OSRS Wintertodt Strategy: Solo vs Mass, XP and Rewards

Overview: Wintertodt at a Glance

The best Wintertodt strategy for Firemaking XP is to light a brazier the moment a round starts, chop bruma roots, feed them straight into a lit brazier, and relight any brazier near you as soon as it goes out. Finish every round with at least 500 points, since that unlocks both the reward cart and the bonus XP. For more reward rolls, fletch the roots into kindling first (25 points each instead of 10) and heal pyromancers with rejuvenation potions (75 points per heal).

You need 50 Firemaking. Everything else can be picked up inside: an axe, knife, hammer and tinderbox all come from the crates, and the rejuvenation potion ingredients are in the lobby.

Wintertodt is not a safe death. If your warmth meter reaches 0% you die and lose items as normal, and a hardcore ironman loses their status.

Access Requirements

50 Firemaking is the only hard requirement. Druidic Ritual lets you make rejuvenation potions yourself; without it, Brew'ma combines them for you. You need to own a house to get Construction XP from repairing braziers.

Wear four pieces of warm clothing. Each one cuts the cold damage and adds 1% to your warmth regen, and the game warns you on entry if you have fewer than four. Clue hunter gear, a rainbow scarf or jumper, earmuffs, a woolly or bobble hat and any pyromancer piece all count.

To get there, use a games necklace to the camp (after taking Veos' ship to Kourend once), the Lovakengj minecart to the Northern Tundras, fairy ring CIS, or the Arceuus Home Teleport. The boss requirements checklist lists the other skilling boss gates.

Wintertodt Strategy: Mass Worlds vs Solo

Mass worlds give the most Firemaking XP because rounds end fast and every win pays the bonus XP. Solo on a quiet world gives the most reward rolls, because a round lasts as long as you keep it going and every point is yours. These are the wiki's rates at 99 Firemaking:

XP scales with your Firemaking level, so the same mass method gives about 177,000 XP an hour at 50 and 247,000 at 70.

Solo, light all four braziers at the start to pull the Wintertodt's energy down to 20 to 30% quickly, since cold damage gets rarer as its energy drops. Then work from the south-west brazier: it is 10 ticks from the next brazier either way and pathing puts you right next to its pyromancer. Below about 8% energy, stop relighting braziers, or one lucky burn can end the round early. Long solo rounds are also the easy way to the Why Fletch? Combat Achievement, which needs 3,000 points in one game.

Points and Reward Rolls

500 points gives 2 reward rolls. Every further 500 adds a guaranteed roll, and points in between give a matching chance at one more: 750 points is 2 rolls plus a 50% chance of a third. Leaving the prison or logging out mid-round wipes that round's points.

Where Wintertodt Sits in Progression

Wintertodt and Tempoross are the two 1-of-5 skilling bosses. Wintertodt needs 50 Firemaking, Tempoross 35 Fishing. Hespori (65 Farming) and Zalcano (Song of the Elves) sit above both.

Round-by-Round Wintertodt Strategy

1. In the lobby, take unfinished rejuvenation potions and bruma herbs and combine them, or hand them to Brew'ma.
2. Light a brazier as soon as the timer hits 0:00 for 25 points and Firemaking level x 6 XP.
3. Chop bruma roots until your inventory is full. Cold hits do not interrupt chopping.
4. Burn the roots (10 points each) or fletch them first (25 points each). Fletch hugging the wall by the roots, or two tiles from the brazier, to stay out of the snowfall.
5. Relight or repair your brazier every time it goes out, even mid-fletch. The points and XP are always worth it.
6. Watch your warmth. A dose of rejuvenation potion restores 30%, and any food that heals 4 or more restores 35%.
7. Check you have 500 points before the bar empties, then collect your rolls from the reward cart in the camp.

• Snowfall marks a 3x3 area around a player, then hits it for about double a normal cold hit. Step out.
• Heavy snow over a brazier means it will shatter and hit anyone standing next to it.
• There is a safe area where no attack reaches you. You can make potions there, but you cannot fletch.

Wintertodt Rewards

Rewards come from the reward cart in the camp, which stores up to 8,000 rolls. The quality of herbs, ores, fish, gems, seeds and logs depends on your Herblore, Mining, Fishing, Crafting, Farming and Woodcutting levels when you search, so you can bank rolls and open them later at higher levels.

The full pyromancer outfit gives 2.5% bonus Firemaking XP and each piece counts as warm clothing. Ironmen should keep three warm gloves and three bruma torches; any further roll for either gives a magic seed or torstol seeds instead.

Ironman Notes

Wintertodt is a common first stop for new ironmen. The Arceuus Home Teleport gets you there with no requirements, and the cart's herbs, ores, seeds and gems are hard to come by early on. Search the cart after raising the matching skills to get better materials.

Common Mistakes and Death Causes

• Leaving or logging out mid-round, which deletes that round's points.
• Ending under 500 points. If you are short, heal a pyromancer for a quick 75.
• Fletching when you want pure Firemaking XP. Fletching is slower XP and only pays in points.
• Wearing fewer than four warm items, which means more cold damage and more potions.
• Standing next to a brazier under heavy snow.
• Letting warmth hit 0%, which is a full, unsafe death.

FAQ

What is the best Wintertodt strategy?

For XP, play a mass world and burn roots without fletching, relighting braziers whenever they go out. For rewards, solo a quiet world, fletch every root and heal the pyromancers. Either way, get at least 500 points each round.

Is solo or mass Wintertodt better?

Mass is better for Firemaking XP: about 350,000 an hour at 99 burning roots. Solo is better for loot: about 48 reward rolls an hour when you fletch and heal, against about 28 to 35 on a mass world.

What do I need for Wintertodt?

50 Firemaking. An axe, knife, hammer and tinderbox are free from the crates inside, and four pieces of warm clothing are strongly recommended.

How many points do you need at Wintertodt?

500 for a reward and the bonus XP. 500 points gives 2 rolls, 1,000 gives 3 and 1,500 gives 4.

What are the Wintertodt rewards?

Supplies from the reward cart (logs, herbs, ores, gems, seeds and fish), plus the pyromancer outfit, warm gloves, bruma torch, tome of fire, Phoenix pet and dragon axe.

What kills people at Wintertodt?

The warmth meter. Hitting 0% is an instant, unsafe death. Keep potions or food on you and step out of falling snow.

Related Guides

• Every OSRS boss, mini-boss and Slayer boss
• PvM progression guide
• Best bosses for money
• Combat Achievements guide

Bottom Line

Pick your goal before the first round: mass and burn for XP, solo and fletch for rolls. Get 500 points either way, since anything less pays no reward and no bonus XP.

From 50, 99 Firemaking is roughly 540 wins burning roots (670 if you fletch); our Firemaking service covers those levels by hand. For the full route from level 1, see our Firemaking guide.