Combat Skill Guide

Table of Contents:

Introduction
Combat Level
Hitpoints
Attack
Strength
Defence
Combat Styles
Suggested Equipment for Combat (F2P) and (P2P)
A good way to level Combat (And earn some Cash)
Training (F2P)
Training (P2P)
Player Killing
Duelling
Related Links
Conclusion

Introduction

Combat is thought by some as the most important part of the game RuneScape. It comes in
many other different skills which can be found throught the guide. It is simply used to kill
monsters, and other players. Other players can be only killed in the wilderness or in a dueling
arena. It also shows how experienced a player you are for the higher your level, the more
respect you get. This guide covers the three aspects of melee fighting - attack, strength and
defence, as well as hitpoints.

There are also three other skills which contribute to combat - prayer, ranged and magic. For
information on these skills please refer to the respective guides

Combat Level

As you may or may not have noticed, every monster and player that has the ability to engage
in combat has a combat level. This level summarises your skill in combat. Your combat level is
made up of these skills:

Attack
Strength
Defence
Hitpoints
Ranged
Magic
Prayer

Your combat level can be ranged, magic or melee based. The maximum combat level in
RuneScape is 126. Defence, Prayer and Hitpoints contribute to your combat level no matter
what it is based on. Attack and Strength only affect melee based combat levels, Range only
affects range based combat levels and magic only affects magic based levels.

You may notice that the combat levels of other monsters and players will appear in a color -
red, green, yellow, or something in between. Enemies 10 levels or more below you will appear
very green. Likewise, if they are 10 levels or more above your combat level, their level will
appear very red to you. If a player or monster is the exact same combat level as you, their
level will appear yellow to you. If the enemy is less than 10 levels below you, their level will
appear greenish-yellow, progressing as the level gets lower; enemies above your level will
appear orange.

Hitpoints

When fighting another player or monster, you will notice that you are hitting your opponent.
Red or blue "splats" will appear on you and your opponent when they are hit. The number
inside the "splat" indicates how many hitpoints have been taken from you. Once you reach 0
hitpoints, you will die, and reappear in Lumbridge (or Falador if you have completed
Recruitment Drive and changed your respawn point). When you die, you will keep only your
three best items (or four, if you have used the prayer "Protect Item").

Attack

Attack level dictates how often you hit an enemy. In short, the higher your attack level, the
less 0's you hit.

Attack level also dictates what weapons a player can wield. The higher your attack level, the
stronger weapons you have the ability to wield.

To advance your Attack level, you must fight with the style Accurate. When fighting in
Accurate mode, you will be given 4 experience for every hit you deal to the enemy.

Weapons are what you will use in the game to attack your enemies. Certain Attack levels are
required to wield the different kinds of weapons. To see the stats of individual weapons, please
use the Items DB.

Type of Armour Image Attack Level to Use

Bronze 1

Iron 1

Steel 5

Black 10

Mithril 20

Adamant 30

Rune 40

Dragon 60
To find out about specific pieces of weaponry, you can use the Items DB.

Strength

Strength is the skill that allows you to hit harder on enemies. The higher your strength level,
the higher you will hit on enemies.

To level Strength, you must fight in Aggressive mode. You will be given 4 experience to
Strength for every hit you deal to the enemy.

Defence

If you don't want to be dealt high hits, Defence is a necessity. It reduces your chance of being
hit by an opponent. Note: Your magical defence is balanced in a 70% magic skill and 30%
defence split.

Defence is also required to wear the different types of armour. The higher your defence level,
the stronger armour you have the ability to wear.

To advance your Defence level, you must fight in Defensive mode. When fighting with this
style, you will be given 4 experience to Defence for every hit you deal to the enemy.

Armour is a vital part of combat. It gives a defensive bonus, and means that you will be hit
less often by your enemies. The armour you can wear depends on your defence level. The
different kinds of armour and the level required are as follows:

Type of Armour Image Defence Level to Use

Bronze 1

Iron 1

Steel 5

Black 10

Mithril 20

Adamant 30

Rune 40

Dragon 60

Elf Crystal 70

To find out about specific pieces of armor, you can use the Items DB.
Combat Styles

When fighting, you can choose from different types of fighting styles. There are four different
styles of fighting.

