You've just spawned in Lumbridge. Your stats are all level one, your gear looks like it came from a medieval thrift shop, and you have no idea what to RuneScape gold do next. Sound familiar? Perfect-you're in the right place.

Runescape can feel like a massive, confusing sandbox when you're new. With hundreds of skills, quests, and thousands of hours of content, it's easy to get lost. This guide breaks down what to actually do as a new player, offering a real direction without spoon-feeding you every click.

The Philosophy of RuneScape

First, let's set expectations. If you're coming from games like World of Warcraft or Final Fantasy XIV, you'll need to adjust your mindset. OSRS isn't about sprinting to "endgame." There is no endgame. The entire experience-early, mid, and late game-is the point.

Progress in OSRS takes time. Big content creators you see flexing maxed accounts have spent thousands of hours grinding. But that's what makes progress feel so meaningful-everything you achieve is permanent. There are no expansions that reset your progress or obsolete your items. Every level you earn and quest you complete stays valuable forever.

RuneScape is a slow-burn RPG where the grind is the game. Every small milestone feeds into a larger web of goals. Enjoy the journey, not just the destination.

Your First Real Goal: Questing

Once you finish the tutorial and land in Lumbridge, your priority is clear-start questing. Quests give massive experience rewards compared to low-level skilling, and they unlock better methods for almost every activity in the game.

Start by installing the Quest Helper plugin from the RuneLite hub. It automatically tracks quest steps in-game and saves you tons of time. Then, check out the Efficient Quest Guide on the official OSRS Wiki-it lists quests in an order that chains XP and unlocks together smoothly.

Even if you don't care about efficiency, using the Wiki is essential. It's the single best resource in the game, full of accurate and community-maintained information for every skill, quest, and boss.

Completing quests like Waterfall Quest, Grand Tree, Tree Gnome Village, and Fight Arena early on will skyrocket your combat stats without needing to grind on goblins. By the time you've done a dozen or so quests, you'll have access to faster training areas, useful teleport options, and equipment upgrades.

Skilling, Dailies, and Diaries

In between quests, you'll need to train skills to meet requirements. Don't just grind mindlessly-try out mini-games like Wintertodt (Firemaking), Tempoross (Fishing), or the new Fletching mini-game. These activities give good XP and let you interact with other players.

As you progress, you'll unlock Achievement Diaries. These are region-specific task lists that grant XP lamps and permanent benefits, like faster run energy restoration or better teleport options. They're often overlooked by beginners but are worth tackling as soon as possible.

Once you hit around 500 total level, you can start doing "dailies" or "hourlies"-short, repeatable activities that give great passive XP and cheap OSRS GP. For example, Herb runs and Birdhouse runs take only a few minutes each and can make you rich over buy OSRS GP time. They're optional, but an excellent way to make steady progress without long grind sessions.