Weapons

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Artwork of some standard RuneScape weapons.

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, thus two-handed weapons are held in both hands preventing the use of a shield. 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 axe in the weapon slot so that they may hold more ore or logs, respectively.

Basic melee weapons[edit | edit source]

These weapons are more commonly used than the other weapons available because they don't have to be replaced unless upon death, and they do not require ammunition to use unlike most Magic or Ranged weapons. 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 it 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 vampyres).

Weapon groups[edit | edit source]

Overall, there are four attack styles: accurate, aggressive, defensive, and controlled. The first three add a hidden bonus of +3 to attack, strength, and defence, respectively. Controlled adds a hidden bonus of +1 to each of the three melee combat stats. Stab, Slash, and Crush are the three possible damage types. Different damage types are more effective against different types of armour or monster.

Weapon	Stab	Slash	Crush
Dagger	Yes	Yes	No
Sword	Yes	Yes	No
Longsword	Yes	Yes	No
Scimitar	Yes	Yes	No
Mace	Yes	No	Yes
Battleaxe	No	Yes	Yes
Warhammer	No	No	Yes
Two-handed sword	No	Yes	Yes
Spear/Hasta	Yes	Yes	Yes
Halberd	Yes	Yes	No
Claws	Yes	Yes	No
Axe	No	Yes	Yes
Pickaxe	Yes	No	Yes
Maul	No	No	Yes
Whip	No	Yes	No

Weapon characteristics[edit | edit source]

There are also a variety of 'novelty weapons' available. They 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	Fast/Weakest	Stab/Slash	A dagger is the first item that can be smithed in any metal. Generally (but not always), it has higher stats than a sword of the weaker metal. A dagger is tied in speed with the scimitar and shortsword. Daggers are primarily stabbing weapons although they have a decent slash attack. Members can poison daggers to great effect. Dragon daggers are discoloured upon poisoning, making the tip of the dagger a bright green colour. A Dragon dagger (p++) is a very popular special attack weapon in general fighting and PvP combat; the store is located in south Varrock.
Axe	Medium/Weak	Slash/Crush ^[1]	Intended for Woodcutting, but it can be used as a weapon. Bob's Brilliant Axes sells low-tier axes up to steel.
Pickaxe	Medium/Weak	Stab/Crush ^[1]	Intended for Mining, but it can be used as a weapon. Nurmof's Pickaxe Shop sells pickaxes up to rune.
Shortsword	Fast/Medium	Stab/Slash	A Shortsword is 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 as a sword is a cheap alternative to scimitars for rune and lower metals; the store is located in south Varrock.
Mace	Medium/Medium	Crush/Stab	The crush attack is better against platemail, and the Prayer bonus can be useful. Maces are slightly slower than the Shortsword and slightly weaker. It also features a Controlled stabbing attack. The Dragon mace is mainly used in player killing due to its special attack; the store is located in Falador.
Scimitar	Fast/Medium	Slash/Stab	A scimitar is an excellent slashing weapon against cloth or leather and average against chainmail, but it is weak against platemail. It can hit just as fast as a shortsword or dagger, and it deals slightly more damage than shortswords but less than longswords. 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 is one of the most popular weapons for PKing along with the Abyssal whip and Dragon dagger (p++), and it's considered one of the most versatile combat weapons in the game although 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, and the Dragon scimitar is one of the best training weapons for members whereas the whip lacks a way to train Strength; the store is located in Al Kharid.
Longsword	Medium/Strong	Slash/Stab ^[1]	A longsword is slower than a scimitar, shortsword, and dagger, but it has higher Strength and Attack bonuses, especially in terms of its controlled stab attack. Considered to be worse than 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; the store is located in south Varrock.
Warhammer	Slow/Strong	Crush	It is 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. Warhammers are not commonly used because of their low speed and mediocre Strength bonuses. They offer the same damage as their slashing cousins, the battleaxes; the store is located in Rellekka.
Battleaxe	Slow/Stronger	Slash/Crush ^[1]	It provides a better Strength bonus than the warhammer but not as effective in the secondary crush attack. Battleaxes are stronger than longswords yet slower. A battleaxe is considered to be a rather effective PKing weapon, but a quicker weapon, such as a Dragon scimitar or Abyssal whip, fares better; the store is located in Port Sarim.
Two-handed sword	Slowest/Second Strongest	Slash/Crush	A 2h sword is the most powerful of the basic weapons, but it is 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	A halberd is equally 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, other safespots, etc.), which is known as "hallying".
Spear	Medium/Medium	Stab/Slash/Crush ^[1]	The stabbing equivalent of a two-handed sword, 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 all spears, excluding the Zamorakian spear, 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; the store is located in Tai Bwo Wannai.
Hasta	Medium/Medium	Stab/Slash/Crush ^[1]	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 also be poisoned except the Zamorakian hasta.
Claws	Fast/Medium	Slash/Stab	A members-only weapon that is similar to the shortsword, except that it is two-handed and is primarily a slashing weapon. It cannot be poisoned.
Maul	Slow(est)/Strongest	Crush	Does not follow the standard metal scale (Bronze-Dragon). It is also is two-handed. You usually get them either in granite or obsidian.

