How to Craft Mud Runes in Old School RuneScape

Crafting mud runes in Old School RuneScape (OSRS) is a profitable and engaging way to train your Runecrafting skill. Mud runes, a combination of water and earth runes, are valuable for their use in spells, quests, and even herblore. This guide will walk you through everything you need to know to craft mud runes efficiently, from requirements to advanced tips for maximizing profit and experience.
Mud runes are a unique combination rune that counts as both a water rune and an earth rune, making them versatile for magic spells like Entangle or Bones to Peaches. They’re also a key ingredient when ground into dust for extreme magic potions, driving their demand. Crafting mud runes can yield solid profits while offering decent Runecrafting experience, especially for players looking to diversify their skilling grind.
Benefits of Crafting Mud Runes
- Profitability: Mud runes often sell for a premium due to their niche uses.
- Experience: Provides up to 9.5 Runecrafting XP per rune crafted.
- Versatility: Useful for both combat and skilling activities.
Requirements for Crafting Mud Runes
Before you start crafting mud runes, you’ll need to meet some basic requirements. These ensure you can access the necessary altars and items to begin your Runecrafting journey.
Skill Requirements
You need at least level 13 Runecrafting to craft mud runes. Higher levels improve efficiency by allowing access to better pouches and equipment.
Quest and Item Requirements
Here’s what you’ll need to get started:
- Rune Mysteries quest: Unlocks access to Runecrafting altars.
- Pure essence: The base material for crafting runes.
- Water runes and water talisman: For crafting at the Earth Altar.
- Earth runes and earth talisman: For crafting at the Water Altar.
- Binding necklace: Optional but highly recommended for 100% success rate.
Note: You can substitute talismans with tiaras for easier altar access, but talismans are required for combination rune crafting unless using the Magic Imbue spell.
How to Craft Mud Runes Step-by-Step
Crafting mud runes involves combining pure essence with specific runes at either the Earth Altar or Water Altar. Below is a detailed breakdown of the process.
Choosing Your Altar
You can craft mud runes in two ways:
Method | Altar | Runes Used | Talisman | XP per Rune |
---|---|---|---|---|
Water Altar Method | Water Altar | Earth runes | Earth talisman | 9.3 |
Earth Altar Method | Earth Altar | Water runes | Water talisman | 9.5 |
The Earth Altar method is slightly more popular due to its marginally higher XP rate and proximity to teleports like the Lumberyard scroll.
Basic Crafting Process
- Prepare your inventory: Fill it with pure essence, the required runes (e.g., water runes for Earth Altar), a talisman, and a binding necklace.
- Travel to the altar: For the Earth Altar, use a Digsite pendant or Lumberyard teleport. For the Water Altar, head to Lumbridge Swamp.
- Craft the runes: Use the complementary rune (e.g., water rune) on the altar, not the essence. This triggers combination rune crafting.
- Bank and repeat: Teleport to a bank (e.g., Castle Wars with a Ring of Dueling), restock, and return.
Pro tip: Without a binding necklace, there’s only a 50% success rate, so always equip one to avoid wasting resources.
Optimizing Your Mud Rune Crafting
To maximize efficiency, you’ll want to streamline your trips, increase essence capacity, and reduce downtime. Here’s how to take your mud rune crafting to the next level.
Gear and Equipment
Using the right gear can significantly boost your output. Consider the following:
- Raiments of the Eye: Increases rune output by 60% when worn as a full set.
- Runecrafting pouches: Small, medium, large, and colossal pouches increase essence capacity.
- Ring of the Elements: Provides quick teleports to altars, saving time.
- Graceful outfit: Reduces run energy depletion for faster trips.
Advanced Inventory Setup
For high-level players (85+ Runecrafting), here’s an optimized setup for the Earth Altar:
- Colossal pouch: Holds up to 40 essence.
- Rune pouch: Stores astral and cosmic runes for Magic Imbue and NPC Contact spells.
- Inventory: Water runes, 1 mud rune (to stack), and remaining slots for pure essence.
- Spells: Lunar spellbook for Magic Imbue (eliminates talisman need).
This setup can yield around 65 essence per trip, netting 95k+ XP per hour with practice.
Teleportation and Banking
Fast banking is key to efficient crafting. Here are top teleport options:
- Crafting Cape: Teleports to the Crafting Guild bank, free and unlimited.
- Ring of Dueling: Teleports to Castle Wars or Ferox Enclave for banking.
- Digsite Pendant: Quick access to the Earth Altar (replace every 4-5 trips).
- Lumberyard Scroll: Teleports near the Earth Altar but can be costly.
For run energy, use a Revitalisation pool via a house teleport tablet or drink from the Pool of Refreshment at Ferox Enclave every 8 trips with full Graceful gear.
Tips for Profit and Efficiency
Crafting mud runes can be both a money-maker and an XP grind if done right. Here are some final tips to ensure you’re getting the most out of your efforts.
Stockpiling Resources
Pure essence and water runes have Grand Exchange buy limits, so stock up in advance if planning long sessions. Consider trading with other players or using alternate accounts to bypass limits.
Using Magic Imbue
The Lunar spell Magic Imbue eliminates the need for talismans, saving inventory space and costs. Cast it before crafting to combine runes without consuming a talisman.
Market Awareness
Mud rune prices can fluctuate. Check the Grand Exchange regularly to ensure profitability. If prices drop, consider crafting alternative runes like steam or lava runes temporarily.
Pouch Maintenance
Runecrafting pouches degrade over time. Use the NPC Contact spell (2 air runes, 1 cosmic rune) to repair them by contacting the Dark Mage in the Abyss. Plan repairs every few hours to avoid losing pouches.
Crafting mud runes in OSRS is a rewarding way to train Runecrafting while earning gold. With the right setup, you can achieve up to 2M GP per hour and 95k XP per hour at higher levels. Start with the basics at level 13, and as you progress, incorporate advanced gear and techniques to dominate the mud rune market. Happy crafting!