Weapons are wieldable items that a player can use to inflict damage in combat.
All players wield weapons in their right hand. If a player is using a two-handed weapon, such as a bow or a two-handed sword, they may not have any items equipped in the shield slot at the same time. In the case of thrown weapons, which are stackable, multiples of the same thrown weapon may be equipped in the weapon slot at once. A player may also equip a pickaxe or a woodcutting hatchet in the weapon slot so that they may hold more ore or logs, respectively.
Basic melee weapons
These weapons are more commonly used than the other weapons available, because they don't have to be replaced unless upon death. Most types of basic melee weapons come in eight different kinds of metal.
Most weapons have a primary attack mode in all three attack styles and a secondary mode in the aggressive or controlled style. The secondary mode is normally weaker, but may be more appropriate to your target.
Chainmail armour is weaker against stabbing; platemail is weaker against crushing, while the slash attack is highly effective against cloth, leather or unarmoured targets. Against monster hide, the most effective style varies. The only absolute defence against a particular attack is the Protect from Melee prayer, or the occasional NPC that requires something special to kill them, so you will still hit with the "wrong" attack and weapon, just not as often and with less damage (or not even at all, in the case of monsters like vampires).
Weapon groups
The whole idea of having multiple weapon types is that one weapon type should not be all-conquering, or there would be not much point having the others. Overall, though, popular weapon types for each style are:
Stab
Slash
Crush
There are also a variety of 'novelty weapons' available. They do deal out very little, if any, damage.
The various groups of weapons are summarised below. The level of Strength in each class is not definitive:
Weapon | Speed/Strength | Primary/Secondary | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Dagger | Fastest/Weakest | Stab/Slash | The first item that can be smithed in any metal. Generally (but not always) has higher stats than a sword of the weaker metal. Daggers are primarily stabbing weapons, though they have a decent slash attack. Members can poison daggers to great effect. Dragon dagger are discoloured upon poisoning, making the tip of the dagger a bright green colour. The dragon dagger was a popular Pking weapon and is still commonly used in PvP combat |
Hatchet | Medium/Weak | Crush/Slash | Intended for Woodcutting, but can be used as a weapon. |
Pickaxe | Medium/Weak | Stab/Crush | Intended for Mining, but can be used as a weapon. |
Sword | Fast/Medium | Stab/Slash | Able to hit higher than a dagger at the same attack speed, although it cannot be poisoned. This makes it unpopular. However, players can find it useful. |
Mace | Medium/Medium | Crush/Stab | The crush attack is better against platemail, and the prayer bonus can be useful. It also features a controlled stabbing attack. |
Scimitar | Fast/Medium | Slash/Stab | An excellent slashing weapon against cloth or leather, and average against chainmail, but weak against platemail. The secondary stabbing attack is rather inefficient against some armour, but better against chainmail. It is in the controlled style, and yields equal experience to Attack, Strength, and Defence. The dragon scimitar was one of the most popular weapons for Pking, along with the abyssal whip and dragon dagger. But it doesn't have a very good strength bonus. Nonetheless, the rune scimitar is considered to be one of the best training weapons for melee in a free world. |
Longsword | Medium/Strong | Slash/Stab | Slower than a scimitar, but has higher strength and attack bonuses, especially in terms of its controlled stab attack. Considered to be worse then the scimitar due to its lower speed, it has a considerably higher strength bonus and higher slash and stab bonuses. It is described as the "warrior's best friend" on the Runescape website. It was once considered the best weapon type before the scimitar's popularity outbreak, although many high-levelled players still use the Dragon longsword due to its better stats than the Dragon scimitar and its substantially better special attack. |
Warhammer | Slow/Strong | Crush | An uncommon crushing-only weapon with no specialist store open to non-members. It's right in the middle of the Smithing scale for any metal. This weapon is good to dent other warriors' platemail. It also offers the second best attack bonuses among all the basic one-handed weapons; the store is located in Rellekka |
