Getting Started in OSRS TCG: Your First Hour, Step by Step

So you've decided to start OSRS TCG. Welcome — you're about to rediscover the RuneScape early game one card at a time. This guide gets you from zero to ripping your first packs, using the route the community converged on during launch weekend.

Step 1: Install the plugin

1. 1Open RuneLite.
2. 2Go to the Plugin Hub (wrench icon → Plugin Hub at the bottom).
3. 3Search for "OSRS TCG" and install it.
4. 4Optional but handy for the cardcore challenge: install a Bronzeman-style plugin to track what you have and haven't unlocked. Heads up: the community notes its quest requirements aren't always 100% accurate, so double-check before committing to a quest.

Once enabled, you'll get a TCG side panel and can turn on a credits infobox (in the plugin config) to watch your credits — and credits-per-hour — tick up on screen.

Step 2: Understand what pays

The one thing to internalise before you start grinding:

• Non-combat XP earns credits. Training Agility, Thieving, Firemaking and so on converts directly into credits.
• Combat XP does not earn credits directly. Instead, killing monsters pays credits based on the monster's combat level, and levelling up any skill pays a chunky one-time bonus.
• Packs cost 2,500 credits each.

credits per Standard Pack

2,500

credits per 1,000 non-combat XP

100

cards revealed per pack

5

Full breakdown in How Credits Work. For now: skill for a steady drip, kill things for combat income, and celebrate every level-up.

Step 3: The consensus starting route

This is the opening the community repeated more than any other. It's fast, needs no card unlocks, and gets you to your first packs quickly:

1. 1Agility 1–20 at the Draynor Village rooftop course. The classic starter — pure XP, so pure credits, and it needs nothing you don't already have. (Al Kharid at 20 is only better with energy potions.)
2. 2Attack to level 8 on the Varrock training dummies. Free, safe Attack levels — doable even at combat level 3 — so you can actually hold a weapon later.
3. 3Do the three "free" quests that need no card unlocks and hand you instant levels: the Varrock Museum quiz (9 Slayer + 9 Hunter), The Restless Ghost (9 Prayer) and Hazeel Cult (11 Thieving).
4. 4Pivot to Thieving and early combat. Don't over-level Agility — once you've got the basics, Thieving and killing monsters produce far more packs.

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The start of the game is literally agil, attack, thieve and a couple of quests.

From here, branch into the Skilling Starter Guide (the Thieving ladder, Wintertodt and no-tool workarounds) and the Combat Starter Guide (flinching, Brutus and AFK crabs).

Step 4: Rip your first pack

Once you hit 2,500 credits, open the TCG panel (or Shift + right-click the credits infobox) and buy a Standard Pack. Flip the cards one at a time and enjoy the reveal. Want to know your odds? See Packs & Rarities.

You can set up pull notifications (and Discord alerts via a webhook or Dink) so you never miss a big pull, and turn on rarity highlights to see how rare a card is before you flip it.

A few rookie mistakes to skip

• Don't over-grind Agility. 20 is plenty to start; Thieving and combat pay better.
• You can gather but not use uncarded resources. You can mine any ore or chop any tree — you just can't process or wield the result until you pull the card. This trips up almost everyone.
• Watch out for bad early weapons. An iron longsword can be worse than no weapon; on a scimitar, slash beats crush.
• On the cardcore world (w356), stay away from the Ardougne and wilderness levers — PKers camp them. More in Trading, Collecting & Rules.