Free-to-play Prayer training

Prayer is considered by some to be the hardest skill to train in F2P worlds. It takes money, patience, and effort. In F2P worlds, raising prayer above level 45 is considered to be near useless. However, the higher your prayer level is, the longer you are able to sustain prayers. This can be very handy during player-killing and when fighting high-levelled monsters. Prayer also has the highest cost per experience point to power level among all the free skills. While others cost no more than 10 coins per experience point, prayer can cost over 15 coins per experience point.

Beginners
Prayer is relatively straight forward to train, the main source of experience is regular bones which yield 4.5 experience each, and are worth each if sold to the Grand Exchange. Here is a list of things that can help raise prayer level slightly more efficiently:

The Restless Ghost
The Restless Ghost is a quest that gives 1125 prayer experience once accomplished allowing a player to raise prayer from level 1 to 9 upon completion. There are no requirements to begin this quest and is strongly recommended for beginning players as it provides a fairly substantial number of experience points for relatively little effort. From the viewpoint of buying bones on the Grand Exchange and burying them for experience, completing this quest is the equivalent of buying 250 bones, or coins in current Grand Exchange price.

''Note: If you talk to Father Aereck again after completing the quest, he will give you 5 Ancient Bones, each giving 200 experience when buried, hence 1000 experience. But you can get these bones only once!''

Respawn places
For players not willing to power level prayer, some places must be familiar with, in order to get quick bone drops:

In the Wilderness level 12, the chaos temple has 15 bones and respawn once taken. Players should beware of Revenants patrolling the area. Few other players train there, although it is near the Fist of Guthix activity. It is one of the best places for any F2P player to train. Four of the bones are more out of the way and take more time to reach, these should be ignored and only the inner 11 bones should be picked up and buried. In one study it was found that at maximum efficiency it is possible to pick up and bury 1232 bones per hour giving 5544 experience points and saving the player 235312 coins had he/she bought the bones on the Grand Exchange.
 * Chaos temple

Deep in the wilderness, there are the Demonic Ruins. In the Demonic Ruins several Burnt bones respawn. Beware of Greater Demons and revenants. The trouble is getting to the ruins. You must avoid getting hit by the Greater Demons and revenants on the way.
 * Demonic Ruins

Many players don't bother to pick up or bury the bones they receive after killing monsters in Lumbridge. Bones are often abundant there for players to pick up.
 * Lumbridge

Edgeville Dungeon is inhabited by hill giants which are the weakest giants to drop big bones. Many players consider hill giants a good target for their drops and big bones, thus the dungeon is often crowded. Due to the excessive amount of people there, finding a hill giant to kill is difficult, and thus not recommended for prayer training. Also, two bones respawn in the dungeon near the hill giants, and four bones respawn in the South of the dungeon as well.To get these bones as drop if you have a lvl 20 dugeoneering you can go in the resource dungeon and kill them there usually no one is there
 * Edgeville Dungeon

Low level Al Kharid warriors are often killed by players while training. Bones are often left without being buried or picked up.
 * Al Kharid palace

New players who need money tend to kill cows for their cowhides to be sold at the Grand Exchange. Normally, there would be swarms of players there during busy days in world 1 who would normally leave tons of bones and meat scattered. If you could luckily enter world 1 during that time of the day, you could pick up all the bones you want and bury them right on the spot. It would also be helpful if your inventory is empty when collecting and burying bones.
 * Lumbridge Cows

Low level players like to kill men in the house just North of the Edgeville bank, however they just leave the bones from the kills on the ground. This is very easy to train on busy worlds.
 * Edgeville

PvP worlds
A lot of bones can be found in Lumbridge on PvP worlds, due to the number of players dying in the area. Be sure to bank all valuable items at once (NOTE: You cannot drop items worth more than 1000 coins). To train Prayer here, simply run around, pick up bones and then bury them as quick as you can as strong players can attack you and then kill you.

Training prayer by killing monsters
Depending on the max hit of a player, different monsters should be trained on for prayer experience. A good prayer training monster should be weak enough to be killed in 1-3 hits for the current ability of player. When killing monsters for prayer training, one should, to save time, bury the bones in between attacks, this will not cause the next attack delay.

No requirement

 * Weak NPCs around busy places
 * Requirements
 * 1) None
 * Advantages
 * 1) Any fighting methods can be used because they are weak enough to be killed even at low levels.
 * 2) Even if NPCs are killed by others, they might leave bones around.
 * Disadvantages
 * 1) Negligible income.
 * 2) Too weak to raise combat experience.
 * 3) Tiring mouse clicks.
 * 1) Negligible income.
 * 2) Too weak to raise combat experience.
 * 3) Tiring mouse clicks.

