Prayer
Prayer | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Released | 4 January 2001 (Update) | |||
Also called | Pray | |||
Members | No | |||
Type | Combat | |||
Statistics | ||||
Players with 99 |
69,405 as of 1 January 2021 - update | |||
Players with 200M XP |
101 as of 1 January 2021 - update | |||
Prayer is a non-members combat skill. Prayer is trained by burying bones, using them on an altar in a player-owned house, by using them on the altar in the Chaos Temple (hut), by praying at the Ectofuntus with bonemeal and buckets of slime, or by killing reanimated monsters summoned via the Arceuus spellbook. Different bones give different amounts of experience.
Prayers are unlocked as the level in the skill goes up, which are used to aid the player in combat. The prayers can help with Attack, Defence, Strength, Ranged, Magic, and Hitpoints, among other uses. When prayers are activated, they drain the player's prayer points until the prayer is turned off or all prayer points are used.
Most prayers can be activated immediately before the attack hits and promptly deactivated in order to gain buffs and/or protection with minimal to no expenditure of prayer points. This is called prayer flicking.
Contents
Recharging points[edit | edit source]
The player can recharge all of their prayer points to full by praying at an altar, which are most often found in churches.
Praying at these altars will recharge the player's prayer points above the maximum:
- The Altar of Nature in the Nature Grotto
- The Edgeville Monastery (requires level 31 Prayer)
- Altars found within the God Wars Dungeon boss chambers.
In addition, consuming prayer potions, super restores, sanfew serums and Zamorak brews will recharge prayer points proportional to the player's Prayer level, and consuming jangerberries restores 1 prayer point each. The Falador shield will also recharge a certain percentage of prayer points once or twice daily depending upon the tier of the shield.
The Catacombs of Kourend also have a special effect, where burying bones will restore a few prayer points based on the type of bone.
Quick prayers[edit | edit source]
On 6 February 2014, data orbs were added and has given the Prayer icon the ability to select your quick prayers. It can be left-clicked to activate, or deactivate, a group of prayers preselected by the player simultaneously. You can select which prayers are activated by right-clicking the button and choosing the "Setup quick-prayers" option. Before the addition of this function, players had to, sometimes frantically, locate the prayer tab and activate them one by one. This function allows players to place many of the most useful prayers on immediate standby. It is very useful for prayer flicking. Quick prayers can also be used as an easy way to turn off all prayers by double left-clicking it (to turn quick prayers on, then off).
Prayers[edit | edit source]
The prayer tab contains all of the available prayers. To activate a prayer, simply click it. This will show a whitish circle around each active prayer, and will start to drain prayer points.
All prayers up to Mystic Might are available for free-to-play players, but prayers from Retribution onward require the player to be on a members' server. Additionally, Chivalry and Piety require completion of Camelot Training Room, and Preserve, Rigour, and Augury must be unlocked through prayer scrolls from Chambers of Xeric.
![]() |
Prayer | Effect | Drain Rate | Drain Effect[1] | Members | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
Thick Skin | +5% Defence | 1 point per 12 seconds | 3 | |
4 | ![]() |
Burst of Strength | +5% Strength | 1 point per 12 seconds | 3 | |
7 | ![]() |
Clarity of Thought | +5% Attack | 1 point per 12 seconds | 3 | |
8 | ![]() |
Sharp Eye | +5% Ranged | 1 point per 12 seconds | 3 | |
9 | ![]() |
Mystic Will | +5% Magical attack and defence | 1 point per 12 seconds | 3 | |
10 | ![]() |
Rock Skin | +10% Defence | 1 point per 6 seconds | 6 | |
13 | ![]() |
Superhuman Strength | +10% Strength | 1 point per 6 seconds | 6 | |
16 | ![]() |
Improved Reflexes | +10% Attack | 1 point per 6 seconds | 6 | |
19 | ![]() |
Rapid Restore | 2 x Restore rate for all skills except Hitpoints and Prayer | 1 point per 36 seconds | 1 | |
22 | ![]() |
Rapid Heal | 2 x Restore rate for Hitpoints | 1 point per 18 seconds | 2 | |
25 | ![]() |
Protect Item | Player keeps 1 extra item when they die (must be activated before death to occur) | 1 point per 18 seconds | 2 | |
