Greetings!
This season’s league, I decided to grind things out until I either burned out or reached Dragon tier. After two weeks, my grind has come to an end, I hit my goal. Because of that, I wanted to share some thoughts, as this was my first time actually playing the league instead of just watching streams.
Before starting, I tried to research how long each tier would take and whether it was even possible for someone fairly clueless like me. My first impression was that this would be an infinite grind requiring significant effort. The relic system also felt overwhelming, mostly because I was afraid of “locking” myself out of Dragon tier with poor choices. Time didn’t feel like the biggest issue, my own decisions did.
My saving grace was watching videos from experienced players explaining their setups and paths. Without that, I think I would’ve been completely lost. I probably would’ve made so many poor decisions that I’d lose motivation early on, but thanks to all the available guides and information, I stayed on track.
Tasks were something I knew nothing about. I ended up keeping streams open, going through VODs, and basically following them like a blueprint for quite a while, at least until I had unlocked enough to stand on my own. In a way, I think I robbed myself of some fun by not exploring blindly from day one. But at the same time, progressing faster by unlocking regions and relics gave me motivation to keep going.
One term I heard a lot was “solving” skills, but I didn’t realize how little that actually mattered for reaching Dragon tier. Now, I think skill-solving is more relevant for people aiming to complete everything. For Dragon tier, I honestly feel like I could’ve made plenty of wrong choices and still reached 65,000 points in a reasonable time without getting stuck for days. Experience comes so quickly that maxing all skills felt somewhat inefficient.
For example, I reached 90 Agility mainly through the pirate hook and lamps from quests and diaries. I did fewer than 10 laps of actual Agility courses, yet I had almost completed everything Agility-related. Looking back, things like Hot Foot weren’t nearly as essential for Dragon tier as they initially seemed.
My biggest decisions were my Tier 1 and Tier 4 relics. Golden God always seemed like a must-pick, so I assumed I needed Abundance for gold. I skipped Barbarian Gathering because rune equipment was easy to obtain quickly. I ended up choosing Endless Harvest because I couldn’t think of what I’d really need gold for, and I don’t regret that at all. Being able to step away for real-life things without losing progress was incredibly valuable.
For Tier 4, I initially planned to pick Transmute, but changed my mind because, while it sounded great, it didn’t actually give me much I needed. I didn’t need 99 Farming, Prayer was essentially free, and food was infinite. I really wanted the clue relic because I enjoy clues, but I was worried that not having a Herblore option would hold me back, so I chose the butler. That’s my biggest regret. Herblore barely matters for Dragon tier, and combat easily sustained my potion needs. If I could go back, I’d pick the clue relic without hesitation.
Reaching Dragon tier ultimately taught me one thing: pick what you enjoy. Dragon tier doesn’t require perfect choices, it requires time. Unless you’re chasing top ranks, most paths will lead to you to Rome within a similar timeframe. My biggest personal regret is not choosing the clue relic, not because of points, but because the butler is mostly just QoL for task completion and early XP.
That said, the best decision I made was following a guide early on. Without it, I probably would’ve quit long before reaching my goal.