The Ultimate OSRS P2P Magic Guide (1-99)

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Reviewed by Benjamin Barr

There’s Magic in the air tonight. 

Spells and sorcery are mainstays of the fantasy genre. Even before we began placing stories into genres like fantasy and science-fiction, ancient cultures developed legends and mythologies that were essentially ye olde fantasy fiction. And one of the most common tropes across all mythologies and cultures was magic. 

Magic in fantasy makes the impossible achievable for a practiced wizard. They can procure fireballs at a moment’s notice, teleport across vast distances, or transmute items into gold. Magic is the cheat code for telling a story where anything is possible, and even the bookworms can go toe to toe with the mightiest warriors. 

Naturally, OldSchool RuneScape leans into its Arthurian roots with a heavy emphasis on Magic. Want to become an archmage yourself? This OSRS Magic Guide P2P edition will illuminate the path from zero to spell-slinging hero for OldSchool RuneScape members. 

It’s time to get magical. 

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OSRS Heroes’ Quest Complete Guide

OSRS Magic Guide P2P: Magical Acolyte

Starting a sorcerous sojourn is no small feat. You’ll have to prepare both body and mind for a grueling test of your abilities. If you take to practicing the arcane arts willy-nilly, they’ll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds.

Fortunately, there are a few quick and easy quests you can churn out to get your feet beneath you. 

That cool 1,200XP between those two quests gets you from Level 1 to Level 10 Magic with some change. There’s a few other at least beginner to intermediate quests offering Magic XP, like The Grand Tree and Watchtower, but those tend to require some other skills. Especially combat. This renders them ill-suited for a quick-start for Magic, especially considering the XP rewards on the table. Just get some runes and get to work. 

Speaking of runes, you’re going to need a lot (allow me to reemphasize — A LOT) of runes to reach your peak magical potential. As such, you’ll want to make heavy use of the infinite rune wells known as the elemental staves. Since most spells are heavy on Air runes, you’ll want to keep a Staff of air on hand most of the time, along with a few in reserve at the bank. But of course, having a smattering of the other elemental staves won’t hurt one bit — and the Staff of fire is ideal for High Level Alchemy training. 

To sum up, purchase (or Runecraft) your runes as needed, but pick up the following in advance:

For any elemental rune requirements from here on out, you can mentally append “(rune type) or use the Staff of (rune type)” to the text.

If you’re training Magic via combat, get some staves, then consider the following:

Some of those sets can be costly. Ahrim’s in particular is several million for a full set. So if you choose to train Magic with combat, throw in some High Level Alchemy (once you reach Level 55) on the more valuable drops you get — or simply sell them — to get the necessary coin. 

For all the Magic routes we’ll be discussing, we’ll figure that you’re starting at a crisp, clean Level 10 Magic thanks to questing or otherwise. That’s where the missing 1K XP or so went. A rounding error, really.

Ready to kick this 1-99 Magic Guide OSRS P2P edition into high gear? The spellcasting starts now. 

Magic for Fun and Profit

Let’s talk combat Magic later. For now, we’ll assume you want to reach 99 with a minimum of conflict and a maximum of profit. There are a few ways to go about this, but in the end, it’s simply a whole lot of alchemy. And making money with Magic can require some seed money to get started. This route is best considered if you have another moneymaking skill you’ve been grinding to fund your efforts.

Consult the current Grand Exchange prices to find profitable items to alchemize — rune weapons or armor generally provide the best returns, but not always.

If you want to make some cash (literally) as a mage, the very best way is to transmute items into gold. Except when it’s not. Depending on market conditions, you may find more profit in adjacent activities, like enchanting diamond or dragonstone jewelry. However, enchanting jewelry can require even more start-up capital than High Level Alchemy, so you may be better off saving it for the final sprint to 99. 

You may find some OSRS Magic Guide P2P with costs in the wild, but be advised, everyone’s cost will be different. What runes you use, what staves you wield, and what routes you take to 99 are all going to have an impact on your bottom line. Let’s just say it’s going to cost you millions of GP and call it a day. Profitable spells like High Level Alchemy and selling enchanted jewelry can offset some of that, but no one said getting 99 in any skill would be cheap or easy. 

If you’re just looking for efficient XP without considering profit, throw some Superheat Item and teleport spells into your rotation. If you’ve run through Camelot even once, you doubtless noticed the throng of mages just outside Camelot, throwing their arms wide and heads skyward as they teleport to…just a few meters away from where they started. Hey, it’s an efficient and minimal attention technique, don’t @ them. 

Wizards Can Hit Hard

Now it’s time to talk about damage. Specifically, the damage you can output as a seasoned sorcerer. As part of the combat triangle, Magic users in OldSchool RuneScape can slam armored opponents with mystical attacks that can burn them out from under their platemail. You’re vulnerable to Ranged opponents, of course, but you can teleport to safety at a moment’s notice, contributing to the legends about mage immortality. 

