Melee equipment
Welcome to my melee equipment guide! In this guide I will tell about all the notable melee gear you can get in game for all combat styles.game. I will not go in too deep in how to get certain items, most of them, especially the custom ones, are on our custom items guides which you can find on this wiki. I expect most readers of this guide have at least little knowledge of gear from (old-school)RuneScape and know that from the regular metals, bronze is the worst and rune is the best, and dragon is even better. I will not include items like this in my guide, but I will sometimes note them as a benchmark, and try to include as many notable items as possible. This guide will be divided by each combat form, and with each combat form, I will go through various sets, stand-alone pieces and weapons. Too much information? Scroll to the bottom of each section to find a TL;DR.
I will separate sets and independent items in this guide. Note that for most sets, you don't require a full set to have the bonuses shown, unless stated otherwise!
Sets
Barrows
Barrows set require 70 defence to wear and provide very good defensive stats. They consist of a helm, chest and legs. They also have weapons. There are 4 different sets, and combined with their weapons, they have a passive special attack as well. A full set is required for this built-in special attack. Verac's is considered the best barrows set all-round for pvm, due to it giving prayer bonus. Torag's has the absolute best defensive stats. Barrows melee sets do not offer any offensive stats. Dharok's set, combined with it's greataxe, increases your max by every hp you have lost, so the lower your HP, the higher you will hit. Verac's set combined with it's flail has a chance to ignore armour and protection prayers. Guthan's set combined with it's warspear has a chance to heal the player for a portion of the damage dealt. Torag's set combined with it's hammers has a chance to lower the victim's run energy by 25%. Torag's special attack is considered the absolute worst of all of them. The other sets each could provide a perk in certain situations. Despite broken barrows pieces being available (which can be repaired at barrows) contrary to RuneScape, the pieces won't break in combat. All items are tradeable.
Bandos
Bandos set requires 65 defence to wear, they provide mediocre defensive stats and a bit of offensive stats. It consists of a Chestplate, Tassets (legs) and boots. In most situations, bandos are considered better than barrows sets, due to the strength bonus weighing more than the defensive stats. Bandos boots don't provide strength bonuses, there are many other boots, such as dragon boots, which beats bandos boots because of this. All items are tradeable.
Bandos (I)
Imbued Bandos is a RuneRealm custom set and requires 70 defence to wear, they provide the same defensive stats as regular bandos but double the strength bonus, this makes them a very good choice for PVMing, many consider imbued bandos as one of the best sets in the game, especially due to their value for money. Bandos imbued can be created by using a bandos imbue scroll, which is dropped by General Graardor, on a regular bandos piece. All items are tradeable.
Justiciar
Justiciar set requires 75 defence to wear and consists of a helm, chestpiece and skirt. It Provides one of the best defensive stats in game, but lacks any offensive stats. It is the best non-custom set in terms of defensiveness. Justiciar drops from the Theatre of Blood. All pieces are tradeable.
Inquisitor
Inquisitor set requires 30 defence and 70 strength to wear, it consists of a helm, chestpiece and skirt. It is one of the best non-custom offensive set. It lacks good defensive stats, but it's attack and strength bonuses make well up for that. Because of the 30 defence requirement, it creates a niche for 30 defence pures. Inquisitor pieces drop from the Theatre of Blood minigame. All pieces are tradeable.
Samurai
Samurai set is a RuneRealm custom made set and requires 70 attack to wear. It consists of a hat, chestpiece, legs, boots and gloves. It has below average defensive stats, but do offer very little attack bonus. When having a full set equipped, your melee attack speed is increased by 2 ticks! This special effect makes it one of the best sets in the game! Despite it's low defensive stats, the increased speed makes it very strong, and used in a lot of PVM situations. Unless high defensive stats, or hybrid items are necessary, samurai performs good in most situations, making the demand very high. Equipping a full set is required to have the speed boost, individual items do not give any special bonuses. It can be bought from blood money in the blood money shop at home, or bought from other players, as all pieces are tradeable.
