.png){kind=small}
The botanical pie does most of the work
For a reliable Herblore boost, eat a botanical pie. It adds a flat +4, trades freely, and each of its two bites heals 7 Hitpoints. It is the highest Herblore boost you can count on, which is why almost every potion level people boost for sits four levels above a common stopping point.
The only bigger boost is a spicy stew made with brown spice. Brown covers the gathering skills plus Herblore, and each stew rolls a change from -5 to +5. When you need exactly +5, keep eating until the skill tab shows it. The Herblore cape gives +1 and, more usefully, lets you clean grimy herbs straight into unfinished potions while you wear it.
| Boost | Levels | Where from | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Botanical pie | +4 | Grand Exchange, or 52 Cooking | Any planned batch |
| Spicy stew (brown spice) | -5 to +5 | Recipe for Disaster (Evil Dave) | Hitting a +5 diary or quest level |
| Herblore cape | +1 | 99 Herblore | Its grimy herb perk, not the boost |
Potions a +4 boost opens early
Herblore has more boost-worthy jumps than most skills because each new potion can be worth making in bulk. A boost covers mixing, not drinking or wearing anything.
| Potion | Herblore needed | With a pie from |
|---|---|---|
| Stamina potion | 77 | 73 |
| Bastion potion | 80 | 76 |
| Ancient brew | 85 | 81 |
| Anti-venom | 87 | 83 |
| Super combat potion | 90 | 86 |
| Super antifire potion | 92 | 88 |
| Anti-venom+ | 94 | 90 |
| Extended super antifire | 98 | 94 |
Stamina potions at 73 are the classic case. Anyone running long trips buys them, so they always sell, and a stack of pies lets you start them four levels early. Super combats at 86 are the other big one, since the potion is in steady demand from bossers.
Planning a boosted batch
A visible boost drains one level per minute, and the drain cycle runs in the background, so your first level may last only a few seconds. A batch of 14 potions takes well under a minute, so the drill is: bank, eat, make, bank, and eat the second bite whenever the skill tab shows +3. Each bite resets you to base level plus four. Boosts never stack, so eating two pies back to back still gives +4.
At 55 Prayer, the drain-slowing effect unlocked by a Chambers of Xeric scroll stretches the drain to one level every 90 seconds once it has been active for 15 seconds. That cuts the number of pies a long session needs by about a third.
Ironman route to botanical pies
The golovanova fruit top comes only from stealing at the Hosidius fruit stalls, at about 1 in 50 per steal with 25 Thieving. Put it in a pie shell and cook at 52 Cooking. The fruit tops are tradeable, so mains who want to save a little can buy tops instead of pies.
The Herblore calculator works out how many potions you need and what each xp costs at today's herb prices. For the full route, read the Herblore training guide, and check Herblore money makers for potions that sell above their ingredients. The pie itself has its own botanical pie price page with buy limits and history.