A Treatise on Herblaw

By Turcáno, originally posted on at http://www.runescapecommunity.com/

Herblaw, in my opinion, is a very interesting and profitable skill to build. However, it is a skill for the patient. Many people become frustrated and give up. But those who persevere can acquire wealth and prestige (okay, not that much prestige), as well as the satisfaction that comes with being good at a difficult skill. In order to encourage those who aspire to become herblaw masters, I will now give you information that might prove beneficial to your quest to increase your knowledge of herblaw. This guide assumes no previous knowledge of herblaw, but it does assume that you know your way around RuneScape. Without further ado, let's get started.

Level 1

If you are still level 1, that means that you have to do the Druidic Ritual quest. So stop reading this right now and go do it. I mean it! Go do it right now! It's a very easy quest; just collect four different types of raw meat (beef, chicken, bear, and rat) and talk to Kaqemeex (in the Druid's Circle north of Taverley), then follow his directions. Being able to handle a level-27 monster is the only requirement for this quest. Completion of this quest will give you 250 herblaw experience, which will increase your herblaw level to 3.

Level 3

Now that you have done the Druidic Ritual quest, you can begin your herblaw training in earnest. First, you will need herbs (obviously). Although any humanoid or high-level monster will drop herbs, Chaos Druids are the best; they drop herbs on a very regular basis, they drop vials filled with water and snape grass, and they sometimes drop an extra herb along with whatever else they drop. the best place to find Chaos Druids is the Wilderness dungeon. Just go into through the gate and make a left. There are about 6-8 respawns for Chaos Druids here. This means that this area can support a lot of herb collectors (and there usually a lot of them there), but is absolutely amazing should you find yourself alone there. Also, a lot of high-level herblawists will drop low-level herbs in order to fill their inventories with the good ones. If the place is crowded, you are likely to find guam leaves, marrentil, and sometimes tarromin and harralander (I even found a kwuarm once) just lying on the ground, free for the taking (how good is that?).

To identify an herb, simply click on one in your inventory. Since you are level 3, you can only identify guam leaves and you will have a lot of herbs (about 7/10 or so) that you will not be able to identify. You may be tempted to sell these or even drop them. Resist that temptation. These as-yet unidentifiable herbs will give you a lot of experience later on.

Next, you will need to acquire second ingredients. For attack potions (the only potions you can make as yet), you will need eyes of newt. These can be purchased in herblaw shops (there is one in Taverley and one on Entrana) or in the Magic Shop in Port Sarim. They are also dropped from level-36 Zombies for some reason.

Finally, you will need vials. You can purchase empty vials from the herblaw shops or water-filled vials from the adventurer's store in Ardougne (2-4gp each). You can also make them. To make vials, you will need soda ash (from cooked seaweed), sand, and a glassblowing pipe. Seaweed can be caught in big nets at Catherby (people drop them, so you can pick them up) or found on the west shore of Entrana. Sand can be collected in buckets from sand pits in Zanaris and Entrana, and Entrana has a glassblowing pipe respawn. Place the sand and soda ash in a furnace to get molten glass, then use the glassblowing pipe on it to make a vial. Vials require a crafting level of 33 and gives 55 experience points. To fill an empty vial with water, simply use it on any sink or fountain.

Now you are ready to make potions. First use the herb (guam leaf) with a water-filled vial, then use the second ingredient (eye of newt) with the unfinished potion. That's it. Potions that are made by players contain three doses, as opposed to the four doses in strength potions made by the apothecary in Varrock. One dose of attack potion will temporarily increase one's attack level by 10% (not cumulative - do not drink a lot of these hoping for a huge attack level); the effects will eventually wear off.

Guam leaves can also be found in the Watchtower quest. One of the caves adjacent to the ogre city south of Yanille contains two guam leaf respawns. However, the respawn rate is about 1 1/2 minutes, which precludes this from being a method of "powertraining" herblaw.

Level 5

You are now able to make cure poison potions. These require marrentil and ground unicorn's horn. Many herblawists do not see making these potions as worth the time because they believe that getting unicorn's horns is a real pain in the neck. However, there is a large group of Black Unicorns (level 31) in level-20 Wilderness to the east of the Graveyard. Unicorn horns must be ground in order to be useful. To grind unicorn's horns, go to an herblaw shop and purchase a mortar and pestle for 4gp, then use it with the horns. Cure poison potions remove poison from the body, but do not restore lost hitpoints.

