TruthScape.com - Herblore Skill Level Recommendations

Herblore is a relatively standalone skill that can be trained rather independently of other skills—if you have the materials you need for making potions. And there’s there rub. J The skill has strong synergies with both combat and Farming, because those are the two skills that provide most of the materials needed for Herblore. And this means that you’ll have a far easier time working on Herblore if you achieve meaningful levels in combat and Farming as well; the only alternative is to buy everything you need, and lose millions in the process.

In addition to these two main areas, I’ll also briefly cover some recommendations in other skills that can help you in your training, especially at higher levels.

You may note that some skills listed here are mentioned as being synergistic with Herblore, but some are not. The reason is that some of the skills here convey a benefit to Herblore training, but the skills themselves aren’t really trained along with Herblore. For example, Summoning familiars can provide useful materials for Herblore, but that doesn’t really do much to train Summoning itself.

Note that the difference between this topic and the one on synergies is that there are some skills where having a particular l

Herblore is a non-combat skill, but the best, fastest way of getting herbs and several types of secondary ingredients is by killing monsters for them. Many of the best monsters for getting Herblore supplies are only accessible upon reaching particular levels of the Slayer skill, so it is closely related.

Fortunately for those who don’t like combat, the vast majority of the best Herblore-ingredient monsters in the game are low in level. In fact, four of the five primary herb dropping NPCs are level 28 or below. This means that you don’t need a very high combat level to collect herbs, but at the same time, a higher combat level lets you kill even low-level monsters faster, and so it is certainly advantageous.

The best monster in the game for both herbs and herb seeds is the aberrant spectre, which is highly recommended for advanced herblorists. It has a combat level of 96, hits hard with magic attacks, and requires level 60 Slayer. It pays off with lots of double and even triple herb drops, high-level herb seeds and other useful drops. Other than the spectres, you only need a level of 7 to 15 for the other good Slayer-related herb droppers (cave bugs, cave crawlers and banshees). If you want to fight fever spiders, they are Slayer level 42.

There are also several monsters that are major sources for secondary ingredients, especially limpwurt roots, unicorn horns and cockatrice eggs. These are not generally high-level monsters—the most challenging is the level 37 cockatrice that requires level 25 Slayer—but again, higher combat levels mean faster kills.

The alternative to combat for getting herbs is growing them using the Farming skill (Figure 151). Of course, you don’t have to choose one or the other, and in fact, dedicated herblorists will want to use both. In addition to herbs, Farming is a primary source of other essential Herblore items, including secondary ingredients and coconut milk.

You can start growing herbs at level 9 Farming, and I recommend having that level when you start Herblore. As you raise your Farming level you will, of course, gain the ability to grow higher-level herbs. One important milestone is level 32 Farming to grow ranarrs for prayer potions, which I recommend for mid-level herblorists. Level 62 lets you grow valuable snapdragons to make super restore potions, and that’s my Farming level recommendation for higher-level potion makers. For more details, see the miniguide to growing herbs that I’ve included in this guide.

There are several secondary and special ingredients for which Farming is either the sole or the primary source. The more important ones are summarized in Table 14.

**Table 14: Key Herblore Ingredients Obtained from the Farming Skill**
Item	Obtained From	Farming Level Required	Notes
Limpwurt Root	Limpwurt Flower	26	Also obtained from monster drops; used in strength and super strength potions.
Cactus Spine	Cactus	55	Primary ingredient in weapon poison+.
Whiteberries	Whiteberry Bush	59	Used in defence and super defence potions.
Yew Roots	Yew Tree	60	Must chop down and kill the tree to obtain; used as the secondary ingredient in antipoison+ potions.
Cave Nightshade	Belladonna	63	Also obtained from a (slow, inconvenient) spawn in a cave near Gu’Tanoth; primary ingredient in weapon poison++.
Coconut	Palm Tree	68	Cracked open and used on an empty vial to get coconut milk, which is the base for high-level weapon poisons and antipoisons.
Poison Ivy Berries	Poison Ivy Bush	70	Used in weapon poison++.
Magic Roots	Magic Tree	75	Must chop down and kill the tree to obtain; used as the secondary ingredient in antipoison++ potions.

Most of the other skills in the game have, at best, weak relationships to Herblore; having good levels in them is generally an indirect benefit, or is optional in that it only enables a particular subset of the skill. Here are some of the more notable milestones to consider.

There’s obviously no need for Agility in making potions, but having particular levels can give you access to certain useful areas and enable optional features:

If you want to do barbarian herblore, then in addition to the Agility and Strength requirements, you will also need level 48 to get roe and level 70 for caviar. Again, these can be bought, and barbarian training isn’t an especially popular option anyway, so it’s far from essential.

Level 51 is required to deadfall trap the sabre-toothed kebbit, which is the only source of kebbit teeth for hunter potions. Again, these are tradeable items, so this is purely optional.

Magic is useful as a support skill for creating or augmenting particular ingredients used in Herblore:

A good level in this skill makes combat more efficient. You will also use prayer points if you get your own mort myre fungi for super energy potions, so a higher level will let you get more on each trip.

Its combat contribution is obvious, but a Strength level of 15 is also needed if you want to catch leaping trout and 30 for leaping salmon to get roe for barbarian fishing; level 45 is required for leaping sturgeon to get caviar. These are in addition to the Agility and Fishing levels already mentioned.

This skill enhances combat as well. Beyond that, there are a few particularly useful Summoning familiars for herblorists:

Reaching level 46 in this skill allows you to pick the lock on the door to the tower north of Ardougne, a convenient spot to fight chaos druids for herbs. At level 82 you can also get through the shortcut door connecting the Agility Dungeon and Yanille.