Protean bar

Protean bar is a Treasure Hunter reward. If the associated promotion is not currently active, it may not be obtainable.

Protean bar
Release	12 May 2014 (Update)
Members	No
Quest item	No
Properties
Tradeable	No
Equipable	No
Stackable	Yes
Disassembly	No
Destroy	Are you sure you want to destroy your Treasure Hunter prize? You cannot reclaim it!
Actions
Backpack	Convert, Destroy
Values
Value	500 coins Cash out: 40 coins
Alchemy	Not alchemisable
On death	Always kept outside Wild
Weight	0 kg
Examine
This is a stackable bar that can be worked for Smithing XP based on your Smithing level.
Advanced data
Item ID	31350
Links	MRID • recipe
FAQ • doc

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Protean bars can be won on Treasure Hunter, and could be claimed as a reward from various seasonal events such as the Christmas Advent Calendar and various promotions such as the Yak Track. They can be used on an anvil to do Protean smithing, which gives experience but no items. They were previously available to members only, but became available to free players on 24 April 2015.

60 protean bars can be used at once in the Make-X interface. Each bar takes 7 ticks (4.2 seconds) to be smithed, which means that 60 bars take 4 minutes and 12 seconds to use. At 857 bars per hour the experience is greater than some methods. Having the Rapid perk active on an augmented crystal hammer will speed up the rate the bars are used, thus increasing XP/hr.

The bars are stackable, subverting the need for banking. If you attempt to boost your level from one range to the next (e.g., 9 to 10) you do not get the option to make the higher level protean smithing item.

Protean bars, as with all protean items, can be converted at a 3:2 ratio into other protean items. Players are unable to use these bars within the Construction skill; only protean planks may be used. Protean Bars do not yield respect within Artisans' Workshop.

Experience

The Make X interface while using Protean bars for smithing

Level	Metal	XP per bar	Base XP per hour
1	Bronze	65	55,380
10	Iron	100	85,200
20	Steel	130	110,760
30	Mithril	165	140,580
40	Adamant	200	170,400
50	Rune	230	195,960
60	Orikalkum	265	225,780
70	Necronium	330	281,160
80	Bane	400	340,800
90	Elder Rune	530	451,560

Drop sources

For an exhaustive list of all known sources for this item, see here (include RDT).

Source	Level	Quantity	Rarity
Gemfall		150	Unknown
Huge protean pack	N/A	1,000	Always
Large protean pack	N/A	300	Always
Medium protean pack	N/A	150	Always
Protean chest	N/A	40	Common
Small protean pack	N/A	75	Always
Sparkling four-leaf clover necklace	N/A	500	Common
Sparkling three-leaf clover necklace	N/A	500	Common
Sparkling two-leaf clover necklace	N/A	500	Common
Tiny protean pack	N/A	10	Always
Umbral chest	N/A	2,000	Common

Update history

This information has been compiled as part of the update history project. Some updates may not be included - see here for how to help out!

• patch 11 March 2019 (Update):
  • Working with Protean Bars now correctly plays smithing audio.

• patch 7 January 2019 (Update):
  • Protean bars ignore the new smithing mechanics. They give slightly higher XP at high level (to make up for the loss of portable forges) but slightly lower XP at low level.

• update 12 May 2014 (Update):
  • Added to game.