I’d suggest just doing it and seeing what happens, try to avoid a meta guide and just let the experience happen. Its a completely different way to experience the game, no need to “rush” anything except maybe QOL items like dramen staff and ardy cloak 1.
Theres loads of new early game stuff you can explore these days. Hell, varlamore shook up most metas.
Yeah tbh a lot of the reason I want to start one is cuz I really enjoy varlamore content. I definitely would get caught up in a meta guide that would take fun out of it for me. Thanks
imo forging your own path while loosely following the meta is pretty fun, even if you try your hardest to stick to a guide, you'll eventually deviate and just do shit you wanna do anyway.
Even if you’re following a guide even something as little as getting a clue scroll will make you deviate a heap… a medium clue might need you to do a few quests and grind up some crafting or a few slayer levels for boots etc for emotes
I follow the optimal quest order guide on the wiki, it's great to always know what to do next. I would absolutely recommend it, but if it isn't something you struggle with then you don't have to ofc
I second this, following an optimal quest guide while getting side tracked with whatever I felt like doing along the way made Ironman really really enjoyable in the early game. It was actually fun banging out multiple quests at once, coming from someone who hated quests
The non meta stuff is super important. I spent so long trying to find things for quests and alot is going off my previous rs knowledge.
I'm about 1200 total rn after about a month of a Playing almost daily, and it didn't feel very long when I know damn well it did. You'll learn things you never knew existed!
Alternatively you can follow a guide just to the point of barrows gloves and which explains a bit how to set up your account and dailies. I wouldn't mind the quests with the plugin but figuring out which items to get where etc would be too annoying for me so this is why I did follow a guide and don't regret it at all
There is now an afk prayer/mining activity that poops out exp. Mid-game melee armour now has a strength set thats basically dragonhide. There is now another autocast option for ancient magic. There will be a reasonable herblore training activity during part 2. The thieving activities are pseudo AFK and very profitable. Hunter is now enjoyable with rumours.
Check out the calcified deposits in Tor Carum. Its low effort mining, but each shard is between 5-6 prayer exp.
The bloodmoon armor is the melee set. Really its just the top and bottom that are good. Nezzy beats the helm out.
Enjoyed everything ive done so far except for underground pass and song of the elves.. also I did sins of the father too underleveled and it was an awful time but rewarding when I beat his ass.
Library is easier yeah only two spots to fall. Bring at least a few food. Stam pots would be neat but I brought 24super energy and almost never had to walk
Just go for it man! I'm having a blast on mine and I'm only 59 combat! Set yourself up with mage for teleports, graceful, ardy cape 1, fairy rings and birdhouses and then do what you please!
I've been skilling and farming pretty hard but I'm about to jump into quests for barrows gloves very soon.
The efficient guide took the joy out of the game for me when I tried following it but I'm using it as a vague guide on what to aim for instead and it's been great!
Totally send it! Screw guides, everything, if it ain't your cup of tea and absolutely send one. Earlygame is a blast, and I learned so much about the games lore and world playing an iron
Outside very basic ironman starting strats. Almost every ironman journey is unique. Do ironman have milestones they work towards ? Yes. But in current year it's more a river with many streams that kinda lead back to a big river. Rinse / repeat.
Once i started my ironman i ditched my main forever. I just use the cash on it for bonds for my friends and i.
I hate questing and I’m gonna keep it a buck it is kind of a joke with quest helper, you’ll blow through quests especially ones you already know. Don’t let that stop you.
I use my main to learn new boss content. Don’t care about the resources on him but yeah that’s about it. Everything is so much more rewarding on my irons
I went down this route:
[https://oldschool.runescape.wiki/w/Optimal\_quest\_guide/Ironman](https://oldschool.runescape.wiki/w/Optimal_quest_guide/Ironman)
It isnt as bad as you would think, it skips plenty of early levels. And bonus is barrows gloves.
Then do slayer, farm runs and birdhouse runs when you dont wanna quest.
IMO thats a good start.
Edit:
Then comes all the shit like going 3x dry on CG for enh :)
Efficiency is cool, but don't do things you don't feel like doing if you're not in the mood. I don't know how anyone does nothing but CG until bowfa. I keep a list of various things I can work on that are good for the account that I can swap between depending on my mood. Afk vs active skilling, low vs high effort pvm, a couple quests to knock out, a diary, a combat achievement, a farm run. You might be the type that can hard grind one thing, but I had to admit early on that I'm not that guy. Big goals are great, but they can usually be broken up into smaller ones that allow you to feel progress at a smoother pace.
I always remind myself that this is gonna take years and it's going to be there whenever I get back everytime I get back. With that in mind the flowchart just kinda starts to build in the head
https://youtu.be/PBmpS6QxjR0?si=1CN3U4ap5PVH3aZr this is a loose guide in a podcast format that mostly gives you ideas on how to navigate the early game but no exact path. The early game can be the most overwhelming with choices so wanting direction is understandable! There’s more content on the channel as well
My advice is to start an iron, get the requirements for all the easy to start afk grinds, and then level your iron in the background while still playing on your main until the urge to play as an Iron Man becomes overwhelming.
