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"Spec" redirects here. For other uses, see Spec (disambiguation).
Special attack

A full special attack bar.

Special attack orb

Some weapons in Old School RuneScape have special attacks available for them. There are many types of special attacks, from temporary boosts in stats, to strikes dealing extra damage. They are activated by the player by clicking on the special attack bar under the Combat Options interface. Hovering over the special attack bar will show a tooltip with the weapon's special attack's name and description.

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, or five (5) minutes to regenerate from empty to full. The bar will not regenerate while a player is logged out, nor will it regenerate if a player has their bank window open. The special attack bar also does not regenerate on death or upon exiting the Clan Wars portal. However, the Elidinis Statuette at Nardah, a restoration pool or higher in player-owned houses, and exiting a Nightmare Zone dream fully restore special attack energy.

The energy bar is related to the player, not to the weapon - in other words, changing weapons does not change the special energy bar.

Stranger

A player fighting the stranger who uses the dragon dagger's special attack.

While players are the most common users of special attacks, NPCs are known to use them too. The stranger that may be encountered during Desert Treasure is capable of using his dragon dagger's special attack. He does not seem to be limited by a special attack bar and can even unleash consecutive special attacks per game tick.

Melee weapons[]

Dragon weapons[]

Weapon Name Special attack energy used Description Animation
Dragon dagger Dragon dagger Puncture 25% Two quick slashes with 25% increased accuracy and 15% increased damage. Puncture
Dragon scimitar Dragon scimitar Sever 55% A slash with increased accuracy that, if successful, prevents the target from using protection prayers for five seconds. Sever
Dragon longsword Dragon longsword Cleave 25% A powerful attack that deals 15% more damage. Cleave
Dragon mace Dragon mace Shatter 25% Increases damage by 50% and accuracy by 25% for one hit. Shatter
Dragon battleaxe Dragon battleaxe Rampage 100% Lowers the user's Attack, Defence, Ranged, and Magic levels by 10% each, but increases their Strength by 10 + (levels drained / 4). Rampage
Dragon warhammer Dragon warhammer Smash 50% An attack that deals 50% additional damage and will lower the target's current Defence level by 30% on a hit other than 0 (stackable; relative to current level). Smash
Dragon halberd Dragon halberd Sweep 30% Swipe all targets in front of you for 10% extra damage. For large monsters that occupy two or more spaces, like giants, the halberd will hit twice, although the second hit will have 25% decreased accuracy. Sweep
Dragon spear Dragon spear Shove 25% Push your opponent back and stun them for three seconds. This attack deals no damage and doesn't work on creatures that occupy two or more spaces. Shove (dragon spear)
Dragon 2h sword Dragon 2h sword Powerstab 60% Hit up to 14 enemies surrounding you. Powerstab
Dragon pickaxe Dragon pickaxe Rock Knocker 100% Increases the player's Mining level by 3. Rock Knocker
Infernal pickaxe Infernal pickaxe
3rd age pickaxe 3rd age pickaxe
Dragon axe Dragon axe Lumber Up 100% Increases the player's Woodcutting level by 3. Lumber Up
Infernal axe Infernal axe
3rd age axe 3rd age axe
Dragon harpoon Dragon harpoon Fishstabber 100% Increases the player's Fishing level by 3. Fishstabber
Infernal harpoon Infernal harpoon
Dragon claws Dragon claws Slice and Dice 50% Hits 4 times in quick succession with great accuracy. Slice and Dice
Dragon thrownaxe Dragon thrownaxe Momentum Throw 25% Improves accuracy by 25% along with guaranteeing that the player will attack on the next game tick. Momentum Throw
Dragon sword Dragon sword Wild Stab 40% Hits the target with 25% increased accuracy and damage. If the target is using Protect from Melee, the special attack will ignore the prayer for one attack. Wild Stab

Godswords[]