Level 12

ou can now make strength potions. For this you will need tarromin and a limpwurt root. Limpwurt roots are dropped by hobgoblins; these can be found in large groups on a peninsula just south of the Crafting Guild (crowded), in the Ice Dungeon (not so crowded), and at the Hobgoblin Mines in level-30 Wilderness (watch for PKers). Strength potions give the user a temporary increase in strength by 10%. You probably won't sell many of these on pay-to-play, but there is a fairly good market for them on free-to-play servers (if they don't mind 3-dose potions).

Level 22

Now you can make stat restoration potions. These require harralander and red spider's eggs. There are respawns at the end of the Varrock sewer and inside Karamja volcano, but the best place to get red spider's eggs is in the Wilderness dungeon. Just keep going north instead of west and you will come upon four respawns. At this point you can begin to make potions "on the spot." Whenever you get somt harralander and water-filled vials, go to these respawns, grab a spider's egg batch, and make a few quick stat restore potions. Normally you would keep a potion made "on the spot," but just drop stat restore potions; you won't be able to sell these and you will make much more than you would use personally. You can also drink the potion if you wish to save the vial. If you do this, do not let your potions pile up before doing so; it will take you forever (believe me, I know). Stat restoration potions, as the name implies, restores all negative effects to stats except for hitpoints and prayer (positive stat effects remain), but this is only useful to cure the effects of drunkenness, when retrieving Wines of Zamorak (see below), or when using the Potion of Zamorak.

Level 25

This is the herblaw level required to complete the Hero's Quest. At this point, many people give up herblaw entirely because completion of the Hero's Quest was the only reason they took up herblaw in the first place. That is a shame, because at this point, they are really close to being able to make a profit from the practice.

Level 30

At this level you can make defense potions; these require ranaar weed and white berries. White berries can be found in level-40 Wilderness in an area guarded by Red Dragons; they are also dropped by Chaos Druid Warriors (see below for details). I would advise you not to make too many of these potions, as prayer restoration potions (see below) also use ranaar weed and sell for more money. They temporarily increase defense by 10%.

Level 38

Now you will be able to start making money off of herblaw. Prayer restoration potions require ranaar weed and snape grass. Snape grass can be found on the hobgoblin peninsula in three respawns. They are also dropped by Chaos Druids, which means that these potions can be made "on the spot." Prayer restoration potions restore 30% of one's prayer level with each dose.

Level 45

You will now be able to make another money-making potion: the super attack potion. These require irit leaves and eyes of newt. Super attack potions increase attack by 15%. These normally do not sell very well unless they are part of a "super set" (see below).

At this point, you should consider training your agility level to 40. Then head for the Agility Dungeon north of Yanille (bring cure poison potions - you will probably need them). This will allow you to collect herblaw materials from Chaos Druid Warriors; these drop snape grass, ground unicorn's horn, limpwurt roots, white berries, and water-filled vials, allowing you to make any potions that require these ingredients "on the spot."

Level 48

At this level you will be able to make poison antidote potions. These require irit leaves and ground unicorn's horn. Unlike cure poison potions, poison antidotes give the imbiber an immunity to poison for a short period. Do not make too many of these, as you will make more money selling super attack potions.

Level 50

Now you can make fishing potions, which require avantoe and snape grass. Fishing potions increase the user's fishing level by 3 (non-cumulative). There is not much demand for this potion; most of the people who buy them do so to get into the fishing guild. They do give good experience, though (113).

Level 55

Reaching this level will allow you to make another big money-bringer: the super strength potion. These are made using kwuarm and limpwurt roots. Each dose will temporarily increase one's strength level by 15%. These are highly sought after by PKers.

Level 60

At this point you can make weapon poison potions. This requires kwuarm and ground blue dragon scale. You will need to go to the Blue Dragon area in the Member's Dungeon, where you will find blue scale respawns on the ground; these then need to be ground with the mortar and pestle. Weapon poison potion can be applied to daggers, arrows (10 for each dose), and darts; the poison wears off after use, so you will need to re-apply the poison. Do not make too many of these; there is more demand for super strength potions.

