This article provides information about effective ways to train Attack, Strength, Defence, and Hitpoints through melee combat.
This guide is organised into sections based on skill levels. For example, if the section header is Levels 20 to 30, you should begin training at the area with an Attack and Strength level of at least 20. Defence is also preferred to be at that level, but is not always required. The solution to lower Defence is to bring more food, or use food that heals more.
General training notes[]
- The Waterfall Quest will give you both 30 Attack and Strength if completed at level 3 combat.
- Strength can be trained without training hitpoints with barbarian fishing.
- Defence can be trained by using Ancient Magicks on longrange or Chinchompas on Long fuse against Maniacal monkeys for more experience per hour than using melee.
- Once completed, the Recipe For Disaster quest gives access to the Culinaromancer's gloves, which significantly boost offensive accuracy.
- Players can complete Slayer tasks to train Slayer while simultaneously training combat stats. This also allows players to use the very powerful Slayer helmet, which significantly boosts melee damage and accuracy, to more efficiently fight monsters and gain experience faster. This combined with slayer giving access to many high-profit monsters and bosses means that most high-level players seeking to make profit or max their account should train slayer instead of fighting the monsters on this list, which will mostly be high-experience but low-profit monsters.
- When fighting dangerous monsters it is suggested to bring a teleportation tablet or if your magic level is high enough, teleportation runes in order to quickly escape. Note that a tablet can be more easily clicked from your inventory and takes up less space than runes for a teleport spell.
Equipment choice[]
Items will be listed in order of how much they increase general melee damage per second. In nearly all cases, optimising for offensive stats is more effective than optimising for defensive or balanced stats, especially when fighting the low-offence, high hp monsters on this list. In addition, optimising for strength is usually better than optimising for accuracy except against high-defence monsters.
Head-slot items[]
All four of these items provide the same strength bonus of +3, so choose between them based on their other stats such as their defence or availability. Note that these strength-boosting helmets are almost always better than helmets that only provide accuracy, such as the Warrior helm, for general training. Also note that when training Slayer, a Slayer helm (or Black mask) will always provide the greatest damage increase over any of these.
Cape-slot items in order of effectiveness[]
If the player does not have access to any of these, the Obsidian cape can be used instead due to its moderate defence bonuses, however it will not increase damage.
Neck-slot items in order of effectiveness[]
- Amulet of torture
- Amulet of fury
- Amulet of glory
- Amulet of strength
- Amulet of power
- Amulet of accuracy
When fighting undead monsters and not using a Slayer helmet, the Salve amulet and its upgraded version the Salve amulet (e) are the best neck-slot items.
Torso-slot items in order of effectiveness[]
* Both of these items provide the same strength bonus, but the Bandos chestplate has much better defences.
Shield-slot items in order of effectiveness[]
- Avernic defender
- Dragon defender
- Rune defender
- Dragonfire shield *
- Adamant defender
- Toktz-ket-xil **
* When fighting dragons, a Dragonfire shield is the best melee offhand item due to its ability to block dragonfire while having high strength and defence bonuses. However, if dragonfire protection and high defence are not needed, defenders are better due to their accuracy bonuses.
** As defenders require access to the Warriors' Guild and thus a combined Attack and Strength level of 130 (for example, level 65 in both), the Toktz-ket-xil should be used until that requirement is met.
Legs-slot items in order of effectiveness[]
Hands-slot items in order of effectiveness[]
- Barrows gloves
- Dragon gloves
- Rune gloves
- Regen bracelet
- Adamant gloves
- Granite gloves
- Combat bracelet
- Mithril gloves
- All other Culinaromancer's gloves
Feet-slot items in order of effectiveness[]
- Primordial boots
- Dragon boots
- Guardian boots, Granite boots
- Rune boots, Climbing boots
- Adamant boots
Ring-slot items in order of effectiveness[]
Rings should be imbued at the Nightmare Zone as soon as possible. Also note that the Warrior, Tyrannical, and Treasonous rings only benefit one attacking style each, while the Berserker ring benefits all melee combat. If the player cannot afford any of these rings, a Ring of wealth is a decent alternative to help improve rare drop table rolls and pick up coins, but it does not increase damage.
