TruthScape.com - Limpwurt Roots

Used for both strength and super strength potions, limpwurt roots are one of the most important secondary ingredients in the game. They are non-member items, and also used to make strength potions by non-member players, which results in the market for limpwurt roots being a very interesting one. These roots can be grown using the Farming skill, but are more commonly obtained as drops in combat.

The few secondary ingredients that can be obtained as drops come from just a few types of monsters, and then generally only in small quantities. Limpwurt roots are an exception to this rule in both respects: there are over a dozen monsters that drop them, and some provide them in large quantities—60 or more an hour is possible. Even better, nearly all of these monsters are low-level and easy to kill.

Table 43 contains a listing of all of the monsters that drop limpwurt roots, along with their levels and an approximate indication of how well-suited they are to use for getting this resource.

**Table 43: Comparison of Monsters that Drop Limpwurt Roots**
Monster	Level	Suitability for Getting Limpwurt Roots	Other Noteworthy Drops
Cave Bugs	6	Low	Herbs
Cockroach Drones	8	Low	Herbs
Cave Crawlers	23	Low to Moderate	Herbs, other miscellaneous seconds
Hobgoblins	28	Very high	--
Hill Giants	28	High	Charms
Tribesmen	32	High	Snape grass
Druids	33	Low to moderate	Charms
Cockatrices	37	High	Cockatrice eggs, nature runes
Chaos Druid Warriors	37	Low	Herbs, other miscellaneous seconds
Hobgoblins	42	Moderate	--
Cyclops	56	Low	Defenders
Cave Horrors	58	Moderate	Black mask, herb seeds
Turoths	83 to 89	Low	Herbs, seeds, nature runes, mystic robe pieces
Werewolves	88	Low	--
Kurasks	106	Low	Nature runes, flax, mystic robe pieces

As the suitability ratings suggest, the best monsters for roots are level 28 hobgoblins, followed by cockatrices, hill giants and tribesmen.

Level 28 hobgoblins simply drop more limpwurt roots per hour than any other monster: my best so far is 34 of them in a half hour, not including travel or banking time. The best place to fight these is on the peninsula west of the Crafting Guild, better known as one of the two places to get snape grass; see the discussion of that ingredient for details on this location and the best ways of getting there quickly.

These are easy monsters that rarely hit higher-level players and have no special abilities. There are many of them on the peninsula, so competition for them should not be a problem. Alternate locations include the Asgarnian Ice Cave, Edgeville Dungeon (southern portion), between Ardougne and the Tree Gnome Stronghold, Crandor Island and Rellekka.

These drop fewer limpwurt roots than hobgoblins, but also drop cockatrice eggs, which are useful and valuable secondary items in their own right (Figure 219). See the discussion of cockatrice eggs for details on fighting them.

Many players consider these to be one of the best monsters for limpwurt roots, but they really drop them far less often than hobgoblins. Still, they are a decent training monster anyway, they drop charms, and they are easy to get to. The main problem with them is that they are usually crowded, though this sometimes means you can find extra roots or similar goodies that other players leave behind.

The best spots to fight hill giants if you want to bank drops are in the far southern end of Edgeville Dungeon (use the brass key to get to them quickly) and the area north of Castle Wars. Regular melee armor works fine for these, and high-level players do not need food.

These monsters drop about as many limpwurt roots as cockatrices or hill giants, but must be considered inferior because of their location and the need to use antipoison when fighting them. They do also drop lots of snape grass, but if you are after both roots and snape grass, it’s easier to just fight hobgoblins on the peninsula and pick up snape grass as it spawns.

If you do want to fight them, wear decent armor and bring with a full super antipoison, then get to them via the boat from Ardougne, walking southwest until you find their fire and cauldron.

Limpwurts are actually flowers that are, naturally, grown in flower patches; each plant you successfully raise will give you three roots when you harvest it. Most players will grow limpwurts together with herbs, harvesting and replanting both at the same time. There are four allotment patches that have spots for both herbs and flowers: in Catherby, north of Ardougne, south of Falador and west of Port Phasmatys.

For best success you should always use supercompost when planting limpwurt seeds, as with most crops. They only take around 20 minutes to grow, so you can harvest quite a few if you want to take the time to keep replanting. Again, though, most players only cycle their limpwurts when they do their herbs, which take about 75 minutes.

At one time, nearly all Farmers grew limpwurts alongside herbs to help with Herblore, but since the beginning of 2008 there is some competition for the flower patches from marigolds. These flowers are a secondary ingredient for Summoning, and are worth more in cash value than limpwurts, so some players prefer to grow marigolds, sell them and then buy limpwurt roots with the proceeds.

With a value of around 500 each, spending an hour killing hobgoblins to get even 60 or 70 limpwurt roots is a waste of your time. You are far better off just buying them on the GE if you need them for training purposes, unless you are someone who only likes to use materials gathered yourself.

Farming limpwurt roots slowly over time is a viable option for those who don’t make many strength or super strength potions. However, as mentioned above, marigolds sell for more than three limpwurt roots—at least double, in fact. So you are really better off growing and selling the marigolds and buying more roots, again, depending on your priorities.