Sailing has officially been live in Old School RuneScape for over a week, and while many players have already wrapped their heads around the basics, there's a surprising amount of depth hiding beneath the surface. Charting routes and salvaging wrecks are only the beginning-once you understand how boats, crew, combat, and efficiency really work, Sailing becomes far less frustrating and far more rewarding. A large amount of RuneScape gold can also be very helpful.

Whether you're aiming for efficient XP, smooth bounty runs, or just trying to avoid costly mistakes, these Sailing tips will save you hours in the long run.

Plan Your Boats Early

Boat slots are limited early on, but more unlock as you level up Sailing. Because facilities currently cannot be moved without destroying them, planning your fleet ahead of time matters more than most players expect.

Your first permanent boat slot should almost always be a Skiff dedicated exclusively to Barracuda Trials. This skiff should be built for speed and efficiency, with a crystal extractor placed directly next to the helm, a wind or gale catcher, and ideally a greater teleport focus. Its only purpose is blasting through trials as fast as possible.

For nearly everything else, Sloops are the workhorses of Sailing. A strong AFK salvaging sloop should include two salvaging hooks, a salvaging station, a crystal extractor, a keg, a teleport focus, and a wind catcher. This setup lets you relax while gaining consistent XP with minimal attention.

A combat-focused sloop is nearly identical, except you swap the salvaging hooks for cannons. Later on, you may want a fishing-oriented sloop with high-tier nets, a chump station, and fathom pearl upgrades, but this is more of a luxury once dock space is plentiful.

Don't Feel Forced to Push 99

Despite the prestige of a max cape or custom boat name, Sailing does not require level 99 to access its meaningful content. Level 87 unlocks Grimstone, which currently represents the skill's full functional offering.

Unless you're chasing max total or cosmetic goals, grinding past 87 isn't necessary right now. You're not missing out by slowing down-and avoiding burnout early is a win.

How Sailing Combat Actually Works

For bounties and sea monster hunting, cannons are your primary damage source. Attacking monsters directly with spells or ranged attacks deals significantly reduced damage, which catches a lot of players off guard.

That said, weaknesses still matter. Armored Krakens, for example, are weak to buy Runescape gold Earth spells, and combining Earth magic with cannon fire speeds kills up considerably.