Battleaxe | Slow/Stronger | Slash/Crush | Provides a better strength bonus than the warhammer, but not as effective in the secondary crush attack. It is considered to be a rather effective Pking weapon. The Battleaxe is the strongest 1-handed weapon in the melee weaponry class. |
Two-handed sword | Slowest/Second Strongest | Slash/Crush | The most powerful of the basic weapons, but also the slowest. Furthermore, as its name suggests, the two-handed sword cannot be used with a shield. It may be a good secondary weapon for the ranged fighter, as their bow cannot be used with a shield anyway. This weapon has no specialist store open to non-members; the store is located in Taverley. |
Halberd | Slowest/ Third Strongest | Stab/Slash | About as slow as the two-handed sword and slightly less powerful, and a shield cannot be equipped with it. However, it can reach over small obstacles (such as tables, fences etc.) |
Spear | Medium/Medium | Stab/Slash/Crush | This two-handed members-only weapon is one of only two classes in the game that can use all three attack styles. The spear has an average attack speed, features controlled style for each attack style, and can be poisoned. Its bonuses are not as high as other weapons', and the only way to train Attack or Strength with it is to use one of the controlled styles. It can be poisoned with Karambwan paste. |
Hasta | Medium/Medium | Stab/Slash/Crush | This weapon is identical to the spear in every way, except that it is a one-handed weapon compared to the two-handed spear and that it has negative Defence bonuses, although this can be countered by wearing a shield. This weapon may be poisoned with Karambwan paste. |
Claws | Fastest/Medium | Slash/Stab | A members-only weapon that is similar to the sword, except that it is two-handed and is primarily a slashing weapon. Also it beats the sword in speed. It cannot be poisoned. |
Maul | Slow(est)/Strongest | Crush | Does not follow the standard metal scale (Bronze-Dragon). It is also is 2-handed. You usually get them either in granite or obsidian. A new type is the Chaotic, a reward from Dungeoneering. |
Abyssal Whip | Fastest/Strong | Slash | Does not follow the standard metal scale (Bronze-Dragon). The Abyssal Whip has a high experience rate in training Attack and Defence but the only way to train Strength is to use the controlled style. They can be used with a shield. It's often used with a rune defender or Dragonfire shield. |
Italics indicate decent effectiveness in a weapon's secondary style compared to its primary style. (Less than 20% difference in bonuses)
Weapon requirements
Attack Level | Type |
---|---|
1 | Bronze weapons |
1 | Iron weapons |
5 | Steel weapons |
10 | Black weapons |
10 | White weapons
|
20 | Mithril weapons |
30 | Adamant weapons |
40 | Rune weapons |
50 | Granite maul and Granite mace (with 50 Strength) |
60 | Dragon weapons |
70 | Abyssal whip |
70 | Barrows weapons
|
70 | Barrows weapons (with 70 Strength)3 |
The table above shows what level is needed to wield a certain metal and some specific weapons. Annotations above a word in the table correspond to the following:
1Wanted! must be completed.
2Guthan's warspear and Verac's flail.
3Torag's hammers and Dharok's greataxe.
Weapons are made of different metals, some stronger and more expensive than others. Higher Attack levels allow wielding weapons of better metals. For example, a player needs an Attack level of 10 to wield a black weapon, whereas the player would need level 20 to wield a mithril weapon. Almost all metal weapons can be smithed, except for Halberds, and any Black, White, Dragon, or Barrows weapons.
Weapons table
Bronze | Iron | Steel | Black | White (Members) | Mithril | Adamant | Rune | Dragon (Members) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dagger | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Sword | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Scimitar | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Mace | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Longsword | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Hatchet | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Battleaxe | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Warhammer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Two-handed sword | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Pickaxe | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Spear (Members) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Hasta (Members) | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Claws (Members) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Halberd (Members) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Other melee weapon types
Members have access to more powerful weapons than the basic ones. However, because of their power, they are much more expensive than the basic weapons.