Weapon choice[]
Some general rules when choosing a weapon[]
- In nearly all cases, choosing a weapon with an attack speed of 6 (2.4 second interval) will be the best choice for dealing the highest damage per second. Slower weapons almost always give less experience overall, even if they do more damage per hit.
- Monster vulnerability may cause certain weapons to perform better than their stats suggest. For example most Dragons are weak to Stab, making the otherwise weaker Zamorakian hasta a better choice than the Abyssal whip when fighting them. Check a monster's wiki page to see its defensive bonuses and consider picking a weapon it is weak to.
Training weapons in order of effectiveness[]
*Note: All one-handed weapons in this table will have their stats displayed as if they were paired with a Dragon defender, due to two-handed weapons having the disadvantage of not being able to use one. It is much more feasible for most players to obtain a Dragon defender compared to the expensive Avernic defender which is why it is chosen for this list, however if you do have access to one use it instead.
If you do not have access to a shield at all, such as if you do not want to risk an additional item in the Wilderness or you have not yet unlocked the requirements for any offhand equipment, certain fast two-handed weapons like the Saradomin sword become more worth using due to lacking the opportunity cost they usually incur.
The weapons listed here with level requirements of less than 60 will not include the bonuses of a defender, as it is unlikely that someone using one of these low level weapons would have access to one due to the 130 attack+strength requirement. As noted above, players with 60 defence without access to defenders should be using the Toktz-ket-xil.
Weapon Name | Requirements | Primary Attack Style | Primarily Used to Train | Attack & Strength Bonus (with dragon defender, if applicable) | Notes |
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Ghrazi rapier | 75 Attack | Stab | All Stats | +119 Stab
+95 Strength |
This is the most effective melee training weapon for all individual skills. In addition it doesn't degrade, unlike the Abyssal tentacle. However, given its extreme rarity and only slight improvement over other weapons, it is infeasible for most players to use. |
Abyssal tentacle | 75 Attack | Slash | Attack, Defence | +114 Slash +92 Strength |
While it is the second-strongest weapon in the game, the tentacle's high cost per attack makes it infeasible for training. |
Abyssal whip | 70 Attack | Slash | Attack, Defence,
All stats on Controlled |
+106 Slash +82 Strength |
This is the most common training weapon, especially considering its affordability. The whip is the second-strongest non-degradable attack and defence training weapon in the game. Using this weapon on Controlled is a very efficient way to reach 99 Attack, Strength, and Defence. |
Saradomin's blessed sword | 75 Attack | Slash | Strength | +100 Slash +88 Strength |
Similar to the Abyssal tentacle, the high cost of attacking with the Blessed variant of the Saradomin sword makes it infeasible for training. However, it is the second-best strength training weapon in the game should you choose to use it anyway. |
Abyssal bludgeon | 70 Attack 70 Strength |
Crush | Strength | +102 Crush +85 Strength |
This is the second-best non-degradable strength training weapon. It is very useful when fighting a monster with a vulnerability to Crush weapons, such as Revenants and Vet'ion. However, its fairly high cost and only slight upgrade over more affordable weapons make it less popular than them. |
Zamorakian hasta | 70 Attack |
Stab |
All stats on Controlled |
+110 Stab +81 Strength |
This weapon is not generally chosen for everyday training due to only being able to train on controlled or defence. It is both weaker and more expensive than the Abyssal whip. It is primarily used against monsters with a weakness to Stab, such as all types of dragons. It also has a decent Crush bonus, so it can be used as an alternative to the Abyssal bludgeon for fighting Crush-weak enemies like Kalphites and Vet'ion. |
Abyssal dagger | 70 Attack | Stab | Strength | +100 Stab +81 Strength |
The second-best one-handed Strength training weapon, making it the fourth-best overall strength weapon behind much more expensive alternatives. It should not be used for attack training unless a Stab weapon is needed. |
Staff of the dead | 75 Attack 75 Magic |
Slash | Strength | +94 Slash +78 Strength |
