Buffs

"Buff" redirects here. For changes made to RuneScape, see Updates. For equipment/items triggering on their own when equipped, see passive effect.

Buffs and debuffs are changes to an individual's capabilities. They include activated prayers and changes in levels of combat skills. A positive change is called a buff, while the negative counterpart is called a debuff.

Buffs

Buffs are changes to a character that enhance a player, whether it be by raising skill level or helping the player in some other way. Buffs can generally be classified as either temporary, indefinite, or permanent.

Temporary

Temporary buffs must be activated or initiated, and will deplete or end after a set amount of time.

Examples	Direct examples	Buff
Skill boosts	Ranging potion boost	Boosts Ranged
	Anglerfish boost	Boosts Hitpoints
Prayers	Protect from Melee defence	Blocks or reduces melee damage
	Piety bonuses	Increases Attack, Strength, and Defence
Special attacks	Armadyl godsword special attack	Increases accuracy and damage
	Magic longbow special attack	Guarantees accuracy
Power-ups	Nightmare zone power-ups	Give the player temporary advantages
	Twisted League relics	Gives the player various buffs

Indefinite

Indefinite buffs are buffs that retain when certain conditions are met; they do not exist in all situations, such as when an item is unequipped. Passive effects can be considered indefinite buffs.

Examples	Direct examples	Buff
Area boosts	Mining Guild boost	Invisible boost to Mining level
	Range bonus	Reduces chance of burning food
Equipment stats	Strength bonus	Increases maximum hit
	Magic defence	Increases resistance to magic attacks
Skillcape perks	Cooking cape perk	Keeps food from burning
	Prayer cape perk	Increases restore from prayer potions
Set effects	Graceful set effect	Reduces weight
	Dharok's set effect	Damage increase based on Hitpoints level
Experience-boosting clothing	Lumberjack outfit bonus	Boosts Woodcutting experience
	Pyromancer outfit bonus	Boosts Firemaking experience
Item effects	Lightbearer effect	Increases special attack restore rate
	Anti-dragon shield protection	Gives the user immunity to dragonfire

Permanent

Several buffs are truly permanent, and are unlocked after completing quests, diaries, or certain skilling tasks. They do not require any additional items to be on the player to activate.

Examples	Direct examples	Buff
Upgrades	Fire of Unseasonal Warmth	Gives immunity to chill at God Wars
	Barronite shards	Provides upgrades to skilling activities in Camdozaal
Diary bonuses	Wilderness hard diary effect	Increases number of lava shards ground from lava scales by 50%
	Western Provinces medium diary effect	Gives a 50% chance at two chompy birds spawning when hunting

For permanent unlocks, such as Saniboch's 1,000,000 fee for permanent access to the Brimhaven Dungeon, see unlockable passages.

Debuffs

Debuffs are changes to a character that weakens a player, whether it be by lowering a skill or inhibiting the player in some other way. The following are classed as debuffs:

Category	Examples	Debuff
Status effects	Stun	Inability to move or retaliate
	Poison	Incrementally-decreasing Hitpoints loss
	Venom	Incrementally-increasing Hitpoints loss
	Disease	Decreases random stats
	Burn	Decreases Hitpoints by 10 over time
Area effects	Desert heat	Decreases hitpoints
	Chill	Drains stats and deals damage over time
	Swamp decay	Decreases hitpoints
	Darkness	Loss of ability to see

Dual effect

Many items have dual buffs and debuffs. For example, spicy stew can boost some stats while draining others.