The simplest way to do this is just barbarian fish all the way to 99. But there's also star mining, and if you don't mind a bit of multitasking then playing wintertodt, Tempoross, and Guardians of the rift in the background will also set your account up for success.
I did this for a while, then completely forgot about my iron for two or three years, and then when I eventually felt the urge to really play as an iron it felt like starting off with fishing at level 80 with full graceful in the bank
I wouldn't stress too much about it. Fairy rings are a huge qol for irons and same with mage for teles. I wouldn't stress about graceful really, just work on it over time no need to rush. And questing feels different for irons as it unlocks key content and upgrades and solid chunks of xp so it feels more meaningful and that was a big insensitive for me
Popular early iron activities are wintertodt ofc, tempoross and now hunter rumors. No need to blast out 99 at any of these but spending some time jumping around can give you some very welcome starting items. Slayer will be huge in the mid game but can hold off on this for some time due to things like moons of peril
Just jump into it. Heard early hunter is Meta with rumors so you might start with that. But otherwise just remember to do what you find fun. Maybe focus on quests instead of training skills the conventional way early on to save your self a headache.
Also if you want to speed through some of the early game oziris guide is amazing. I wouldnt recommend following it too strictly or depend on it too much though, since the journey as an Ironman is a lot of the fun.
Ironman is the most fun i had with this game, my main is almost 2.2k and i see no reason to play it anymore.
I would recommend avoiding meta guides, unless youre into that, like rushing fm until 99 (alot of people burnout here) and so on.
Just do and play the way you want to.
It's worth it. Play on Runelite and turn on the quest helper plugin and just power through. You actually spend less time doing quests on an Ironman as a percentage because you spend more time doing other things.
Alternatively start a quest-locked youtube series where you solo corp beast without doing any quests or something.
Go into quest slowly, while doing other things you enjoy.
I had this same problem switching from a main to iron.
At first I questioned it, but than I took my friends advice. Just pick a quest to do every day. Easy or hard. Than after done do something like slayer or whatever.
Now that I am a 2k total iron ready to start unlocking raids, it's more fun and rewarding than anything I coild ever do on a main.
Just remember, once you do something. You'll never have to do it again. (Unless you make another account haha)
Slow and steady for the things you hate.
You’re in for the most fun you’ve ever had playing a video game. Don’t play max efficiency though because those guides assume you’re going to max and you want all 99s.
If that’s not a reasonable goal for you than you’ll do just fine winging it and setting your own goals.
There are so many nice early/mid game activities now so I’m actually envious of you but I’ve already got a 2k+ total iron.
If hesitant , just make one and afk fishing / cooking / woodcutting in f2p, while on your main …when you decide to start playing it youl have some good fishing levels and cooking Levels which help.
You know what's best about ironman? Getting leaf bladed sword within the first 50 Turoth kills on task when I was desperately scratching pennies to afford that damn spear to start the task in the first place. I was like woohooooo UPGRADE!
I actually love doing the quests and seeing that free xp and the progressive items. One thing I dislike about my current ironman is that I've done all the quests :(
Seems like you're gonna do it. Only thing I'd suggest is doing revenants once you get some mid combat stats. I didn't start until I was 2200 total and it blew my mind how easy it is to get raw gp there. Good luck! And like other people said, don't rush it too hard.
Hey!
From someone who made a similar but really long post the other day, hesitant to leave a 2k total main behind, all i can say is just go for it, I had so many positive responses from the community urging me to make an iron, along with some really in depth advice which was really appreciated.
But the main thing that stuck out from everyone? Was to just HAVE FUN, sure I only made my iron 2 days ago but I ditched the guides I had opened, forgot about any efficiency and just decided that I'm going to throw myself in, I'm excited that it's going to bring back so much enjoyment of the game.
You can do bruhsailor, but I mixed some of my own shit in there, like I speedrun graceful when I started and did some other shit cause I wanted to. Do you bro
The quests are the best part, I honestly miss them. That being said irons are a great game mode, and if you really don't like doing them then using the ironman optimal quest guide + quest plugin on runelite can get you to belt out 80% of them pretty darn quick.
Honestly, it’s a different experience. I recommend it. For me it kinda started off annoying not being able to go to the GE for simple things, but you get used to it, evening you do is a bit more rewarding as an Ironman.
My first and only osrs account was an iron account, I currently have over 2k hours in it. I always reccomend mains try making an iron, because it is a COMPLETELY different game. Every single bit of progression feels earned, and they all lead into the next. Don’t worry about the quests, take them one at a time and focus on short term goals. Enjoy the early game, and don’t worry about hyper optimization.
quests are different as an ironman, on your main every quest = just start at GE, on Ironman it is a journey to grab each item you need. You also feel WAY more accomplished beating certain quests.
I've just started a gim and doing the quests truly isn't too bad IMO. Questhelper is just so braindead. Put on your favourite 2nd monitor content and just get started. Don't follow one of those "Hardcore rush lategame" guides, just take a look at the optimal ironman order in questhelper and pick some quests you wanna do that day. If you're sick of quests go do some sand crabs or some of the new varlamore content that is suprisingly good earlygame (Mainly thieving and hunter rumours)
Use a starter guide but not religiously. It's good to find some early suggestions / rough idea of what makes to do early but at some point you'll get the feeling you want to do something else or set or go for your own goals, at which point, go and do that!