The third-best one-handed Strength training weapon, and the best one that uses slash. It is more accurate with a defender than the next-best strength training weapon, the Saradomin sword, but has lower strength. This makes the staff better against high-defence monsters, but it is much less affordable. Also it is strictly worse than the similarly-valuable Abyssal dagger, which should usually be used instead unless slash is needed. |
Saradomin sword | 70 Attack | Slash | Strength | +82 Slash +82 Strength |
The Saradomin sword is a much more affordable Strength training weapon than anything above it on this list. Against lower defence monsters such as Yaks, the Saradomin sword will on average do higher damage per second than the Staff of the dead due to its higher strength. However, this sword's lack of a shield and the staff's magic capabilities and melee accuracy make the staff usually more desirable if you can afford it. |
Dragon scimitar | 60 Attack |
Slash | All Stats | +91 Slash +72 Strength |
This is the best training weapon for all attack styles at level 60. In addition, the Dragon scimitar is a much cheaper alternative to all of the weapons listed above, making it very popular even among some high level players. For attack and defence training, it should be replaced with the Abyssal whip as soon as one can afford and equip it. |
Dragon sword | 60 Attack | Stab | All Stats | +90 Stab +69 Strength |
This is comparable to the Dragon scimitar in stats, but without the quest requirement of Monkey Madness I. It is significantly more expensive than other comparable weapons, so it should only be used over the Dragon scimitar if its stab bonus is needed and/or the player cannot complete Monkey Madness I. |
Dragon longsword | 60 Attack |
Slash | All Stats | +93 Slash | A viable alternate training weapon before being able to use the Dragon scimitar. It should be noted that the Dragon longsword attacks 1 game tick slower than the Dragon scimitar, making it a worse training weapon. |
Leaf-bladed sword | 50 Attack 55 Slayer |
Stab | All Stats | +67 Stab +50 Strength(no defender) |
This is the best melee training weapon at 50 attack, but it has a high 55 slayer requirement that most low-level players will not have. Use this sword if you have the slayer level but not 60 attack. |
Granite hammer | 50 Attack
50 Strength |
Crush | All Stats | +57 Crush+56 Strength
(no defender) |
This is the best melee training weapon at 50 Attack and Strength without a slayer requirement. However, it is significantly more expensive than other weapons at this level. |
Granite longsword | 50 Attack 50 Strength |
Slash | All Stats | +65 Slash +62 Strength(no defender) *5 ATS* |
This weapon is a good option at level 50 attack and strength, but attacks slower than the Granite hammer, making it worse overall. Use it if you can't afford a Granite hammer. |
Brine sabre | 40 Attack | Slash | All Stats | +47 Slash +46 Strength (no defender) |
A more expensive alternative to the Rune scimitar, the Brine sabre boasts 2 additional slash and strength bonus, while also possessing a special attack. This makes it a popular training weapon for those who have the money. |
Rune scimitar | 40 Attack | Lunge | All Stats | +45 Slash +44 Strength (no defender) |
The prototypical RuneScape weapon. This is your best bet for a cheap and effective training weapon at this level. |
Other Scimitars | < 40 Attack | Lunge | All Stats | Varies | Before reaching 40 attack, it is recommended to train with the highest level scimitar that is available at your attack level. |
Other equipment options[]
Obsidian equipment + Berserker necklace[]
Wearing the Obsidian platebody, Obsidian platelegs, and the Obsidian helmet gives a 10% damage and accuracy bonus to melee Obsidian weapons. Wearing the Berserker necklace also gives another 20% damage and accuracy bonus to Obsidian weapons. Combining all four of these items with the Toktz-xil-ak (Obsidian sword) can actually give faster experience rates than anything in the table above against low-defence monsters, such as those in the Nightmare Zone. However, the set has below-average defence and does not allow the use of a Slayer helmet. If the player cannot use all five items, they should not be using the Toktz-xil-ak.
Void knight equipment[]
Wearing the Void melee helm with the full Void Knight equipment set gives a 10% melee damage and accuracy bonus. This bonus accuracy makes it good against certain high-defence monsters like the Corporeal Beast. It is a good alternative for players with 42 combat stats who do not have access to high-strength gear. However, this set gives less strength than other melee equipment and has significantly lower melee and ranged defence, making it usually worse for training than high strength gear.
