LOCAL OSRS REFERENCE

Barbarian Training

Source revision 15292392 · Saved 2026-09-27 · Sources & credits

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This miniquest has a quick guide.
It briefly summarises the steps needed to complete the quest.
Barbarian Training
Released 3 July 2007 (Update)
Members Yes
Quest series None
Developer(s) Unknown (original), Mod Arcane and Mod Maylea (rework)[1]

Barbarian Training is a miniquest that explores a set of expansions to Farming, Firemaking, Herblore, Fishing, and Smithing. The miniquest provides access to the Ancient Cavern and the numerous monsters within, such as the mithril dragon.

Initially released as a standalone activity on 3 July 2007, Barbarian Training was reworked into a miniquest on 14 February 2024, alongside the addition of Barbarian Farming. This page contains information on both the miniquest itself, as well as the individual methods of training skills.

Details

Start pointSpeak to Otto Godblessed in his grotto at the lake atop Baxtorian Falls. Show on map
Official difficultyExperienced
Official lengthMedium
DescriptionOtto Godblessed has been researching his history and training people in the ways of his ancestors, and now he's ready to teach you. From his hut on the banks of the lake at the top of Baxtorian Falls, you'll go Fishing with your bare hands, mix fish eggs into your potions, wield one-handed spears and, finally, go deep into the ancient cavern beneath the lake.
Requirements
  • Completion of Tai Bwo Wannai Trio [not required to start]
  • Fishing 55 Fishing [boostable] [not required to start]
  • Firemaking 35 Firemaking [not boostable] [not required to start]
  • Strength 35 Strength [not boostable] [not required to start]
  • Agility 15 Agility [not boostable] [not required to start]
  • Farming 15 Farming [not boostable] [not required to start]
  • Crafting 11 Crafting [not boostable] [not required to start]
  • Smithing 5 Smithing [not boostable] [not required to start]
  • Herblore 4 Herblore [not boostable] [not required to start]
Items required
Recommended
Enemies to defeat

Starting out

Talk to Otto Godblessed in his grotto, on top of Baxtorian Falls. Players can get there quickly by using the games necklace teleport to the Barbarian Outpost and running south. Alternatively, players can also use the Barbarian Assault minigame teleport (after fully playing through the tutorial), or run up directly from East Ardougne and climb the cliff side of the waterfall to the plateau.

Otto is interested in the cultural history of his people and will offer to teach eligible players about barbarian skills. Upon speaking to him, respond with, "You think so?" to start the miniquest.

Later on, if you ask about the Ancient Cavern under the lake, he will give a blank note book. You can add to the note book as you find ancient pages within, which are usually collected by searching skeletons on the cave floor. Note that doing so may result in a skeleton heavy or skeleton hero attacking.

Fishing

Otto will give the player information about barbarian Fishing, allowing the player to fish with a heavy rod and catch new fish, as well as catch fish barehanded. Note that you do not need to complete both sections to begin fishing in the nearby waters with a barbarian rod.

Heavy rod fishing

Items needed: Barbarian rod or the equipable version, the Pearl barbarian rod. Also, Fishing bait, feathers, fish offcuts, roe or caviar
Items recommended: Knife
Skills needed: Fishing 48 Fishing, Agility 15 Agility, Strength 15 Strength
Barbarian Fishing experience rates using a heavy rod as a function of Fishing level.

Speak to Otto and ask "What can I learn about the use of a fishing rod?" He will explain that barbarians use heavier tackle to catch leaping fish in the lake nearby, and tell you to search under his bed to obtain a barbarian rod.

Use the rod at the fishing spots in the lake to catch leaping trout, leaping salmon, or leaping sturgeon. This is a low-effort training method that also grants Strength and Agility experience.

Caught fish can be gutted with a knife to obtain roe or caviar, granting a small amount of Cooking experience. Gutting may fail, but at level 80 Cooking it is no longer possible to fail when cutting salmon or sturgeon. Gutting also has a chance to produce fish offcuts. Offcuts, roe, and caviar can all be used as bait at these fishing spots, though roe and caviar are only used if no other bait is in the inventory.

At least one roe is needed for the Barbarian Herblore section below, so keep one when gutting.

Fish offcuts can also be used for aerial fishing, deep sea trawling, and baiting crab traps.