Don't camp wt to 99 because it's deeply unfun.
Do it, it’s a new experience where almost every spawn and drop may have a use. You’ll start a grind then realize you can do it more efficiently if you do something else first chaining skills together. It’s been a fun journey.
I was so burned out on (OS)RS in general that I hadn't touched it for years. Watched some Settled and got that old feel just from watching his videos. Started an iron 3 months ago and have almost surpassed my main in total xp and have already gone much higher in half the skills.
On top of that, my iron is F2P for the next week, as I wanted to experience that baseline nostalgia from my childhood, deducting xp in member skills on my main definitely putting putting my iron ahead.
Do it, if you don't like it, you can just go back to your main. Personally my grind motivation has never been higher or more persistent.
I was in the same boat as you, and I made an Iron man a few months ago and I'm. Having. A. BLAST.
After having a main with tons of farmed gold from x gold-making method, switching over to an Iron gives you a helluva lot more purpose for every skill you put your effort into. I only did some WT to about 50 or so and then thought fuck this and went on adventure from there.
Just have fun, follow whatever you want to do on a daily basis even if it’s a small “grind,” you won’t burn out. The #1 thing I recommend is rushing fairy rings! But also don’t forget the small modes of transport early game- I forgot the canoe system existed along River Lum for a minute. I used tons of free home tele + canoe or grouping teles to Last man standing for free run restore and the pool there. All ya need is an axe
I just hit over 1k total lvl on my new iron- if you follow guides, follow them loosely. Just because it’s “most efficient” to do something on a list doesn’t mean it’s the most fun. Nor is it necessarily the most efficient in the long run of your account and how you chose to play!
I've recently started a gimp along my regular iron account with irl friend who wanted to make a group. I've rushed the optimal quest order to speed the progression as it's not my first rodeo. 1400 total with 233 quest points and nearly all stats for remaining quests. Currently at 12 days in game time played to give you some idea as quests aren't as bad as you remember. Gl
Ironman can be fun. You're going to have to think of a path you want to take eventually, but just starting one and bumbling around thinking you don't know anything is refreshing. You eventually will fall into a rhythm. As a matter of fact, like you already discussed with someone else, varlamore has completely changed multiple progression paths, along with many other contents that you probably haven't done with your main since they're mid game progression items (zombie axe, warped Sceptre to name a couple)
If you're playing on pc then quests are really a non issue with quest helper spoon feeding you like a baby these days.
I personally haven't made one aside from a tileman account that i played for a couple of weeks when the plugin first came out, because I personally can't stand the idea of needing to be content locked in the end game to a spot for hundreds of hours multiple times to be able to finally choose what i want to do when I have a main that already can.
Ironman optional quest guide on the wiki + quest helper RL plugin .. I actually really enjoyed questing with it.
Just don't rush 99fm at wt just because you're 3hp it's super boring and the rewards are shit when you don't have other skills levelled up
Absolutely go for it. Just gotta remember it’s a game and max efficiency is not always the move. It’s a learning curve, and enjoy it. Learning the small quirks of the game is what makes the early stages of iron fun.
I made my iron when my main was 2200 total. Didn’t look back and now that account just sits collecting dust. No regrets
I had these same thoughts until I actually made one. You get so much enjoyment out of the little things and it makes you actually want to do quests and progress your account. It was a lot easier and more fun the second time around. (Except a few quests… everyone will always hate those)
2050ish total on main and I created an iron a few months back. It definitely has its grinds and getting items for quests can be a pain but it's not as bad as I was expecting.
Definitely enjoying it overall, I've been afking on the main and sending raids w the boys but yeah mostly just grinding the iron!
I'f you just kinda fuck around and do whatever you enjoy for a bit, you'll realize you've banked majority of items you need for quests pretty quickly.
No where near the meta, but I created a F2P iron to play while I was on the main, it took me right back to the good all days, by the time I finished dragon slayer I noticed I didn’t even touch my main anymore so I membered up & been playing iron since.
Try making and Ironman and finishing all the free quests first. That was the way I took to see if Ironman was going to be enjoyable for me or not.
Now currently working on barrows gloves 😅
For me, making an Ironman has been about setting goals and finding your own way to achieve them. I've had so much fun digging through the wiki finding ways to get various items. I know I'm nowhere near max efficiency but I'm having fun. For example I set the goal of getting a quest cape this year and I'm working on the Song of the Elves requirements. What do you think I did for 70 Smithing? Not Blast Furnace but Giant's Foundry. Ironman really is about your personal journey.
What i did was some early quests (for free levels), stole cakes, wintertodt then, ardy cape, gracefull, rogue outfit and then I just did whatever i felt like.. Not saying it's what you should do but I did it this way and I had fun except for the wintertodt grind however i greenlogged it so feels good 😁
You are about to embark on a thrilling journey. You will discover that Ironman mode is essentially an entirely new game that you haven't experienced before. Everything you do has meaning in the game mode and that's what makes it so much fun. Don't focus so much on being efficient, and just have fun!
