Summary
Trader Steve is finally entering the endgame of one of the wildest Old School RuneScape challenges around. After more than a year of grinding, billions of GP spent and countless chunks unlocked across Gielinor, the goal of earning a Quest Cape is now genuinely within reach.
The challenge sounds simple on paper. Trader Steve starts in the Grand Exchange chunk and can only unlock an adjacent chunk after obtaining a rare item worth more than 1 million GP. Every new area therefore has to be earned through valuable drops, making even seemingly simple quests surprisingly expensive. For players can buy OSRS gold for prepare.
With only a handful of quests remaining, the finish line is finally visible.
Trader Steve Still Needs Billions for the Final Quests
At this stage of the challenge, Trader Steve had 23 quests left and around 30 Quest Points still to collect. The upcoming Wyrmscraig quest was also expected to increase the total, making the final stretch even more complicated.
The biggest problem is not necessarily the number of quests. It is the number of chunks required to reach them.
The remaining land-based quests were estimated to require roughly 20 additional chunks, costing around 1 billion GP at current item prices. The remaining Sailing-related quests are much more expensive, potentially requiring around 35 chunks and more than 3 billion GP.
That creates an unusual situation where finishing a Quest Cape is effectively a massive OSRS money-making challenge.
Trader Steve's plan is therefore to complete the land quests first. Sailing is still evolving, meaning future quests could change the most efficient route through the required chunks.
A Ruff Situation Adds Another Quest to the Challenge
The timing could hardly be more interesting because Jagex has just added two new quests to OSRS.
A Ruff Situation launched on September 8 as a novice members-only quest requiring 15 Crafting. Completing it gives players access to adoptable puppies, with 12 dog breeds eventually available across Gielinor. Fully grown dogs can also help with Treasure Trail digging.
For a normal account, A Ruff Situation is a quick new quest with a fun reward.
For Trader Steve, however, every new quest potentially creates another chunk requirement.
Fortunately, this one turned out to be relatively painless. Trader Steve was able to complete A Ruff Situation without adding another expensive chunk to the route and even picked up a Corgi puppy afterward.
The second new quest, Crab Quest, looked much more dangerous for the challenge.
Crab Quest requires 40 Sailing and 30 Fishing and takes players to Dognose Island, making its location particularly important for a chunk-locked account.
The Etched Fang Money Maker Is Paying Off
With billions of GP still needed, Trader Steve also discovered an interesting new OSRS money-making method involving etched boss drops.
The introduction of the Mega King brought etched versions of the Elder Venator Fang and Arachite Fang. These can be turned into valuable finished items, creating an opportunity to profit from the difference between the raw etched item and the completed equipment.
The Arachite Fang was purchased for around 34.5 million GP, while the required Torture cost roughly 18.5 million. After crafting the Amulet of Rancour, Trader Steve sold it for around 55.6 million GP, generating approximately 1.4 million GP in profit.
The method proved surprisingly easy to repeat.
At its best, the combination could generate several million GP with almost no movement, making it particularly useful for a challenge account that needs huge amounts of cash without constantly risking expensive chunks.
The Elder Venator Fang offered another profitable option, with individual combinations producing roughly 1.5–1.7 million GP in profit.
Trader Steve Is Closing In on a Mega Rare
The money-making grind pushed the account's cash stack toward another major milestone.
After selling loot from Mega King, the Colosseum and other activities, Trader Steve reached roughly 520 million GP in cash. That put the account within striking distance of a Tumeken's Shadow.
Buying another mega rare would be a huge upgrade, but there is an important decision to make. Every GP spent on expensive gear is GP that could otherwise be used to unlock chunks required for the final quests.
That is the central problem of the Trader Steve challenge: progress is always competing with progression.
Even so, the account has continued generating valuable drops, including another Elder Venator Fang that was turned into an Amulet of Rancour and sold for around 138 million GP.
The Quest Cape Is Finally Within Sight
The most impressive part of this journey is how close Trader Steve has become to completing the original goal.
Several quests that had been available for months were finally cleaned up, including Clock Tower, Olaf's Quest, Sea Slug, The Slug Menace and Rat Catchers.
Regicidal Bone Man II proved to be a much bigger problem. Some of the required monsters are located outside Trader Steve's currently unlocked chunks, potentially forcing another expensive unlock.
That is exactly what makes the challenge so entertaining. A quest that would normally take minutes can become a multi-million-GP problem because of a single NPC standing just outside the available territory.
With A Ruff Situation now completed and Crab Quest added to the list, Trader Steve is approaching the final stretch.
The land-based quests could potentially be finished within the next month or two. After that, the much more expensive Sailing portion will determine just how many more billions are required. For players can buy OSRS gold for prepare.
For a challenge that has already lasted around a year and a half, the end is finally starting to look real. Trader Steve may still need a mountain of GP, but the OSRS Quest Cape is no longer a distant dream.
More OSRS Guides & News
The Biggest High-Risk Fight in OSRS: A 220B Duel Ends in Disaster
OSRS Update Guide: New Dog & Crab Quests, PvP Changes, Grand Exchange & More
