus) | 90–99 | 44,000 | Profit, about 579,000–926,000 GP/hr | Low | Same as blood runes | AFK |
| Lava runes with four runners | 23–90 | 280,000 | −172 | High | Four essence runners | Rich mains |
Verdict: pick Guardians of the Rift first on every account, lava runes if you want the fastest solo XP, and blood runes or ZMI if you are an ironman or want low effort.
Quest and Diary Unlocks That Change the Route
Runecrafting is gated by quests more than most skills. These unlocks are the difference between a modern route and a painful one.
| Unlock | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| Rune Mysteries | Baseline access to Runecrafting and the altars. |
| Enter the Abyss (miniquest) | Abyss access, 1,000 Runecraft XP and the small pouch. Short, and it is required for Temple of the Eye. |
| Temple of the Eye | Needs 10 Runecraft. Its 9,210 XP takes you from 10 to 27, and it unlocks Guardians of the Rift and gives you the medium pouch. |
| Lunar Diplomacy | Magic Imbue (82 Magic) removes the opposing talisman for combination runes such as lavas, and Astral Contact (67 Magic, formerly NPC Contact) reaches the Dark Mage for pouch repairs. Also 5,000 Runecraft XP. |
| Sins of the Father | The True Blood Altar in the Meiyerditch Laboratories (77 Runecraft) and daeyalt essence, which gives 50% more XP per essence. |
| Mourning's End Part II | Death rune access at 65 Runecrafting. |
| Guardians of the Rift | From level 27. The Rewards Guardian drops the medium, large and giant pouches and, at 1/300, the abyssal needle for the colossal pouch. Abyssal pearls buy the Raiments of the Eye. |
| Kourend & Kebos Diary | Medium: a 5% chance to mine two dense essence blocks at once for blood and soul runes. Elite: 10% more blood runes, no extra XP. |
Recommended Equipment and Boosts
Runecrafting gear is about how much essence you can move and how many extra runes you get for it. Nothing here is combat gear.
| Item / boost | Effect |
|---|---|
| Small pouch | Level 1, holds 3 essence. Given by Enter the Abyss and never degrades. |
| Medium pouch | Level 25, holds 6. From Temple of the Eye, abyssal creatures or the Rewards Guardian. |
| Large pouch | Level 50, holds 9. |
| Giant pouch | Level 75, holds 12. |
| Colossal pouch | Made from all four pouches with an abyssal needle (25 Runecraft, 56 Crafting). Holds 8 essence at 25 Runecraft, rising to 40 at 85. The single biggest XP-per-hour upgrade in the skill. |
| Raiments of the Eye | 10% more runes per piece plus 20% for the full set, 60% in total. No extra XP. 1,350 abyssal pearls for all four pieces. |
| Abyssal lantern | 1,500 abyssal pearls or a 1/700 Rewards Guardian roll. Redwood logs (90 Firemaking) stop pouch decay, blisterwood logs (62) give 20% more blood runes and magic logs (75) 10% more runes. Since 19 August 2026 these effects also work outside the minigame (Abyssal lantern). |
| Magic Imbue | 82 Magic, Lunar Diplomacy. For 12.6 seconds you can craft combination runes such as lavas without the opposing talisman. |
| Binding necklace | Makes combination runes succeed every time instead of 50%. |
| Astral Contact | 67 Magic. Contacts the Dark Mage, who repairs degraded pouches for free without a trip into the Abyss. |
| Daeyalt essence | Sins of the Father content; mining it needs 60 Mining. 50% more XP than pure essence, and at the Ourania Altar the bonuses stack to 2.55 times normal XP. It cannot replace dark essence for Arceuus blood or soul runes. |
| Stamina potions | Runecrafting is a running skill. Energy is a real constraint on abyss and altar runs. |
Level-by-Level Training Table
The modern route leans on quests to 27, Guardians of the Rift through the mid game, lava runes for speed and blood runes once 77 opens up. XP rates are the wiki's figures.