TzHaar
- Toktz-Xil-Ak (Obsidian sword)
- TzHaar-Ket-Em (Obsidian mace)
- TzHaar-Ket-Om (Obsidian maul)
- Toktz-Xil-Ek (Obsidian dagger)
Barrows
Miscellaneous
- Granite maul
- Bone dagger
- Bone spear
- Void Knight mace
- Barrelchest anchor
- Ancient mace
- Wooden sword
- Training sword
- Mjolnir
- Decorative sword (Castle Wars sword)
- Silver sickle
- Blessed sickle
- Fremennik blade
- Machete
- Red topaz machete
- Brine sabre
Quest weapons, fun weapons, and blackjacks
Quest weapons
- Shadow Sword
- Silverlight
- Darklight
- Wolfbane dagger
- Dark dagger
- Glowing Dagger
- Blurite sword
- Dorgeshuun weapons
- Gadderhammer
- Excalibur
- Keris
- Brine sabre
- Barrelchest Anchor
- Ancient Mace
- Rapier
- Lucky cutlass
- Harry's cutlass
Blackjacks
- Oak blackjack (o)
- Willow blackjack (o)
- Maple blackjack (o)
- Oak blackjack (d)
- Willow blackjack (d)
- Maple blackjack (d)
- Oak blackjack
- Willow blackjack
- Maple blackjack
Fun weapons
- Flowers
- Rubber Chicken
- Butterfly Net
- Mouse Toy
- Scythe
- Undead Chicken
Kitchen weaponry
Kitchen weaponry are members only weapons that can be bought from the Culinaromancer's chest. To buy and wield more advanced kitchen weapons the player must complete the Recipe for Disaster subquests.
The weapons:
- Wooden spoon
- Egg whisk
- Spork
- Spatula
- Frying pan
- Skewer
- Rolling pin
- Kitchen knife
- Meat tenderiser
- Cleaver
Free-to-play magic weapons
The weapons listed below can be used in free-to-play. While they can be used in melee, they are more powerful when used to cast Magic in combat.
Staves
Member magic weapons
Weapon requirements
Level | Type |
---|---|
1 | Staff, Magic staff, Elemental staves |
1 | Talisman staff (with 50 Runecrafting) |
30 | Battlestaves (with 30 Attack) |
40 | Mystic staves (with 40 Attack) |
50 | Ancient staff (with 50 Attack) |
60 | Godstaves |
65 | Lunar staff |
70 | Ahrim's staff (with 70 Attack) |
Members have a wide assortment of magic weapons at their disposal.
Battlestaffs
- Battlestaff
- Air battlestaff
- Earth battlestaff
- Fire battlestaff
- Water battlestaff
- Mud battlestaff
- Lava battlestaff
- Steam battlestaff
Mystic staffs
- Mystic air staff
- Mystic earth staff
- Mystic fire staff
- Mystic water staff
- Mystic mud staff
- Mystic lava staff
- Mystic steam staff
God staffs
Barrows
Slayer
TzHaar
- Toktz-Mej-Tal (Obsidian staff)
Mage Training Arena wands
Miscellaneous
- Dramen staff
- Iban staff
- Ancient staff
- Lunar staff
- Pharaoh's sceptre
- Rod of Ivandis
- Broken staff
- Void Knight mace
Non-member ranged weapons
Free players have a limited amount of weapons they can use for ranged attacks.
Longbows
- Longbow
- Oak longbow
- Willow longbow
- Maple longbow
- Maple longbow (sighted)
Shortbows
Crossbows
Composite bows
Other
Member ranged weapons
Members have a wide range of ranged weapons at their disposal.
