Smithing Guide

Introduction

Smithing is the art of turning mined ores into useful metal objects. There are two parts to smithing: smelting and forging. Smelting means using a furnace to convert your ores into metal bars. Forging means hammering metal bars on an anvil to make weapons, pieces of armour, dart tips and more.

If you are just starting out in Smithing, you may want to pay a visit to the two tutors to learn some basics. Feoras the Smelting Tutor is at the furnace north of Lumbridge Castle and east of the general store. Sani the Smithing Tutor is at the anvils south of Varrock's west bank. Both are shown on your minimap with a question mark.

Smelting

To smelt an ore, you must 'use' it with a furnace (See image in box). Simply click on the primary ore in your inventory, and then click on the furnace. You will see your character smelting them in the furnace, and as a result, a metal bar will be deposited in your inventory.

If you have numerous ores to smelt, you can save clicking by using the "Smelt X" feature. Instead of clicking on the ore in your inventory, click on the furnace for the "smelt furnace" option. (Or pick "smelt furnace" from the right-click option list.) After you click on the furnace, you will have a list of bars from which to choose. Clicking one of these bars smelts 1 bar (if you have the necessary ores). Right click on any bar image to select how many bars you wish to smelt.

All ores except iron, silver, gold, and blurite must be smelted with a secondary ore to produce a metal bar. Tin and copper are used together to make bronze. The making of steel, mithril, adamant, rune, and elemental bars requires the addition of coal.

Smelting Ores
Metal Ore	Plus	Produces	Level	Exp	Notes
1 Copper	1 Tin	1 Bronze	1	6.2	Click on either ore to use with the furnace. It automatically uses the other ore.
1 Blurite	Nothing	1 Blurite	8	8	Must complete Knights Sword quest.
1 Iron	Nothing	1 Iron	15	12.5	Only 50% chance of getting a bar on each attempt. See below for ways to improve the odds.
1 Elemental	4 Coal	1 Elemental	20	18	Must complete Elemental Workshop quest. Can only be smithed using the special furnace and anvils in the Elemental Workshop.
1 Silver	Nothing	1 Silver	20	13.5	Used in crafting and several quests.
1 Iron	2 Coal	1 Steel	30	17.5	Click on iron ore. It automatically uses the coal.
1 Gold	Nothing	1 Gold	40	22.5	Used in crafting and some quests. Goldsmithing gauntlets (from Family Crest quest) earn 56.2 exp per ore smelted.
1 Mithril	4 Coal	1 Mithril	50	30	Click on mithril ore. It automatically uses the coal.
1 Adamant	6 Coal	1 Adamant	70	37.5	Click on adamantite ore. It automatically uses the coal.
1 Runite	8 Coal	1 Runite	85	50	Click on runite ore. It automatically uses the coal.

If you have the proper ingredients and are not smelting iron, you will have a 100% chance of getting a bar from your effort. The ONLY exception is when you are smelting iron ores. These have a 50% chance of conversion, as they have a chance of being impure. However, using the Superheat spell, wearing a Ring of forging (members) or using the Blast Furnace offers 100% success in smelting iron. All three methods still earn the full smelting experience. The Ring of forging is described further in the Helpful Hints section.

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Forging

Once you have metal bars, they can be smithed into different objects - weapons, pieces of armour, dart tips and more. To do this, you will need a hammer and metal bars in your inventory. Then, you will need to find an anvil - see image below. Anvils can be found in many cities (usually those that don't have furnaces), but Varrock is popular for smithing bars in lots, since there are 3 anvils there, all near the teleport location and banks. Note: All furnace and anvil locations are shown on the world map(s). Free to play (F2P) anvils include: Doric's, Draynor Sewer, Dwarven Mines, Thurgo's, Varrock (east and west), and Wilderness Ruins (west of Bandit Camp). Member (P2P) anvils include West Ardougne, Burthorpe, Hemenster, Jatizso, Miscellania, Nardah, Port Khazard, Rellekka, Seers' Village, Tai Bwo Wannai Village, Void Knights Outpost (Pest Control), Yanille, and Wilderness Pirates' Hideout. Varrock west is closest to bank for F2P, while Seers Village and Yanille are preferred for P2P.

