High Level Alchemy

This article has a calculator here. Calculators determine experience and costs based on real-time prices from the Grand Exchange Market Watch.

High Level Alchemy
Released		24 May 2001 (Update)
Members		No
Level		55
Spellbook		Standard
Type		Utility
Experience		65
Runes		5 1
Casting speed		5 ticks
Description		Converts an item into more gold
Animation
Sound effect

High Level Alchemy (also known as high alch, hi alch, or HA) is a utility spell available in the standard spellbook. It requires level 55 Magic to cast, and grants 65 Magic experience per cast.

When cast on an item in the player's inventory, the item is converted into a number of coins equivalent to 60% of the item's value (not the item's Grand Exchange price). This is a 50% higher yield than Low Level Alchemy.

Casting High Level Alchemy (commonly known as "alching") is a popular way for players to train Magic, either by itself or in tandem with other skills (such as Agility). Players who train this way can break even on the cost of runes, or even turn a profit, by buying items on the Grand Exchange for a lower cost than the item's High Alchemy value (see below).

To get from 55 to 99 it is needed to cast 197,967 of High Level Alchemy.

The Explorer's ring 4 can be used to cast High Level Alchemy up to 30 times per day without requiring any runes. Players will not gain any experience when casting High Level Alchemy this way, but this can be used regardless of the player's current spellbook.

Standing near the Fountain of Rune in the Wilderness allows players to cast High Level Alchemy without requiring any runes. Players will not gain any experience when casting High Level Alchemy this way. This method can be used to turn a greater profit when alching by removing the cost of runes, but comes with significant risk, as the Fountain of Rune is a hotspot for player killers.

Spell cost

Input	Cost
5 1	161
Combo runes
1 5	286
1 5	466
1 5	631
Main-hands
1 Alt	136
5 0.93	151
Main and off-hands
1	136
1	136
0.93	127
0.93	127

The following money making guide is available for High Level Alchemy:

Method	Hourly profit	Skills
High alching profitable free-to-play items	454,295	55

Casting High Alchemy is done by first clicking the icon in the spell book and then clicking the item to cast it on in the inventory. The inventory screen will pop up automatically after clicking the spell icon.

High (and Low) Alchemy can be cast on noted items, saving much withdrawal time from the bank, and simplifying the "click pattern", i.e. the player can place the stack of notes in the same position in their inventory that the alchemy spell is in the spellbook, so that they do not have to move their mouse much to repeatedly cast the spell. Casting alchemy spells on stackable items will only alchemise one at a time. As High Level Alchemy can recast every 5 ticks (3.0 seconds), it is possible to alch around 1,200 items per hour (one item every three seconds) for a total of 78,000 Magic experience.

By using Auto Retaliate, a player can use the spell after their attack (typically by checking for an XP drop), but before getting hit, to alch while training combat skills. If done correctly, the player can maintain combat by re-aggroing from the hit landing after the spell is cast. This can be inefficient against NPCs with slow attack speeds, while being difficult to time correctly against NPCs with high attack speeds.

If the player attempts to cast an alchemy spell on a valuable item, the player will receive a warning message as explained below.

An alchemy warning is set to automatically prompt when trying to cast it on an untradeable item or on an item worth 1,000 coins or more. This helps to prevent casting it accidentally on items that are hard to obtain. The threshold value for which the warning is displayed can be altered, and the warning for untradeable items can be disabled, by navigating to All Settings. You can find the relevant settings in the "Warnings" tab, under the "Items" section.

"Minimum item value needed for Alchemy spells warning" changes the value at which a warning appears on screen. Setting this to a very high value will ensure the warning is never triggered.

"Casting Alchemy spells on untradeable items always triggers a warning" enables warning when attempting to cast an Alchemy spell on untradeable items.

"Casting Alchemy spells by 'using' items together always triggers a warning" enables warning when attempting to cast alchemy by using the item on an Explorer's Ring.

It should be noted that the valuable item warning depends upon the item's Grand Exchange value, not its High Alchemy value, even if the alchemy value is higher. This is useful to avoid accidentally alchemising very expensive items with a relatively low high alchemy value, such as Ranger boots, which have a Grand Exchange value of 38,843,386 coins compared to their High Alchemy value of 120 coins. As long as the warning threshold value is set below its Grand Exchange value, accidental alching of the item should not happen if the player is paying attention.