| Levels | Method | XP per hour and notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1–10 | Enter the Abyss plus a few loads of air runes | Enter the Abyss alone gives 1,000 XP, level 9. |
| 10–27 | Temple of the Eye | 9,210 XP from the quest. No grinding needed. |
| 27–99 | Guardians of the Rift | 25,000 at 40–50, 40,000 at 50–75, 50,000 at 75–85, 65,000 at 85–98, 70,000 at 99. Earns pouches, the needle and the Raiments of the Eye while you level. |
| 23–99 | Lava runes (alternative) | With Magic Imbue, Astral Contact, a binding necklace and the colossal pouch: 65,700 at 50, 80,000 at 75, 100,800 at 85, 102,100 at 99. The fastest solo method. |
| Any level | Ourania Altar (alternative) | With pure essence: 42,077 at 50, 57,270 at 75, 77,121 at 99. With daeyalt essence: 63,115 at 50 and 115,682 at 99. Needs Lunar Diplomacy and the Ourania Teleport spell. |
| 44+ | Nature runes (alternative) | Unlocked at 44, but the wiki only recommends them from 91, when you craft two per essence; before that the profit is much lower. |
| 54+ | Law runes (alternative) | Unlocked at 54; the wiki only recommends double law runes from 95 for the same reason. |
| 65+ | Death runes (alternative) | Requires Mourning's End Part II. |
| 77–99 | Blood runes at the Arceuus altar | About 36,000 XP/hr plus some Mining and Crafting XP. Needs 38 Mining, 38 Crafting, a chisel and a pickaxe; no quest. |
| 90–99 | Soul runes (alternative) | About 44,000 XP/hr on the same dark essence routine. |
| 95+ | Wrath runes | Endgame option; niche unless you want the specific runes. |
Hours to 77 and 99
Level 50 to 77 is 1,374,248 XP and 77 to 99 is 11,558,850 XP on the Experience table. Each figure below is that XP divided by the wiki's rate for each bracket, rounded, so it assumes efficient play.
| Method | 50–77 | 77–99 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lava runes (Magic Imbue, colossal pouch) | About 20 h | About 119 h | Uses about 1.1M pure essence from 77 to 99 at 10.5 XP each |
| Guardians of the Rift | About 33 h | About 186 h | No essence; the 85+ rate assumes a small coordinated team |
| Ourania Altar, pure essence | About 30 h | About 162 h | About 97,000 essence for 50–77 and 761,000 for 77–99 |
| Ourania Altar, daeyalt essence | About 20 h crafting | About 108 h crafting | Plus mining: about 65,000 and 508,000 daeyalt, or 16 h and 127 h at 4,000 an hour |
| Arceuus Library (150 books/hr) | About 27 h | About 170 h | About 255 h for 77–99 at 100 books an hour without stamina potions |
| Blood runes | Not available | About 321 h | About 282 h if you switch to soul runes at 90 |
The gap between lavas and blood runes from 77 is roughly 200 hours. That is the real price of the AFK route, and it is why most mains do lavas to a goal and bloods only when they want to play something else at the same time.
Fastest Route
Fastest solo XP means lava runes with Magic Imbue, a binding necklace and the colossal pouch: about 100,800 XP an hour at 85 and 102,100 at 99 on the wiki's numbers. It is a click-heavy loop with no waiting.
- 1
Complete Rune Mysteries and Enter the Abyss for Abyss access and the small pouch.
- 2
Reach level 10 and complete Temple of the Eye, which takes you to 27.
- 3
Run Guardians of the Rift until you have the large and giant pouches, the abyssal needle and the full Raiments of the Eye, then make the colossal pouch.
- 4
Complete Lunar Diplomacy and reach 82 Magic for Magic Imbue; Astral Contact comes at 67.
- 5
Switch to lava runes:
cast Magic Imbue instead of carrying earth talismans, and wear a binding necklace.
- 6
Fill every pouch every trip; unfilled capacity is the main reason people's rates disappoint.
- 7
Use Astral Contact to have the Dark Mage repair pouches mid-session instead of banking, or light an abyssal lantern with redwood logs so they never decay.
- 8
Keep stamina potions running; travel time is a large share of the method.
- 9
Switch to blood or soul runes at 77 or 90 if you want profit and lower intensity for the last stretch.
Cheapest and Most Affordable Route
- Guardians of the Rift is effectively free: you mine your own essence inside the minigame and get rune rewards on top.
- Blood runes at 77 are profitable rather than costly, which makes the last third of the skill pay for itself.
- Nature and law runes pay for themselves once you craft two per essence, at 91 and 95; the wiki does not recommend either before that because the profit is much lower.
- Lava runes are no longer a money sink. With Magic Imbue the wiki's live figures on 14 October 2026 show about +0.8 to +1.3 GP per XP without the outfit and +2.5 to +3.0 with the Raiments; recheck before a long session, because essence and lava rune prices move.
- Talisman tiaras are the expensive early route, from about −11 GP per XP for air tiaras to −75 for fire tiaras.
- Do the quest XP rewards before grinding, since they cost nothing but time.
- Use ordinary pure essence rather than daeyalt if you are optimising cost instead of XP; daeyalt needs Sins of the Father and 60 Mining.
