OSRS Ranged 60-75: MSB vs Blowpipe Cost and XP Guide

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.

Between level 60 and 75 Ranged, a main account hits one of the most misunderstood decision points in Old School RuneScape. You've been using a magic shortbow (MSB) with rune arrows since level 50, and it works. But every guide you read tells you the toxic blowpipe is the real weapon. The problem? The blowpipe requires level 75 Ranged, so for the next fifteen levels it's not even an option. This guide breaks down what actually happens from 60 to 75, compares the real cost and XP per hour of MSB versus blowpipe once it unlocks, and shows you when buying gold or a boost is a smarter use of your time than grinding crabs.

We're focusing on main accounts, not ironmen. That means you can buy supplies on the Grand Exchange, use the best gear you can afford, and make decisions based on time versus gold, not self-sufficiency. By the end of this guide, you'll know exactly which bow to use, what supplies to buy, how many hours you're looking at, and whether the shortcut is worth it.

Why 60-75 Ranged Matters and Requirements

The push from 60 to 75 Ranged is more than just a number. Level 70 unlocks Ava's assembler if you've completed Dragon Slayer II and have a Vorkath's head. Ava's devices are the single biggest money-saver for arrow and dart users; they recover a percentage of fired ammunition. At level 50 you can get Ava's accumulator (72% recovery), but at 70 with the assembler you jump to 80% recovery. That effectively makes every fifth arrow or dart free. Level 75 finally unlocks the toxic blowpipe, one of the fastest ranged weapons in the game, which we'll cover in detail. So the 60-75 grind isn't just filler; it's the gate to the late-game ranged setup.

Before you start, make sure you have the following:

Use the rapid attack style on your bow or dart for the highest damage output and fastest XP. Longrange is only for training Defence.

MSB with Rune Arrows: The Budget Workhorse

The magic shortbow has been the staple mid-level ranged weapon since the early days of OSRS. At level 60, it's your best cheap option because rune arrows are reasonably priced and the bow itself has a fast attack speed. On rapid, the MSB fires every 3 ticks (1.8 seconds), making it much better than crossbows for low-defence monsters. The best training spots for MSB at this level are ammonite crabs (fossil island, requires Bone Voyage), sand crabs (Hosidius), or zombie monkeys in the Monkey Madness I tunnels if you want prayer experience.

At these low-defence mobs, accuracy barely matters, so rune arrows are overkill. Many players use adamant arrows to save money with only a small XP loss. However, rune arrows are often worth the extra cost because the MSB's max hit is higher and the arrow's ranged strength bonus adds directly to your max hit. With Ava's accumulator, you'll keep 72% of arrows fired, and with the assembler you'll keep 80%. According to the wiki, an accumulator effectively lets you use each arrow 3.57 times on average before it's lost; the assembler increases that to 5 uses per arrow. That means a stack of 5,000 rune arrows can last several hours. The MSB method is incredibly AFK: you click once to attack, then wait for the monster to stop being aggressive (10 minutes), then run away and back to reset. You can easily watch a show or work on another account.

Cost-wise, MSB with rune arrows is one of the cheapest viable methods. The main expenses are arrows (reduced by Ava's), ranging potions (optional but help), and food if you aren't safe-spotting. Many players train with protect from melee at zombie monkeys, which adds prayer potion cost but gives better XP and drops. For pure AFK, ammonite crabs require no food or prayer. Expect 35,000 to 50,000 XP per hour on a main with no expensive boosts. That's not spectacular, but it's consistent and nearly free. If you pick up ammunition, talk to the Ranged combat tutor to toggle whether it automatically equips; that saves a lot of clicking.

Toxic Blowpipe with Adamant Darts: The Post-75 Upgrade

Here's the confusing part: the toxic blowpipe is not a level 60 weapon. It requires 75 Ranged to equip. So when someone says "just use blowpipe for 60-75," they're wrong. You can't. What you can do is use MSB (or other weapons) to get to 75, then switch to blowpipe for everything after. The blowpipe is a massive upgrade because it has a very fast attack speed (2 ticks on rapid, about 1.2 seconds) and boosts your ranged strength significantly. It's loaded with darts and charged with Zulrah's scales, which are consumed per shot.

At level 75, the blowpipe with adamant darts becomes one of the best training weapons for low- and moderate-defence monsters. According to the wiki's dart page, darts are the quickest ranged weapons in the game, and loading them into a blowpipe increases ranged accuracy and strength even further. The blowpipe has a special attack that heals, but for training you'll just use rapid. On the same ammonite crabs or Nightmare Zone, the blowpipe typically delivers 60,000 to 80,000+ XP per hour with modest gear and no prayers. That's nearly double the MSB rate. However, the cost per hour is significantly higher: you'll burn through darts and scales, and Ava's device still helps with dart recovery, but the scale cost is unavoidable. Adamant darts are often the sweet spot for cost and DPS; rune darts are better but much more expensive, and mithril darts are cheaper but slower.

Cost and XP Comparison

To make the decision concrete, here's a side-by-side of the two weapons as they apply to a main account. Remember, the blowpipe column only applies at level 75 and above; for the actual 60-74 grind you're using the MSB column or possibly a better intermediate weapon like a dragon crossbow or Karil's crossbow at level 70.

