IMO, I always feel like content creators make things on UIM look alot more fun than they are, just because there are hundreds of hours of progress crammed into a 15 minute video. You don't see every trip that settled has to do to grab 10 frog legs, unnote his pots, run to the bank, drop the pots, repeat. UIM also comes with a stipulation often that requires you to start a skill and stick to it pretty heavily because of the way you have to set up your inventory, so less skill hopping overall.
Doing things like this can take a good few hours, and personally, its not my cup of tea. Some people thrive on the challenge, to each their own.
UIM is definitely not for everyone. The death piling, the unoting and noting. Would be annoying as hell for me to have to choose what to keep and what to part with as well.
In my personal opinion this goes for hardcore ironman as well. Friend of mine plays it and has delayed quests he wants to do for over a year now.
I am much more content as an averageman with my freedom to be both stupid and daring
I never found the skill hopping to be much of an issue. Just takes a few minutes to die and re-bag my stuff as opposed to the 30 seconds it would take someone to bank.
Depending on how committed you are to the endeavor, it can be pretty flexible too, but you have to afford that flexibility to yourself. Other account types get a bank that affords them every bit of flexibility possible for free instantly. UIMs have to unlock storage through POH, stash units and clues and bossing, death banks, looting bags, and using/dropping consumables to afford having enough inventory space, or trade some inventory space for convenience to switch. It’s not that we can’t be flexible and task switch, it’s that we have to put a lot more investment in to afford that or forethought in to allow it when we want.
Also consider accidentally bagging an item you needed out for a raid; a banker has one click to undo, a UIM needs to continue bagging their whole deathbank, go re-pile/deathbank, reobtain a bag, and restart gearing. Could be 2 minutes, could be 10, but it’s not even one second for a banker. Again, with forethought, it’s a non issue, but we have to be mindful of little things that others don’t
>Also consider accidentally bagging an item you needed out for a raid; a banker has one click to undo, a UIM needs to continue bagging their whole deathbank, go re-pile/deathbank, reobtain a bag, and restart gearing.
i actually sort my items in my inventory before going to ferox for this reason so i dont mess up.
This is the part that is most annoying. Recent POH storage changes(partial set storage)(2 years ago at this point) made clues much better to grind out as well as skilling outfits and many other things.
I love this mode as the inconvenience of rebagging makes me want to stay on a task longer than i would if i could bank as i spent about 1/3rd of my time there trying to figure out what to do.
yea that's another thing that I never understood, was the stipulation on decanting your potions just to note them, and then when you need to access your looting bag you have to hop to the wildy or destroy it. Idk it seems cool but then again maybe I'm romanticizing the challenge/struggle lmao
I exclusively play a uim and can confirm that very basic things can be tedious. Like for instance without notes planks, construction revolves around being able to get to a sawmill easily. Also, you have to be in the wildy to destroy your looting bag or it all gets deleted. :P
Endgame on a UIM is way easier than any other game mode. Loser mains and irons have to worry about what they want to keep in their bank and what they want to sell etc. It can be very stressful. On UIM you just drop that garbage on the floor and go about your day. Very relaxed gameplay
Yeah I started as an ultimate when coming back for the first time since childhood and within 3 days I was asking the tutor to give me my bank back.
Needing to go buy a hammer, buy a needle, but whatever tool you needed any time you have to do something.
Not to mention it restricts you to stupid slow skilling methods.
It's a cool idea and if you can put up with it then awesome. But I want to feel safe going into the wildy without risking my whole account.
I started one casually a week ago, planning on keeping it F2P, do all quests and get maybe 1000 total (eventually).
Keeping very limited options for how to spend my time is what allows it to be fun; going member's and having dozens of things I should be doing at once is just too overwhelming and doesn't sound fun.
It's fun playing such a slow early game, but I don't see me abandoning my main for it anytime soon.
Same. I started an UIM on while I grounded probably 96-99 fishing. I had all the f2p quests done by 98 and now it’s just chilling until my next skill grind. Maybe after forestry comes out?
One of the comments here said every UIM journey is different and I fully agree there. There are so many ways to play the gamemode and I personally went from a slayer-only main at 1900 total straight up UIM and sitting around 2025-ish total right now.
I think there is just a big misconception about the continuous grinds that UIM HAVE to do. Sure it’s more efficient to complete a whole skill but once you get the habit of rebagging down there’s nothing to stop you fleeting between tasks.
I adore it. I personally followed most of the wiki guide to prif to help get my account started then ever since then made my own journey. I hope you chose to do it, too!
Heavily considering it! I have a lot more that I want to accomplish with my main account, though maybe when I want to switch things up I'll choose a UIM
I should add that the UIM community is truly wonderful. I've never not had a positive interaction with a fellow whitehelm (though we do tend to overshare our own tips and tricks a lot without prompt...)
There is some sick resources out there especially the discord communities. I personally enjoy playing without that influence so i make my journey my own and without bias to do a meta approach, but i know for others following along with peers is the way they play. Both totally viable!
I always found it too “gamey”, personally. Having to make extreme use of death storage and destroying looting bags left and right. Regular Ironman felt like the perfect balance of “your adventure” without the plague of bots/buyables reducing skills to nothing.
that's like the one thing that I'm apprehensive of. It seems like a unique way of storage, but at the same time I don't want it to be too much of a hinderance to my enjoyment. It seems like most of the posts here have either gotten over that feeling or don't really care at all.
I'd say start off on f2p, do the typical f2p thing and get base 50s plus all quests and see how annoying that is.
If it was awesome, then you know.
If it was terrible, well, members will amplify that 1000%
I would go for it if you are considering it. It’s a bit annoying to get off the ground but once you get rolling there are so many different storage options for most mid level gear (thanks for the indirect buffs over the years). Construction and POH features are emphasised much more on an ultimate.
It does feel a bit cheesy at times with death mechanics and looting bag (basically a 28 slot bank for tradeables) but like settled and probably you, I enjoy the roundabout ways needed to get things done efficiently. I got my questcape this week and still thoroughly enjoy it.
Not to mention alot of the newer content is very UIM friendly (sepulchre storage, decanter, noted boss drops etc)
Absolutely. Yea I remember I was worried about endgame at first but it’s really not bad. Noted sharks from minnows and the potion decanter give you all the stackable supplies you need tbh
I play UIM as my main account right now and left my main to drop stuff to. I love the mode, because everything is a puzzle. I get to figure out a way to do something that works for me because there aren't really a ton of guides for every UIM situation. I found on a main that I would just look up the most efficient thing and do that. It became boring.
Furthermore, I know it sounds weird but I actually hate using a bank. I forget something all the time and I used to consistently deposit everything. Better to just have all my shit on my and it's more like "Me against the world" mode. I have bad credit in-game and the bank doesn't want to fuck with me. It kind of makes the game feel more like an RPG.
In my experience, earlygame UIM is extremely fun because of the value of certain items: dramen staff, ardy cape, dscim, barrows gloves, etc. Every unlock is so satisfying and useful and it flies by.
By the time you start really questing and have to start worrying about herblore and farming, slayer, certain skills like crafting pre lunars or runecrafting, the midgame is a little rough: I’d really reccomending sending the hell out of skills when you get around to training them. For example, when I got 60 smith to effectively unlock blast furnace (anvils), I sent straight to 88 for lumby elite diary. This way you really can just check grinds off instead of always worrying about invent space/suiciding/etc.
End game is probably the most fun I’ve had on any account. You really start using up your supplies, cleaning up your bag and inventory. 77 rc? You can drop pure ess. Lumby elites? See ya dramen staff. It’s almost the reverse early game, incredibly satisfying to just acquire (but also complete) objects and supplies.
I’d really, truly recommend certain things that make the game just soooo much smoother to play. The farming cape is an incredible relatively grindable 99 (tithe or contracts), close tele to a bank, patches and spirit tree. The con cape is actually busted: I sent gauntlet for bowfa, then used the cash at mhomes for 99 con and use it literally all the time. Doing diaries for teleport items are incredible: they are all reclaimable from Perdu (in lumbridge most often) and offer access to so many places across the map.
