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Guardians of the Rift

This article is compiled from the videos of GnomonkeyRS. It records what Gnomonkey said, with sources, not verified game fact. See About.

Guardians of the Rift

Guardians of the Rift
Type Minigame
Skill Runecrafting
Requirements 27 Runecrafting; Temple of the Eye quest1
Location Basement of the Wizards' Tower2
Xp/hr 60-75k Runecrafting3
Gp/hr About 1m3
Rewards Guardian orb, Abyssal Protector pet, cosmetics4555
Videos 2 (first 2022-03-30, latest 2026-06-04)
Main source Guardians of the Rift Runecrafting Guide (70K XP/HR) OSRS

Guardians of the Rift is a Runecrafting minigame that had just come out when Gnomonkey covered it in 2022 and, in his words, completely shifted the entire skill3. It is decently intensive but provides a very solid 60 to 75k Runecrafting XP per hour and around 1m gp per hour3. Its rewards dramatically buffed every essence-using Runecrafting method (ZMI, lava and mud runes, regular runes), making them solid gp and XP3. Gnomonkey considers small-scale games much faster and more consistent than mass worlds, with as many as 10 completions an hour depending on rewards, but they take thought and planning to avoid losing6. His main complaint in 2022 was crashers in small-scale games7.

Contents

Requirements

The only mandatory requirements are 27 Runecrafting and completing the Temple of the Eye quest, which takes about twenty minutes1. Optional extras:

  • 56 Agility is extremely useful for mining more essence early on; Runecrafting levels 44, 54, 65 and 77 each boost rates at an unlocked altar1.
  • Mining level does not affect the minigame, but a better pickaxe does. A crystal pickaxe works there and burns through charges quickly1.
  • NPC Contact (Lunar Diplomacy) is a soft requirement, needed to repair pouches and guardians8.

Getting there

Head to the basement of the Wizards' Tower using a Necklace of Passage, fairy ring code DIS, or the minigame teleport, and enter through the large magic gate. A bank chest is nearby2.

How the game works

The goal is to craft runes at the various altars using Guardian essence. Crafting runes provides guardian stones, which charge the central guardian's energy, and the game is won and rewards given when energy reaches 100%2. The central guardian's energy doubles as its health bar and drops if it is damaged. Abyssal creatures constantly attack it, so they must be fended off by crafting guardians with energy cells and charging shields with the same cells9.

Essence

Fragments for crafting guardian essence are mined from loose guardian piles. The large guardians to the east, down the shortcut, give an extra fragment per action. One fragment equals one essence, but fragments are stackable9. Fragments are taken to the workbench in the southwest, where most of the game is spent10. Roughly every two minutes a portal spawns (any time after 110 on the plugin timer) that takes the player to the West Cliff to mine huge guardians for guardian essence directly, which is far faster than fragments. It remains for a bit after the game, so a player can wait at the cliff for the next game for a head start10.

Altars and cells

There are 12 central runecrafting totems that lead to the respective altars. Two of them light up every 20 seconds, always one elemental and one catalytic altar11. Crafting essence at an active altar gives runes plus a base amount of catalytic or elemental stones depending on the altar, and charges an uncharged cell into a powered cell whose tier depends on the altar used11. A cell does not need essence to be charged, so a player can enter an altar without essence just to charge a cell12.

Altar type Cell tier (weakest to strongest)
Elemental Air (weakest) to fire (most powerful)13
Catalytic, weak Body, mind13
Catalytic, medium Cosmic, chaos13
Catalytic, strong Nature, law13
Catalytic, overcharged Death, blood13

Sometimes crafting at an altar gives a talisman that lets the player enter that altar again even when inactive. It is consumed only if the altar is inactive and is very useful for high-level altars14.

Guardians and shields

A created guardian's max hit and HP scale with the tier of the cell used. Overcharged guardians are extremely powerful. The cap on guardians is two in a solo, increasing by two for each extra player up to ten15. Abyssal creatures spawn in waves attacking the front shield (the main gate) first, spreading to the side barriers if there are too many. They only retaliate against guardians that attack them and otherwise walk past, so the shield often takes a few hits regardless14. If a guardian is killed, mining its remains retrieves some crafted essence, usually about an inventory and a half16.

