Safe spot



A safe spot is a position from which a monster may be attacked, using ranged or magic combat or using a halberd over an obstacle, without retaliation. Making attacks in this manner is often termed "safe spotting" or simply "safe-ing".

It works because NPCs, and some automatic player movements, always move directly toward their target and do not detour around obstacles if that would mean moving away. Larger monsters may also end up snagged on a corner, even it looks like they do have an almost direct path.

How "safe" a spot really is often depends on circumstances:
 * It is not possible to reliably use safe spot tactics against other players, though a temporary advantage can be gained.
 * It is not possible against opponents, whether a player or an NPC/monster, who use a ranged or magic attack.
 * It can be difficult to reach a safe position against aggressive monsters. Some safe spots are only effective once the monsters have become tolerant.

Safe spotting in a PKing scenario
Because the concept of safespotting is a physical action (i.e. it is recreatable in a real-life scenario) and not a quirk of the game's programming, it is, of course, possible to safe spot against other players. However, because there is a human, not a computer behind the screen of another player, safe spotting is nearly always a temporary tactic againts humans. A computer lacks the awareness to react to safe spotting whereas humans do.

Safe spotting against other players is also limited by the practicality of it. Most monsters, again, due to their computer control, lack the ability to stop a player from doing it. A human would see what the other player is doing and stop them, all the while forcing the safe spotter to waste time and food. Also, safe spotting, in some cases, could be dangerous as counter-safe spotting is possible (once again the adaptability of humans comes to the forefront). This reverse engineering, along with adequate protection against the original safe spotter's form of damage (Protect from Magic versus a magic-using safe spotter) can be extremely effective.

But in some cases safe spotting has serious advantages. The few, free, or depending on your opinion, "cheap", hits a ranger can get on a warrior before the warrior can "close" (as in close the distance between them and make melee attacking possible) can make the difference between a shiny new Abyssal whip, or you spending a day on the forums buying a Dark bow. Indeed, when a fight comes down to a battle of attrition (when whoever has more food wins), those two or three hits can be instrumental. This process can also be called "far casting".

This tactic's implications are of course somewhat obvious and as such there is a small, programmed in, defence against a safe spotter in the Wilderness or anywhere. When a warrior is retaliating against (not attacking), a distanced attack, he/she will, during their headlong charge, make their first hit on their enemy 3-4 squares before they are in melee range. Whether this is a programming oversight or an intentional counter is irrelevant, what matters is that it somewhat nullifies the point of safe-ing because that one hit is effectively a ranged attack as well. This severely shortens the aforementioned "closing distance", but not to the point where safe spotting is pointless.

Edge of range
Another form of safe spotting is the edge of a NPC's/monster's patrol range, as most, if not all, NPCs and monsters will not pursue beyond a certain area. This is generally unreliable though, as they will often retreat or just wander off, which is generally not wanted if you want to kill the NPC/monster. If you are using range to kill a monster out of the wander range, your arrows will be scattered across the area. In some rare cases, it is possible to kill a monster with close-up melee without being attacked by them. This is most likely a glitch. However, there is a trick to kill some monsters with this tactic (but still with ranged). First, attack it and lure it trough a door, near it territory's edge. Then, close the door! (you may have to distract the monster by tactical running or with a friend who attacks it while you close it) if you manage to do this, the monster can be safely range-attacked outside it's territory and it can't escape trough a door.

Training Range and Magic from Safespots
Players can easily train range and magic from safespots in the following places:
 * Duck ponds in Lumbridge
 * White Knights' Castle in Falador
 * Barbarian Village
 * Demons in the Karamja Volcano
 * Moss Giants on the island of Crandor
 * Behind certain fences in many locations
 * Blue dragons in any of their locations