This guide will primarily focus on the quickest path to 99 ranged in F2P, including the best locations, monsters, and gear. It is worth noting that the experience rates during training in P2P are significantly higher. This is due to several factors, including the fact that there are less monsters, gears, and equipment unlocks are available for free play rather than Pay-to-Play.
Regardless of these limitations, there is still some decent gear and monsters to kill in Free to Play to get good experience rates. Training ranged, especially to 99, will cost you money, so having a good amount of GP before you start is important, especially since Ava's accumulator cannot be used to save some arrows without membership.
When using ranged weapons, you can choose between three attack styles:
Rapid (faster)
When you set your attack style to rapid, you will shoot more frequently and lose more arrows, and your experience rate will vary depending on your level. For every point of damage dealt, you will gain 4 experience in ranged and 1.33 hitpoint experience in accuracy. Above the 30 ranged level, you should choose this style because it allows you to attack faster (up to 0.6s faster than accurate).
Accurate
The accurate range attack style allows you to shoot less frequently than the Rapid style, saving you more arrows in the process. When using this style, you gain 4 Ranged experience and 1.33 hitpoint experience for every point of damage dealt. This is the recommended style for levels 1-30 because it provides a +3 range attack bonus.
Longrange
If you want to get to the 99 range as quickly as possible, you should not choose this attack style because you will only get half the experience rates you would get with other styles set, and the other half will go to defence; for every point of damage you deal, you gain 2 experience in ranged and then 2 experience in defence. However, if you intend to train your defence stats alongside your range, you should choose this style because it provides an invisible +3 boost to your defence level.
Toggle auto Ammo-equip
Because you can't use Ava's accumulator in F2P, it's recommended to speak with the ranged tutor in Lumbridge about automatically equipping your ammunition whenever you pick it up from the ground. This will save you a lot of time that you would have spent manually equipping the arrows.
Start inventory
This is the best inventory for levelling, ranging from level 1 to 99 in free-to-play. Obviously, if you need more arrows, you can go to the Grand Exchange and buy more, or if you're an Ironman, go to the ranged shops in Varrock and hop for worlds if arrows aren't available on there.
This inventory is recommended because you won't waste unnecessary time going to the bank and going back, taking up time you could use for training. Remember, here we prioritise speed above everything else.
Shortbow: The best bow to start with, it requires no skill level to use and is the cheapest.
Oak shortbow: It requires a +5 ranged level to wield. It can be made by using an oak shortbow(u) on a bow string.
Willow shortbow: This Bow requires 20 ranged to wield. It can be made by using the willow shortbow(u) on a bowstring. It gives a +20 ranged attack bonus.
Maple shortbow: This Bow is the Strongest bow available for free to play. It is a two-handed weapon that can be created by using a bowstring on a maple shortbow. This bow requires 30 ranged to wield. It gives a +29 ranged attack bonus.
Cows are low-level monsters that can be found in various free-to-play areas. They drop cowhide, which can be used to compensate for the arrows lost when training these first levels. To make these early levels go even faster, equip the short bow and iron arrows.
Free to play locations to find cows
I recommend the Lumbridge East farm because it has a lot of spawns and is safe because you can safespot the cows using the fence if you have a low-level account.
Babarians are popular for training during these levels due to their low defence; they have a combat level of 8, and hitpoints of 14.
Free to play locations to find Babarians
The most common and popular way to do this method is through the Babarian village. Due to the obstacles, it is possible to safespot these Babarians, making this method suitable even without any food.
Level 13 Giant frogs have only 6 defence and up to 23 hitpoints, so it's no surprise that training with Giant frogs gives the most experience during these levels. If you have a low defence, bring some food with you because these frogs can cause some damage.
Free-to-play Locations of Giant Frogs
The Lumbridge swamp is the only place in Free to Play where you can kill Giant Frogs; there are about 8 spawns in this location, and you can easily bank at the Lumbridge castle because the Giant Frogs have some good drops too.
This place is special because of its huge number of safe spots and NPCs, which makes training ranged combat much faster since there's no delay between kills. Plus, it's super close to the barbarians, so you don't have to go to the bank and waste time; you can just come straight here when you reach level 40 ranged combat.
Free-to-play Locations of Wolves/Minotaurs
West of Varrock, south of Edgeville, it's very intuitive to get there, near the fishing spot where everyone fishes in Varrock. If you need free food, you can always go there and come back quickly, although with Safespot and its low attack levels, I don't think it's very necessary.
These Hill Giants have a combat level of 28 and hitpoints of 35. Using this method can be profitable and provide good experience rates; they drop items such as body talismans, big bones, and limpwurt roots, and there is a chance that they will drop the giant key for the Obor boss.
Free-to-play locations of Hill Giants
The Edgeville Dungeon is the best place to kill the Hill Giants because the Lava Maze only has 4 spawns and is also risky because it is in the wilderness, and the Boneyard is not ideal because it only has 2 spawns.
For Free-to-Play, this method provides the best experience rates in the 60 to 99 range. These Monsters provide significantly more experience than Hill Giants and Giant Spiders because they are generally weaker to ranged attacks. They have a combat level of 42, a defence of 30, and a hitpoint total of 60.
You won't be able to miss ranged attacks on these monsters at level 60. Allowing you to earn good experience rates and the best that any monster in Oldschool Runescape has to offer at levels above 60 in F2P.
Free to play Locations of Moss giants
The Varrock sewers are the best place to use this method. When you arrive at the location, you will need good food because it is multi-combat, and other monsters will attack you on your way to the Moss Giants. You will deal significant damage when you arrive at the Moss Giants and on your way there, but after this initial phase, the Moss Giants become tolerant of your presence, and you will deal less damage.