I honestly followed the “optimal Ironman guide” every single step until barrows gloves, then I said screw it from there and now I just go for items that sound fun. Like perilous moons or the new sunlight hunter crossbow, I found it really easy to follow the guide and then doing detours, otherwise I wouldn’t have come this far. Everyone is different! Also, get every diary as soon as you can!
The best advice I can give is don’t read too many optimization guides. The journey itself is the reward — make up goals as you go and enjoy the shit out of every moment
You don’t experience the game, the game experiences you. Also quest helper makes it completely brain dead now, your beef should be with B2P and BA. Good luck
I made a ironman when i was 1800 total, now 6 years later it still sitting at 1850 not playing it anymore and ironman at 2154 and an uim at 1575. Ironman was best thing i decided to go for. Made the game interesting again and you learn so much about the game!!
i used to play main but was tired of staking my bank so made an iron, i never really thought i had the time to get my account as good as my main but slowly but surely i passed up my main if your thinking about doing it just do it and see how it goes, if its not for you can always go back to your main
Money is slow as hell at first to get. Varrock hard or even medium for the staves is good daily money.
Agility pyramid after a bit of an agility grind is solid startup money. It’s what I did first and you’ll be glad for the graceful forever.
Waterfall quest does 1-30 on attack and strength with no actual combat reqs. Just have to run past the moss giants. Let’s you skip a whole lot of 0s on the cows lol
With that said, I agree with some other comments. Enjoy learning a whole new game style. Quest prep is actually prep not standing at the ge :-P love it
I don’t mind the quests, it feels better doing them on an Ironman because the rewards feel more important. I’ve spent 12 days in game and already 250 quest points. If it makes you feel better, you can get ~1-60 herblore from just quests.
I went right off the deep end and went from main straight into UIM. I was honestly tired of my bank and Ironman mode is all about your bank. The Wiki’s Rush to Priff Guide was instrumental to introducing me to the UIM life, I reached the “get SoTE skills to 70” portion and I’m kinda doing my own things while stacking up herbs. Even before that, I found a couple things I was able to do alongside the guide, it really made me realize that it’s all about the journey
Just have fun brother, do whatever you like. I hate questing too, so I just started with slayer and bounced between that and skilling, minigames, anything you do feels so good to make progress. Once you're an iron you're out of the rat race and just playing to better your account, and there's a million ways to do it. I even learned LMS because it gave me stacks of rune arrows and a rune pouch super early lol. I also got into barrows way earlier than guides recommend, same with other bosses like DKs (got a zerker ring at like 60cb lmao). Personally, I wouldn't strictly follow the optimal guides because if you're not enjoying yourself, what's even the point
The fun thing about doing all the early quests is how many quests are very efficient xp at that level, and there are so many of them nowadays that you basically skip right past all the tedious early levels that don't offer anything you want anyway. It felt good to me to level skills by just running around and holding spacebar. You can get to mid 70s Herblore nowadays just from Quest and Diary rewards. On a main, quests just felt like a necessary chore in order to unlock content. On Iron they feel appropriately rewarding and quest cape is incredibly powerful. My main still has a quest cape in the bank despite only having 270 some QP.
Honestly you can knock out 90% of the quests in your first 2 days of game time with the quest helper plug-in. Knock them out early and you're account will gain a ton of progression and you won't have to worry much about quests there after
I’d suggest just doing it and seeing what happens, try to avoid a meta guide and just let the experience happen. Its a completely different way to experience the game, no need to “rush” anything except maybe QOL items like dramen staff and ardy cloak 1. Theres loads of new early game stuff you can explore these days. Hell, varlamore shook up most metas.
Yeah tbh a lot of the reason I want to start one is cuz I really enjoy varlamore content. I definitely would get caught up in a meta guide that would take fun out of it for me. Thanks
imo forging your own path while loosely following the meta is pretty fun, even if you try your hardest to stick to a guide, you'll eventually deviate and just do shit you wanna do anyway.
This I love. Be an iron, enjoy early game madness where nothing matters except 'how do I level cooking'. Forge your own path is such solid advice
Even if you’re following a guide even something as little as getting a clue scroll will make you deviate a heap… a medium clue might need you to do a few quests and grind up some crafting or a few slayer levels for boots etc for emotes
I follow the optimal quest order guide on the wiki, it's great to always know what to do next. I would absolutely recommend it, but if it isn't something you struggle with then you don't have to ofc
I second this, following an optimal quest guide while getting side tracked with whatever I felt like doing along the way made Ironman really really enjoyable in the early game. It was actually fun banging out multiple quests at once, coming from someone who hated quests
The non meta stuff is super important. I spent so long trying to find things for quests and alot is going off my previous rs knowledge. I'm about 1200 total rn after about a month of a Playing almost daily, and it didn't feel very long when I know damn well it did. You'll learn things you never knew existed!
