Smithing Made Easy: Speed-Leveling in Old School RuneScape
This guide provides a comprehensive, fast-training roadmap for Smithing in OSRS, focusing on efficiency, experience rates, and practical progression from level 1 all the way to level 99. It covers free-to-play and members training, quest optimization, Blast Furnace usage, Giants' Foundry, and strategies for ironmen and budget-conscious players.
Understanding How Smithing Experience Works
Smithing experience in OSRS comes from two main actions: smelting ores into metal bars and smithing those bars into equipment. In most cases, smithing items at an anvil provides more experience per bar than smelting them in a furnace. However, smelting is often required first unless you obtain bars through other methods.
Efficiency in Smithing is largely determined by how quickly you can convert ores into bars and then into finished items, while minimizing movement, banking time, and unnecessary steps. Methods like the Blast Furnace revolutionized Smithing training by drastically reducing coal requirements and increasing experience rates, making traditional anvil smithing far more viable at higher levels.
Essential Quests That Speed Up Smithing
Before committing to any grind, completing certain quests will save you hours of training time. These quests provide large Smithing experience rewards early on, allowing you to skip the slowest levels entirely.
The most important quest is The Knight's Sword. Completing this quest grants a massive Smithing experience reward that instantly raises your Smithing level from 1 to 29. This single quest removes the most tedious early-game Smithing grind and should be completed by every account, including ironmen and free-to-play players who have access.
Doric's Quest is another quick quest that provides a small Smithing experience reward and early access to Doric's anvils, which can be useful during low-level training.
For members, Sleeping Giants is a critical quest to unlock Giants' Foundry. While it does not provide a massive experience reward, it opens one of the most cost-effective Smithing training methods in the game.
Fast Smithing Training in Free-to-Play
Free-to-play Smithing is limited in terms of methods and experience rates, but it can still be trained efficiently with the right approach.
After completing The Knight's Sword, you will start at level 29. From this point, the fastest option is to smith iron and steel items. Iron items are best for a short period, but steel quickly becomes the primary training material due to better experience and consistency.
Most free-to-play players smith steel platebodies once they reach the required level. Platebodies offer the highest experience per bar and require fewer clicks than smaller items like daggers or nails. The Edgeville furnace and anvil combination is one of the best locations due to its proximity to a bank, minimizing travel time.
While free-to-play Smithing is slower than members training, focusing on steel items and efficient anvil locations will significantly reduce wasted time.
Members Smithing: The Fastest Routes to 99
Members have access to a wide range of powerful Smithing training methods that dramatically increase experience per hour. With proper planning, Smithing can go from a notoriously slow skill to a relatively fast one.
Levels 1 to 29: Skip the Grind
Members should complete The Knight's Sword immediately. This takes very little time and instantly boosts Smithing to level 29. Optional quests like Doric's Quest can provide additional early experience, but they are not strictly necessary. At this point, you are ready to transition into more advanced training methods.
Levels 29 to 40: Early Anvil Training
Between levels 29 and 40, you can briefly smith iron and steel items at a standard anvil. This phase is short and primarily serves to unlock better methods such as Blast Furnace or Giants' Foundry. Smithing steel platebodies is usually the most efficient option during this stage. Choose anvils close to banks, such as Varrock West or Edgeville, to reduce downtime.
Blast Furnace: The Fastest Smithing Method in OSRS
The Blast Furnace in Keldagrim is widely regarded as the fastest Smithing training method in Old School RuneScape. It fundamentally changes how Smithing works by reducing coal requirements by half and streamlining the smelting process.
At the Blast Furnace, ores are placed on a conveyor belt and automatically smelted into bars, allowing for extremely high experience rates when paired with stamina potions. Ice gloves are essential, as they allow you to handle hot bars without taking damage.
Steel bars are commonly used at lower levels due to their affordability. As your Smithing level increases, mithril and adamantite bars become significantly more efficient in terms of experience per hour. At very high levels, some players use runite bars for maximum experience, though the cost is extremely high.
The Blast Furnace is ideal for players who prioritize speed over cost. With proper setup and consistent stamina potion usage, it is possible to achieve some of the highest non-combat experience rates in the game.
Giants' Foundry: Fast and Cost-Efficient Smithing
Giants' Foundry offers a more interactive and resource-efficient approach to Smithing. Instead of smelting bars and smithing items traditionally, players combine metal alloys to forge large weapons for giant NPCs.
This method shines because it stretches your resources much further than traditional anvil smithing. While the experience rates are slightly lower than peak Blast Furnace efficiency, the OSRS gold savings are substantial. For ironmen, Giants' Foundry is one of the best Smithing methods available due to reduced reliance on coal and ore stockpiles.
Giants' Foundry also breaks up the monotony of traditional Smithing, making it an attractive option for long training sessions.
High-Level Smithing and Platebody Training
Once you have access to higher-tier bars, smithing platebodies becomes the standard method for turning bars into experience. Platebodies provide the highest experience per bar and are less click-intensive than smaller items.
At higher levels, players typically smith mithril, adamant, or rune platebodies depending on their budget and goals. Rune platebodies offer excellent experience but are extremely expensive, making them impractical for most players unless profit margins are favorable or gold is not a concern.
Smithing Strategy for Ironman Accounts
Ironman players must approach Smithing differently, as they cannot rely on the Grand Exchange for ores and bars. Resource management becomes the most important factor.
Mining ores at locations like the Motherlode Mine or Mining Guild provides a steady supply of materials. Using the Blast Furnace greatly reduces coal consumption, making it far more sustainable for ironmen. Giants' Foundry is particularly valuable, as it allows ironmen to convert imperfect or surplus bars into meaningful experience without excessive resource loss.
Quest experience is even more important for ironmen, as it reduces early-game grinding and conserves materials.
Saving Gold While Training Smithing
Smithing can drain gold quickly if trained purely for speed. Players who want to balance efficiency and cost should consider slower but more sustainable methods.
Giants' Foundry is the best option for saving money while still gaining respectable experience. Smelting lower-tier bars for longer periods can also reduce losses. Selling finished platebodies can help recover some of the investment, especially when market prices are stable. You can also get more gold with cheap OSRS gold.
Avoiding runite bars unless you fully understand the cost-to-experience ratio is another important consideration for long-term sustainability.
Final Thoughts
Smithing in Old School RuneScape does not have to be a slow or painful skill. With the right preparation, quest completion, and method selection, it can be trained quickly and efficiently. For players who want maximum experience rates, the Blast Furnace remains the gold standard. For those who value cost efficiency and variety, Giants' Foundry provides an excellent alternative.
By combining early quest experience, efficient smelting methods, and smart bar usage, you can take Smithing from level 1 to 99 in a fraction of the time it once required. Whether you are chasing quest requirements, maxing your account, or preparing for future content, mastering Smithing efficiently is a valuable step in your Old School RuneScape journey.
———— Jan-24-2026 PST ————