Weak NPCs are introductory to prayer training. They may be boring to kill, but their bone drops are good enough for low levels.

Chickens in Chicken Coops

 * Requirements
 * 1) None
 * Advantages
 * 1) Any fighting method can be used because they are weak enough to be killed even at low levels.
 * 2) Many players kill chickens for feathers and leave the bones around.
 * 3) Feathers are stackable and are dropped often. They can be sold for about 15 coins each.
 * 4) One hit kills are quite common.
 * Disadvantages
 * 1) It can get crowded on some F2P worlds
 * Disadvantages
 * 1) It can get crowded on some F2P worlds
 * 1) It can get crowded on some F2P worlds

Chickens are great for beginners and are very common and close to Lumbridge. There is one chicken coop on the road to Draynor Village and another one on the road to Varrock. A third area is the farm just south of Falador. Chickens can be killed very easily.

Cattle

 * Requirements
 * 1) Combat 5+
 * 2) Iron armour or Bronze armour strongly recommended for new players
 * Advantages
 * 1) Very common and easy to get at a cow, even when the area is crowded with other players.
 * 2) Close to Lumbridge and easy to travel to
 * 3) Drops Cowhides and raw beef, providing training for other skills
 * Disadvantages
 * 1) Sometimes very crowded on some F2P worlds with players numbering in the dozens or more.
 * 1) Sometimes very crowded on some F2P worlds with players numbering in the dozens or more.

Training with cattle is perhaps one of the best multi-skill training options available for low-level players, where you can train not only combat but also prayer, crafting (from tanning the cowhides and making leather items) and cooking. Formerly the Gnomecopter area provided a deposit box in the cattle yard north of Lumbridge. This has been replaced by Beefy Bill, who will take your raw beef and cowhides to the bank in exchange for 1 in 9 of each kind. It would be recommended to only give 9 items at a time to Beefy Bill for maximum profit. Bones can no longer be banked in the area, but the value is still there to bury the bones as you kill the cattle. Cowhides and raw beef can be sold for coins (cowhide) and  coins (raw beef) respectively, giving a source of early cash for new players. Bringing an axe and tinderbox can be used to cook the raw beef to heal wounds if you are just starting to train combat. There are several trees in and around all of the cattle yards as a source of logs for making fires.

In the cattle yard between the River Lum and Al-Kharid on the road to Varrock, there are many more cows and this is a very common low-level F2P combat training area. Many players, especially ones trying to do Pure combat training will deliberately leave the bones on the grounds. This can be a free source of bones for an aspiring low level player trying to train prayer and doesn't require any sort of combat at all.

Another cattle yard exists south of Falador that is moderately close to the east bank of Falador and the bank in Draynor Village. Like the cattle yard east of the River Lum, this is also a low-level player training area with many bones left on the ground when busy.

Catacombs (low level monsters) Combat level of at least 10 
 * 1) Steel armour if possible to reduce damage taken
 * 2) Completion of The Blood Pact
 * Advantages
 * 1) Very fast spawn.
 * 2) Close to Lumbridge bank.
 * 3) Drops lots of runes, feathers, threads, fishing bait, low level armour which can be sold to make a small profit
 * Disadvantages
 * 1) Low levelled players will not be able to train prayer as fast as the high levelled ones since they are not able to one-hit KO the monster most of the times.

Monkeys and snakes near Karamja volcano

 * Requirements
 * 1) 30 coins
 * Advantages
 * 1) Very uncrowded.
 * 2) Monkeys drop monkey bones with slightly more prayer experience.
 * 3) Easy to kill.
 * Disadvantages

An alternative to mainland NPCs is Karamja inhabitants. They have slightly more life points and more experience to give, but convenience is sacrificed.
 * 1) Respawn very slow.

Bones near Clan Wars
Requirments Advantages Disadvantages Go to the Clan Wars, and on the right side of the purple portal, there are nine bones to pick up.
 * Uncrowded place
 * Able to beat level 19 ghost
 * Fast respawn
 * 10 bones in one place
 * Level 19 ghost

Dark wizards around stone circle

 * Requirements
 * 1) Combat 41(new update made wizards not aggressive due to the circle lying in beginner's area)
 * Advantages
 * 1) Similar to the weak NPCs, bones are often left on floor.
 * 2) Doesn't need expensive armour to fight.
 * 3) Good supply of runes.
 * 4) Close to Varrock west bank.
 * Disadvantages
 * 1) Many players tend to kill the level 7 wizards, making killing wizards harder.
 * 2) Level 20 wizards are hard to defeat until high levels.
 * 3) Often crowded.
 * 1) Many players tend to kill the level 7 wizards, making killing wizards harder.
 * 2) Level 20 wizards are hard to defeat until high levels.
 * 3) Often crowded.