Fish Level Experience
Fishing Strength Agility Cooking Fishing Strength Agility Cooking Skills
Leaping trout 48 15 15 0 50 5 5 10 70
Leaping salmon 58 30 30 0 70 6 6 10 92
Leaping sturgeon 70 45 45 0 80 7 7 15 109
Fishing Level XP/h (AFK) XP/h (3-tick)
Fishing Strength /Agility Skills Total Fishing Strength /Agility Cooking Skills Total
48 23,000 2,300 27,600 41,000 4,100 5,400 54,600
58 37,000 3,400 43,800 68,000 6,300 9,300 89,900
70 48,000 4,400 56,800 90,000 8,200 13,800 120,200
80 52,000 4,700 61,400 97,000 8,800 14,800 129,400
90 54,000 4,900 63,800 103,000 9,300 15,800 137,400
99 57,000 5,200 67,400 108,000 9,800 16,800 144,400

The following table shows the ratio between Fishing and Agility/Strength experience:

Level Ratio (Fishing:other skills)
50-57 10:1
58-69 ~10.8:1
70-79 ~10.9:1
80-89 ~11.1:1
90-99 ~11.3:1
99 ~11.4:1

Barehanded fishing

Skills needed: Fishing 55 Fishing, Strength 35 Strength
The player fishes tuna and swordfish without a harpoon.

Speak to Otto and ask "Please teach me of your cunning with harpoons." He will tell you that instead of using a harpoon, you will use your arm as bait. Find a fishing spot where a harpoon is required; Catherby is a good location with no requirements, while the Fishing Guild is closer but requires level 68 Fishing to enter. The fairy ring BJP to Soul Wars is directly next to a spot. The fishing spots in Tempoross Cove will work as well.

While barehanded fishing is identical in speed and catch rate as fishing with a regular harpoon, it requires 20 additional Fishing levels to fish the same fish barehanded (boosts can be used). Barehanded fishing also gives small amounts of bonus Strength experience (see the table below).

Fish Level Experience
Fishing Strength Fishing Strength Skills
Raw harpoonfish 55 35 8.5 10 18.5
Raw tuna 55 35 80 8 88
Raw swordfish 70 50 100 10 110
Raw shark 96 76 110 11 121

Firemaking

Otto will give the player information about barbarian Firemaking (This does not require completing or even starting the fishing section). He will tell you to take a bow and use it with oak logs as a way of lighting them without a tinderbox.

Lighting fires with a bow

Items needed: Any standard bow made with logs, and one set of oak logs
Skills needed: Firemaking 35 Firemaking
The player lights a set of redwood logs with Seercull.

Lighting logs with a bow gives the same experience as lighting them with a tinderbox. You can use your logs on the bow to make it less click intensive. After lighting your first set of Oak logs, speak to Otto again to be able to continue.

This stage of barbarian training is required to enter the Ancient Cavern, which is the location of mithril dragons, and is required for completion of Dragon Slayer II.

Logs Firemaking Firemaking
Level Exp
Logs 21 40
Achey tree logs 21 40
Oak logs 35 60
Willow logs 50 90
Teak logs 55 105
Arctic pine logs 62 125
Maple logs 65 135
Mahogany logs 70 157.5
Yew logs 80 202.5
Camphor logs 86 245
Magic logs 95 303.8
Ironwood logs 99 220.5
Rosewood logs 99 268
Redwood logs 99 350

Pyre ships

Items needed: Any woodcutting axe, tinderbox or suitable bow
Items recommended: One-click teleport, food and armour to kill level 304 mithril dragons.
Skills needed: Firemaking 11 Firemaking, Crafting 11 Crafting

Warning: This section involves entering the Ancient Cavern, a dangerous area filled with high-level monsters that can attack using multiple combat styles, including dragonfire. There is no exit immediately available upon entering the dungeon, so it is highly recommended to bring a one-click teleport. Don't bring in anything you are not willing to lose.

A barbarian Spirit being laid to rest

After creating a fire using oak logs with a bow, players can ask Otto "I have completed firemaking with a bow. What follows this?", and he will explain how to make pyre ships, which involves diving into the Ancient Cavern below the lake to obtain chewed bones. Only mithril dragons will drop chewed bones (at a rate of ~1/42), and obtaining one is required to complete the miniquest; mangled bones will not count.

After receiving the bones, players can build the pyre ship, requiring a set of logs (preferably magic logs for the elite Kandarin Diary requirement), a woodcutting axe, and a tinderbox or suitable bow. Pyre ships can be created on the pyre sites around the lake near Otto's Grotto. Burning a pyre ship will grant the player an experience bonus of up to 300%, depending on the logs used, the next time they bury bones. In order to receive this bonus, the player must have fully completed the Firemaking portion of barbarian training.

Peaceful barbarian spirits released from chewed bones will give you some items, including a 1/256 chance for a dragon full helm, while spirits released from mangled bones result in a level 166 ferocious barbarian spirit appearing, who will attack the player. Please note that if you use mangled bones to make a pyre ship, you will be unable to make another pyre ship until you kill the spirit. If you attempt to make another one while a barbarian spirit is around, the sacrifice will be declined.