Accurate: When fighting with this style, you will be more likely to hit your opponent.. This is
the fighting style you should use if you are training Attack.

Aggressive: When fighting in Agressive mode, you will hit much higher than with any other
combat style. You should use this fighting style when training Strength.

Defensive: When fighting in the Defensive style, will be less likely to hit you. This is the
fighting style you should use when training Defence.

Controlled: Some weapons give the option to fight in a special "Controlled" mode. When
fighting Controlled, you will get a little of each. This mode of fighting gives 1.33 experience
per hit to all three melee skills - Attack, Strength and Defence, as well as hitpoints.

As well as these four methods of fighting, you will see something else in the fighting styles -
either Stab, Crush or Slash. Different weapons are better with certain styles, and different
monsters and defences have a weakness to these different styles, eg. Plate Armour is weak
against Crush attacks.

Suggested Equipment for Combat (F2P) and (P2P)

Armour and weapons are vital when you are going to attack monsters. I am going to give you
pictures and what name it is to tell you what you should wear and wield when attacking
monsters. It is reccommended you have 41 attack and defence when you attempt to wear
these. (These are directed towards F2pers).

Name Image
 Rune Fullhelm

Diamond Amulet

Rune Platebody

Rune Platelegs

Rune Kiteshield

Rune Scimitar

Suggested Equipment for Combat (P2P)

Warrior Helmet
Amulet of Power
Rune Platebody
Rune (or dragon) Platelegs or Skirt
Rune Kiteshield
Dragon Scimitar, or Dragon Longsword or Abyssal Whip

A good way to level Combat (And earn some Cash)

Here, I am going to give you steps on to how you can level your combat. These rules apply for
f2p and p2p can folow these aswell.

1. Once you get off tutorial island, sell your shield and sword which was given to you. You
will get a little money. Now, with your axe given to you for woodcutting, chop normal
tree's and sell them to the general store. You will get short amounts of money each
time. Continue doing this until you have about 10k. Once your woodcuting level hit's
about 25, continue doing this with oak logs.

2. You have your 10k, it is time to get your proper armour. Go to Al Kharid, and go to
Zeke's Scimitar's. Buy an iron scimitar. Now, go to Varrock. Ask people to sell you a
full iron plate armour with iron kite shield for about 2-3k. 4k tops. Wear all of this.
Now, go back to Lumbridge. Train your attack to level 21 on goblin's behind the
general store.

3. Now that you are level 21 attack, go to Al Kharid again at Zeke's Scimitars. Unwield
your scimitar and sell it to him. Now, go and buy a mithril scimitar. Now, go back to
Lumbridge and train your defence and strength to level 21. Defence first.

4. Once these are both level 21, I suggest you start training prayer, by buring all bones
that you have obtained from monsters that you kill. Go back to Varrock. Say, selling
full iron plate armour with kite shield for 3k 5678 to buy. Sell this and now it is time to
buy good armour. All item's obtained from goblin's should have been sold, and you will
have a good amount of money. If you have 15-20k, it is time for mithril armour. Ask
people for full mithril plate armour and kite shield for 15k-20k.

5. Once you have your armour, It is time to go and kill. Go to Varrock Sewer's. Go and
kill the lower leveled zombie's towards the entrance of the sewer's. Keep killing them
until all of your stat's are 41, except for strength, which should be 51. Complete all
quest's that are possible, and enter the champ's guild. Start doing the Dragon Slayer
 Quest. Info about this can be found here. Once this is completed, you will get a very
good strength and defence bonus.

6. Now, it is time to take up one of the profitable skills. The main 2 I suggest are
woodcutting or mining. Do this until you have 250k. Now, buy a full rune plate armour
with rune kite shield and scimitar. Then, continue training on lesser demon's at
Karamja Volcano. They drop valuable item's which can be sold for a high price.