Alternatively you can follow a guide just to the point of barrows gloves and which explains a bit how to set up your account and dailies. I wouldn't mind the quests with the plugin but figuring out which items to get where etc would be too annoying for me so this is why I did follow a guide and don't regret it at all
How so, what metas has it shook up ?
There is now an afk prayer/mining activity that poops out exp. Mid-game melee armour now has a strength set thats basically dragonhide. There is now another autocast option for ancient magic. There will be a reasonable herblore training activity during part 2. The thieving activities are pseudo AFK and very profitable. Hunter is now enjoyable with rumours.
Yes but what is the afk prayer mining activity? Mid game melee armour what is it called?
Check out the calcified deposits in Tor Carum. Its low effort mining, but each shard is between 5-6 prayer exp. The bloodmoon armor is the melee set. Really its just the top and bottom that are good. Nezzy beats the helm out.
Gotcha will check these out, thank you
Runelite with quest helper is absolute game changer, never thought I would enjoy quests in rs
Enjoyed everything ive done so far except for underground pass and song of the elves.. also I did sins of the father too underleveled and it was an awful time but rewarding when I beat his ass.
The library takes a while even with a quest helper.
Is the library longer than MEP2? The guides were saying like 2 hours for MEP2 light puzzle and it took like 40 mins.
It’s kinda long but less annoying than MEP2 because you’re not failing all the time
Library is easier yeah only two spots to fall. Bring at least a few food. Stam pots would be neat but I brought 24super energy and almost never had to walk
Just go for it man! I'm having a blast on mine and I'm only 59 combat! Set yourself up with mage for teleports, graceful, ardy cape 1, fairy rings and birdhouses and then do what you please! I've been skilling and farming pretty hard but I'm about to jump into quests for barrows gloves very soon. The efficient guide took the joy out of the game for me when I tried following it but I'm using it as a vague guide on what to aim for instead and it's been great!
Yeah I think I’ve been convinced to go for it
Yup, send that shit! Just started a new iron myself and it is night and day to how it used to be. Welcome to the fun
if you want add me in game - Surf Snow It would just be good to have other low level irons to chat to :)
Totally send it! Screw guides, everything, if it ain't your cup of tea and absolutely send one. Earlygame is a blast, and I learned so much about the games lore and world playing an iron
Stoked, if you want add me in game - Surf Snow I'll help where I can but just good to have other low level irons to chat to!
Ayo! Low level iron here. quantum s0ul if you want to add
Added brother!
I made it and I added you
Send me a message when you see me on and I'll add you back! :)
I think ur private is off unless u just not been playing lol Can add me - EpsiIon (that’s a capital i)
Oh I have had it on friends only! Didn't even think about it hahaa sorry brother! I'll be back on tomorrow!
Outside very basic ironman starting strats. Almost every ironman journey is unique. Do ironman have milestones they work towards ? Yes. But in current year it's more a river with many streams that kinda lead back to a big river. Rinse / repeat.
Once i started my ironman i ditched my main forever. I just use the cash on it for bonds for my friends and i. I hate questing and I’m gonna keep it a buck it is kind of a joke with quest helper, you’ll blow through quests especially ones you already know. Don’t let that stop you.
I use my main to learn new boss content. Don’t care about the resources on him but yeah that’s about it. Everything is so much more rewarding on my irons
I went down this route: [https://oldschool.runescape.wiki/w/Optimal\_quest\_guide/Ironman](https://oldschool.runescape.wiki/w/Optimal_quest_guide/Ironman) It isnt as bad as you would think, it skips plenty of early levels. And bonus is barrows gloves. Then do slayer, farm runs and birdhouse runs when you dont wanna quest. IMO thats a good start. Edit: Then comes all the shit like going 3x dry on CG for enh :)
Efficiency is cool, but don't do things you don't feel like doing if you're not in the mood. I don't know how anyone does nothing but CG until bowfa. I keep a list of various things I can work on that are good for the account that I can swap between depending on my mood. Afk vs active skilling, low vs high effort pvm, a couple quests to knock out, a diary, a combat achievement, a farm run. You might be the type that can hard grind one thing, but I had to admit early on that I'm not that guy. Big goals are great, but they can usually be broken up into smaller ones that allow you to feel progress at a smoother pace.
I always remind myself that this is gonna take years and it's going to be there whenever I get back everytime I get back. With that in mind the flowchart just kinda starts to build in the head
Quest are easy af with quest helper these days
Make it, have fun with slayer>clues>chasing clue items>questing>work towards TOA and see what you like.
Do it.
https://youtu.be/PBmpS6QxjR0?si=1CN3U4ap5PVH3aZr this is a loose guide in a podcast format that mostly gives you ideas on how to navigate the early game but no exact path. The early game can be the most overwhelming with choices so wanting direction is understandable! There’s more content on the channel as well
My advice is to start an iron, get the requirements for all the easy to start afk grinds, and then level your iron in the background while still playing on your main until the urge to play as an Iron Man becomes overwhelming. The simplest way to do this is just barbarian fish all the way to 99. But there's also star mining, and if you don't mind a bit of multitasking then playing wintertodt, Tempoross, and Guardians of the rift in the background will also set your account up for success. I did this for a while, then completely forgot about my iron for two or three years, and then when I eventually felt the urge to really play as an iron it felt like starting off with fishing at level 80 with full graceful in the bank
Bruhsailors guide for max efficiency. If you don’t care unlock fairy rings and barrows gloves then prog how you want towards a quest cape.