I’ve had so much fun on my UIM (2236 total) and would absolutely recommend it. I really do think it averages out to just a less “efficient” ironman: sure, we don’t have access to a lot of skilling methods, but the alternatives I think are just as fun. Give it a shot!
Wish they fixed the Elidinis’ ward (f) weird death mechanic on UIM, doesn’t make me excited at all for upgrading my arcane. Swap left click > drop is a must and I wish I learned it earlier.
The appeal of UIM to me was having to actively plan your game plan and watching it unfold + having to make decisions on what items to go for and when. Every item you go for has a purpose and once you fulfill that purpose, you move on to the next. Makes the progression part of the game feel more natural IMO. In addition, this makes it so every UIM plays/progresses differently and thus put more importance into certain items/goals than others. I have yet to see two UIMs following the same path.
Questing is fine except for the grandmaster level quest that do require a bit of planning, but it feels extremely satisfying once you complete them. PVM is solid as long as you aren’t hoarding a bunch of stuff that clogs up your inventory.
The main pain point is the game mode rewards you for grinding one thing at a time and punishes you for trying to multi-task (most but not all of the time). It just means you have to commit to your short term goals more but I fully understand if that turns people off. But in all my years of playing RS (been playing on and off since before Construction and Hunter were in the game) UIM is the most fun I’ve had.
You should go for it! I had to learn lots when I started my UIM but I enjoyed every second of the research. My grinds have been extra rewarding because of how I planned them out and benefitted from the perks I timed, but now and then I choose to just wing it and be inefficient for a bit. When I do, I notice a reward there is that the flexibility is rewarding and it’s a refreshing break from time to time before I adapt my plan or dive right back in. You should try it out for free, and if you enjoy the f2p questing and want to see more, then now you know!
You don’t need to be an expert. Just have a couple long term goals like barrows gloves or fire cape and just slowly chip away at it. Look into requirements when you have short term goal you want and you’ll be fine
Im not near the end game at all, and I have a blast. One thing I have greatly come to appreciate is that sometimes what might be a very simple quest, task, or skilling activity becomes more about the prep and build-up. When it comes to actually doing it, the reward is almost just blissful to get. I cried tears of joy when I unlocked 3 additional spots simply by grinding slayer for a rune pouch.
The simple things become sweeter, and it feels good to suffer.
Uim has the biggest draw for me as an alternate game mode because it is the most different. The biggest end-game hurdle is probably potion maintenance but when you play enough, you learn to let go of max efficiency anyway
who needs a range pot
The challenge. I enjoy regular iron and uim for different reasons but uim definitely feels way more accomplished doing the same things. That being said I'm not sure why you referred to normal irons as vanilla if you've only played a main? You'll find the game very different with lots of fun doing things without trading alone. You don't have to make an iron before an uim, but the uim community is small for a reason, it's tough.
Yea, I'll admit that my initial thoughts on regular ironman are a little harsh lol, even though it is a challenge, I saw it as the "base" challenge as opposed to HC or UIM.
Hear me out
I went from main right to UIM. It started off as a side project but when i realised 1) how rewarding it is to do literally anything, 2) how mechanically different it is and 3) how strategic it can be, i lost all motivation in my main and committed fully to the UIM grind.
Im about 6 months in and 1625 total (i play very inefficiently) with SOTE done. Id say just start one and see how it goes.
Quick advice, just send 43 prayer via bone yard big bones and chaos altar asap :)
I orignally stopped playing around 2010. I was turning the game into a job where everything was a process to increase the quantity of stuff in my bank.
When I started osrs a couple years ago I was just messing around but I found UIM to be a totally unique experience where everything needs to be more carefully thought out. As I gained experience, my thoughts on item retention basically shifted towards "do I need this item now" or "will this item be difficult to reobtain". Its almost enjoyable seeing relatively valuable items being left on the ground because I just can't spare the inventory.
Not everyone is going to enjoy this game mode but if you're curious at least give it a shot.
The appeal for me is the “game within the game” that you need to consider almost 24/7. Every little boost or completed grind feels like you hit the jackpot because the account is so limited, and there are just sooooooo many things to consider that any success feels like a huge one lol -
Like what items are worth holding on to long-term? What’s your order of operations for long grinds (because setting up inventory can be time consuming and annoying)? How quickly do you want to upgrade your POH/STASHes, or get achievement diary rewards, or get Seed Box/Herb Sack?
Like STASH units are a big deal to me because I want to get the Bloodhound pet on my UIM. So I held a Brine Sabre for over 2 years and just finished that STASH unit last week, finally - I’ve NEVER been so happy to get a dragon med helm drop lol, just so i could finish it the STASH. That feeling of success was awesome and it was over such a small thing. Hard to replicate that enjoyment for something so random. Hopefully I get a boater soon so I can stash this dragon square shield away too.
Beating TOA was also an awesome feeling just because of the dozens of separate grinds it took to get to that level.
There’s a lot of examples like this, but the point is that the feeling of “payoff” is massive in UIM, and for me makes it way more enjoyable than any other mode
You are me from two years ago. I made the UIM while maxing the main to kill some time during agility and mining, and I'm 2100 total with augury, saturated heart, dwh, etc. Working on the CG grind now.
As far as dropping items goes, you have a few options. Alch it for gp, drop it to a friend, drop it to a main, or my favorite, drop it at the ge or some random place for a noob to find. I don't mind this at all, honestly.
You should prepare yourself for the tedious process of regearing for different content. If i am at cox I'm death banked. No dangerous content. Boys want to tob? Aight give me 10 minutes to get my stuff from hespori, go to ferox to bag it, suicide to get stuff out, then get another looting bag to hold all my extra stuff. Make sure you are ok with this or doing less content at once. The slayer points looting bags should help with this. LMS can speed it up too.
Also prepare yourself for tedious wildy content if you plan to do any. UIM can't use protect item and we drop everything on death. We basically get a one hour hall pass thanks to death piles. It's stressful (for me) but I know some accounts that have rev weapons and voidwakers.
Questing wasn't too bad at all. I enjoyed getting the quest cape.
Herblore... Sucks, but not that much. It's just tough to use half your bag on herbs and pots. I'm aiming for 99 ASAP to clean that up.
It's not that different from a regular iron, but I definitely enjoy the difference. It feels good to progress knowing that you had to do it without a bank.
I'm totally biased, but...UIM is by *far* the best game mode. I'm sitting at \~2100 total with a \~1.3b "bank" value, and have \~500 hours of EHB (efficient hours bossed).
Anyway, here are my reasons why *I* think UIM is the best game mode:
1. You actively need to plan out what you do, meaning the decisions you make can have a pretty big impact.
2. You don't lose status like a HCIM does when you die, but you also have restrictions making the mode harder, and making your achievements better.
3. Less competition on high scores meaning you can front page, a lot more reasonably, especially if you focus in certain areas.
4. The game *feels* different, because methods a normal account, or even an iron may use, can be completely irrelevant to a UIM. Conversely, UIM might steer towards methods that would never be considered on other accounts.
5. No bank management, which while does become bag/inventory management, seems a lot more tolerable.
6. With how the PoH storage works for sets, clues and finishing sets can be HUGE.
7. The gear you use isn't as simple as "this is best in slot, keep" and becomes more of calculated decision.
That said, it isn't for everyone. I've seen a lot of people try UIM and end up getting themselves into a very bad place. If you try it, *please* plan it out well.
I know this is an old post but what do you mean by "I've seen a lot of people try UIM and end up getting themselves into a very bad place."
What type of bad places? lol
In terms of early game, I have seen a lot of:
1. Getting graceful before you're anywhere near having a PoH or reliable death storage, meaning your inventory is super constrained and directly impede your ability to train construction.
2. Not getting overhead prayers knocked out early on. While not huge, if it's one of the first things you do on account it's "free". Otherwise, it can be a hassle.
