This OSRS Guardians of The Rift Guide teaches you everything you need to know to Train Runecrafting with this new minigame. Guardians of the Rift offers a fun way to train Runecrafting with good experience rates and AMAZING rewards. Players who plan to train Runecrafting should 100% play Guardians of the Rift for its outfit reward which gives up to 60% extra runes when the full set is equipped.
Furthermore, ironman accounts should train at Guardians of the Rift as no essence is required during this minigame, the experience rates are amazing and you get a ton of free runes.
Guardians of the Rift Basics
Requirements
Guardians of the Rift has two requirements:
However, after finishing Temple of the Eye, you already have 27 Runecrafting from the experience reward so that works out pretty well.
How to get to Guardians of the Rift
Since Guardians of the Rift is a minigame, you can use the Guardian of the Rift teleport in your grouping menu.
If you don’t know where your Grouping Menu is located, it’s the same place where clan chats are located.
Gear Setup
If you like Fashionscape, you’ll be happy to know that Graceful is not needed in the Guardians of the Rift minigame because you gain run energy by powering up the great guardian. You can of course still wear Graceful if you don’t have any other useful pieces to wear.
You should bring Varrock Armour which is a reward from the Varrock Achievement Diary.
This armour will give you a 10% chance to get double fragments while mining, which does speed up the number of fragments and essence you mine in the game tremendously. It doesn’t matter which version you have (1,2,3,4) they are all equally as good.
Furthermore, bring the best pickaxe your have available.
Here’s what I’m wearing on my Group Ironman account for reference:
Aside from the Varrock Armour (if you have it) you can wear any fashion scape you want. Or bring graceful if you can’t help it.
Inventory Setup
The only items you need to bring into your inventory are your essence pouches and a chisel.
From the Enter the Abyss and Temple of the Eye quests, you should at least have 2 pouches: a small and medium pouch.
And while playing GOTR you will receive the large and giant pouch as a reward at some point.
If your pouches break, you can recharge them by speaking with Cordelia who will charge you 1 abyssal pearl. If you have access to the Lunar Spellbook, you can cast NPC Contact to contact the Dark Mage.
How to start a game of GOTR
Guardians of the Rift should be played in one of the official worlds:
| Official GOTR Worlds | Location |
| W425 & W523 | Australia |
| W441 & W445 | US West |
| W478, W490 & W492 | US East |
| W464 & W459 | Germany |
| W507 & W522 | UK |
You can enter a game by passing through the barrier.
If a game is already in progress, you will have to wait until it has ended before you can join.
Unlike Tempoross, multiple games are not running at the same time. It’s one game per world.
Once a new game starts, you have 120 seconds to enter the GOTR minigame.
Sometimes, you will get the disappointing message that there are enough players in this world, meaning you will have to hop to another world.
How Guardians of the Rift works
During the Temple of the Eye quest, you completed the Guardians of the Rift tutorial. The real minigame functions exactly like that.
However, the tutorial definitely lacks some proper instructions so here’s a full rundown of how Guardians of the Rift works!
The objective of the game
The main objective of the game is to Power up the Great Guardian to 100%.
He can be powered up with Guardian Stones (Catalytic or Elemental) which are obtained from:
- First, mining Guardian Fragments
- Then crafting those into Guardian Essence at the workbench
- And finally, runecraft these into either Catalytic or Elemental Guardian stones at one of the 12 Runecrafting Altars surrounding the Great Guardian.
Guardians of the Rift map
Here’s a map for Guardians of the Rift.
Center of the Map
At the center, we have the Great Guardian, whom we have to protect.
Surrounding him, are 7 cell tiles. These have to be powered with Charged Cells (Weak, Medium, Strong, Overcharged) in order to build, charge, or strengthen barriers that protect the Great Guardian from the Abyssal creatures coming through the rift.
In a circle around the Great Guardian are 12 Runic Portals. 4 of which are Elemental, and 8 of which are Catalytic.
During the game, 2 random portals will be open at a time for 30 seconds. One will be elemental and one catalytic.
Players can enter the opened Runic Portals with Guardian Essence to turn their Guardian Essence into Elemental or Catalytic Guardian Stones. Furthermore, this will also craft runes (which you keep), AND charge your Uncharged Cells depending on the Tier of the Portal.
Once returned, players should use the Guardian Stones to power the Great Guardian. And either use the Charged Cells to place them inside one of the cell tiles to strengthen barriers OR assemble a mini-guardian.
North Side
On the North Side, we have the Rift Opening. Here, creatures will come out to attack our Great Guardian.
It’s our job as Guardians of the Rift, to ensure the barriers stay up at all times and we have the maximum amount of mini-guardians ready to protect the Great Guardian.
East Side
On the East Side of the map, we have an area that is accessible to players with 56 Agility with piles of Large Guardian Remains.
These can be mined to get Guardian Fragments, which can later be crafted into Guardian Essence on the Workbench.
