OSRS Shooting Stars Guide: Mine the Cosmos!

Look to the skies, miners! Shooting Stars are a fun and social Distraction and Diversion that sends Crashed Stars plummeting into Gielinor for players to mine. This activity offers a relaxed way to train Mining, engage with the community, and earn Stardust for unique rewards.

This guide covers how to locate Shooting Stars, the mechanics of mining them, understanding star sizes, and what you can do with the Stardust you collect.

What Are Shooting Stars?

  • Event: Roughly every 90 minutes (+/- 15 mins) on each world, a star crashes at a random predetermined location.
  • Activity: Players locate the Crashed Star and mine it using their pickaxe.
  • Rewards: Mining grants Mining XP and Stardust.
  • Accessibility: Available in F2P and Members worlds, but rewards shop is Members-only, and F2P XP is halved.

Locating a Crashed Star

Finding a star can be part of the fun!

  • Telescopes (Members): Build a telescope in your POH Study. Higher tiers give more precise landing time windows:
    • Oak Telescope: 24-min window
    • Teak Telescope: 9-min window
    • Mahogany Telescope: 2-min window
    • Telescopes only give the region (e.g., Asgarnia, Karamja), not the exact spot.
  • Scouting: Travel to the potential landing sites within the predicted region and timeframe. Stars are visible from a distance once crashed. You'll hear a whistle and crash sound if nearby when it lands.
  • Community: The most effective way is using player communities!
    • Clan Chats: Dedicated "Star Miners" or similar clan chats constantly call out star locations and worlds.
    • Discord Servers: Many OSRS Discords have star-finding channels.
    • Grouping Menu: Check the in-game Grouping menu for Shooting Stars.

Mining the Star: Layers & Stardust

Once you find a Crashed Star:

  • Prospect: Right-click 'Prospect' to check its current size (requires Mining level: Size 9 = 90 Mining, Size 8 = 80 Mining, etc.) and the mining progress on the current layer.
  • Mining: Click to mine with your pickaxe. You'll gain 32 Mining XP (16 in F2P) each time you successfully mine Stardust. Success rate scales with your Mining level (up to ~46% at 99).
  • Layers: Stars start at Size 6 to 9. Each layer takes 7 minutes to deplete as long as at least one person is mining it. The number of miners doesn't speed up depletion anymore (post-update).
  • Shrinking: When a layer hits 100% mined, the star shrinks by one size (e.g., Size 8 -> Size 7). You can then mine the next layer if you meet the level requirement.
  • Final Layer: When Size 1 is fully mined, the star crumbles and disappears.
  • First Finder Bonus: The first person to mine a newly crashed star gets double Stardust for their next 300 dust mined (persists across stars/logins).

Stardust & Rewards (Members Only)

Stardust collected is the currency for Dusuri's Star Shop, located outside the Mining Guild entrance in Falador.

  • Celestial Ring (2,000 Stardust): Provides an invisible +4 Mining level boost when worn (stacks with other boosts). Requires charging.
  • Star Fragment (3,000 Stardust): Used to charge the Celestial Ring (up to 10 charges per fragment, max 100 charges). Ring uses 1 charge per ore mined (excluding Motherlode Mine, Dense Essence, Gem Rocks).
  • Bag full of gems (300 Stardust): Contains various uncut gems.
  • Soft clay pack (150 Stardust): Contains 100 soft clay.

Tips for Star Mining

  • Best Pickaxe: Always use the best pickaxe you can wield.
  • Gear: Prospector Outfit for bonus XP, Celestial Ring (charged), Amulet of Glory (for gems), Mining Cape (for +1 boost/perk).
  • Community Power: Utilize star-finding communities for efficiency. Hopping worlds to find high-population stars is common.
  • AFK: Mining stars is fairly AFK once started, but keep an eye on layer depletion if you want to mine lower tiers.
  • Gems: You can get gems while mining; bring a Gem Bag or Chisel.

Conclusion

Shooting Stars offer a refreshing, social alternative to traditional Mining training. While not the absolute fastest XP, the relaxed nature, community aspect, and valuable rewards like the Celestial Ring make it a popular and worthwhile Distraction and Diversion for miners of all levels (though rewards are primarily for members). Keep an eye on the sky (or the clan chat!), grab your pickaxe, and get ready to mine some cosmic dust!

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