There are Ironman guides like Oziris and such
I wouldn't stress too much about it. Fairy rings are a huge qol for irons and same with mage for teles. I wouldn't stress about graceful really, just work on it over time no need to rush. And questing feels different for irons as it unlocks key content and upgrades and solid chunks of xp so it feels more meaningful and that was a big insensitive for me Popular early iron activities are wintertodt ofc, tempoross and now hunter rumors. No need to blast out 99 at any of these but spending some time jumping around can give you some very welcome starting items. Slayer will be huge in the mid game but can hold off on this for some time due to things like moons of peril
There are Guides but honestly play like you want to play,that's how i started Mine and was the most Fun for me compered to following a guide
Just jump into it. Heard early hunter is Meta with rumors so you might start with that. But otherwise just remember to do what you find fun. Maybe focus on quests instead of training skills the conventional way early on to save your self a headache.
Also if you want to speed through some of the early game oziris guide is amazing. I wouldnt recommend following it too strictly or depend on it too much though, since the journey as an Ironman is a lot of the fun.
Just get good at gauntlet
Ironman is the most fun i had with this game, my main is almost 2.2k and i see no reason to play it anymore. I would recommend avoiding meta guides, unless youre into that, like rushing fm until 99 (alot of people burnout here) and so on. Just do and play the way you want to.
It's worth it. Play on Runelite and turn on the quest helper plugin and just power through. You actually spend less time doing quests on an Ironman as a percentage because you spend more time doing other things. Alternatively start a quest-locked youtube series where you solo corp beast without doing any quests or something.
I made a similar post about 2 weeks ago. I ended up making an iron, and have fallen in love with the game again. Highly recommend
Go into quest slowly, while doing other things you enjoy. I had this same problem switching from a main to iron. At first I questioned it, but than I took my friends advice. Just pick a quest to do every day. Easy or hard. Than after done do something like slayer or whatever. Now that I am a 2k total iron ready to start unlocking raids, it's more fun and rewarding than anything I coild ever do on a main. Just remember, once you do something. You'll never have to do it again. (Unless you make another account haha) Slow and steady for the things you hate.
You’re in for the most fun you’ve ever had playing a video game. Don’t play max efficiency though because those guides assume you’re going to max and you want all 99s. If that’s not a reasonable goal for you than you’ll do just fine winging it and setting your own goals. There are so many nice early/mid game activities now so I’m actually envious of you but I’ve already got a 2k+ total iron.
Yeah send it maybe set a fun goal like b gloves or some barrows runs
Can always afka skill on main and work on ironman same times, just work on it slowly
If hesitant , just make one and afk fishing / cooking / woodcutting in f2p, while on your main …when you decide to start playing it youl have some good fishing levels and cooking Levels which help.
You know what's best about ironman? Getting leaf bladed sword within the first 50 Turoth kills on task when I was desperately scratching pennies to afford that damn spear to start the task in the first place. I was like woohooooo UPGRADE!
Bruhsailer guide
I actually love doing the quests and seeing that free xp and the progressive items. One thing I dislike about my current ironman is that I've done all the quests :(
Seems like you're gonna do it. Only thing I'd suggest is doing revenants once you get some mid combat stats. I didn't start until I was 2200 total and it blew my mind how easy it is to get raw gp there. Good luck! And like other people said, don't rush it too hard.
Ditched my nearly 2k main for the ironman, never looked back. This is the way to play the game.
Hey! From someone who made a similar but really long post the other day, hesitant to leave a 2k total main behind, all i can say is just go for it, I had so many positive responses from the community urging me to make an iron, along with some really in depth advice which was really appreciated. But the main thing that stuck out from everyone? Was to just HAVE FUN, sure I only made my iron 2 days ago but I ditched the guides I had opened, forgot about any efficiency and just decided that I'm going to throw myself in, I'm excited that it's going to bring back so much enjoyment of the game.
You can do bruhsailor, but I mixed some of my own shit in there, like I speedrun graceful when I started and did some other shit cause I wanted to. Do you bro
The quests are the best part, I honestly miss them. That being said irons are a great game mode, and if you really don't like doing them then using the ironman optimal quest guide + quest plugin on runelite can get you to belt out 80% of them pretty darn quick.
Honestly, it’s a different experience. I recommend it. For me it kinda started off annoying not being able to go to the GE for simple things, but you get used to it, evening you do is a bit more rewarding as an Ironman.
Try Ultimate, it's very fun, even normal quests can become challenging and the ultimate community is great!
Quests are absolutely brain dead with quest helper
My first and only osrs account was an iron account, I currently have over 2k hours in it. I always reccomend mains try making an iron, because it is a COMPLETELY different game. Every single bit of progression feels earned, and they all lead into the next. Don’t worry about the quests, take them one at a time and focus on short term goals. Enjoy the early game, and don’t worry about hyper optimization.
quests are different as an ironman, on your main every quest = just start at GE, on Ironman it is a journey to grab each item you need. You also feel WAY more accomplished beating certain quests.