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 ^1.5 Italics indicate decent effectiveness in a weapon's secondary style compared to its primary style. (Less than 20% difference in bonuses)

Weapon requirements[edit | edit source]

Attack Level		Other requirements
1	Bronze	None.^[1]
1	Iron	None.^[1]
1	Machetes	None.
5	Steel	None.^[1]
10	Black	None.^[1]
10	White	Completion of the Wanted! quest.
15	Ancient mace	25 Prayer and partial completion of Another Slice of H.A.M.
20	Mithril	None.^[1]
30	Adamant	None.^[1]
30	Battlestaves	30 Magic
30	Swamp lizard	30 Ranged 30 Magic
40	Brine sabre	None.
40	Mystic staves	40 Magic
40	Rune	None.^[1]
42	Void knight mace	42 Attack,Strength,Defence,Hitpoints,Ranged,Magic, and 22 Prayer
50	Ancient staff	50 Magic and completion of Desert Treasure.
50	Granite maul	50 Strength
50	Iban's staff	50 Magic and completion of Underground Pass.
50	Leaf-bladed spear	55 Slayer
50	Leaf-bladed sword	55 Slayer
50	Orange salamander	50 Ranged 50 Magic
60	Barrelchest anchor	40 Strength and completion of Great Brain Robbery.
60	Dragon	The dragon longsword and dragon dagger require completion of the Lost City quest. The dragon mace and dragon battleaxe require completion of the Heroes' Quest. The dragon halberd requires completion of Regicide.^[1] The dragon scimitar requires completion of Monkey Madness I.
60	Obsidian	The Obsidian maul (Tzhaar-ket-om) instead requires 60 Strength, with no attack requirement. The Obsidian staff also requires 60 Magic
60	Red salamander	60 Ranged 60 Magic
60	Viggora's chainmace	None.
65	3rd age longsword	None.
65	Leaf-bladed battleaxe	55 Slayer
65	Sarachnis cudgel	None.
70	Abyssal bludgeon	70 Strength
70	Abyssal dagger	None.
70	Abyssal whip	None.
70	Avernic defender	70 Defence
70	Barrows	70 Strength for Dharok's greataxe and Torag's hammers. 70 Magic for Ahrim's staff.
70	Black salamander	70 Ranged 70 Magic
70	Saradomin sword	None.
70	Zamorakian spear ^(Hasta)	None.
75	Abyssal tentacle	None.
75	Arclight	Completion of Shadow of the Storm.
75	Elder maul	None.
75	Ghrazi rapier	None.
75	Godswords	None.
75	Saradomin's blessed sword	None.
75	Scythe of vitur	75 Strength
75	Staff of the dead ^(Toxic)	75 Magic

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 ^1.5 ^1.6 ^1.7 Halberds of any material require a Strength level equal to one-half of their Attack level requirement.

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.

Other melee weapon types[edit | edit source]

TzHaar[edit | edit source]

Toktz-xil-ak (Obsidian sword)
Tzhaar-ket-em (Obsidian mace)
Tzhaar-ket-om (Obsidian maul)
Toktz-xil-ek (Obsidian dagger)

Barrows[edit | edit source]

A player fighting using Guthan's warspear.

Miscellaneous[edit | edit source]

Quest weapons, fun weapons, and blackjacks[edit | edit source]

Quest weapons[edit | edit source]

A player fighting with the Darklight.

Blackjacks[edit | edit source]

Fun weapons[edit | edit source]

Kitchen weaponry[edit | edit source]

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:

Magic weapons[edit | edit source]

The weapons listed below are magic weapons. While most of them can be used in melee, they are more powerful when used to cast spells in combat.

Weapon requirements[edit | edit source]

Level	Type
1	Staff, Magic staff, Elemental staves (air, fire, earth, water), Skull sceptre, Rod of ivandis^{[d 1]}, Ivandis flail^{[d 2]}, Dramen staff, Dawnbringer
30	Battlestaves (with 30 Attack), Pharaoh's sceptre (with 30 Attack)
40	Mystic staves (with 40 Attack)
42	Void knight mace (with 42 Attack, Strength, Defence, Hitpoints, Ranged, and 22 Prayer)
45	Beginner wand
50	Slayer's staff (with 55 Slayer), Apprentice wand, Ancient staff (after Desert Treasure with 50 Attack), Iban's staff (after Underground Pass)
55	Teacher wand
60	Toktz-mej-tal (Obsidian staff), Master wand, God staves, Thammaron's sceptre
65	Lunar staff, 3rd age wand
70	Ahrim's staff (with 70 Attack)
75	Staff of the dead (with 75 Attack), Trident of the seas, Trident of the swamp, Sanguinesti staff, Kodai wand, Slayer's staff (e) (with 55 Slayer)

↑ After In Aid of the Myreque, which requires a boostable 15 Magic.
↑ After A Taste of Hope, which requires a boostable 33 Magic, with 40 Attack.