Dark wizards can be killed, as they no longer are aggressive towards the player. Bones on the ground can be also be picked up and buried. It would be recommended to wear range armour such as Hardleather body or Green dragonhide armour, as that gives players reasonable protection against the magic that these creatures cast. See also Combat triangle for further information about this concept, noting that these are magic using creatures. Metal armour is actually more harmful than no armour at all.

Skeletons, Zombies, Minotaurs

 * Requirements
 * 1) Combat 51
 * Advantages
 * 1) Fair drops
 * 2) Low defence and life point
 * 3) Not very crowded
 * Disadvantages
 * 1) Far from bank
 * 2) Drops not stackable and excessive
 * 1) Far from bank
 * 2) Drops not stackable and excessive

Skeletons and Zombies can be killed in several dungeons, and Minotaurs can be killed in the Stronghold of Security. Because minotaurs are popular with rangers, and as they are weak, bones can be found on the ground quite often in busy worlds. Aside from their rather common bronze and iron arrow drops, they mainly drop non-stackable bronze items, which should not be picked up.

Monks At Monastery

 * Requirements
 * 1) Ability to kill a Level 5 Monk
 * Advantages
 * 1) Always drop Bones
 * 2) If you talk to a monk, they will heal you
 * 3) Once you get to level 31 Prayer, you can go to the 2nd floor of the Monastery, getting easy money by collecting and selling the monk's robes you find there.

The Monastery is located just above Gunnarsgrunn otherwise known as the Barbarian Village. There is also a handy musician located outside the front of the Monastery.

Hill Giants

 * Requirements
 * 1) Combat 28+
 * 2) Recommended: Full Rune
 * 3) Recommended: 20 Dungeoneering (to enter the resource dungeon)
 * Advantages
 * 1) Good drops
 * 2) Big bones
 * 3) Respawn of bones on floor
 * 4) Close to Grand Exchange
 * 5) Many safe spots.
 * 6) Not very crowded (resource dungeon)
 * Disadvantages
 * 1) It is very crowded in Edgeville dungeon.
 * 2) They can hit relatively high and often, meaning food will be needed for the lower levels.
 * 1) It is very crowded in Edgeville dungeon.
 * 2) They can hit relatively high and often, meaning food will be needed for the lower levels.
 * 1) They can hit relatively high and often, meaning food will be needed for the lower levels.

Hill giants in Edgeville dungeon drop big bones, and two bone respawns are available there. Hill giants drop limpwurt roots which sell for coins each. A brass key is needed to quickly access the dungeon from Grand Exchange, which can be obtained by entering the dungeon from the Edgeville entrance. Hill giants are very popular training monsters, and as such, finding a hill giant to fight can be quite difficult. Another place is east of Clan Wars, several giants inhabit the place, and its not vey crowded and in case of revenants you only need to run to the Clan Wars lobby.

Near the Hill Giants in Edgeville dungeon is a resource dungeon that requires a Dungeoneering level of 20 to enter. There are 4 limpwurt root spawns in the dungeon and 11 Hill Giants. It is not as crowded as Edgeville dungeon.

Tips:
 * It is recommended to fight hill giants with magic or ranged. This means a player can hit before a person meleeing, and a further advantage is that there are many safe spots.

Ice giants

 * Requirements
 * 1) Combat 60+
 * Advantages
 * 1) Good drops
 * 2) Big bones
 * 3) Relatively uncrowded, especially compared to the Hill Giant and Moss Giant areas
 * Disadvantages
 * 1) High combat level
 * 2) Distant from bank (if you are trying to sell Big Bones)
 * 3) Has aggressive Ice warriors (level 57) nearby, which may prevent you from attacking the giants often
 * 1) High combat level
 * 2) Distant from bank (if you are trying to sell Big Bones)
 * 3) Has aggressive Ice warriors (level 57) nearby, which may prevent you from attacking the giants often