AFK and Low-Intensity Route
- Blood runes at the Arceuus altar from level 77 are the closest thing Runecrafting has to AFK: about 36,000 XP an hour from a short repeating loop of mining, chiselling and crafting.
- Soul runes from 90 behave the same way at about 44,000 XP an hour.
- Guardians of the Rift is semi-AFK in the sense that it is forgiving, but it still needs steady attention through each game.
- Lava runes are the opposite of AFK; do not pick them if you want low intensity.
- Nature rune runs are simple enough to do while distracted, though the walking makes them slow.
Profitable Route
- Blood runes from 77 are the standard profit method and stay relevant to 99: about 508,000 GP an hour without the Raiments and up to about 864,000 with the Raiments and the elite Kourend & Kebos Diary on 14 October 2026 wiki prices.
- Soul runes from 90 run the same routine for faster XP and, on 14 October 2026 prices, slightly more GP an hour (about 579,000 without the outfit).
- Double nature runes from 91 are a strong profit method, and with the Achievement diary cape the wiki rates them among the best GP an hour in the skill. Natures from 44 to 90 make much less.
- Double law runes from 95 are a low-effort profit option; the wiki does not recommend laws before 95.
- Guardians of the Rift pays in rune rewards as well as XP, so the learning phase is not a loss.
- Wrath runes at 95 are worth checking if you are already at the level, but they are niche.
Ironman Route
An ironman can reach 99 without touching pure essence: quests to 27, Guardians of the Rift for the pouches and outfit, then blood runes or more Rift games. Essence only matters if you want ZMI, lavas or wrath runes. The route and rates below follow the wiki's Ironman Runecraft guide.
- 1
Rune Mysteries, then Enter the Abyss (1,000 XP, level 9).
The Ascent of Arceuus (500 XP) or a few air runes gets you to 10.
- 2
Temple of the Eye at 10: its 9,210 XP takes you to 27 and opens Guardians of the Rift.
The Eyes of Glouphrie (6,000 XP, 46 Magic) is worth doing too.
- 3
Play the Rift until you own the large and giant pouches, the abyssal needle (1/300, or 750 pearls) and all four Raiments pieces (1,350 pearls). The wiki puts the full outfit at about 630 Rewards Guardian searches on average.
- 4
Light the abyssal lantern with redwood logs once you have 90 Firemaking so pouches stop decaying; until then yew logs add contribution points.
- 5
Do Lunar Diplomacy for Astral Contact (67 Magic) and Ourania Teleport (71 Magic), and Sins of the Father for daeyalt essence, if ZMI is part of your plan.
- 6
From 77, blood runes in Arceuus.
The ironman guide puts output at about 1,666 runes an hour with the medium Kourend & Kebos Diary, 2,575 in the Raiments and 3,772 adding a blisterwood lantern and blood essence: that is your Blood Barrage, Sanguinesti staff and scythe supply.
- 7
Wrath runes at 95 need Dragon Slayer II and noted pure essence from Slayer; the ironman guide gives up to about 47,000 XP an hour with the Runecraft cape and a Crafting cape bank teleport.
Where ironmen get essence
| Source | Requirement | Rate or drop | Use it for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guardians of the Rift | Temple of the Eye | No essence needed: guardian fragments are mined inside the game | 27–99 with zero essence |
| Arceuus dense essence | 38 Mining, 38 Crafting | Mined inside the blood and soul rune loop | 77–99 with zero essence |
| Daeyalt essence mine | Sins of the Father, 60 Mining | Up to about 4,000 an hour (about 9,000 with tick manipulation); each is worth 1.5 pure essence in XP | ZMI |
| Scar essence mine | Part of Desert Treasure II, 64 Mining | Up to 10,000 pure essence an hour (over 18,000 with tick manipulation) | ZMI, lavas, wrath runes |
| Temple Trekking | In Aid of the Myreque | 3,000–4,000 an hour on Route 1; 5,000–10,000 on Route 3 with a medium or hard companion | Early stock before Slayer |
| Soul Wars | 500 total level, 40 combat | About 1,000 essence per three spoils of war (30 zeal each) | Low-effort stock |
| Rune essence mine | Rune Mysteries, 30 Mining for pure | About 2,000 an hour with a rune pickaxe and pouches | Earliest option |
| Abyssal demons | 85 Slayer | 60 noted at 5/128 (5/68 in the Wilderness Slayer Cave), about 2.3 a kill | Passive top-up |
| Abyssal Sire | 85 Slayer | 600 noted at 5/139, about 21.6 a kill | Passive top-up |
| Wizard Cromperty | Ardougne Diary | 100 noted a day (medium), 150 (hard), 250 (elite) | Free daily claim |
Ironman Runecraft: GotR vs ZMI vs Blood Runes
These are the three realistic ways an ironman trains past the Rift's early rewards. Rates come from the wiki's training page and Ourania Altar table; hours use the same maths as the section above.