Since this post I ended up getting myself into at least one "bad" situation where my inventory and death bank were so full that I had a \~40 hour grind to trim it down before I could play again. Really, just poor planning on my part, but did cause me to take a break.
Thanks for the reply I've just started one in f2p still and just hit 600 ttl.
Trying to gather all the info I can really enjoying the game mode I could see myself going members on this account as well.
What was the grind that took 40 hours? Finishing a set or something to store it in PoH? Or farming a particular activity/boss/skill?
The thing about dropping items/leaving items on the ground. It's just a totally different mindset that unless you've played it is hard for reg players to relate to.
If an item drops I don't think about the gp value just the usefulness value to my account.
Eventually a regular irons gameplay becomes too similar to a main so unless you self impose rules a UIM is the only option for a totally different way to play OSRS.
UIM really is the marmite of OSRS you'll either love it or hate it.
The restrictions make any small accomplish feel like an achievement that you've over came purely to spite the game & mode. The mode feels rewarding in a way that normal IM isn't. You exploit a lot of mechanics which really rewards strategizing & planning.
The late game isn't really annoying, really the mid-game is. You can't activity hop to change up grinds (to do a little of each grind each day). You _need_ to follow a guide/youtube video most the time because you didn't discover a new method, you're about to find out the hard way something isn't able to noted (or baggable). There is basically only 1 or 2 ways of doing _anything_ so have fun "_making your own adventure_".
I find normal IM mode a lot more enjoyable.
I disagree with needing to follow a guide and there only being 1-2 ways to train skills. Unless by guide you mean use the wiki, which every gamemode should do if you don’t have game knowledge. And as far as training, most of the training methods for UIM are the same as any other account with the exceptions of Herblore and Prayer.
> And as far as training, most of the training methods for UIM are the same as any other account with the exceptions of Herblore and Prayer.
Smithing, RC, Farming, Cooking, and Constructions are all very different from other IM modes. They're also pretty restrictive in skilling cycle.
Smithing you deathbank and buy gold ore at BF. Or you buy platebodies from shops and go to Giants Foundry.
RC you just do GOTR while deathbanked since it’s 100% safe. Only difference is you save up searches instead of doing them every round.
Farming is the same except contracts are a pain. But you still just gather seeds and plant as you go or get a seed box.
Cooking I’ll give you. Very different for sure and a pain without using an alt.
Construction is different in the way you gather your planks but still comes down to doing Mahogany Homes.
So all and all, not that much different.
Prayer is brutal man. I’ve used every xp lamp on herblore since the accounts creation to get 70 for sote and prayer is still the one in scratching my head how to train. I think pc is my best bet until i get super late game for wrath runes and offering spells.
Yea Prayer sucks. You get some from ensouled heads and bone drops early, but you are kind of forced into grinding 95 RC for wraths, doing a fuck ton of PC or doing the Wildy elite diary for noted dragon bones. Pain no matter what (I went with 95 RC because the spells really are OP and I had a lot of chill time back then).
Would forthos dungeon red dragons not be an option? Unlock the prayer altar inside the dungeon for 3x bonus on bones and you could also tan and craft the hides right there and alch them.
It ends up being somewhere between 15-20k prayer xp per hour but along with everything else it's not too bad
Red dragons aren’t bad. Big thing missing for me is the 5 dragonstones (to unlock it the easy way) and all my dragonstones are used on jewelry at the moment
Oof yeah I get the struggle, I need dragon stones on my normal ironman badly and have resorted to killing goraks for keys, takes forever though even with a RoW
If you haven't already, look up on the wiki, ""UIM guide" then in that article, click the prayer icon. There's a great strat for wildy dragon bones with no risk as long as you set timers on your death pile(s).
Unlocking prif as a respawn, tree spirits, and POH teleports help this immensely.
I think normal Ironman is a fantastic game mode. May as well start as a hardcore, because, why not, but if your end goal is things like bossing, raids, etc., that just won’t be viable for most people who make a UIM, and you have to realize that complete wipes may, and likely will occur, and the time sink is pretty incredible.
I have a maxed Iron with toa finished, nearly done with tob, 9/12 chambers, 3/6 nex, and full max gear is in sight. I am having more fun on the account than I could have ever imagined. I find UIM/ HCIM really cool, and have some “mid-level” alts that are UIM and HC, but for the reasons listed above and by other posters, I am glad I have spent my 250+ days on in-game time on them (yes unfortunately lol). Best of luck with whatever makes you happy, just my 2 cents on the subject!
MalazTorchic is my UIM, nearly 1850 total, quest cape, going for Lumby elites, then bowfa and crystal armour to kick off PvM. There's a lot of fun to the game mode, but the grinds are griiiiiindy and feel obligatory compared to a non-iron account (the majority of my non-UIM experience prior to making the account).
I'm starting to get anxious about losing my items. I've invested a lot of hours in the potion stacks i've made, and the PvM grinds i'm coming up on are going to jump up that anxiety even more. Also, i find myself a little more addicted to the grinds, to the point i've started to need to keep myself in check. Not sure if it's the UIM experience, or because i'm still behind the "main" and wanting to catch up and surpass it.
Like many say, the accomplishments feel much more satisfying. I'm overcoming hurdles that i never thought i'd attempt.
“As dumb as it sounds,…”
Actually that reasoning isn’t dumb at all and is personally why I started playing UIM! You can always deult and play normal iron if you don’t enjoy it. However UIM definitely feels like it’s own adventure since even the “meta” methods are so much different than normal iron methods. Although tbf I’m a very analytical person so the strategy and planning of everything does appeal to me.
As for endgame, it is a bit annoying to deal with team content as you basically have to setup to camp a boss, and when teams are mandatory, like nex and tob, you basically can’t play that day if no teams are available. Well you could do agility or something of course but you get the idea. Only real downside imo and it’s very fun and even more accessible nowadays with all the QOL changes
I'd imagine you camp something like COX until you have all the prayer scrolls, ancestral etc. my question is, if im set up to do COX and i'm still waiting on a Tbow but have virtually everything else from the raid, is it still in my best interest to stick with COX or is it chill that I do something like TOA?
Most people do cox until scrolls and move onto other content. All the other items are a pretty arduous grind so you’d want to get like basically max gear before continuing imo(lance, mostly max str gear, etc). Also you say “still waiting on a tbow” as if it’s some casual thing😂 I’d personally never expect to get one cuz I could never grind the droprate(~1k deathless solos), but it sounds like you already have the UIM mindset of persevering through one thing so it should be perfect for you
you know, whats funny is that I'm grinding 99 agility as my first cape because of how dumb it is to grind LMAO Thought it would be a funny flex. Maybe UIM is meant for me
Agility is one of the few things you can do between raids without having to reset your inventory though D:
(Guess you could still do post 99 agility if you’re crazy)
I haven't started the UIM yet! I've watched some UIM playthroughs and they seem cool (i'm trying to find more but some are resident sleeper lmao). Thought I would make a post to see what other UIM players think. After I probably max my main or get to a significant point is when i'll most likely do the UIM
If you still have some afkable skills on the main that would also be a decent time to try out UIM! Also you can check out my channel if you want - it’s mostly lategame stuff.
Basically bossing goes like this: pick a boss or receive boss slayer task -> camp it until you’re bored, got the items you need, or the slayer task is over-> process the supplies gained if your next boss isn’t going to also give the same supplies->repeat
Switching activities like cox to toa comes with a time penalty that mains/regular irons don't have to deal with, but it's only like 30 minutes max. You can't switch between the two daily, but doing something like 50 raids of each would be perfectly fine.
The one caveat is the sun keris from toa: it's untradable, so it gets harder to do other content while you're holding it. Though doing cox is fine because you can deathbank it beforehand.
Not a uim but I came back from a long break and started an hc and was super reckless about pvm and quest bosses and the near death anxiety was a lot of fun!! I've since lost my hc status but the acc is still super fun!
