Prayer calculator
How many bones it takes to reach your Prayer goal, at whichever altar you are using.
Your goal
The standard method. Needs a player-owned house with a gilded altar, or a friend who has one.
Fewest bones
Superior dragon bones is the most experience per bone at gilded altar, both burners lit, so it is the fewest bones to buy and the fewest to click. Whether it is the cheapest depends on what bones are going for, which this no longer checks.
Every bone compared
Most experience per bone first, at gilded altar, both burners lit| Bone | XP each | Bones needed |
|---|---|---|
| Superior dragon bones | 525.0 | 1,406 |
| Ourg bones | 490.0 | 1,506 |
| Dagannoth bones | 437.5 | 1,687 |
| Hydra bones | 385.0 | 1,916 |
| Raurg bones | 336.0 | 2,196 |
| Lava dragon bones | 297.5 | 2,480 |
| Fayrg bones | 294.0 | 2,509 |
| Drake bones | 280.0 | 2,635 |
| Dragon bones | 252.0 | 2,928 |
| Wyvern bones | 252.0 | 2,928 |
| Wyrm bones | 175.0 | 4,216 |
| Babydragon bones | 105.0 | 7,026 |
| Big bonesF2P | 52.5 | 14,051 |
| BonesF2P | 15.8 | 46,834 |
Experience values are for one bone offered at the selected altar. Which bone is cheapest depends on the market and is not shown here — the fewest bones and the cheapest bones are rarely the same answer.
How the altars compare
- 1×BuryingF2PNo setup, no cost beyond the bones. The slowest route by a wide margin.
- 3.5×Gilded altar, both burners litThe standard method. Needs a player-owned house with a gilded altar, or a friend who has one.
- 4×EctofuntusThe highest multiplier per bone, but each bone must be ground and slurry collected, so the hourly rate is poor.
- 7×Chaos altarWildernessRoughly half of bones are not consumed, which doubles the effective rate. It sits deep in the Wilderness, so other players can kill you and take your bones.
The altar matters more than the bone
Almost every other skill in Old School RuneScape rewards time. Prayer rewards throughput: the question is how many bones you have to offer, and the altar multiplier moves that number further than the choice of bone does.
How the multipliers work
Every bone has a base experience value. Where you offer it multiplies that value:
- Burying gives the base amount. Free, and extremely slow.
- A gilded altar with both incense burners lit gives 350%. This is the standard method and needs a player-owned house at Construction 75, or an open house belonging to someone else.
- The Ectofuntus gives 400% — the highest per bone — but each bone must be ground and paired with a bucket of slurry, so the hourly rate is poor despite the multiplier.
- The Chaos altar gives 350% and does not consume roughly half the bones offered, so the effective rate is around 700%. It sits deep in the Wilderness, where other players will try to kill you for the bones you are carrying.
Which milestone are you actually aiming for?
Prayer has a small number of levels that genuinely matter, and stopping at one of them is usually better value than pushing to 99:
- Level 43 unlocks the protection prayers. This is the single most important Prayer milestone in the game and makes most bosses survivable.
- Level 70 unlocks Piety, a large melee accuracy and strength boost.
- Levels 74 and 77 unlock Rigour and Augury for Ranged and Magic, both of which require Dragon Slayer II or the King’s Ransom quest line to obtain the scrolls.
If GP is tight, 43 first and 70 later is a far better use of money than grinding straight through. See the Prayer skill guide for what each level unlocks in more detail.
Worth knowing
This counts bones, not coins. Which bone is cheapest depends on the market, and the fewest bones and the cheapest bones are rarely the same one.
Buy limits apply. Most bones are limited per four-hour window, which caps how fast you can accumulate them regardless of budget.
The Chaos altar is in the Wilderness. Bones you are carrying can be taken by other players.