Level 66

Upon reaching this level, you can make super defense potions. These require cadantine and white berries. These increase one's defense level by 15%. These also sell quite well, and PKers and duelers are eager to buy a "super set," or one potion each of super attack, super strength, and super defense; all of the super potions can be sold together for more money than if sold separately.

Level 72

Now you can make ranging potions. These require dwarf weed and Wine of Zamorak. to get Wine of Zamorak, visit the the Chaos Temple just south of the Wilderness. You can either telegrab the wine or try to take the wine normally. When you attempt to take the wine, the Monks of Zamorak will attack you, and will cast curse spells on you. If you wish to save law runes, bring stat restore potions with you to cancel the effects of the curses. Also, bring a friend or two with you, as it is almost impossible to keep all of the monks dead at the same time by yourself. Ranging potions do not sell well, but they give good experience (165).

Level 78

If you have kept at it this long, you will be able to make the final potion: the Potion of Zamorak. In order to make this, you will need torstol and jangerberries. To get torstol, you need to have an agility level of 67 (or a thieving level of 84 and a lockpick) and runes for strike spells. You need to kill Salarin the Twisted, who can only be killed by strike spells. He will sometimes drop a Sinister Key, which opens a chest containing one torstol and eight other herbs. Opening the chest will poison you, so bring a cure poison or poison antidote potion. Jangerberries can be collected on an island to the west of Yanille; you can either telegrab them or swing on the trees to get onto the island (bring ropes). Jangerberries are edible, so be careful when using them. The Potion of Zamorak temporarily increases attack, strength, and prayer points, and decreases defense and hitpoints. Few people can make this potion, so there is not a fixed price for them; 5-7k would be a good estimate for the average price.

Herb Probabilities (Regularly Updated)

Sometimes it can be useful to know how often one gets certain kinds of herbs; for instance, a low-level herblawist can figure out how many of his or her herbs can be immediately used. This information is also useful for the Mixed Herb Experience Calculator (see below). The odds of getting a certain type of herb are:
Guam Leaf: 25.8%
Marrentil: 18.3%
Tarromin: 14.3%
Harralander: 12.1%
Ranaar Weed: 8.1%
Irit Leaf: 6.8%
Avantoe: 5.6%
Kwuarm: 4.0%
Cadantine: 3.4%
Dwarf Weed: 1.6%
Torstol is not included in this, since its occurence is regular.

Note: These figures are based on the results of my herb-collecting; only herbs that I have collected myself from Chaos Druids are counted. The figures are an approximation and are in the process of being fine-tuned.

Mixed Herb Experience Calculator (Regularly Updated)

There are many experience calculators out there, but they are only useful when calculating the experience for a batch of a single herb. Sometimes it is more useful to predict how much experience one can get from a load of mixed herbs. In order to do this, I have provided the Estimated Mixed Herb Experience Calculator (patent pending). Because I am not at all good at computer science, I cannot write out a program for it. No problem. Just get out a calculator and follow my directions. First, add together the Experience-Per-Unit (EPU) values for all of the potions that you can make (leave out any herb types that you drop). The EPU value is found by multiplying the experience value of the potion by the probability of getting the relevant herb. The EPU values for each potion are:
Attack: 6.444099379
Cure Poison: 6.871118012
Strength: 7.142857143
Stat Restore: 7.569875776
Defense: 6.055900621
Prayer Restore: 7.065217391
Super Attack: 6.832298137
Poison Antidote: 7.242236025
Fishing: 6.288819876
Super Strength: 5.046583851
Weapon Poison: 5.551242236
Super Defense: 5.124223602
Ranging: 2.562111801
Note: Since they are based on the herb percentages given above, these figures are an approximation and are in the process of being fine-tuned.

Three herbs (ranaar weed, irit leaf, and kwuarm) have two EPU values, so only use the value for the potion that you intend to make; herblawists who make both at the same time can either use the lower value or average them together (see below for details).

Anyway, the total sum of your relevant EPU values will give the average experience value for one herb in your inventory (remember, unidentified and/or unusable herbs are not included). Multiply this number by the number of inventory slots available for herb collection and the result is the amount of experience that you can expect to get from each trip to the Chaos Druids.
Example: I can make all potions super strength and below and make super attack and prayer restore potions, so my total EPU values would be 53.26086957. I usually have 23 inventory slots reserved for herbs, so I can expect to get about 1225 experience points from each load of herbs.