Pyre ships have boostable Firemaking and Crafting level requirements.

Logs Level Experience Number of bones
with bonus exp
Crafting Firemaking Crafting Firemaking
Logs 11 11 10 40 1
Achey tree logs 11 11 10 40 1
Oak logs 25 25 15 60 2
Willow logs 40 40 22.5 90 2
Teak logs 45 45 26.2 105 3
Arctic pine logs 52 52 31.2 125 3
Maple logs 55 55 33.7 135 3
Mahogany logs 60 60 39.3 157.5 4
Yew logs 70 70 50.6 202.5 4
Camphor logs 76 76 61.2 245 4
Magic logs 85 85 75.9 303.8 5
Ironwood logs 90 90 80 320 5
Redwood logs 95 95 87 350 5
Rosewood logs 97 97 105 420 5

Farming

Otto will give the player information about barbarian Farming (This does not require completing or even starting the fishing section). Completion of barbarian Farming allows players to plant seeds without a seed dibber, and automatically destroy empty plant pots when planting trees.

Bare-handed planting

Items needed: Any seed that can be planted with a seed dibber, 1 free Farming patch.
Items recommended: A rake to clear any weeds on the patch.

After asking about agricultural training, Otto will request that you plant a seed without a seed dibber. This can be done using any type of patch that requires a seed dibber to plant seeds, for example herbs and allotments, however planting grape seeds will not progress the miniquest. After the seed is planted, you can return to Otto immediately; you don't need to wait for it to grow. Note that during the quest, this can fail, so it is advised to use low cost/plentiful seeds.

You'll know you succeed when you receive the message You feel you have learned more of barbarian ways. Otto might wish to talk to you more. Once completed, there is no longer a chance to fail to plant seeds bare-handed; you will always succeed in planting them.

Pot-smashing

Items needed: A spade, any sapling, 1 free tree patch, fruit tree patch or special tree patch.
Items recommended: An axe or 200 coins to clear the required patch if it is occupied
Skills needed: Farming 15 Farming

Talk to Otto again after planting a seed bare-handed, and ask again about agricultural training. He will speak about channeling your anger and strength into smashing the pot into dust, as not to leave a mess of pot shards all over the place. Otto will then give you the ability to smash and destroy pots automatically after planting the contents within.

After planting a filled plant pot with any sapling to an empty tree patch, your character will smash the pot to dust, and you can return to Otto to complete your Barbarian Farming training. This feature can be toggled in the settings menu under "Automatically smash empty plant pots."

Smithing

After completion of Barbarian Fishing, speak to Otto and ask "Tell me more about the use of spears". He will teach you how to make spears and hastae, but only after you've completed Tai Bwo Wannai Trio and claimed the combat xp from Tamayu. Completion of this section is required to equip the Zamorakian hasta and dragon hunter lance.

Making the weapons

Items needed: two bars, two corresponding logs, and a hammer
Skills needed: Smithing 5 Smithing, completion of Tai Bwo Wannai Trio

Take a metal bar and some corresponding logs, and use them on the barbarian anvil outside Otto's Grotto. Once you've made the spear, talk to Otto again, and he will tell you about hastae. Be careful to make only one spear, as the second bar is required for the next step.

Forging hastae is exactly the same; take a metal bar and the corresponding logs, and then use them on the barbarian anvil. Next, talk to Otto again, and your Barbarian Smithing training will be completed. If Otto says, "You do not exude the presence of one who has poured his soul into manufacturing spears," it means that you need to first smith a spear on the anvil near his grotto.

A table of the spears and hastae that you can make, as well as the logs and bars needed, is found below:

Spears Hastae Logs required Smithing Smithing
Level Exp
Bronze spear Bronze hasta Logs 5 25
Iron spear Iron hasta Oak logs 20 50
Steel spear Steel hasta Willow logs 35 75
Mithril spear Mithril hasta Maple logs 55 100
Adamant spear Adamant hasta Yew logs 75 125
Rune spear Rune hasta Magic logs 90 150
Zamorakian spear[n 1] Zamorakian hasta[n 1] N/A N/A N/A N/A
  1. ^ 1.0 1.1 You need to pay Otto 300,000 coins in order to convert a Zamorakian spear into a Zamorakian hasta. Otto can convert your Zamorakian hasta back into a spear, free of charge.

