Armour/Melee armour

Melee armour, used in the Attack, Strength and Defence skills, is generally made out of some kind of metal. There is a "default" (regular) series of armour, consisting of Bronze, Iron, Steel, Black/White, Mithril, Adamant, Rune, and Dragon (in ascending order of the quality of the armour). For each piece of armour, there is a counterpart made for each other type of metal (with the exception of Dragon armour which has some items yet to be released). All these can be made from the Smithing skill, with the exception of Black, White, and Dragon, which can only be purchased or received from a monster drop.

All armour items not made from those metal types can be considered "special" and generally cannot be made from the Smithing skill, but rather sold by an NPC or obtained as a monster drop. Some players may consider these more desirable, as they often provide higher bonuses than other forms of armour.

Medium helmets
Bronze, Iron, Steel, Black, White, Mithril, Adamant, Rune, Dragon

Medium helmets offer little protection compared to full helms (shown below) from most combat forms, but also do little to inhibit using any combat style. This makes them a good choice for players who favour melee, but want the opportunity to use Magic and Ranged. But if you prefer melee fighting, the full helm is a better choice.

Full helmets
Bronze, Iron, Steel, Black, White, Mithril, Adamant, Rune, Dragon

Full helmets encase the whole of the players head and provide better range and melee defence than other helmets. It does, however, imposes larger negative modifiers to Magic and Ranged attacks, but many rangers prefer them for their defence bonuses and accept the negative attack modifiers, which are significantly smaller than their mage attack penalty.

Chainbodies
Bronze, Iron, Steel, Black, White, Mithril, Adamant, Rune, Dragon

Chainbodies are made up of small rings linked together. They are particularly useful for deflecting slashing weapons and absorbing the impact of crush attacks. Chainmail is weak against stabbing weapons as small pointed blades can pierce the rings, as can arrows, therefore it is less effective at defending against Ranged attacks. Chainmail is quite flexible and so does not penalise a ranger's attack bonus, though its metal construction does impede a mage's accuracy somewhat. However, they offer a lesser Magic defence penalty than platebodies.

Platebodies
Bronze, Iron, Steel, Black, White, Mithril, Adamant, Rune

Platebodies are much heavier and stronger than chainbodies, providing the higher slash, stab, and ranged defence bonuses. Platebodies are weakest against crushing and magic attacks, as they conduct magic and cannot absorb the impact of a crush attack as well as dragonhide or chain armour. Rangers and Mages are at a great disadvantage trying to aim their ranged and distance magic attacks in this restrictive and heavy metal armour. The Dragon Slayer quest is required to wear the Rune platebody.

Platelegs and plateskirts
Bronze, Iron, Steel, Black, White, Mithril, Adamant, Rune, Dragon

Platelegs and Plateskirts are a vital part of a warrior's armour, and provide the second best defensive bonuses after the platebody. As with all Dragon equipment, the dragon platelegs/plateskirt cannot be made via the Smithing skill.

Square shields
Bronze, Iron, Steel, Black, White, Mithril, Adamant, Rune, Dragon

The square shield has adequate melee and range defence bonuses, and does not penalise range or mage attacks as much as the kiteshield. In melee, a square shield is weakest against crush attacks, but stronger towards stab. Square shields are not often used, as most players prefer the kiteshield for its higher defence bonuses. In similarity towards medium helmets, square shields provide less ranged and magic attack bonuses and could be more preferred by those who aren't using melee.

Kiteshields
Bronze, Iron, Steel, Black, White, Mithril, Adamant, Rune

Kiteshields offer better defence than a square shield, although like most heavier armour it is awkward to use in combination with Magic and Ranged. Kiteshields are marginally weaker against stabbing attacks.

Metal gloves
Bronze, Iron, Steel, Black, White, Mithril, Adamant, Rune, Dragon, Barrows

The Culinaromancer's metal gloves can be bought from the Culinaromancer's chest after completing varying numbers of Recipe for Disaster subquests, the exception being White gloves, which are purchased from Sir Vyvin. White gloves are also the only tradeable metal gloves.

Metal gloves provide good protection against all attack styles. Barrows gloves give the best attack bonuses for all attack styles of any pair of gloves, and also the highest strength bonus. These gloves also do not degrade.

Defenders
Bronze, Iron, Steel, Black, Mithril, Adamant, Rune

Metal defenders are small dagger-like items worn in the shield slot. While they yield as good as none defensive bonuses whatsoever, they do boost offensive stats and are as such desirable for warriors using an offensive approach. They cannot be made nor bought, only received as a drop from cyclopes on the top floor of the Warriors' Guild. Once the first - bronze - defender is received, it must be shown to Kamfreena outside the room before an iron one may be received, which must then be shown before a steel one may be received, etc. Entrance to the cyclops room is temporary and the Guild's tokens are required for access. The owned amount slowly decreases as one is in the room.