Shields can only be upgraded to the next tier regardless of cell tier, so an overcharged cell turns a weak shield into a medium one. A same-or-lower tier cell just heals the shield. Upgrading raises max health and sets current health to half the next tier's max15. A destroyed shield must be repaired with 10 guardian essence before adding a cell, so it is best not to let it break14.

When the main guardian's energy reaches 60%, the rift quakes and heavily damages all shields (it cannot kill them but can leave them at 1 HP), and abyssal spawn rates increase from then on17. The main guardian defends itself, but its attacks are very slow and it attacks only if something passes the main gates17. Gnomonkey advises being careful as the energy approaches 60%: bring a cell if charging past that threshold and immediately upgrade the main gate, since upgrading instantly heals a tremendous amount of health18.

Energy and reward points

The energies at the top left are the player's rewards for the game, capped at 1,200 combined energy per game19. To search the rewards guardian the player needs one of each reward point, catalytic and elemental. 100 energy of either type converts to one point (a tuning), and points are banked: 700 catalytic and 200 elemental becomes 7 and 2, usable for two searches with 5 catalytic points banked19. Energy comes from the stone type used on the main guardian and from using cells. Creating a guardian gives the most points (45 for an overcharged cell), upgrading a barrier gives 50% of that in both energy types, and recharging gives 50% of an upgrade in both20. A catalytic guardian gives catalytic energy and an elemental guardian elemental energy; where the cell came from does not matter20.

Strategy

Preparation

Gnomonkey highly recommends the Guardians of the Rift plugin from the RuneLite plugin hub for timers on altars and portals21. Before starting, right-click each of the low-level Runecrafting totems and toggle them to avoid useless talismans. The fire, death and blood altars should not be toggled, since those give extremely useful talismans22.

Mass worlds

He recommends learning the minigame in mass worlds such as World 420 (almost always full) or World 302. Masses are much slower and worse than low-scale games but easy to jump into21. A game starts with a two-minute warmup in which nothing can be done for the first 30 seconds; the player should collect ten uncharged cells and then go to the east rock cliff to mine large guardian remains22. The player mines until a portal appears at roughly 250 fragments mined (a bubble shows its location at top left), which teleports them to the west cliff, where huge guardian remains give fully crafted essence. They mine until all pouches are full and leave23. In a mass, enter the highest-level available altar; if it is within five seconds of changing and no overcharged cell is offered, wait for something better, then make a guardian if not capped and craft more essence at the bench23. The loop is to alternate making an inventory of essence and crafting, taking the portal, and mining an inventory of essence and crafting, until the game ends, making a guardian whenever possible and otherwise upgrading or charging the shields6.

Small scale

At small scale, which Gnomonkey calls much faster and more consistent, the strategy is the same from one to ten players. The main shield is far more important, powerful guardians are extremely important, and at the start the player throws a cell into the main gate and runs to the large guardians624. The side gates do nothing and the enemies head directly to the main gate, so only the main gate matters, and it is easy to lose a low-scale game if not careful25. Gnomonkey maintains the main gate's HP by throwing weak cells into it whenever he runs to an altar, calling this "Gandalf Tech" because he only guards the main gate and lets nothing pass26. With more than four players, some should throw cells into the side corner gates, since the main gate holds four weak cells before full health27.

Making guardians with weak cells at small scale is, in his view, a great way to lose games, because creatures only stop attacking the gate if attacked and weak guardians have a very low max hit28. Powerful guardians are far more impactful than upgrading the shield; medium cells are used to upgrade the main gate since it can only go one tier at a time, and at least 50% of the guardian cap in strong or overcharged guardians is needed at the beginning to survive (a single overcharged guardian in a solo)29.