Advanced Calculator Techniques: If you make two different potions for a single herb on a regular basis, you can average the EPU values together by multiplying the ratio for each herb, add the values together, then divide by the total.
Example: Let's say that for every five ranaar weeds I collect, I make three prayer restore potions and two defense potions. I would multiply the value for prayer restore potions by 3 (21.19565217) and the value for defense potions by two (12.11180124), add them together (33.30745342) and divide by 5, giving 6.661490683. This number would then be used for the ranaar weed EPU value in your calculation.

Turcáno's Herblaw Map

For those of you who aren't very good at finding your way around RuneScape or can't follow someone's directions to save your life, I have provided a map which locations of herblaw materials indicated on it. I feel that this map is superior to the old herblaw map (found on the toolkit and probably on a lot of other sites) on two counts:
~The old herblaw map only covers free-to-play areas, so all pay-to-play areas are neglected (which means that many materials cannot be found on it).
~The old herblaw map give the locations of all monsters that drop herbs, while my map only gives the locations of members of the Druid family, which are much more productive.

Click Here To See The Map

(Unfortunately, the map seems to be offline at the moment)

Tips & Tricks

Do not sell your herbs. I cannot stress this enough. When you sell herbs, you are selling the experience that you could have had for yourself.

Buy Unidentified Herbs At Your Own Risk. You should buy identified herbs whenever possible. The experience given for identifying herbs is insignificant when compared to the experience given for making the potion. It also guarantees that you will not be scammed; many unscrupulous herb salesmen will deliberately not identify a batch of guam leaves and sell them for 2-2.5k each (they will be the most expensive guam leaves you can buy). However, many people sell unidentified herbs because they cannot identify them themselves; they will usually state the lowest level the herbs could be when advertising. Still, there is the possibility of being scammed. Try to buy from people you can trust. Also, try not to buy herbs for more than you can sell the potions for.

Keep Your Customers. A good customer is worth his or her weight in gold. If you find one, try to keep this person as satisfied as possible (prompt service is a plus) so that they will continue to buy from you.

Don't Give Up On Low-Level Potions. Many people stop making low-level potions because they see this as a waste of time. It is not. Herblaw is a slow skill to build, and you will need all the experience you can get.

Quests. Three quests give herblaw experience as a reward. One that you have already done is the Druidic Ritual quest; the other two are the Tribal Potion and Digsite quests. I suggest that you do these quests immediately; as I have said repeatedly, herblaw is a slow skill to gain experience in, and taking advantage of every opportunity to gain more experience cannot be overemphasized.

Stockpile Vials. Having too many vials (can you even have too many vials?) is much better than not having enough vials. Buy or make vials on a regular basis to avoid shortages at inopportune moments.

Make a Routine. I won't lie to you; the training of herblaw can be quite tedious at times (I have found that this is particularly true if you neglect a certain herb - usually marrentil - and let it pile up). This tedium is due largely to an inefficient training system that slows the process down. Either borrow or invent an efficient manner of potion-making. I borrowed Ethalsar's routine of immediately putting herbs into vials when I get them. Ethalsar claims that this saves bank space, but this has not been my experience; there is actually less free bank space should you run out of vials. However, I like it because most of the preparatory work is already done and one simply has to collect second ingredients to make the potions.

Greenman's Ale. This interesting lager can be purchased at the Yanille tavern for 10gp. It temporarily increases one's herblaw level by one. This is not cumulative; drinking more than one will not keep adding extra levels. If you are dying to make potions or identify herbs and are one level short, by all means take advantage of this.

Well, that's all the information I can give you. If you need more information, consult Ethalsar's Herblaw Guide; it is arguably the most comprehensive study on the subject of herblaw (even I learned a thing or two).

Good luck.

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Special thanks to Ethalsar for providing information about ranging potions, torstol, and the Potion and Zamorak, as well as for the information concerning experience values and pictures of potions. I would also like to thank Zybez for information pertaining to the manufacture of vials. Thanks to JAGeX for the map and pictures of ingredients.

I am continually updating this guide, so check back often. Comments, corrections, and additions are encouraged.

Source: RSDemon Online, RSDemon Community