| Factor | Guardians of the Rift | ZMI with daeyalt | Blood runes (Arceuus) |
|---|---|---|---|
| XP/hr (wiki) | 40,000 at 50–75, 50,000 at 75–85, 65,000 at 85–98 in a team | 63,115 at 50, 85,905 at 75, 108,789 at 85, 115,682 at 99 | 36,000 from 77; 44,000 for soul runes at 90 |
| Essence | None | About 65,000 daeyalt for 50–77 and 508,000 for 77–99 | None |
| Hours 50–77 | About 33 | About 36 (20 crafting, 16 mining) | Not available |
| Hours 77–99 | About 186 | About 235 (108 crafting, 127 mining) | About 321 (282 with soul runes from 90) |
| Requirements | Temple of the Eye | Lunar Diplomacy, 71 Magic, Sins of the Father, 60 Mining | 77 Runecraft, 38 Mining, 38 Crafting |
| Attention | Medium | Medium, with AFK mining breaks | Low |
| Risk | Non-combat minigame | Aggressive Zamorak warriors, mages and rangers (levels 81–85) on the short route | Low |
| What you keep | Pouches, needle, Raiments, lantern, runes | A random mix of runes that improves with your level | Blood runes for barrage, Sang staff and scythe |
Verdict: pick the Rift until you own the colossal pouch and full Raiments. After that, pick blood runes if you want AFK XP and a barrage supply, the Rift in a small team if you want the fastest no-essence 99, or ZMI with daeyalt if you like splitting the grind between mining and crafting.
Two methods are left out on purpose. Lava runes need earth talismans or Magic Imbue plus about 1.1M pure essence for 77–99, which is a main's method. The Abyss rates below all three on the ironman guide and starts in the Wilderness; use it when you need a specific rune such as natures or laws and have no talisman.
UIM, HCIM and F2P Notes
UIM
- The UIM Runecraft guide rates Guardians of the Rift as the best UIM method, and it is safe, so store your items at an Item Retrieval Service for a free inventory.
- The Raiments of the Eye and the abyssal lantern both go in the POH magic wardrobe (the lantern since 2 September 2026), so neither eats an inventory slot between sessions.
- Get the pouches by killing abyssal creatures near fairy ring ALR with a crush weapon; they drop in order from small to giant. The Dark Mage replaces a lost small pouch for free.
- Blood and soul runes and the Arceuus Library are both safe. Dump your items, take a full inventory of dense essence, and the wiki suggests fletching broad or headless arrows on the run to the altar.
- Wrath runes are the one essence method in the UIM guide: unnote essence at the Crafting Guild bank chest with the Crafting cape, up to about 39,000 XP an hour. Keep your items, because the dragons on the route can kill you on a disconnect.
Hardcore ironman
- Enter the Abyss needs a short trip into low-level Wilderness, and it gates Temple of the Eye. Do it on a quiet world carrying nothing you would miss.
- The Abyss itself is a poor HCIM route: you reach the Mage of Zamorak through level 5 Wilderness, you are skulled on entry unless you wear an abyssal bracelet, and the outer ring is multicombat.
- ZMI's short route has aggressive Zamorak warriors, mages and rangers that use all three styles. Prioritise Magic defence, use Protect from Missiles, and play on the official worlds 327 or 480.
- Wrath runes mean running past high-level dragons, which the ironman guide flags as dangerous for hardcores.
- Guardians of the Rift and Arceuus blood runes are the low-risk path to 99.
Free-to-play
Body runes are the highest rune F2P can craft, so F2P training is tiaras for speed or body runes for cheap XP. Rates from the wiki's Free-to-play Runecraft training page:
| Method | XP/hr | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Body tiaras on a PvP world | Up to 47,000 | Skull sceptre (i) to Barbarian Village, Lumbridge Teleport to bank; you can be attacked |
| Earth tiaras | Up to 27,000 | Varrock Teleport back; each costs a tiara and a talisman |
| Water tiaras | Up to 25,000 | Lumbridge Teleport back |
| Body runes | About 20,000 (25,000 on a PvP world) | Cheapest: you craft runes you can sell |
Common Mistakes
- Grinding low-level altars past 27. Temple of the Eye already put you there, and Guardians of the Rift hands you pouches, the needle and the outfit while you level.
- Starting a long grind before the colossal pouch and full Raiments of the Eye. The pouch holds 40 essence at 85 and the Raiments add 60% more runes; both are the reward for the first stretch of Rift games.
