A free prayer flick trainer you can run in your browser
A free prayer flick trainer in the browser: what each Ward Flicking level trains, the medal thresholds, how timing feedback works, and how it compares with other tools.
Practise this: the Ward Flicking ladder
Microgrind's Ward Flicking drill is a free prayer flick trainer that runs in any modern browser, on a computer or a phone, with nothing to install. You raise a ward (Microgrind's own stand-in for a protection prayer) for the exact tick an attack fires, and drop it again before it costs anything. Six levels take you from a lazy flick with every cue switched on to fast, mixed-style attacks with no metronome.
If you want the theory first, prayer flicking explained tick by tick covers when protection is checked and when drain lands. This page is about the trainer itself: what each level asks of you, what the medals mean, and when a different tool is the better choice.
How a run works
- Controls: Space raises or drops the ward. On the two-style levels, 1 and 2 pick the Ember or Frost ward. On a touchscreen, tap the orb.
- The rules: a shot is blocked if the matching ward is up on the tick it fires. A ward costs one point of energy for every tick it stays up, except the tick you raised it.
- Scoring: +100 per warded shot, −5 per point of energy spent. Taking a hit scores nothing and costs 10 of your 60 health, so 6 hits end the run.
- Clicks queue to the next tick, exactly as in the game tick guide: anything you press in the 600 ms before a tick is applied on that tick.
What each level trains
| Level | What it trains | Shots | Cadence | Cues | Gold |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Steady Pulse | Raise the ward for the tick the Sentinel fires. A ward raised for one tick costs nothing. | 12 | Every 5 ticks | 3-tick charge-up, metronome | Every shot warded, 2 energy or less |
| 2. Quickening | Same flick, faster cadence: every 5, then 4, then 3 beats. | 16 | Every 5, then 4, then 3 ticks | 2-tick charge-up, metronome | Every shot warded, 3 energy or less |
| 3. Cold Cadence | Track an attack cycle by counting ticks since the last shot. | 16 | Every 4 ticks | Charge-up on the first shot only, no metronome | Every shot warded, 3 energy or less |
| 4. Crossfire | 1-tick flick: toggle off and on inside one beat and the ward counts as freshly raised. | 20 | Pairs on consecutive ticks, every 6 ticks | 2-tick charge-up, metronome | Every shot warded, 2 energy or less |
| 5. Two Colours | Match the ward to the attack style. Switching is free on the beat you switch. | 20 | Random, 2–4 ticks apart, some back to back | 2-tick charge-up, metronome | Every shot warded, 4 energy or less |
| 6. Onslaught | Read short tells under pressure, the loop behind style-switching bosses. | 24 | Random, 1–4 ticks apart, some back to back | 1-tick charge-up, no metronome | Every shot warded, 4 energy or less |
Levels 1 to 3 are the lazy flick at shrinking gaps and with fewer cues. Level 4 is the 1-tick flick: shots come on consecutive ticks, and holding the ward across a pair costs a point. Levels 5 and 6 add a second attack style, so you also have to pick the right ward, and only one can be up at a time.
Medal thresholds
The same three rules apply on every level; only the energy allowance for gold changes (see the table above).
| Medal | You need |
|---|---|
| Gold | Every shot warded, energy within the level’s gold allowance |
| Silver | 90% warded, Survive |
| Bronze | Survive |
Gold is the one that proves you are flicking rather than holding. A run that blocks everything but leaves the ward up between shots will still lose 5 points per charged tick and miss gold. Silver on a level unlocks the next one, and Settings can unlock the whole ladder if you would rather jump ahead.
How the timing feedback works
Only one thing decides a run: the tick each input landed on. After the run, the results screen also shows where inside the tick your clicks fell, as a small chart with the median time before the tick. Clicks in the last 50 ms are marked in red: they nearly slipped to the next tick.
That millisecond figure is feedback only. It never changes a score or a medal, because it cannot be checked: a browser's clock is not the game's, and Microgrind does not claim its timing matches the live game to the millisecond. What it can promise is the tick logic. Ranked runs use a seed from the server, and the server replays every input log with the same rules before it reaches a leaderboard.
How it compares with other ways to practise
Microgrind is one option among several, and for some players it is not the best one. Here is an honest summary of the others, based on what each tool's own page says:
| Option | Where it runs | What it gives you | Enough when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Practising in the game itself | The game client | The real thing: real prayer points, real attacks, your real connection. | You have a low-risk monster to practise on and want the exact feel of the live game. |
| RuneLite Prayer plugin | RuneLite | A prayer flick helper drawn on the prayer orb or bar, among other prayer information. | You already play on RuneLite and want a visual cue while flicking in game. |
| RuneLite Metronome plugin | RuneLite | A sound on a tick you specify, meant for tick-based skilling. Off by default. | You only need to hear the tick while you play. |
| TickSense | RuneLite (open source) | Reports on your tick timing after an activity. Its README says it does not prompt you during play. | You want to review real in-game sessions afterwards. |
| Jad simulator (spacescape20xx) | Browser (itch.io), free | A browser simulator of one specific boss fight (TzTok-Jad), with its source on GitHub. | You are preparing for that particular fight. |
| TickTrainer (altrual) | Browser (itch.io), free | A free HTML5 prototype; its page gives no description. | You want to try another small browser tool and judge it yourself. |
| Microgrind Ward Flicking | Browser, desktop or phone, free | A graded ladder of flicking patterns, medals, sub-tick feedback and verified leaderboards. | You want to build the timing step by step away from the game, and see exactly what each mistake cost. |
Where Microgrind falls short: it uses its own art and abstract Sentinels, not any real boss, and its energy model is simpler than the game's prayer drain (the flicking guide compares the two). It cannot reproduce your connection to a game server either. Use it to make the rhythm automatic, then take it into the game.
Where to start
- Play Ward Flicking 1: Steady Pulse with the sound on. Aim for gold before moving on.
- Work up to Ward Flicking 3: Cold Cadence, where the countdown and metronome are gone and you count ticks yourself.
- Learn the 1-tick flick on Ward Flicking 4: Crossfire, then mix styles on levels 5 and 6.
Quick answers
Is there a free prayer flick trainer?
Yes. Microgrind's Ward Flicking drill is free and runs in any modern browser, on a computer or a phone, with nothing to install.
Can I practise prayer flicking on my phone?
Yes. It runs in a phone's browser, and on a touchscreen you tap the orb instead of pressing Space.
Is it the same as flicking in the game?
The tick rule is the same: a click is applied on the next tick, so anything you press in the 600 ms before a tick lands on that tick. The rest is simpler: abstract Sentinels instead of real bosses, an energy model simpler than the game's prayer drain, and no connection to a game server.
Practise this
Free in the browser, no sign-up. Slowed ticks and other practice aids are in each level's settings.
Sources
Not affiliated with or endorsed by Jagex Ltd. Old School RuneScape is a trademark of Jagex Ltd.