26 | ![]() |
Hawk Eye | +10% Ranged | 1 point per 6 seconds | 6 | |
27 | ![]() |
Mystic Lore | +10% Magical attack and defence | 1 point per 6 seconds | 6 | |
28 | ![]() |
Steel Skin | +15% Defence | 1 point per 3 seconds | 12 | |
31 | ![]() |
Ultimate Strength | +15% Strength | 1 point per 3 seconds | 12 | |
34 | ![]() |
Incredible Reflexes | +15% Attack | 1 point per 3 seconds | 12 | |
37 | ![]() |
Protect from Magic | Protects against magic attacks | 1 point per 3 seconds | 12 | |
40 | ![]() |
Protect from Missiles | Protects against ranged attacks | 1 point per 3 seconds | 12 | |
43 | ![]() |
Protect from Melee | Protects against melee attacks | 1 point per 3 seconds | 12 | |
44 | ![]() |
Eagle Eye | +15% Ranged | 1 point per 3 seconds | 12 | |
45 | ![]() |
Mystic Might | +15% Magical attack and defence | 1 point per 3 seconds | 12 | |
46 | ![]() |
Retribution | Deals damage up to 25% of your Prayer level to nearby targets upon the user's death | 1 point per 12 seconds | 3 | |
49 | ![]() |
Redemption | Heals the player if they fall below 10% health | 1 point per 6 seconds | 6 | |
52 | ![]() |
Smite | Removes 1 prayer point from an enemy for every 4 damage inflicted on the enemy | 1 point per 2 seconds | 18 | |
55 | ![]() |
Preserve | Boosted stats last 50% longer | 1 point per 18 seconds | 2 | |
60 | ![]() |
Chivalry | +15% Attack, +18% Strength, +20% Defence | 1 point per 1.5 seconds | 24 | |
70 | ![]() |
Piety | +20% Attack, +23% Strength, +25% Defence | 1 point per 1.5 Seconds | 24 | |
74 | ![]() |
Rigour | +20% Ranged attack, +23% Ranged strength, +25% Defence | 1 point per 1.5 Seconds | 24 | |
77 | ![]() |
Augury | +25% Magical attack and defence, +25% Defence | 1 point per 1.5 Seconds | 24 |
Prayer drain[edit | edit source]
- See also: Prayer items and Prayer drain calculator
While active, each prayer slowly depletes a player's prayer points. Different prayers drain prayer points at different rates. For example, a low-level prayer such as Thick Skin drain prayer significantly slower than its higher level counterpart, Steel Skin.
Prayer bonus, determined by worn equipment allows a player to slow the rate at which prayer points are drained. Players can view their prayer bonus in the Equipment Stats window. Only certain types of armour, clothing, weapons, and jewellery grant a prayer bonus.
In practice, each point of prayer bonus effectively increases the duration prayer points will last by 3.33%. For example, if a player uses the "Protect from Melee" prayer with a prayer bonus of 0, their prayer points would drain at a rate of 1 point every 3 seconds. If that player then equips armour giving a prayer bonus of +15, the player can expect this duration to increase by 50%, draining 1 point per 4.5 seconds instead of 1 point every 3 seconds.
Prayer bonus does not help to stave off the side-effects of locations and monsters that drain Prayer.
Prayer drain mechanics[edit | edit source]
Each prayer has an associated drain effect, and the total across all activated prayers is added to an internal prayer drain counter each game tick. Whenever this counter value exceeds a certain theshold, known as the player's prayer drain resistance, one prayer point is depleted, and that player's current prayer drain counter value decreases by their prayer drain resistance. As this can occur more than once per game tick, it is possible to lose more than one prayer point within a single game tick.[1]
Players have a base prayer drain resistance of 60, increased by 2 for every point of prayer bonus. In the example above, a player with a prayer bonus of +15 would have a prayer drain resistance of 90, instead of 60. This would result in prayer points taking an average of 50% longer to deplete. Prayer drain resistance can be calculated with the following formula:
Prayer flicking[edit | edit source]

Flicking lets a player use prayers in combat without having their prayer points drain continuously. A skilled player will turn prayers on right before their effects are required, and turn them off immediately after. This will stop prayer from continuously draining between attacks. For prayer flicking involving protection prayers, the player will activate the prayer just before being hit, and turn it off immediately after the hit lands. This uses up very few prayer points, and negates prayer point usage completely if done quickly enough.