Hammer	Anvil

Click on the metal in your inventory, and then click on the anvil. A menu of objects you can smith will pop up. Click on the object you want to smith and your character will do so. Alternately, you can right-click on the item and pick the option to make 1, 5, or 10 of the item. This saves a great deal of time and clicking.

Some objects will use up more than one bar, and if you don't have enough, the number of bars will be in orange. If your level is not high enough to smith that object, its' name will be in black rather than white.

You receive smithing experience per bar that you forge into an object. Smelting and forging ores is considered a good method of making money, as you can sell the end product to shops or other players. You can also use the Low Alchemy and High Alchemy Spells to convert the objects into gold pieces. The low alch value is the same amount you would get from selling the item to a General Store with none in stock, and the hi alch value equals the amount you'd earn selling the item to a specialty shop (such as a Sword Shop or Armour Shop) at normal stock level.

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Smithing Tables

Below is a link to the smithing tables for each smithable metal. They will tell you the level you can smith each object, the experience points earned, and equipped stat information:

Blurite forged items, ore and bars are untradeable. You will not be able to work with blurite unless you have finished the Knights Sword quest.

Forging Blurite
Image	Item	Level	Exp	Notes
	Bolts (10)	13	17 xp	Used for fletching (see below.)
	Crossbow limbs

Gold is primarily crafted into jewellery (which earns crafting xp only). The two untradable items that can be forged from Gold are quest-related.

Forging Gold
Image	Item	Level	Exp	Bars	Notes
	Gold bowl	50	30 xp	2	Legends quest. Hi alchs for 420 gp.
	Gold helmet			3	Between a Rock... quest. Hi alchs for 0 gp.

Two types of metal items are not forged at anvils.

Furnace Forging
Image	Item	Level	Exp	Notes
	Cannonball	35	25.6 xp	Requires Dwarf Cannon quest and Ammo mould. Makes 4 per bar. Profitable to sell, but a bit slow to make. Note that xp is reduced from the usual 37.5 for steel.

Iron Press (Piscatoris)
Image	Item	Level	Exp	Notes
	Iron sheet	45	20 xp	Requires Swan Song quest. Currently must be made singly, clicking a bar and the press each time. Can be sold to NPC Frank Caranos for 20 gp each. Note that xp is reduced from the usual 25 for iron.

Barbarian Anvils are used to make spears or hastas. The unique Barbarian Anvils are located in the Barbarian Village Pottery, and at Otto's Grotto atop Baxtorian Falls. Before using these you must receive Barbarian Training. One metal bar and a matching log are required; the matching types are shown below. The experience for making a spear or hasta is double the usual forging experience for that type of bar.

Barbarian Smithing Information
Image	Spear/Hasta Metal Type	Required Wood	Smithing Level	Experience Gain
	Bronze	Normal	5	25 xp
	Iron	Oak	20	50 xp
	Steel	Willow	35	75 xp
	Mithril	Maple	55	100 xp
	Adamant	Yew	75	125 xp
	Rune	Magic	90	150 xp

Player Owned Houses give opportunities for some minor Smithing experience - only 25 xp per item. You can make repairs at anyone's workshop; it does not have to be your own.

Player Owned House Smithing
Item	Level	Exp	Notes
Armour Stand	68 88 99	25 xp	Skill Hall. Requires level 28 construction, 2 oak planks, a hammer, a saw, and a matching platebody, skirt, and full helm. Building a Mithril, Adamant, or Rune armour stand earns construction xp (135, 150, or 165). If removed, you get the armour back.
Repair Rusty Sword	-	25 xp	Workshop Whetstone Repair Bench. May reward you with a bronze, iron, steel, black, or mithril sword or longsword.
Repair Damaged Armour	-	25 xp	Workshop Armour Repair Bench. May reward you with a bronze, iron, steel, black, or mithril platebody.
Repair Broken Armour	-	25 xp	Workshop Armour Repair Bench. May reward you with a bronze, iron, steel, black, or mithril platelegs.
Repair Barrows Armour	-	25 xp	Workshop Armour Repair Bench. There is still a fee for this, but it is reduced based on your smithing level. Your discount is half of your level. At 50 smithing you would get 25% off the usual cost, so a 10,000 gp repair would cost 7500 gp. At 99 smithing the discount is nearly 50%, so a 10,000 gp repair would cost 5000 gp!

