Analysis, Discussion and Tips for Success

General Discussion

Finishing potions is a way to get Herblore XP more quickly than making them from scratch, by starting with the herb already in a vial of water, and just adding the secondary ingredient. With standard potions, all of the XP is granted when you add the secondary to finish the potion, so this lets you earn XP about 60% faster. (It's not twice as fast, because the second step is slower than the first, and the second step is a bit faster if you have just made the unfinished potions and they're already in your inventory.)

Of course, nobody wants to waste time putting herbs in water to get no XP unless there's a financial reward. This means that usually, an unfinished potion costs more than a vial of water and an herb. When that is not the case -- because the GE is not updating prices properly -- so many herblorists are trying to buy the unfinished potion that you can't get any. So beware of this before planning to do a lot of leveling this way.

Zamorak brews (or "Zammy brews") are offensive tradeoff potions. Each dose boosts the Attack skill by 2 to 21 points and Strength by 2 to 13 points, while reducing Defence by 2 to 11 points and life points by 20 to 110. All of these are based on the skill’s normal level except life points, which is based on current LP. There is also some randomness involved in the life points loss, but Jagex says that a Zammy brew will never reduce your LP to zero.

Zammy brews also have another useful side-effect: they restore up to 9 prayer points (10% of your nominal level, rounded down). This is not known by many players, and with prayer potions so expensive, makes Zammy brews a great choice when fighting with protection prayers -- the hit to Defence doesn't matter, and the life points don't matter that much either (or can be healed).

Zamorak brews are made using the highest-level herb -- torstol -- and jangerberries. They are the complement of Saradomin brews.

Location and Access

You can make potions at any bank, but a one-click bank like Castle Wars is preferred.

Required and Recommended Equipment

No equipment is needed.

Required and Recommended Supplies

No supplies are required, aside from unfinished potions and secondary ingredients.

Familiar Suggestions

Summon a foraging familiar to earn extra money for you while you work -- I prefer the magpie, given the high value of rings and gems today.

Technique and Tips

Take out 14 unfinished torstol potions and 14 jangerberries. Click one vial and then one jangerberry, right-click the main message area and choose "Make All". Wait for the potions to be made, then bank and repeat.