Dharok the Wretched's equipment[]
Wearing a full set of Dharok the Wretched's equipment gives the set effect of increasing the player's damage the lower their remaining hitpoints are. Using a Dwarven rock cake or Locator orb the player can intentionally keep their health at 1 hp while using Protection prayers to block all forms of damage. If the player has a source of prayer or damage block, such as by using Prayer potions, Absorptions (Nightmare zone only), or an altar, the player can safely use the set's effect to deal very high amounts of damage and gain fast experience. However, the set degrades after 4 hours of use and must be repaired in order to keep its stats.
Guthan the Infested's equipment[]
Wearing a full set of Guthan the Infested's equipment gives the set effect of a 25% chance to heal the player by the damage dealt. This set deals much less damage than other options on the list, but it allows players to train for long periods of time without banking to heal. Players can bring the four pieces in their inventory, train on their normal high-strength equipment, and switch to the Guthan's equipment only when their health gets low. Popular monsters for this tactic are Gargoyles, Nechryaels, and Bandits. However, the set degrades after 4 hours of use and must be repaired in order to keep its stats.
Suggested training methods for best experience[]
Levels 1 to 30
Completing the Waterfall Quest at level 1 attack and strength will instantly bring the player to level 30 in each. This quest has no requirements, making it the fastest way to train a brand new account to these levels, skipping much of the slow low-level training. However, there are several aggressive and hard-hitting monsters during the quest, so players may want to train some Defence and Hitpoints levels in order to make the quest safer. See the Waterfall Quest guide for more information on how to complete this quest.
Levels 1 to 10[]
Monster name | Location(s) | Combat level | Hitpoints | Requirements | Recommendations |
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Chicken | North-east of Lumbridge just east of River Lum, south of River Lum in Farmer Fred's chicken coop | 1 | 3 | None | |
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Levels 10 to 60[]
Monster name | Location(s) | Combat level | Hitpoints | Requirements | Recommendations |
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Ammonite Crab | Fossil island | 25 | 100 | Bone voyage | Armour and food for low levels. Digsite pendant. Build the bank chest on Fossil island to get access to a nearby bank |
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Monster name | Location(s) | Combat level | Hitpoints | Requirements | Recommendations |
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Sand Crab | Beach south of the Hosidius house in Great Kourend, Crabclaw Isle, Crabclaw caves | 15 | 60 | 10,000 coins to enter Crabclaw Isle, or have started The Depths of Despair to enter the Crabclaw Caves. There are also spots with no requirements. | Armour and food for low levels. If you are farming on the beach south of the Hosidius House there is a bank chest nearby so inventory space is not a concern. |
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Monster name | Location(s) | Combat level | Hitpoints | Requirements | Recommendations |
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Rock Crab | North of Rellekka, Waterbirth Island | 13 | 50 | To access Waterbirth Island, you must have started The Fremennik Trials quest. If you haven't finished the quest, it will cost 1,000 coins to travel there. There are also spots with no requirements. | Armour and food for low levels. Camelot teleport tabs or runes will bring you somewhat close. |
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Levels 60 to 99[]
Monster name | Location(s) | Combat level | Hitpoints | Requirements | Recommendations |
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Nightmare Zone | North of Yanille, northwest of the bank. | Varies | Varies | at least 5 quests that Nightmare Zone supports | Please refer to the Nightmare Zone wiki page for more info. |
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Monster name | Location(s) | Combat level | Hitpoints | Requirements | Recommendations |
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Slayer | Varies | Varies | Varies | None | 85 combat to use Nieve, Slayer helm, Various teleports and quests |
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Suggested training methods for experience and profit hybrid[]
It is not recommended to train melee for profit at low levels. It is usually better to train with crabs, Slayer, or the Nightmare Zone and do something else to make money for overall more efficient play. For example, killing Hobgoblins for two hours will give both less money and less experience than spinning flax for one hour and training on crabs for one hour. Low-level players looking to make money for early gear should check out the Money-making guide.
Here are some easy options for training melee if you do want to kill monsters for profit and still get decent experience rates.
