Runecraft

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Runecraft
Released		29 March 2004 (Update)
Also called		Runecrafting, RC
Members		No
Type		Production
Statistics
Players with 99		126,659 as of 1 September 2026 - update
Players with 200M XP		193 as of 27 September 2026 - update

Runecraft, also called Runecrafting, is a skill that allows players to craft their own runes for Magic spells. This classically involves bringing essence to various runic altars, which can be located and entered using their respective talismans.

The experience earned from making runes is small, and due to the need for constant running and banking, it is fairly click and attention intensive. That being said, the constant demand for different types of runes can make it reasonably profitable to train the skill.

Runecraft can also be trained at the Guardians of the Rift minigame, unlocked after the Temple of the Eye quest. At high Runecraft levels, the Blood and Soul Altar in Arceuus are another alternative way to train the skill, with a slightly different process of mining the nearby dense runestone to create the appropriate essence. Other alternatives include collecting and handing in sulphurous essence drops, or delivering books in the Arceuus Library.

	Runecraft Level Up!
The music that plays when levelling up.

	Runecraft Level Up! (Unlocks)
The music that plays when levelling up and unlocking new content.

In the Runecraft skill, magical runes are crafted by binding the magical energy from runic altars into magical stones. These stones are called essence. There are various types of essence, with each of these types being able to be crafted in a selection of runes.

Level	Rune		Exp	Essence required	GE Price	Members?
						Use	Craft
1		Air	5	Normal/Pure	6	0	0
2		Mind	5.5	Normal/Pure	3	0	0
5		Water	6	Normal/Pure	5	0	0
6		Mist	8 / 8.5[a 1]	Pure	88	1	1
9		Earth	6.5	Normal/Pure	6	0	0
10		Dust	8.3 / 9[a 1]	Pure	8	1	1
13		Mud	9.3 / 9.5[a 1]	Pure	89	1	1
14		Fire	7	Normal/Pure	5	0	0
15		Smoke	8.5 / 9.5[a 1]	Pure	66	1	1
19		Steam	9.3 / 10[a 1]	Pure	99	1	1
20		Body	7.5	Normal/Pure	5	0	0
23		Lava	10 / 10.5[a 1]	Pure	30	1	1
27		Cosmic	8	Pure	123	0	1
33		Sunfire	9	Pure	107	1	1
35		Chaos	8.5	Pure	105	0	1
40		Astral	8.7	Pure	115	1	1
44		Nature	9	Pure	136	0	1
54		Law	9.5	Pure	122	0	1
65		Death	10	Pure	188	0	1
77		Blood	10.5	Pure	334	1	1
77		Blood (Kourend)	23.8	Dark	334	1	1
90		Soul	29.7	Dark	391	1	1
90		Aether	20	Pure	802	1	1
95		Wrath	8	Pure	337	1	1

The types of essence are rune essence, pure essence, daeyalt essence, dark essence fragments, and blood essence. Besides these types of essence, there are three types of cores that can be crafted into specific runes.

Rune essence can be used to craft air, mind, water, earth, fire, and body runes.

Rune essence can be acquired by mining and from monster drops.

Mining rune essence requires completion of the Rune Mysteries quest. After completing this quest, a selection of wizards can teleport the player to the rune essence mine, where the player can mine the Rune Essence to obtain rune essence for the Runecraft skill.

Rune essence can be obtained by mining by free-to-play players and by members that have a Mining level lower than 30.

Pure essence can be used to craft air, mind, water, earth, fire, and body runes as well as cosmic, chaos, astral, nature, law, death, blood, and wrath runes.

Pure essence can be obtained by mining and from monster drops.

Mining pure essence requires completion of the Rune Mysteries quest. After completing this quest, a selection of wizards can teleport the player to the rune essence mine, where the player can mine the Rune Essence to obtain pure essence for the Runecraft skill.

Pure essence can be obtained by mining only by members that are level 30 or higher in the Mining skill. However, free-to-play players can obtain via trading with other players.

Daeyalt essence can be used instead of pure essence, to craft the same runes as with pure essence. Doing so grants a 50% bonus in experience gained from creating these runes. This effect also applies to runes crafted at the Ourania Altar.

Daeyalt essence can only be obtained from the Daeyalt essence mine in Darkmeyer. Access to the essence mine requires completion of Sins of the Father. Shards can be converted to daeyalt essence by trading Noranna Tytanin located near the entrance of the mine at a 1:1 ratio. Any essence received is sent to the bank. To trade in the shards for daeyalt essence, a version of the vyre noble disguise needs to be worn.