Bows
Italics-Members only
Image | Bow | Level | Bonus | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Training bow | Training bow | 1 | +8 | Can be bought from Beefy Bill in Lumbridge. |
Shortbow | Shortbow | 1 | +8 | Can be bought or claimed as a sample from Lowe's Archery Store in Varrock. |
Longbow | Longbow | 1 | +8 | Can be bought or claimed as a sample from Lowe's Archery Store in Varrock. |
Oak shortbow | 5 | +14 | Can be bought from Lowe's Archery Store in Varrock or from Brian's Archery Supplies in Rimmington. | |
Oak longbow | 5 | +14 | Can be bought from Lowe's Archery Store in Varrock or from Brian's Archery Supplies in Rimmington. | |
Willow shortbow | 20 | +20 | Can be bought from Lowe's Archery Store in Varrock or from Brian's Archery Supplies in Rimmington. | |
Willow longbow | 20 | +20 | Can be bought from Lowe's Archery Store in Varrock or from Brian's Archery Supplies in Rimmington. | |
Willow composite bow | Willow composite bow | 20 | +22 | Possible reward from level 1 clue scrolls. |
Maple shortbow | 30 | +29 | Can be bought from Lowe's Archery Store in Varrock or from Brian's Archery Supplies in Rimmington. | |
Maple longbow | 30 | +29 | Can be bought from Lowe's Archery Store in Varrock or from Brian's Archery Supplies in Rimmington. | |
Ogre composite bow | Ogre composite bow | 30 | +38 | Obtained from the Zogre Flesh Eaters Quest. Uses brutal arrows. |
Yew shortbow | 40 | +47 | Can be bought from other players or made with the fletching skill. | |
Yew longbow | 40 | +47 | Can be bought from other players or made with the fletching skill. | |
Yew composite bow | Yew composite bow | 40 | +49 | Possible reward from level 2 clue scrolls. |
Maple longbow (sighted) | Maple longbow (sighted) | 45 | +110 | Can be made by adding a longbow sight from Daemonheim to a Maple longbow. Also requires 45 dungeoneering. This is the highest longbow non-members can use. |
Magic shortbow | 50 | +69 | Can be bought from other players or made with the fletching skill. This bow also has a special attack. | |
Magic longbow | 50 | +69 | Can be bought from other players or made with the fletching skill. This bow also has a special attack. | |
Magic composite bow | Magic composite bow | 50 | +71 | Possible reward from level 3 clue scrolls. |
Seercull | 50 | +69 | Can be bought from players or dropped by Dagannoth Supremes or Greater Reborn Rangers. This bow also has a special attack. | |
Dark bow | Dark bow | 60 | +95 | Can be bought from players or dropped by Dark beasts. Fires two arrows at once. This bow also has a special attack. |
Crystal bow | 70 (with 50 Agility) | +100/+64 | Does not use arrows, can be purchased from other players when unused. Degrades with use, initially +100 bonus. |
With the addition of free sample items in certain stores, the Training bow and arrows are not available to use by new players. A free Shortbow and some bronze arrows can be claimed at Lowe's Archery Emporium in Varrock every half hour, and you can get 30 Air and Mind runes from Aubury every 30 minutes, who is also in Varrock.
The ranged and magic tutors can be found at Lumbridge, in a sort of training centre, North of the General Store (marked by an empty flour pot on the mini-map.)
Because of the time limit of 30 minutes, when your Ranged level gets higher, it is wasting your time waiting for the 30 minutes to be up, so you can get more bronze Arrows. At around Level 5 Ranged it would pay to switch to the Oak shortbow with Iron arrows.
Miscellaneous
Arrows
Arrows are used for ammunition with bows. The better the arrow, the higher damage a player can deal. However, players require certain bows to use certain arrows. Non-members can only use bronze to adamant arrows. All arrows except the training arrows can be fletched by members.
Italics- Members only
Image | Arrow | Bow required | Location |
---|---|---|---|
File:Training arrow (5).png | Training arrows | Training | Can be bought from Beefy Bill in Lumbridge. |
Bronze arrows | Bronze arrows | Any | Can be bought from Lowe's Archery Store in Varrock. |
Iron arrows | Iron arrows | Any | Can be bought from Lowe's Archery Store in Varrock. |
Steel arrows | Steel arrows | Oak | Can be bought from Lowe's Archery Store in Varrock or from Brian's Archery Supplies in Rimmington. |
Mithril arrows | Mithril arrows | Willow | Can be bought from Lowe's Archery Store in Varrock or from Brian's Archery Supplies in Rimmington. |
Adamant arrows | Adamant arrows | Maple | Can be bought from Lowe's Archery Store in Varrock or from Brian's Archery Supplies in Rimmington. |
Rune arrows | Rune arrows | Maple (focused), Yew | Can be bought from the Ranging Guild, can be bought from other players or can be fletched. |
Broad arrows | Magic | Can be bought from any Slayer Master, used to kill Turoths and Kurask, and can be traded. | |
Dragon arrows | Dragon arrows | Dark | Can be fletched by materials dropped by Dragon implings, Kingly Implings. |
Crossbows
The selection of non-member crossbows is very limited. Only the Crossbow and the Phoenix crossbow are available. They both give the same bonuses.