Weapon Name Special attack energy used Description Animation
Armadyl godsword Armadyl godsword The Judgment 50% Inflicts 37.5% more damage and doubles the accuracy. The Judgment
Bandos godsword Bandos godsword Warstrike 50% Attack does 21% more damage, doubles the accuracy, and drains one of the target's Combat stats by the amount of damage dealt, 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. Warstrike
Saradomin godsword Saradomin godsword Healing Blade 50% Increases damage dealt by 10% and doubles the accuracy. Attack restores the user's Hitpoints 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 misses completely but will always take effect if the attack hits anything. Healing Blade
Zamorak godsword Zamorak godsword Ice Cleave 50% Increases damage dealt by 10% and doubles the accuracy. If the special attack hits successfully, it freezes the target for 20 seconds. Ice Cleave

Other[]

Weapon Name Special attack energy used Description Animation
Abyssal whip Abyssal whip Energy Drain 50% An attack that has 25% additional accuracy and, when used against another player, transfers 10% of the target's run energy to the user. Energy Drain
Abyssal tentacle Abyssal tentacle Binding Tentacle 50% Binds an opponent for 5 seconds and increases opponent's chance of being poisoned. Binding Tentacle
Abyssal dagger Abyssal dagger Abyssal Puncture 50% A double attack that deals 15% less damage with 25% more accuracy. If the first attack hits, so will the second attack. Otherwise, both attacks will miss. Abyssal Puncture
Abyssal bludgeon Abyssal bludgeon Penance 50% An attack that deals 0.5% extra damage for every prayer point the attacker is missing. Penance
Barrelchest anchor Barrelchest anchor Sunder 50% An attack that doubles accuracy, increases max hit by 10%, and lowers the opponent's Attack, Defence, Ranged, or Magic level by 10% of the damage inflicted. Sunder
Granite hammer Granite hammer Hammer Blow 60% An attack with 50% increased accuracy. Adds 5 damage to the attack; this extra 5 damage applies even if the player was supposed to deal zero damage. Hammer Blow
Granite maul Granite maul Quick Smash 50% An extra attack done instantly with no other effects. Quick Smash
Rune claws Rune claws Impale 25% Attack with 10% more Attack and Strength, but with a slower speed. Impale
Excalibur Excalibur Sanctuary 100% Temporarily increases Defence by 8 levels. Sanctuary
Darklight Darklight Weaken 50% Temporarily reduces the target's Attack, Strength, and Defence by 5%. Twice as effective on demons (reduces each stat by 10%). Weaken (special attack)
Arclight Arclight
Bone dagger Bone dagger Backstab 75% Lowers the Defence of the target equal to the amount of damage dealt. Has a guaranteed hit if you weren't the last one to attack the target. Backstab
Brine sabre Brine sabre Liquefy 75% Doubles the chance of hitting, and adds 25% of the damage dealt to the user's Strength, Attack and Defence levels. Can only be used underwater. Liquefy
Ancient mace Ancient mace Favour of the War God 100% Hits through Protect from Melee and drains Prayer points of the opponent by 100% of the amount hit while recovering the user 100% of the amount hit. (A hit of 10 drains 10 Prayer and grants 10 Prayer points to the user.)

Can also restore Prayer above base level.

Favour of the War God
Saradomin sword Saradomin sword Saradomin's Lightning 100% Call upon Saradomin's power to inflict 1-16 extra Magic damage upon your opponent. Increases the melee hit by 10%. The special attack rolls against the opponent's magic defence bonus using your slash attack bonus making this special attack extremely accurate on melee armour. Saradomin's Lightning
Saradomin's blessed sword Saradomin's blessed sword 65% Magic-based attack that increases the user's max hit by 25%. The special attack rolls against the opponent's magic defence bonus using your slash attack bonus making this special attack extremely accurate on melee armour. Saradomin's Blessed Lightning
Zamorakian spear Zamorakian spear Shove 25% Push your opponent back and stun them for three seconds. This attack deals no damage. Shove (Zamorakian spear)
Zamorakian hasta Zamorakian hasta
Crystal halberd Crystal halberd Sweep 30% Swipe all targets in front of you for 10% extra damage. For large monsters that occupy two or more spaces, like giants, the halberd will hit twice, although the second hit will have 25% decreased accuracy. Sweep (crystal halberd)
Dinh's bulwark Dinh's bulwark Shield Bash 50% Attacks surrounding targets in a 10x10 area with 20% increased accuracy. Shield Bash

Ranged weapons[]

