OSRS 1–99 Firemaking Guide: Logs, Campfires & Wintertodt

Reviewed 24 October 2026 · Members and F2P routes

The right Firemaking route depends on what you want from the session: fast levels, fewer clicks, or Wintertodt rewards. Start with a clear stopping point and a supply budget. This guide takes you through the early levels, explains the choices after 50, and shows how to compare costs without treating someone else’s best XP rate as a promise.

Choose your Firemaking route

Important current rule: Forester’s Campfires now give the same base Firemaking XP per log as ordinary burning. They consume logs more slowly, so XP per hour is lower; they do not inherently require three times as many logs for the same XP. Older one-third-XP advice predates the May 2025 change.

1. Prepare before buying logs

For ordinary burning, take a tinderbox, unnoted logs and a suitable open area near a bank. You need the Firemaking level to burn the log, not the Woodcutting level to chop its tree. A main account can buy eligible logs; an Ironman must plan acquisition separately.

Keep the tinderbox in a consistent inventory slot so that each new inventory uses the same click pattern. Try one inventory before buying a large stack: check that the ground permits fires and that your route does not collide with doors, scenery or existing fires. Keep the banking trip short and repeatable.

The full Pyromancer outfit gives a 2.5% Firemaking XP bonus. It is useful once obtained, but it is a Wintertodt reward rather than a prerequisite for starting the skill. Our supply calculations below use base XP, without outfit bonuses, quest XP or other rewards.

2. Levels 1–50: a simple supply route

This sequence starts at zero Firemaking XP and carries each stage’s small XP surplus into the next. It finishes at 101,395 XP, just above the 101,333 XP needed for level 50. Failed lighting attempts do not consume a log. Extra XP from another source reduces the logs you need; use your actual XP if you are joining midway. Base log values and requirements: Firemaking reference.

Levels 1–15: learn the inventory loop

1. Withdraw normal logs, leaving room for your tinderbox.

2. Stand on valid open ground with space to the west.

3. Use the tinderbox on a log. After a successful fire, your character normally moves west.

4. Light the next log when ready; early levels can include failed attempts.

5. Bank for another inventory and repeat until 15.

A familiar spot around Varrock is enough. You do not need a perfect advanced route for these first inventories. If the next tile is blocked, reposition instead of repeating clicks on an invalid spot.

Levels 15–45: oaks, then willows

Switch to oaks at 15 and willows at 30 for this basic plan. Keep the same location if it is working well. The purpose of this stage is to establish a repeatable routine, rather than change locations every few minutes for a theoretical improvement.

If you are gathering your own logs, decide whether you want combined Woodcutting and Firemaking progress or the fastest Firemaking session. Cutting your own supplies adds time, even when no coins change hands. Record that time separately when comparing yourself with a player burning purchased logs.

Levels 45–50: maples and your next decision

Burn maples to reach 50, then stop and choose a route. You can continue burning logs, use campfires with the same eligible supplies, or prepare for Wintertodt. Do not buy an entire 1–99 stack before trying the method you intend to use after this point.

Members can also use intermediate logs such as teaks at 35 and mahogany at 50. They are optional substitutions rather than compulsory steps. Compare their price per XP with the logs you already have before switching.

3. Levels 50–99: choose speed or spending

The final choice should use the current price and the speed of your own session. If saving coins matters more than finishing quickly, stay with an affordable log. If you value the time saved, calculate what the upgrade actually buys before paying for it.

Lighting rows versus an active bank-side loop

A straight east-to-west row is easy to learn. Varrock’s open areas are practical because you can return to the west bank. For more active training, the eastern Grand Exchange area offers space close to a banker; a practised player can move between successful lights instead of always following a long row.

Start with ordinary banking. Optimised methods can unnote logs at a banker, but that adds another interaction to learn. Work on one change at a time and compare a complete session. Picking up ashes, chatting and travelling are valid activities, but the time they take belongs in your measured XP per hour.

4. Campfires: the lower-input alternative

1. Bring eligible unnoted logs to a valid fire near a bank.

2. If needed, light a normal fire with a tinderbox.

3. Use another log on that fire to create a Forester’s Campfire, then select the log type or use its Tend-to interaction.

4. Let the inventory process automatically, or tend it manually if you want more input.

5. Bank and repeat; restart the fire if it has gone out.

Choose a convenient valid spot such as the Grand Exchange. A tinderbox is needed to start your own fire, but not to tend an existing campfire. Keep at least five tiles between campfires. Coloured logs and pyre logs cannot be added as campfire fuel, and a decorative object called “fire” is not necessarily convertible.

Resting beside the fire is cosmetic, so it does not add another training benefit. Your inventory and the fire’s remaining duration still limit unattended time. Mechanics and current XP treatment: Forester’s Campfire reference.

5. Compare XP with a stated log rate

These are calculations using the base XP and published log-throughput assumptions from the members’ training reference. They are comparison benchmarks, not Onyx test results. The active assumption requires accurate sustained inputs and very fast banking. Campfire throughput assumes minimal travel; actual banking, a fire expiring or a delayed restart lowers it. No gathering time or outfit bonus is included.

For your own rate, measure XP before the first withdrawal and after the last inventory, then divide the gain by elapsed hours. Do not measure only the seconds during which logs disappear. A slower method you can maintain can give you more progress across a long session than a fast method you repeatedly stop.

6. Wintertodt at 50: prepare your first group round

Wintertodt is members’ content requiring 50 Firemaking. A games necklace offers a direct camp teleport after you have first travelled to Great Kourend on Veos’ ship. Bank outside, then enter the Doors of Dinh. Choose a current Wintertodt group world from the in-game world list for your first sessions; a solo round requires a different energy-management plan.

