Next unlock should rank the nearest step before the largest profit

The best next unlock is not always the method with the highest modeled GP per hour. For an early account, a small reachable requirement can be more useful than a profitable method that is several levels away.

A live free-to-play test on August 26, 2026 used 999,999 GP, Low effort, level 30 in every supplied skill, and no Wilderness permission. The next-unlock bucket put blessing unblessed symbols first. Its modeled profit was 34,920 GP per hour, and the account needed one Prayer level to reach Prayer 31.

Cooking plain pizzas ranked second in that bucket with a much higher 119,880 GP per hour. The account needed five Cooking levels to reach Cooking 35. Catching lobsters ranked third at 14,840 GP per hour and needed ten Fishing levels to reach Fishing 40, plus several manual quest and item checks.

The order makes sense once the bucket's job is clear. It first favors fewer blockers. When the blocker count matches, it favors fewer total skill levels and a smaller capital gap. Profit breaks later ties. This makes the first card a practical nearby target instead of a distant income promise.

The OSRS Money Maker recommendation tool uses ordinary profit ranking for methods that are already eligible. The next-unlock list has a different job, so it uses a different order.

Players can still compare the profit figures on all three cards. The rank answers a narrower question. Which option needs the smallest change to the current account? In this snapshot, one Prayer level was a shorter path than five Cooking levels, even though plain pizzas had the larger hourly estimate.