Is Ironman Mode Right For You? 

The drawback I found to an iron is being in the lategame and then the only grinds left are things like tbow, scythe, and shadow. Gets boring and irritating doing the same raids ad nauseum and being 1900 total raids kc without a single one of those 3 main megarare weapons in your name. Being an endgame iron also ends up not feeling that much different to a main when you're drowning in thousands of brews, restores, etc. Effectively making you basically a main account but with 2nd rate gear because rng hates you.

As a person who switched to the iron as their main, I suggest just trying the game mode. You will know within a week if it’s for you or if it isn’t.

I struggle to decide which one to play since i have a job and family. Ironman is more fun in general but i just dont have the time

I just recently deironed and tbh im quite happy. I think playing an iron for so long has given me an appreciation for all aspects of the game. I dont treat mainscape as gpscape. I just treat it as playing as i normally would and gp is a form of “dryness protection”. Its all about how you view things. Collection log still gives a decent amount of a dopamine hit as well.

I started a HCIM a little while ago. I'm around 90cb now and I enjoy it every moment so far. Yes the occasional heart attacks are something that keeps you awake but it is so much fun. My main is pretty much "maxed", but nothing feels rewarding anymore. Bank on the main is only approx. 600m, so in no way I got everything, but it just becomes boring. Definitely recommend everyone to start a (Hardcore) Ironman

I have been playing my iron man mainly latley. My main had just been AFKing fishing or what-not. But I love iron man cause it makes you do content or train skills that you would normally put on the back burner. Iron man can definitely reinvigorate your love for the game.

I just made a HCIM not too long ago and Im having a blast rediscovering everytbing. But man do I nit miss gettong graceful back

You can die in nmz on a hardcore ironman... You can't die in nmz on group hardcore ironman. Dying every day 3/4 times in the nmz on me hardcore ironman. It is easier than you think honestly, it just takes time to get gains which in turn give you the feeling of having earned it. Aslong you have played the game there is no other way of enjoying this game after what bots have done to it. So much is free gains through bots or other players which you will find out quick enough once you roll the real men account options.

Fairly endgame iron here. The sense of progression is great as you build up a fortune of your own and go for goals to achieve. The "chores" arent as bad as most say. I do bossing/slayer nearly daily and rarely do herb/birdhouse runs; you get a LOT of herbs/nests. The real killer of ironman are the late-game grinds. Going 500 dry at CG for the bowfa, going 1k dry at zulrah for blowpipe, doing 1k TOA for shadow, etc. The ironman gamemode is not designed to work with the ultra-rare items like shadow, tbow, scythe, etc. If you are ok with not having these then it isnt a real issue. If you want them, be prepared for hundreds of hours of grind for one item. Overall, highly recommend the gamemode. If you try and end up not liking it then there is no harm in just going back to your main.

Just for fun. I will sum up my three top reasons why I never considered ironman myself. 1) Economy: Since RS was never just about PvM, like other games are, but you can choose from all sorts of activities you enjoy. I always loved the fact that I can earn money and then sell those items to get items I really want. Just like in the real world. 2) Luck: I always hated luck in games. Even more so if we are talking about hundreds of hours to get what you want. The game doest have so many bosses or minigames because you "should" be doing all of them, but so you can choose what you enjoy doing. = many ways to get to your goal/item. Just the thought of farming a boss that I hate, for tens of hours is horrible. 3) No replayability: When you finally get an item from boss you wanted on ironman, then there is no reason to kill him again right? Normal accounts have all the money reasons to kill him more. I know getting the first abby whip must be amazing...but what about the second one, or the 10th one? You get absolutely nothing from more of them, but normal accounts are still happy cause its money drop for them. Just imagine the difference in joy when you get the first Osmumtens fang compared to the second one. As a normal account you're gonna be very happy even after the 20th fang you get cause its still money, its still something. Eventually, both account types attain similar levels and items; however, the Ironman route demands thousands of additional hours. It's not like the normal game is easy and fast by any means, it's still are such a long grinds and hundred of hours of work, so why making it even more tedious is beyond me :D

i love the idea for a bronze man where you have buy and sell things off the GE but only if you collected that item.

