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Sample Herblore Training Plans Mid-Level Herblore Training Recommendations (Levels 38 to 62)

As a new herblorist, you’re probably also relatively new to the game, so all of your skill levels are fairly low. To ensure you have success with Herblore as you train, your main overall goal at the lower levels should be to lay the foundation for further development of the skill. While you could dive right into making low-level potions, and quickly raise your level from 3 into the 30s and 40s, I don’t recommend it—if you don’t work on developing your character in a balanced way, your lack of preparation will just catch up with you later on when you find you are missing skill levels and quests prerequisites you need.

First, in terms of combat, you’ll want to work towards getting it up to around level 40 or so. Since you want herbs, a good place to start is with the very-low-level secondary herb droppers; for more details, see below under “Herb Gathering”. You can start Slayer as well; some players may find it easier to wait until higher combat levels, though, as some assignments can be difficult at extremely low combat levels. Be sure you do at least some Strength training, incidentally, as you’ll need it later.

In terms of non-combat skills, here are the areas where you’ll want to concentrate:

• Agility: No specific targets at this point, but it’s worth starting on it, as you’ll need it later.
  
  
• Farming: Get Farming up to at least level 9 so you can start growing herbs; I have a few ideas on how to do this in the mini herb farming guide.
  
  
• Magic: Start training this as soon as possible; a decent Magic level is needed for all sorts of things, including just getting around when collecting herbs and seconds.
  
  
• Summoning: Use the initial stock of 275 gold charms you receive when you begin the skill to get up to at least level 16 or so. This will get you going, and also enable you to use the level 10 spirit spider, a handy Herblore familiar and decent way to make money at lower levels.
  
  
• Thieving: Start training this, because you’ll need it later on.

Beyond these, you’ll want to work on raising most of your other skill levels in a more general way as well, since various skill levels are needed to start and complete quests.

First, you need to do Druidic Ritual in order start the Herblore skill. I also suggest doing Wolf Whistle as soon as possible, so you can start working on Summoning.

If you have very low skill levels, you won’t be able to do many of the essential quests for Herblore. The only really easy quest that’s worth doing at this stage is Jungle Potion.

Beyond that, you can certainly get started on some of the prerequisite quests for the ones you’ll need later; look at your quest list to see what some of the prerequisites are for important Herblore-related quests and get started on them. Examples of some worth doing at the early stages are Dragon Slayer, Merlin’s Crystal, Priest in Peril, Restless Ghost and Shield of Arrav.

Low-level players should combine combat training with getting herbs, by fighting easier secondary herb droppers as I mentioned earlier. Some good choices for very-low-level combat players are “men”, cockroach drones and Al-Kharid warriors. (You need to complete the Stronghold of Player Safety to fight the drones.)

You can also fight cave bugs if you get to Slayer level 7. They give a disproportionate number of guams as drops, which are of value to new herblorists.

You should also get started with growing herbs, beginning with guams once you reach level 9 in the Farming skill. At this early stage you won’t have the necessary teleports and completed quests to easily do full Farming runs, so I recommend spending time hanging around Catherby and planting there. You can also do the Vinesweeper minigame while waiting for crops, to earn extra Farming XP.

As a pragmatist, I recommend growing guams until you reach level 19 Farming, and then switching to tarromin. (Marrentills are dirt cheap and give almost as much XP as guams, so I don’t recommend growing them—and they aren’t good for leveling anyway.) Continue with tarromin until level 26 Farming, and then switch to harralander, which you’ll stick with until 32 Farming, when you should begin growing ranarrs. Either use the herbs yourself or sell them for cash to buy the herbs you need, depending on your general approach to herb growing.

You should also grow marigolds (for cash) or limpwurt roots (to use in strength potions), as soon as you can. And remember to always use supercompost!

Start making attack potions at level 3, and continue until level 12 when you should switch to strength potions. (Antipoisons use an expensive secondary ingredient, and are worth almost nothing, so avoid them for training.) Strength pots, at least as of the time I write this, are one of the more cost-effective training options, so you can continue with them all the way up to level 37 if you wish. Alternatively, if you want to use harralanders you’ve grown, switch to energy potions at level 26. You can keep these to use later on Farming runs.

Most of the alternative training methods aren’t suitable for those with very low levels. The only ones that are really worth considering here are ways of getting bonus XP to help propel you past the early levels where training is more difficult.

Sample Herblore Training Plans Mid-Level Herblore Training Recommendations (Levels 38 to 62)