The Ultimate OSRS F2P Prayer Guide (1-99)

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Reviewed by Benjamin Barr

In the realm of Gielinor, there exists a pantheon of deities to call upon for power and protection. The pantheon is split into the archetypical deities of Order (Saradomin), Chaos (Zamorak), and Balance (Guthix), but you don’t necessarily have to worry yourself with such specifics to take advantage of their blessings. Just click the right prayer at the right time, and away you go. 

Unlike most skills, you won’t level Prayer through practice. Using Prayer depletes your “prayer points,” a resource that’s limited by whatever your level is at that given moment. You can recharge your prayer points at altars and other such holy spots around the world, but that’s also not how you level Prayer.

To raise your piety and Prayer level with the demigods of OldSchool RuneScape, you’ll be burying bones. Lots and lots of bones. 

Welcome to the 1-99 Prayer Guide OSRS F2P. 

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OSRS F2P Prayer Guide: Clerical Matters

The journey to 99 Prayer is going to be littered with bones, be they from beasts you’ve slain or the triumphs of others. Every bundle of bones you bury will bring you that much closer to your ultimate goal, inch by painful inch. If you want a bit of a head start, you can complete The Restless Ghost quest for a quick 1,125 XP. When you’re burying basic bones for 4 XP a pop, even such a token amount can make the first few levels easier.  

It may sound like a one-note song for all this talk of bones, but Prayer as a skill is far more diverse and multifaceted than that. Certain prayers boost combat skills. Others increase your health regeneration rate or allow you to keep one more item on death. The core prayers are the “overheads” — prayers with an overhead icon like Protect from Melee, Ranged, and Magic. They do pretty much what you think, rendering you nigh invulnerable from any one corner of the combat triangle at a given time.  

Altars are sprinkled all across the F2P world for paying penance and receiving prayer points. Every chapel, like the ones in Lumbridge and Varrock, will have them. Likewise, the Monastery southwest of Edgeville is available for those over Level 31 Prayer. There are various chaotic altars to Zamorak sprinkled around, one in Varrock and some in the Wilderness besides. But prayer is prayer — you don’t have to worry about aligning yourself with a particular deity. 

All that matters is that you do the work and bury those bones. 

Gravedigging

When it comes to bones, there’s a surprising amount of variety. And with each increase in rarity, there’s an increase in experience as well. Instead of the usual charting of paths from 1 to 99, we’ll simply break down the various bone types available to you and suggest a few different approaches. 

You’ll likely spend a lot of time at the Grand Exchange buying and burying bones or obtaining bones besides. How you’ll go about this is up to you, though pairing the quest for 99 Prayer with Combat for bones or a moneymaking skill like Mining for coin may be ideal. 

But first, the bones.

Obviously, the big bones will be your go-to for most of the grind — if you can afford them. If you’re really daring, you can make your way out to the Bone Yard in the Wilderness for those “cheap-as-free” bones. 

As long as you can soak a few hits from the Level 25 skeletons standing sentry over their inanimate brethren, you can stay out in the Bone Yard burying bones until your fingers grow numb or a PKer finds you. You’ll find six big bones spawn points around the Yard, as well as 34 regular bones spawn points to fill your time while you await the big bones’ respawn timers. This is a great — if dangerous — way to rapidly earn some Prayer XP for minimal effort. 

But if you’re one of those “do-it-yourself” types, remember that nearly every corporeal monster in OldSchool RuneScape drops bones of some sort. Farm goblins, cows, and chickens back in Lumbridge for low-danger high-volume regular bones. And if you ever find yourself knee-deep in Moss Giants or Hill Giants grinding out levels, you’ll be raking in one set of big bones for every kill.

As we mentioned earlier in our OSRS Prayer Guide F2P, this skill is best paired with any corner of the combat triangle — like Ranged or Magic — to give you a reason to stop and pick up those bones. It’s like stopping to smell the roses, only more macabre. 

Once you’ve amassed enough loot, you can head to the Grand Exchange to buy big bones in bulk to supplement your experiential earnings. Yes, this is very nearly a “pay-to-win” skill — either you grind out experience bit by bit in the fields and moors of Gielinor, or you hand over some shiny virtual currency to speed up the process. Just like real life. 

Wrapping Up the OSRS F2P Prayer Guide

It would have been foolish to lead with this, but in all honesty, Prayer may be one of the most difficult, time-consuming, and potentially costly skills for a F2P player to level. We don’t want to discourage you before you even begin. If you’ve made it to the end of the Prayer journey (or if you’re even halfway there), I salute you. Rest assured that the grind is worth it. Those overhead prayers make it an entirely new game, especially if you master the art of prayer flicking. 

If you’ve made it all the way to 99 on big bones, then you’re living on a prayer. Before you write an angry comment, it’s worth noting that every F2P Prayer Guide for OSRS needs to include a reference to Bon Jovi. Jagex said so.

Related Reading

• OSRS F2P Magic Guide
• OSRS F2P Combat Guide
• OSRS F2P Ranged Guide
• OSRS F2P Mining Guide
• OSRS F2P Smithing Guide