OSRS Prayer Guide: Level 1-99 Training, Methods, and Costs

Welcome, RuneScape adventurers! Theoatrix here, your guide to mastering Prayer in Old School RuneScape (OSRS). This comprehensive Prayer Guide Osrs will take you through every efficient method to train your Prayer skill, from level 1 all the way to 99. Whether you’re a main account, an Ironman, or even a Free-to-Play player, this guide has you covered with the best strategies, cost breakdowns, and XP rates. We’ll also explore the new Prayer training methods introduced with Varlamore!

Prayer Training Guide Contents:

• Understanding Prayer in OSRS
• Prayer Training Method Overviews
• Cost and XP Rate Comparison of Prayer Methods
• Detailed Guide to Bone Shards Prayer Training
• Gilded Altars: The Fastest Prayer XP
• Chaos Altar: Cost-Effective Prayer Training
• Ensouled Heads for Prayer Experience
• Offering Spells: Demonic and Sinister Offerings
• Passive Prayer Training Methods
• Ironman Prayer Training Strategies
• Free-to-Play (F2P) Prayer Training

This prayer guide osrs aims to be the most comprehensive resource available. Whether you’re aiming for level 43 for protection prayers, level 77 for all prayers, or the coveted level 99 Prayer skillcape, you’ll find the information you need here.

Prefer a video guide? (Original article mentions a video, but as per instructions, I cannot include external links or video embeds).

Understanding Prayer in OSRS {#understanding-prayer-in-osrs}

Prayer is a vital skill in OSRS, impacting both combat prowess and resource management. For every 8 Prayer levels gained, your combat level increases by 1. Achieving level 99 Prayer boosts your combat level by a significant 12 levels, making it a worthwhile investment for any adventurer.

Beyond combat levels, a higher Prayer level enhances the effectiveness of Prayer potions. Prayer potions restore 25% of your Prayer level, plus an additional 7 points. Therefore, a higher Prayer level translates to more Prayer points restored per potion dose, improving your sustain in combat and during activities requiring prayer.

Furthermore, Prayer bonus, obtained from certain gear and weapons, directly impacts prayer drain rate. Every 30 points of Prayer bonus effectively halves your prayer drain. This means with sufficient Prayer bonus, your prayers will last significantly longer, reducing potion consumption and increasing efficiency during extended gameplay sessions.

Prayer Training Method Overviews {#prayer-training-method-overviews}

For main accounts in OSRS, there are six primary and effective prayer training methods osrs available:

1. Bone Shards: A newer method introduced with Varlamore, offering a safe and reasonably fast training option.
2. Gilded Altars: The gold standard for fast Prayer XP, utilizing player-owned houses for boosted experience rates.
3. Chaos Altar: A wilderness-based altar offering a bone-saving effect, making it a cheaper alternative but with inherent risks.
4. Ensouled Heads: Reanimating ensouled heads using Arceuus magic spells provides a balance of cost and experience.
5. Offering Spells: Demonic and Sinister Offering spells consume bones or ashes for magic and prayer experience.
6. Passive Training Methods: Utilizing items and activities that grant Prayer XP passively during other gameplay.

The Bone Shards method, a Varlamore addition, is particularly noteworthy for Ironman accounts as a safe and efficient training route.

Ironman accounts have additional methods to consider, especially at lower levels. Locations like the Ectofuntus and Forthos Dungeon provide alternative, often safer, training routes for early-game Ironmen.

Free-to-play players are more limited in their options. The most effective F2P prayer training osrs method involves burying bones and scattering ashes simultaneously.

Generally, faster XP rates in Prayer training come at a higher cost. Let’s delve into a comparison of costs and XP rates for each method.

Cost and XP Rate Comparison of Prayer Methods {#cost-and-xp-rate-comparison-of-prayer-methods}

Superior dragon bones offer the highest Prayer XP per hour in OSRS. However, they require level 70 Prayer to use. Interestingly, processing bones into bone shards actually yields more XP per bone compared to using them directly at a Gilded altar.

The Chaos Altar stands out as a cost-effective method due to its 50% bone-saving chance. However, achieving optimal XP rates at the Chaos Altar requires efficient inventory management and awareness of the wilderness location. Offering spells are best utilized with ashes rather than bones, as bones are more efficiently used at altars.

