Prayer can be one of the most expensive skills to train in RuneScape. This article looks into how Prayer training cost can be reduced using Random Events, Bonus XP Weekends, Task Rewards and the Ectofuntus, as well as looking at the experience gained from different Bones and Demonic ashes.
Bones and Demonic Ashes
The various Bones and Demonic ashes dropped by monsters are the regular way of earning Prayer experience, no matter how they are buried or offered. Here are experience rates earned from each type. The first number is the experience earned from simply burying or crushing the bones or scattering the ashes, the second for a Gilded Altar in a Player Owned House with both Incense Burners lit, and the third for using them on the Ectofuntus. Using an Altar that isn't Gilded, or without both Incense Burners lit, will reduce the experience.
Some bones actually make more financial sense to sell, and use the money raised to buy cheaper bones that give more experience. This is due more to the rarity of the bones; Dagannoth bones usually sell at more than three times the cost of Dragon bones, yet give less than double the experience. Ourg bones give almost double the experience of Dragon bones, yet cost almost five times as much. Wyvern bones actually give less experience than Dragon bones, but are nearly twice as expensive.
The advantage some of the more expensive bones give is the speed of training. That extra speed may not be worth it on a cost basis though.
Impious ashes 4/14/16
Bones 4.5/17.5/18
Wolf bones 4.5/15.75/18
Monkey bones 5/17.5/20
Bat bones 5.3/18.55/21.2
Accursed ashes 12.5/43.75/50
Big bones 15/52.5/60
Jogre bones 15/52.5/60
Zogre bones 22.5/78.75/90
Shaikahan bones 25/87.5/100
Babydragon bones 30/105/120
Wyvern bones 50/175/200
Infernal ashes 62.5/218.75/250
Dragon bones 72/252/288
Fayrg bones 84/294/336
Raurg bones 96/336/384
Dagannoth bones 125/437.5/500
Ourg bones 140/490/560
Frost dragon bones 180/630/720
Random Events
A common reward from random events is an
Experience lamp or
Book of knowledge, both of which can be used to train Prayer. Random events are, of course, completely random, so cannot be depended on, but they can still be used to get some free experience.
Bonus XP Weekends
Bonus XP Weekends are not a very effective way of reducing Prayer training costs. Because the bonus will not stack with the existing bonuses from items, such as the Wisdom aura or Brawling gloves, or means, such as the Ectofuntus or POH Altars, none of these training methods should be used. The only time the bonus from the Weekend will come into play is when burying Bones or scattering Demonic ashes.
Ectofuntus
The Ectofuntus is located in Morytania north of Port Phasmatys. Once the
Ghosts Ahoy quest is completed, an
Ectophial can be used to teleport to the Ectofuntus.
To train Prayer with the Ectofuntus, a player needs to worship there.
Buckets of slime can be collected from the pool of ectoplasm below the temple, by using empty
Buckets on it. Level 58 Agility will allow the use of an Agility shortcut, which makes getting to the pool much quicker.
Bones of all types are used in the grinder on the first floor with
Empty pots in your inventory to create
Bonemeal. Each
Bonemeal requires one
Empty pot and one
Bones. All the
Bones in your inventory can be ground, with enough pots, by right clicking "Fill Hopper" on the grinder. This part can be skipped if using
Demonic ashes of any type.
One
Bonemeal or any type of
Demonic ashes and one
Bucket of slime can be used to worship at the Ectofuntus. Doing so gains Prayer experience and
Ectotokens.
Depending on the quantity of bones to be ground, you should either grind, collect slime and worship nine bones at a time - 9
Buckets, 9
Empty pots and 9
Bones - or alternatively, for larger quantities, bank the slime and
Bonemeal as it is made, then use the collected
Buckets of slime and
Bonemeal from the bank to do all the worshipping at once.
Beasts of Burden Summoning familiars can be used to hold more items, allowing you to carry more
Buckets of slime and
Bonemeal per trip, or make more
Bonemeal. They aren't as convenient for collecting more
Buckets of slime, due to the necessity of having to drop items on the floor to free up inventory space, instead of being able to directly add or remove them from the familiar.
Useful items are an
Ectophial, to quickly return to the ground floor of the Ectofuntus, an
Amulet of ghostspeak or
Cramulet, to talk to the Ghost Disciples to get your Ectotokens (which needs doing or you will not be able to continue worshipping) and some means of getting to a bank quickly, such as the
Ring of kinship for the Daemonheim bank.
Although using bones and ashes on the Ectofuntus gives more experience than a Gilded Altar with both Incense Burners, it is much more time consuming.
The
Morytania legs 2, 3 and
4 all have benefits for training with the Ectofuntus.
Task Rewards
Morytania Legs
The reward for completing the Medium Morytania Tasks, the
Morytania legs 2, have two useful benefits for Prayer training. When worn, the player can teleport to the slime pit under the Ectofuntus five times per day, greatly speeding up slime collecting. Additionally, in return for completing the medium set, Robin in the Green Ghost Inn in Port Phasmatys will exchange 13
Bones for 13
Bonemeal of the same type and 13
Buckets of slime once per day.
When the Hard Morytania Tasks are completed, the reward,
Morytania legs 3, will give 50% more experience when worn when a Shade is burnt. Robin will also now give 26
Bonemeal and 26
Buckets of slime once per day in exchange for 26
Bones.
When the Elite Morytania Tasks are completed, Robin will now exchange 39
Bones for 39
Bonemeal and 39
Buckets of slime once per day, and burning
Vyre corpses will give 50% more Prayer experience.
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