Scimitar

Scimitars are great slashing weapons, although they have a less effective stabbing attack. They deal slightly more damage than swords, but less then longswords. Scimitars are a much favored training weapon against unarmoured opponents, as what it lacks in absolute power, it makes up for in speed. The balance favours a player's Strength being higher than their Attack. This quality, when combined with the great popularity of training Attack and Strength alone and neglecting Defence, results in the scimitar's popularity. They have the exact same speed as the considerably weaker daggers and two-handed claws, so they are widely used. However, they have less attack and defense bonuses than longswords and Battleaxes.

Scimitars are made with the Smithing skill, purchased at a scimitar shop identified with the scimitar icon on the map, or bought from another player. One scimitar shop is Zeke's Superior Scimitars, located in Al Kharid. Unfortunately, it only sells bronze, iron, steel, and mithril scimitars. There is also a members-only scimitar shop located in the Ape Atoll which is only available after completing the Monkey Madness quest. This scimitar shop sells adamant, rune and Dragon scimitars.

Grand Exchange prices are shown below:
 * Bronze scimitar: coins
 * Iron scimitar: coins
 * Steel scimitar: coins
 * Black scimitar: coins
 * White scimitar: coins
 * Mithril scimitar: coins
 * Adamant scimitar: coins
 * Sacred clay scimitar: 64,000 rewards mystic points
 * Rune scimitar: coins
 * Corrupt dragon scimitar: coins
 * Dragon scimitar: coins

Scimitars or Longswords?
In free-to-play worlds there has been much controversy over whether the longsword is superior to the scimitar, or visa versa. While it is true that the scimitar is faster than the longsword, the longsword offers superior accuracy, defense and strength bonus - in some cases, this strength bonus may make up for the slightly slower attack speed. Scimitars are often the weapons used most by melee pures, as these characters are usually designed to maximize strength to either attain a low combat level for PKing (usually regarded as "cheap" by those who take a more varied approach in their character) or simply wish to be the best they can in a single combat style. The scimitar is also often used in conjunction with the two-handed sword by melee pures, who usually use the two-handed sword as a powerful finisher weapon. Thus, it could be said that scimitars could be the weapon of choice for player versus player combat, while longswords are generally better at player versus monster combat. The difference in most cases is negligible, however, and a player with only a rune or dragon longsword would be nearly equal to a similarly leveled player with only a rune or dragon scimitar. Ultimately, it is up to the player to decide which weapon he or she should use, and on members worlds this difference is almost completely negated by the presence of many more weapons, such as halberds, spears, and claws.

It is advised that players avoid discussing this in-game, as they are at risk of being thrown insults by melee pures and other players who erroneously believe that scimitars are absolutely the only useful melee weapon in the game and that all others are somehow inferior.