The cost difference can be substantial. Rune arrows are cheap and Ava's saves most of them; blowpipe scales are consumed at a rate of about 2 scales per 3 shots with no saving, and darts are also lost at the Ava's recovery rate. For an hour of training, the blowpipe might cost several hundred thousand coins more than the MSB. Whether that's worth it depends on how much you value your time. We'll cover that tradeoff later.

Time to 75 and Leveling Math

Level 60 requires 273,742 Ranged XP, and level 75 requires 1,210,421 XP. That means you need 936,679 XP to go from 60 to 75. At a consistent 40,000 XP/hr (typical for MSB at ammonite crabs with rune arrows and minimal boosts), you're looking at roughly 23.4 hours of gameplay. At 45,000 XP/hr, it drops to 20.8 hours. If you use better methods like chinchompas at maniacal monkeys, you can get 300k+ XP/hr, but that's a different guide and much more expensive. For this comparison, sticking with MSB, plan for about 20-25 hours of active or semi-AFK training. That's two to three evenings of play, or a week of casual sessions.

Once you hit 75 and switch to blowpipe with adamant darts, your XP/hr at the same spots might double. Going from 75 to 80, for example, is about 772,000 XP (1,210,421 to 1,986,068). At 70k/hr with blowpipe, that's 11 hours; at MSB rates of 45k/hr it would be 17 hours. Over the long run, blowpipe saves many hours. But the true comparison for this guide is: if you could magically use blowpipe at 60, you'd save about half the time to 75. Since you can't, the decision is whether to grind with MSB or to speed up the 60-75 range using other (possibly expensive) methods to unlock blowpipe sooner.

Common Mistakes and Efficient vs AFK Choices

Many players make these mistakes in the 60-75 stretch:

• Using longrange instead of rapid. Longrange trains Defence, not pure Ranged. For fastest Ranged XP, always use rapid.
• Not using Ava's device. Without it, you lose every arrow or dart. Completing Animal Magnetism is non-negotiable.
• Wearing metal armour. Metallic bodies block Ava's recovery. Stick to dragonhide or ranged gear.
• Buying a blowpipe before 75. You can't use it; save your gold or invest it in supplies.
• Using rune darts instead of adamant at level 75+. The DPS difference is marginal, but the cost difference is huge. Adamant is the efficient sweet spot for most players.
• Overpaying for Karil's crossbow. Karil's crossbow requires 70 Ranged and uses bolt racks; it degrades and costs to repair. For 60-75, MSB with rune arrows is often more cost-effective, and you don't have to deal with Barrows repair mechanics. Use Barrows equipment only if you already have it or plan to do Barrows content.

Efficient vs AFK: if you want maximum XP per hour and don't mind spending, you could use dwarf multicannon methods or chins at maniacal monkeys even before 75, but those aren't MSB or blowpipe. For pure AFK, MSB at crabs is hard to beat. The blowpipe is less AFK because you'll kill things so fast that you'll need to re-aggro or click more often, and you'll need to monitor scales. At Nightmare Zone, however, you can use absorption potions and auto-retaliate with blowpipe for a semi-AFK method that rivals crabs.

The Honest Shortcut: Buying Gold or a Boost

Time is the real currency. If you're looking at 20+ hours of clicking crabs with an MSB, you might wonder if there's a faster way. There are two legitimate shortcuts that players consider. The first is buying gold to afford better supplies: rune arrows are cheap, but you could also buy ranging potions, a cannon, or chinchompas to power through levels much faster. For example, chinning maniacal monkeys can give over 300k XP/hr at higher levels, but it costs millions per hour. If you have the gold, you can skip the slow MSB grind almost entirely. The second shortcut is paying for a service: some players hire someone to train their account from 60 to 75, or buy a pre-leveled account. These services save you time but come with risks, and you should only use trusted, legitimate providers.

We're not telling you to break the rules. Buying gold from third-party sites carries the risk of account bans, and RWT is against Jagex's terms. However, many players still choose to buy gold because they value their time more than the money. If you do, understand the risks and verify the seller's reputation. Alternatively, you can make gold yourself using skills like Smithing or Mining, but that also takes time. The pragmatic answer: if your goal is to reach 75 Ranged and start bossing or PKing, spending real money on gold to fund chins or a boost can be the honest shortcut compared to days of AFK. Check the live gold rates below to see what that time-save would cost you.

If you plan to train Ranged past 75 with Slayer, read our Blowpipe vs Venator Bow guide. And if you need to make gold for supplies, see Smithing Cannonballs vs Gold Bars for a consistent money-maker.

Practical Next Step

Your plan is simple. If you're 60-74 Ranged, buy a magic shortbow, a stack of rune arrows, and make sure you have Ava's accumulator or assembler. Head to ammonite crabs or sand crabs with your best dragonhide, set rapid, and start clicking. Use ranging potions if you can afford them. Once you hit 75, immediately buy a toxic blowpipe and a batch of adamant darts and Zulrah's scales. From there, blowpipe will carry you through Slayer, Nightmare Zone, and early bossing. If you don't want to spend the next 20+ hours grinding, consider whether buying gold to fund faster methods is right for you. You can view the current market price for OSRS gold by clicking below:

View live gold rates

Remember to check the wiki for updated prices and XP rates before you invest.

Sources

• Pay-to-play Ranged training - OSRS Wiki
• Dart - OSRS Wiki
• Barrows equipment - OSRS Wiki
• Toxic blowpipe - OSRS Wiki