Weapon Name Special attack energy used Description Animation
Armadyl crossbow Armadyl crossbow Armadyl Eye 40% Doubles the player's accuracy for that shot. Armadyl Eye
Dark bow Dark bow Descent of Darkness 55% A powerful double attack with increased damage inflicting up to 30% more damage with a minimum of 5 damage per arrow and a capped maximum of 48. Descent of Dragons
Descent of Dragons Inflicts up to 50% more damage for a minimum of 8 damage per arrow and a maximum of 48. Only activates if dragon arrows are used.
Dragon crossbow Dragon crossbow Annihilate 60% Hits all enemies in a 3x3 area. The primary target of the attack will take 20% extra damage, while all other targets will take 20% less damage. Annihilate
Magic shortbow Magic shortbow Snapshot 55% Fires two arrows very rapidly but with reduced accuracy. For some reason, it ignores Void's and prayer effects. Snapshot
Magic shortbow Magic shortbow (i) 50%
Magic longbow Magic longbow Powershot 35% A shot that is guaranteed to hit your opponent. For some reason, it ignores Void's and prayer effects. Powershot
Magic comp bow Magic comp bow
Rune thrownaxe Rune thrownaxe Chainhit 10% Throw an axe, which hits its target then bounces randomly at nearby targets. Costs 10% additional special attack for each target hit beyond the first. Chainhit
Dorgeshuun crossbow Dorgeshuun crossbow Snipe 75% Has a guaranteed hit if you weren't the last one to attack the target and also lowers the opponent's Defence level equal to the amount of damage inflicted. Snipe
Seercull Seercull Soulshot 100% Is guaranteed to hit and decreases the Magic level by the amount of damage dealt. Soulshot
Toxic blowpipe Toxic blowpipe Toxic Siphon 50% Increases damage by 50% and heals the wielder for half of the damage dealt. Toxic Siphon
Light ballista Light ballista Concentrated Shot 65% Increases accuracy and damage by 25% each for one shot. Concentrated Shot (light ballista)
Heavy ballista Heavy ballista Concentrated Shot (heavy ballista)

Magic weapons[]

Weapon Name Special attack energy used Description Animation
Staff of the dead Staff of the dead Power of Death 100% Reduce all Melee damage by 50% for the next minute also stacking with the PvP damage-reduction effect of Protect from Melee. The damage reduction from this special attack only works while the staff is equipped. Unequipping the staff while the effect is still active will immediately end the effect. Power of Death
Toxic staff of the dead Toxic staff of the dead
Staff of light Staff of light Power of Light 100% Power of Light
Rod of ivandis Rod of ivandis Retainer 10% Captures a vampyre juvenile or juvinate that has 50% or less health so the player can apply a dose of Guthix balance potion on the vampyre. Retainer (rod)
Ivandis flail Ivandis flail Retainer (flail)
Dawnbringer Dawnbringer Pulsate 35% Fires a powerful blast towards Verzik Vitur, inflicting 80-150 hitpoints of damage. Pulsate

Shields[]

Dragonfire[]

The dragonfire shield and dragonfire ward can discharge a fireball hitting around 25 damage at an opponent. It doesn't use any special attack energy, but the attack can only be used once the shield has cooled down every two minutes.

Weapon Description Animation
Dragonfire shield Dragonfire shield Use one charge to unleash a blast of dragonfire at a target once every two minutes, which can hit approximately 25 damage, up to 13 spaces away. Operating dragonfire shield
Dragonfire ward Dragonfire ward Operating dragonfire ward

Ancient wyvern[]

The ancient wyvern shield can discharge an icy breath attack at an opponent. It doesn't use any special attack energy, but once the shield has been activated, there is a cooldown before the player can use it again.

Weapon Description Animation
Ancient wyvern shield Ancient wyvern shield When activated, the shield lets out a Wyvern-like attack and the target's stats are lowered accordingly. This attack also has a chance of freezing the target. Operating ancient wyvern shield

Trivia[]

  • Weapons previously did not have names for their special attacks in game; they were only found in the discontinued Knowledge Base on the RuneScape website. It was not until an update on 24 August 2017 that they were officially added in game.
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