You do not need a bank-breaking setup to start raiding in Old School RuneScape — but the gap between a first-timer's kit and a meta loadout is enormous, and that gap is measured in hundreds of millions of GP. This guide breaks down exactly how much gold you need for each of the three OSRS raids — Tombs of Amascut (ToA), Chambers of Xeric (CoX) and Theatre of Blood (ToB) — with a budget entry setup and a comfortable/meta setup for each, priced at the live Grand Exchange rate.
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TL;DR — Quick Answer
- Cheapest way in: You can start Tombs of Amascut for roughly 40M GP with an Osmumten's Fang, a budget melee kit and a blowpipe. ToA is the beginner raid — its difficulty scales with Invocations, so a low "raid level" is genuinely doable in cheap gear.
- Comfortable ToA: ~120–160M for Bandos, an Amulet of Torture, an Avernic defender and a Dragon Hunter Crossbow.
- Chambers of Xeric (CoX): entry ~90–120M; the meta jumps to ~1.4B+ once you add a Twisted bow (≈1.35B GP).
- Theatre of Blood (ToB): entry ~130–180M; meta is ~1.4B+ because a Scythe of Vitur (≈1.17B GP uncharged) is near-mandatory.
- Buy order that matters most: weapon → prayer bonus/defender → best-in-slot armour last. A single weapon upgrade (the Fang) outperforms a full armour swap.
All GP figures are live Grand Exchange prices from prices.runescape.wiki as of 17 August 2026 and will drift — check the live GE before you buy.
Which OSRS Raid Should You Do First?
There are three raids, and they are not equally beginner-friendly:
| Raid | Location | Hard requirement | Difficulty for a new raider |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tombs of Amascut (ToA) | Jaltevas Pyramid, Kharidian Desert | Beneath Cursed Sands quest | ⭐ Easiest — scalable via Invocations |
| Chambers of Xeric (CoX) | Mount Quidamortem, Kebos Lowlands | None (Lovakengj favour recommended) | ⭐⭐ Medium — long, gear-hungry |
| Theatre of Blood (ToB) | Ver Sinhaza | Priest in Peril quest | ⭐⭐⭐ Hardest — mechanics-heavy, punishing |
Start with ToA. Its defining feature is adjustable difficulty: you pick "Invocations" that raise or lower the raid level, so you can enter with a modest setup, learn the rooms, and scale up as your bank grows. As one veteran on r/2007scape put it after a first solo raid: you don't need max gear or max stats — most content is easier than people think, you just learn, learn, learn.
CoX and ToB reward far better loot per hour at the top end, but they also demand hundreds of millions in gear to run efficiently. Do them once you've farmed ToA for a bit and have the GP.
The Chambers of Xeric ... was the first raid introduced to Old School RuneScape. — Old School RuneScape Wiki
How Much GP Do You Need for Tombs of Amascut (ToA)?
ToA is where every account should learn to raid. Here's the tiered cost.
Budget ToA setup (~40M GP)
| Slot | Item | Live price |
|---|---|---|
| Weapon (melee) | Osmumten's Fang | 17.4M |
| Sidearm (ranged) | Toxic blowpipe (empty) + Dragon darts | ~10M + darts |
| Body | Fighter torso | Free (Barbarian Assault) |
| Legs | Obsidian platelegs / budget | <1M |
| Amulet | Amulet of Fury | 2.7M |
| Boots | Dragon boots | 209k |
| Shield | Dragon defender | Free (Warriors' Guild) |
| Gloves | Barrows gloves | Untradeable (RFD) |
Total tradeable cost: ~30–40M GP. The Osmumten's Fang is the single most important purchase — it's the meta stab weapon for almost every raid boss and it carries a cheap setup harder than any armour upgrade would.
Comfortable ToA setup (~120–160M GP)
Add these once you're clearing your starting raid level:
- Bandos chestplate — 23.8M
- Bandos tassets — 15.9M
- Amulet of Torture — 19.4M
- Avernic defender (via Avernic defender hilt) — 28.4M
- Dragon Hunter Crossbow — 28.0M (an accurate ranged weapon that carries the ranged-heavy rooms; a CoX drop, so buy it once and it serves every raid)
- Sanguinesti staff (uncharged) — 18.0M
At this tier you can push higher Invocations for better purple-chest odds. This is also the natural jumping-off point for CoX and ToB.
How Much GP Do You Need for Chambers of Xeric (CoX)?
CoX is a long, resource-management raid with no hard quest requirement. Gear-wise it's a step up from ToA because ranged DPS on Olm matters so much.
Entry CoX setup (~90–120M GP)
Reuse your comfortable ToA melee kit (Fang, Bandos, Torture, Avernic) and add ranged:
- Dragon Hunter Crossbow — 28.0M
- Armadyl crossbow — 35.8M (or keep the DHCB for the dragon-type)
- Toxic blowpipe — ~10M + darts
- Necklace of Anguish — 19.0M
- Pegasian boots — 33.8M
Meta CoX setup (~1.4B+ GP)
The meta weapon is the Twisted bow at ≈1.35B GP — the most expensive common raid weapon in the game and a Chambers-exclusive drop. Pair it with Masori armour (f) (mask 17.7M + body 72.4M + chaps 51.0M ≈ 141M) and a Zaryte crossbow (355M) for the highest-level teams. You do not need any of this to complete CoX — but it roughly doubles your points-per-hour, which is why so many players buy GP to skip straight to it.
How Much GP Do You Need for Theatre of Blood (ToB)?