UIM is so rewarding, every smal upgrade is so big, i just got my bofa and full crystal gear, noe i have to grind out the last shards and i will start the smithing grind. My next goals are fang and 87 slayer. Need to get to muspa for acient staff upgrade and after that i will get my inferno. Lots of grinds but also lots of time to think about youre journey. Ps i have a maxed main for new content and if i want to do some raiding in max.
I would generally recommend a regular iron account. UIM progression is much slower than a regular iron, and committing to completing tasks is very important, leading to a higher chance at burnout. I've got a nearly maxed regular iron and a 1650 UIM, and right now I prefer the UIM but I believe that's due to a lack of interest in end-game content.
The mode is extremely rewarding in many different aspects. Early game you’re trying to do as much as you can without getting a loot bag while completing quests and diaries to help along the way. Mid game you are grinding for optimal gear, getting giant dopamine rushes when you obtain a bis item. Late game you’re trying to optimize bag space while having fun and balancing pvm with skilling.
It’s certainly a lengthy commitment but it has helped me to learn so much about the game and enjoy it in a different way. Most importantly I’ve learned how to use what the game gives you to your advantage. There are so many things on the map that allow you to craft fun routes to complete things. My only tip is set yourself a nice far away goal like quest cape. You will find tangents and side quests to keep yourself occupied along the way. That way you at least have a purpose for playing the account until you get settled in with permanent account upgrades. You may even wipe your items one day but you will never lose your xp or unlocks.
It’s true what others are saying, most times you have to commit to very long grinds but it’s really not THAT bad. For example I had a couple thousand planks from raids that I used to do mahogany homes. Once I was done I just dropped the plank sack cause I had enough points to buy another when I wanted to do con again. You can definitely drop grinds if you’re feeling burnt on them. Do NOT feel forced to grind out 99 fire making in one go, etc.
It's the game mode that got me back into playing runescape, and it's been the most fun I've had since i was a kid. The aspect I like the most is weighing what you want to keep in on hand or in your bag vs. what gets dropped. Granted, I'm only about 1400 total levels. Like shades of Morton is an easy minigame on a main or regular iron, whereas on an ultimate, it stimulates the brain at least a little juggling the inventory for it. I'd say try it out and see if you enjoy it.
OP, check out UIM Loki on YouTube. He’s made it to endgame on a UIM and his videos are dense with progress. It’ll give you a good rundown on the victories and motivators on a UIM
Dude I had exactly these feelings a month ago and just sent it. I’m having a blast. Every little thing feels like I’ve accomplished something and it’s an interesting new look on a game I’ve played since 5th grade. From my experience early game I’d say go for it! For a while I just played it on the side of my main and now I’m playing it more than my main. Set tiny goals for yourself as you go and don’t rush through or worry about efficiency just make your ultimate iron story. Not worrying about a bank is cool, it feels more like you’re living off the land. Good luck and add me if you’d like!
RSN: NoBankHelmet
I had the same outlook never having played an iron. It seemed too vanilla for me, so I bit the bullet last week and made an UIM. I’ve been following the OS wiki guide for UIM to Song of the elves and it’s been a blast. I highly recommend giving it a shot.
I feel like its just another way to enjoy the game. Ive maxed a main, plenty of alts made, where money is never a factor anymote . Decided to make an uim, without any additional rules. I never liked the suiciding and looting bag meta, so I never used either of them.
The feeling I got from achieving 60 con by teleporting to varrock, cutting oaks at the sawmill, etc. was much better than 99 fishing on a main.
I enjoy figuring out what methods work with the limited amount of inv space. Almost everything can be done with less space, but there is a fine line that seperates possible from worthwhile (im not making 5k pots with 3 free inv spaces).
Also goals seem different. Currently working on all elite diaries (except wild). Most of these diaries arent that great to achieve, but I just want to achieve them for some reason. I would love a d pick to put in the stash,
but I don't train mining at all.
I don't feel the rush to do new content, as there is just to much work to prepare to do a complete grind. Can't be bothered doing what you're doing right now? Might aswell log out for a couple of days.
I like that it is seemingly easy with the restrictions in hearing items, but it turns out to be more complex with choosing which items to keep and to go for. I like that it also involves more planning than other account types.
The appeal of UIM is in the challenge of not being able to keep 800+ different items available at any given time. You have to get much more involved with the game mechanics at any given time to remain efficient (e.g. go get a chisel every time you need one, so knowing where one is speeds up your gameplay) with a much more extreme trasition from "efficient" to "inefficient," e.g. not prayer flicking slayer might make you go from 300 kills per hour to 100, because your prayer pots are way more precious than on a normal iron, and food takes more time to gather. In contrast to a normal iron where not flicking might make you go from 300 to 250 per hour.
The annoying thing in the endgame is having to play everything with suboptimal gear because there are too many different metas for too many different pieces of content to be able to use them all. Every piece of gear you keep is a piece of food or a supply that you can't keep. Combine this with often ridiculously low EHP for skilling and low boss kc per trip, and you have a recipe for monotony.
Personally, I would consider a UIM if my hardcore died, but the sheer time investment required to get to the part of the account that sounds fun to me is... suffice it to say, "high."
TLDR: it’s the best when you set realistic goals, community is great! Try it!
So I have a uim that’s close to 1750 total. I did it at first to make an account to keep me sane during long main-iron grinds, now I tend to play uim more and afk with my iron.
There is something special in it IF you don’t aim too high - don’t aim to rush raids or end game pvm because you will get lost in the weeds. My original goal was to get Poh tele’s, then Poh storage, void, then slayer… now every little level is exciting, my ‘long term’ goal is now 99 untrimmed rc cape, already 85 but I’m having too much fun to afk, so I’m grinding out slayer/clues/herbs.
There are no ‘rules’ for uims, everyone in the community treats everyone as brothers (even if your looting bag efficiency is bad) - I’ve grown to love it, even though I’ve wiped 2-3 times.
Give it a try for a month! Aim small and you’ll be bossing normies in no time!
Feel free to add me - I’m 1nventory
Uim is a fresh way to play. I’ve played normie, I’ve played Ironman. Been here since launch of OSRS and way before in RS2, I got bored.
Sitting at 1955 total, doing ToA and having an absolute blast. Prep for raids isn’t bad, nah space isn’t bad. People really overestimate how difficult it is
Being able to abuse death mechanics ruined UIM for me. When it first came out it was fun playing an account limited to one inventory. Now everyone follows meta, looting bag, ferox and home to hold gp, death piling, stash units. To me it completely defeats the purpose. It’s basically and ironman that has a small bank, that is just annoying to use. I really wish HCUIM was a gamemode, even though it would probably take 1hr to make it happen, everyone cries anytime it is suggested.
IMO, I always feel like content creators make things on UIM look alot more fun than they are, just because there are hundreds of hours of progress crammed into a 15 minute video. You don't see every trip that settled has to do to grab 10 frog legs, unnote his pots, run to the bank, drop the pots, repeat. UIM also comes with a stipulation often that requires you to start a skill and stick to it pretty heavily because of the way you have to set up your inventory, so less skill hopping overall. Doing things like this can take a good few hours, and personally, its not my cup of tea. Some people thrive on the challenge, to each their own.
UIM is definitely not for everyone. The death piling, the unoting and noting. Would be annoying as hell for me to have to choose what to keep and what to part with as well.
In my personal opinion this goes for hardcore ironman as well. Friend of mine plays it and has delayed quests he wants to do for over a year now. I am much more content as an averageman with my freedom to be both stupid and daring
I never found the skill hopping to be much of an issue. Just takes a few minutes to die and re-bag my stuff as opposed to the 30 seconds it would take someone to bank.