There aren’t many OSRS P2P Magic Training Guides that emphasize the combat portion. With good reason. There’s far, far more efficient XP to be found elsewhere. Even Splashing, at least at the early levels. But all that alchemy can get boring. Consider this route to 99 as an alternate path to the finish, one you can switch back and forth to when endless enchanting, alchemy, and teleportation start to try your patience.

What monsters you choose to slay is entirely up to you. Note that Sand Crabs and Rock Crabs offer decent XP due to their high health and low threat, but they can be boring and don’t offer good drops (especially if you’re looking to gather loot for alchemy). 

All combat spells require a combat rune and a few air runes and elemental runes, as indicated by the spell type. You’ll want to use the highest level spell you can cast for maximum XP, but you can sit comfortably on the Wind (Air) spells if you want to use a Staff of air and the combat runes to save some coin or runes for other endeavors.

Strike Spells

You’ll be starting with the Strike spell family, which uses Mind runes. Earth Strike will be your best spell starting at level 10. Per the previous recommendation, Sand Crabs and Rock Crabs are a solid way to start the party. 

Keep an eye out for creatures you can safespot as well — with some careful positioning, you can take on enemies far above your level. But this requires your close attention and may not be conducive to Netflix binging while you level. 

Once you hit Level 17, you’re in the Bolt spell family.

Bolt Spells

Bolt spells use Chaos runes and may be the first tier of spells where you feel like you deal some decent damage. This opens up more options for better targets that drop better loot. 

If you’re feeling daring, the Lesser demons in the Karamja Volcano can be safespotted and drop the Rune med helm — one of the quintessential alchemy items. They offer slower XP than other options, though, so be forewarned. 

At Level 41, it’s time for Blast spells.

Blast Spells

To cast Blast Spells, you must harness the dangerous power of the Death runes. They carry you through to the sixties in terms of your Magic level and offer good damage. Unfortunately, this good damage comes at a cost. Death runes are not cheap. I hope you’ve been hoovering up any good loot and alching it for spare change. 

Consider the Ogress Warriors and Ogress Shamans in the Corsair Cove Dungeon for this tier. They can also drop the Rune med helm, the Rune full helm, and the Rune battleaxe — all solid alch items.

Level 62 Magic brings Wave Spells, the penultimate tier of Magical combat.

Wave Spells

The Wave Spell family leverages Blood runes to thoroughly stomp anything in your path with incredible magical damage. There’s only one more tier above this. If you don’t feel like a mighty mage at this point, maybe you should take on some tougher monsters.

If you’re looking for a good challenge for this tier, consider the Brimhaven Dungeon. There are many good targets with valuable drops, and more than a few safespot locations to hide in. 

At Level 81, you enter the hallowed halls of the archmage and learn the power of the Surge Spells.

Surge Spells

The Surge spells are nigh unrivaled for raw power and damage output. Wrath runes fuel their unbridled carnage. Since the halfway point to 99 is Level 92 (sorry if you were under any illusions before now), you’ll be spending the most time on your grind to 99 in this tier. 

At this point, you should be a veteran in safespotting. There’s no dungeon or monster off limits to you, nothing that can withstand your magical fury (within reason, of course). Good targets at this tier may include — but aren’t limited to — Chromatic dragons, Metal dragons, and Black demons. Even bosses are within reach if you’re looking for a challenge.

Ancient Magicks

We would be entirely remiss if we finished this guide before discussing Ancient Magicks. They’re a secondary spellbook with some incredibly potent combat spells. You’ve got some MMO staples in here – including AoE, life drain, and debuff spells that can turn a tough fight into a cakewalk. 

Ancient Magicks are gated behind the Desert Treasure quest, a rather lengthy excursion with significant quest and level requirements. If you’re a Magic pure, it might not be on the table. But if you’re coming to Magic with a decently leveled character, you’d be silly not to finish Desert Treasure and bring Ancient Magicks into the mix. They’re a worthy tool to have in your toolbelt as you slay your way across Gielinor. 

OSRS Magic Guide P2P: It’s a Magical World

By now, you’ve turned some items into gold with High Level Alchemy. You’ve weaponized ancient and arcane energies as you fought your way across RuneScape — both above and below the surface of the world — in search of more items worth alching. And you’ve perhaps enchanted some jewelry, smelted ore in a bank, and teleported over and over to nearly the same position you started from. 

All a day in the life of the OldSchool RuneScape archmage. And, to be clear, you can’t truly call yourself archmage until you use this OSRS Magic Guide P2P and hit 99. After that, you’ll want to hit every major bank and flash1: declare your victory.

We’ll see you in the next guide.

Related Reading

• P2P Crafting Guide
• P2P Runecrafting Guide
• P2P Firemaking Guide
• P2P Woodcutting Guide