As a decently progressed iron, I wanna add something about the chores part. Imo it's generally vastly overstated how much chores you actually have to do. Farm runs and bird house runs are the big one as unlocking divine super combats takes a very long time. The good thing is that the game really hands you loads of good seeds nowadays between farming contracts, toa, sepulchre and so on. It's nowhere near as slow as it was a couple of years ago. Other big ones are crystal shards for divine pots/crystal armour and bloodshards. Anything else is pretty quick to gather and I personally don't spend much time at all on chores. What I will say is that you can't really rush pvm as much as a main so if you don't want to be insanely scuffed you'll need to do some planning and skilling before getting to the pvm stage of your account.

I've been playing this game off and on since about 2006 and a month ago I started playing an ironman and I wouldn't go back to a main. Before starting an ironman, I was buying gold then playing a bit until I got bored then dumping it all to a gambling website and repeat a few months later. Ironman mode allows you to get back in touch with the game like you did when you first began your journey but with much more content. The grind sucks but it's just part of it. Items mean much more to an ironman than the average player.

2000+ total level on my iron, personally ive had enough herb runs for a lifetime from trying to make money on my main. luckily it's easy to make money on a midgame iron, and kingdom exists to provide almost all the herbs i need. the worst part of iron for me is the difference in luck. ive gotten stupid lucky on some drops, like getting berserker ring and d axe within 10 kills, dwh in about 20, etc. meanwhile went over double the droprate on d pick and still dont have my faceguard after ~3k knights on task. long grinds can be fun but some amount of RNG mitigation would go a long way imo. venator shards are great, we should have more things like that.

I'm almost maxed on my main but I'm getting bored. So I started a regular iron and it's beyond fun! One suggestion is dont worry about efficiency its a blast

I kinda like ironman, but the whole dry grind sounds like hell. I want to be able to do what I want to do, when I want to do it. I go back and forth on whether to try and max or switch to iron. I think clogging on the main is the best of both worlds.

How do y’all feel about playing hardcore Ironman after you die? I have a very hard time continuing the journey

This is just my opinion but if you aren't super well versed in PVM and the mechanics of OSRS it's not worth doing a HCIM. The "might aswell choose a hardcore" mindset is bad simply because you have to play the game a lot more careful, worried and stressed constantly (especially if you aren't very confident in your ability to keep yourself alive). It was not a fun way to play the game for me. Also you will forever appear as a failed hardcore ironman on the high scores (if you care about that), so I actually chose just a normal ironman. If for some reason I am still playing the game in 5 years time and I am very good at the game I might consider a HCIM then. Also if you're just going to play the HCIM like a normal ironman then the case can also be made that you might aswell just play a normal ironman without the potential embarrassment of dying early and that forever being on the highscores attached to your character xD

Started a HCIM a long long time ago because one of my buddies wanted some company doing the 99 wintertodt grind. Slept on it after that for a year while I finished up maxing my main and then burning out post-max. Once I picked it up again I got myself PK'd to remove the hardcore stress it was like playing the game for the first time all over again, everything was so rewarding and I just woke up wanting to log on every single morning and grind. Highly recommend even if it does slow down massively once you get the mid game out of the way and start hunting the "essentials." Like you said though you have to maintain your skills and resources so there's always something to do if you get bored of your current grind and just want to afk. As of this week my IM bank has surpassed my main :)

Honestly. On both my irons I skip the rune scimitar. Go straight for the dragon scimitar

I'll be honest, I think starting a hardcore just because "why not" is a trap. I think one of the most fun times in a runescape account is when it is brand new. All those levels and progressing quickly through gears and methods is a dopamine rush you aren't afforded later in an account's lifespan. Making yourself a hardcore and being stressed out about dying kinda dampens the experience in my opinion, especially if you know you are probably going to lose it at some point early on anyway. Might as well just start as a regular iron and just not worry about it. It's easy to say you don't care, but it does affect how you play, the thought is always there.