Although flicking requires timing and skill, doing it successfully can save prayer points and allow a player to fight monsters for much longer, or increase damage rates with offensive prayers. In some cases, flicking can take advantage of mechanics, such as rendering Dessous unable to attack the player. If done perfectly, no prayer will be consumed regardless of how long the fight lasts.
Most players will not have totally perfect timing. Wearing gear with a high prayer bonus will help you prayer flick much longer. Flicking is considerably easier when fighting a monster that matches your weapon's speed, and/or when playing with sounds on. A metronome set to 100 beats per minute (or once every 0.6 seconds) can be used for practicing.
The disadvantages to prayer flicking are the high click intensity associated with constantly turning prayers on and off, and the time needed to get good and consistent at it. If used in a high risk situation, incorrectly flicking may backfire as it can cause players to not have prayers on at the right time.
How to prayer flick[edit | edit source]
To prayer flick, one must activate and deactivate a prayer so it is active on the needed game tick. If flicking a combat prayer, this is the tick you attack. If flicking a protection prayer, this is the tick your enemy attacks (which is when their attack animation begins, not necessarily the tick in which you take damage). If flicking against monsters, it will help immensely to know the monster's attack speed.
While it is possible to prayer flick against monsters that use Magic or Ranged attacks, it is best to practice against monsters that use melee at a 2.4 second (4 tick) interval while using a 4-tick weapon if you are learning how to flick for the first time. Practicing during Slayer tasks is a relatively safe and yet rewarding way to learn. Mutated Bloodvelds are an example of a good monster to practice at: they are not aggressive, their hits are accurate (meaning you will see easily when you make a mistake), and they are easy to reach.
In essence, when using protection prayers, activate the prayer just before the opponent's attack animation begins (for example, a ranger raising his bow and shooting the arrow, or a meleer swinging his sword). When using offensive prayers, activate the prayer just before your attack animation begins (and the experience drop shows up, if your hit is successful). To consume no prayer points, turn the prayer off within the next tick.
Note: Latency to the server is unavoidable, usually the ping at 20 to 150 milliseconds to the closest server. Keep this in mind when prayer flicking.
There are some exceptions to the rule of protection prayer having to be active on the first tick of the attack: for example, many of TzTok-Jad, The Nightmare and Verzik Vitur's attacks are calculated shortly after the start of their attack animation to allow the player to react to them switching between their attacks.
1-tick prayer flicking[edit | edit source]
While this method is very click-intensive, it is possible to have your quick-prayers active at all times while not draining any prayer points. 1-tick prayer involves activating and deactivating your quick-prayers on every single game tick, and requires precise timing along with strict adherence to the click pattern. Notably, this is the only way to reliably protect yourself in a multi-combat zone filled with aggressive enemies without expending prayer points, and works against enemies that cannot be reliably prayer-flicked against due to varying attack speeds (such as cave horrors). In addition, it can reliably be used for both protection and offensive prayers, to nullify and deal more damage at the same time. When done correctly, your overhead prayer should be visible at all times, but you will not lose any prayer points.
The Preserve and Rapid Heal prayers provide no benefit when using this technique.
Equipment that affects Prayer[edit | edit source]
- See also: Prayer items and Armour/Prayer armour
Some equipment can bypass or disable overhead other players' protection prayers, as well as drain, restore or depend on Prayer.
Most of this equipment cannot bypass monster protection prayers, with the exception of Verac's set against the Kalphite Queen.