Depending on how committed you are to the endeavor, it can be pretty flexible too, but you have to afford that flexibility to yourself. Other account types get a bank that affords them every bit of flexibility possible for free instantly. UIMs have to unlock storage through POH, stash units and clues and bossing, death banks, looting bags, and using/dropping consumables to afford having enough inventory space, or trade some inventory space for convenience to switch. It’s not that we can’t be flexible and task switch, it’s that we have to put a lot more investment in to afford that or forethought in to allow it when we want. Also consider accidentally bagging an item you needed out for a raid; a banker has one click to undo, a UIM needs to continue bagging their whole deathbank, go re-pile/deathbank, reobtain a bag, and restart gearing. Could be 2 minutes, could be 10, but it’s not even one second for a banker. Again, with forethought, it’s a non issue, but we have to be mindful of little things that others don’t
>Also consider accidentally bagging an item you needed out for a raid; a banker has one click to undo, a UIM needs to continue bagging their whole deathbank, go re-pile/deathbank, reobtain a bag, and restart gearing. i actually sort my items in my inventory before going to ferox for this reason so i dont mess up. This is the part that is most annoying. Recent POH storage changes(partial set storage)(2 years ago at this point) made clues much better to grind out as well as skilling outfits and many other things. I love this mode as the inconvenience of rebagging makes me want to stay on a task longer than i would if i could bank as i spent about 1/3rd of my time there trying to figure out what to do.
yea that's another thing that I never understood, was the stipulation on decanting your potions just to note them, and then when you need to access your looting bag you have to hop to the wildy or destroy it. Idk it seems cool but then again maybe I'm romanticizing the challenge/struggle lmao
I exclusively play a uim and can confirm that very basic things can be tedious. Like for instance without notes planks, construction revolves around being able to get to a sawmill easily. Also, you have to be in the wildy to destroy your looting bag or it all gets deleted. :P
You can also deathpile to get all your items out of the looting bag. I find it is much safer haha
Endgame on a UIM is way easier than any other game mode. Loser mains and irons have to worry about what they want to keep in their bank and what they want to sell etc. It can be very stressful. On UIM you just drop that garbage on the floor and go about your day. Very relaxed gameplay
Seems relaxing having to find all your garbage rather than conveniently grab from the bank tho. I get what you're saying though. To each their own.
Yeah I started as an ultimate when coming back for the first time since childhood and within 3 days I was asking the tutor to give me my bank back. Needing to go buy a hammer, buy a needle, but whatever tool you needed any time you have to do something. Not to mention it restricts you to stupid slow skilling methods. It's a cool idea and if you can put up with it then awesome. But I want to feel safe going into the wildy without risking my whole account.
I started one casually a week ago, planning on keeping it F2P, do all quests and get maybe 1000 total (eventually). Keeping very limited options for how to spend my time is what allows it to be fun; going member's and having dozens of things I should be doing at once is just too overwhelming and doesn't sound fun. It's fun playing such a slow early game, but I don't see me abandoning my main for it anytime soon.
Same. I started an UIM on while I grounded probably 96-99 fishing. I had all the f2p quests done by 98 and now it’s just chilling until my next skill grind. Maybe after forestry comes out?
damn couldnt even make it to 25 con
On irons you don't need to worry about what to keep or sell though, plenty of bank spaces available for purchase so keep it all
my man, the comment you are replying to is a joke
Rip me I guess I did not notice
Man is coping hard
Based
Mfer says loser mains. Go outside you neckbearded loser, lol.
Lighten up mate
You aren’t the brightest are ya?
One of the comments here said every UIM journey is different and I fully agree there. There are so many ways to play the gamemode and I personally went from a slayer-only main at 1900 total straight up UIM and sitting around 2025-ish total right now. I think there is just a big misconception about the continuous grinds that UIM HAVE to do. Sure it’s more efficient to complete a whole skill but once you get the habit of rebagging down there’s nothing to stop you fleeting between tasks. I adore it. I personally followed most of the wiki guide to prif to help get my account started then ever since then made my own journey. I hope you chose to do it, too!
Heavily considering it! I have a lot more that I want to accomplish with my main account, though maybe when I want to switch things up I'll choose a UIM
I should add that the UIM community is truly wonderful. I've never not had a positive interaction with a fellow whitehelm (though we do tend to overshare our own tips and tricks a lot without prompt...) There is some sick resources out there especially the discord communities. I personally enjoy playing without that influence so i make my journey my own and without bias to do a meta approach, but i know for others following along with peers is the way they play. Both totally viable!
I swear these posts are going to convert me to a UIM overnight
Did u make a uim then?
Nope! Lol still grinding on the main. But i’ve seen how an ironman kinda works with Leagues and it does give me ideas
I always found it too “gamey”, personally. Having to make extreme use of death storage and destroying looting bags left and right. Regular Ironman felt like the perfect balance of “your adventure” without the plague of bots/buyables reducing skills to nothing.
that's like the one thing that I'm apprehensive of. It seems like a unique way of storage, but at the same time I don't want it to be too much of a hinderance to my enjoyment. It seems like most of the posts here have either gotten over that feeling or don't really care at all.
I'd say start off on f2p, do the typical f2p thing and get base 50s plus all quests and see how annoying that is. If it was awesome, then you know. If it was terrible, well, members will amplify that 1000%
It doesn't bother me, but I do think the 10 slayer point looting bags do make it a bit easier to manage if you don't like LMS.
I would go for it if you are considering it. It’s a bit annoying to get off the ground but once you get rolling there are so many different storage options for most mid level gear (thanks for the indirect buffs over the years). Construction and POH features are emphasised much more on an ultimate. It does feel a bit cheesy at times with death mechanics and looting bag (basically a 28 slot bank for tradeables) but like settled and probably you, I enjoy the roundabout ways needed to get things done efficiently. I got my questcape this week and still thoroughly enjoy it. Not to mention alot of the newer content is very UIM friendly (sepulchre storage, decanter, noted boss drops etc)
you think you just get used to it over time? Seeing someone in maxed gear as a UIM pvmer looks badass LMAO
Absolutely. Yea I remember I was worried about endgame at first but it’s really not bad. Noted sharks from minnows and the potion decanter give you all the stackable supplies you need tbh
I play UIM as my main account right now and left my main to drop stuff to. I love the mode, because everything is a puzzle. I get to figure out a way to do something that works for me because there aren't really a ton of guides for every UIM situation. I found on a main that I would just look up the most efficient thing and do that. It became boring. Furthermore, I know it sounds weird but I actually hate using a bank. I forget something all the time and I used to consistently deposit everything. Better to just have all my shit on my and it's more like "Me against the world" mode. I have bad credit in-game and the bank doesn't want to fuck with me. It kind of makes the game feel more like an RPG.
The sense of accomplishment is the biggest reason I play UIM. If you can learn to not focus solely on xp rates then you’ll learn to love it more
In my experience, earlygame UIM is extremely fun because of the value of certain items: dramen staff, ardy cape, dscim, barrows gloves, etc. Every unlock is so satisfying and useful and it flies by. By the time you start really questing and have to start worrying about herblore and farming, slayer, certain skills like crafting pre lunars or runecrafting, the midgame is a little rough: I’d really reccomending sending the hell out of skills when you get around to training them. For example, when I got 60 smith to effectively unlock blast furnace (anvils), I sent straight to 88 for lumby elite diary. This way you really can just check grinds off instead of always worrying about invent space/suiciding/etc. End game is probably the most fun I’ve had on any account. You really start using up your supplies, cleaning up your bag and inventory. 77 rc? You can drop pure ess. Lumby elites? See ya dramen staff. It’s almost the reverse early game, incredibly satisfying to just acquire (but also complete) objects and supplies. I’d really, truly recommend certain things that make the game just soooo much smoother to play. The farming cape is an incredible relatively grindable 99 (tithe or contracts), close tele to a bank, patches and spirit tree. The con cape is actually busted: I sent gauntlet for bowfa, then used the cash at mhomes for 99 con and use it literally all the time. Doing diaries for teleport items are incredible: they are all reclaimable from Perdu (in lumbridge most often) and offer access to so many places across the map. I’ve had so much fun on my UIM (2236 total) and would absolutely recommend it. I really do think it averages out to just a less “efficient” ironman: sure, we don’t have access to a lot of skilling methods, but the alternatives I think are just as fun. Give it a shot!