Dark essence fragments can be used to craft blood and soul runes.

Collecting dark essence fragments requires level 38 Mining and 38 Crafting or higher. The ability to use the dark essence fragments to craft runes requires level 77 Runecraft or higher.

Dark essence fragments require a few steps to obtain. In the dense essence mine mine the dense runestones to obtain dense essence blocks. This requires a pickaxe and a chisel. Bring these dense essence blocks to the Dark Altar to bind its energy into the blocks. This will turn the dense essence blocks into dark essence blocks. Use a chisel on the dark essence blocks to obtain dark essence fragments.

Blood essence cannot be used to craft runes; instead, it offers the chance to craft an extra blood rune per pure essence, daeyalt essence or dark essence fragment when activated.

Blood essence is an uncommon drop from both Nex and the Tombs of Amascut. It can also be obtained as a rare drop from certain monsters in the Ancient Prison, and may be found inside the Intricate pouch reward from the Guardians of the Rift minigame.

Cores can be used to craft mind runes (using Mind cores), body runes (using Body cores) and chaos runes (using Chaos cores). For each type of rune, the corresponding core must be used. A runecrafting core yields 11 times the amount of runes crafted and 10 times the experience compared to a pure or rune essence. Players with higher runecraft levels will yield even more essence, based on their ability to create multiple runes per essence. For example, at level 2 runecraft, one mind core would give 11 mind runes and 55 experience, and at level 98 runecraft, one mind core would give 88 mind runes, but still gives 55 experience.

Cores are dropped by the golems in the Ruins of Camdozaal. Each core is dropped by the corresponding golem.

• Mind cores are dropped by Mind Golems.
• Body cores are dropped by Body Golems.
• Chaos cores are dropped by Chaos Golems.

Talismans are quite important to the Runecraft skill, as they are the keys used to access most altars. Each one is magically attuned to the runic altar that shares its name. An air talisman, for example, is attuned to the Air Altar. Using the Locate function on the talisman will point the player in the direction of its corresponding altar. A player may then use the talisman only on its corresponding mysterious ruins to reach the altar inside. Talismans can be acquired from drops or by trading with other players.

Corresponding talismans exist for the Air, Mind, Water, Earth, Fire, Body, Cosmic, Chaos, Nature, Law, Death, Blood and Wrath Altars.

Elemental and catalytic talismans are more powerful and versatile versions of other talismans. The elemental talisman grants access to the Air, Water, Earth and Fire Altars, while the catalytic talisman grants access to the Mind, Body, Cosmic, Chaos, Nature, Law, Death, Blood, and Wrath Altars. Their Locate function, however, will only point players towards the closest Altar of its type, and will cease to function entirely if the player is equidistant from multiple Altars.

Any talisman can be fused with a tiara into a talisman tiara. This creates a wearable item that lets the player left-click on the corresponding mysterious ruins to enter, saving an inventory space when runecrafting.

Elemental and catalytic talismans must be combined with a gold tiara to create Elemental tiaras and Catalytic tiaras.

Essence pouches hold varying amounts of rune, pure, daeyalt, or guardian essence. Essence pouches can be used to take larger loads when crafting runes or mining essence.

Essence pouches decay with use, and must be repaired by visiting the Dark mage in the centre of the Abyss (or by contacting him with the Astral Contact Lunar spell) or they will disappear. The pouches do not have to be brought directly to the Dark Mage in order to be repaired; any and all pouches that are stored in the bank will also be repaired.

Essence pouches are dropped by monsters in the Abyss and the Abyssal Area after completion of the Enter the Abyss miniquest.

Type		Runecraft Level	Capacity	Cumulative capacity	Uses before decay (approx.)	Dropped or Obtained by
	Small pouch	1	3	3	No decay	Abyssal guardian, leech, walker, or Dark mage
	Medium pouch	25	6	9	45	Abyssal guardian, leech, walker
	Large pouch	50	9	18	29	Abyssal guardian, leech, walker
	Giant pouch	75	12	30	10	Abyssal guardian, leech, walker
	Colossal pouch	25-85[note]	40	40	8	Created using all previous pouches and an abyssal needle

Aside from talismans and the wearable tiaras, some other equipment is useful in the Runecraft skill.

