The route at a glance
| Levels | Method | XP per hour | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 32 | Three quests | n/a | Free |
| 32 to 45 | Dwarf multicannon on ogres, or Gemstone Crab | about 40,000 from the cannon alone | Cannonballs |
| 45 to 65 | Grey chinchompas at maniacal monkeys | 290,000 at 45 | High |
| 65 to 99 | Red or black chinchompas | 540,000 to 690,000 at 65 | Very high |
| 70 to 99 | Pest Control, Nightmare Zone or Slayer | 76,000 to 157,000 | Low or profit |
Chin rates assume the top ranged combat boost, ranging potions kept topped up and a good monkey stack. With the level 44 ranged boost instead, knock off roughly 5 to 7 percent. On a budget, skip chins entirely and stay on Gemstone Crab, Pest Control or Slayer; the slow route takes several times longer but costs a small fraction.
Levels 1 to 32: three quests
Shadow of the Storm (put its combat reward on Ranged), Death to the Dorgeshuun and Horror from the Deep give 16,662.5 Ranged xp together. That takes a new account straight to 32. Zogre Flesh Eaters and Big Chompy Bird Hunting add a little more later on, but neither is worth bending your early route around, so move straight to the cannon or the crab.
32 to 45: cannon or Gemstone Crab
The dwarf multicannon (Dwarf Cannon quest) hits up to 30 with steel cannonballs no matter what your Ranged level is, and every hit gives Ranged xp. Ogres near Castle Wars need no quests and give about 40,000 xp an hour from the cannon alone, plus whatever you add with your bow. Ogres in the Combat Training Camp need Biohazard. Ice trolls north of Jatizso are slower but drop enough to cover the cannonballs.
If you would rather not pay for cannonballs, the Gemstone Crab in the Tlati Rainforest is the best idle spot in the game for low-level Ranged. It needs Children of the Sun, never runs out of health, and only moves every ten minutes or so. Each hit gives 87.5% of the usual xp, but there is no downtime between kills. Darts are the best value ammo there, and ruby bolts (e) take over from 46 Ranged until you are in the high 60s.
45 and up: chinchompas at maniacal monkeys
Chinchompas hit every monster in a 3x3 area, and maniacal monkeys in Kruk's Dungeon on Ape Atoll are the best place to use them. You need to have started chapter two of Monkey Madness II. Turn on overhead protection against melee, stack the monkeys in a corner and throw.
| Ranged level | Grey xp/h | Red xp/h | Black xp/h |
|---|---|---|---|
| 45 | 290,000 | n/a | n/a |
| 55 | 360,000 | 430,000 | n/a |
| 65 | 470,000 | 540,000 | 690,000 |
| 75 | 570,000 | 670,000 | 830,000 |
| 85 | 640,000 | 740,000 | 930,000 |
| 99 | 740,000 | 840,000 | 1,030,000 |
Grey chins can be thrown from 45, red from 55 and black from 65. Black chins give the best xp per hour but are the most expensive per xp, while greys are usually the cheapest per xp. The monkeys drop 1-dose potions that restore Prayer points, which offsets some of the running cost. Check the red chinchompa price before buying a big stack, because chin prices react quickly to demand.
Long fuse (longrange) chins split the xp evenly between Ranged and Defence, which is a fast way to raise both. Our Defence training guide explains when that trade is worth it.
AFK Ranged
Gemstone Crab stays the easiest method at any level: no food, two clicks every ten minutes. Nightmare Zone from about 70 to 80 lets you play normal rumbles with absorption potions and check in every 20 minutes. A venator bow with super ranging potions there gives about 140,000 to 150,000 xp an hour at 99, or 180,000 to 190,000 in hard mode. A magic shortbow (i) or adamant darts work on a budget. The venator bow is also good at the monkeys from 80: 140,000 to 230,000 xp an hour with amethyst arrows, and far cheaper than chins.
Pest Control: Ranged xp without spending
Void Knight commendation points from Pest Control can be spent on Ranged xp. On the veteran boat (100 combat recommended) you get about 26 games an hour, and the points buy xp that scales with your level, about 76,600 an hour at 70 and up to 157,100 at 98 with hard Combat Achievements. It also earns the Void set if you still need it. The Pest Control calculator works out the games needed for any target level.
Weapons and ammo by level
| Ranged level | Weapon | Ammo and notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 30 | Shortbows, knives and darts of your tier | Darts are cheap and fast |
| 30 | Maple shortbow | Adamant arrows |
| 50 | Magic shortbow | Rune or amethyst arrows; imbue it later |
| 61 | Rune crossbow | Broad bolts with 55 Slayer, or enchanted bolts |
| 75 | Toxic blowpipe | Darts; the Slayer and bossing workhorse |
| 80 | Venator bow | Bounces between targets; strong in multi-combat |
Accurate and rapid both give 4 Ranged xp per damage. Rapid shoots more often, so it is the training default; accurate adds +3 invisible Ranged levels for slightly better hits. Longrange extends your reach by two tiles and splits the xp with Defence. For full armour and accessory tiers, see the ranged gear progression page.
Two upgrades matter more than most armour. Ava's devices pick up your ammo: the attractor at 30 Ranged (after Animal Magnetism), the accumulator at 50, and the assembler at 70 once you have a Vorkath's head. The top ranged boost needs 74 Prayer and 70 Defence plus a scroll from the Chambers of Xeric, and lifts both accuracy and damage over the level 44 boost.
Ranged through Slayer and bossing
From 75, a toxic blowpipe or a rune crossbow on Slayer tasks is slow xp but it pays. A Slayer helmet (i) adds 15% to ranged accuracy and damage on task, and a cannon on suitable tasks adds several million passive Ranged xp over the whole 1 to 99 Slayer grind. Most players who never chin get most of their Ranged this way, then finish with Pest Control or Nightmare Zone.
If you want to compare two setups on a particular monster before you commit, plug both into the DPS calculator.
Free-to-play Ranged
Without membership there are no chins, cannons or crabs, so it comes down to cheap monsters and a maple shortbow. Cows and chickens around Lumbridge carry you through the first levels, ogress warriors at Corsair Cove and moss giants in the Varrock sewers are good middle stops, and the spiders deep in the Stronghold of Security are a relaxed choice if you can keep your food topped up. Green d'hide at 40 needs Dragon Slayer I for the body. Rates are modest, so free accounts often train Ranged alongside quests and save the long haul for members.
What Ranged levels give you
Each tier of d'hide arrives at 40, 50, 60 and 70, and 70 also opens Karil's and the crystal bow. The magic shortbow comes at 50, the rune crossbow at 61, black chins at 65 and the blowpipe at 75. Higher still, 85 is a common target for the endgame bows used in raids. Ranged also feeds your combat level, which our combat level calculator works out stat by stat.