F2P Smithing 30–99: Steel Platebodies vs Superheating Iron Ore

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.

Free-to-play Smithing is often written off as a gp sink with no payoff, but the real decision is not whether to train it—it is how to train it. After The Knight's Sword hands you level 29, you hit a fork: hammer platebodies at the Varrock west anvil for the fastest possible Smithing XP, or cast Superheat Item on iron ore to gain Smithing and Magic experience at the same time. Both routes work, but they demand different levels of attention, running, runes, and raw gp.

This guide compares the two methods from level 30 to 99, using the numbers from the OSRS Wiki and the Free-to-play Smithing training page. We will cover unlocks, realistic XP rates, profit and loss per hour, common mistakes, and when buying gold or a Smithing boost is the honest shortcut. Prices on the Grand Exchange move constantly, so always verify current costs on the wiki before you buy a single bar or rune.

1. The Two Paths: Anvil Platebodies vs Superheating Iron Ore

Platebody smithing is the default F2P method because experience scales with the number of bars used per item. A platebody always consumes five bars, which makes it the highest XP-per-action choice for any metal tier. The standard loop is to bank at Varrock west, withdraw a full inventory of bars and two energy potion doses, run to the anvil just south of the bank, smith a full inventory of platebodies, and run back. If you have 55 Magic, you can High Alch one or two platebodies on the way back for zero-time Magic XP.

Superheating iron ore is the hybrid alternative. At 43 Magic you unlock Superheat Item, which smelts ore directly from your inventory without a furnace. Each cast grants Smithing XP as if you smelted the bar normally, plus 53 Magic XP. Because the spell never fails, it bypasses the normal iron smelting failure chance that would otherwise require a Ring of forging. The method is bank-standing: withdraw iron ore, nature runes, and fire runes, superheat the whole inventory, bank the resulting iron bars, and repeat. You sacrifice pure Smithing XP per hour, but you gain a huge amount of Magic leveling and avoid the running energy management that platebody training demands.

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2. Requirements and Unlocks for Both Methods

If you are below 29 Smithing, do The Knight's Sword before anything else. The quest takes less than ten minutes and saves you from smithing low-tier bronze items. From level 30 onward, you can choose either path at any time, though steel platebodies become available at 48 and are the most commonly compared tier.

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3. Platebody Anvil Training From 30 to 99

The platebody method is the fastest pure Smithing XP in free-to-play, but it comes with a steady gp loss unless you smelt your own bars or use High Alchemy. The table below shows the key tiers from the F2P training guide.

Level Range	Platebody	Bars per Plate	XP per Plate	XP/hr (running)	Bars Needed	Approx. Loss (buying bars)
33–48	Iron platebody	5	125	100,000	2,590	−458,948 gp
48–68	Steel platebody	5	187.5	150,000	13,920	−5,208,864 gp
68–88	Mithril platebody	5	250	Verify on wiki	Verify on wiki	Verify on wiki
88–98	Adamant platebody	5	312.5	Verify on wiki	Verify on wiki	Verify on wiki
98–99	Rune platebody	5	375	Verify on wiki	Verify on wiki	Often profitable with alch

For steel platebodies specifically, you need exactly 521,994.5 Smithing XP between levels 48 and 68. At 150,000 XP/hr, that is about 3.5 hours of constant running and banking. The loss shown above is based on buying all steel bars at the Grand Exchange and selling the platebodies on the GE; if you High Alch the platebodies instead, the loss drops to roughly −4,807,968 gp because of the higher alch value.

Iron platebodies from 33–48 are slightly less efficient per hour but far cheaper in total loss. After 68, mithril platebodies become the next step, then adamant at 88, and rune at 98. Rune platebodies are often profitable because their High Alchemy value is high relative to the cost of rune bars on the GE, but always check current prices before bulk buying.

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4. Superheating Iron Ore: The Hybrid Magic-Smithing Method

Superheat Item is often overlooked in F2P because the Smithing XP per cast is lower than smithing a platebody, but the Magic XP changes the picture. Every cast gives 53 Magic XP and the same Smithing XP as smelting a bar at a furnace. For iron, that means you are effectively training two skills at once while standing at a bank, with zero run energy management.

The method is simple: withdraw a full inventory of iron ore plus nature and fire runes, cast Superheat Item on each ore, bank the iron bars, and repeat. Because Superheat never fails, you do not need a Ring of forging. The main cost is the nature runes and fire runes consumed per cast; the ore cost and bar resale value determine whether you break even, lose gp, or turn a small profit. The exact gp per cast changes with the GE, so use the Smithing smelting calculator on the wiki before starting.

The AFK profile is different from platebody smithing. Platebodies require frequent running back and forth but only one click per inventory at the anvil. Superheating requires one click per ore, so it is more click-intensive over the same time period, but you never leave the bank. If you prefer to watch something on a second screen and don't mind clicking every few seconds, superheating can feel less frantic than sprinting to an anvil.