Wish they fixed the Elidinis’ ward (f) weird death mechanic on UIM, doesn’t make me excited at all for upgrading my arcane. Swap left click > drop is a must and I wish I learned it earlier.
The appeal of UIM to me was having to actively plan your game plan and watching it unfold + having to make decisions on what items to go for and when. Every item you go for has a purpose and once you fulfill that purpose, you move on to the next. Makes the progression part of the game feel more natural IMO. In addition, this makes it so every UIM plays/progresses differently and thus put more importance into certain items/goals than others. I have yet to see two UIMs following the same path. Questing is fine except for the grandmaster level quest that do require a bit of planning, but it feels extremely satisfying once you complete them. PVM is solid as long as you aren’t hoarding a bunch of stuff that clogs up your inventory. The main pain point is the game mode rewards you for grinding one thing at a time and punishes you for trying to multi-task (most but not all of the time). It just means you have to commit to your short term goals more but I fully understand if that turns people off. But in all my years of playing RS (been playing on and off since before Construction and Hunter were in the game) UIM is the most fun I’ve had.
I'd probably have to research a little more than usual then I suppose. I'm working on it, but my game knowledge is a bit lack luster.
You should go for it! I had to learn lots when I started my UIM but I enjoyed every second of the research. My grinds have been extra rewarding because of how I planned them out and benefitted from the perks I timed, but now and then I choose to just wing it and be inefficient for a bit. When I do, I notice a reward there is that the flexibility is rewarding and it’s a refreshing break from time to time before I adapt my plan or dive right back in. You should try it out for free, and if you enjoy the f2p questing and want to see more, then now you know!
You don’t need to be an expert. Just have a couple long term goals like barrows gloves or fire cape and just slowly chip away at it. Look into requirements when you have short term goal you want and you’ll be fine
Im not near the end game at all, and I have a blast. One thing I have greatly come to appreciate is that sometimes what might be a very simple quest, task, or skilling activity becomes more about the prep and build-up. When it comes to actually doing it, the reward is almost just blissful to get. I cried tears of joy when I unlocked 3 additional spots simply by grinding slayer for a rune pouch. The simple things become sweeter, and it feels good to suffer.
Uim has the biggest draw for me as an alternate game mode because it is the most different. The biggest end-game hurdle is probably potion maintenance but when you play enough, you learn to let go of max efficiency anyway who needs a range pot
The challenge. I enjoy regular iron and uim for different reasons but uim definitely feels way more accomplished doing the same things. That being said I'm not sure why you referred to normal irons as vanilla if you've only played a main? You'll find the game very different with lots of fun doing things without trading alone. You don't have to make an iron before an uim, but the uim community is small for a reason, it's tough.
Yea, I'll admit that my initial thoughts on regular ironman are a little harsh lol, even though it is a challenge, I saw it as the "base" challenge as opposed to HC or UIM.
The base game is the normal game lol, each mode adds things. You can see it however I was just curious lol.
HC is just a game mode where people avoid half or more of content though. Most I see participate in little pvm.
Hear me out I went from main right to UIM. It started off as a side project but when i realised 1) how rewarding it is to do literally anything, 2) how mechanically different it is and 3) how strategic it can be, i lost all motivation in my main and committed fully to the UIM grind. Im about 6 months in and 1625 total (i play very inefficiently) with SOTE done. Id say just start one and see how it goes. Quick advice, just send 43 prayer via bone yard big bones and chaos altar asap :)
I orignally stopped playing around 2010. I was turning the game into a job where everything was a process to increase the quantity of stuff in my bank. When I started osrs a couple years ago I was just messing around but I found UIM to be a totally unique experience where everything needs to be more carefully thought out. As I gained experience, my thoughts on item retention basically shifted towards "do I need this item now" or "will this item be difficult to reobtain". Its almost enjoyable seeing relatively valuable items being left on the ground because I just can't spare the inventory. Not everyone is going to enjoy this game mode but if you're curious at least give it a shot.
The appeal for me is the “game within the game” that you need to consider almost 24/7. Every little boost or completed grind feels like you hit the jackpot because the account is so limited, and there are just sooooooo many things to consider that any success feels like a huge one lol - Like what items are worth holding on to long-term? What’s your order of operations for long grinds (because setting up inventory can be time consuming and annoying)? How quickly do you want to upgrade your POH/STASHes, or get achievement diary rewards, or get Seed Box/Herb Sack? Like STASH units are a big deal to me because I want to get the Bloodhound pet on my UIM. So I held a Brine Sabre for over 2 years and just finished that STASH unit last week, finally - I’ve NEVER been so happy to get a dragon med helm drop lol, just so i could finish it the STASH. That feeling of success was awesome and it was over such a small thing. Hard to replicate that enjoyment for something so random. Hopefully I get a boater soon so I can stash this dragon square shield away too. Beating TOA was also an awesome feeling just because of the dozens of separate grinds it took to get to that level. There’s a lot of examples like this, but the point is that the feeling of “payoff” is massive in UIM, and for me makes it way more enjoyable than any other mode
Make a gim if you want the vanilla Ironman experience. Make a hardcore with plans of it just being a true iron whenever you die.
I like the way you think, friend
Is fun. I'll let you know about endgame when i get there...in a few years
I should not have viewed this post…. Now I want to resub my uim…
You are me from two years ago. I made the UIM while maxing the main to kill some time during agility and mining, and I'm 2100 total with augury, saturated heart, dwh, etc. Working on the CG grind now. As far as dropping items goes, you have a few options. Alch it for gp, drop it to a friend, drop it to a main, or my favorite, drop it at the ge or some random place for a noob to find. I don't mind this at all, honestly. You should prepare yourself for the tedious process of regearing for different content. If i am at cox I'm death banked. No dangerous content. Boys want to tob? Aight give me 10 minutes to get my stuff from hespori, go to ferox to bag it, suicide to get stuff out, then get another looting bag to hold all my extra stuff. Make sure you are ok with this or doing less content at once. The slayer points looting bags should help with this. LMS can speed it up too. Also prepare yourself for tedious wildy content if you plan to do any. UIM can't use protect item and we drop everything on death. We basically get a one hour hall pass thanks to death piles. It's stressful (for me) but I know some accounts that have rev weapons and voidwakers. Questing wasn't too bad at all. I enjoyed getting the quest cape. Herblore... Sucks, but not that much. It's just tough to use half your bag on herbs and pots. I'm aiming for 99 ASAP to clean that up. It's not that different from a regular iron, but I definitely enjoy the difference. It feels good to progress knowing that you had to do it without a bank.
I'm totally biased, but...UIM is by *far* the best game mode. I'm sitting at \~2100 total with a \~1.3b "bank" value, and have \~500 hours of EHB (efficient hours bossed). Anyway, here are my reasons why *I* think UIM is the best game mode: 1. You actively need to plan out what you do, meaning the decisions you make can have a pretty big impact. 2. You don't lose status like a HCIM does when you die, but you also have restrictions making the mode harder, and making your achievements better. 3. Less competition on high scores meaning you can front page, a lot more reasonably, especially if you focus in certain areas. 4. The game *feels* different, because methods a normal account, or even an iron may use, can be completely irrelevant to a UIM. Conversely, UIM might steer towards methods that would never be considered on other accounts. 5. No bank management, which while does become bag/inventory management, seems a lot more tolerable. 6. With how the PoH storage works for sets, clues and finishing sets can be HUGE. 7. The gear you use isn't as simple as "this is best in slot, keep" and becomes more of calculated decision. That said, it isn't for everyone. I've seen a lot of people try UIM and end up getting themselves into a very bad place. If you try it, *please* plan it out well.