Special attacks[edit | edit source]
Weapon | Notes | |
---|---|---|
![]() |
Ancient mace | The ancient mace's special attack ignores Protect from Melee when used against players and drains their Prayer by the amount of damage inflicted, while restoring the user's Prayer by the same amount. It can restore the user's Prayer above their base level. |
![]() |
Dragon scimitar | The dragon scimitar's special attack is more accurate and will disable as well as prevent a player from using their overhead protection prayers if it is a successful hit, for 5 seconds. |
![]() |
Dragon sword | The dragon sword's special attack hits the target with 25% increased accuracy and damage, and ignores Protect from Melee when used against players. |
![]() |
Abyssal bludgeon | The abyssal bludgeon's special attack deals a hit with 0.5% extra damage for every prayer point the attacker is missing. |
![]() |
Bandos godsword | The Bandos godsword's special attack increases damage dealt by 21% and doubles the accuracy, draining one of the target's Combat stats by the amount of damage dealt, until it reaches 0. If the stat drained reaches 0 before all of the damage could be accounted for, another stat will be drained by the amount remaining. Stats are drained in the following order: Defence, Strength, Prayer, Attack, Magic, Ranged. |
![]() |
Saradomin godsword | The Saradomin godsword's special attack increases damage dealt by 10% and doubles the accuracy. If it is a successful hit, it restores the user's Hitpoints by 50% of the damage dealt (with a minimum of 10 Hitpoints) and Prayer by 25% of damage dealt (with a minimum of 5 prayer points). |
![]() |
Eldritch nightmare staff | The Eldritch nightmare staff's special attack increases damage dealt and restores the caster's prayer points by 50% of the damage dealt. It can boost the caster's prayer points above their base level. |
Passive/set effects[edit | edit source]
Equipment | Notes | |
---|---|---|
![]() |
Necklace of faith | When the user is hit down to less than 20% of their maximum hitpoints (including being hit for 0), they will have their Prayer restored for 10% of their Prayer level, destroying the necklace in the process. |
![]() |
Dragonbone necklace | After it is equipped for more than nine seconds, burying bones (either manually or through the Bonecrusher) will restore a certain number of Prayer points. |
![]() |
Sapphire bolts (e) | The passive effect of enchanted sapphire bolts causes the target to lose prayer points calculated as 1/20th of the attacker's current Prayer stat, and the attacker gains about half of them. |
![]() |
Sapphire dragon bolts (e) | |
![]() |
Spectral spirit shield | The passive effect of the spectral spirit shield reduces the effectiveness of all Prayer draining attacks by 50%. This effect does not work against other players. |
![]() |
Verac's set | The set effect of Verac's has a 25% chance to ignore the target's Defence, armour and protection prayers. |
Spells[edit | edit source]
Spell | Notes | |
---|---|---|
![]() |
Saradomin Strike | On a successful hit in PvP, lowers opponent's prayer points by 1. |
Miscellaneous[edit | edit source]
Item | Notes | |
---|---|---|
![]() |
Prayer book | Right clicking the prayer book while wearing a Holy symbol allows the player to use prayer to heal poison at the cost of some prayer points. |
![]() |
Prayer cape | Restores 1 prayer point when equipped or operated. Can be done once every 60 seconds. |
Monsters that use Prayer[edit | edit source]
Several monsters are able to make use of protection prayers.
Monster | Prayers | Notes |
---|---|---|
Kalphite Queen | ![]() ![]() |
Her first form will use Protect from Magic and Missiles simultaneously, while her second form will use Protect from Melee. Her prayers are purely visual, and only indicate a higher defence bonus against a particular attack style. |
Mother | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Mother protects against the last attack style that was used against him until the player extinguishes the Fire of Domination, at which point Mother only protects against Magic. |
Demonic gorilla | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The gorilla will spawn protecting from a random style. After 50 or more damage has been taken, the gorilla will switch its protection prayer according to the style of the last damage it took. |
Sigmund | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Only when fought during Another Slice of H.A.M.. He will first protect against whatever style the player attacks him with, then Missiles to counter Zanik; once the player uses the ancient mace special attack against him at this point, his Prayer will be drained and he can no longer use it |
Crystalline Hunllef / Corrupted Hunllef | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Hunllef will spawn protecting from a random style. Will change its protection prayer to protect against the sixth attack it receives that it is not protecting from. |
