After giving away everything I had for the prize pool of the Gillor Game season 4, I’m now slowly working on rebuilding my bank. Luckily, Old School RuneScape (OSRS) is filled with a variety of unique ways to make money, and I’m leveraging these methods to get back on track financially. In this article, I’ll finally be revealing some of the best money-making techniques I’ve been using—some of which I’ve been hiding for years!
Pickpocketing HAM Members for Hamres
One OSRS gold-maker that’s been gaining popularity over the years is pickpocketing HAM (Humid Ancient Monks) members for hamres. These hamres are used during the Death to the Dorgeshuun quest, which many players complete at some point in their OSRS careers, creating steady demand. HAM boots and robes, which are also part of the process for some easy clue scrolls, can be obtained during this pickpocketing grind.
The method itself is pretty simple: just pickpocket HAM members in the HAM hideout. To increase efficiency, wearing the Rogues’ outfit (which doubles the loot) and having a high Thieving level is key. The higher your Thieving, the less chance you’ll get caught while pickpocketing, and the Rogues’ outfit helps you rack up double the items.
Now, while this method has been known for quite some time, a recent discovery made me realize there’s a better way to do it. A tweet from Jagex Ash caught my attention. Someone was complaining that it was taking too long to collect a full set of hamres, and Ash recommended that they make sure they were doing it during the Death to the Dorgeshuun quest. More specifically, after talking to Misac, the first part of the quest that tells you to go get the robes, the chances of receiving HAM kit items go up significantly.
Intrigued, I decided to test this theory. I hopped onto a new OSRS Accounts, completed the necessary prerequisites for Death to the Dorgeshuun, and raised my Thieving to 35 (just enough to make the pickpocketing process less tedious). Then, I began the quest and started pickpocketing HAM members. To my surprise, the rates were much higher than what I had expected. After 250 pickpockets, I had received 67 HAM kit items, a rate of 26.8%, or roughly 1 in every 4 pickpockets.
In comparison, when I tested it on my main account (which had already completed the quest), the results were much lower. After 250 pickpockets, I only managed to get 13 HAM kit items, which is a stark contrast. It seems like doing this method during the quest increases your chances of getting the coveted hamres.
This method works best if you’re using the Rogues’ outfit and have a high Thieving level. With the right setup, you could potentially complete around 1,800 pickpockets an hour, earning roughly 450 HAM kit items per hour. That’s a guaranteed amount of GP right there. Additionally, you could also get lucky with clue scrolls during this process, adding even more profit.
For those playing on Ironman accounts, don’t forget to start the Death to the Dorgeshuun quest before you begin pickpocketing, as it makes a huge difference in drop rates.
Tainted Essence Chunks: A Surprisingly Profitable Method
The next unusual money-making method I came across was in the Scar Essence Mine, which was introduced in September 2023 during the Desert Treasure 2 quest. Inside the mine, you’ll encounter amalgamations, which, when mined, drop tainted essence chunks. These chunks don’t serve any immediate purpose, but once you deposit them into the ventriculus opening and store some coins in Haggis’s Coffer, you can convert them into four types of extracts: warped, twisted, mangled, and scarred.
These extracts give you bonus runes while you’re rune crafting. It was initially meant as a feature for Ironman accounts, but I was curious if main accounts could also take advantage of this update for profit. I bought every type of extract and tested them while wearing the full Rune crafting outfit (which gives a 60% bonus to rune output).
Unfortunately, most of the extracts—warped, mangled, and scarred—result in a loss of GP, even with the bonus runes provided by the outfit. However, I found that the Twisted Extract is the exception. When crafting Chaos, Cosmic, or Sunfire runes, you can make a profit by using this extract.
For example, crafting Cosmic runes with a Twisted Extract costs 150,000 GP (for 25 pure essence), but the bonus runes from the extract and Rune crafting outfit result in crafting 1,580 Cosmic runes. These runes can be sold for 158,000 GP, giving you a net profit of 8,000 GP per inventory. After spending six hours on this method, I made over 6 million GP. When all was said and done, after selling over a million Cosmic runes, I made a profit of 6.2 million GP.
While this method may sound niche, it’s surprisingly profitable when combined with the Rune crafting outfit. Additionally, Chaos runes and Sunfire runes offer similar profits. If you’re not familiar with Sunfire runes, they were introduced in the Vmore update, and they can be crafted with fire runes, Sunfire splinters, and essence. Using the Twisted extract, you can double the number of Sunfire runes made, leading to even greater profit. In my tests, I made over 3 million GP from crafting Sunfire runes in just 35 minutes.
Conclusion
While it’s easy to get caught up in the usual moneymakers in OSRS, sometimes the most profitable methods are the ones you least expect. The HAM member pickpocketing method and the Tainted Essence chunk method are prime examples of ways to make money in OSRS that fly under the radar for most players.
Both of these methods require some setup, but once you get the hang of them, they can be incredibly rewarding. Whether you’re an experienced player looking to make money or a newbie just starting, these unusual money makers might be just what you need to build your bank back up or buy cheap RuneScape gold at RSorder. If you’ve never tried these before, now might be the perfect time to give them a go!
So, if you’re looking to maximize your profits in OSRS, consider adding these to your routine. You might just find that these overlooked methods are some of the best ways to earn GP in the game today.