Herblore



Herblore (Herblaw on RuneScape Classic) is a members-only skill.

Introduction
Before players are able to begin using it, the Druidic Ritual quest must first be completed, which gives enough Herblore experience to raise the skill to level 3, which is the first level at which players can make potions. However, if you have not done the quest, Jagex will still let you use the Assist system. (Due to an update by Jagex, players are no longer able to drink a mature greenman's ale to boost their herblore level to level 3 and raise herblore). Although it is easy to get herblore to level 99, it is one of the most expensive skills in the game.

Herbalist
Herbalist's locations are identified by the green herb icon on the world map.
 * Jatix in Taverley owns Jatix's Herblore Shop
 * Frincos in Entrana owns Frincos's Fabulous Herb Store
 * Ogre merchant in Gu'Tanoth owns Grud's Herblore Stall
 * Zahur in Nardah only cleans grimy herbs

The shops sell Vials, Pestle and mortars and Eye of newts.

Obtaining herbs
Some monsters drop more herbs than others. No monsters except the Tree spirit and Prison Pete random events will drop Toadflax, Snapdragon or Torstol, these herbs are obtained from either the Brimhaven agility arena (toadflax and snapdragon), or the herb chest in the Yanille Agility dungeon (torstol). There are many herbs players can obtain either from monster drops, or from growing herb seeds, for use in Herblore. Herbs can also be obtained as a reward from Pest Control, or from Miscellania (see Managing your kingdom). Players on average pay 800 coins per herb collected using this method.


 * Men and women drop a surprising variety of herbs including high level herbs. They are only level 2 and are found all over Runescape.
 * Chaos druids are highly recommended, they are only level 13 and drop lots of herbs. You can find them in the Taverley Dungeon, Edgeville Dungeon, in a tower north of Ardougne and in Yanille Dungeon.
 * Cave crawlers are Slayer monsters that drop both herbs and ingredients.
 * Aberrant Specters are Slayer monsters and drop large amounts of herbs. They can be found in Morytania Slayer Tower.
 * Chaos Druid Warriors in the Yanille Agility dungeon are also good because they drop a wide variety of second ingredients as well as herbs. However, they have a combat level of 44, so killing them is less worthwhile than killing regular chaos druids because killing chaos druid warriors takes longer, so herbs can be gathered more quickly from chaos druids.
 * Basilisks are Slayer monsters which drop herbs very often. They have a combat level of 61 and are located in the Fremennik Slayer Dungeon. A mirror shield and a Slayer level of 40 are required to kill them.
 * Flesh crawlers in the level 2 Stronghold of Security drop herbs frequently.

Players can also kill Salarin the Twisted for the Sinister Key, this key opens the Sinister chest, when opened a player will receive 2 Harralanders, 3 Ranarr weeds, 1 irit leaf, 1 Kwuarm herb and 1 Torstol herb. Both Salarin the Twisted and the Sinister chest are found in the Yanille Agility dungeon, an Agility level of 67 is required to reach him.

He and the Magpie Impling are currently the only NPCs able to drop the Sinister Key. It should be noted before setting out that Salarin the Twisted can only be injured by one of the four elemental strike spells, Wind Strike, Water Strike, Earth Strike, or Fire Strike. Chaos druids and Chaos Druid Warriors are also found in the same place making this a really good place to train.

Alternatively, use the Farming skill to grow herbs. At high Farming levels, this can be a very good way of obtaining experience in both Herblore and Farming.

Miscellania also can provide up to 80 grimy herbs a day, all Tarromin or above, with enough cash in the treasury and herbs set to maximum (players must have completed the Throne of Miscellania quest prior to being able to do this).

The Sorceress's Garden minigame has a herb patch that gives two herbs per round, which takes approximately 50 seconds. The lowest garden (Winter) can only give up to Harralander. The highest garden (Summer) can give all herbs given normally as a drop.

Cleaning Herbs

 * See the herb identification calculator for coins-per-experience-point analysis of herb-cleaning using live data from the Grand Exchange Market Watch.

The herb collection activities yield 'grimy' herbs. These need to be 'cleaned' to produce 'clean' herbs that can be used to produce potions. The cleaning process involves (left) clicking on an unnoted grimy herb. This results in the clean variant of the herb and generates a small amount of herblore exprience. When cleaning a full inventory of grimy herbs, it is possible to click ahead of the clean herb animation for speedy herb cleaning. Some herbs will be left grimy. Either clean the grimy ones again, or simply bank the clean herbs and load a new inventory of grimy herbs for cleaning. Herb cleaning is a 'lean forward' activity with lots of clicking and banking. The table shows the experience gained from the cleaning action and the herblore level required to be able to clean grimy herbs. Note that the graphical differences between grimy and clean herbs are fairly small. Against the inventory background, the herbs are somewhat more grey and there is a small shape change.

Unfinished Potions
The potion making process in herblore takes two steps, each combining separate items. The first step involves adding a primary ingredient (usually a herb) to a vial of water or a vial of coconut milk, and produces an unfinished potion. When the items in the inventory allow the making of multiple unfinished potions (i.e. when the player has more than one vial of water or vial of coconut milk and more than one herb), the game will automatically and quickly add all primary ingredients to the vials.

Much of the information in this table is taken from the list of potions in the RuneScape manual.

NOTE:

The table above is incomplete as it does not yet contain the proper herblore levels and does not contain the incomplete coconut based potions.

Potions

 * See the Potion calculator for coins-per-experience-point analysis of potions using live data from the Grand Exchange Market Watch.


 * Note: Strength potion is the only potion available to non-members.