Temporary boosts[edit | edit source]
Boost | Level increase |
Visibility | Other info | |
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
Prayer cape | 1 | Visible | Activating the cape's effect will increase the corresponding skill by 1. |
![]() |
Spicy stew (yellow spice) |
±0-5 | Visible | Depending on type of stew, any skill can be boosted or reduced by 0 to 5 levels randomly. |
![]() |
Edgeville Monastery altar, Nature Grotto, God Wars Dungeon altars |
2+ | Visible | Monastery requires 31 Prayer, and is available to free players. Altar of nature requires completion of Nature Spirit. God Wars Dungeon altars require a god item in correspondence to the aligned god, restoring +1 for every item worn (e.g. 2 Armadyl items worn restores +2 extra prayer if praying at the Armadyl altar). Note: Boosted prayer points do not enable use of a higher level prayer. |
![]() |
Ancient mace | +1-36 | Visible | Requires completion of Another Slice of H.A.M. Uses 100% of Special attack bar and restores Prayer equal to the damage dealt. This can fill your Prayer up to your Prayer level + the damage dealt. For maximum effect, it's advised to use the special attack on an Undead combat dummy in conjunction with a high strength bonus and Slayer helmet prior to entering combat. Note: Extra prayer points do not enable use of a higher level prayer and do not decay. |
Quests[edit | edit source]
Quests requiring Prayer[edit | edit source]
Quest | Prayer requirement |
Other skill requirements |
---|---|---|
Another Slice of H.A.M. | ![]() |
![]() |
Scorpion Catcher | ![]() |
- |
Legends' Quest | ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Rum Deal | ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Great Brain Robbery | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Quests rewarding Prayer experience[edit | edit source]
Quest | Experience reward |
Prayer requirement |
Other requirements |
---|---|---|---|
Rag and Bone Man I | 500 | - | - |
Making History | 1,000 | - | - |
Recruitment Drive | 1,000 | - | ![]() |
The Restless Ghost | 1,125 | - | - |
Priest in Peril | 1,406 | - | - |
Mountain Daughter | 2,000 | - | ![]() |
Ghosts Ahoy | 2,400 | - | ![]() ![]() |
Another Slice of H.A.M. | 3,000 | ![]() |
![]() |
Rag and Bone Man II | 5,000 | - | ![]() ![]() |
The Great Brain Robbery | 6,000 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Rum Deal | 7,000 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Spirits of the Elid | 8,000 | - | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Swan Song | 10,000 | - | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Holy Grail | 11,000 | - | ![]() |
Total | 59,431 |
Skill choice[edit | edit source]
Upon completing any of the following quests, players may choose to allocate experience to Prayer. These rewards usually come in the form of items, such as lamps or books, and are independent of any experience rewards directly received for completing the quest.
Quest | Experience reward |
Skills available | Skill requirements |
---|---|---|---|
X Marks the Spot | 300 | Any | - |
Client of Kourend | 500 twice | Any | - |
Fairytale II - Cure a Queen | 2,500 | Any skill above 30 | ![]() ![]() |
A Tail of Two Cats | 2,500 twice | Any skill above 30 | - |
The Great Brain Robbery | 5,000 | Any skill above 30 | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
King's Ransom | 5,000 | Any skill above 50 | ![]() |
Darkness of Hallowvale | 2,000 three times | Any skill above 30 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
A Taste of Hope | 2,500 | Any skill above 35 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Architectural Alliance (miniquest) |
10,000 | Any skill above 40 | - |
Curse of the Empty Lord (miniquest) |
10,000 | Any skill above 50 | Some players will need ![]() |
One Small Favour | 10,000 twice | Any skill above 30 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Recipe for Disaster (The final battle) |
20,000 | Any skill above 50 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Legends' Quest | 7,650 four times | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Total | 115,400 |
Other Prayer experience rewards[edit | edit source]
Source | Experience reward |
Requirements | |
---|---|---|---|
Information clerk | 4000 | 151+ Kudos | |
Total | 4,000 |
Trivia[edit | edit source]
- A Prayer bonus of +30 is required to halve the drain rate of prayers.
- In RuneScape 2, the Prayer icon colour was originally yellow, but Jagex changed the colour on 21 November 2006 when Hunter was released.
- Within the game cache, there is an unused icon for Protect from Summoning (
). This is left over from the original Old School RuneScape backup from August 2007 when the Summoning skill was still being developed[2].
References[edit | edit source]
Combat | |
Gathering | |
Artisan | |
Support | |
Failed poll | |
Related |
Control Panel |
| ||||
Minimap | |||||
Other |