Ethereal gear
Ethereal gear is a RuneRealm Custom made set and requires 70 defence to wear. It offers defensive stats comparable to barrows making it quite a tanky set. When a full set is worn in the wilderness, all damage done to you by monsters is reduced by 40% and players by 10%. These items are dropped from the Ethereal revenant, a custom boss. If you equip the full set against the Ethereal revenant, it's damage against you is also reduced by 40%, despite him not being in the wilderness.
Statius
Statius armour is a custom added RuneRealm set and can provide the best defence, and one of the best offensive stats in game. Statius set consists of a helm, chestpiece and legs. Statius comes in 6 different tiers, base, and tier 1 till 5. Base tier requires 60 defence to wear, tier 5 99. All sets in-between have different defence lvl requirements. Note that in the table below, Statius helm* is not taken into consideration compared to bandos, as bandos has no helm. Base Statius pieces drop from Crystal monsters, which can be found in the Revenants cave in the wilderness, the Super Donator zone, and the Super Sponsor zone. You can create higher tiers by upgrading the base tiers. 3 base tiers creates a tier 1 piece. 3 tier 1 pieces creates a 2 tier piece. You need 3 helms to create a higher tier helm, you can't mix pieces. A total of 243 base tier armour pieces are required to create a Tier 5 piece, making it one of the most tedious items to get. All pieces are tradeable.
Breakdown:
Tier requirement defence attack strength
base 60 defence Better than dragon Good worse than bandos
1 70 defence worse than bandos Better worse than bandos
2 80 defence equal to bandos Better worse than bandos
3 90 defence worse than barrows better worse than bandos (I)
4 99 defence better than justiciar better equal to bandos (I)
5 99 defence Best in game Almost as strong as Vesta T5 Almost as strong as Vesta T5
*Tier 5 helm is the best melee helm in game. Neitiznot faceguard beats Tier 4 in terms of strength, but lacks defence. Tier 3 helm is equal to Magma helm strength and defence, but lacks a bit of offence against Magma helm.
Vesta
Vesta armour is a custom added RuneRealm set and can provide one of the best defensive, and the best offensive stats in game. Vesta consists of a chainbody and plateskirt. Vesta comes in 6 different tiers. Base tier requires 60 defence to wear, tier 1 70, going up each tier, up to T4 and T5, which both require 99 defence. Base Vesta pieces drop from Crystal dragons, which can be found in the Revenants cave in the wilderness, the Super Donator zone, and the Super Sponsor zone. You can create higher tiers by upgrading the base tiers. 3 base tiers creates a tier 1 piece. 3 tier 1 pieces creates a 2 tier piece. You need 3 skirts to create a higher tier skirt, you can't mix pieces. A total of 243 base tier armour pieces are required to create a Tier 5 piece, making it one of the most tedious items to get. All pieces are tradeable.
Tier requirement defence attack strength
base 60 defence worse than dragon Good worse than bandos
1 70 defence worse than dragon Better equal to bandos
2 80 defence equal to dragon better better than bandos
3 90 defence equal to justiciar better better than bandos (I)
4 99 defence better than justiciar better better than bandos (I)
5 99 defence Best in game Best in game Best in game
Helms
Neitiznot Faceguard
Neitiznot faceguard requires 70 defence to wear and offers the 2nd to best strength bonus for helms. It lacks good defensive stats but it's strength bonus makes up for that. It can be created by combining a Neitiznot helm and a Basilisk jaw, which drops from the Ferocious Basilisk, a custom boss. Both the helm and jaw are tradeable.
Magma Helm
Magma helm requires 75 defence and offers good strength bonus and good defensive stats as well. While it defence isn't as good as Justiciar's helm, it beats Barrows helm and anything below. It can be charged with Zulrah scales to protect from venom, and give a 25% chance to venom the target as well, making it a very strong helm for PVMing. It can be created by using a Magma Mutagen on a Serpentine helm. It is tradeable.
Slayer helm
Slayer helm has no requirements to wear. It offers mediocre defensive stats but no offensive stats. It offers a 15% boost to melee damage and accuracy when worn on a slayer task, making it the best helm to wear when doing a slayer task. A slayer helm can be made by combining a black mask with a slayer gem, nose peg, face mask, earmuffs and spiny helmet. Black mask drops from Cave horrors, all the other items are sold by the slayer masters. A slayer helm can be recoloured to many different colours by combining the helm with certain items dropped from bosses. A slayer imbue scroll can also be added to scroll, to permanently upgrade it, giving the 15% boost to ranged and magic as well. The helm is not tradeable.