Take a useful first-session kit

• Four recognised warm items: check the entry message rather than assuming that an item’s appearance makes it warm.

• An axe: equip it if eligible to save an inventory slot.

• A tinderbox: needed for lighting braziers; a bruma torch can replace it once obtained.

• A hammer: for repairing a shattered brazier.

• A knife: if you will fletch roots into kindling.

• Warmth restoration: rejuvenation potions made inside, or suitable food.

The strategy reference notes that at 46 Woodcutting a steel axe already reaches the maximum bruma-root cut speed. An expensive ordinary-tree axe upgrade is therefore not automatically a Wintertodt upgrade. Have a player-owned house if you want Construction XP from repairs. Consult the recognised warm clothing list for your actual equipment.

Understand Warmth before chopping

Wintertodt’s cold reduces your Warmth meter. Your Hitpoints level no longer produces the old low-HP supply advantage. Keep Warmth above zero: reaching zero kills you, and a Hardcore Ironman can lose status here. This remains a dangerous activity.

Warm clothing helps, but it does not remove the need to watch the meter and avoid hazards. Move out of marked snowfall areas and away from a brazier about to shatter. Top up early while learning instead of waiting for an emergency. These changes are explained in Jagex’s Wintertodt update.

Prepare rejuvenation potions

Take unfinished potions from the lobby crates and bruma herbs from the sprouting roots. With Druidic Ritual completed, combine the ingredients yourself; otherwise, Brew’ma can combine them for you. Drinking a dose restores 30% Warmth. Using a dose to help a damaged pyromancer is a different action, so keep enough for yourself.

Each finished potion holds four doses. Helping a pyromancer currently awards 75 points, but another player may heal them first. Suitable food can also restore Warmth: food healing at least four Hitpoints per bite restores 35% Warmth. You do not need to bring expensive food just because your account has high Hitpoints. Potion requirements and effects.

7. Wintertodt: a repeatable beginner loop

1. Prepare between rounds. Restock restoration, check your equipment and wait for the new round.

2. Light a brazier at the start. Keep an eye on the round’s energy and your personal points.

3. Chop bruma roots. Use the nearby roots, keeping inventory space for your supplies.

4. Choose roots or kindling. Feed roots directly for a Firemaking XP focus; fletch some if you need more points per inventory.

5. Feed a lit brazier. If it goes out, relight it. Repair it with your hammer if shattered, while avoiding the warning attack.

6. Keep Warmth topped up. Drink or eat as needed; help the pyromancer when appropriate.

7. Check 500 points before the finish. Reaching that threshold and subduing Wintertodt qualifies you for the round’s completion reward.

When the brazier cannot operate because its pyromancer is down, help with a potion or use another working brazier. After an interruption, check whether your character has stopped feeding or fletching. For your first rounds, learning these cues matters more than squeezing in every possible action.

Should you fletch every root?

Fletching raises points per root, but takes time. It can help you reach the reward threshold in a short round, while feeding roots directly generally favours Firemaking XP. Start by watching your points before the round ends, then adjust. Do not copy a no-fletching rotation if you repeatedly finish below the threshold.

Group pace and time between rounds affect your hourly result. Published estimates differ with round length, point generation and fletching, so there is no single Wintertodt rate suitable for every account. Measure several full rounds, including waiting and restocking, before comparing it with bank-side burning.

Points and rewards

At 500 points, a successful round gives at least two reward-cart searches; each further 500 points guarantees another. Partial progress toward the next threshold gives a proportional chance of an extra search. For example, 1,200 points gives three guaranteed searches and a 40% chance of a fourth.

Search the Reward Cart outside when ready. Supplies depend partly on relevant skill levels at the time you search. Pyromancer pieces, a tome of fire or a phoenix are possible rewards, not guaranteed milestones. Avoid budgeting your training around receiving a particular rare item by a certain level. Current reward rules.

8. Work out quantities and cost

Logs needed = round up (remaining XP ÷ XP per log). Use your actual current XP, and apply the bonus for your real setup if you have one. Do not use a Wintertodt XP action value in an ordinary-log calculation.

For an illustrative 500,000 XP target with maples at 135 XP each, you need 3,704 logs without bonuses. If your purchase price were 10 GP each, that would cost 37,040 GP. The price here is a worked example, not a live quote. Since campfires now give the same XP per log, they need the same fuel quantity for that target; the time differs.

To compare an upgrade, calculate total log cost for both choices, then divide the extra coins by the hours your own measured rates would save. Test a smaller purchase first. Gathering your own supplies has no GE purchase cost, but it still uses time and logs you could otherwise keep.

9. F2P and Ironman adjustments

F2P players can follow the early normal → oak → willow → maple route. At 60, yews are an available speed upgrade. Campfires are also available; Wintertodt and the members’ higher-tier logs are not part of this route. Compare current prices rather than assuming willows are always the cheapest option. F2P training reference.

For an Ironman, reserve the logs needed for planks, bird houses or another planned unlock before burning a surplus. Wintertodt can provide supplies, but the old instruction to keep Hitpoints low specifically for its damage system is outdated. Choose when to train it around your goals and comfort with the encounter.

Common questions

Are campfires more expensive than ordinary burning?

For the same logs and XP bonuses, the fuel cost per XP is the same under current rules. Campfires take longer. Different log choices or gathering assumptions can change the total comparison.

Can I take ordinary logs into Wintertodt for points?

The encounter uses its own bruma roots and kindling. Save purchased training logs for your ordinary burning or campfire session.

Should I finish 99 at Wintertodt?

Stay if you enjoy the activity and value its rewards. Switch if another method better fits your attention or target. Reaching 50 unlocks a choice; it does not lock you into one method.

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