Here's the reality: if you are serious about Hardcore (willing to restart if you die), you want to do all the largest risk up front and early in the life of the account. If you are a level-3, you also want to avoid unnecessary combat XP so that in the future if content requires it, it can be utilized.
While ancient methods lean on the iron dagger (p), you cannot iron dagger (p) everything—and to do so for Druidic Ritual is barbaric. Also, using the 0 CB XP Cannon spawn requires 750K GP and a bit of technical ability/understanding, otherwise Range XP will be gained (risk). So the best route is always the road to Poison Dynamite—the 0 CB XP item you can use on enemies from diagonal tiles while blocked and gain 0 CB XP damage on them.
This guide focuses not on perfect completionist (for example, the time to get glory & dragon bone from dragon implings & the 83 hunter required). That time spent could eventually be wasted when you can get a power ammy efficiently with 65 hunter while getting Recoils for CB content, and using a few alts to kill a Green Dragon in low wilderness with virtually 0 risk of death for a guaranteed dragon bone.
I will be posting unique combat guides beyond this starter as we go forward. And will be posting a guide for Ultimate Ironman unique distinctives (though it follows a similar route of purposeful intention set on PD). Any corrections or tweaks can easily be made to this guide in text format, while my videos may have to be reproduced at times. Feel free to join our community discord.
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☐Start Rune Mysteries
☐5 Thieving on Lumbridge men
☐Get Knife, Chisel, Hammer
☐Walk to Varrock to progress Rune Mysteries, complete Children of the Sun, don't die from mugger
☐Do Varlamore wines method at Hunter Guild for starting cash (50k is plenty, we can always return, and we will get GP from WT)
☐Draynor: buy chronicle, teleports, & a few wines as emergency food
☐Buy seeds from Olivia, start first farming at Falador (buy farm tools etc at Sarah): We need 20 Farming (protect to ensure growth, buy empty sacks)
☐buy potatoes and onions for protection of cabbage
☐Varrock Museum for 9 Slayer, 9 Hunter, and starting kudos: all lamps go on Slayer after 10 Runecraft
☐Rune Mysteries turn back in, run north through Draynor
☐Enter the Abyss start → 9 Runecrafting, be weary of Skeletons
☐After final Abyss teleport, Take Rimmongton to Ardy farm patch, make sure you have knife & a couple stolen cakes
☐Get boots of lightness
☐Catherby farm patch, buy tinderbox and candle
☐Farming on the way back
☐Bank, grab spade, lighten load, home tele
☐X Marks the Spot, hold all lamps
☐Draynor rooftop 1-20 Agility while doing Falador farming
☐Buy feathers, but 1 for Client of Kourend
☐Client of Kourend: use mine carts freely, plant at Hosidius patch
☐Return to Falador farming, buy more seeds
☐Chronicle, finish Enter the Abyss, use at least 1-2 lamps for 10 RC
☐Lamps on Slayer → 13 Slayer
☐Start Temple of the Eye for 27 Runecraft, unlock GotR
☐While in Al Kharid get 20-30 Agility
☐Chronicle to Varrock, get 30-36 Agility
☐Next step of Temple of the Eye: make sure to have bucket of water
☐He will tele you to the Abyss: DO NOT LEAVE otherwise it will be hell to get back
☐Home tele out, proceed with quest finish for 27 Runecraft, big for passive crafting/mining later.
☐Falador patch farming on way to Ardy & Ardy patch when there
☐Cake safespot for way more food, keep one bread, otherwise only cakes
☐Hazeel's Cult for Thieving + Kudos → SIDE WITH HAZEEL! (Otherwise CB is required)
☐Train to 21, steal 1 silk to sell/alter for diary 1 HR later (logged out counts), then do Tribal Totem → 23 Thieving
☐Train to 25 → unlocks Fruit Stalls
☐Hosidius Fruit Stalls → 38 Thieving → Master Farmer seeds for more 34 Farm (save strange fruit + some papaya), you can buy bagged plants if you want to cop the GP, but it's not bad.
☐Garden of Death → 30 Farming, Make sure to use alts and grab Super Antipoison world hop and food, & get help for some can almost 1 hit.
☐Plague City
☐Monk's Friend → 13 Woodcutting, get 15 Woodcutting for Oaks, home tele
☐HAM thieving to get rusted sword, get 30 WC / 30 FM on Oaks at Draynor
☐Rimmington to Ardy to do Sea Slug (30 FM req), enter Fishing Trawler part of diary
☐Biohazard (1st CB encounter), let special alt that has to be at that step in the quest kill it and on the tick it dies press space bar.