Italics- Members only.
Image | Name | Level | Bonus | Bolts |
---|---|---|---|---|
Crossbow | 1 | +6 | Bronze bolts | |
Phoenix crossbow | 1 | +6 | Bronze bolts | |
Bronze crossbow | 1 | +18 | Bronze bolts | |
Blurite crossbow | 16 | +30 | Up to blurite bolts | |
Iron crossbow | 26 | +42 | Up to iron bolts | |
Dorgeshuun crossbow | Dorgeshuun crossbow | 28 | +42 | Up to iron bolts/bone bolts. This crossbow cannot use enchanted or gem-tipped bolts. |
Steel crossbow | 31 | +54 | Up to steel bolts | |
Mithril crossbow | 36 | +66 | Up to mithril bolts/mithril grapples | |
Adamant crossbow | 46 | +78 | Up to adamant bolts | |
Zanik's crossbow | Zanik's crossbow | 46 | +78 | Up to adamant bolts (including bone bolts, but excluding enchanted bolts) |
Hunter's crossbow | Hunter's crossbow | 50 | +55 | Kebbit bolts only |
Rune crossbow | 61 | +90 | Up to rune bolts | |
Karil's crossbow | Karil's crossbow | 70 | +84 | Bolt racks only |
Composite Bows
All composite bows (excluding the composite ogre bow) has some of the speed of a shortbow and some of the power of a longbow. it is generally not used unless you don't mind sacrificing some of your speed for attack power. Composite bows are not recommended for normal training and PvP.
Thrown Weapons
All throwing weapons are members only.
Darts
Darts can be forged from Bronze, Iron, Steel, Mithril, Adamantite, Rune and Dragon. Each metal bar can make ten Dart Tips. Darts can be poisoned and are stackable. Black and Dragon Darts are available but cannot be smithed by players. Darts can only be made after completing the Tourist Trap quest.
Throwing knives
Throwing knives are poisonable, and can be forged by players from Bronze, Iron, Steel, Mithril, Adamantite, and Rune. Each metal bar yields five Throwing Knives. Black Throwing Knives are only dropped by Shadow Warriors, Imperial Guard members, ankous, and cyclopes in the warrior's guild.
Thrownaxes
Throwing Axes come in Bronze, Iron, Steel, Black, Mithril, Adamantite, and Rune. They can only be bought from a shop in the Ranging Guild. The Rune Throwing Axe has a special attack ("Chain Hit") that, when activated in a multicombat zone with multiple enemies nearby, will bounce from enemy to enemy up to 10 times(10% special bar used per enemy hit).
- Bronze Throwing Axe
- Iron Throwing Axe
- Steel Throwing Axe
- Mithril Throwing Axe
- Adamant Throwing Axe
- Rune Throwing Axe
Javelins
Javelins are stackable and made out of Bronze, Iron, Steel, Black, Mithril, Adamantite, and Rune. Javelins can be found as drops from defeated monsters and can also be purchased inside the Ranging Guild. Javelins are notoriously slow and are generally considered to be the most unpopular out of the one-handed Ranging weapons.
Chinchompas
Miscellaneous
Salamanders
Can be used as Ranged, Magic or Melee weapons*. They are Members only and are obtained using the Hunter skill.
- Swamp Lizard
- Orange Salamander
- Red Salamander
- Black Salamander
*It has been reported that while doing the Knight's Training ground mini-quest (unlocked upon completion of the "King's Ransom" quest), the salamanders are not registered as a melee weapon, even while on the melee setting (This is relevant because you are permitted only to use melee weapons while in the training ground).
See also
fi:Asevalikko