Magic secateurs are the Farming upgrade from the quest Fairytale I - Growing Pains. Keep them in your inventory or wear them, and every herb, allotment, hops, bush and limpwurt harvest has a better chance of paying out extra crops. They are also the only weapon that can damage the quest boss Tanglefoot, but the yield bonus is why a farmer keeps a pair for the whole account.
Equipment bonuses
The combat numbers are an afterthought. They count as a stab sword: +7 stab, +9 slash, −5 crush and +1 strength on a 5-tick swing. They exist to finish one fight, not to be a weapon you train with.
Attack bonuses
Defence bonuses
Other bonuses
No level requirement · weapon slot · attack speed 5t / 3.0s · attack range 1 · members. The yield bonus works from the inventory, so you never need to wield them to farm.
How to get Magic secateurs
They come from a quest, and they are untradeable, so no other player can sell you a pair.
Ways to obtain it
Fairytale I - Growing Pains — Malignius Mortifer (south of Falador) sends you to the Nature Spirit, who blesses a normal pair of secateurs into magic secateurs. The quest needs Lost City, Nature Spirit, Priest in Peril and The Restless Ghost first.
Replacements — if you lose them before beating Tanglefoot, take the required items back to the Nature Spirit. Once Tanglefoot is dead, Malignius Mortifer sells extra pairs for 40,000 coins each.
A combined Strength and Farming level of about 40 is recommended for the Tanglefoot fight, because the secateurs' damage uses both skills.
What Magic secateurs boost
The 10% bonus applies to the base chance of harvesting beyond the minimum number of crops. The bonus applies to these sources:
- herb patches, allotments, bushes, hop patches and limpwurt plants;
- celastrus trees and grape vines;
- coral nurseries, which still gain the boost;
- the herbiboar, where the secateurs give exactly one extra herb.
Crops with a fixed yield get nothing: mushrooms, most flowers, tree roots, fruit trees, calquat trees, cacti, belladonna, seaweed and crystal trees. Hespori loot is also unaffected.
Other uses: they prune diseased trees like normal secateurs, and they give up to 6 willow branches at a time from a grown willow tree. In a Superior garden, using them creates the Otherworldly theme, but that uses the pair up.
Are Magic secateurs worth it?
For anyone who farms herbs, allotments or hops, yes. The quest is the only cost, and the item never needs charging, repairing or wielding. Put them in your inventory or a Tool Leprechaun and forget about them.
As a weapon they are only for Tanglefoot. For ordinary fighting use a proper weapon from the item list or the best in slot gear pages.
Magic secateurs FAQ
What do Magic secateurs do?
They add 10% to the base chance of getting more than the minimum crop from a harvest. The bonus covers herb patches, allotments, celastrus trees, grape vines, bushes, limpwurt plants, hop patches, coral nurseries and the herbiboar.
How do you get Magic secateurs?
During the quest Fairytale I - Growing Pains, Malignius Mortifer (south of Falador) sends you to the Nature Spirit, who blesses a normal pair of secateurs into magic secateurs. You must finish Lost City, Nature Spirit, Priest in Peril and The Restless Ghost before you can start that quest.
Do you have to wield Magic secateurs for the bonus?
No. Since the 15 Feb 2023 update the yield effect also works while the secateurs are only in your inventory.
What if you lose your Magic secateurs?
Before you beat Tanglefoot, you get them back by taking the required items to the Nature Spirit again. After the fight, you can buy another pair from Malignius Mortifer for 40,000 coins. Tool Leprechauns at farming patches can also hold a pair.
Do Magic secateurs help with fruit trees, flowers or cacti?
No. They do not help with seaweed, crystal trees, cacti or belladonna, or with crops that have a set yield (mushrooms, flowers other than limpwurt, tree roots, fruit trees and calquat trees).
Hespori loot is also unaffected. Limpwurt is the one flower that does gain from them.
Do you need to finish Fairytale I for the yield bonus?
No. A developer confirmed in 2018 that the bonus works even when the quest is not complete. You still need to have picked the secateurs up.
Can a skiller or low-level pure get Magic secateurs?
A pure that avoids Attack, Strength, Ranged and Magic training can take them halfway through the quest without gaining combat experience. A skiller account cannot, because the prerequisite quests give combat experience.
Are Magic secateurs better than normal secateurs?
Yes for farming. Normal secateurs prune diseased trees and bushes. Magic secateurs do the same jobs as normal secateurs (pruning disease and cutting willow branches) and add the yield bonus.
Update history
15 Feb 2023The extra-yield effect began working from the inventory without wielding, and it now applies to bushes and limpwurt plants.
7 Jul 2021The way the weapon sits in a female player's hand was corrected.
8 Oct 2015Left-click pruning at a farming patch now checks for held Magic secateurs.
4 Sep 2014Players can own more than one pair, and the Destroy option became Drop.
13 Nov 2006They can be taken to Entrana by air balloon.
7 Mar 2006Tool Leprechauns began to store them, and they can be used to prune diseased trees.
Source: OSRS Wiki — Magic secateurs (Changes).