The regular and imbued regular slayer helm look different, the recoloured helms and it's imbued variant look the same.
Top left to right: Slayer helm > Imbued slayer helm > Black slayer helm (KBD heads) > Green slayer helm (Kalphite Queen Head)
Bottom left to right: Red Helm (Abyssal demon head) > Turquoise Helm (Vorkath head) > Purple Helm (Skotizo head) > Twisted slayer helm (Twisted Horns, Chambers of Xeric)
Boots
Primordial boots
Primordial boots require 75 strength and defence and offer the best offensive and strength bonus. They lack a bit of defence compared to Guardian boots, but are overall the best choice for PVMing. Primordial boots can be created by combining Dragon boots with a Primordial crystal, which drops from Cerberus. It is tradeable.
Guardian boots
Guardian boots require 75 defence to wear and offer the best defensive and single to best strength bonus. It does not give any attack bonuses. They can be made by combining regular Bandos boots with a Black tourmaline core. The latter drops from the Theatre of blood, the boots from General Graardor. They are tradeable.
Bandos boots (I)
Bandos Boots (I) requires 70 defence to wear and offers mediocre defensive and strength bonuses. It offers no attack bonuses. They can be made by combing regular Bandos boots with a Bandos imbue scroll. They are tradeable.
Gloves
Ferocious gloves
Ferocious gloves require 80 attack and defence to wear and offer the best melee offence stats in the game. They do not give any defensive stats, but it's attack and strength makes up a lot for that. When doing melee only pvm content, they are the absolute best choice. They can be made by combining Barrows gloves with Hydra leather, which drops from the Alchemical Hydra. They are not tradeable.
Barrows gloves
Barrows gloves require 45 defence to wear and offer the best hybrid stats in the game. They are only beaten by ferocious gloves in melee stats, but they offer defensive stats while Ferocious gloves don't. They also give both ranged and magic offensive stats, making them a the best choice in situations where switching between multiple attack styles is necessary. Barrows gloves can be bought from certain custom (points) shops at home, and is also dropped by the Culinaromancer after completing the custom Recipe for Disaster quest. Barrows gloves are not tradeable.
Necklace
Amulet of Torture
Amulet of Torture requires 75 Hitpoints to wear and offers the best melee offence stats in the game. It beats any necklace in terms of attack bonus and strength. This amulet is the best choice when using only melee. It can be created through the crafting skill with a Zenyte gem. It is tradeable. A torture ornament kit can be added to the Amulet of torture, changing it's appearance.
Amulet of blood fury
Amulet of blood fury has no requirements to wear, is the best hybrid choice in the game and has a passive special attack. It gives good bonuses in all attack bonuses, defence and melee strength. It has a special attack where every time you deal damage, you have a chance to heal yourself for a portion of the damage you've dealt. This makes it a very good choice for endgame PVM content. The amulet of Blood fury can be created by using a Blood shard on an Amulet of fury. Blood shards drop from the Theatre of Blood. It is tradeable.
Amulet of fury gives the same bonuses as Blood fury, with the exception of its special attack. It can be created through crafting with an Onyx gem.
Ring
Brimstone Ring
Brimstone ring has no requirements to wear and offers the best hybrid stats in the game. It gives a bonus in all attack, defence as well as melee strength. Especially in endgame PVM content, when you're switching between different combat forms, this ring is the best choice for an overall boost. It can be created by combining an Hydra's eye, fang and heart, all dropping from the Alchemical Hydra. It is not tradeable.
Imbued rings
There are various rings that give a good bonus in a single stat, rather than multiple. They can all be strong in different situations. The regular forms of these rings drop from various bosses, and can be imbued by taking them to the Fountain of Rune of the wilderness. You need to pay 100k Blood money to imbue one ring, and a global message will be sent out when you imbue jewellery, so beware of pkers! Regular ring offer 4 stat bonus, while their imbued variant gives 8 stat bonus. Ring of the gods is an exception, giving one defence and 4 prayer points, and it's imbued variant gives 8 prayer points.
