When Old School RuneScape (OSRS) was launched nearly 13 years ago, there were initially no plans for the game to feature any additional quests. The quests that were available upon launch were available due to the fact that they existed on the servers on August 10, 2007, which is what the initial game servers were based on.
The 449,351 votes that came from the RuneScape playerbase to launch OSRS fell into the second of four levels in the poll, meaning that there would only be a small team responsible for ongoing development and there would be no regular membership polls to decide new content.
It didn't take long for the popularity of OSRS to skyrocket, and as a result, it got both an additional dedicated development team plus regular membership polls to decide new content anyway. Additionally, the free-to-play content that existed in 2007 was made free-to-play in the modern game, with membership available for those interested in exploring the rest of Gielinor.
It took more than three years, but OSRS got its first new quest in 2016, and it was the game's first-ever Grandmaster quest. Nearly 10 years later, the game has more than 50 quests that did not exist on its February 22, 2013 launch date.
Grandmaster quests have remained few and far between, as they should; these kinds of quests are designed to be special, elaborate journeys that take several hours, not minutes, to complete.
A sixth Grandmaster quest, the Myreque series finale, is expected to be released in early 2026. How do the game's current five Grandmaster quests stack up from a difficulty standpoint, and where might the new Vampyre quest slot in?
5. Monkey Madness II
Monkey Madness II was the first new quest to be released in OSRS, and as the first Grandmaster quest, it was the toughest quest in the game at the time.
However, in modern OSRS, its difficulty level is unquestionably surpassed by even a number of Master quests, including but not limited to quests such as Beneath Cursed Sands, Secrets of the North, Sins of the Father, and even A Night at the Theatre, if you include the Theatre of Blood raid as a part of that quest.
Still, it's no pushover, and its challenges go beyond combat. Getting through the long and winding Kruk's dungeon, which puts Zooknock's dungeon from Monkey Madness I to shame, is no easy task. The infamous airship platform, commonly referred to as the "stealth section", has also given players nightmares since launch.
However, what keeps this quest from ranking higher is the battle against Glough. It's one of the most underwhelming quest boss fights in the game, as you literally just have to keep following him, attacking him, and avoid taking too much damage when he pushes or pulls you. The preceding fight against the two tortured gorillas and two demonic gorillas is honestly harder.
4. Song of the Elves
Song of the Elves is another Grandmaster quest that relies on more than just combat for its difficulty status, and we're primarily referring to the Grand Library, which is basically the Temple of Light from Mourning's End II on steroids (to the point where this quest has been labeled Mourning's End Part III). Even if you use a guide, you have to be pinpoint accurate to not lose your place.
Even without that long, long puzzle, however, we'd still slot this one in ahead of Monkey Madness II, even if, again, there are still other Master quests we'd argue are harder. The fight against the Fragment of Seren isn't as challenging as it is long. Its special attacks make it sort of like an OSRS version of Nomad from Nomad's Requiem in a pre-Evolution of Combat era of RuneScape.
It's really a DPS challenge, more than anything else. The special attacks aren't that difficult in and of themselves, but seeing as how one of them is guaranteed to drain almost all of your lifepoints, you can potentially waste the next several seconds healing rather than attacking and doing damage, all while another special attack is on the way as the cycle resets.
There are other combat encounters as well, specifically against Arianwyn and Essyllt, but neither one of those moves the needle to bump this quest up a rank (even if they are more mechanically involved than the Glough fight, for what it's worth).
3. While Guthix Sleeps
If you did While Guthix Sleeps the day it was released, you may disagree with this ranking, but the quest was tweaked after the first day to make it more difficult. Specifically, the battles against Surok Magis and the Balance Elemental were made more challenging.
The Surok Magis fight might be one of the most underrated fights in the game, not just because it's punishing if you make a mistake, but because of the unique methods that transcend regular combat you must utilize to mitigate the potency of his special attacks.
Speaking of punishing if you make a mistake, the Balance Elemental fight is a fast-paced fight that is largely based on split-second gear switching and prayer switching, and at an increased speed and intensity as the fight progresses. If you make even one mistake beyond the halfway point, things can and usually do spiral out of control quite quickly.