 * Serum 207, Guam Tar, Weapon poison, and Guthix balance potion (unlike its Saradomin and zamorak brew counterparts) cannot be consumed, and are to be used for special purposes.

Barbarian Potions

 * See the barbarian mix calculator for coins-per-experience-point analysis of barbarian mixes using live data from the Grand Exchange Market Watch.

In order to be able to make Barbarian mixes, you will need to talk to Otto Godblessed, located at Otto's Grotto (West of Baxtorian Falls). He will teach you basic Barbarian Skills needed to get the second ingredient for these mixes. You will also then be able to turn 4 dose potions into two 2-dose potion, by using any 4-dose potion on an empty vial.

To make the enhanced potions, you will need:


 * 2-dose potion (or a 4-dose and an empty vial)
 * Roe (for Attack mix, Anti-poison mix, Relicym's balm mix, and Strength mix) or Caviar (for all other mixes).

Note: All mixes that can be made from roe heal 3 hitpoints per dose. All mixes that require caviar heal 6 hitpoints per dose. '''Warning! Using caviar on potions that require roe does not make the potion heal 6 hp per dose, the potion wll still heal the usual 3 hp.'''


 * These potions are un consumable, and are used for special purposes.

Getting vials
There are several ways of getting vials. Filling empty vials is very fast; this can be done at any sink, fountain or waterpump or by using the lunar spell humidify. Some methods for obtaining vials listed below:
 * 1) Craft them from molten glass using the Crafting skill.
 * 2) Buy them from Ardougne general store.
 * 3) Buy empty vials from Taverley Herblore shop.
 * 4) Buy empty vials from Shilo Village general store.
 * 5) Buy them from Sigmund the Merchant if banking on Lunar Isle via teleport.
 * 6) Buy them from Frincos's Fabulous Herb Store in Entrana if using the balloon transport system and maybe a ring of duelling.
 * 7) Buy vials from Mort'ton general store (requires Shades of Mort'ton and In Aid of the Myreque)
 * 8) Buy plant cures and empty them.
 * 9) Buy empty vials from players who are training.
 * 10) Some NPCs, like Chaos Druids, will drop vials.
 * 11) Water Elementals 100% drop is a water filled vial. They are close to the bank and level 34, however, they require Elemental Workshop I to be started or completed.
 * 12) Buy them at the Grand Exchange. Current prices are: Vials for  coins each and Vial of water for  coins each.
 * 13) Pick them up off the ground from Bounty Hunter.

Obtaining secondary ingredients
When training Herblore it is useful to have ample supplies of secondary ingredients.
 * Prices are approximate for buying item on the Grand Exchange

Note: Another way to obtain Eye of Newt, Unicorn Horn, or Red spider's eggs would be Creature Creation, a minigame achievable only after completing the Tower of Life quest. By defeating the appropriate creature, you will receive 2-10 of the item in question.

Money
With the introduction of grimy herbs, these herbs now reveal their identity. Hence, the price of grimy herbs depends on what level herbs they are. Chaos druids(and aberrants and flesh clawers) drop grimy herbs often, and on rare occasions may drop two.

Many combat-related potions sell for high prices (prices are for 3 dose potions):

Some of these prices are under pressure as the number of herbalists that can make those potions increases. Prices of potions have recently fallen due to the grand exchange allowing players to sell them in bulk quickly.

Temporary boosts

 * A Greenman's ale will temporarily boost Herblore by 1 level. Greenman's ale can be bought in the Yanille pub or brewed using the Cooking skill. Players with level 26 Construction may also build a beverage barrel of Greenman's ale in the kitchen of a player-owned house.
 * A Mature Greenman's ale will temporarily boost Herblore by 2 levels. This can only be made by brewing using the Cooking skill.
 * Spicy stews, which can be made by players who have freed Evil Dave in Recipe for Disaster, can randomly boost or lower Herblore by up to 6 levels, depending on the amount of brown spice used.

Additional information

 * The player Halw Gnun was the first one to reach 99 Herblore, as well as the first one to reach 200m Herblore XP on December 29, 2007 at 01:12 GMT. He managed to keep his #1 spot throughout the whole time.
 * Free users can use strength potions, but no other useful ones. Free players are also able to drink the sleeping potion in the Romeo & Juliet quest. This potion will "almost" kill you and you will have an empty vial. This method was one way for new players to gain money.
 * If the player switches servers while having their stats boosted, they will reset. This is to prevent members from drinking potions and switching to free worlds with unfair advantages.
 * Potions when made have 3 doses, but using two of the same potions on each other will fill one to as many as 4 doses in one vial. So if you make 4 of the same potion, you can reclaim one of your vials without losing any of your doses. The exception to this are strength potions that are made by the apocethary in Varrock. He will give you a four dose potion.
 * Zahur is a herbalist in Nardah, east of the general store, who can clean your herbs with 200 coins per herb.
 * It was once possible to use 15 Genie lamps to get to level 3 Herblore without needing to complete the Druidic Ritual quest. Jagex has since removed the ability to use a lamp to level up Herblore if players have not completed the quest.
 * Originally, players had to identify herbs instead of cleaning them. All unidentified herbs or "unids" looked the same. It was changed due to the fact that people were scamming with unidentified herbs by telling other players that the herb was a higher level than it actually was.
 * In mythology (real world), a unicorn's horn was believed to have magical properties, such as curing poison. Ground-up unicorn's horn is used to make antipoison.

Trivia

 * After finishing the Meeting History quest and then talking to Sarah in Past A, she appears to be the founder of Herblore.