Herblore

Items needed: a normal attack potion (2 doses), roe or caviar (can be obtained during Barbarian Fishing)
Skills needed: Herblore 4 Herblore, completion of Druidic Ritual

After completion of the rod fishing part of Barbarian Fishing, speak to Otto and ask "What was that secret knowledge of herblore we talked of?" He will tell you that the secret is in the roe and caviar that you may receive when gutting leaping fish.

Otto will ask you to make an attack mix from a 2-dose attack potion. Add the roe you obtained during the Fishing section to the two-dose attack potion, and hand it back to Otto. This will fully complete the training.

Barbarian potions

After finishing this training stage, many other potions can be enhanced by adding roe or caviar to a two-dose variant of the potions. To make 2 two-dose potions from a four-dose potion, players can use the four-dose potion on an empty vial, or have certain NPCs do it for them.

Through the creation of barbarian mixes, they will additionally heal 3 or 6 Hitpoints (depending on the mix type) in addition to the regular effects to normal potions, with the trade-off being that each potion mix is only two doses, as well as incurring the standard attack delay from eating food. Note that roe cannot be used in mixes higher levelled than the stat restore mix; any higher level mix requires caviar, which is obtained the same way as roe.

Left-clicking will not work for barbarian Herblore. The best way to avoid accidentally consuming the fish eggs is to position them in the bottom row of the inventory so that one can select the "use" option immediately after right-clicking, without needing to move the cursor.

Potion Herblore Herblore Heals

(per dose)

Eggs used
Level Exp
Attack mix 4 8 3 or
Antipoison mix 6 12 3 or
Relicym's mix 9 14 3 or
Strength mix 14 17 3 or
Restore mix 24 21 3 or
Energy mix 29 23 3
Defence mix 33 25 6
Agility mix 37 27 6
Combat mix 40 28 3
Prayer mix 42 29 6
Superattack mix 47 33 6
Anti-poison supermix 51 35 6
Fishing mix 53 38 6
Super energy mix 56 39 6
Hunting mix 58 40 6
Super str. mix 59 42 6
Magic essence mix 61 43 6
Super restore mix 67 48 6
Super def. mix 71 50 6
Antidote+ mix 74 52 6
Antifire mix 75 53 6
Ranging mix 80 54 6
Magic mix 83 57 6
Zamorak mix 85 58 6
Stamina mix 86 60 6
Extended antifire mix 91 61 6
Ancient mix 92 63 6
Super antifire mix 98 70 6
Extended super antifire mix 99 78 6

Required for completing

Completion of barbarian training is required for the following:

Transcript

This article on a miniquest has an associated dialogue page.
Click here for a transcript of possible conversations encountered throughout the miniquest.

Changes

Date Changes
8 May 2024
(Update)

Barbarian potions can now use the Make-all functionality. This can be toggled in the Settings menu.

14 February 2024
(Update)
  • The Barbarian Training activity has been reworked into a miniquest.
    • Players who have participated any previous sections of the activity have had those parts of the miniquest automatically completed.
  • Barbarian Farming has been added as an additional skill expansion for Barbarian Training.
  • Completion of Barbarian Farming allows players to plant seeds without a seed dibber and automatically destroy empty plant pots when planting trees.
24 September 2015
(Update)

The Firemaking skillguide has been updated to include information about barbarian Firemaking.

9 April 2015
(Update | poll)

Offcuts are now prioritised over other kinds of bait when barbarian fishing.

Trivia

  • Earlier drafts of barbarian training briefly contained a design for Barbarian Woodcutting, which would involve shouting at trees to topple them over, along with a design for Barbarian Mining, which would allow players to excavate ore by bashing their head against the rocks.[2]
  • Completing Alfred Grimhand's Barcrawl also grants what could be seen as a form of barbarian training, with a barbarian teaching how to smash empty vials into dust on finishing a potion, similarly to smashing plant pots as taught in the Farming segment of the miniquest.

References

  1. ^ Jagex. Mod Ash's Twitter account. 1 March 2024. Archived from the original on 7 April 2026. Mod Ash: "Mod Arcane. Possibly with some help from Mod Maylea."
  2. ^ Jagex. Mod Ash's Twitter account. 14 September 2018. Archived from the original on 10 June 2023. Mod Ash: "Barbarian skills briefly contained a concept for shouting at trees to make them fall down, and mining with your head. (...)"

Sources & credits

“Barbarian Training” by Old School RuneScape Wiki contributors, revision 15292392. Text adapted under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0; adapted text is shared under the same license. Formatting and navigation changed; Wiki scripts and editing controls omitted. Game imagery © Jagex Ltd. Imported image-file descriptions retain their own credits and licensing statements.

Original source address: https://oldschool.runescape.wiki/w/Barbarian_Training?oldid=15292392

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