Dragon shield parts can be obtained as monster drops or from other players.

Dragon Shield Smithing
Item	Level	Exp	Notes
Dragon Square Shield	60	75 xp	If you are lucky enough to get a left shield half as a monster drop, you'll need to purchase the right shield half at the Legends Guild shop for 750,000 gp. Use the halves (and a hammer) at an anvil. Requires Legends quest to wield.
Dragonfire Shield	90	2000 xp	The extremely rare draconic visage is only dropped by high level dragons and wyverns. It should be smithed with an anti-dragon shield to create the powerful dragonfire shield. Use the items (and a hammer) at an anvil.

Godsword shards can be obtained from monster drops within the God Wars Dungeon or purchased from other players.

Godsword Smithing
Item	Level	Exp	Notes
Godsword Blade	80	400 xp*	In order to smith the Godsword blade you must obtain all three shards of the godsword. To smith the blade you must join two parts together and then smith the last shard to it. The godsword blade can then be added to one of four inter changeable hilts to complete the godsword.

*You gain 200 smithing exp for each stage of smithing the godsword blade.

Advanced Spirit Shields: You can attach sigils to your Blessed Spirit Shield(please see the Prayer Guide for more information on blessing and the shields abilities) on a hammer and an anvil.

Spirit Shield Smithing
Item	Level	Exp	Notes
Blessed Spirit Shield	90 Prayer and 85 Smithing	1800 xp	In order to smith any of the four advanced Spirit Shields you must have your basic Spirit Shield blessed, then bring it to an anvil and a hammer with the sigil you desire. Please see the Prayer Guide for information on the shield's abilities and blessing.

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Experience Table

For quick reference, here is a list of the smelting and smithing experience for each basic type of metal bar. (An unsuccessful iron smelt earns zero xp.)

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Smithing and Fletching (members only)

While the Smithing skill is mainly intended to create armour and weapons for melee fighters, it is also useful for rangers via the Fletching skill. Members can use Smithing to create various items used in Fletching to make ranged weapons and ammunition. For example, they can smith a metal bar (bronze to rune) into 5 throwing knives (member-only ranged weapon). Or, they can smith a metal bar (bronze to rune) into 15 arrowheads or 10 dart tips (dart tips available only after the completion of the Tourist Trap quest). Use the Smithing tables to see the level needed to make these items. These arrowheads and dart tips could then be made into arrows or darts by using the Fletching skill (check the Fletching guide for more details and the needed levels).

Members who have completed the Zogre Flesh Eaters quest can use metal nails to fletch brutal arrows at the appropriate levels.

Additionally, the Smithing skill can be used with Fletching to make crossbows and bolts. Members can make crossbow limbs from a metal bar (bronze to rune), which they can transform into a crossbow using fletching. They can also make 10 unfeathered bolts from a metal bar (bronze to rune), then add feathers in order to be able to use them as crossbow ammunition. Moreover, these bolts can have gem-based bolt tips added, and they can also be enchanted for additional damage and effects. Please note that blurite-based crossbows and bolts can only be made after the completion of the Knights Sword quest and that the silver bolts are made using the Crafting skill. Check the Smithing tables and the Fletching guide for more details and the needed levels to make these items. Finally, do not forget that members can smith a mithril grapple from a mithril bar at level 59 Smithing and add it to a mithril bolt to make a tool useful to take some agility shortcuts.