The Raiments of the Eye robes provide 10% extra runes per piece, with a 20% bonus for wearing the full set, resulting in 60% more runes crafted per essence.

The binding necklace is an enchanted emerald necklace item that gives the wearer a 100% success rate in making combination runes.

The abyssal bracelet is an enchanted diamond bracelet that prevents the player from becoming skulled when entering the Abyss.

Weight reducing armour such as the Graceful outfit is often used before unlocking the Raiments of the Eye to reduce energy draining while running to altars.

Runic altars are locations at which players can use the Runecraft skill to turn essence into runes. Each altar corresponds to a different type of rune.

Most altars are located in another dimension, accessible through mysterious ruins scattered across the surface of Gielinor. This includes the Air, Mind, Water, Earth, Fire, Body, Cosmic, Chaos, Nature, Law, Death, Blood, and Wrath altars. The Astral Altar is the only regular altar that is not accessed through mysterious ruins.

Mysterious ruins are not labelled on the world map. Players can discover the ruins' location by using the Locate function on a talisman. A talisman, tiara, or runecraft cape is required to actually enter the ruins and use the altars.

When a player clicks on the altar, all essence in their inventory are converted to a type of rune (depending on the altar), and they gain Runecraft experience. They can also enchant a tiara if they have a normal tiara and talisman in their inventory. Use either the tiara or the talisman on the altar to combine them into an enchanted tiara.

The Blood and Soul altars can be found in Arceuus, near the dense essence mine. No talisman or tiara is needed to use these altars as they are in the regular dimension. These two altars are not considered regular altars in the lore as they were created by the power of the nearby Dark Altar. These two altars also do not use pure essence, rather, runes are made with dark essence fragments, which can be obtained by mining dense essence blocks from the dense essence mine, infusing them with the Dark Altar's power to create dark essence blocks, and using a chisel on the blocks to create the fragments.

The Ourania Altar, also known as the ZMI Altar, converts pure essence into an assortment of random runes, with a chance of bonus runes being created if players have the medium Ardougne Diary completed. The altar, which requires no talisman or tiara to enter, gives roughly 1.7 times the normal experience for each pure essence used. Rune essence cannot be used. Players do not need a specific Runecraft level in order to craft at this altar, but the chance of crafting higher-levelled runes increases with a higher Runecraft level. Players cannot craft sunfire runes or wrath runes through the Ourania Altar; these are the only runes uncraftable at the Altar outside of combination runes.

The Abyss is a special region that provides access to most runic altars without the need for a talisman. Access to the Abyss requires completion of the Enter the Abyss miniquest. The Abyss consists of two rings: a dangerous outer ring in a multiway combat zone and a safe inner ring with rifts leading to the runic altars. Aside from the abyssal monsters inhabiting it, using the Abyss is also dangerous because players who enter the Abyss will have their Prayer points drained to 0, and players who enter without wearing an Abyssal bracelet will also be immediately given a skull.

The following official worlds are assigned to Runecraft training or minigames:

World	Location	Members	Activity
327	Germany	1	Ourania Altar
425	Australia	1	Guardians of the Rift
445	United States (west)	1	Guardians of the Rift
459	Germany	1	Guardians of the Rift
464	Germany	1	Guardians of the Rift
478	United States (east)	1	Guardians of the Rift
480	United States (east)	1	Ourania Altar
490	United States (east)	1	Guardians of the Rift
492	United States (east)	1	Guardians of the Rift
507	United Kingdom	1	Guardians of the Rift
513	United Kingdom	1	Zeah Runecrafting
522	United Kingdom	1	Guardians of the Rift
534	Australia	1	Guardians of the Rift

As a player's Runecraft level increases, they can make more runes. However, they only earn experience based on the amount of essence they use. The number of runes made from the essence in a player's inventory in an action that gains a level is determined by the player's level before the runecrafting action, even if crafting the same amount of essence one piece at a time would yield more runes. For example, a player with a Runecraft level of 22 will craft 3 air runes for each pure essence used.

The Raiments of the Eye, obtainable from playing Guardians of the Rift, grant 10% more runes per piece, with a 20% set bonus for a total of 60% when the full outfit is worn.