Weapon groups[edit | edit source]

Battlestaves[edit | edit source]

Mystic staves[edit | edit source]

Wands[edit | edit source]

Powered staves[edit | edit source]

Bladed staves[edit | edit source]

Ranged weapons[edit | edit source]

Ranged weapons are used for Ranged attacks.

Weapon requirements[edit | edit source]

Level	Type
1	Training bow, Cursed goblin bow, Shortbow, Longbow, Crossbow, Phoenix crossbow, Bronze crossbow, Bronze dart, Bronze knife, Bronze thrownaxe, Iron dart, Iron knife, Iron thrownaxe
5	Oak shortbow, Oak longbow, Steel dart, Steel knife, Steel thrownaxe
10	Black dart, Black knife
16	Blurite crossbow
20	Willow longbow, Willow comp bow, Willow shortbow, Mithril dart, Mithril knife, Mithril thrownaxe
26	Iron crossbow
28	Dorgeshuun crossbow
30	Maple shortbow, Maple longbow, Comp ogre bow, Adamant dart, Adamant knife, Adamant thrownaxe
31	Steel crossbow
36	Mithril crossbow
40	Yew comp bow, Yew shortbow, [ Yew longbow, Rune dart, Rune knife, Rune thrownaxe
45	Chinchompa
46	Adamant crossbow
50	Magic comp bow, Magic shortbow, Magic longbow, Seercull, Hunters' crossbow
55	Red chinchompa
60	Dark bow, Craw's bow, Dragon dart, Dragon knife, Toktz-xil-ul
61	Rune crossbow, Dragon thrownaxe
64	Dragon crossbow
65	3rd age bow, Black chinchompa, Dragon hunter crossbow, Light ballista
70	Crystal bow, Karil's crossbow, Armadyl crossbow
75	Toxic blowpipe, Twisted bow, Heavy ballista

Weapon groups[edit | edit source]

Shortbow[edit | edit source]

Longbows[edit | edit source]

Crossbows[edit | edit source]

Composite bows[edit | edit source]

All composite bows (excluding the composite ogre bow) have a speed in-between a longbow and a shortbow, an attack range equal to a longbow, and slightly higher accuracy compared to a shortbow or longbow of the same materials.

Thrown weapons[edit | edit source]

Darts[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

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 knives are only dropped by Shadow warriors, Imperial Guard members, ankous, and cyclopes in the Warriors' Guild.

Thrownaxes[edit | edit source]

Thrownaxes come in Bronze, Iron, Steel, Black, Mithril, Adamantite, Rune and Dragon. They can only be bought from a shop in the Ranging Guild. The rune thrownaxe 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).

Chinchompas[edit | edit source]

Miscellaneous[edit | edit source]

Toktz-xil-ul (rings)

Other[edit | edit source]

Ammunition[edit | edit source]

Arrows are used as ammunition for bows, bolts are used as ammunition for crossbows, and javelins are used as ammunition for ballistae. The better the ammunition, the higher damage a player can deal. However, players require certain bows to use certain arrows. All ammunition except for Training arrows can be made using the Fletching skill.

Arrows[edit | edit source]

Arrow	Bow required	Location
Training arrows	Training bow	Given for free by the Ranged tutor in Lumbridge.
Bronze arrows	Any	Can be bought from Lowe's Archery Store in Varrock.
Iron arrows	Any	Can be bought from Lowe's Archery Store in Varrock.
Steel arrows	Oak	Can be bought from Lowe's Archery Store in Varrock or from Brian's Archery Supplies in Rimmington.
Mithril arrows	Willow	Can be bought from Lowe's Archery Store in Varrock or from Brian's Archery Supplies in Rimmington.
Adamant arrows	Maple	Can be bought from Lowe's Archery Store in Varrock or from Brian's Archery Supplies in Rimmington.
Ice arrows	Yew	Can be obtained in various amounts in the chests of the ice part of the Temple of Ikov. They are used to defeat the Fire Warrior of Lesarkus.
Rune arrows	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 cannot be traded.
Dragon arrows	Dark bow	Can be fletched by materials dropped by Dragon implings.