Ironman Herblore Secondaries: How to Get Potion Ingredients
Quick Answer
Most secondaries are easy (buy from shops or farm). The annoying ones are wine of zamorak (telegrab), crushed nests (bird houses), and amylase crystals (marks of grace). Start snape grass farming early — you'll need hundreds for prayer pots.
Getting the herbs is one thing — finding the secondaries is often the real bottleneck. Here’s where to get everything you need for herblore training.
At a glance:
- Easy: Eye of newt, limpwurt, chocolate dust, unicorn horn dust, goat horn dust
- Medium: Snape grass, white berries, mort myre fungus, red spiders’ eggs, blue dragon scales
- Annoying: Wine of zamorak, crushed nests, amylase crystals
- Varlamore: Aldarium, squid paste, crab paste, yellow fin, haddock eye
Easy (Buy or Minimal Effort)
Eye of Newt
- Used for: Attack potions, Super attacks
- Where: Buy from magic shops (Port Sarim, etc.) — stock of 10+ per world
- Cost: 3 GP each
Limpwurt Root
- Used for: Strength potions, Super strengths
- Where: Farm them (26 Farming), or kill Hobgoblins/Hill Giants
- Tip: Do herb runs with limpwurt — they stack up fast
Chocolate Dust
- Used for: Energy potions
- Where: Buy chocolate bars from cooking shops, use pestle and mortar
- Cost: ~10 GP each
Unicorn Horn Dust
- Used for: Antipoisons, Super antipoisons
- Where: Kill unicorns, grind horns
- Tip: Tower of Life method if you need bulk
Goat Horn Dust
- Used for: Combat potions
- Where: Kill goats near Nardah or Keldagrim
- Tip: Easy to stockpile, often overlooked
Volcanic Ash
- Used for: Ultracompost
- Where: Mine on Fossil Island
- Tip: You’ll need a lot — grab some whenever you’re on the island
Medium (Some Setup Required)
Snape Grass
- Used for: Prayer potions
- Where: Farm them (61 Farming) or pick spawns on Waterbirth Island
- Tip: Start farming these early — you’ll need hundreds for prayer pots
Red Spiders’ Eggs
- Used for: Restore potions, Super restores
- Where: Tower of Life (spawn them with raw sardine + red spiders’ eggs), or Nightmare Zone
- Tip: Tower of Life is the ironman standard
White Berries
- Used for: Super defence potions
- Where: Farm them (59 Farming for bush, 83 for the better patch), or pick in Isafdar/Red Dragon Isle
- Tip: Farming is the long-term solution
Mort Myre Fungus
- Used for: Super energy potions
- Where: Cast Bloom with silver sickle (b) in Mort Myre Swamp
- Requirements: Nature Spirit quest, prayer points to spam Bloom
- Tip: Bring prayer pots or use Morytania Legs 3 for prayer restore
Blue Dragon Scales
- Used for: Antifire potions
- Where: Kill blue dragons (Taverley Dungeon, Myths Guild), or pick spawns and grind
- Tip: Myths Guild basement is best for killing — blue and green dragons together
Potato Cactus
- Used for: Magic potions
- Where: Farm them (64 Farming) or Kalphite Lair spawns
- Tip: Farming is much better than running to Kalphites
Annoying (But Essential)
Wine of Zamorak
- Used for: Ranging potions, Super ranging potions
- Where: Telegrab at Chaos Temple (low level), or Chaos Fanatic drops (higher level)
- Tip: Telegrab is slow but safe. Chaos Fanatic is faster but risky.
Crushed Nests
- Used for: Saradomin brews
- Where: Bird house runs (passive), Giant Mole (active), Wyson the Gardener (trade mole parts)
- Tip: Start bird houses early — nests stack up passively over time
Amylase Crystals
- Used for: Stamina potions
- Where: Marks of grace from rooftop courses, or Hallowed Sepulchre
- Tip: Hallowed Sepulchre is more efficient if you’re 72+ Agility. Otherwise, collect marks during normal Agility training
Lava Scale Shards
- Used for: Extended antifire potions
- Where: Kill Lava dragons (Wilderness)
- Tip: Wilderness only. Bring minimal risk gear, expect to die occasionally
Varlamore Secondaries
Aldarium
- Used for: Goading potion, Prayer regeneration potion
- Where: Buy from Mastering Mixology shop in Aldarin
- Cost: Mox/Aga/Lye points from the minigame
- Tip: Do some Mixology anyway for the rewards — Aldarium is a bonus
Squid Paste / Crab Paste / Rainbow Crab Paste
- Used for: Haemostatic items, Super hunter potion, Armadyl brew
- Where: Hunter Guild creatures, process with pestle and mortar
- Tip: You’ll get these naturally from Hunter rumours
Yellow Fin / Haddock Eye
- Used for: Extreme energy potion, Super fishing potion
- Where: Sailing activities, fishing
- Tip: These are niche — don’t grind specifically unless you need the potions
Marlin Scales
- Used for: Extended stamina potions
- Where: Sailing
- Tip: Late-game content, don’t worry about it early
Quick Reference Table
| Secondary | Used For | Best Method | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eye of newt | Attack pots | Buy from shops | Easy |
| Limpwurt root | Strength pots | Farm + drops | Easy |
| Chocolate dust | Energy pots | Buy + grind | Easy |
| Unicorn horn dust | Antipoisons | Kill unicorns | Easy |
| Goat horn dust | Combat pots | Kill goats | Easy |
| Volcanic ash | Ultracompost | Mine on Fossil Island | Easy |
| Snape grass | Prayer pots | Farm (61) | Medium |
| Red spiders’ eggs | Restores | Tower of Life | Medium |
| White berries | Super defence | Farm (59/83) | Medium |
| Mort myre fungus | Super energy | Bloom spell | Medium |
| Blue dragon scales | Antifire | Kill dragons | Medium |
| Potato cactus | Magic pots | Farm (64) | Medium |
| Wine of zamorak | Ranging pots | Telegrab / Chaos Fanatic | Annoying |
| Crushed nests | Sara brews | Bird houses + Mole | Annoying |
| Amylase crystals | Staminas | Rooftops / Sepulchre | Annoying |
| Lava scale shards | Ext. antifire | Lava dragons (Wildy) | Annoying |
| Aldarium | Goading/Prayer regen | Mastering Mixology | Varlamore |
Common Mistakes
- Not farming snape grass early — you’ll need hundreds for prayer pots, start at 61 Farming
- Ignoring bird house runs — crushed nests stack up passively, start after Bone Voyage
- Grinding wine of zamorak too early — wait until you actually need ranging pots
- Forgetting volcanic ash — ultracompost is essential for farming, grab it when you’re on Fossil Island
Related Guides
- Varlamore Guide — Hunter rumours, Mixology
- Prayer Training — What you need all those prayer pots for