Generally, using High Alchemy will not produce as much GP per hour as other, much better methods, however because it can be done so easily at a profit while levelling Magic it is still used. While Grand Exchange buy limits may present a limiting factor, with a large enough starting amount of GP, a player with 55 Magic can net several hundred thousand GP every few hours buying and alchemizing a combination of the following items in the table below while standing around the Grand Exchange. High Level Alchemy can also be done while training other skills such as Agility, allowing players to train Magic at the same time. Here is a list of commonly crafted items players may wish to alchemise and their calculated possible profit/loss. Prices assume a source of unlimited fire runes is used, such as a Staff of fire.

Item		Item Cost (GE)	Nature Rune Cost	High Alch Return	Profit/Loss	Limit	Invest 4 hrs	Total Profit/Loss	Member
	Steel kiteshield	271	136	510	103	125	50,875	12,875	0
	Adamant mace	540	136	864	188	125	84,500	23,500	0
	Steel platebody	826	136	1,200	238	125	120,250	29,750	0
	Mithril platebody	2,576	136	3,120	408	125	339,000	51,000	0
	Green d'hide body	4,236	136	4,680	308	125	546,500	38,500	0
	Adamant platebody	9,448	136	9,984	400	125	1,198,000	50,000	0
	Rune mace	8,239	136	8,640	265	70	586,250	18,550	0
	Rune med helm	10,991	136	11,520	393	70	778,890	27,510	0
	Rune scimitar	14,985	136	15,360	239	70	1,058,470	16,730	0
	Rune warhammer	24,540	136	24,900	224	70	1,727,320	15,680	0
	Rune longsword	18,733	136	19,200	331	70	1,320,830	23,170	0
	Rune sq shield	22,613	136	23,040	291	70	1,592,430	20,370	0
	Rune full helm	20,540	136	21,120	444	70	1,447,320	31,080	0
	Rune battleaxe	24,603	136	24,960	221	70	1,731,730	15,470	0
	Rune chainbody	29,425	136	30,000	439	70	2,069,270	30,730	0
	Rune kiteshield	31,997	136	32,640	507	70	2,249,310	35,490	0
	Rune 2h sword	37,862	136	38,400	402	70	2,659,860	28,140	0
	Rune platelegs	37,803	136	38,400	461	70	2,655,730	32,270	0
	Rune plateskirt	38,013	136	38,400	251	70	2,670,430	17,570	0
	Rune platebody	38,565	136	39,000	299	70	2,709,070	20,930	0
	Rune halberd	37,699	136	38,400	565	70	2,648,450	39,550	1
	Blue d'hide body	4,903	136	5,616	577	125	629,875	72,125	1
	Red d'hide body	5,834	136	6,738	768	70	417,900	53,760	1
	Dragon med helm	56,692	136	60,000	3,172	8	454,624	25,376	1
	Black d'hide body	7,310	136	8,088	642	70	521,220	44,940	1

This is typically NOT the best way to profit from High Alchemy unless the player creates the items themselves. However, casting High Alchemy on platebodies typically results in less financial loss as opposed to simply buying the materials, smithing the armour, and selling the finished armour back. As such, this is primarily done by players who wish to train Magic along with other skills such as Crafting or Smithing or Fletching through buying materials directly from the Grand Exchange. The table below does not include the price of the mould for items which require one to craft, as molds are not consumed. The materials cost includes the price of High Alchemy assuming use of fire staff + nature rune.

(* If using silver ore instead of silver bars add 72 to the Profit / Loss)