Levels 1 to 10[]
Monster name | Location(s) | Combat level | Hitpoints | Requirements | Recommendations |
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Chicken | North-east of Lumbridge just east of River Lum, south of River Lum in Farmer Fred's chicken coop | 1 | 3 | None | |
Advantages | Disadvantages | ||||
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Levels 10 to 20[]
Monster name | Location(s) | Combat level | Hitpoints | Requirements | Recommendations |
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Men and Women | Varies, including Lumbridge | 2 | 7 | None | Your best weapon and armour. Food if you try this from level 3. |
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Levels 20 to 30[]
Monster name | Location(s) | Combat level | Hitpoints | Requirements | Recommendations |
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Al-Kharid warrior | Al Kharid Palace | 9 | 19 | None | Decent but cheap food like trout or salmon. Alternatively, you can buy kebabs for 1 gp each in Al Kharid. Also bring your best armour and weapons, because they can deal some damage. |
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Levels 30 to 60[]
Monster name | Location(s) | Combat level | Hitpoints | Requirements | Recommendations |
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Chaos druid | Edgeville Dungeon, Chaos Druid Tower | 13 | 20 | Decent combat, 46 thieving if fighting in Chaos Druid Tower | Food. Your best weapon and armour if fighting outside of the Wilderness. Only three valuable items and a Looting bag if fighting in Edgeville dungeon. |
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Levels 40 to 60[]
Monster name | Location(s) | Combat level | Hitpoints | Requirements | Recommendations |
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Moss giant | Catacombs of Kourend | 42 | 60 | Mid-level combat | Food, armour, High alchemy runes, Teleport to house tablets for using another player's house to teleport to Kourend to reach the Catacombs, Ring of dueling for banking |
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Levels 60 to 70[]
Monster name | Location(s) | Combat level | Hitpoints | Requirements | Recommendations |
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Wilderness Slayer | Wilderness | Varies | Varies | None | Slayer helm, Dragon defender, Many Quest points to block bad tasks, food, Burning amulet, Amulet of glory, high ranged for Dragonhide armour |
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Monster name | Location(s) | Combat level | Hitpoints | Requirements | Recommendations |
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Green dragon | Wilderness in various locations | 79 | 75 | Dragonfire protection, good weapons, food, and armour | Food. Only three valuable items and a Looting bag. A teleport to bank, such as a Ring of dueling. A Games necklace to teleport to Corporeal Beast |
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Levels 70 to 99[]
Monster name | Location(s) | Combat level | Hitpoints | Requirements | Recommendations |
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Slayer | Varies | Varies | Varies | None | 85 combat to use Nieve, Slayer helm, Various teleports and quests |
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Monster name | Location(s) | Combat level | Hitpoints | Requirements | Recommendations |
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Gargoyle | Slayer tower | 111 | 105 | 75 Slayer, Rock hammer, Priest in peril | Guthan the Infested's equipment, a Kharyll teleport portal, access to Fairy rings or a Slayer ring. Your best armour and weapons. High level alchemy runes. Gargoyle smasher slayer perk. |
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Levels 80 to 99[]
Monster name | Location(s) | Combat level | Hitpoints | Requirements | Recommendations |
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Revenant | Revenant caves | Varies | Varies | A charged Bracelet of ethereum | Salve amulet (e), A good crush weapon, a Royal seed pod or a charged Ring of wealth for escaping |
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Levels 90 to 99[]
Monster name | Location(s) | Combat level | Hitpoints | Requirements | Recommendations |
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Rune dragon | Lithkren Vault | 380 | 330 | Dragon Slayer II | High combat including prayer, Dragonfire shield, a Zamorakian hasta or Abyssal dagger, Insulated boots, Digsite pendant, armour with high defences, Super combat potions, food |
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Alternative training methods for good experience[]
You may use these if the above methods are too crowded or otherwise not available. However, they are not as good as the other methods.
Levels 60 to 99[]
Monster name | Location(s) | Combat level | Hitpoints | Requirements | Recommendations |
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Yak | Neitiznot | 22 | 50 | Started The Fremennik Isles, requires completing The Fremennik Trials | Best strength gear |
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Monster name | Location(s) | Combat level | Hitpoints | Requirements | Recommendations |
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Monkey Guards | Marim | 167 | 130 | Started Monkey Madness I | Dharok's set |
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Monster name | Location(s) | Combat level | Hitpoints | Requirements | Recommendations |
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Pest Control | Void Knights' Outpost | Varies | Varies | Combat level depending on the boat, at least 5 players to start the game | 25 players to start game quickly, best strength gear/Dharok's set, special attack weapon |
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