Skill Requirements

Jagex verifies each level at quest checkpoints. Temporary boosts do not work. The official requirements are:

• 74 Slayer — not boostable
• 74 Woodcutting — not boostable
• 72 Smithing — not boostable
• 72 Cooking — not boostable
• 70 Fletching — not boostable
• 66 Mining — not boostable
• 65 Hunter — not boostable
• 64 Crafting — not boostable
• 64 Herblore — not boostable
• 57 Magic — not boostable

These gates align with in-quest activities: Slayer for Venator encounters, Woodcutting for darkwood escape, Smithing and Cooking at the Aranei hideout, Fletching for optional blisterwood stakes, Mining and Crafting inside Castle Drakan puzzles, Herblore for the haemalchemic stockpile destruction, Hunter for blood serpent wrangling, and Magic for low-tier spell interactions.

74 Slayer is the steepest ironman bottleneck. If you are mid-60s after Sins of the Father, focus on tasks that overlap other goals—dust devils for money, nechryael in the Catacombs for prayer experience, or kurasks if you need leaf-bladed weapon progress. Blood Moon Rises itself assigns Venator content post-quest, but the 74 gate ensures you can handle level 200 Venators during the Castle Drakan segment without stat penalties on checks.

74 Woodcutting gates the darkwood felling sequence during Drakan's forest pursuit. Train on teak or mahogany if you want fast experience, or chop yews and magic trees passively while afking. The in-quest section requires chopping two sides of a tree to fell it—having 74 ensures consistent success and faster escape from Nylocas waves that spawn during the same segment. A bronze axe is provided in-quest, but high Woodcutting still reduces time under pressure.

72 Smithing is used once at the Aranei hideout anvil to forge the Hallowed flail from blisterwood, hallowed marks, and an enchanted blisterwood sickle. Train via blast furnace gold ore or smithing plates if you are close. This is a single checkpoint—72 is the hard gate, not continuous use.

72 Cooking covers Amitire stew preparation for Safalaan: fill a bowl with water, add potato, cook meat on the range, combine into stew, then add Amitire leaves. Any account that completed Recipe for Disaster segments likely already exceeds 72. If not, cook wines or sharks in the Rogues' Den.

70 Fletching matters most if you plan to range the Wyrd with blisterwood stakes. Stakes are craftable at the hideout but require logs and a knife; mains often melee with the Hallowed flail instead. Still, 70 is mandatory regardless of strategy.

64 Crafting and 64 Herblore gate Castle Drakan puzzles—crest assembly, syringe crafting, and the haemalchemic basin that must read 53 HP potential before the stockpile explodes. Herblore training via prayer potions or super restores doubles as prep for boss fights.

66 Mining covers short mining interactions in Castle Drakan basements. Power mine granite or iron if you need quick levels; the quest itself does not demand sustained mining.

65 Hunter gates blood serpent wrangling during the Blood Hunt—stand behind each serpent and wrangle from the rear to avoid poison damage. Train on chinchompas or salamanders if you are sub-65; the wrangling mechanic is forgiving once the level check passes.

57 Magic is the lowest gate and rarely blocks prepared accounts. It covers basic spell casts during puzzle sequences. Most players exceed 57 naturally through quest rewards and combat training long before reaching the Grandmaster finale.

For ironmen approaching the finale, train in this order to minimize downtime:

• Push Slayer to 74 while completing A Night at the Theatre skill gates
• Train Woodcutting to 74 during Slayer downtime or at mahogany trees
• Batch Smithing, Cooking, and Fletching to low 70s via efficient methods (blast furnace, wines, darts)
• Raise Crafting and Herblore to 64+ through gem cutting and prayer potions
• Touch Mining (66) and Hunter (65) last—they require the least total experience

Verify everything with our requirement checker before starting. Pair this page with the main requirements hub for combat and inventory prep.