RS3 solo Dungeoneering: floor buffs, checkmarks and a simple routine

How I train Dungeoneering solo after the rework: High complexity, floor buffs and resets, small vs large floors, skill-door clues and both gatestones.

September 9, 20265 min 38 sec

Set up your next solo floor

When I came back to Dungeoneering, I didn't understand what had replaced prestige. Working through the floors in order helped me follow the new system.

Use High complexity. If it isn't available yet, complete one Low-complexity floor to unlock it. Low has a 75% XP penalty, so I don't use it to rush through my early floors.

Choose your lowest unchecked floor, finish it, then move up to the next one.

Checkmarks build buffs; the progress bar counts runs

Prestige has gone. Each new checkmark gives you the next floor buff, in a repeating set of five. After the fifth buff, the sequence starts again and the bonuses keep building.

Five-step floor buff cycle: 1% death penalty reduction, 2% extra resource chance, 1% skilling XP, 1% damage reduction, then 25% floor XP. — Each new tick adds the next buff. The five-step sequence repeats. View full graphic

The progress bar counts every completed floor, including a repeat that gives you no new checkmark. Once that count reaches the number of floors available at your level, the cycle resets automatically and you start building the buffs again.

A run in a fully checked theme moves the bar but adds no buff. Move to an unfinished theme to keep earning buffs.

First new tick: +1% death penalty reduction.
Second: +2% extra resource chance.
Third: +1% skilling XP.
Fourth: +1% damage reduction.
Fifth: +25% floor XP. Then repeat the sequence.

Can you repeat the same floor?

Yes. Once you've unlocked the floors, repeating a checked floor can tick off the lowest unchecked floor in the same theme. I tried floor 41 twice: the first run checked off 41, and the second run told me floor 40 had been ticked off instead.

The six dungeon themes with their room appearances and floor ranges: Frozen 1–11, Abandoned I 12–17, Furnished 18–29, Abandoned II 30–35, Occult 36–47, Warped 48–60. — A repeated floor can fill an unfinished tick in its own theme. View full graphic

That gives you another way to work through a theme: repeat its highest unlocked floor until its remaining floors are checked, then move to an unfinished theme. The replacement tick stays within that theme and doesn't unlock a deeper floor for you.

I still go in order because I find it easier to keep track of.

Frozen: floors 1–11.
Abandoned I: floors 12–17.
Furnished: floors 18–29.
Abandoned II: floors 30–35.
Occult: floors 36–47.
Warped: floors 48–60.

Small, medium or large floors?

I use smalls for most of my early floors and switch to larges for roughly the last 10 I have available. By then I'm on higher floors and have built up more floor XP buffs. Larges give a bigger completion modifier, but also take longer to finish.

The 10-floor cutoff is my preference. You can switch earlier, use mediums or stay with smalls throughout. When the cycle resets, I return to my lowest unchecked floor and switch back to smalls, keeping High complexity.

Small floors have no dungeon-size XP bonus. The size modifier is +250% for mediums and +500% for larges.

Getting to the boss without clearing every room

The critical path is the chain of rooms needed to finish the dungeon. Other branches lead to bonus rooms. I prefer finding the boss and starting another floor rather than searching for every last room. Opening more rooms does give extra XP, so you can keep exploring if you enjoy it.

Right-click and examine skill doors to see their level requirements. The solo clue I use is the community's nine-level range: with 99 Woodcutting, a door requiring 90–99 Woodcutting could be on the critical path. Doors above your level or more than nine levels below it are the ones I'd leave while looking for another route.

The out-of-range doors were unnecessary in my runs, though some in-range doors were too. The range is a navigation clue; Jagex hasn't published it as an official formula.

A viewer who seems knowledgeable has suggested the range extends 10 levels below your skill level, rather than 9. I haven't tested that yet, so keep it in mind if you're using this as a shortcut.

Keep checking the map and collect keys as you go. Guardian doors require you to clear their room's monsters before moving on.

Use both gatestones to cut down the backtracking

If I reach a locked door a long way from the starting room, I leave a gatestone there before going elsewhere. Once I find the key, I can teleport straight back instead of running across the dungeon again.

You can use both a personal gatestone and the group gatestone when you're solo, giving you two places to return to.

Creating a personal gatestone requires 32 Magic and three cosmic runes. It's destroyed when you teleport to it, so create and drop another when you want to mark a new return point. Check the map for your dropped stones before choosing where to leave the next one.

Give mediums a try

Some viewers have suggested running mediums because the time they take and the XP bonus can make them better XP per hour. Give them a shot while you're practising and see what works best for you.

Links and resources