  • Mine at the large guardians until 120 to 150 fragments (varies with rewards). The portal pops up after the first three altar shifts; run to the workbench once there is enough28.
  • Watch the plugin timer: an alt should leave before it reaches 110, and at 115 the player starts running regardless of how much essence they have, which is when the first altars pop up30.
  • Each altar shift has a 1 in 4 chance of an overcharged cell, or 1 in 2 for at least strong. If all three altar shifts are below strong, Gnomonkey says the game is pretty much lost31. The first altar's uptime is completely random and can be as short as one tick, which he hopes Jagex changes, calling it one of the most annoying parts of the minigame30.
  • In a solo, if the player makes the first altar they can create a guardian, throw stones into the main guardian, and hop into another overcharged altar without essence to get another cell, guaranteeing two overcharged guardians at the start. The player must be in the third altar immediately when it pops to make the portal32.
  • If the main gate goes down while mining at the beginning, repair it with the essence just mined and throw a weak cell in when possible; from there it is the same as a mass18.
  • With a solid team the game typically ends right after crafting with the essence from the second portal. Low scale gives similar points to masses but ends in literally half the time, giving more XP and points an hour33.

Combination runes

With at least two outfit pieces and the colossal pouch, a player can bind combination runes in the main game, which matters far more in small scale. The player brings a binding necklace, wears a tome of fire, and uses earth or water runes on the altar25. The stones received equal the runes created, so with multipliers it gives far more stones than any other altar. With the full outfit and lantern, Gnomonkey says a player can get over a hundred stones per full craft at an elemental altar, ending a solo game in three crafts34. He asks Jagex not to nerf the combination rune stone gain, but warns players not to get greedy because catalytic energy is still needed for points34.

Alts

An alt with 27 Runecrafting can help. It wears full graceful (or brings a stamina potion), carries a full inventory of binding necklaces and repeatedly charges the gates, leaving right before the enemies enter so scale is unaffected27. An alt improves game speed by about 30 seconds per game, and one alt can cover as many as five people27.

Rewards and cosmetics

  • The tarnished locket can be received from any ornate pouch pulled from a reward and given to the Lumbridge Guide for the amulet of the eye, which Gnomonkey says does nothing interesting but looks stylish4.
  • The Lost bag cosmetic fills the cape slot and bounces when walking or running, though he says the max cape is always the most stylish cape-slot option5.
  • A guardian orb can be bought from the wizard for 3,000 abyssal pearls (possibly reduced in the future) and transmogs the player's Rift Guardian to look like the main guardian5.
  • At the time of the 2022 video the drop rate of the Abyssal Protector pet from the rewards guardian was unknown; Gnomonkey guessed 1/3,000 to 1/5,0005. He calls it easily one of the ugliest pets in the game, F-tier35. The Rift Guardian pet cannot be received from the minigame and must be grinded separately35.

2026 changes

The Summer Sweep-Up lets players purchase the abyssal needle with pearls (the Goter reward currency), so players who go very dry can buy it36. The Abyssal Lantern is changed to function outside the minigame when burning logs that give an effect beyond the activity. Willow, blisterwood, magic and redwood work; normal, oak and maple do not37. Under the change, blisterwood increases blood runes crafted by 20%, magic logs increase runes crafted by 10%, and redwood makes essence pouches not degrade and gives 5% more runes37. Gnomonkey says the lantern change is a big deal and good for people manually crafting blood runes with blood essence, for example on an ironman38.

Revision history

Date Video Change
2026-06-04 The New Summer Sweep Update is CRAZY (OSRS) Added 2026 Summer Sweep-Up abyssal needle purchase and Abyssal Lantern changes (log effects outside the minigame).
2022-03-30 Guardians of the Rift Runecrafting Guide (70K XP/HR) OSRS Page created: requirements, mechanics, strategy for masses and small scale, alts and rewards from the 2022 launch-period guide.
## References