Keep in mind: Prices in OSRS are dynamic. For the most up-to-date cost analysis, Theoatrix.net provides a regularly updated Prayer calculator (Original article links to a calculator, but as per instructions, I cannot include external links). This tool is invaluable for determining the current most cost-effective osrs prayer training method.

For Free-to-Play players, burying big bones while scattering vile ashes yields approximately 100,000 XP per hour, but reaching level 99 Prayer this way will be a significant investment of around 180 million GP.

Detailed Guide to Bone Shards Prayer Training {#detailed-guide-to-bone-shards-prayer-training}

Let’s now dive into the specifics of each prayer training osrs method, starting with the new Bone Shards method.

Bone Shards, introduced with Varlamore, offer a unique and safe way to train Prayer. To access this method, you must complete the Children of the Sun quest to enter Varlamore. Completing Twilight’s Promise enhances the method’s speed, and Perilous Moons unlocks bone shard mining as an optional source.

Acquiring Bone Shards:

• Mining: Bone shards can be mined in Varlamore, yielding up to 45,000 Mining XP per hour.
• Varlamore Activities: Participating in various activities within Varlamore can reward bone shards.
• Chiseling Blessed Bones: Blessed bones can be chiseled into bone shards at the temple in Ralo’s Rise.

The number of bone shards obtained from chiseling scales with the bone type, with superior dragon bones providing the most shards. An NPC near the temple in Ralo’s Rise can un-note bones for convenience.

Prayer Training with Bone Shards:

1. Bless Wine Jugs: Bless jugs of wine at the same temple in Ralo’s Rise. Sunfire shards can be added to create Sunfire wines for bonus Prayer XP.
2. Libation Bowl: With blessed wine and bone shards in your inventory, head to the northernmost house in Ralo’s Rise. Click the Libation bowl to offer the shards and wine for Prayer experience. This can be done AFK or spam-clicked for faster XP.

This method can yield over 1 million Prayer XP per hour, excluding the time to acquire bone shards. Mining bone shards at level 99 Mining can provide 45,000 – 50,000 Mining XP per hour. Considering mining time, the overall Prayer XP rate ranges from 20,000 to 30,000 XP per hour, depending on the wine used. Level 30 Prayer is required to begin this method. For lower levels, consider the next method.

Gilded Altars: The Fastest Prayer XP {#gilded-altars-the-fastest-prayer-xp}

Gilded altars, located in player-owned houses, are renowned for providing the fastest prayer training osrs XP rates. Using bones on a gilded altar with two lit incense burners grants 3.5 times the base prayer experience.

While you can build a Gilded altar in your own house at level 75 Construction, it’s more efficient to use public houses on World 330. These houses typically have burners lit by other players, saving you effort.

Gilded Altar Training Walkthrough:

1. Bone Selection and Purchase: Decide which bones to use based on your budget and desired XP rate. Purchase bones in bulk.

2. Withdraw Noted Bones and Teleport: Withdraw bones noted, along with at least 50,000 coins and a teleport to Rimmington.

3. Un-note Bones in Rimmington: In World 330, use Phials in the Rimmington general store to un-note your bones.

4. Enter a Player-Owned House: Click “view” on the house advertisement object near the portal and select a house with a “Y” in the gilded altar column.

5. Use Bones on the Altar: Enter the altar room and use bones on the gilded altar. The Menu Entry Swapper plugin is highly recommended to swap the left-click option to “Use” for bones.

1-Tick Gilded Altars: For maximum XP, utilize 1-tick prayer training. This involves manually using each bone on the altar for significantly faster experience. The Entity Hider plugin in RuneLite is useful for 1-ticking. You can also resize your client to modern resizable mode, hold ALT to drag your inventory over the altar, and use hotkeys to rapidly use bones.

6. Banking and Repeat: After using all bones, exit the house portal, run to the general store, un-note more bones, and repeat. Re-enter the last house by right-clicking the house advertisement object and selecting “visit last”.

Bone Runners: For the absolute fastest XP, consider hiring a bone runner. They will retrieve bones while you continuously use them on the altar. However, this significantly increases the cost and is generally not recommended as gilded altars are already very fast.