☐Ardougne Easy Diary finish, buy Hunter supplies in Yanille during: great cape early/mid game + lamp on Farm or Slayer
☐1-20 Cooking sardine store in port sarim, fast range just north for levels
☐Coins on feathers at Barb Village → 43 Fishing / Cooking
☐Train to 9 Fletching for bronze crossbow, buy limb from Dwarven Mine crossbow shop
☐Unlock WT/PD: 50 Firemaking / Woodcutting at Draynor/Port Sarim Willows, do not die.
☐Soul Wars island hunter to 35
☐WT → 90 Firemaking for max hit PD: Should have stack to use GP on buying dynamite
☐--- EVERYTHING AFTER THIS IS WIP AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE ---
☐Aerial Fishing → 65 Hunter (requires 35 Hunter & 43 Fishing you should have)
☐34 Farming for Tithe → auto weed, train to 63 Farm for nightshade unlock
☐Puro Puro Imps: Nature implings for Belladonnas, Magpies for Recoils & Power Ammy
☐GotR until 19 Crafting leather BiS, stay for Ring of Elements if possible, keep laws for ring, sell Chaos/Nats to Ali later
☐Tan hides, make leather cowl, chaps, vamps can thieve supplies from Ham members
☐Build up PD stack
☐Buy loads of Lizard Kickers from Shayzien
☐Kill Wilderness Green Dragon (lower wildy) first and then Gorad Ogre for Watchtower [NEW CB TECH GUIDE 1]
☐Belladonnas or Watchtower → Unlimited world hop Nightshade
☐Power Ammy, bronze cbow, leather, lizard kicker = BiS
☐Druidic Ritual buy 2 meats in port sarim, use vulnerability on alt for -15% def, & kill with PD → 3 Herblore
☐Jungle Potion → 9 Herblore
☐The Digsite
☐Bone Voyage to swiftly Unlock Fossil Island
☐Knights Sword for 29 Smithing, mine a few iron and get 30.
☐Shilo Village is a pre-req and is a hard CB encounter/ OSF Start Unlock Guthix Rests (36 Agi, 25 Craft, 18 Herb, 30 Smith)
☐The Feud 2 fights with recoils/PD for selling runes for GP from GotR anytime [NEW CB TECH GUIDE 2]
☐Below Ice Mountain
☐The Ribbiting Tale of a Lily Pad Labour Dispute
☐Demon Slayer: 90 FM for max hit (wear Silverlight) [NEW CB TECH GUIDE 3]
☐Tourist Trap (1 passive fight similar mechanic to Mourner with spacebar tech)
☐Depths of Despair (36 sandsnake with recoils, use no PD)
☐Corsair Curse with PD and food [NEW CB TECH GUIDE 5]
☐Merlin's Crystal (Bat bones + Mordred fight)
☐Elemental Workshop 1 + Kandarin Diary is 5 elementals killed
☐Porcine of Interest (PD + recoil)
☐Tai Bwo Wannai Trio (PD Monkey + PD Jogre) handles Karamja Easy
☐Twilight's Promise: PD Kill the knight and run then walk away while he is aggro and attacking (he never regenerates HP)
☐Cold War (LMS nullify attack XP with alts) [NEW CB TECH GUIDE 6]
☐Lost City (zombie ret alts for axe or easy clue caskets + Tree Spirit with PD simple) [NEW CB TECH GUIDE 7]
☐The Ascent of Arceuus (multiple PD fights) [NEW CB TECH GUIDE 8]
☐Finish OSF (3 Dwarf PD Fights) [NEW CB TECH GUIDE 9]
☐Getting Ahead requires Lots of Guthix Rests + recoils [NEW CB TECH GUIDE 10]
☐RFD Pirate Pete for Crab Helm/Crab Claw and future Sailing [NEW CB TECH GUIDE 11]
☐Icthlarin's Little Helper (2 bosses PD in Desert) [NEW CB TECH GUIDE 12]
☐Contact! (Guthix, tick eat, recoils, desert timers) [NEW CB TECH GUIDE 13]
☐Troubled Tortugans Quest at 52 Slayer 2 Fights [NEW CB TECH GUIDE 13]