Training (F2P)

Here is a small guide to help you to achieve some levels in combat. Please note that the
monsters in this guide are just meant to help you out, if you don't agree with something in
this guide, feel free to do it your own way. Also, this guide is meant for training. If you are
wanting good drops, DO NOT use this guide.

Level 3:
When you first start out, I recommend you go straight to cows. The best place to find cows
would be beside the Crafting Guild, south of Falador. You should keep training on cows until
about Level 30 or 40. Try to use a scimitar of the best metal you can use.

Level 30 (a):
Al-Kharid Warriors are a good place to train now. They can be found in Al-Kharid Castle. These
are particularly good, because you can multi-task (do other things) while fighting them, as
they start to attack you once you have attacked one of them. Be careful though, you might
clear out the whole group of them, so you will have to go to another area of them.

Level 30 (b):
Another place you could train at Level 30 is at the Dwarf Mines, on dwarves. There are plenty
up the top near the trapdoor to go down. There are also some near the anvils.
Level 30 (c):
Another place to train is Dark Wizards. These can be found in the wilderness north of the
Dwarf Mines, and near Delrith, south of Varrock. These auto-attack, another place you can
multi-task.

Level 30 (d):
Level 13 zombies are good to train on. They can be found in Varrock Sewers, but you will not
find too many close together.

Level 40 (a):
Hill Giants are where you should be heading now. They are found in the Varrock Sewers. You
can get a Brass Key which gives you access to a ladder that leads straight to the Hill Giants.
Level 40 (b):
Remember the cows you trained at earlier? You might have noticed some hobgoblins right next
to them. Here is where you should train now. Try and keep to the Level 28 ones.

Level 40 (c):
Ghosts are another good place to train. They can be found in Melzar's Maze, and for members,
they can also be found in Taverley Dungeon.

Level 40 (d):
Level 24 zombies are another option. They can be found in Varrock Sewers.
Level 50:
Jail guards are a great way to gain experience. They are found near Draynor Village. Once you
attack one, they will all attack you, so once again, you can multi-task. And no need to worry
about food either - once you die, just walk from Lumbridge back to the Jail Guards (don't have
more than 3 items if you are using this method). You can keep training on these until Level 70
and beyond, or you can move on.

Level 60 (a):
If you've still got the key to Melzar's Maze from the Dragon Slayer quest, the skeletons are a
great way to train. You can also find Level 45 skeletons in the cave where you find Elvarg.
They can also be found just north of Chaos Druids in Edgeville Wilderness Dungeon, which is
members-only.

Level 60 (b):
If you want a change, you could try Deadly Red Spiders. These are found on Crandor, and in
Varrock Sewers.

Level 70 (a):
You are starting to get to the point where it is getting very hard to find good monsters to train
on. You will do perfectly well if you are still with Jail Guards. My advice is to stick with
whatever you have found to be good experience previously.

Level 70 (b):
Lessers are good to train on at around this level. They have quite a low defence, so are quite
easy to kill. Occasionally you may be able to snag a Rune Med. You can find them in Crandor.

By now, you should be starting to get an idea about where is good to train and where isn't.
You can keep training at the places suggested here, or you can go off and find yourself some
wonderful training places!

Training (P2P)

Being a member makes training combat unimaginably easier. Here I will note down some good
training places that are members-only (also use the F2P guide, as I will not be repeating parts
of

Level 30:
Rock crabs are an excellent way to gain experience. You will find these little critters in Relekka.
You can train on these great little things until around Level 60 or 70.

Level 40 (a):
Chaos Druids are good to gain experience on, and they also give great loot - herbs. They can
drop 2 herbs at a time, and they almost always drop at least 1. The best place to find them is
in Edgeville Dungeon in about Level 2 Wilderness, but you can also find some in Taverly
Dungeon.
Level 40 (b):
Thugs are good to train on around this level. They drop herbs, and you may also get yourself a
low level clue. They can be found right next to the Chaos Druids, at the start of the Wilderness
in Edgeville Dungeon.

Level 60:
Experiments are another awesome way to gain experience. They are only Level 25, and they
have 100 hitpoints, giving you an ability to hit massively upon them, while they can hardly
hurt you. These are good all the way until Level 126!

