New to RS3? Start here
A condensed, sourced starting point for brand new RuneScape players: Tutorial Island, early quests, skills, combat, and how to earn your first coins.
Getting set up
Download the Jagex Launcher and create a Jagex Account. New accounts are free-to-play by default; membership unlocks the full game later.
There are four game modes to choose from: Standard (trading and full content, the normal way to play), Ironman (solo, no trading or group activities), Group Ironman (2 to 5 Ironman players who share items through group storage), and Hardcore Ironman (solo with one life, which drops to a regular Ironman account after a death).
New or returning characters start on Tutorial Island and follow the yellow dotted achievement path. Move by pointing and clicking; the arrow keys adjust the camera. When you finish, use Home Teleport to reach the main world.
The basics once you arrive
The game runs on ticks of 0.6 seconds each. Running covers 2 squares per tick, walking covers 1.
On the minimap, NPCs show as yellow dots, other players as white dots, and dropped items as red dots.
Lodestones are teleport points: activate one the first time you visit its area, then teleport back to it later through the lodestone icon ("H") near the minimap.
Chat sits in the bottom left; press Enter to send a message, and right-click a message to add that player as a friend.
Starting out in Lumbridge
Most new players begin in and around Lumbridge: goblins and cows for early combat, trees and fishing spots for skilling, with Lumbridge Forest and Draynor Village close by to explore.
Quests show on the map as a blue star inside a compass icon; hover one to see its requirements, or open the full list from the quest icon on the bottom-right ribbon. Beginner-friendly quests include Wolf Whistle (introduces Summoning), The Blood Pact, Cook's Assistant, Gertrude's Cat, One Piercing Note, A Shadow over Ashdale, What's Mine is Yours (Mining and Smithing), and Necromancy! (introduces the Necromancy skill). Dragon Slayer is described as the pinnacle of free-to-play quests; Desert Treasure, The Temple at Senntisten, The World Wakes and Plague's End come later and some need membership.
Free-to-play accounts have 17 skills available; members get all 29, including Agility, Farming and Construction. The early tutorial skills are Fishing, Woodcutting, Firemaking, Cooking, Mining and Smithing; the combat-focused skills are Ranged, Magic, Necromancy, Attack, Strength, Defence, Prayer, Herblore and Summoning.
Combat
Monsters display a combat level, and your own combat level is worked out from your stats relative to theirs. It rises as you train Attack, Defence, Strength, Prayer, Summoning, Magic, Constitution, Ranged and Necromancy.
Combat runs on the Revolution system: abilities sit on action bars and are powered by adrenaline you build up, which unlocks threshold and ultimate abilities. You can trigger abilities yourself with hotkeys, or let Revolution cycle through the basic ones automatically.
Monsters have weaknesses, for example slash weapons work better against hellhounds, so it is worth checking a monster's info before committing to a weapon type.
For early Slayer tasks, Turael (north of the Burthorpe bank) and Jacquelyn (in Lumbridge) are the easiest masters to start with.
The Wilderness is called out as high risk, high reward: every monster there is aggressive, so it is not somewhere to wander into casually as a new player.
The Stronghold of Security is recommended for early training, rewarding 10,000 coins, a choice of fancy or fighting boots, and four emotes; bring food and reasonably strong gear.
Earning your first coins
Coins are the main currency, spent at NPC shops, the Grand Exchange, and in trades with other players.
Early sources of coins: cowhide from cows, raw chicken from chickens, goblin drops, shrimp from fishing (then cooking and selling them), ores and bars from mining and smithing, raw potatoes and cabbages, coin rewards from quests, selling spare items to general stores or the Grand Exchange, and daily content like Daily Challenges and Reaper tasks.
The Grand Exchange, found in Varrock, lets you set a buy or sell price for an item and wait for it to fill. Check price trends before committing a large amount of coins; Varrock's own RS3 price tracker is built for exactly that.
Clans and membership
The Clan tab on the ribbon gives access to clans: social groups with events and a Clan Citadel that offers skill plots and upgrades which boost XP rates.
Membership unlocks all 29 skills, members-only areas such as Canifis, Prifddinas and Menaphos, extra quests and minigames, generally better equipment, and more bank space.
Staying safe
Never share your password; Jagex staff will never ask for it. Turn on an Authenticator for two-step security, ignore phishing messages and emails, and avoid sharing personal details.
Use a unique password, secure the email address tied to your account, only trade with players you trust, double-check trade windows before confirming, and use the in-game reporting system for rule-breakers.
What to do once the basics click
Set yourself a goal, whether that is finishing a quest, reaching a skill level, or chasing a specific item. From there, explore new regions, get involved with the community, try skills and minigames you have not touched yet, and keep an eye on game updates.
The wiki's own guide closes on a simple note: play at your own pace, and have fun with it.