Contents
Overview
Firemaking is Woodcutting’s artisan companion skill — you’re burning the logs that skill hands you, and the two level in step with each other for most of the early game. It’s one of the cheapest paths to 99 in OSRS, a genuine max cape requirement, and thanks to Wintertodt, one of the few skills that can actually pay for itself while you train it.
Wintertodt is officially classified as a boss, not a minigame, and dying there is unsafe — normal item-loss rules apply, and Hardcore Ironmen lose their status if they die inside. Treat it with the same respect you’d give any other boss fight, not as a passive AFK activity.
The Three Routes
- 1
- Burning logs directly
the fastest route to 99, using the best logs you can afford. Redwood logs at max efficiency hit roughly 520,000 XP/hour, and the full 1-99 grind on this route runs somewhere around 30 hours of focused, tick-perfect play. It’s also genuinely expensive, easily tens of millions of GP by the time you’re done.
- 2
- AFK bonfires
light a log, then use additional logs on the resulting fire for reduced but genuinely hands-off experience. You’re trading XP/hour for the ability to actually look away from the screen. Pure GP sink, no reward crate, no profit.
- 3
- Wintertodt
slower than direct burning but the only route that pays you back. Unlocks at level 50 Firemaking, and takes roughly 40 hours from there to 99 for most players, while returning enough logs, seeds, herbs, and ores through its reward crates to often cover its own cost, or turn a profit outright.
A common efficient path blends two of these: burn logs or grind Wintertodt through the slower middle levels, then switch to direct redwood burning for the final stretch to 99, since XP/hour climbs enough at high levels to make the GP cost worth the time saved.
Wintertodt Mechanics
Wintertodt requires only an axe and a tinderbox to attempt — no special gear beyond that. The fight itself works differently from standard combat:
- Warmth, not health. Instead of taking direct damage, your warmth drains periodically. Hit zero warmth and you die. Warmth regenerates passively at roughly 12 percentage points per minute, and up to four pieces of warm clothing reduce how much you lose per hit.
- Points, not kills. You need 500 points by the end of a round to receive the experience bonus and access the reward cart. Points come from lighting braziers (25 each), repairing them (25 each), healing pyromancers (75 each), and burning roots (10) or fletched kindling (25, more XP but slower per action).
- No food required. Rejuvenation potions can be brewed inside the fight itself once you’ve completed Druidic Ritual, removing the need to bank or carry food.
- Real XP numbers. A well-run Wintertodt round nets roughly 235,000 Firemaking XP per hour at level 99, scaling down somewhat at lower levels. Treat any number significantly higher than that with skepticism unless it’s coming from a source you can actually verify.
Early Levels
For the first 30 levels or so, apply a firelighter to your logs before lighting them — it guarantees the light succeeds on the first attempt and adds a flat XP bonus per log, which matters a lot when a base log is only worth a small amount of experience to begin with. Red firelighters are the cheapest option and worth buying in bulk off the Grand Exchange for this stretch specifically.
If you’ve completed Shades of Mort’ton, creating pyre logs with sacred oil is a genuinely fast method up to level 30 for players comfortable with tick-manipulation techniques — though without that technique, the method is slow enough that it’s really only worthwhile as a side money-maker rather than a leveling route.
Tips & Tricks
Match your route to your actual goal. If you want 99 as fast as possible and have the GP, burn the best logs you can afford. If you want to profit while you train, Wintertodt is the only real option on this list. There’s no wrong answer, just different tradeoffs.
Consider your Woodcutting and Construction levels before committing to a long Wintertodt grind. Both skills interact with Wintertodt’s rewards and requirements, so it’s worth having a reasonable Woodcutting level going in rather than treating Firemaking as fully isolated from the rest of your account.
Don’t underestimate the Pyromancer outfit. It’s a Wintertodt-exclusive reward that provides a passive Firemaking XP boost once complete, and it’s worth prioritizing early in your Wintertodt sessions rather than treating it as a nice-to-have.
Verify Wintertodt XP claims against the actual Wiki guide. This is a skill where third-party numbers vary more than you’d expect for something this well-documented — when in doubt, check the primary source.
Related Guides
- OSRS Woodcutting Guide (1-99) — the skill Firemaking is directly paired with, level for level
- OSRS Ironman Guide — Wintertodt’s supply crates are a genuine early-game lifeline with no Grand Exchange to fall back on
Sources: OSRS Wiki — Firemaking, OSRS Wiki — Wintertodt, OSRS Wiki — Guide: Efficient Wintertodt.