Method Description, Instructions and Tips for Success

General Description

Air runes are the lowest-level product of Runecrafting, and one of the most common among new players. They aren't particularly valuable, however, so it's hard to make money with them unless you are high level (so you get many airs per essence) and the price of rune essence is relatively low. Even then, most players who can make many airs per hour will prefer to craft more valuable runes, but I offer this method as an option for those who are interested in it.

At level 50 you can sometimes make decent money with airs, since you get 5 runes (or more) per essence and can use the small, medium and large pouches. Again, it really depends on the relative values of the runes and essence at any given time. (Note that at lower levels you actually lose money making airs which is why they are not shown as methods.) At level 70 you can usually make decent money with airs, since you get 7+ runes per essence and can use the small, medium and large pouches as well as an abyssal familiar to carry 7 extra ess. It all depends on current prices.

The process of making air runes has been subject to an evolution of sorts over the last three years. At one time they were very slow to make, because the air altar was not located near any banks or convenient teleport points. Then the Lumbridge Achievement Diary arrived, with one of its awards being the "Cabbage-port" teleport to the cabbage patch south of Falador, which was pretty close to the altar. That went by the wayside in September 2009, when Jagex relocated the air altar to a new spot between Varrock and Barbarian Village (to keep it in the "new player area"). Now the best way to make airs is to use the Cooking Guild teleport found in skills necklaces; that guild is very close to the new location of the altar. Recharging skills necklaces requires access to the Legends Guild, however, so for mid level players a slightly slower but still decent alternative is to set your Varrock teleport point to the Grand Exchange and use Varrock teletabs.

The November 2009 Runecrafting update means you now get a little more runes for each essence when between multiple rune "milestones", which is a nice bonus for airs, though it doesn't impact things too much.

As with all Runecrafting methods, once in a while you will need to make a trip to the Abyss or the Runecrafting Guild to repair your pouches, but you can still bring with ess and craft normally, so this doesn't cost you all that much. Note that if you want to "play it safe" you can actually repair pouches even if you leave them in your bank (as strange as that seems.)

Run energy is not an issue with this method thanks to the June 2009 run energy update.

Specific Method Details

At this level you can't use an abyssal familiar, though this doesn't cost you as much as you might think, because you save time by not needing to load it with essence. Instead, substitute a magpie, as its foragings will earn you extra money while you craft runes.

This method assumes the use of amulets of glory for banking, so that you can use the Explorer's ring to get extra air runes for free. You should have lots of amulets so you don't need to spend too much time recharging them. As an alternative you can use rings of duelling instead of the Explorer's ring. This method also assumes the use of regular Varrock teleports. This takes two inventory slots; you can save a slot by using Varrock teleport tablets, but the high cost of these means you make less money.

Start at any bank and put on your air tiara, boots of lightness, spotted cape, Explorer's ring, air staff and a charged amulet of glory. Take out your runecrafting pouches and a magpie pouch; summon the magpie. Take out a stack of law runes and fire runes and an inventory of regular essence. Click your pouches to store the essence and then take out more.

Teleport to Varrock; assuming you set your teleport point properly, you should land at the entrance to the Grand Exchange. Run south-southwest towards the air altar; this will take you just south of the entrance to the Cooking Guild. Proceed through the "gap" in the railings along the path between Varrock and Barbarian Village, and you'll see the ruins. Click them to enter the altar area, then click the altar to make your runes. Remove the essence from your pouches and craft again. Teleport to Edgeville, bank and repeat. Each run takes only a little over a minute, so you can do about 55 per hour.