Seeing as how so many other Grandmaster quest fights are replayable in some way, shape, or form after the quest, we'd like to see Surok and the Balance Elemental made replayable as well. A "perfect" Balance Elemental achievement would be particularly rewarding.
2. Dragon Slayer II
Dragon Slayer II was released as the long-awaited successor to Dragon Slayer I, which has been by far the longest and most difficult free-to-play quest in the game dating all the way back to its 2001 release. Jagex delivered with this one, which instantly became the game's most challenging quest back in January 2018.
This one has the classic Old School feel to it. Like its predecessor, this one was about getting four pieces to a key (similar to Dragon Slayer I's three pieces to the Crandor map) to open the Lithkren Vault, which effectively unlock the four-phase elemental-based boss fight against Galvek.
But as with any elite OSRS quest, it's not just about the ultimate boss fight. The Karamjan Temple can be extremely punishing, as can the Shayzien Crypt, as you aim to secure those two key pieces. The shipwreck section, and all the dragons you must defeat along the way, create an added challenge in the build-up to the Galvek encounter.
And of course, the fight against Vorkath is considered by many to be just as difficult as the Galvek fight, with Galvek largely coming down more to mastery of mechanics than anything else. While it's easily forgotten, don't sleep on the fight against Robert the Strong, either.
1. Desert Treasure II
Of course, Dragon Slayer II is no longer the most difficult OSRS quest, and that's because of the fact that Desert Treasure II blew all other quests away when it was released in July 2023.
Every single one of the Forgotten Four boss encounters could literally be its own quest, and every single one of those quests would probably rank inside the top six or eight in terms of quest difficulty (okay, except maybe the adventure through the Ghorrock Prison and subsequent fight against Duke Sucellus).
The Stranglewood journey to get to Vardorvis, the Scar journey to get to the Leviathan, and the Lassar Undercity journey to get to the Whisperer are next-level adventures, and even without the post-quest stat boosts, the boss fights are arguably the three hardest quest boss fights in the game. We also can't forget about the post-Vardorvis fight against Kasonde Shaw, which is one a lot of players tend to overlook.
And just because you've gotten all four medallions from the bosses doesn't mean the quest is over. Many consider the Ancient Vault encounter against the Forsaken Assassin, Ketla the Unworthy, Kasonde the Craven, and Persten the Deceitful, the four wights which must be fought in succession without banking, to be the toughest part of the quest. It's certainly far from an afterthought.
TBD: The Blood Moon Rises
Where will The Blood Moon Rises rank? Our guess is no lower than second, and here's why.
First of all, Sins of the Father is the Master-level quest of this series, and we would argue that it is even more difficult than three of the five Grandmaster quests that already exist, and while there are multiple combat encounters in that one, that largely comes down to the fight against Vanstrom Klause.
Likewise, we'd argue that A Taste of Hope, one of the two Experienced-level quests of the series, is on par with a number of Master quests. And we'd also argue that A Night at the Theatre, another Master-level prerequisite for The Blood Moon Rises, should be classified as a Grandmaster quest, if you factor in the raid and its six bosses, even on entry mode.
Second of all, Lowerniel Drakan is currently listed as having level 927 combat, based on his level as an NPC during the Sins of the Father quest. As of now, the highest-level quest boss in the game is Galvek at level 608.
Even if you take the four main Desert Treasure II bosses, which are effectively the entry mode versions of the farmable post-quest versions, and use their post-quest levels (the Leviathan at level 798, the Whisperer at level 791, Vardorvis at level 784, and Duke Sucellus at level 758), Drakan clears them all by over 120. That is also true for post-quest Vorkath at level 732.
And even if Drakan doesn't retain that combat level, it's highly unlikely that there won't be at least a couple of other significant combat encounters during the quest.
We're not saying Jagex is going to release an Awakened-level quest boss, but it would be no surprise to see this quest feature the clear-cut most challenging individual quest boss fight in the game. The question is whether or not the quest will, from start to finish, have enough to topple the Forgotten Four, plus the pesky battle with the wights, from Desert Treasure II. It's certainly a high bar to clear.