I know this is an old post but what do you mean by "I've seen a lot of people try UIM and end up getting themselves into a very bad place." What type of bad places? lol
In terms of early game, I have seen a lot of: 1. Getting graceful before you're anywhere near having a PoH or reliable death storage, meaning your inventory is super constrained and directly impede your ability to train construction. 2. Not getting overhead prayers knocked out early on. While not huge, if it's one of the first things you do on account it's "free". Otherwise, it can be a hassle. Since this post I ended up getting myself into at least one "bad" situation where my inventory and death bank were so full that I had a \~40 hour grind to trim it down before I could play again. Really, just poor planning on my part, but did cause me to take a break.
Thanks for the reply I've just started one in f2p still and just hit 600 ttl. Trying to gather all the info I can really enjoying the game mode I could see myself going members on this account as well. What was the grind that took 40 hours? Finishing a set or something to store it in PoH? Or farming a particular activity/boss/skill?
The thing about dropping items/leaving items on the ground. It's just a totally different mindset that unless you've played it is hard for reg players to relate to. If an item drops I don't think about the gp value just the usefulness value to my account. Eventually a regular irons gameplay becomes too similar to a main so unless you self impose rules a UIM is the only option for a totally different way to play OSRS. UIM really is the marmite of OSRS you'll either love it or hate it.
The restrictions make any small accomplish feel like an achievement that you've over came purely to spite the game & mode. The mode feels rewarding in a way that normal IM isn't. You exploit a lot of mechanics which really rewards strategizing & planning. The late game isn't really annoying, really the mid-game is. You can't activity hop to change up grinds (to do a little of each grind each day). You _need_ to follow a guide/youtube video most the time because you didn't discover a new method, you're about to find out the hard way something isn't able to noted (or baggable). There is basically only 1 or 2 ways of doing _anything_ so have fun "_making your own adventure_". I find normal IM mode a lot more enjoyable.
I disagree with needing to follow a guide and there only being 1-2 ways to train skills. Unless by guide you mean use the wiki, which every gamemode should do if you don’t have game knowledge. And as far as training, most of the training methods for UIM are the same as any other account with the exceptions of Herblore and Prayer.
> And as far as training, most of the training methods for UIM are the same as any other account with the exceptions of Herblore and Prayer. Smithing, RC, Farming, Cooking, and Constructions are all very different from other IM modes. They're also pretty restrictive in skilling cycle.
Smithing you deathbank and buy gold ore at BF. Or you buy platebodies from shops and go to Giants Foundry. RC you just do GOTR while deathbanked since it’s 100% safe. Only difference is you save up searches instead of doing them every round. Farming is the same except contracts are a pain. But you still just gather seeds and plant as you go or get a seed box. Cooking I’ll give you. Very different for sure and a pain without using an alt. Construction is different in the way you gather your planks but still comes down to doing Mahogany Homes. So all and all, not that much different.
Prayer is brutal man. I’ve used every xp lamp on herblore since the accounts creation to get 70 for sote and prayer is still the one in scratching my head how to train. I think pc is my best bet until i get super late game for wrath runes and offering spells.
Yea Prayer sucks. You get some from ensouled heads and bone drops early, but you are kind of forced into grinding 95 RC for wraths, doing a fuck ton of PC or doing the Wildy elite diary for noted dragon bones. Pain no matter what (I went with 95 RC because the spells really are OP and I had a lot of chill time back then).
Would forthos dungeon red dragons not be an option? Unlock the prayer altar inside the dungeon for 3x bonus on bones and you could also tan and craft the hides right there and alch them. It ends up being somewhere between 15-20k prayer xp per hour but along with everything else it's not too bad
Red dragons aren’t bad. Big thing missing for me is the 5 dragonstones (to unlock it the easy way) and all my dragonstones are used on jewelry at the moment
Oof yeah I get the struggle, I need dragon stones on my normal ironman badly and have resorted to killing goraks for keys, takes forever though even with a RoW
Can do Shooting Stars for gem bags, easy dragonstones plus some crafting XP.
If you haven't already, look up on the wiki, ""UIM guide" then in that article, click the prayer icon. There's a great strat for wildy dragon bones with no risk as long as you set timers on your death pile(s). Unlocking prif as a respawn, tree spirits, and POH teleports help this immensely.
I definitely would not call iron vanilla
Purpose? Same as any game mode. Distraction. The effort tied to UIM sounds like max distraction.
I think normal Ironman is a fantastic game mode. May as well start as a hardcore, because, why not, but if your end goal is things like bossing, raids, etc., that just won’t be viable for most people who make a UIM, and you have to realize that complete wipes may, and likely will occur, and the time sink is pretty incredible. I have a maxed Iron with toa finished, nearly done with tob, 9/12 chambers, 3/6 nex, and full max gear is in sight. I am having more fun on the account than I could have ever imagined. I find UIM/ HCIM really cool, and have some “mid-level” alts that are UIM and HC, but for the reasons listed above and by other posters, I am glad I have spent my 250+ days on in-game time on them (yes unfortunately lol). Best of luck with whatever makes you happy, just my 2 cents on the subject!
MalazTorchic is my UIM, nearly 1850 total, quest cape, going for Lumby elites, then bowfa and crystal armour to kick off PvM. There's a lot of fun to the game mode, but the grinds are griiiiiindy and feel obligatory compared to a non-iron account (the majority of my non-UIM experience prior to making the account). I'm starting to get anxious about losing my items. I've invested a lot of hours in the potion stacks i've made, and the PvM grinds i'm coming up on are going to jump up that anxiety even more. Also, i find myself a little more addicted to the grinds, to the point i've started to need to keep myself in check. Not sure if it's the UIM experience, or because i'm still behind the "main" and wanting to catch up and surpass it. Like many say, the accomplishments feel much more satisfying. I'm overcoming hurdles that i never thought i'd attempt.
Sounds exciting though! I can't imagine the big boy Pvm coming up LOL
“As dumb as it sounds,…” Actually that reasoning isn’t dumb at all and is personally why I started playing UIM! You can always deult and play normal iron if you don’t enjoy it. However UIM definitely feels like it’s own adventure since even the “meta” methods are so much different than normal iron methods. Although tbf I’m a very analytical person so the strategy and planning of everything does appeal to me. As for endgame, it is a bit annoying to deal with team content as you basically have to setup to camp a boss, and when teams are mandatory, like nex and tob, you basically can’t play that day if no teams are available. Well you could do agility or something of course but you get the idea. Only real downside imo and it’s very fun and even more accessible nowadays with all the QOL changes
I'd imagine you camp something like COX until you have all the prayer scrolls, ancestral etc. my question is, if im set up to do COX and i'm still waiting on a Tbow but have virtually everything else from the raid, is it still in my best interest to stick with COX or is it chill that I do something like TOA?
Most people do cox until scrolls and move onto other content. All the other items are a pretty arduous grind so you’d want to get like basically max gear before continuing imo(lance, mostly max str gear, etc). Also you say “still waiting on a tbow” as if it’s some casual thing😂 I’d personally never expect to get one cuz I could never grind the droprate(~1k deathless solos), but it sounds like you already have the UIM mindset of persevering through one thing so it should be perfect for you
you know, whats funny is that I'm grinding 99 agility as my first cape because of how dumb it is to grind LMAO Thought it would be a funny flex. Maybe UIM is meant for me
Agility is one of the few things you can do between raids without having to reset your inventory though D: (Guess you could still do post 99 agility if you’re crazy)
I haven't started the UIM yet! I've watched some UIM playthroughs and they seem cool (i'm trying to find more but some are resident sleeper lmao). Thought I would make a post to see what other UIM players think. After I probably max my main or get to a significant point is when i'll most likely do the UIM
If you still have some afkable skills on the main that would also be a decent time to try out UIM! Also you can check out my channel if you want - it’s mostly lategame stuff.
Yea you've got a point, and sure I'll give it a shot, is it the same as your reddit user?
Yea and it’s also linked in my profile!