Rune		Lvl for 1x	Lvl for 2x	Lvl for 3x	Lvl for 4x	Lvl for 5x	Lvl for 6x	Lvl for 7x	Lvl for 8x	Lvl for 9x	Lvl for 10x
	Air	1	11	22	33	44	55	66	77	88	99
	Mind	2	14	28	42	56	70	84	98	-	-
	Water	5	19	38	57	76	95	-	-	-	-
	Earth	9	26	52	78	104[a]	-	-	-	-	-
	Fire	14	35	70	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Body	20	46	92	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Cosmic	27	59	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Sunfire	33	49	98	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Chaos	35	74	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Astral	40	82	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Nature	44	91	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Law	54	95	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Death	65	99	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Players can use runic extracts, a catalyst obtained from the Scar essence mine, to craft additional bonus runes when crafting runes.

The following table outlines the cost and bonus runes per extract:

Extract		Cost (coins)	Cost per rune	Bonus runes (per essence)	Craftable runes
	Warped	1,250	5	250	Air, Mind, Water, Earth, Fire, Body
	Twisted	6,000	100	60	Mist, Dust, Mud, Smoke, Steam, Lava, Cosmic, Chaos, Sunfire
	Mangled	12,000	200	60	Nature, Law, Astral, Death
	Scarred	24,000	400	60	Blood, Soul, Aether, Wrath

The following table outlines the cost per rune when using extracts:

Rune		Extract		Extract Cost/Rune	GE Price	Shop Price	GE Profit	Shop Profit
	Air		Warped	5	6	4	1	−1
	Mind		Warped	5	3	3	−2	−2
	Water		Warped	5	5	4	0	−1
	Earth		Warped	5	6	4	1	−1
	Fire		Warped	5	5	4	0	−1
	Body		Warped	5	5	3	0	−2
	Cosmic		Twisted	100	123	50	23	−50
	Chaos		Twisted	100	105	90	5	−10
	Sunfire		Twisted	100	107	Not Sold	7	N/A
	Astral		Mangled	200	115	50	−85	−150
	Nature		Mangled	200	136	180	−64	−20
	Law		Mangled	200	122	240	−78	40
	Death		Mangled	200	188	180	−12	−20
	Blood		Scarred	400	334	400	−66	0
	Soul		Scarred	400	391	300	−9	−100
	Aether		Scarred	400	802	Not Sold	−9	N/A
	Wrath		Scarred	400	337	Not Sold	−63	N/A

Members can combine two elemental runes into a combination rune. To craft combination runes, a player needs to take existing runes that are one half of the combination, with a matching talisman (not a tiara), along with an equal amount of pure essence to the altar which comprises the other half of the combination. Use the existing runes or the talisman for the existing runes on the altar. This has a 50% chance of success per rune, and any failed runes are simply destroyed. The talisman will be consumed regardless of how many runes are made. Wearing a binding necklace grants a 100% chance of successfully creating combination runes.

The player may use the Lunar spell Magic Imbue to make combination runes without needing the opposing talisman. Using binding necklaces and Magic Imbue to craft lava runes offers the highest Runecraft experience per hour.

Level	Rune		Combination	Exp (Low)	Exp (High)	GE Price
6		Mist rune	+	8	8.5	88
10		Dust rune	+	8.3	9	8
13		Mud rune	+	9.3	9.5	89
15		Smoke rune	+	8.5	9.5	66
19		Steam rune	+	9.3	10	99
23		Lava rune	+	10	10.5	30

Players receive less experience at the lower-levelled altars. For example, making mist runes at the Air Altar will give 8 experience for each rune made, while making them at the Water Altar will give 8.5 experience for each rune made.

The three crystals dropped by Cerberus, being the primordial, pegasian, and eternal crystal, can be infused to the dragon boots, ranger boots, and infinity boots respectively to create the primordial boots, pegasian boots, and eternal boots. This process requires level 60 in both Runecraft and Magic, and grants 200 experience in both skills.

Splitbark armour can also be infused into Swampbark armour at the Nature Altar after reading the Runescroll of swampbark or into Bloodbark armour at the true Blood Altar or false Blood Altar after reading the Runescroll of bloodbark.

Desiccated pages can also be infused into burnt pages at the Book of Eternal Flame or into soaked pages at the Book of Storms or into soiled pages at the Book of Earthen Might.

The Rift guardian is a skilling pet that can be obtained while training Runecraft. The chances of getting it are dependent on the player's Runecraft level, the rune the player is crafting, and the number of essence used.