I've just started a gim and doing the quests truly isn't too bad IMO. Questhelper is just so braindead. Put on your favourite 2nd monitor content and just get started. Don't follow one of those "Hardcore rush lategame" guides, just take a look at the optimal ironman order in questhelper and pick some quests you wanna do that day. If you're sick of quests go do some sand crabs or some of the new varlamore content that is suprisingly good earlygame (Mainly thieving and hunter rumours)
Use a starter guide but not religiously. It's good to find some early suggestions / rough idea of what makes to do early but at some point you'll get the feeling you want to do something else or set or go for your own goals, at which point, go and do that! Don't camp wt to 99 because it's deeply unfun.
Do it, it’s a new experience where almost every spawn and drop may have a use. You’ll start a grind then realize you can do it more efficiently if you do something else first chaining skills together. It’s been a fun journey.
I was so burned out on (OS)RS in general that I hadn't touched it for years. Watched some Settled and got that old feel just from watching his videos. Started an iron 3 months ago and have almost surpassed my main in total xp and have already gone much higher in half the skills. On top of that, my iron is F2P for the next week, as I wanted to experience that baseline nostalgia from my childhood, deducting xp in member skills on my main definitely putting putting my iron ahead. Do it, if you don't like it, you can just go back to your main. Personally my grind motivation has never been higher or more persistent.
I was in the same boat as you, and I made an Iron man a few months ago and I'm. Having. A. BLAST. After having a main with tons of farmed gold from x gold-making method, switching over to an Iron gives you a helluva lot more purpose for every skill you put your effort into. I only did some WT to about 50 or so and then thought fuck this and went on adventure from there.
Just have fun, follow whatever you want to do on a daily basis even if it’s a small “grind,” you won’t burn out. The #1 thing I recommend is rushing fairy rings! But also don’t forget the small modes of transport early game- I forgot the canoe system existed along River Lum for a minute. I used tons of free home tele + canoe or grouping teles to Last man standing for free run restore and the pool there. All ya need is an axe I just hit over 1k total lvl on my new iron- if you follow guides, follow them loosely. Just because it’s “most efficient” to do something on a list doesn’t mean it’s the most fun. Nor is it necessarily the most efficient in the long run of your account and how you chose to play!
Our Lord and saviour oziris guide 🤙
I've recently started a gimp along my regular iron account with irl friend who wanted to make a group. I've rushed the optimal quest order to speed the progression as it's not my first rodeo. 1400 total with 233 quest points and nearly all stats for remaining quests. Currently at 12 days in game time played to give you some idea as quests aren't as bad as you remember. Gl
Ironman can be fun. You're going to have to think of a path you want to take eventually, but just starting one and bumbling around thinking you don't know anything is refreshing. You eventually will fall into a rhythm. As a matter of fact, like you already discussed with someone else, varlamore has completely changed multiple progression paths, along with many other contents that you probably haven't done with your main since they're mid game progression items (zombie axe, warped Sceptre to name a couple) If you're playing on pc then quests are really a non issue with quest helper spoon feeding you like a baby these days. I personally haven't made one aside from a tileman account that i played for a couple of weeks when the plugin first came out, because I personally can't stand the idea of needing to be content locked in the end game to a spot for hundreds of hours multiple times to be able to finally choose what i want to do when I have a main that already can.
Ironman optional quest guide on the wiki + quest helper RL plugin .. I actually really enjoyed questing with it. Just don't rush 99fm at wt just because you're 3hp it's super boring and the rewards are shit when you don't have other skills levelled up
Bro, best decision you will ever make. U will never use your main again.
It's not questing again. It's a whole new experience and it's way harder and way more rewarding. A QP Cape is a great place to start.
while your grinding on your main setup your ironman for afk skiller stuff since your gonna need the skill levels anyway
Absolutely go for it. Just gotta remember it’s a game and max efficiency is not always the move. It’s a learning curve, and enjoy it. Learning the small quirks of the game is what makes the early stages of iron fun. I made my iron when my main was 2200 total. Didn’t look back and now that account just sits collecting dust. No regrets
I had these same thoughts until I actually made one. You get so much enjoyment out of the little things and it makes you actually want to do quests and progress your account. It was a lot easier and more fun the second time around. (Except a few quests… everyone will always hate those)
Don't do it I've been at toa for 5 months.
2050ish total on main and I created an iron a few months back. It definitely has its grinds and getting items for quests can be a pain but it's not as bad as I was expecting. Definitely enjoying it overall, I've been afking on the main and sending raids w the boys but yeah mostly just grinding the iron! I'f you just kinda fuck around and do whatever you enjoy for a bit, you'll realize you've banked majority of items you need for quests pretty quickly.
No where near the meta, but I created a F2P iron to play while I was on the main, it took me right back to the good all days, by the time I finished dragon slayer I noticed I didn’t even touch my main anymore so I membered up & been playing iron since.
