Players who have been playing Old School RuneScape for a long time remember the times when you were only able to play the game only in your browser which means you could access it on any computer with internet connection. That and the fact that game was free-to-play made it one of the hits of MMORPG market and put in on par with such legendary titles of the genre as Everquest and Ultima online.
A few years back, however, we’ve been introduced to a game launcher, which meant that you didn’t even need to open your browser anymore in order to play the game (with the exception of downloading and registering the account, of course). The default launcher provides us with basically the same UI and data as did that small window on our browsers. But as people mature as OSRS players they usually find the Jagex’s default launcher somewhat lacking. Players, especially competitive ones, both PvPers and PvMers often feel that they need to handle more data faster. This demand has led to the creation of third-party made game clients. There is a plenty of such clients, all with varying functionalities (not one of them show the price of OSRS gold, unfortunately). In this blog post we’re going to review some of these clients so you could decide which client to try out, if any and why.
IMPORTANT NOTE: OSRS introduced a third party client update, so the only clients you are allowed to use are listed in this article.
OSBuddy
OSBuddy is one of the most popular game clients at the moment and for a good reason. First of all, it’s approved by Jagex, meaning that a) this is completely legit and you don’t have to worry about getting banned for using this third-party client and b) it is safe, unlike some of the clients out there; you do not risk losing your account due to your data being leaked. Still, some users recommend that your account details for OSBuddy are different than those of your actual OSRS account. Frankly, that’s a precaution that should be taken whatever product you use or game you play (e.g. your account details should always be different than those of your email).
Jagex has confirmed that OSBuddy is indeed a legit OSRS client on their Twitter page
Furthermore, OSBuddy comes with a bunch of handy features: you can track your health more easily, XP gained can be shown on your screen without looking at the skill tab. Same goes for XP left until level up: if you’re cooking, for example, an icon shows up which tracks the amount of XP you’ve gained and the amount of XP you need for a level-up. You can also see the names of items dropped on the ground, as well as their value and it’s easier to track such things in general. Another cool feature is especially useful for those who often leave their OSRS account running in the background, whether you’re waiting for a duel or just leaving your account doing some AFK money making – it is a notifier which makes your OSRS icon flash when you’re offered trade or challenged into a duel. The full list of all the features is simply too long for this blog post, so we strongly recommend you check them out at OSBuddy website. Just another important thing to add: OSBuddy is highly customizable, therefore you can easily enable or disable features you feel you do or do not need. It should be noted that a lot of cool features of OSBuddy are behind a paywall – you have to purchase the PRO version to be able to enjoy them. However, you might consider doing so because not only that would unlock a lot of features, but you would also be supporting the developers. Worst case scenario you try out the free version and drop it if you don’t like it, best case scenario: you will be using a game client you love and helping its development too.
RuneLite
RuneLite is another popular OSRS client (do not mistake it with the infamous Runeloader which was reported to be unsafe). Similarly to the previously introduced OSBuddy, RuneLite comes with a bunch of features you can turn on or off. Some of them let you see the combat style you’re using at the moment without checking combat tab, highlights fishing spots, various targets and other similar convenient features. RuneLite developers put a strong emphasis on the client being open source, which means that you can both create your own tailored version of RuneLite or you can also make your own contribution by sharing your piece of code and getting it approved by developers.
One of the features different from other clients and which can hardly be useless to any player is that you can choose the color of an item name lying on the ground. You can do this by categorizing items by their value, meaning that an item worth, let’s say, 10k is shown in white, and an item worth more than 10k is shown in orange. Though experienced players are not know for picking ash just because they’re ignorant of the low value of the item, this feature makes looting a much faster and less tedious process, since you can clearly distinguish items from one another and pick the valuable ones without having to read item name.
Another feature worth taking notice of is that you can reduce game graphics by lowering or completely removing the amount of ground textures i.e. blades of grass, rocks and so on. Most clients usually offer enhanced graphics, like OSRS HD, which can be a really attractive option for players, especially those with beefier hardware. However, if you’re playing on an old computer and/or are running multiple clients and making use of mutiple money making methods at once, you may want to trade those small details in exchange of smoother performance. Nevertheless, it should be mentioned that Jagex does not really support the changing of game graphics.
We’ve mentioned notifier feature before and many clients have it with a varying degree of functionality. RuneLite is an exception in that you can get notified not only when you’re challenged into a duel or offered a trade, but also when you’re done woodcutting, mining, fishing etc. Though similar or even same features exist in other clients as well, RuneLite offers them free of charge while in other cases they’re often monetized.
Cool features don’t end there, however, as there’s also a very nice feature for all those adventurers daring the dank Barrows. This feature shows you which Barrows doors can be opened (marked green) and which cannot be opened (marked grey). Even for everyday Barrows burrowers this is a useful feature.
You can always see the ever expanding list of features on RuneLite website. It cannot be overexpressed how big a deal is that this client is open source. If you’re programmer yourself you can modify the code, share it, but most importantly you can clear yourself of any doubt about the safety of this client.
HDOS
This client is something that everyone in the community has been waiting for. The reason being is that a lot of people appreciate the nice graphics this client provides. It was created by a single guy that has been working on it for years and finally, Runescape has approved it along with the other clients listed in this article.
Like other clients there are some features that help you play, but the main thing is the amazing graphics. You really got to see it to understand how well it was done, so visit their website and try it out!
We hope that you will give at least one of these clients a try and see for yourself if they’re good for you or not. On the one hand, they come with additional features which can prove really useful. On the other hand, some players will always want their playing experienced to be as immersive as possible and they may want a vanilla experience and not infinite sequences of numbers on their screen. Neither of the options is better or worse than the other and everything depends on individual taste.
Check out this article to find out: Are OSRS Clients safe?
