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The best Crafting boost for most players
Buy mushroom pies. One pie gives a flat +4 Crafting, it is tradeable, and the two bites each heal 8 Hitpoints, so it doubles as food on a long Crafting session. Nothing else in the list gives a guaranteed boost bigger than +1.
If you need exactly +5, the only route is a spicy stew made with orange spice. The catch is that the stew rolls a random change between -5 and +5, so you may eat several before one lands where you want it. The Crafting cape gives +1, but you only get it at 99, where the boost no longer opens anything new.
| Boost | Levels | How you get it | Catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mushroom pie | +4 | Grand Exchange, or cook one at 60 Cooking | None worth mentioning |
| Spicy stew (orange spice) | -5 to +5 | Recipe for Disaster, Evil Dave's part | Random roll, untradeable |
| Crafting cape | +1 | 99 Crafting | No use for requirements |
What a +4 Crafting boost lets you make
A boost counts for the skill action itself, so you can cut, string or sew something before your real level is there. It does not let you wear the result: gear always checks your base level. These are the jumps people most often use a pie for.
| Item | Crafting needed | Lowest real level with a pie |
|---|---|---|
| Red d'hide body | 77 | 73 |
| Black d'hide body | 84 | 80 |
| Amethyst arrowtips | 85 | 81 |
| Light orb | 87 | 83 |
| Zenyte ring | 89 | 85 |
| Zenyte necklace | 92 | 88 |
| Zenyte bracelet | 95 | 91 |
| Zenyte amulet (u) | 98 | 94 |
Zenyte jewellery is the usual reason for a mid-80s player to buy pies. Plan the whole batch before you eat: the boost starts draining straight away.
Quests and achievement diaries
Achievement diary tasks accept boosted levels, which is where a mushroom pie earns its keep. Quests are mixed. Plenty accept boosts, but some newer ones do not. Monkey Madness II needs a real 70 Crafting and Dragon Slayer II needs a real 62 Crafting, so a pie will not get you through the door. The quest's own requirement list says "not boostable" when that is the case; read it before you buy anything.
Making the boost last
Visible boosts drop by one level per minute. The timer is a background cycle rather than one that starts when you eat, so the first level can vanish within seconds. If you need the full +4, eat, then act. Keep the second bite: when the boost slips to +3, the next bite takes you back to +4, because a fresh boost is worked out from your base level and replaces the weaker one. Boosts never stack, so a pie plus the cape is still +4. At 55 Prayer, the drain-slowing unlock from a Chambers of Xeric scroll stretches each level to 90 seconds once it has been active for 15 seconds.
For the cost of each Crafting method, the Crafting calculator shows actions and gp per xp. The crafting training guide covers the route to 99, and Crafting money making lists what pays right now. Need a pie of a different kind? See the Fletching boost and Herblore boost pages.