This method is also profitable because the Moss giants have some good drops as well. You should also bring a banking and emergency teleport; your best bet is to take runes for the Varrock teleport so you can bank at Varrock and then navigate your way back down the sewers.
Although the Ogress Warriors have high defence and killing them offers relatively low experience rates, they are still able to yield the best drops available for F2P. Since they are level 82 monsters who can hit up to 8 with a single strike, it is advisable to train your defence up to 80 to be able to withstand their attacks. You also need to bring good food and potions.
It is recommended to have at least 50 ranged and wear the full green d'hide gear, with a maple shortbow and adamant or mithril arrows.to kill the Ogress Shamans. Ogress Shamans drop items such as Big Bones, Mithril kiteshield, iron arrows, steel arrows, uncut ruby, uncut sapphire, uncut emerald, uncut ruby rune med helm, rune full helm, rune battleaxe, and shaman mask. They also drop various types of runes. To save space and reduce banking trips, it is necessary to bring a fire staff and a nature rune to alch the majority of these drops.
Killing Ogrress shamans with ranged is more profitable and allows you to safespot them and be more afk for up to 5-10 minutes than with melee. If you can find a good safespot where 3-4 ogres are aggressive to you, you can earn up to 200,000 gp per hour as your ranged level approaches 99, but the experience rates are pretty low, with only 20,000 to 30,000 experience gained per hour.
Location of Ogress Shamans
The only place to find Ogress Shamans is in the Corsair Curse dungeon, which requires completing Corsair Curse quest. This location is frequently crowded, and even when you eventually find a good spot, you are frequently crashed into by other players. To save your arrows, use mithril arrows because other players are more likely to pick up your adamant arrows when they drop. If you want to get food from the resource area, you can unlock it after completing Dragon Slayer I.
Ankous are known for having good drops, particularly death rune and blood rune, which drop at a reasonable rate. They are a level 75 monster with 60 defence and 60 hitpoints, so expect low experience when training at Ankous. Aside from blood and death runes, they can also drop Mithril ores, adamant arrows, law runes, black robes, and other useful items.
Location of Ankous
The Sepulchre of Death is, without a doubt, the best place to kill Ankou, with up to 23 spawns and a safespot that should be used especially by low-level players because Ankou can hit up to 8. I tested this method on my alt account at the Sepulchre of Death and was able to level up from 76 to 99 in about 370 hours, averaging about 30,000 experience per hour. I spent about 147k mithril arrows and made up 78,000 gp per hour.
Coif
This is the best head slot item available for free to play. It is an improved version of the Cowl; it requires 20 ranged to equip, it gives +2 ranged attack bonus and +4 defence bonus.
Leather Cowl
This is a leather armour that can be made using soft leather, thread, and a needle. It gives +1 ranged attack bonus and +3 defence bonus.
Amulet of power
This amulet has no requirements to equip. It can be made using level 4 enchant on a diamond amulet. It gives a ranged +6 attack bonus and a +6 defence bonus.
Amulet of accuracy
This amulet can be easily gotten even for low levels, as it is awarded after completion of Imp Catch. It gives +4 ranged attack bonus and no defence bonus.
Black cape
This low-level cape can be easily obtained from killing a highwayman; it does not give any ranged attack bonus, and a +2 ranged defence bonus.
Team-1 cape
This cape can be obtained from William for 50 coins. It does not give any ranged attack bonus and gives a +2 ranged defence bonus.
Green d’hide body
This requires the completion of Dragon Slayer I to wear, and it offers the highest range accuracy bonus available for free to play. It requires 40 ranged to equip, it gives +15 ranged attack bonus and +15 ranged defence bonus.
Studded body
The studded body offers 20 ranged and defence to wear. It gives +18 ranged attack bonus and +25 ranged defence bonus. Both the studded chaps and body are pieces from the studded leather armour. It can be made by using studs on a leather body.
Green d’hiude chaps
It can be worn at level 40 Ranged. They offer the best ranged accuracy bonus out of all free-to-play leg armours.
Studded chaps
The studded chaps require 20 ranged to equip. You should use this still you get then you should switch to green d’hide body. It gives +6 ranged attack bonus and +16 ranged defence bonus. It can be made by using studs on leather chaps.
Green d’hide vambraces
It requires 40 ranged to equip, it gives +8 ranged attack bonus and no ranged defence bonus.
Leather Vambraces
Leather vambraces have no requirements to equip, and they give a +4 ranged attack bonus but give no ranged defence bonus.
Leather boots
Leather boots can be easily made using a needle and leather, requiring 7 crafting. Although they give no ranged bonus, they give +1 defence bonus against crush and slash.
Fighting boots
Fighting boots are a pair of low-level boots with stats identical to bronze boots (except weighing significantly less), fancy boots and fancier boots.
Gold decorative boots
From Castle Wars are technically best-in-slot. They require 30 defence to wear and cost 400 CW Tickets. We are currently offering Castle Wars ticket services if you are interested and don't want to do the hard work. Let's start with the grind journey.
Reaching 99 Ranged in Free-to-Play is a challenge, but with the right strategy, it becomes a easy and a rewarding grind. You’ll gradually unlock stronger bows, better armour, and faster XP methods and along the way, you’ll learn valuable safespots and combat efficiency that will benefit you you while going for that 99.
The journey may be long, but every level brings you closer to one of the most useful combat skills in OSRS — and once you hit 99, you’ll join a small group of players who completed the grind entirely in F2P.
If you want to level up to 99 faster and don't mind doing it in the members' section, I recommend checking out this guide on OSRS P2P Ranged Guide: Fastest Way From 1-99.
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