Chaos Altar: Cost-Effective Prayer Training {#chaos-altar-cost-effective-prayer-training}

The Chaos Altar, located in the Wilderness, provides 3.5x bone experience, similar to gilded altars, but with a 50% chance of saving bones. This bone-saving effect makes it a significantly cheaper prayer training osrs method.

However, being in the Wilderness, the Chaos Altar carries risk from player killers (PKers). Training safely is crucial.

Chaos Altar Training Guide:

1. Bone Quantities: Purchase bones, keeping in mind the 50% bone save chance. The quantities shown (referencing earlier bone quantity tables) assume a 50% save rate and do not account for potential deaths in the Wilderness.

2. Wilderness Teleport: Bring a teleport to the Chaos Altar. Burning amulets or Ghorrock teleports are common choices.

3. Enchanted Symbol (Optional): For faster banking, bring an enchanted symbol from Mage Arena 2. This allows for quick self-inflicted death to return to a respawn point.

4. Travel to the Chaos Altar: Withdraw a teleport and a full inventory of un-noted bones. Teleport to the Lava Maze with a burning amulet and run west, then slightly south to the Chaos Altar.

5. Use Bones on the Altar: Use bones on the Chaos Altar. 1-ticking is highly recommended for maximizing XP rates.

6. Banking Methods:

   • Enchanted Symbol: Spam-click the enchanted symbol to die and respawn at your chosen location.
   • Wine Jug: Click the wine jug near the altar to lower health and die.
   • Chaos Fanatic: Run to the nearby Chaos Fanatic to die (riskier).

Runelite 1-Tick Plugin: Utilize the Runelite plugin for easier 1-tick prayer training at the Chaos Altar, minimizing mouse movement.

Noted Bones (Riskier): Bringing noted bones and un-noting them just outside the altar provides fast XP, comparable to bone runners at gilded altars. However, this significantly increases Wilderness risk due to potential PKers. The safer method of banking via death is strongly recommended.

Ensouled Heads for Prayer Experience {#ensouled-heads-for-prayer-experience}

Reanimating ensouled heads using Arceuus spells is a cost-effective prayer training osrs method, although slightly slower than altars. It offers a good balance between cost and XP rate.

With the removal of Arceuus favor, accessing the Arceuus spellbook is now immediate after Tutorial Island by speaking to Tyss. The only requirement is the Magic level needed to cast the reanimation spells.

Ensouled Heads Training Guide:

1. Acquire Ensouled Heads: Purchase ensouled heads from the Grand Exchange. Due to lower trade volumes, consider placing overnight buy orders at market price.

2. Runes for Reanimation Spells: Obtain the necessary runes for the appropriate reanimation spell based on the ensouled head type.

3. Combat Equipment and Cannon: Bring combat gear to kill the reanimated creatures. A dwarf multi-cannon significantly speeds up kills.

4. Bank Teleport: Bring a teleport to a bank for quick restocking.

5. Train at the Dark Altar: Travel to the Dark Altar in the Arceuus House. Use an Arceuus Library teleport or the C-I-S fairy ring combination. Run north and east from the teleport locations to reach the altar.

6. Reanimate and Kill: Cast the reanimation spell on an ensouled head at the Dark Altar. Kill the spawned monster for Prayer XP. Repeat until your inventory is empty.

7. Bank and Repeat: Teleport to a bank, restock ensouled heads, teleport back to Arceuus, and repeat the process.

Offering Spells: Demonic and Sinister Offerings {#offering-spells-demonic-and-sinister-offerings}

Unlocked after the Kingdom Divided quest, Demonic and Sinister Offering spells provide another prayer training osrs method. These spells consume 3 bones or ashes, granting 3x the regular Prayer experience, along with Magic XP.

Demonic Offering is used with ashes, while Sinister Offering is for bones. They have high Magic level requirements: 84 for Demonic and 92 for Sinister Offering.

Offering Spells Training Guide:

1. Acquire Bones or Ashes: Purchase bones or ashes in bulk. Consider placing buy orders at market value for large quantities.

2. Runes for Offering Spells: Obtain runes for your chosen offering spell. Using a rune pouch is recommended for convenience.