For pure Smithing XP, superheating iron is slower than platebody smithing. However, if you also want Magic levels for High Alchemy or teleports, the hybrid method can be more efficient overall. A good comparison is our members' guide to Superheat Gold vs Mithril Blast Furnace, which shows how hybrid methods trade one skill's XP for another.

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5. XP, Profit, and AFKness Compared

The table below summarises the two approaches for the 30–99 journey. Iron and steel platebodies are the most relevant F2P tiers; mithril and above follow the same pattern with higher XP and usually higher losses until rune.

Method	Smithing XP/hr	Magic XP/hr	Typical Profit/Loss	Attention / AFK
Iron platebodies (33–48)	100,000	0 (or alch)	Loss ≈ 886 gp/platebody	Moderate – running, one click per inv
Steel platebodies (48–68)	150,000	0 (or alch)	Loss ≈ 1,871 gp/platebody	Moderate – running, one click per inv
Superheating iron ore	Lower than platebodies (verify on wiki)	53 per cast	Depends on rune and ore prices	High click intensity, bank standing

Platebody smithing wins on pure Smithing XP per hour and is more AFK per inventory action, but superheating wins on multi-skill efficiency and eliminates the run energy dance. Your personal choice depends on whether you value Smithing levels or total account progression.

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6. Common Mistakes That Drain GP or Time

• Skipping The Knight's Sword. 12,725 XP from a 10-minute quest is the best early-game Smithing boost in F2P.
• Not using energy potions at the anvil. Walk time crushes your XP/hr and makes the loss feel even worse.
• Buying all bars and selling platebodies on the GE. You often lose less by high alching, especially steel and above.
• Forgetting nature runes for High Alch. If you already have 55 Magic, not alching while running back wastes zero-time Magic XP.
• Smelting iron at a furnace without a Ring of forging. Normal smelting fails often, but Superheat does not—if you are superheating, leave the ring in the bank.
• Continuing steel platebodies after level 68. Mithril platebodies give more XP per hour, so switch as soon as you hit 68 unless you are purposefully avoiding mithril costs.
• Buying supplies in bulk without checking live prices. A 10% swing in rune or ore prices can turn a break-even method into a large loss.

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7. Cost and Time Tradeoffs

Let’s put concrete numbers on the two paths. From 48–68, you need 521,994.5 Smithing XP. At 150,000 XP/hr with steel platebodies, that is just under 3.5 hours of active running. The supply cost at current wiki sample prices is about 7,767,360 gp for 13,920 steel bars, and the platebodies sell back for roughly 2,558,496 gp, leaving a loss of around 5.2 million gp. High alching reduces that loss by about 400k.

Superheating iron from 30–99 would take much longer in terms of hours because the Smithing XP per cast is lower, but you will gain a significant amount of Magic XP. If you plan to train Magic anyway, the hybrid method can be more time-efficient than doing Smithing and Magic separately. The exact Smithing XP/hr for superheating is not listed on the F2P training page, so check the wiki’s Superheat Item page or test a small batch yourself with current rune prices.

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8. When Buying Gold or a Smithing Boost Is the Honest Shortcut

Smithing is one of the few F2P skills where you can lose tens of millions of gp on the road to 99 if you train efficiently with bought bars. If your goal is the Smithing cape, buying gold to cover supply costs is a rational choice—your time saved can be spent making money elsewhere. On a marketplace like GP Trillionaire, you can view live gold rates and decide whether funding your bars is better than grinding gp for hours first.

Some players also choose a Smithing boosting service to train while they are offline. This is an honest option if you trust the service and understand the account sharing risks. We never suggest breaking Jagex rules; always read the terms and decide for yourself. For most players, the pragmatic path is to buy enough gold to cover the loss of at least the steel platebody tier, then train the rest yourself with high alchemy to reduce further losses.

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9. Next Step: Pick Your Method and Start

If you want the fastest Smithing XP, do platebodies at the Varrock west anvil from 33 to 99, switching tiers as soon as you can. If you want Magic XP and hate running, bank-stand superheating iron ore. Either way, start with The Knight's Sword, buy supplies only after checking live GE prices, and use energy potions or high alchemy to squeeze out more value per hour.

Your first concrete step: buy enough iron bars for 33–48, or nature runes and iron ore for superheating, and test both methods for 30 minutes each. Track your XP and gp change, then commit to the one that feels less like a chore. And if the gp loss makes you hesitate, check live gold rates to see how much of the cost you can offset with a single purchase.

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Sources

• Smithing – OSRS Wiki
• Free-to-play Smithing training – OSRS Wiki
• Pay-to-play Smithing training – OSRS Wiki