OSRS Defence Training: Guthan's Bandits vs Proselyte NMZ with Piety

Game screenshots and facts are cited from the Old School RuneScape Wiki (strategy, equipment, drops, and related pages). Writing is original editorial, not a copy of the wiki article.

Defence training in Old School RuneScape sits at the centre of almost every account's combat progression. It determines what armour you can wear, how long you can sustain trips, and whether you can survive high-level PvM. Because Defence experience is gained from any combat style, the real choice is not which skill to train but how to balance attention, cost, and XP per hour. Two popular routes stand out for players with level 70+ stats: AFK training with full Guthan's at Bandits, and prayer-boosted Proselyte setups at Nightmare Zone using Piety. This guide compares the two methods, breaks down requirements, gear, and mistakes, and explains when spending gold on supplies or a leveling service is the honest shortcut.

Requirements & Who This Is For

Before choosing a method, make sure your account can actually equip the sets. Guthan's demands level 70 Defence for the armour and level 70 Attack for the warspear, and it only works as a healing set when every piece is worn. Proselyte is much easier to access—after The Slug Menace quest, just 30 Defence and 20 Prayer are needed—but its real value comes at higher Prayer levels when Protection Prayers and Piety last long enough to matter. Nightmare Zone access has its own quest requirements, so check the wiki before committing.

Method 1: Full Guthan's AFK at Bandits

Bandits are aggressive, melee-only enemies that will automatically attack your character. With auto-retaliate turned on and the full Guthan's set equipped, you can leave your character for extended periods while the set effect heals you on successful hits. This method removes food from the equation almost entirely, making it a low-effort way to train Defence while doing something else. The tradeoff is raw XP: without Piety or high-strength gear, your damage per second is limited, so XP rates are lower than prayer-boosted alternatives. The armour also degrades over time and must be repaired, which adds a small ongoing cost.

Method 2: Proselyte at Nightmare Zone with Piety

Proselyte armour offers a massive +18 Prayer bonus across the full set while weighing little and costing very little. That makes it the go-to choice for prayer-heavy training. At Nightmare Zone, you enter a dream with selected quest bosses, turn on Protection Prayers and Piety, and sustain your prayer with potions. Piety significantly boosts melee damage, and the high prayer bonus means each dose of prayer potion lasts longer. This method is more attention-intensive: you must monitor prayer, drink potions, and manage the dream, but the XP per hour is substantially higher than Guthan's at Bandits for most accounts.

Comparison: Attention, Cost, and XP Tradeoffs

The table below summarises the key differences. Use it to decide which method fits your playstyle and budget.

Gear and Inventory Setups

For Guthan's, the four Barrows pieces are mandatory—the set effect only triggers with the full set equipped. Beyond that, you can add any other gear that boosts your stats without interfering: combat bracelet, obsidian cape, and a berserker ring are common choices, but none are required. Your inventory can be nearly empty; a couple of emergency sharks and a one-click teleport are wise.

For Proselyte NMZ, wear the full Proselyte set (sallet, hauberk, and either cuisse or tasset—the skirt weighs slightly more but gives identical bonuses). Pair it with a strong one-handed weapon and defender or god book, plus an amulet and ring that boost melee damage. Inventory should include prayer potions, overloads or absorption potions depending on your NMZ strategy, and possibly a rock cake for absorption setups. The high prayer bonus means fewer prayer potions per hour than lower-bonus armour.

Mechanics: Why Guthan's Works at Bandits and Piety Wins at NMZ

Guthan's set effect has a chance to heal the wearer for a portion of damage dealt on successful melee hits. Against aggressive monsters that constantly attack you, like Bandits, the healing stacks up quickly and outpaces incoming damage, letting you survive indefinitely without food. However, the effect only works with melee, and some monsters require a shield, which breaks the set. That's why Bandits, with their low defence and constant aggression, are ideal.

Piety is a prayer that boosts Attack, Strength, and Defence by a large margin, but it drains prayer points rapidly. Proselyte's +18 prayer bonus slows that drain significantly, making long NMZ sessions viable with a modest number of prayer potions. The combination of Piety and protection prayers produces much higher DPS and XP than Guthan's, at the cost of active potion management.

Common Mistakes & How to Avoid Them

• Using Guthan's at monsters that require a shield (dragons, dust devils) and losing the set effect.
• Forgetting that Guthan's set effect only heals from melee damage; ranged or magic training with Guthan's gives only the armour's defensive stats, not the healing.
• Trying to AFK NMZ without enough prayer bonus; Proselyte should be worn, but many players wear higher defence gear and waste potions.
• Not turning on Piety before attacking, or letting prayer drop to zero mid-dream.
• Buying the pre-made Proselyte harness from Sir Tiffy Cashien instead of individual pieces. The research pack shows the harness m costs 27,324 GP while individual pieces total only 15,997 GP—a difference of 11,327 GP wasted.
• Ignoring armour degradation on Guthan's; repairing at an armour stand with high Smithing is cheaper than paying an NPC, but verify current repair costs on the wiki.

Time-to-Goal & Cost Tradeoffs

The number of hours to 99 Defence depends on your combat stats, chosen method, and whether you use boosts. Players often estimate rates using DPS calculators; we recommend checking the wiki's Nightmare Zone and Bandits pages for up-to-date community data because rates change with new gear and balance updates. Qualitatively, Guthan's at Bandits is typically 30-50% slower than Proselyte NMZ with Piety for the same equipment level, but it requires only a fraction of the clicks. The ongoing cost tradeoff is also clear: Guthan's repair costs are small and fixed, while NMZ costs scale with prayer potion and overload prices.

If you earn more gold per hour at your best money-maker than the supply cost per hour of NMZ, it is mathematically efficient to buy prayer potions and overloads rather than AFK at Bandits. For players who value their time highly, buying gold to fund supplies—or even hiring a leveling service—can be an honest shortcut. View live gold rates to see how affordable that shortcut is.

For more skilling comparisons that weigh AFK vs efficient methods, read our Woodcutting: Redwoods vs Tick Teaks to 99 guide.

Practical Next Step

Decide which tradeoff matters more to you: time or attention.

1. Check your Defence, Attack, and Prayer levels.
2. If 70+ Defence/Attack and you need AFK, buy full Guthan's set (ensure it is fully repaired or fully degraded) and head to Bandits with auto-retaliate on.
3. If you have Slug Menace and NMZ unlocked, buy the individual Proselyte pieces (not the harness), stock prayer potions, and set up a dream with low-defence bosses.
4. Test each method for an hour and track XP and clicks; choose the one that fits your schedule.
5. If the grind is too long, consider buying gold for supplies or a one-time account service to skip the repetitive hours.

Sources

• Defence training
• Guthan the Infested's equipment
• Proselyte armour
• Proselyte hauberk