OSRS Prayer Calculator

Prayer unlocks run from Gilded altar (dragon bones) at 1 to Gilded altar (superior dragon bones) at 70 - 8 methods in between. Free-to-play skill.

OSRS Prayer Calculator. Between Gilded altar (dragon bones) (1) and Gilded altar (superior dragon bones) (70) this table lists 8 Prayer methods. Gilded altar (superior dragon bones) at 780,000 XP/hr is the best of the 8 rows open at level 70. 16 hrs at 10 hrs a week, 23,423 superior dragon bones, 12,296,804 XP - change any input above and all three recompute.

Prayer goal

RuneScape username

Current level

Current XP

Target level

How much do you actually play?

10 hrs / week

The damage

XP remaining

12,296,804

Actions left

23,423

via Gilded altar (superior dragon bones)

Time left

16 hrs

Nights of grinding

weekly hours averaged across 7 days

ETA

in 12 days

Total cost ≈ 472.2M gp

Gilded altar (superior dragon bones) at 780,000 XP/hr is the fastest row available to you, and nothing locked in this table beats it.

Prayer methods and rates

Gilded altar (superior dragon bones) at 780,000 XP/hr is a session average; the 8 rows below all are.

Method	Lvl	XP/hr	GP/XP	To goal	Hours
Bury big bones f2p Buy in bulk and spam-bury at a bank; F2P's only real path, so many just bank bones until members. · 15 xp/big bone	1	70,000	-16	819,787	176 hrs
Gilded altar (dragon bones) Light both burners in a POH (yours or a host's) for 350% xp; un-note bones at Phials between trips. · 252 xp/dragon bone	1	390,000	-14.9	48,797	32 hrs
Sun-kissed bone shards (libation bowl) 2026 value meta: chisel bones to shards, offer with blessed wine at the Teomat bowl; auto-offers every 4 ticks. · 225 xp/sun-kissed bone	30	700,000	-11	54,653	18 hrs
Chaos altar (dragon bones) cheapest Wilderness altar keeps each bone 50% of the time, halving cost; carry nothing you can't hand a PKer. · 252 xp/dragon bone offered	1	250,000	-7.4	48,797	49 hrs
Gilded altar (superior dragon bones) fastest Fastest practical xp from 70+, but brutally pricey - most start cheap and finish the run to 99 here. · 525 xp/superior dragon bone	70	780,000	-38.4	23,423	16 hrs
Ensouled dragon heads Reanimate at the Dark Altar (93 Magic); very cheap per xp and trains Magic too, but needs full attention. · 1560 xp/head reanimated	1	250,000	-5	7,883	49 hrs
Green dragons (bury on kill) profit Bury every bone where it drops and bank the hides; slow xp, but the only route that pays you to train. · 72 xp/dragon bone buried	1	12,000	+22	170,789	1,025 hrs
Bonecrusher during Slayer afk Hard Morytania diary tool auto-crushes bone drops for half burial xp - free passive gains on combat you already do.	1	8,000	—	—	1,537 hrs

Which bones are cheapest right now?

The same bone can be spent three ways. A gilded altar pays 350% of the bury XP; the chaos altar pays the same but keeps half your bones, so its cost per XP is halved and its risk is the Wilderness. The libation bowl turns bones into shards worth 5 XP each - more XP per bone, but you pay in chiselling time.

Bones	GE price	Gilded XP	Gilded gp/XP	Chaos gp/XP	Libation XP	Libation gp/XP
Dragon bones The default. Cheap, liquid, and the bones most guides assume.	3,751 gp	252	14.9	7.4	290	12.9
Wyvern bones Same XP as dragon bones; only buy when it is cheaper per bone.	3,894 gp	252	15.5	7.7	290	13.4
Lava dragon bones More XP per bone than dragon bones, usually at a similar GP/XP.	5,640 gp	298	19.0	9.5	340	16.6
Dagannoth bones A big single-bone step; 100 shards makes the bowl efficient.	11,971 gp	438	27.4	13.7	500	23.9
Superior dragon bones The fastest conventional bone. Pricey, so check GP/XP before bulk buying.	20,167 gp	525	38.4	19.2	605	33.3

Cheapest today: Dragon bones at the Chaos altar - 7.4 gp per XP. Cheapest without the Wilderness: Dragon bones via Libation bowl at 12.9 gp/XP.

Prices last checked 9 November 2026 and refresh from the OSRS Wiki real-time API. GP/XP uses the bone price only - jugs of blessed wine are untradeable, so they cost time rather than coins.

About training Prayer

Prayer is the classic buyable skill: nearly all of its xp comes from sacrificing bones or ashes, so your bank balance sets the pace more than your play time. Multipliers decide the price - a gilded altar pays 3.5x per bone, the Wilderness chaos altar adds a 50% chance to keep each bone, and Varlamore's libation bowl turns crushed bone shards into cheaper, semi-AFK xp. Free players can only bury bones at face value, which makes Prayer painfully slow in F2P but one of the fastest 99s for members willing to spend.

Did you know: Level 1-99 Prayer is 13,034,431 xp: that's 2,896,541 regular bones buried by hand, or just 51,725 dragon bones at a gilded altar - a stack costing roughly 155M gp at 2026 prices.

