You’ve just spawned in Lumbridge. Your stats are all level one, your gear looks like it came from a medieval thrift shop, and you have no idea what to do next. Sound familiar? Perfect—you’re in the right place.

Runescape can feel like a massive, confusing sandbox when you’re new. With hundreds of skills, quests, and thousands of hours of content, it’s easy to get lost. This guide breaks down what to actually do as a new player, offering a real direction without spoon-feeding you every click.

The Philosophy of RuneScape

First, let’s set expectations. If you’re coming from games like World of Warcraft or Final Fantasy XIV, you’ll need to adjust your mindset. OSRS isn’t about sprinting to “endgame.” There is no endgame. The entire experience—early, mid, and late game—is the point.

Progress in OSRS takes time. Big content creators you see flexing maxed accounts have spent thousands of hours grinding. But that’s what makes progress feel so meaningful—everything you achieve is permanent. There are no expansions that reset your progress or obsolete your items. Every level you earn and quest you complete stays valuable forever.

RuneScape is a slow-burn RPG where the grind is the game. Every small milestone feeds into a larger web of goals. Enjoy the journey, not just the destination.

Your First Real Goal: Questing

Once you finish the tutorial and land in Lumbridge, your priority is clear—start questing. Quests give massive experience rewards compared to low-level skilling, and they unlock better methods for almost every activity in the game.

Start by installing the Quest Helper plugin from the RuneLite hub. It automatically tracks quest steps in-game and saves you tons of time. Then, check out the Efficient Quest Guide on the official OSRS Wiki—it lists quests in an order that chains XP and unlocks together smoothly.

Even if you don’t care about efficiency, using the Wiki is essential. It’s the single best resource in the game, full of accurate and community-maintained information for every skill, quest, and boss.

Completing quests like Waterfall Quest, Grand Tree, Tree Gnome Village, and Fight Arena early on will skyrocket your combat stats without needing to grind on goblins. By the time you’ve done a dozen or so quests, you’ll have access to faster training areas, useful teleport options, and equipment upgrades.

Skilling, Dailies, and Diaries

In between quests, you’ll need to train skills to meet requirements. Don’t just grind mindlessly—try out mini-games like Wintertodt (Firemaking), Tempoross (Fishing), or the new Fletching mini-game. These activities give good XP and let you interact with other players.

As you progress, you’ll unlock Achievement Diaries. These are region-specific task lists that grant XP lamps and permanent benefits, like faster run energy restoration or better teleport options. They’re often overlooked by beginners but are worth tackling as soon as possible.

Once you hit around 500 total level, you can start doing “dailies” or “hourlies”—short, repeatable activities that give great passive XP and cheap OSRS GP. For example, Herb runs and Birdhouse runs take only a few minutes each and can make you rich over time. They’re optional, but an excellent way to make steady progress without long grind sessions.

Combat Training and Gear Progression

Now that you’ve got some quest points and base stats, it’s time to gear up. OSRS combat progression is designed to be gradual, but also rewarding.

Your first big upgrades should be the Dragon Scimitar, Barrows Gloves, and Dragon Defender. These items are incredibly strong for early and mid-game players and will last you for hundreds of hours.

If you’re an Ironman, don’t stress about making money early. Focus on unlocking useful gear through quests and bosses rather than wasting time looting or “money making.”

Once you’ve hit around level 50–60 in combat stats, try your first boss: Scurrius the Rat King. It’s a forgiving fight that teaches basic boss mechanics while dropping solid XP and loot. For more chill training, check out the Gem Crab, a new semi-AFK boss that’s great for leveling.

After that, work toward Barrows' gear. The Barrows Brothers are classic bosses that drop powerful tank armor still used in mid-game PVM. Focus on getting the melee chest and legs for survivability.

The Middle Game: Piety, Perilous Moons, and Progress

As your stats rise, aim for the Piety prayer (requires 70 Prayer and several quest lines) and the Zamorakian Hasta or Obsidian Axe—both strong melee upgrades.

Once you’ve got solid stats and gear, it’s time for one of OSRS’s best mid-game challenges: Perilous Moons. This boss set offers three unique encounters, each dropping gear for different combat styles—melee, range, and magic. It’s beginner-friendly, costs no supplies, and gives amazing rewards.

Grinding Perilous Moons can easily take days or weeks, but it’s one of the most fun and rewarding parts of the journey.

Late Game and Beyond

By now, you’ll have great stats, solid gear, and access to nearly every piece of content. So what’s next? The world opens up completely.

Try farming Tormented Demons for Synapse drops, or attempt the Corrupted Gauntlet to earn the legendary Bow of Faerdhinen (Bofa)—one of the strongest weapons in the game. It’s tough but incredibly profitable.

Once you’re ready for something bigger, take on your first raid: Tombs of Amascut (TOA). It’s designed for beginners, offering scalable difficulty and the chance to earn Osmumten’s Fang, one of the most broken melee weapons ever introduced.

After that, you can chase items like the Blowpipe from Zulrah, try Slayer bosses, or begin high-level content like the Inferno or Chambers of Xeric.

Final Thoughts

Old School RuneScape is a marathon, not a sprint. You don’t need to rush to max stats or grind OSRS GP endlessly. Every quest, every skill, every piece of gear you earn matters.

Whether you’re chasing the Quest Cape, grinding bosses, or just chopping trees in Draynor Village, remember: this is the ride.

Welcome to RuneScape—may your clicks be precise, your RNG merciful, and your grind forever tasty.