Fishing and Cooking: Early food is critical for RuneScape gold combat. Shrimp and anchovies are your starting point—work toward salmon and tuna for better healing.

Firemaking: Train alongside Woodcutting to save time and unlock quests like Wintertodt later.

Herblore: Once unlocked via Druidic Ritual, Herblore becomes essential for making combat potions. Save early herbs and secondaries as you collect them.

Early Combat Training

Combat is unavoidable in OSRS, but as an Ironman, gear upgrades come much slower. That makes early combat training even more important:

Train on Low-Level Creatures

Start by killing passive, low-damage monsters that drop useful resources:

Chickens: Drop feathers and bones. Great for early Prayer and Fletching.

Cows: Cowhide is great for early Crafting; bones are for Prayer.

Goblins: Easy targets that drop low-tier weapons and armor, like bronze or iron.

The Stronghold of Security

Make this a priority early. Not only does it teach you about account safety, but it also provides 10,000 coins and solid combat XP opportunities. The lower levels contain stronger monsters for mid-level training.

Train Prayer Efficiently

Prayer is a critical skill for mid- and late-game combat survivability. Begin training by:

Burying Bones: The simplest method, early on.

Saving Bones for Gilded Altars: Once you unlock your house and a Gilded Altar, you'll be able to train Prayer much more efficiently.

Big Bones from Hill Giants: Useful for slightly faster Prayer XP gains—train here as soon as you can handle it.

Unlocking Key Resources Through Skilling

While combat is essential, many quests and unlocks are gated behind non-combat skills. Efficient skilling can greatly accelerate your progress.

Crafting

Use cowhide from cows to create leather armor. This improves your defenses early and also boosts your Crafting skill. As you progress, mining silver and making tiaras or cutting gems becomes viable XP.

Smithing

Smelt your own bronze and iron bars and smith them into weapons and armor. Use quests like The Knight's Sword to skip the early grind and unlock Steel-tier quickly.
Cooking

Catch your own fish and cook them to stockpile food. Early fish, like trout and salmon, are cheap and effective healing sources. Train on fires or ranges for consistent XP.
Agility

Although Agility doesn't directly help you fight or gather, it greatly improves run energy and access to shortcuts. Train it early with the Gnome Stronghold and Draynor Village rooftop courses.

Build Efficient Training Routes

Time is a precious resource in Ironman mode. Efficiency matters more than ever when you have to gather, process, and craft everything yourself.
Combine Skills

Always look for ways to train multiple skills at once:

Woodcut while walking between quests.

Fish and cook in the same location.

Mine is while on the way to other resource areas.

Use the Right Tools

Upgrade axes, pickaxes, and fishing rods as soon as better versions become available. Better tools increase efficiency and speed up progression.
Take Advantage of Safe Zones

Areas like the Stronghold of Security or the Al Kharid warriors offer safe, consistent combat training. Make sure you always have a food supply ready.

Plan Ahead for Mid-Game Goals

Even while focusing on the early game, it's wise to keep your mid-game goals in sight. This helps guide your training priorities and resource management.

Unlock Barrows: This mini-game provides some of the best mid-game armor in OSRS. Prepare by building your combat stats and Prayer early.

Train Slayer: This skill offers variety in cheap OSRS GP combat training and grants access to monsters that drop important supplies, such as herbs, food, and armor.