Boost		Level increase	Visibility	Other info
	Runecraft cape	1	Visible	When equipped, the Runecraft cape acts as a substitute to all Runecraft talismans and tiaras, and essence pouches will not degrade while filling them.
	Metztonalli white	1	Visible	Hitpoints 16 Attack -5 Firemaking -1
	Oldak	±2	Visible	Requires completion of Death to the Dorgeshuun.
	Spicy stew (orange spice)	±0-5	Visible	Depending on type of stew, any skill except Hitpoints can be boosted or reduced by 0 to 5 levels randomly.

Temporary boosts do not allow players to use higher tier essence pouches.

Quest	Runecraft requirement	Other requirements
Temple of the Eye	10	-
Perilous Moons	20	10 , 20 , 20 , 48
The Slug Menace	30	30 , 30 , 30
What Lies Below	35	42 (unless you have access to the Abyss)
Devious Minds	50	65 , 50
The Final Dawn	52	66 , 52
The Fremennik Exiles	55	65 , 60 , 60 , 60
Desert Treasure II - The Fallen Empire	60	75 , 75 , 70 , 62 , 60

Quest	Experience reward	Runecraft requirement	Other requirements
The Ascent of Arceuus	500	-	12
Enter the Abyss (miniquest)	1,000	-	-
The Slug Menace	3,500	30	30 , 30 , 30
Perilous Moons	5,000	20	10 , 20 , 20 , 48
Temple of the Eye	5,000[a]	10	-
Devious Minds	5,000	50	65 , 50
Lunar Diplomacy	5,000	-	61 , 40 , 49 , 5 , 65 , 60 , 55
The Eyes of Glouphrie	6,000	-	5 , 46
What Lies Below	8,000	35	42 (unless you have access to the Abyss)
The Final Dawn	25,000	52	66 , 52
The Fremennik Exiles	30,000	55	65 , 60 , 60 , 60
Total	94,000

Diary	Runecraft requirement	Other requirements for tasks requiring runecraft
Ardougne Hard Diary	65	-
Falador Hard Diary	56 [a]	-
Falador Elite Diary	88 [a]	-
Fremennik Elite Diary	82	-
Karamja Hard Diary	44	-
Karamja Elite Diary	91	-
Kourend & Kebos Elite Diary	77	38 , 38
Lumbridge & Draynor Easy Diary	5	-
Lumbridge & Draynor Medium Diary	23	-
Lumbridge & Draynor Hard Diary	59	-
Lumbridge & Draynor Elite Diary	76 [a]	-
Varrock Easy Diary	9	-
Varrock Elite Diary	78 [a]	-

Upon completing any of the following quests, players may choose to allocate experience to Runecraft. These rewards usually come in the form of items, such as lamps or books, and are independent of any experience rewards directly received for completing the quest.

Quest	Experience reward	Skills available	Skill requirements
X Marks the Spot	300	Any	None
Client of Kourend	500 twice	Any	None
Fairytale II - Cure a Queen	2,500	Any skill above 30	49 , 57
The Great Brain Robbery	5,000	Any skill above 30	16 , 30 , 50
King's Ransom	5,000	Any skill above 50	65
A Tail of Two Cats	2,500 twice	Any skill above 30	None
Darkness of Hallowvale	2,000 three times	Any skill above 30	5 , 20 , 22 , 32 , 33 , 40
A Taste of Hope	2,500 three times	Any skill above 35	48 , 40 , 40 , 45 , 38
Curse of the Empty Lord (miniquest)	10,000	Any skill above 50	Some players will need 31
In Search of Knowledge (miniquest)	10,000	Any skill above 40	None
A Kingdom Divided	10,000 twice	Any skill above 40	54 , 52 , 52 , 50 , 42 , 38 , 35
One Small Favour	10,000 twice	Any skill above 30	36 , 25 , 18 , 30
Recipe for Disaster (The final battle)	20,000	Any skill above 50	175 , 70 , 48 , 50 , 53 , 53 , 25 , 59 , 40 , 50 , 40 , 40 , 10 , 10 , 36
Sins of the Father	15,000 six times	Any skill above 60	62 , 60 , 56 , 52 , 50 , 50 , 49
The Blood Moon Rises	30,000 six times	Any skill above 70	74 , 74 , 72 , 72 , 70 , 66 , 65 , 64 , 64 , 57
Total	382,300

• Runecraft/Experience table, a list of all Runecraft experience sources
• Runecraft/Level up table, a list of all requirements and unlockables within the Runecraft skill