The four spellbooks
Every account starts on the standard spellbook. The other three are unlocked through quests or progress, and you can only use one book at a time.
- Standard: the elemental Strike to Surge spells, binding spells and Tele Block, teleports, High Level Alchemy and the enchanting spells. The only book free players get.
- Ancient Magicks: unlocked by Desert Treasure I. Rush, Burst, Blitz and Barrage in four elements (smoke, shadow, blood, ice). Burst and Barrage hit a 3x3 area, which makes them the standard for Slayer tasks with stacked monsters.
- Lunar: unlocked by Lunar Diplomacy. Mostly utility: Vengeance, Plank Make, Superglass Make, Tan Leather, Spin Flax, Humidify and group teleports, all using astral runes.
- Arceuus: the book of grasps, demonbane spells, reanimation spells, Resurrect Crops and useful teleports such as Barrows Teleport.
Standard combat spells by tier
Each tier has four elements. Fire always hits hardest within a tier, and the other elements catch up to the tier's top max hit once the fire version is unlocked.
| Tier | Magic levels | Top max hit | Extra rune |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strike | 1 to 13 | 8 | Mind |
| Bolt | 17 to 35 | 12 | Chaos |
| Blast | 41 to 59 | 16 | Death |
| Wave | 62 to 75 | 20 | Blood |
| Surge | 81 to 95 | 24 | Wrath |
Outside the elemental tiers, Crumble Undead at 39 hits harder against undead, and the binding spells hold a target in place: Bind at 20, Snare at 50 and Entangle at 79.
Ancient Magicks at a glance
Ice is the element most people mean when they talk about Ancients. The freeze grows from 5 seconds on Rush to 20 seconds on Barrage.
| Spell | Magic level | Max hit | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ice Rush | 58 | 16 | Freezes 5 seconds |
| Ice Burst | 70 | 22 | Freezes 10 seconds, 3x3 area |
| Ice Blitz | 82 | 26 | Freezes 15 seconds |
| Ice Barrage | 94 | 30 | Freezes 20 seconds, 3x3 area |
| Blood Burst | 68 | 21 | Heals 25% of damage, 3x3 area |
| Blood Barrage | 92 | 29 | Heals 25% of damage, 3x3 area |
Smoke spells poison and shadow spells lower the target's Attack. Virtus robes add 5% to Ancient Magicks max hits per piece.
Utility spells worth knowing
Most Magic xp in the long run comes from non-combat casts. High Level Alchemy at 55 turns items into coins for 65 xp a cast. Telekinetic Grab at 33 is the free-to-play favourite. Superheat Item at 43 smelts ore without a furnace. The enchant spells, from Lvl-1 Enchant at 7 up to Lvl-7 Enchant at 93, turn jewellery and bolts into their enchanted versions, and enchanting bolts is one of the fastest standard book methods. On Lunar, Plank Make, Superglass Make and Tan Leather double as money makers.
Cutting the rune cost
The cost per cast column assumes you pay for every rune. In practice, an elemental staff or battlestaff supplies unlimited runes of its element, and combination staves cover two. A fire staff alone removes the five fire runes from every High Level Alchemy, leaving only the nature rune. A rune pouch saves inventory space on combat trips. Strip the free runes out before you compare spells.
For individual spells, see Ice Barrage, ice burst osrs, Vengeance and Water Surge. The Magic calculator turns these casts into xp to your target level, the magic training guide puts them in order, and the high alchemy profit list shows which items are worth alching today.