Level 85:
If you have done Legends Quest, the Shadow Warriors in the Legends Guild are a great place
to train.
By now, you should have a pretty good idea about where you should train, so I'll leave it to
you.

Magic axes in the axe hut in Level 56 Wilderness are good training too. They will attack you
automatically, so you can be a bit lazy here. Remember this is in the Wilderness, so only take
3 valuable items with you. You will also need a picklock to enter the hut.

Player Killing

As well as being able to fight the many monsters in the world of RuneScape, you can also fight
directly with other players. You cannot engage in combat with other players just anywhere,
you have to be in the Wilderness. Fighting with players is often very dangerous, as their attack
styles vary much more than that of monsters.

In multiway combat areas, you will often be ambushed by a team of Player Killers (PK'ers).

Killing other players can reap great benefits. When you attack another player, a skull will
appear above your head. This means that whenever you die, you will lose all of your items,
you won't keep your 3 best items. After 20 minutes of playing (without attacking another
player) your skull will disappear.

When you are in the wilderness, you will notice a skull and crossbones at the bottom right of
the screen. Underneat this icon will be the "level". This dicates what levels you will be able to
attack - how many levels away from your own you may attack. For example, if you were level
86, and you were in Level 4 Wilderness, you would be able to attack other players as low as
Level 82, or as high as Level 90.
Brief Summary:
The Wilderness is a huge area in RuneScape that allows players to attack each other. Let's say
your combat level is 25. When you enter the Wilderness you will start at level 1. This means
that people with a combat level within 1 of you can attack you. At level 10, you can attack
players with a combat level of 15-35. Warning! Players with a level 35 combat can attack you
in level 10 wilderness (if you are a level 25)! The indicator which tells you what Wilderness
level you are in is located at the bottom right of the screen.The wilderness is not mapped on
the official RuneScape map, but it is on our map. The wilderness extends to level 48 for
Freeplay, and 56 for members.

Duelling

Dueling is a members-only feature. Dueling allows two players to engage in combat without
having to go to the wilderness. If you die in a duel, you end up in Duel Arena with full health.
To request a duel with another player, right click on him/her and click duel with ____. That will
send a duel request to the person you want to duel with. If they accept your request the duel
screen will open up. If someone sends a duel request to you, to accept you must request to
duel with them. In the duel screen there are a few things you will see:

1. Your stake: Not only does dueling allow two players to see who is a better fighter, but
it also allows them to put up a stake. The winner of the duel is the person who kills
his/her opponent. If you kill your opponent in a duel, ONLY their stake will appear on
the ground, as well as bones. To put up a stake, click on an item in 'Your inventory'
and it will be added to your stake.

2. Opponent's stake: 'Opponent's stake' shows your opponent's stake.

3. Your inventory: 'Your inventory' shows everything in your inventory. To add an item to
your stake, click on it.

4. Checkbox for 'No retreating': The no retreating checkbox allows to players to fight to
death. If this checkbox is filled, no one can retreat, or teleport out of the duel.

5. Checkbox for 'No prayers': The 'No prayers' checkbox disallows the use of prayers
during the whole duel.

6. Checkbox for 'No magic': The 'No magic' checkbox disallows the use of magic during
the whole duel.

7. Checkbox for 'No weapons': 'No weapons' disallows the use of ALL worn items. Not
just weapons.
 8. 'Accept' button: If you and your opponent click the 'Accept' button you will be brought
to the next screen which shows a list of both your stakes, and what is allowed and
what is not. In that screen there is an accept button also, and if you and your
opponent accept, your duel will start.

9. The 'Decline' button closes the duel screen.

For more information on Duelling, see the Dueling Arena Guide.

Related Links

These are the skill guides to the other aspects of combat:

Prayer Guide
Magic Guide
Ranged Guide

You can also use some calculators that will help you.

There is also a handy calculator for calculating your combat level (among other things):

Combat Calculator

Conclusion

We hope this has given you an idea on what combat is all about. If we have left anything out,
or you feel that something should be added, please do not hesitate to post in the forum
Submission Boards.