3. Cast Offering Spells: With a full inventory of bones or ashes, cast the chosen offering spell. Each cast consumes 3 items and grants Prayer and Magic XP. There is a 4.8-second cooldown between casts.

4. Bank and Repeat: Repeat the process, banking to restock bones or ashes as needed.

Recommendation: Offering spells are most effective with ashes. Bones are generally better utilized at gilded altars for faster XP. However, with infernal ashes, Offering spells can reach around 590,000 XP per hour at approximately 12 GP per XP, making it cheaper than dragon bones at gilded altars.

Passive Prayer Training Methods {#passive-prayer-training-methods}

OSRS offers five passive ways to gain prayer training osrs experience, often while training other skills:

1. Ectoplasmator: A reward from Soul Wars, the Ectoplasmator grants Prayer XP when killing spectral creatures like Aberrant Spectres, Ankous, and Barrows Brothers. Best suited for players who enjoy Soul Wars.

2. Bonecrusher: Obtained after the Hard Morytania Diary, the Bonecrusher automatically crushes bones dropped by monsters, granting half the normal Prayer XP. Highly useful during Slayer training.

3. Bonecrusher Necklace: Combining the Bonecrusher with the Dragonbone necklace restores Prayer points while crushing bones, beneficial for activities like chinning or bursting Maniacal Monkeys.

4. Ash Sanctifier: A reward from the Hard Kourend Diary, the Ash Sanctifier automatically grants Prayer XP from monsters that drop ashes, giving half the XP of scattering them.

5. Ensouled Head Drops: If a monster drops an ensouled head, you can reanimate it on the spot for Prayer XP, a passive way to train Prayer while Slaying.

6. God Eggs: Obtained from birdhouses and woodcutting nests, God eggs can be exchanged at the Woodcutting Guild shrine for bird nests and 100 Prayer XP each, offering a minor passive Prayer gain.

Ironman Prayer Training Strategies {#ironman-prayer-training-strategies}

For Ironman accounts, questing is a valuable early prayer training osrs method, especially at lower levels.

Quests like The Restless Ghost and Priest in Peril have minimal requirements and can quickly boost your Prayer level from 1 to 30.

Beyond questing, low-level Ironman prayer training methods osrs include:

• Bone Shards: Safe and decent XP, even at higher levels.
• Chaos Altar: Fast XP, but risky for Hardcore Ironmen.
• Forthos Dungeon: Good for Ultimate Ironmen due to safety.
• Ectofuntus: Safe and utilizes gathered bones.

Higher-level Ironmen can build a Gilded Altar in their player-owned house at 75 Construction. Offering Spells and the Fountain of Rune can also be utilized, especially when rune supplies are limited.

However, much of Ironman prayer training osrs is focused on bone and supply collection.

Bone Gathering Locations for Ironmen:

• Taverley Dungeon Blue Dragons: Safe-spotting for early dragon bones.
• Fornthos Dungeon Red Dragons: Safe-spotting with a nearby altar.
• Slayer: Effective Slayer training provides ensouled heads, bones, and ashes passively.
• Myths Guild Dragons: Accessible after Dragon Slayer 2.
• Wilderness Green Dragons: Riskier but accessible.
• Bosses: Zulrah, Cerberus, Vorkath, and others drop noted bones. High-level bosses like Alchemical Hydra and Dagannoth Kings drop high-XP bones.

Free-to-Play (F2P) Prayer Training {#free-to-play-f2p-prayer-training}

Free-to-Play prayer training osrs is notably expensive and slow, lacking fast methods and requiring intensive clicking.

The fastest F2P method is burying big bones while simultaneously scattering vile ashes. This dual-method approach maximizes XP, but reaching level 99 Prayer will take over 110 hours and cost approximately 180 million GP.

Given the cost and time investment in F2P Prayer training, obtaining membership might be a more efficient and enjoyable path to high Prayer levels.

Thank you for reading this comprehensive OSRS Prayer Guide. I hope you found this guide helpful and informative. If you have any questions or want to discuss OSRS, feel free to join the Theoatrix friend chat in-game. As always, thanks for reading, and happy ‘Scaping!