ToB is the hardest of the three: fixed mechanics, a death-cap that ends the raid, and a heavy reliance on the Scythe. It's featured in the A Night at the Theatre and The Blood Moon Rises quests.
Entry ToB setup (~130–180M GP)
- Ghrazi rapier — 24.1M (or start with the Fang at 17.4M)
- Bandos chestplate + tassets — ~40M
- Amulet of Torture — 19.4M
- Avernic defender — 28.4M
- Sanguinesti staff (uncharged) — 18.0M
- Dragon Hunter Crossbow — 28.0M
Meta ToB setup (~1.4B+ GP)
The Scythe of Vitur (≈1.17B GP uncharged) is close to mandatory for efficient teams — it's the defining ToB weapon and a Theatre-exclusive drop. Add Ancestral robes (hat 44M + top 100M + bottom 64M ≈ 208M) for Verzik's mage phase and you're at meta.
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What Should You Buy First? (Gear Priority)
If you're gearing from scratch, buy in this order — it maximises DPS per GP spent:
- Osmumten's Fang (17.4M) — your raid weapon for years.
- Prayer + defender: Avernic defender (28.4M) and Barrows gloves.
- Dragon Hunter Crossbow (28.0M) — the best-value ranged weapon for dragon-type raid bosses.
- Body/legs: Bandos chestplate + tassets (~40M).
- Amulet: Torture (19.4M).
- Only then chase best-in-slot: Twisted bow, Scythe, Masori, Ancestral.
The reason this order matters: a weapon upgrade scales every hit, while a full armour swap only shaves a few damage off what the boss does to you. Beginners over-invest in armour and under-invest in weapons.
Raid Gear Price Reference (Live GE, 17 Aug 2026)
| Item | Live price | Where it drops |
|---|---|---|
| Twisted bow | 1,350,000,000 | Chambers of Xeric |
| Scythe of Vitur (uncharged) | 1,170,000,000 | Theatre of Blood |
| Tumeken's Shadow (uncharged) | 770,000,000 | Tombs of Amascut |
| Zaryte crossbow | 355,000,000 | Theatre of Blood |
| Ancestral robe top | 100,000,000 | Chambers of Xeric |
| Masori body (f) | 72,400,000 | Tombs of Amascut |
| Zaryte vambraces | 72,700,000 | Tombs of Amascut |
| Elder maul | 93,600,000 | Chambers of Xeric |
| Avernic defender (hilt) | 28,400,000 | Theatre of Blood |
| Dragon Hunter Crossbow | 28,000,000 | Chambers of Xeric |
| Osmumten's Fang | 17,400,000 | Tombs of Amascut |
Prices via prices.runescape.wiki, 17 August 2026. GE prices move constantly — verify before buying.
Is It Cheaper to Buy Gear or Farm the Drops?
You buy the common gear (Fang, Bandos, DHCB) off the Grand Exchange with GP — those are the "cost" numbers above. The mega-rares (Twisted bow, Scythe, Shadow) you either farm as a raid drop over hundreds of KC, or buy with GP from other players who did. There's no cheaper path to a Twisted bow than either grinding CoX for weeks or having ~1.35B saved.
That's the real reason gearing for raids feels like a wall: the jump from a 40M ToA kit to a 1.4B meta ToB kit is a 35x increase in bank value. If you'd rather skip the grind for GP and gear up now, buying gold is the fastest route — see the CTA below.
Gear up for raids the fast way:
- OSRS Gold — instant delivery — safe, best rate, fund your Fang, Bandos or a full meta setup today.
- OSRS Fire Cape Service — a common raid-prep unlock, done for you by pro players.
- OSRS Infernal Cape Service — beat Zuk for the best-in-slot melee cape, secure.
Need the GP first? Read our OSRS money making guide (best GP/hour methods) and the best money-making bosses ranked. Chasing a cape as part of your raid prep? See the Fire Cape guide and the Inferno / Infernal cape guide. Wondering how to fund it all? Our are OSRS bonds worth it breakdown covers the membership-and-GP maths.
FAQ
How much GP do you need to start raiding in OSRS? About 40M GP gets you into Tombs of Amascut with an Osmumten's Fang, a budget melee kit and a blowpipe. ToA's Invocation system lets you enter at a low raid level, so you don't need endgame gear to start — you scale difficulty up as your bank grows.
What is the cheapest OSRS raid to gear for? Tombs of Amascut, by a wide margin. A functional ToA setup costs ~40M, versus ~90–120M entry for Chambers of Xeric and ~130–180M for Theatre of Blood. ToA is also the most forgiving mechanically because you control the difficulty.
Do I need a Twisted bow or Scythe to raid? No. Both are meta best-in-slot weapons (≈1.35B and ≈1.17B GP respectively) that roughly double your efficiency, but every raid is completable without them. Use an Osmumten's Fang and a Dragon Hunter Crossbow until you can afford the mega-rares.
What should I buy first when gearing for raids? Buy your weapon first — an Osmumten's Fang (17.4M) — then a defender and prayer gear, then a Dragon Hunter Crossbow, and best-in-slot armour last. A weapon upgrade improves every hit; armour only reduces incoming damage.
Is it worth buying gold to gear up for raids? For many players, yes — the gap between a starter kit and a meta setup is 30–40x in bank value, which can be months of grinding. Buying GP from a safe seller like timesaver.gg lets you gear up and start raiding immediately instead of farming the GP first.
Can you raid as a solo player? Yes. ToA and CoX both scale to solo, and solo ToA is the standard learning environment. ToB technically supports smaller teams but is far harder solo — most players learn it in a group of 3–5.