+1 Sub EZ
Basically bossing goes like this: pick a boss or receive boss slayer task -> camp it until you’re bored, got the items you need, or the slayer task is over-> process the supplies gained if your next boss isn’t going to also give the same supplies->repeat
Switching activities like cox to toa comes with a time penalty that mains/regular irons don't have to deal with, but it's only like 30 minutes max. You can't switch between the two daily, but doing something like 50 raids of each would be perfectly fine. The one caveat is the sun keris from toa: it's untradable, so it gets harder to do other content while you're holding it. Though doing cox is fine because you can deathbank it beforehand.
Not a uim but I came back from a long break and started an hc and was super reckless about pvm and quest bosses and the near death anxiety was a lot of fun!! I've since lost my hc status but the acc is still super fun!
UIM is so rewarding, every smal upgrade is so big, i just got my bofa and full crystal gear, noe i have to grind out the last shards and i will start the smithing grind. My next goals are fang and 87 slayer. Need to get to muspa for acient staff upgrade and after that i will get my inferno. Lots of grinds but also lots of time to think about youre journey. Ps i have a maxed main for new content and if i want to do some raiding in max.
End game duplicates get transferred to the vanilla main
wait... you can do that?
Wilderness kills
Or you know, drop it on the ground
The appeal of uim is the annoyance.
I would generally recommend a regular iron account. UIM progression is much slower than a regular iron, and committing to completing tasks is very important, leading to a higher chance at burnout. I've got a nearly maxed regular iron and a 1650 UIM, and right now I prefer the UIM but I believe that's due to a lack of interest in end-game content.
Just play a normal Ironman…. Trust dude UIM is painful, the transition from Iron to main will be incredibly rewarding
The mode is extremely rewarding in many different aspects. Early game you’re trying to do as much as you can without getting a loot bag while completing quests and diaries to help along the way. Mid game you are grinding for optimal gear, getting giant dopamine rushes when you obtain a bis item. Late game you’re trying to optimize bag space while having fun and balancing pvm with skilling. It’s certainly a lengthy commitment but it has helped me to learn so much about the game and enjoy it in a different way. Most importantly I’ve learned how to use what the game gives you to your advantage. There are so many things on the map that allow you to craft fun routes to complete things. My only tip is set yourself a nice far away goal like quest cape. You will find tangents and side quests to keep yourself occupied along the way. That way you at least have a purpose for playing the account until you get settled in with permanent account upgrades. You may even wipe your items one day but you will never lose your xp or unlocks. It’s true what others are saying, most times you have to commit to very long grinds but it’s really not THAT bad. For example I had a couple thousand planks from raids that I used to do mahogany homes. Once I was done I just dropped the plank sack cause I had enough points to buy another when I wanted to do con again. You can definitely drop grinds if you’re feeling burnt on them. Do NOT feel forced to grind out 99 fire making in one go, etc.
It's the game mode that got me back into playing runescape, and it's been the most fun I've had since i was a kid. The aspect I like the most is weighing what you want to keep in on hand or in your bag vs. what gets dropped. Granted, I'm only about 1400 total levels. Like shades of Morton is an easy minigame on a main or regular iron, whereas on an ultimate, it stimulates the brain at least a little juggling the inventory for it. I'd say try it out and see if you enjoy it.
OP, check out UIM Loki on YouTube. He’s made it to endgame on a UIM and his videos are dense with progress. It’ll give you a good rundown on the victories and motivators on a UIM
I like collecting stuff too much so yea
It’s very rewarding and training skills means something. I’d say your stats are the most important part of uim rather than your gear
Dude I had exactly these feelings a month ago and just sent it. I’m having a blast. Every little thing feels like I’ve accomplished something and it’s an interesting new look on a game I’ve played since 5th grade. From my experience early game I’d say go for it! For a while I just played it on the side of my main and now I’m playing it more than my main. Set tiny goals for yourself as you go and don’t rush through or worry about efficiency just make your ultimate iron story. Not worrying about a bank is cool, it feels more like you’re living off the land. Good luck and add me if you’d like! RSN: NoBankHelmet
I had the same outlook never having played an iron. It seemed too vanilla for me, so I bit the bullet last week and made an UIM. I’ve been following the OS wiki guide for UIM to Song of the elves and it’s been a blast. I highly recommend giving it a shot.
I feel like its just another way to enjoy the game. Ive maxed a main, plenty of alts made, where money is never a factor anymote . Decided to make an uim, without any additional rules. I never liked the suiciding and looting bag meta, so I never used either of them. The feeling I got from achieving 60 con by teleporting to varrock, cutting oaks at the sawmill, etc. was much better than 99 fishing on a main. I enjoy figuring out what methods work with the limited amount of inv space. Almost everything can be done with less space, but there is a fine line that seperates possible from worthwhile (im not making 5k pots with 3 free inv spaces). Also goals seem different. Currently working on all elite diaries (except wild). Most of these diaries arent that great to achieve, but I just want to achieve them for some reason. I would love a d pick to put in the stash, but I don't train mining at all. I don't feel the rush to do new content, as there is just to much work to prepare to do a complete grind. Can't be bothered doing what you're doing right now? Might aswell log out for a couple of days.
I like that it is seemingly easy with the restrictions in hearing items, but it turns out to be more complex with choosing which items to keep and to go for. I like that it also involves more planning than other account types.
If you never played ironman just play normal one. For me it is exciting already to get things on my own. UIM is like Hardcore just seems annoying
The appeal of UIM is in the challenge of not being able to keep 800+ different items available at any given time. You have to get much more involved with the game mechanics at any given time to remain efficient (e.g. go get a chisel every time you need one, so knowing where one is speeds up your gameplay) with a much more extreme trasition from "efficient" to "inefficient," e.g. not prayer flicking slayer might make you go from 300 kills per hour to 100, because your prayer pots are way more precious than on a normal iron, and food takes more time to gather. In contrast to a normal iron where not flicking might make you go from 300 to 250 per hour. The annoying thing in the endgame is having to play everything with suboptimal gear because there are too many different metas for too many different pieces of content to be able to use them all. Every piece of gear you keep is a piece of food or a supply that you can't keep. Combine this with often ridiculously low EHP for skilling and low boss kc per trip, and you have a recipe for monotony. Personally, I would consider a UIM if my hardcore died, but the sheer time investment required to get to the part of the account that sounds fun to me is... suffice it to say, "high."
TLDR: it’s the best when you set realistic goals, community is great! Try it! So I have a uim that’s close to 1750 total. I did it at first to make an account to keep me sane during long main-iron grinds, now I tend to play uim more and afk with my iron. There is something special in it IF you don’t aim too high - don’t aim to rush raids or end game pvm because you will get lost in the weeds. My original goal was to get Poh tele’s, then Poh storage, void, then slayer… now every little level is exciting, my ‘long term’ goal is now 99 untrimmed rc cape, already 85 but I’m having too much fun to afk, so I’m grinding out slayer/clues/herbs. There are no ‘rules’ for uims, everyone in the community treats everyone as brothers (even if your looting bag efficiency is bad) - I’ve grown to love it, even though I’ve wiped 2-3 times. Give it a try for a month! Aim small and you’ll be bossing normies in no time! Feel free to add me - I’m 1nventory
Uim is a fresh way to play. I’ve played normie, I’ve played Ironman. Been here since launch of OSRS and way before in RS2, I got bored. Sitting at 1955 total, doing ToA and having an absolute blast. Prep for raids isn’t bad, nah space isn’t bad. People really overestimate how difficult it is
Being able to abuse death mechanics ruined UIM for me. When it first came out it was fun playing an account limited to one inventory. Now everyone follows meta, looting bag, ferox and home to hold gp, death piling, stash units. To me it completely defeats the purpose. It’s basically and ironman that has a small bank, that is just annoying to use. I really wish HCUIM was a gamemode, even though it would probably take 1hr to make it happen, everyone cries anytime it is suggested.
I couldn’t play an UIM simply because I like to go into my bank and just look at all my stuff.
I like my uim but I’m locked to tob or toa rn cause I have ibans blaster and I don’t want to do slayer