Mining remains here is faster than when using the Regular Guardian Remain piles scattered around the map. Hence why it’s locked behind an Agility Shortcut.
Players with 56 Agility should come here during the first stage of the game to AFK mine enough Guardian Fragments so that they don’t have to do it again for the rest of the game.
West Side
On the West Side of the map, we have an area that is only accessible via Yellow Portal. Which spawns on the map randomly for 30 seconds before disappearing again for an undisclosed amount of time.
When players enter this portal, they can mine Huge Guardian Remains which give INSTANTLY give them Guardian Essence WITHOUT having to use the workbench.
Thus, using the Yellow Portal at all times is essential to get the most experience and rewards in a game of Guardians of the Rift.
South Side
On the southern side of the map (where the entry portal is) we have the following stations:
- Workbench – Here you craft Guardian Fragments into Guardian Essence (chisel required)
- Deposit Pool – Here you can deposit runes to your bank to clear up space in your inventory
- Weak Cell table – Here you can grab weak cells to place in the cell tiles at the start of the game for some early game protection
- Uncharged Cell table – Here you can grab 10 uncharged cells which you will power throughout the game by visiting runic portals
Also here are the essence piles to assemble a Catalytic and Elemental Mini Guardian.
Guardians of the Rift HUD
In the top left corner, you will find the HUD for the Guardians of the Rift.
1. Guardians’ Power
Whenever you power the Guardian by using Catalytic or Elemental stones on him, his power will increase. At 100% power, the game is won. At 0% power, the game is lost.
2. Opened Portals
Two random runic portals are open at all times, one Elemental and one Catalytic portal, changing every 25 seconds. This part of the HUD reveals which two portals are open, how long they are still open for, and also how much Energy you have in each.
NOTE: you should always have EQUAL Elemental and Catalytic Energy to get reward points. If you only ever craft catalytic stones or vice versa, you will not gain any rewards.
3. Mini Guardians
This reveals how many Mini Guardians are currently protecting the barriers from taking damage. 10 Mini Guardians can be active at all times. This number should always be 10/10. If it’s not (which is unlikely in the official worlds) you can make a Mini Guardian by using a charged (preferably overcharged) cell on either the Catalytic or Elemental Essence pile.
4. Yellow Portal
Approximately every 2 minutes of the game, a yellow portal will spawn. This portal takes players to the HUGE Guardian Remains where you can mine Guardian Essence without having to craft them. And you mine these SUPER quickly here so you want to always look out for these yellow portals.
TIP: in the official worlds, the yellow portals tend to spawn when the Guardian’s Power is at 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 90%.
Guardians of the Rift Gameplay loop
Now let’s walk you through a game of Guardians of the Rift! It’s very simple!
First, take 10 uncharged cells from the table.
Next, we are going to mine some Guardian Fragments.
You have two options:
- Either mine guardian remains scattered around the map (1-2 per tick)
- Or, if you have 56 Agility, mine the Large Remains by taking the shortcut to the East side of the map (2-4 per tick)
Mine Fragments until about 20 seconds before the first two portals spawn. (Check the timer in your HUD)
Next, go to the workbench to craft your fragments into Guardian Essence. Fill your pouches as well.
By now, the first portals should spawn.
Go into either portal to craft your Guardian Essence into Guardian Stones.
Which portals are currently open are revealed in your HUD.
While crafting at the altar you will receive:
- Catalytic or Elemental Guardian Stones
- A charged cell (WEAK, MEDIUM, STRONG, or OVERCHARGED, dependent on the portal you visited)
- And free runes (dependent on the portal you visited)
Once you come back from the altar, the first thing you are going to do is POWER UP the guardian with your Guardian stones.
Then, PLACE your charged cell down into one of the cell tiles to create, strengthen, or heal a barrier.
At this point, a yellow portal should spawn. You will know because it will show up in your HUD.
If the portal isn’t there yet, go into another runic portal (you don’t need essence) to charge another cell and place it down to protect another barrier.
Once the yellow portal spawns, go inside to mine Guardian Essence.
Once your inventory and pouches are full, leave this area and go into an opened runic portal to craft some more guardian stones.
Power up the Guardian, and place down your cell.
And then we head over to the workbench again to craft some more essence.
And repeat! That’s essentially all there is to this minigame.
Every 120 seconds, a yellow portal will spawn which you should always be looking out for to get better experience rates and more reward points per hour.
Additional Info
Here’s some extra info that will help you improve at the minigame.
