Special attacks

Some weapons in RuneScape had special attacks available for them. There were many types of special attacks, from temporary boosts in stats, to strikes dealing extra damage. They were activated by the player by clicking on the special attack bar under the Combat Options interface. Special attacks have an energy bar that is drained when you use the attack; this is drained of varying amounts according to which weapon is used.

The special energy bar regenerates at a rate of 10% every 30 seconds, and requires 5 minutes to regenerate from empty to full. The bar will not regenerate while a player is logged out, nor would it regenerate if a player had their bank window open.

The energy bar is related to the player, not to the weapon - in other words, changing weapons does not change the special energy bar. Interestingly, special attacks' names were not shown anywhere in-game; instead, they were revealed on the RuneScape website.

Dragon dagger
Puncture. 25% drain.
 * Two quick slashes with increased accuracy and damage. It is often used to quickly finish off opponents by high-level players.

Dragon scimitar
Sever. 55% drain.
 * A slash with increased accuracy that, if successful, prevents the target from using protection prayers for five seconds.

Dragon longsword
Cleave. 25% drain.
 * Deals extra damage.

Dragon mace
Shatter. 25% drain.
 * Drastically increases Strength at the cost of decreased accuracy for one hit.

Dragon battleaxe
Rampage. 100% drain.
 * Temporary boosts:
 * Strength +20% of original level
 * Attack -10% of original level
 * Defence -10% of original level
 * Ranged -10% of original level
 * Magic -10% of original level
 * Extras:


 * It is often used in conjunction with restore potions to make up for loss of attack and defence levels. Requires the completion of Heroes' Quest to equip.
 * The player shouts out "Raarrrrrgggggghhhhhhh!" when the special attack is performed.
 * The formula used is $$Boost=10+\lfloor 0.25\times (\lfloor 0.1\times magic\rfloor +\lfloor 0.1\times range\rfloor +\lfloor 0.1\times defence\rfloor +\lfloor 0.1\times attack\rfloor )\rfloor$$; note that the boost depends on the current levels of the other combat skills (boosting/draining other combat skills affects the boost).

Dragon halberd
Sweep. 30% drain.
 * A wide slash with increased strength that hit multiple enemies if they are lined up correctly (in a multi-combat zone) and would hit larger monsters twice. Could do well over 40 damage with each swipe.

Dragon spear
Shove. 25% drain.
 * When this special was used, the target is pushed back one square and stunned for three seconds. This attack does not inflict damage. Does not work on enemies that take up more than one space.

Dragon axe
Clobber. 100% drain.
 * Lowers the target's Defence and Magic by 10% of damage dealt. (Comparable to the Seercull bow.)

Dragon 2h sword
Powerstab. 60% drain.
 * In a multi-combat area, all targets within 1 square of the player will take damage. No more than 14 enemies can be hit at a time with this attack. No advantages were offered by using this attack in a single-combat area.

Armadyl godsword
The Judgment. 50% drain.
 * Inflicts 25% more damage.

Bandos godsword
Warstrike. 100% drain.
 * Attack does 15% more damage and drained one of the target's combat stats 10% of the damage dealt, rounded down, until it reaches 0. If the stat drained reaches 0 before all of the damage could be accounted for, another stat will be drained by the amount remaining. Stats are drained in the following order: Defence, Strength, Prayer, Attack, Magic, Ranged.

Saradomin godsword
Healing Blade. 50% drain.
 * Attack deals 10% more damage and restores the user's life points by 50% of the damage dealt (with a minimum of 10 hitpoints) and Prayer by 25% of damage dealt (with a minimum of 5 Prayer points). The attack has no effect if it missed completely but will always take effect if the attack hit and deals at least 1 damage.

Zamorak godsword
Ice Cleave. 60% drain.
 * Freezes the target for 20 seconds if successful, though the target could still attack a player in an adjacent square.
 * Also increases damage by 10% for the attack.

Abyssal whip
Energy Drain. 50% drain.
 * An attack that, when used against another player, transfers 10% of the target's run energy to the user.

Barrelchest anchor
Sunder: 50% drain.
 * Doubles the chance of hitting, and will lower the opponent's Attack, Defence, Ranged, or Magic level by 1% of the damage inflicted.