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Smithing Aids

Smithing Aids
Pic	Name	How to Obtain	Use
	Varrock Armour 1	Obtained by completing the easy tasks of the Varrock Achievement Diary.	Gives a 5% chance to smelt 2 ores at once at the Edgeville furnace, up to and including steel bars.
	Varrock Armour 2	Obtained by completing the medium tasks of the Varrock Achievement Diary.	Gives a 5% chance to smelt 2 ores at once at the Edgeville furnace, up to and including mithril bars.
	Varrock Armour 3	Obtained by completing the hard tasks of the Varrock Achievement Diary.	Gives a 5% chance to smelt 2 ores at once at the Edgeville furnace, up to and including adamantite bars.
	Ring of Forging	Obtained by enchanting a Ruby Ring.	Gives 100% success rate when smelting iron, lasts for 140 bars.
	Goldsmithing Gauntlets	Obtained by getting Avan to enchant your steel gauntlets from the Family Crest quest.	Gives extra smithing XP when smelting gold.

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Helpful Hints

• The ring of forging is a members' ring that allows the wearer to smelt 140 iron ores (5 loads) without failing. See the Crafting guide for details on how to make a ruby ring, and use the Magic level 49 "Enchant level 3 Jewelry" spell (5 Fire runes and 1 Cosmic rune) to enchant it. The ring dissolves after you have smelted 140 iron ores. The ore count is attached to the player, not to the ring. Wear a ring of forging, and right-click to operate it. A message in the chat window will say how many more iron ore can be smelted before a ring is consumed.
  
• Goldsmithing gauntlets (from Family Crest quest) earn 56.2 exp per ore smelted. Some players use this for levelling, especially using the Arzinian gold mine available after the Between a Rock... quest. A nearby dwarf will deposit your load of gold in the bank for you, but charges several gold ores. If you wear an activated ring of charos (from the Garden of Tranquility quest), you can charm him to reduce the fee. Note that you must keep one inventory slot open for removing your gold helmet to leave the mine, unless you choose a workaround such as logging out, etc.
  
• If smelting large numbers of ores into bars, select a furnace near a bank. (You will, no doubt, have the ore you bought/mined in your bank.) Top choices for smelting are Al Kharid, Neitiznot (members) and Port Phasmatys (members), due to the proximity of the furnace to the bank. Falador's west bank is a close 4th choice, down-rated by the typical crowds. Run the ores to the furnace, then deposit the bars back in the bank.
  
• If smithing large numbers of bars, select an anvil near a bank, such as west Varrock, Seers' Village (members), or Yanille (members).
  
• Steel nails are used for several quests, but what good are the other nails? Members who have completed the Zogre Flesh Eaters quest can use them to fletch brutal arrows. Members can also use them for Construction.
  
• Elemental ores are made in the special Elemental Workshop furnace. (You can only wield or make a magic shield after you finish the Elemental Workshop quest.)
  
• Dart tips can only be made by members who have completed the Tourist Trap quest.
• Claws can only be made by members who have completed the Death Plateau quest.
• Pickaxes can only be made by members who have completed the Perils of Ice Mountain quest.
• Iron sheets can only be made by members who have completed the Swan Song quest. These are made on a press which requires log fuel, and earn only 20 xp per bar (instead of the usual 25 xp for iron forging). They can be sold to Frank for 20gp each.
• Varrock Armor will allow you to smith two bars at one time. This also allows you to smith more iron bars per ring of forging. This has a 5% chance of occuring.

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Financial Considerations

Basics
Once, in the history of RuneScape, smithing was a means of making money fast. However, it was always a very costly process to advance quickly. You can be sure that numerous high level smiths mined almost all the ores they smithed, but this is a difficult process requiring doubly dedicated people.

As a result, the buying of ores and/or bars is a common process of obtaining the needed raw materials. In this case, questions emerge: Should I smith steel or iron? How much will it cost? How many bars will I need? The Smelt & Smithing Calculator on this site will help you decide how much. Regarding what to smith, read on.

Details
The mining rate of ores above iron (mithril, adamant, rune) excludes them from being viable options for smithing on a large scale. (Large scale meaning hundreds of thousands of experience points.) These ores are rarely found in sufficient quantities, take longer to mine, and spawn slowly. Therefore, mass smithing is generally done using iron ore - smithing steel or iron bars.