Name Stat bonus Dropped by
Berserker ring Strength Dagannoth Rex
Warrior ring Slash Dagannoth Rex
Tyrannical Ring Crush Callisto
Treasonous Ring Stab Venenatis
Ring of the Gods Defence Vet'ion
Ring of suffering (I)
Ring of suffering has no requirements to wear and gives the best defence bonus in the game. It gives 10 defence points to all forms, while it's imbued variant gives double. You can charge the Ring of Suffering with Rings of recoil, to recoil damage back to the target when you are being damaged. This effect plus it's great defence makes it a very good choice in certain situations, when you get damaged a lot and extra damage is required. The Ring of suffering can be made through crafting with a Zenyte gem. It can be imbued at the Fountain of Rune, the same way as above stated rings. Charging a suffering with recoils changes it name to Ring of Suffering (R) or (RI). Ring of suffering is tradeable.
Cape
Prestige mastery cape
Prestige mastery cape requires you to have all your skills 99 and have prestiged them 10 times. It offers the best melee offensive stats, second to best defensive stats but no strength bonus. It does give a very high prayer bonus. It is beaten by the infernal (max) cape in terms of strength. The Prestige mastery capes has all perks from all of the skilling, trimmed skilling and mastery capes combined, making it the all-time best choice. See <link> for all the perks. The cape is not tradeable. It can be bought from the mysterious old man at home.
Prestiger cape
Prestiger cape requires you to have all your skills 99 and have prestiged them at least once. It offers the second to best offensive stats, third best defensive stats but no strength. It offers a high prayer boost as well. The Prestiger cape has all perks from all of the skilling and trimmed skilling capes combined. Due to these perks, it beats the infernal (max) cape in all-round terms. See <Cape of Accomplishment guide> for these perks. The cape is not tradeable. It can be bought from the mysterious old man at home.
Infernal max cape
The infernal max cape requires you to max all of your skills at least once. It offers almost the best melee offence, defence, and the best strength stats. It can be combined at the prestiger guild or Super sponsor zone, with a max cape, max cape hood and infernal cape on the infernal max cape stand. The max cape also offer all of the perks from the non-trimmed skill capes, see <Cape of accomplishment guide> for these perks. The infernal cape is obtained by beating the Inferno minigame or through extreme donator chests. The cape is not tradeable.
Shield slots
Avernic defender
Avernic defender requires 70 attack and defence to wear and offers the best offensive melee stats for a shield slot. It gives very high attack bonus and strength. In most situations it is the best choice, unless using a shield is absolutely necessary. It can be created by using an Avernic defender hilt, which drops from the Theatre of Blood, on a dragon defender. It is not tradeable.
Dragon defender
Dragon defender requires 60 attack and defence to wear and offers the respectively second and third to best attack bonus and strength. It is beaten a little bit by Dragonfire shield in terms of strength, but it's attack bonus makes up well for that. Dragon defender drops from the Cyclopses in the basement, after receiving a Rune defender, in the Warriors guild.
Divine spirit shield
Divine spirit shield requires 75 defence and 70 prayer to equip and offers very high defensive stats. It is beaten by Dragonfire shield by a little, but has a very strong passive bonus. It reduces incoming damage and drains prayer instead. This effect makes it a very strong shield for certain pvm situations. It can be created by using a Divine sigil on a blessed spirit shield, which are dropped by the Corporeal beast. It is tradeable.
Elysian spirit shield
Elysian spirit shield requires 75 defence and 70 prayers to equip and offers the same stats as Divine spirit shield. The Elysian spirit shield also has a passive effect, it has a 70% chance to reduce incoming damage by 25%, making it also one of the best shields. it can be made by using an Elysian sigil on a Blessed spirit shield, which are dropped by the Corporeal beast. it is tradeable.
Spectral spirit shield
Spectral spirit shield requires 75 defence and 70 prayers to equip. It offers a little less defensive stats than the other two spirit shields, but instead gives a +30 magic defence, making it an overall good choice an excellent when heavy magic is being dealt. It can be made by using a Spectral sigil on a Blessed spirit shield, which are dropped by the Corporeal beast. It is tradeable.