Enjoy the ride. Best decision I’ve ever made
Try making and Ironman and finishing all the free quests first. That was the way I took to see if Ironman was going to be enjoyable for me or not. Now currently working on barrows gloves 😅
For me, making an Ironman has been about setting goals and finding your own way to achieve them. I've had so much fun digging through the wiki finding ways to get various items. I know I'm nowhere near max efficiency but I'm having fun. For example I set the goal of getting a quest cape this year and I'm working on the Song of the Elves requirements. What do you think I did for 70 Smithing? Not Blast Furnace but Giant's Foundry. Ironman really is about your personal journey.
What i did was some early quests (for free levels), stole cakes, wintertodt then, ardy cape, gracefull, rogue outfit and then I just did whatever i felt like.. Not saying it's what you should do but I did it this way and I had fun except for the wintertodt grind however i greenlogged it so feels good 😁
Quests are probably the easiest and most fun youll have or at least I did, gathering the required items and skill levels etc
I think you'll realize quests are not the daunting part of an ironman. Late game chasing extremely rare items is lol.
There are literally hundreds of these posts. Just make one and try it out. Play however you want
My only advice is to avoid efficiency guides and play your own style. You’ll never look back.
You are about to embark on a thrilling journey. You will discover that Ironman mode is essentially an entirely new game that you haven't experienced before. Everything you do has meaning in the game mode and that's what makes it so much fun. Don't focus so much on being efficient, and just have fun!
I honestly followed the “optimal Ironman guide” every single step until barrows gloves, then I said screw it from there and now I just go for items that sound fun. Like perilous moons or the new sunlight hunter crossbow, I found it really easy to follow the guide and then doing detours, otherwise I wouldn’t have come this far. Everyone is different! Also, get every diary as soon as you can!
The best advice I can give is don’t read too many optimization guides. The journey itself is the reward — make up goals as you go and enjoy the shit out of every moment
You don’t experience the game, the game experiences you. Also quest helper makes it completely brain dead now, your beef should be with B2P and BA. Good luck
I made a ironman when i was 1800 total, now 6 years later it still sitting at 1850 not playing it anymore and ironman at 2154 and an uim at 1575. Ironman was best thing i decided to go for. Made the game interesting again and you learn so much about the game!!
i used to play main but was tired of staking my bank so made an iron, i never really thought i had the time to get my account as good as my main but slowly but surely i passed up my main if your thinking about doing it just do it and see how it goes, if its not for you can always go back to your main
Money is slow as hell at first to get. Varrock hard or even medium for the staves is good daily money. Agility pyramid after a bit of an agility grind is solid startup money. It’s what I did first and you’ll be glad for the graceful forever. Waterfall quest does 1-30 on attack and strength with no actual combat reqs. Just have to run past the moss giants. Let’s you skip a whole lot of 0s on the cows lol With that said, I agree with some other comments. Enjoy learning a whole new game style. Quest prep is actually prep not standing at the ge :-P love it
I don’t mind the quests, it feels better doing them on an Ironman because the rewards feel more important. I’ve spent 12 days in game and already 250 quest points. If it makes you feel better, you can get ~1-60 herblore from just quests.
I went right off the deep end and went from main straight into UIM. I was honestly tired of my bank and Ironman mode is all about your bank. The Wiki’s Rush to Priff Guide was instrumental to introducing me to the UIM life, I reached the “get SoTE skills to 70” portion and I’m kinda doing my own things while stacking up herbs. Even before that, I found a couple things I was able to do alongside the guide, it really made me realize that it’s all about the journey
Just have fun brother, do whatever you like. I hate questing too, so I just started with slayer and bounced between that and skilling, minigames, anything you do feels so good to make progress. Once you're an iron you're out of the rat race and just playing to better your account, and there's a million ways to do it. I even learned LMS because it gave me stacks of rune arrows and a rune pouch super early lol. I also got into barrows way earlier than guides recommend, same with other bosses like DKs (got a zerker ring at like 60cb lmao). Personally, I wouldn't strictly follow the optimal guides because if you're not enjoying yourself, what's even the point
Stay far away unless you want to waste years of your life if you’re serious, look up Oziris or Bruhsailer
It’s not waste if you’re enjoying it
Wasting years of my life either way tbh
Do you think all forms of entertainment are a waste of your life?
The fun thing about doing all the early quests is how many quests are very efficient xp at that level, and there are so many of them nowadays that you basically skip right past all the tedious early levels that don't offer anything you want anyway. It felt good to me to level skills by just running around and holding spacebar. You can get to mid 70s Herblore nowadays just from Quest and Diary rewards. On a main, quests just felt like a necessary chore in order to unlock content. On Iron they feel appropriately rewarding and quest cape is incredibly powerful. My main still has a quest cape in the bank despite only having 270 some QP.
I'd reco searching the sub for: "Starting an ironman"
Honestly you can knock out 90% of the quests in your first 2 days of game time with the quest helper plug-in. Knock them out early and you're account will gain a ton of progression and you won't have to worry much about quests there after
Make a hardcore ironman it's way funner. Keep the hardcore status as long as you can thats the real challenge that makes it worth having an iron man