Runic Portals
Below is a table with the requirements for each Runic Portal as well as which type they are and which cells they output.
| Altar | Runecrafting Lvl | Quest requirement | Type | Cells |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guardians of Air | 1 | / | Elemental | Weak |
| Guardians of Mind | 2 | / | Catalytic | Weak |
| Guardians of Water | 5 | / | Elemental | Medium |
| Guardians of Earth | 9 | / | Elemental | Strong |
| Guardians of Fire | 14 | / | Elemental | Overcharged |
| Guardians of Body | 20 | / | Catalytic | Weak |
| Guardians of Cosmic | 27 | Lost City | Catalytic | Medium |
| Guardians of Chaos | 35 | / | Catalytic | Medium |
| Guardians of Nature | 44 | / | Catalytic | Strong |
| Guardians of Law | 54 | Troll Stronghold | Catalytic | Strong |
| Guardians of Death | 65 | Mournings End Part II | Catalytic | Overcharged |
| Guardians of Blood | 77 | Sins of the Father | Catalytic | Overcharged |
Charged Cells
Charged Cells are pretty important but often overlooked. Sure, the core gameplay is to craft Guardian Stones and power up the guardian, but if no one placed down cells or created mini-guardians then every game would result in a loss.
So here is everything you need to know about the charged cells.
| Cell Type | Runic Portal |
|---|---|
| Weak Cell | Nature, Body, Mind |
| Medium Cell | Water, Chaos, Cosmic |
| Strong Cell | Earth, Law, Nature |
| Overcharged Cell | Fire, Blood, Death |
Once you get the hang of the game, you should start aiming for the higher types of cells at all times, as these give better protection and more reward points.
For this reason, always prioritize the Fire, Blood, Death, Nature, Earth, and Law altars.
Experience Rates & Money Per Hour
You get experience for playing the game, as well as an experience drop at the end when the Great Guardian is fully powered up.
The Experience rate at the end is equal to 45 times your current Runecrafting level.
For example: if you are level 50 Runecrafting, you get 2,250 Runecrafting Experience per game.
| Runecrafting Level | Exp/hr | Gp/hr |
|---|---|---|
| 30 | 20K Exp/hr | up to 50k Gp/hr |
| 40 | 25K Exp/hr | up to 100k Gp/hr |
| 50 | 30K Exp/hr | up to 150k Gp/hr |
| 60 | 35K Exp/hr | up to 200k Gp/hr |
| 70 | 40K Exp/hr | up to 300k Gp/hr |
| 80 | 45K Exp/hr | up to 400k Gp/hr |
| 90+ | 50K Exp/hr | up to 500k Gp/hr |
Guardians of the Rift Rewards
At Guardians of the Rift, you get rewards points based on the Catalytic and Elemental Energy you supplied during the game.
For every 100 Catalytic or Elemental Energy, you get one reward point in that energy source.
So for example, if you had 300 Catalytic Energy and 500 Elemental Energy during the game, you will get 3 Catalytic points and 5 Elemental points.
You need to have an equal amount of points in Catalytic and Elemental, to get search the Rewards Guardian.
Say you have 5 Elemental and 3 Catalytic points, this allows you to search the Rewards Guardian 3 times.
That’s why you should make sure that you always have an equal amount of energy for each source during the minigame. Or at least even them out overall several games before searching the Rewards Guardian.
Rewards Guardian
Here are the rewards from the Rewards Guardian:
| Abyssal Pearls | Can be used to purchase Raiments of the Eye Outfit Pieces |
| Intricate Pouch | Contains 1 random item such as X amount of runes, a crystal key, a shield left half, tarnished locket, or a lost bag. |
| Atlax’s Diary | Kind of useless contains reading material, I guess? |
| Elemental Talisman | This talisman works for every Catalytic altar (fire, earth, water, air) |
| Catalytic Talisman | This talisman works for every Catalytic altar (everything except elemental) |
| Abyssal Needle | Can be used to stitch all your pouches together into a Colossal pouch (requires 85 Runecrafting) |
| Abyssal Dyes | Can be used to re-dye your Raiments of the Eye outfit pieces |
| Abyssal Lantern | Can be filled with logs to give extra bonuses while Runecrafting |
| Abyssal Protector | Guardians of the Rift pet |
Raiments of the Eye outfit
The main reward for Guardians of the Rift is of course the Raiments of the Eye outfit, which can be bought from the reward shop by trading Apprentice Felix next to the bank chest.
Each piece of the Raiments of the Eye outfit gives you 10% more runes while Runecrafting, with the full set giving you a set bonus of 20%.
Thus, in total, the full Raiments of the Eye outfit provides you with 60% more runes!
The set pieces have the following costs:
- Boots: 250 Abyssal Pearls
- Robe bottoms: 350 Abyssal Pearls
- Robe top: 350 Abyssal Pearls
- Hat: 400 Abyssal Pearls
If you want to spend your pearls efficiently, you should get the boots first which only cost 250 Abyssal Pearls, and give the same 10% bonus as all the other pieces. You should also get the top last because it denies the ability to wear your Varrock Armour.
Final Words
Hopefully, this OSRS Guardians of the Rift Guide taught you everything you need to know to get started with the Runecrafting minigame.
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