Dragonfire shield
Dragonfire shield requires 75 defence to wear and offers one of the best melee defence in the game. It also gives a high strength bonus, almost the highest in game. The shield protects you against dragonfire, and it has a built-in special attack. Every minute, you can throw a fireball at your target, dealing heavy damage. Do this by right-clicking the shield when equipped and click operate. It can be made by using a Draconic visage on an Anti-dragon shield. A draconic visage is dropped by various high lvl dragons, where the Anti-dragon shield is sold by the general shop at home. It is tradeable.
V's shield
V's shield is a mediocre shield that requires 60 defence to equip. It gives okay defensive stats, but it will protect you against poison and venom, as well as halving the damage dealt to you by the Ferocious basilisk special attack. It is dropped by the Ferocious basilisk and is tradeable.
Dinh's Bulwark
Dinh's bulwark is a special two-handed shield that requires 75 defence to equip. It has the highest defensive stats in the game, crushing all of it's counterparts by many, many points. It is equipped by both hands, so you can not wear a weapon while having Dinh's bulwark equipped. It also offers a very high crush bonus, and a small strength bonus, enabling you do fight when equipped, although this item is mostly used in the wilderness to escape pkers. It is dropped in the Chambers of Xeric. It is tradeable.
TL;DR melee gear
Best offensive set (chest and legs) : Vesta T5 > Statius T5 > Bandos (I) > Inquisitor > Bandos
Best defensive set(chest and legs): Statius T5 > Vesta T5 > Inquisitor > Barrows > Bandos / Bandos (I)
Best Helm: Statius T5 > Neitiznot Faceguard > Magma helm (The latter is better in hybrid situations, or where (protection from) Venom is required. Slayer Helm is always the best choice on a slayer task, unless protection from venom is necessary
Best Boots: Primordial boots > Guardian Boots > Bandos Boots (I) > Dragon Boots > Bandos boots
Best gloves: Ferocious Gloves > Bandos gloves (Ferocious offers the best melee stats, bandos is the best choice in situations where you have to switch styles a lot).
Best Necklace: Amulet of Torture > Amulet of Blood Fury > Amulet of Fury (Torture offers the best offensive stats, Blood fury, due to it's passive healing, can be better in hard PVM situations such as Corporeal Beast or the Theatre of Blood
Best Ring: Brimstone Ring > Ring of Suffering (RI) > Any imbued god ring > regular god ring (Brimstone offers the best hybrid stats, while the imbued god only rings offer the best stats in their own area. Use Brimstone of doing high tier PVMing where several styles are used, and use one of the others if you only use a certain style. All of the rings can be swapped out for a Lucky Ring of Ring of Wealth (I) for the drop rate boost if no extra stats are necessary).
Best cape: Prestige mastery cape > Prestiger cape > Infernal max cape > Fire max cape > Infernal cape > max cape > fire cape Prestige mastery and prestiger cape are absolute best, due giving the perks of all skill, trimmed and skill master capes (Prestige mastery only gives skill master cape perks as well).
Best Shield: > Avernic defender > Divine Spirit shield > Elysian Spirit Shield > Dragon defender > Dragonfire Shield > Spectral spirit shield > Dragon kite shield > Dragon square shield > Dinh's bulwark > Toktz-Ket-Xil (Avernic and dragon defender respectively offer best offensive stats. If you don't need defence, use those. If you do need defence, use the shields. If fighting a dragon, use the Dragonfire shield. If fighting basilisks, use V's shield).
Tank goes brrr
Weapons*
*There could be a chance that the max damage shown in the pictures is different than another weapon with higher or lower strength stat. This is due to me not having the same strength lvl the whole time. Note that higher strength = higher max hit and that shown max hit is always base (so modifiers such as stronger against certain type of monster is not taken in account yet).
