The Definitive Ranking of Old School RuneScape’s Best Quests
At first glance, Old School RuneScape can be confusing to outsiders. How is a medieval, point-and-click MMO from the early 2000s still thriving decades later? With dated visuals and mechanics rooted in the Newgrounds era, it shouldn’t work as well as it does.
And yet, it does.
The answer can be summed up in one word: quests.
OSRS quests aren’t filler content or thinly disguised grinding objectives. There’s no “kill 20 boars” nonsense here—there’s literally an entire skill dedicated to that. Instead, quests in RuneScape are narrative-driven adventures filled with memorable characters, clever writing, brutal boss fights, and puzzles that range from charming to downright infuriating.
They’re funny, bleak, ridiculous, and occasionally soul-crushing. And once you finally earn that quest cape, you understand why these stories are remembered so fondly. These are the quests that defined Old School RuneScape—and why there’s truly nothing else like it. A large number of RuneScape gold can also be very helpful.
10. Waterfall Quest
Level 1 to Level 30—Nice.
If you’ve ever made a fresh account, you already know what time it is. Waterfall Quest is the ultimate early-game power spike, handing out massive experience rewards that catapult you through multiple levels in one go.
The quest itself is simple but memorable: dodging moss giants, navigating the Tree Gnome maze, and praying you don’t get one-shot halfway through. Almost every OSRS player has rushed this quest at least once—usually multiple times across different accounts.
Despite being efficient, it never feels dull. Whether it’s waiting for giants to de-aggro or the panic of forgetting the urn at the end (a mistake many of us learned the hard way), Waterfall Quest remains an early-game classic that every player remembers.
9. Darkness of Hallowvale
Don’t Make Me Go Through the Maze Again
Welcome to Morytania: a land of vampires, despair, and suffering. Darkness of Hallowvale isn’t remembered for being fun—it’s remembered for being miserable, especially before modern quest helpers existed.
Navigating Meiyerditch through trial and error tested players’ patience like few quests ever have. Getting lost, falling, backtracking, and slowly losing your sanity were all part of the experience.
What elevates this quest is its tone. You feel powerless, surrounded by overwhelming evil, helping a small rebellion barely scraping by under brutal vampire rule. The odds are stacked against you, victory feels impossible, and yet you push forward anyway. It’s oppressive, bleak, and unforgettable.
8. Shield of Arrav
Joining a Gang… For a Good Cause
Shield of Arrav stands out as one of OSRS’s earliest social experiments. This was the first quest that forced players to cooperate, requiring two people in opposing gangs to work together.
For many, this meant endlessly asking strangers for help, only to discover everyone else had joined the same faction. It was frustrating, awkward, and oddly memorable.
Yet when it finally worked—when you teamed up with a total stranger and completed the quest together—it felt genuinely special. Even if you never spoke to that person again, that shared experience stuck with you.
7. One Small Favour
“Small” Is Doing a Lot of Work Here
“It’s just one small favour.” A lie. A cruel, deliberate lie.
What starts as a simple request in Shilo Village turns into a marathon across the entirety of Gielinor. Each NPC needs help before helping you, creating a chain of errands that spirals wildly out of control.
You’ll backtrack endlessly, deal with monsters, gangs, and pointless obstacles, and by the time you’re done, the reward barely eases the pain. And yet—somehow—it’s iconic.
This quest exists to test patience, and surviving it is practically a rite of passage for Old School players.
6. Underground Pass
Once You’re In, You May Never Get Out
Underground Pass is infamous—and for good reason. It’s long, punishing, and utterly unforgiving.
This massive dungeon blocks access to elven lands and demands preparation, focus, and resilience. Forgot one item? Enjoy doing the entire thing again. Fail an agility obstacle? Down you go.
Between the deadly traps, terrifying enemies, and brutal success rates on jumps, the pass grinds you down mentally. But when you finally emerge on the other side and see sunlight again, the relief is unmatched. Few quests make you feel accomplishment quite like this one.
5. Cook’s Assistant
Where It All Begins
For most players, Cook’s Assistant is their very first quest—and that’s what makes it special.
There’s no real challenge here. Just gathering milk, an egg, and flour around Lumbridge. But it introduces everything OSRS is about: exploration, NPC interaction, and a sense of a living world.
It’s simple, charming, and nostalgic. A perfect starting point for an adventure that may last thousands of hours.
4. Recipe for Disaster
Snakes, Nuts, Bananas—and Barrows Gloves
Recipe for Disaster is the ultimate evolution of Cook’s Assistant and RuneScape’s 100th quest. What seems like a follow-up quickly reveals itself as a massive multi-part epic.
Eight mini-quests, escalating difficulty, ridiculous food-themed bosses, and one overarching villain—the Culinaromancer—make this quest both hilarious and demanding.
The rewards, especially Barrows Gloves, are so powerful that they remain relevant for most of your OSRS career. Long, funny, and incredibly rewarding, Recipe for Disaster earns its legendary status.
3. Monkey Madness
Well, I’ll Be a Monkey’s Uncle
Monkey Madness is one of OSRS’s most iconic and demanding quests. If you want a Dragon Scimitar, you’re going to earn it.
From escaping Monkey Prison repeatedly to transforming into a monkey via Greegree, this quest pushes combat, puzzles, and patience to the limit. The finale—facing the Jungle Demon—was once one of the game’s ultimate challenges.
Difficult, bizarre, and unforgettable, Monkey Madness defined an era of OSRS questing and remains a benchmark for what great quest design looks like. Having enough cheap Runescape gold can also be very helpful.