- Running half-empty or decaying pouches. Fill every pouch every trip, and stop decay with a redwood abyssal lantern or Astral Contact repairs instead of losing laps to the Dark Mage.
- Expecting the wiki's lava rates without the setup. They assume Magic Imbue, a binding necklace, every pouch and about seven extended stamina doses an hour, and beginners still land at 50–90% of them.
- Planning ZMI on an ironman around Slayer essence. A demon averages about 2.3 essence a kill and 50–77 at ZMI needs about 97,000; mine daeyalt or stay on the Rift and blood runes.
Useful Plugins
- 1
Guardians of the Rift:
tracks the game timer, portal locations and your point split.
- 2
Runecraft pouch:
shows pouch contents and warns you before they degrade.
- 3
Menu Entry Swapper:
makes altar and pouch clicks consistent across a long session.
- 4
Run Energy:
surfaces exact energy and stamina state for travel-heavy trips.
- 5
Inventory Tags:
keeps pouches and essence in fixed slots so trips are muscle memory.
- 6
XP Tracker:
compares your real rate between the Rift, lavas and blood runes.
FAQ
What is the best way to train Runecrafting now?
Temple of the Eye to 27, then Guardians of the Rift for most of the skill. It gives XP, the pouches, the abyssal needle and the Raiments of the Eye at the same time, which no altar route does. Switch to lava runes when you want speed.
How do I get the colossal pouch?
Make it. Use an abyssal needle on your small, medium, large and giant pouches with 25 Runecraft and 56 Crafting. The needle drops from the Rewards Guardian at 1/300 or costs 750 abyssal pearls at Temple Supplies. The pouch holds 40 essence once you reach 85 Runecraft.
Are blood runes good XP?
They are good low-intensity XP and good money from level 77, at about 36,000 XP an hour. They are not the fastest: lava runes with Magic Imbue reach about 102,000 an hour at 99 and are far more click-heavy.
Do I need Lunar Diplomacy?
For the fast route, effectively yes. Magic Imbue (82 Magic) removes talismans from combination rune crafting, and Astral Contact (67 Magic) lets the Dark Mage repair pouches without banking.
Is Runecrafting still the worst skill to train?
No. Guardians of the Rift removed most of what made it miserable, and blood runes make the last third profitable.
What XP rates should I expect?
On the wiki's figures: Guardians of the Rift 40,000 at 50 rising to 70,000 at 99, lava runes 65,700 at 50 rising to 102,100 at 99 with Magic Imbue and the colossal pouch, Ourania Altar 77,121 at 99 with pure essence, blood runes 36,000 and soul runes 44,000.
What is the best way to train Runecraft on an ironman?
Quests to 27, Guardians of the Rift until you have the colossal pouch and the Raiments, then blood runes from 77, or more Rift games, or ZMI with daeyalt if you will mine. At wiki rates 77–99 is about 186 hours on the Rift, about 235 at ZMI with daeyalt counting the mining, and about 321 on blood runes.
Is daeyalt essence worth it at ZMI?
For a main who can buy pure essence, rarely for speed. The wiki's formula puts daeyalt's efficiency at 1.5 ÷ (1 + essence crafted per hour ÷ shards mined per hour), so it only beats bought essence if you mine more than twice what you craft. ZMI at 77 burns about 3,925 essence an hour, which would need about 7,850 shards an hour; normal mining tops out near 4,000–4,856. The wiki's own example lands at 95% efficiency with a third of the time spent AFK mining, so it is a comfort pick, not a speed pick.
For an ironman it is the best ZMI fuel. Each daeyalt is worth 1.5 pure essence, and by the same formula it edges out the Scar essence mine's 10,000 pure an hour, because every daeyalt lap carries 50% more XP.
What boosts Runecraft in OSRS?
Four things. The Runecraft cape gives +1, Metztonalli white gives +1 (500 coins at Varlamore inns such as The Flaming Arrow in Civitas illa Fortis), Oldak in Dorgesh-Kaan gives ±2 after Death to the Dorgeshuun, and spicy stew with orange spice rolls -5 to +5 at random. Boosts do not let you use a higher-tier essence pouch.
Bottom Line
Runecrafting is a capacity skill. Make the colossal pouch with the abyssal needle and buy the full Raiments of the Eye before you commit to anything long.
Then choose your ending: lava runes if you want speed, blood or soul runes if you want profit and a calmer routine, and on an ironman the Rift or bloods with no essence at all.
If you would rather skip straight to using the runes, our Runecraft training is hand-done to any level.
Sources
Numbers and mechanics on this page come from these 15 OSRS Wiki pages:
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