Smithing is one of the most classic and rewarding skills in Old School RuneScape (OSRS). Whether you're crafting high-level gear, earning OSRS gold through bars and ores, or simply working toward the prestigious 99 Smithing cape, this skill is an integral part of the game's economy. The skill allows players to create a wide array of items, including weapons, armor, and tools, making it valuable both for combat and for making money. However, reaching level 99 Smithing can be a daunting task, especially with the high costs and significant time investment required.

This guide will break down the most efficient and profitable methods for training Smithing from level 1 to 99, along with tips on how to make the process more affordable or enjoyable depending on your preferences.

1. Smithing Basics

Smithing in OSRS revolves around using ores to create metal bars and then shaping these bars into various items using anvils and furnaces. The process is essential for creating a range of useful items like armor, weapons, and tools. Smithing requires ores such as copper, tin, iron, coal, gold, mithril, adamantite, and rune, with each level of Smithing unlocking new, stronger, and more profitable items.

The skill itself can be quite resource-heavy, as it requires a significant number of ores and bars. However, with careful planning and choice of methods, Smithing can also be relatively profitable in certain circumstances.

To train Smithing, players must visit a furnace and anvil, both of which are widely available in the game. The Smithing experience (XP) gained depends on the type of bar smelted and the item created.

2. Leveling Smithing: Methods and Training

Levels 1–15: Bronze and Iron Bars

When you first begin Smithing, you will need to start with the most basic ores: copper and tin. These ores are gathered through mining and are used to create bronze bars. At level 1 Smithing, the fastest way to train is to smelt these ores at a furnace, combining one copper ore and one tin ore to create one bronze bar.

Bronze bars: Smelting one copper ore and one tin ore at a furnace gives you 6.25 XP.

Experience per bar: 6.25 XP

To speed up your training and reach level 15 faster, you can start by making bronze bars and then later transition into iron bars once you unlock iron ore at level 15.

Levels 15–29: Iron Bars and Steel Bars

Once you reach level 15, you can start making iron bars. These bars require iron ore, and smelting them provides more experience than bronze bars. At level 15, you will want to smelt iron ore into iron bars, which gives you 12.5 XP per bar.

However, at level 30 Smithing, you unlock steel bars. Steel bars require coal and iron ore in a 1:1 ratio. This is slightly more resource-intensive, but it also yields more experience per bar and faster experience rates compared to iron bars.

Iron bars: 12.5 XP per bar.

Steel bars: 17.5 XP per bar.

Steel bars will be your main focus for training from level 30 onwards until you reach higher levels and unlock more profitable bars.

Levels 29–99: High-Level Smithing Methods

As you progress through Smithing, the XP per bar increases, but the cost of training also escalates. The most popular training methods for Smithing at higher levels involve crafting items such as mithril, adamantite, and rune bars into armor and weaponry. However, some methods are more resource-efficient than others, depending on your goals—whether you're focusing on making money or maximizing experience gain.

Levels 29–99: Mithril and Adamantite Bars

Once you reach level 40 Smithing, you can start working with mithril bars. Mithril bars require mithril ore and coal, similar to steel bars, but they offer better experience rates. At level 30, you can create mithril full helms, which provide relatively good experience and offer decent cost efficiency.

Once you hit level 70 Smithing, you can begin crafting adamantite bars, which are the best way to train Smithing through crafting high-level items until level 99. Adamantite bars are crafted with adamantite ore and coal.

Mithril bars: At level 50 Smithing, you can begin making mithril platebodies. The Mithril Platebody is a great item to craft for both XP gain and money-making purposes.

Adamantite bars: With adamant bars, smith Adamant Platebodies for better XP rates.

Levels 89–99: Rune Bars and Dragon Equipment

When you reach level 89 Smithing, you unlock the ability to create rune bars. Rune bars require rune ore, and crafting rune equipment can yield massive experience points. However, this method can be very expensive, making it viable mostly for cheap RuneScape gold those who want to achieve 99 Smithing quickly.

At level 99,Dragon Platebodies are available, but they are generally not recommended for efficient XP gain due to the high resource costs.