Granite maul
Quick Smash 50% drain
 * An extra attack done instantly with no other effects.

Excalibur
Sanctuary. 100% drain
 * Temporarily increases Defence by 8 levels.
 * Extra: Made the player shout out "For Camelot!" automatically.

Darklight
Weaken. 50% drain.
 * Temporarily reduces the target's Attack, Strength, and Defence by 5%. Twice as effective on demons (reduced each stat by 10%).
 * It is a decent alternative to a Bandos godsword, assuming you're against a demon.

Rune claws
Impale. 25% drain.
 * Increases attack with 10% more Attack and Strength, but with a slower speed.

Rod of Ivandis
Retainer. 10% drain.
 * Captured a vampyre juvinate that had 50% or less health.
 * Extra: It has 10 charges before it is destroyed and must be created again.

Bone dagger
Backstab. 75% drain.
 * Lowers the Defence of the target by 10% of damage dealt. Greatly increases accuracy on an unsuspecting target.
 * Extra: Requires the completion of Death to the Dorgeshuun to use the special, not to equip the weapon.

Brine sabre
Liquefy. 75% drain.
 * Doubls the chance of hitting, and added 2.5% of the damage dealt to the user's Strength, Attack and Defence levels.
 * Extra: Can only be used underwater.

Ancient mace
Favour of the War God. 100% drain.
 * Hit through Protect from Melee and drains Prayer points of the opponent by 100% the amount hit while recovering the user 100% the amount hit. (A hit of 10 drained 10 Prayer and granted 10 Prayer points to the user).
 * Can also restore prayer above base level.
 * It is also a common item to use as a Bandos item for God Wars Dungeon.

Saradomin sword
Saradomin's Lightning. 100% drain.
 * Hits two lightning bolts, the first hit is a regular hit which grants experience in the chosen melee skill. The second hit was magic based, and could hit 5-18, giving magic experience.

Zamorakian spear
Shove. 25% drain.
 * When this special is used, the target is pushed back one square and stunned for three seconds. This attack does not inflict damage. Does not work on enemies that take up more than one space.
 * This special attack has the same effect as the Dragon spear.

Magic shortbow
Snap-shot. 55% drain.
 * Fires two arrows very rapidly but with reduced accuracy.

Magic longbow
Powershot. 35% drain.
 * This attack uses the full power of the longbow and will never miss.

Magic composite bow
Powershot. 35% drain.
 * An accurate shot that has an increased chance of hitting your opponent.

Rune throwing axe
Chain Hit. 10% drain per hit.
 * Bounced between targets in multi-combat, striking multiple targets.
 * Commonly used for the doors on the way to Dagannoth Kings.

Seercull
Soulshot. 100% drain.
 * Inflicts damage and decreases the Magic level of the target by 10% of the damage dealt.

Dorgeshuun crossbow
Snipe. 75% drain.
 * Increases accuracy on an unsuspecting opponent (i.e. if the opponent was not looking your way when you use the special attack) and also lowers the opponent's defence by 10% of the amount of damage inflicted.

Dark bow
55% drain. The dark bow has 2 types of special attacks, depending on what type of arrow was used:


 * Descent of Darkness inflicts up to 30% more damage and does a minimum of 5 damage per arrow (2 on players).
 * Descent of Dragons inflicts up to 50% more damage when using dragon arrows and does a minimum of 5 damage per arrow (8 on players).

Armadyl crossbow
Armadyl eye. 40% drain.
 * It is the most accurate crossbow in the game, as well as having the capability of not degrading.
 * Its special attack doubles players' accuracy for that shot.

Staff of the Dead
Power of the Dead. 100% drain.
 * Reduces all melee damage taken for the next minute by 50%.
 * Damage reduction is nullified if the staff is unequipped.
 * Magic damage is boosted by 15%.
 * When a combat spell is cast with the staff, there is a 1/8 (12.5%) chance that the staff will negate the rune cost for that spell.
 * The Flames of Zamorak & the Slayer Dart spell can be autocast using this staff.

Some of these mechanics are similar to the Staff of Light from the live game, pre-eoc.