Item		Materials Needed	Materials Cost (GE)	High Alch Return	Profit/Loss
	Iron platebody	x5	1,141	336	−805
	Steel platebody	x5	3,041	1,200	−1,841
	Mithril platebody	x5	5,011	3,120	−1,891
	Adamant platebody	x5	9,806	9,984	178
	Rune platebody	x5	61,061	39,000	−22,061
	Rune sword	x1	12,321	12,480	159
	Rune 2h sword	x3	36,691	38,400	1,709
	Gold ring		203	210	7
	Gold necklace		203	270	67
	Gold bracelet		203	330	127
	Gold amulet (u)		203	210	7
	Gold amulet		265	210	−55
	Opal ring *		453	630	177
	Opal necklace *		453	630	177
	Opal bracelet *		453	690	237
	Jade ring *		518	765	247
	Jade necklace *		518	765	247
	Jade bracelet *		518	780	262
	Emerald necklace		516	855	339
	Emerald bracelet		516	915	399
	Ruby necklace		927	1,305	378
	Ruby bracelet		927	1,395	468
	Diamond necklace		1,783	2,205	422
	Diamond amulet (u)		1,783	2,115	332
	Diamond bracelet		1,783	2,295	512
	Abyssal bracelet		1,906	2,520	614
	Abyssal bracelet		2,163	2,520	357
	Dragonstone bracelet		11,192	11,475	283
	Combat bracelet		11,315	12,624	1,309
	Combat bracelet		11,762	12,624	862
	Green d'hide body		5,723	4,680	−1,043
	Blue d'hide body		6,401	5,616	−785
	Red d'hide body		7,697	6,738	−959
	Black d'hide body		12,041	8,088	−3,953
	Water battlestaff		9,060	9,300	240
	Earth battlestaff		9,067	9,300	233
	Fire battlestaff		9,271	9,300	29
	Air battlestaff		9,259	9,300	41
	Amethyst javelin tips	x0.2	714.60	912	197.40
	Maple longbow		378	384	6
	Yew longbow		476	768	292
	Magic longbow		1,061	1,536	475

Some specialty shops may offer a higher price for certain items than the amount High Level Alchemy gives. For example, High Level Alchemy converts a gold necklace into 270 coins, but Grum's Gold Exchange in Port Sarim offers 315 if there are no gold necklace in the shop's stock. The price decreases 9 coins for each additional necklace in the shop inventory until it reaches a low limit of 45 coins when there are 30 or more necklaces. Some players sell up to about 11 items and then world switch to find another shop which has a low inventory.

There are also some general stores which buy initially for item's 60% value:

• Bandit Duty Free shop in the Bandit Camp, mid Wilderness.
• Martin Thwait's Lost and Found. in the Rogues' Den, level 50 Thieving and Agility required.
• Karamja General Store buys at 40% item value, or 60% when a pair of Karamja gloves 3 or above are equipped.

The following stores buy for 55%:

• Pollnivneach general store
• Moon Clan General Store
• Legends Guild General Store

The following stores also will buy for 55% but lose their value quickly:

• West Ardougne General Store
• Dorgesh-Kaan General Supplies
• The Lighthouse Store

An animation override is available for High Level Alchemy, unlockable via the Trailblazer reloaded alchemy scroll. Players can apply and revert the animation override at any time via the "Animation" menu option on the spell's icon.

Alchemy is inaccessible in random events (as the interface is limited) and disabled in the following:

• Barbarian Assault
• Castle Wars
• Clan Wars
• Fishing Trawler
• Guardians of the Rift
• Last Man Standing
• Nightmare Zone
• Pest Control
• Soul Wars
• Tempoross
• Wintertodt
• Ape Atoll Agility Course - As you are Transformed into Monkey
• Goblin Temple - As you are Transformed into Goblin

–11 April 2013	11 April 2013 – present

• An attempt was made to implement a magic tablet for the High Level Alchemy spell in the lead-up to the Construction update, which ultimately proved unsuccessful due to limitations in the way item interactions were handled.^[1] Players would have been required to use a High Alchemy tablet on another item in order to alchemise it, which would run into problems when that item already had use-item-on-item code defined. For example, if one were to have used a High Alchemy tablet on a rune spear, the weapon would execute the item interaction code associated with using weapon poison on it instead, frustrating the attempt to run the alchemisation code defined on the magic tablet.
• According to an issue of the Postbag from the Hedge, a portion of the alchemised gold is "waylaid" by Santa Claus whenever someone uses High Level Alchemy on an item, as a means to fund Christmas present production.^[2] Presumably, the percentage of gold siphoned off is equal to 40% of an item's value, that is to say the share not received by the player.
• It is possible to cast alchemy spells on a living being. Goldie is a rabbit who accidentally had an alchemy spell cast on him by an adventurer, which transformed him into gold.^[3]