The Ice Giants of the Asgarnian Ice Dungeon can be a bit of a challenge for unprepared players, but can provide fair prayer training with excellent combat training simultaneously. The Black kiteshield is perhaps the best drop that a player can hang onto for resale, where about 1 in 50 drops contains this shield. This is also the only source of Black kiteshields via F2P methods, keeping the value of the item fairly high and easily traded on the Grand Exchange for coins. Several Mithril items are dropped, which can be low-alched/high-alched with the Explorer's ring if you have completed the Lumbridge and Draynor Achievement Diary. There are also drops of several member-crafted runes such as Nature runes and Law runes, and large numbers of Mind runes (20+ on a drop). Ice Giants are accompanied by Ice warriors, who unfortunately don't drop any bones when killed. If you have a high enough defence and can remain in the Ice Giant area for longer than about 4–5 minutes, the Ice warriors stop being aggressive and you can ignore them to concentrate on the Ice Giants. Seeing very high combat level (100+) F2P players and former members training in this area is quite common. Several spots to hide behind ice columns exist to also train ranging or magic are in this dungeon as well, and can be used against the Ice Giants.

Ice Giants can also be found at the Frozen Waste Plateau in the high level Wilderness. In addition to the problems of fighting Ice Giants, you also have to deal with several Revenants if you stay there for any prolonged period of time. It would be strongly recommended to travel to this area in a group if you are going to attempt to train in this area. Generally this is not considered a good prayer training area.

Lamps
Easier methods to obtain experience lamps, even as a non-member, include completing the entire Lumbridge Achievement Diary, where for each of the four parts players complete they will be rewarded with lamps granting them increasingly higher amounts of experience for any chosen skill(s).

One can also earn experience lamps via random events, selecting the option to receive an experience lamp (if offered) or Book of Knowledge if certain option is given. This was considered the fastest method of earning experience points for prayer, particularly if you reach higher prayer levels. Considering that prayer is one of the hardest skills to train, many players only select prayer skill as the skill to improve when they receive these lamps as the prayer skill is costly if you do not wish to simply kill the target and bury the bones it drops.

Dungeoneering
Dungeoneering provides a new method of training prayer, though needing to train other skills as well. This is best done by killing most monsters in the dungeon, who will give varying types of bones: regular bones, bat bones, big bones or even dragon bones if you are lucky. Players are advised to open the dark spirit doors and turn experience share on, since it will lead to stable experience. Lastly the mastyxs should be all killed, as they give big bones, and these "big bones" can now be used on altars. (A bug that prevented this was present when altars were added to dungeons, but this has been fixed). All other bones can also be used on the altars, granting 4 times the normal experience. Please notice mastyxs are classified as hunter resources (for members) and do not affect the Dungeoneering experience received at the end of the floor in any world.

Bones can be saved and "used" on altars, granting four times the experience. This may be especially worthwhile with big bones and dragon bones.

A list of free-to-play monsters not dropping bones:
 * All floors
 * Mysterious shade
 * Ghost


 * Frozen floors
 * Ice elemental
 * Ice spider
 * Ice fiend


 * Abandoned floors
 * Dungeon spider
 * Animated pickaxe


 * Furnished floors
 * Dungeon spider

Power levelling by purchasing bones
There is only one way to power level prayer: burying regular or big bones mass-bought from Grand Exchange. However, burying regular bones or burying big bones makes all the difference between cost factor and speed.

Bones are currently sold at coins each, yielding 4.5 experience when buried. To power level prayer using regular bones, 0 coins per experience are lost, meaning 0 coins are needed for 1,000 experience. To attain level 45 from zero experience merely by power levelling, 13,670 bones are needed, costing 0 coins. It is possible to bury one bone every game tick or 0.6 seconds. At 28 bones per load, one load will take a bare minimum of 21 seconds (including 4 seconds of bank time), resulting in a maximum of 21,600 xp per hour.

Big bones are currently sold coins each, yielding 15 experience when buried. To power level prayer using big bones, 0 coins per experience are lost, meaning 0 coins are needed for 1,000 experience. To attain level 45 from zero experience merely by power levelling, 4,101 big bones are needed, costing 0 coins. It is possible to bury one big bone every game tick or 0.6 seconds. At 28 big bones per load, one load will take a bare minimum of 21 seconds (including 4 seconds of bank time), resulting in a maximum of 72,000 xp per hour.

A player can expect to bury a maximum of about 4800 bones per hour. However, due to the tediousness of this skill this figure is very difficult to maintain.


 * 1) It takes 2,896,541 bones to get from level 1 prayer to level 99 prayer, which costs 0 coins in GE
 * 2) It takes 868,963 big bones to get from level 1 prayer to level 99 prayer, which costs 0 coins in GE