I've played many hours of both, mains I find are far to repetitive, feels like a chore rather than enjoying, I play both and have had 2 ironmen now onto my 2nd ironman solo other is in a group.

ironman's a blast early game, and a nightmare in late game when you want a bofa/tbow/shadow ect. I play a main, and I play leagues & DMM to get my fix for early game nostalgia

I'm in full support of the iron man as long as it's Burthorpe locked

Ironman is the only way the truly enjoy this addicting game

Hc status is trash IMO. You know how many times I’ve lagged out and have perfect internet connection? Probably 10+. If the servers were fixed it would mean something. Hc status means you are lucky enough to not lag out in a bad spot due to mass bot changing worlds, and you can do CG.

I don't feel like endgame is a chore anymore, 5 years ago absolutely, but the game has gotten so QOL for irons.

Endgame ironman is unsustainable for anyone with a job or life outside this game. Getting to like bowfa is fun, and then once you get to raids it becomes a drag where you're just playing the lottery. Quitting to play my main was the best decision i've made

I just see it as the game was intended, after the first little skill slump leveling everything just flows together from skill to skill.

u shouldnt be starting off as a hardcore if u dont plan to stay a hardcore. when u get to 2k total on a regular iron but u died at 500 total as a hcim it looks really bad imo. just start off as a grey helm if u dont plan to stay a hcim forever.

Long question and answer shot... Are you new to the game? Yes: Go play normie account No: Go play iron or you leave the game after a month already.

Bro, aren’t you that creepy guy that left the voicemails to that girl off tinder off moist criticals channel?

Maxed main switched to Ironman and so much more rewarding my main is now an ancient relic only 1.8k total on the iron but enjoying everyday the grind

A way to explain ironman mode is. Say you buy a 1000 puzzle. An ironman has to finnish the puzzle by him self and when done you get to be very happy and proud. A non ironman player will first buy the 1000 puzzle and they put some gp on it and pay for it to be finnished. No pride, no joy

I made a HCIM last year after multiple years away from the game and it is the most fun I have ever had with my 20+ years on and off with runescape. It is only a few dozen levels from maxing with all 'buyables' banked still with hardcore intact. Definitely advise playing hardcore as you mentioned, as the current ironman non hardcore meta is pretty main-light right now. Normal ironmen just rush wildy for infinite cash and supplies, then rush corrupted gauntlet for free left click every boss bow, and then just camp raids for all 3 mega rare weapons. Hardcores generally have to actually play the full progression of the game, especially if trying to keep an account alive rather than remaking a bunch of high risk rush accounts. High end supplies like brews, sanfews, guthix rests, moonlight antelopes, phoenix necklaces, and the such all feel far more rewarding too as every best in slot food is a shield for the status. Personally questing and going dry tends to not be too big of an impact. There is normally a decent easy to obtain downgrade for nearly anything in the game. Warhammer has Bone Dagger, BowFa has Crystal Bow, and similar things. It also can lead to a shift in object based on what not going dry on. I don't like raids, so melee will always be the strongest style. This made things like going for Nex more enticing as Torva would be a great assistance to it. But if getting something like a ZCB there it could shift the need to get Blowpipe, Serp Helm, and Ring of Endurance to go get the ACB from Sara. Personally at a point right now where I have Bandos Chestplate at 8 kc and Torva Full Helm at 1,100 kc (both extremely under drop rate) making it so the next best move is to camp Nex even more for a 2nd Torva piece to breakdown the chestplate, but likely wouldn't have gone Nex if it wasn't for the early bandos drop influencing progression. Similar can happen when doing dry. If 15k kills no dragon warhammer, this makes ToB less viable, but ToA more viable, but also makes getting 99 slayer and heart more viable doing the warhammer grind alongside slayer.

I hope they purge OSRS of all iron mode accounts and just delete them without any notice.

Uim is supreme

Take the plunge, it's infinitely more fulfilling. Regular iron is the way, don't even bother making a hc - put that nonsense out of your mind

look i dont mean to sound rude but in the video you make it sound like the no trading rule is mostly a downside to you... but that is the WHOLE POINT of ironman mode. like what joy would you find in making an ironman if you dont like the concept of not being able to trade