Scythe of Vitur
The Scythe of Vitur requires 75 attack to wear and is considered the best melee weapon in the game. It's a two-handed weapon that doesn't necessarily have the highest stats, but it does three hits at once. It is quite accurate and slays almost every monster quite easily. It is the best option in most pvm situations and therefore one of the highest, and most expensive looked after items. It drops from the Theatre of blood and is tradeable. Contrary to OSRS, it does not have to be charged.
Ominous Whip
the Ominous whip requires 85 attack to wear and is considered the strongest one-handed weapon in game. It has one of the highest strength and accuracy bonuses, combined with it's speed, it is considered the best one-handed weapon in game. The big advantage over Scythe is that you can wear a shield, making you more versatile if a shield is necessary, or a defender for even more accuracy. The Ominous whip can be created by combining a Serpentine, Lucified and Divine whip. These whips are made by using their respective mixes with an Abyssal whip, they currently only come from Event and donator chests. They are tradeable.
Fatal blade
Fatal blade requires 90 attack to wear and is one of the strongest one-handed longswords in the game. It has the highest strength and accuracy for a one-handed weapon, making it an excellent choice for PVMing. It is a little worse than the Ominous whip, due to it's lower attack speed. It has a special attack where you hit the target 4 times with a low hit, and one very high hit, all in two ticks. It can be created by combining three different Fatal shards, which are dropped by the Ancient barbarian bosses, which are accessible after completing the Ancient barbarians quest. The shards and the Fatal blade itself are tradeable.
Ghrazi rapier
Ghrazi rapier requires 75 attack to wear and is a very strong one-handed weapon. It has very decent accuracy and strength, making it a great choice for PVMing. It is tradeable and dropped in the Theatre of Blood.
Divine/Lucified/Serpentine Whip
Above stated whips require 75 attack to wear and are considered very strong weapons. They have equal stats to the Ghrazi rapier and are also an excellent choice for PVMing. Combining these three can make the Ominous Whip. Currently, the whip mixes only come from the event chest and extreme donator chests. They are tradeable.
Frozen/Volcanic Whip
Frozen and Volcanic whips require 70 attack to wear and offer decent attack stats. They are a little bit better than the Abyssal tentacle, but are not as strong as the Divine/Lucified/Serpentine whip. In osrs they are only cosmetic, we've made them a bit stronger. The whip mixes can be obtained through various chests and boxes. They are tradeable.
Vesta's longsword
Vesta's longsword requires 78 attack to wear and has very decent stats. It stats are comparable to the Ghrazi rapier and is quite easily to obtain. They drop frequently from Crystal monsters, making it a frequently traded item between players, for a good price.
Dragon hunter lance
Dragon hunter lance is a one-handed weapon and requires 70 attack to wear and has decent stats. It does 20% extra damage against dragons, making it the best choice when killing dragons. It can be created by using a Hydra claw on a Zamorakian hasta. The lance is tradeable.
Zamorakian spear
The Zamorakian spear is a mediocre two-handed weapon that requires 70 attack to wear. While it does not have the best stats, it is the strongest weapon that ignores the Corporeal beasts damage reduction. Corporeal beast ignores 50% of the damage done to him, except when being damaged by a spear, therefore making the Zamorakian spear, the strongest spear in the game, arguably the best choice when fought against him. It is dropped by K'ril Tsutsaroth and his minions in the Godwars dungeon, and it also comes from the event chest. It is tradeable.
Viggora's chainmace
Viggora's chainmace is a one-handed weapon that requires lvl 60 attack to wear. It is the best weapon to use when in the wilderness. The chainmace has a 50% damage and accuracy boost when used in the wilderness, making it the best melee weapon to use inside the wilderness. It has to be charged by revenant ether, which drops, just like the chainmace, from revenant monsters in the Revenant cave in the wilderness. It is tradeable.
TL;DR Weapons
Arguably best weapon? Scythe of Vitur, due to doing three hits at once.
Best one-handed weapon? Ominous whip, due to it's incredibly accuracy and strength combined with it's speed.
Best weapons for early game? Vesta's longsword, Frozen/volcanic whip.
Best weapon against Corporeal beast? Zamorakian spear.
Best weapon against Dragons? Dragon-hunter lance.
Best weapon in the wilderness? Viggora's chainmace.
Whip goes ka-BOOM