Free-to-play melee training

This article will provide non-members with information to training Attack, Strength, Defense, and Constitution effectively. Members can use this, but it is recommended to use the Pay-to-play Melee training. It will explain which monsters are the best to kill at a certain level, providing the pros and cons of training on each monster. It will also provide tips and suggests suitable monsters to kill at a wide range of levels. This article assumes players are training attack, strength, and defense equally, or close to equal.

Tips

 * It is recommended to use the best equipment you can.
 * Depending on the monster's combat level and stats, food may be needed.
 * Try to fight monsters with low Defence but high amounts of lifepoints. Lower Defence means the monster is easier to hit, and higher lifepoints means kills take longer, so less time is spent out of combat, therefore providing more experience.
 * If your magic level is high enough for a teleport spell, it is advised you carry teleport runes, just in case.
 * When fighting monsters that are aggressive, turn on Auto Retaliate for an easier training experience.
 * Training in the Wilderness is generally a bad idea, due to the threat of player killers. Most monsters that are found in the Wilderness can be found elsewhere, or have better alternatives in non-Wilderness locations.

Weaponry
The majority of free-to-players use a Scimitar to train, due to its balanced accuracy, strength and speed. They can also train all styles, though most people don't use the controlled attack, due to the scimitar's weak stab bonus. Someone looking to train controlled would be better off with a Mace.

Armour and weapons
Remember to keep your equipment up to par. As you train, you will start to be able to use better and more powerful combat items. Once you can use a better combat weapon, try to save up the money for it. (The ideal path to take for your choice of armour goes as: iron, steel, black, mithril, adamant, rune. The armour sets from bronze to steel are actually fairly lack lustre and unnecessary, provided you only train on the less powerful monsters like goblins.) It is strongly recommended that you wield the best weapon and armour available to you.

A better weapon means more damage and increased accuracy, which results in more experience gained in a shorter period of time. Better armour reduces the likelihood of enemies damaging you, which allows you to stay at a training spot for a longer time with less food. A Scimitar is recommended for melee training as it has an extremely fast attacking speed and has decent attack and strength bonuses. Two-handed swords are often used in player versus player combat because of their ability to inflict larger amounts of damage in a single hit, but are not recommended for training due to their slow speed and incompatibility with shields. It is also advised to wear an Amulet of Power, as it will give you about half as much strength as an Amulet of Strength, but a better attack boost than any other free to play amulet.

Inventory and drops
Finding a good balance of food to bring is a necessity for any warrior. Filling up with food may sound good for training, but inventory space may be needed for potential drops, especially if you are against low-level monsters where food is rarely consumed. If you are looking to make money while training, remember to consider the cost of the food you bring.

Salmon and tuna are two of the best foods for training as a non-member player, as lobsters and swordfish have high prices due to their extensive use in player-vs-player activities. Teleportation runes, an Explorer's Ring, or a Ring of Kinship is recommended for training in areas with aggressive and/or high-level monsters. If a monster gets a lucky streak and manages to hit you hard, you may find yourself with a small number of lifepoints, and a method of quick escape may be necessary. Since combat experience is based on damage dealt, strength potions are recommended for players who can afford them but are not neccesary.

Remember to also collect bones. While collecting bones is often tedious and can be boring sometimes, but it can be helpful since burying bones can lead to more powerful Prayers. They can be buried for Prayer experience (5 experience), or sold for coins on the Grand Exchange, for a total of 0 coins per inventory. Big bones can be buried for even more prayer experience, or a full inventory of big bones can be sold for 0 coins.

Attack styles
Train Attack, Strength, and Defence as you see fit – this preference is different for every player. Generally, high Attack will be vital against opponents with high defence as it increases accuracy; high Strength will be best if you want to hit harder; and high Defence will alleviate the need for food, as you will be hit less often. If you're not sure what to raise, try raising them equally. This method works extremely well in the long run. For most training methods, raising Strength, Attack, and then Defence will provide the fastest experience, although you may want to train attack to a decent level first to increase your chances of hitting the monster before you raise your strength level.

The levels below refer to individual combat stat levels, not your overall combat level (so a player with level 25 Strength would refer to the section titled "Level 16 to 30").

Tips

 * Training the Magic skill increases your magical defence and magical potency. The higher your level in the Magic skill is, the better your defence against magic is as well as your accuracy.
 * Remember every enemy is different, so even if you found it easy to, say, kill a lesser demon (level 82), doesn't mean you'll find it equally easy to kill something else of a similar level.

Level 1 to 15
The Blood Pact quest is advisable for players to begin with, as it grants level 2 attack, defence, strength, magic and ranged just by killing the three Zamorakians. Players may also try out Swept Away for additional experience in any skill.