  1. Guardians of the Rift Runecrafting Guide (70K XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-30. ▶ 0:30 ↩↩↩↩

  2. Guardians of the Rift Runecrafting Guide (70K XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-30. ▶ 3:57 ↩↩↩

  3. Guardians of the Rift Runecrafting Guide (70K XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-30. ▶ 0:00 ↩↩↩↩↩

  4. Guardians of the Rift Runecrafting Guide (70K XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-30. ▶ 20:23 ↩↩

  5. Guardians of the Rift Runecrafting Guide (70K XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-30. ▶ 20:50 ↩↩↩↩↩↩

  6. Guardians of the Rift Runecrafting Guide (70K XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-30. ▶ 11:20 ↩↩↩

  7. Guardians of the Rift Runecrafting Guide (70K XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-30. ▶ 21:16 ↩

  8. Guardians of the Rift Runecrafting Guide (70K XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-30. ▶ 0:58 ↩

  9. Guardians of the Rift Runecrafting Guide (70K XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-30. ▶ 4:27 ↩↩

  10. Guardians of the Rift Runecrafting Guide (70K XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-30. ▶ 4:59 ↩↩

  11. Guardians of the Rift Runecrafting Guide (70K XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-30. ▶ 5:27 ↩↩

  12. Guardians of the Rift Runecrafting Guide (70K XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-30. ▶ 6:55 ↩

  13. Guardians of the Rift Runecrafting Guide (70K XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-30. ▶ 5:56 ↩↩↩↩↩

  14. Guardians of the Rift Runecrafting Guide (70K XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-30. ▶ 7:22 ↩↩↩

  15. Guardians of the Rift Runecrafting Guide (70K XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-30. ▶ 6:28 ↩↩

  16. Guardians of the Rift Runecrafting Guide (70K XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-30. ▶ 8:11 ↩

  17. Guardians of the Rift Runecrafting Guide (70K XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-30. ▶ 8:16 ↩↩

  18. Guardians of the Rift Runecrafting Guide (70K XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-30. ▶ 16:50 ↩↩

  19. Guardians of the Rift Runecrafting Guide (70K XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-30. ▶ 8:46 ↩↩

  20. Guardians of the Rift Runecrafting Guide (70K XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-30. ▶ 9:17 ↩↩

  21. Guardians of the Rift Runecrafting Guide (70K XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-30. ▶ 9:47 ↩↩

  22. Guardians of the Rift Runecrafting Guide (70K XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-30. ▶ 10:15 ↩↩

  23. Guardians of the Rift Runecrafting Guide (70K XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-30. ▶ 10:46 ↩↩

  24. Guardians of the Rift Runecrafting Guide (70K XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-30. ▶ 13:20 ↩

  25. Guardians of the Rift Runecrafting Guide (70K XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-30. ▶ 12:24 ↩↩

  26. Guardians of the Rift Runecrafting Guide (70K XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-30. ▶ 11:51 ↩

  27. Guardians of the Rift Runecrafting Guide (70K XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-30. ▶ 13:50 ↩↩↩

  28. Guardians of the Rift Runecrafting Guide (70K XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-30. ▶ 14:24 ↩↩

  29. Guardians of the Rift Runecrafting Guide (70K XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-30. ▶ 15:52 ↩

  30. Guardians of the Rift Runecrafting Guide (70K XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-30. ▶ 14:54 ↩↩

  31. Guardians of the Rift Runecrafting Guide (70K XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-30. ▶ 15:22 ↩

  32. Guardians of the Rift Runecrafting Guide (70K XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-30. ▶ 16:19 ↩

  33. Guardians of the Rift Runecrafting Guide (70K XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-30. ▶ 17:20 ↩

  34. Guardians of the Rift Runecrafting Guide (70K XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-30. ▶ 12:52 ↩↩

  35. Guardians of the Rift Runecrafting Guide (70K XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-30. ▶ 21:22 ↩↩

  36. The New Summer Sweep Update is CRAZY (OSRS), 2026-06-04. ▶ 8:45 ↩

  37. The New Summer Sweep Update is CRAZY (OSRS), 2026-06-04. ▶ 9:10 ↩↩

  38. The New Summer Sweep Update is CRAZY (OSRS), 2026-06-04. ▶ 9:37 ↩

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