Rings of Forging have made smithing, in some ways, easier than before, but mass smithing is still a money-lost operation. How much you lose depends on your cost of materials. Let's start at the end - the payoff. The most money can be made by using the High Alchemy spell on the finished item. The best option is to make plate bodies, as they use 5 bars (saving you time) and yield the most money per bar. Iron plate bodies "alch" for 336 gp, while steel plate bodies alch for 1200 gp. Experience points are also a payoff. Since the magic experience will be the same for either steel or iron, it will not be considered in this discussion. Iron plate gives 125 xp, while steel gives 187.5 xp (for Smithing only.)

Iron or Steel
At first glance, it seems obvious that steel is a better choice. Indeed, steel has a much higher payoff. However, steel also has a much higher cost of materials. Using the Ring of Forging, each iron plate alched (while wielding a fire staff) requires:

• 1 nature rune
• 5 iron ore
• 5/140 Ring of forging

Steel plate, on the other hand, requires:

• 1 nature rune
• 5 iron ore
• 10 coal

Another analysis examines how much experience is earned (for both smelting and smithing) for the number of ores used.

Discounting the cost of the ring of forging, iron is the clear winner in experience per ore. The results do not change when using the Keldagrim Blast Furnace, where the number of coal used is halved (and a Ring of forging is unnecessary). Halving the number of coal brings rune, adamant, mithril and steel to between 25 and 28xp per ore ... but iron still wins out at 37.5xp per ore.

As you see, the decision as to which metal to smith and the cost to do so is complex. However, the Smithing Planner tool might be of help in forming your decision. Please note that on average, free players will need 10 iron ore to smith iron platebodies instead of 5, as the ring of forging is for members only. Alternatively, members can use smithing to make arrow heads, then either sell them or fletch them to make arrows. You can sell the arrows for profit or use them for ranging. However, because you will be smithing these one bar at a time rather than five at a time for plate bodies, it will take more time.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What about Black items? "Black" does not exist as ore or bars and thus cannot be smithed. Black items are only available in stores, as monster drops or occasional finds (Digsite and Treasure Trails).

How can I trim my armour? Trimmed and gold-trimmed items cannot be smithed - these are available as Treasure Trails rewards only. NOBODY can "trim" your armour for you, so don't fall for this old scam. Keep in mind that trimmed, gold-trimmed, god and gilded armour all have the exact same stat effects as their plain counterparts - there are no added effects for these types of decorative armour.

I can mine granite, so can I smith a granite shield, helm, body or legs? No, sorry.

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Request Assistance

If you find yourself a few levels short of making an item, or want to safely offer your skills to another player, the request assistance option will allow you to do so. Simply right click the player who has the skills that you need and request their assistance. If they accept, a pair of hands will appear in your bottom right corner, and you can smith whatever items they can. You keep the items, but they get the experience.

There are a few restrictions to requesting assistance in Smithing:

• If you wish to smith darts, you must have completed the Tourist Trap Quest.
• If you wish to smith claws, you must have completed the Death Plateau Quest.
• If you wish to smith pickaxes, you must have completed the Perils of Ice Mountain Quest.

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Cape of Achievement

Once you have mastered the skill and reached level 99 you may want to buy yourself a Smithing Cape from Thurgo the dwarf, south of Rimmington near the Ice Cave dungeon. Refer to the Achievement Capes guide for more details.

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Credits

Original Guide By: Eeeeediot and misplacedme

Thanks to: Adamskii, Adam007, Albosky, Daigotsu, Doelpaal, DroolMAN, Fudgy999, ghostman, Ginger_Warrior, ho3f3l, idunedain, inferno_char, jeff d, jimmy_jim, Kill_Life, knittinqueen, Lansal, lucas, mchainmail, mucco, None2None, ooielandr, peche, pokemama, quantumkik, rctechs rc, SaidinWoT, saruman44, sheepdean, spikerkid, Thatguyphil, Tonyjr, tortilliachp, tryto, ventuzz, wallyweams

Last Updated by: tryto

Last Updated on: 17-Sep-2008