How this Prayer estimate is built

12,296,804 XP separates level 70 from Prayer 99, out of 13,034,431 total. 780,000 XP/hr on Gilded altar (superior dragon bones) turns that gap into 16 hrs; 525 XP per superior dragon bone turns it into 23,423 actions. One action every 2.4 seconds: that is what 780,000 XP/hr at 525 XP per superior dragon bone actually requires. Bonecrusher during Slayer reports no countable unit, and features in hours only for that reason. 12 nights at 1.4 hrs a day covers 16 hrs of Prayer. 17 hrs from level 1, if you switch at 30/70.

Decision example

12,296,804 XP: Gilded altar (superior dragon bones) converts it in 16 hrs, Sun-kissed bone shards (libation bowl) in 18 hrs - 11% more clock. The faster row costs more: 472.2M gp against 135.3M gp for the same 12,296,804 XP. Low attention instead: Bonecrusher during Slayer at 8,000 XP/hr.

Limits of the number

780,000 XP/hr is Gilded altar (superior dragon bones) over a session, 1,053,000 on a perfect tick. An hour of Gilded altar (superior dragon bones) burns about 30.0M gp in supplies. 38.4 GP/XP follows the live GE price for that bone, so it moves between visits; the XP per bone does not.

Prayer, level 70 to 99

12,296,804 XP - 94% of a whole 99 - explained twice. Both rows price the same 12,296,804 XP, so only the Prayer rate and GP/XP move.

Method	Rate	Actions	Active hours	GP/XP estimate
Gilded altar (superior dragon bones)	780,000 XP/hr	23,423	16 hrs	-472.2M gp
Sun-kissed bone shards (libation bowl)	700,000 XP/hr	54,653	18 hrs	-135.3M gp

Gilded altar (superior dragon bones) saves 1.8 hrs over Sun-kissed bone shards (libation bowl), which is 11% of the slower total.

16 October 2026 is the last Prayer review; Prayer training on the OSRS Wiki carries the method detail. Data sources.

A practical Prayer route

Each of these 3 stages answers one question about Prayer: what to train on, and when to leave it behind.

1-43

Unlock protection prayers
Use quest rewards and a Gilded altar or chaos altar route that fits your risk tolerance; 43 is the first major defensive checkpoint.
43-70

Choose bone value
Dragon bones are a common balance of XP and cost, while higher-tier bones shorten the grind but require more capital.
70+

Plan unlocks, not only 99
Piety, Rigour and Augury are meaningful milestones; compare their cost with the combat time saved before continuing.

Prayer by goal

What changes the choice

Lowest cost: Use the safest altar or ensouled-head route you can maintain, then recalculate after buying a small test batch.
Fastest: Chaos Altar can reduce bone consumption through its save-bone mechanic but adds risk and travel time.
Ironman: Bone availability and banked supplies matter more than GE GP/XP; use the calculator for actions and time, not a cash budget.

Requirements and caveats

Altar mechanics, bone-saving chance, burners, prayer gear and world risk are separate from the nominal XP per bone.
Prayer is a consumable skill: the displayed cost assumes the method can be supplied continuously.

Common mistakes to avoid

Using a Gilded Altar rate while omitting burners or the extra travel between bank and house.
Planning 70 or 77 without first checking the exact combat unlock that makes the level worthwhile.

3 Prayer switches, reviewed 2026-10-16. Prayer training on the OSRS Wiki.

Prayer FAQ

How long does 99 Prayer take in OSRS?

Budget 17 active hours for the level 1 to 99 climb on the best available Prayer method at each step, or 9 nights at two hours.

superior dragon bones for 99 Prayer - how many?

About 23,423 superior dragon bones at 525 XP each on Gilded altar (superior dragon bones), from level 70 to 99.

Which Prayer method is fastest?

Gilded altar (superior dragon bones), from level 70, at about 780,000 XP/hr. Fastest practical xp from 70+, but brutally pricey - most start cheap and finish the run to 99 here.

What is a practical Prayer training route?

1-43: Unlock protection prayers - Use quest rewards and a Gilded altar or chaos altar route that fits your risk tolerance; 43 is the first major defensive checkpoint. 43-70: Choose bone value - Dragon bones are a common balance of XP and cost, while higher-tier bones shorten the grind but require more capital. 70+: Plan unlocks, not only 99 - Piety, Rigour and Augury are meaningful milestones; compare their cost with the combat time saved before continuing.

Is Prayer profitable?

Yes - Green dragons (bury on kill) earns roughly 22 gp per XP. All of them are slower than Gilded altar (superior dragon bones) at 780,000 XP/hr.

Prayer method choice: what matters?

Altar mechanics, bone-saving chance, burners, prayer gear and world risk are separate from the nominal XP per bone. Prayer is a consumable skill: the displayed cost assumes the method can be supplied continuously. Common mistakes include Using a Gilded Altar rate while omitting burners or the extra travel between bank and house. Planning 70 or 77 without first checking the exact combat unlock that makes the level worthwhile.

Comparing Prayer methods: what has to match?

Gilded altar (superior dragon bones) spends 16 hrs of the 12,296,804 XP between level 70 and 99; Sun-kissed bone shards (libation bowl) 18 hrs. The 1.8 hrs gap is the decision.

All 24 skill calculators, closest in hours first

Ranked by hours to 99, Prayer lands at 5 of 24. Fletching takes 17 hrs, Ranged 20 hrs. Open the hub table: Green dragons (bury on kill) is the only Prayer row that pays, at 22 GP/XP.