Pure guide

''This article deals with combat pures. For help with skill pures, see Skill pure.'' A Pure is a character meant to excel in combat (namely PKing) by focusing on one area of combat. A pure usually has one combat stat (such as Strength and/or Attack) very high, while keeping other combat stats low. This results in a low combat level, one that is disproportionate to the player's true strength. For example, a Ranged pure would raise Ranged, while keeping all other stats low. This means that a player can attack another player who is the same combat level as he or she is, but may be much stronger than their opponent.

The Melee Pure
The non-pure can hit up to 11 with a rune scimitar and strength potion; the pure, however, can hit up to 17. This gives the pure an immediate advantage in a combat situation, especially if his target does not immediately retaliate. In the short term, pures would usually have more of an advantage but sacrificing defence can lead to being very easy to be dealt damage and therefore in the long term may have some disadvantages.

Pure classes
There are three classes of pure; Warrior; Ranger and Mage.

Mage
Mages generally are considered to be highly effective as a player-killer from low to mid-range combat levels. Magic pures are able to deal more damage than other types of pures at low combat levels but are slower than rangers and warrior's using scimitars or any other alternative of equivalent speed. Mages can ignore defence as they have a distance attack mode and can block their opponent. A typical mage pure skill build up is:

Items
When you are a mage, you need to buy full wizard (5k). Do not attempt to buy wizard trimmed robes because then everyone who is close to your level in the wilderness will team up and try to kill you for your fancy robes. Buy a staff of air, as they are the most useful for lower-level and mid-level mages. Buy fires and death runes if you can cast fire blast. Buy an amulet of magic (1k to 2.5k) to boost up your magic. Bring a law rune just in case of emergencies in level 1-20 wilderness and you can teleport to safety. Mages, always look for warriors, as they are vulnerable to mages due to the negative defence against magic. Mages that operate behind a fence will have an advantage as opponents will have difficulty to get within reach. Never try to fight teams, as they will always win. Also avoid rangers as they have good defence against magic attacks and also can strike from a distance.

Ranger
Range pures are often misunderestimated due to the inability to deal a high amount of hitpoints compared to other pures at the same level. A range pure using a shortbow is the fastest of all pures and therefore still be able to compensate for a low hit. In contrary to popular belief in free worlds, they can be extremely effective against rune pures and defence majors at high level, more than that of any strength pure.

Items
You will have some trouble paying for arrows to use. You can follow the money making guide above for tips. Many pures use poisoned rune arrows or darts, as they are extremely powerful and can poison. Ranged armor isn't as expensive as mage armor. The absolute best range armor is black dragonhide, as it give the highest range bonus. Karil's is not an option for PKing pures as it is extremely expensive and gives the exact same bonus as dragonhide. Do not use the chest, only the vambs and the legs as they do not have a defense requirement. For the helm use a coif as they are extremely cheap. On a free world, use a maple shortbow. On a members world use a magic shortbow.

Example
Here is an example of a level 50 ranged pure:

The pure ranger has a relatively low ranged level compared to the magic level of a pure mage. This is because mages can raise their level using High alchemy spells and other non-combat spells. Rangers in free worlds always gain hitpoint experience when training ranged.

Warrior
Warrior is a pures based on Melee combat. They are often considered to be the most underpowered of pures, as it requires both attack and strength to make a successful pure. Warrior pures are relatively easy to train as they only need to purchase weapons and a moderate amount of food. Rangers and Mages have variable costs for the ammunition (runes or arrows). Melee pures, though underpowered, can deal the most hitpoints at medium to higher combat levels. Try to train on easy monsters with a high amount of hitpoints.

Items
Melee pures are very cheap until 60 attack, so many free players can afford melee pures. The higher-leveled melee pures are the ones that really shine in combat though! For both free and member pures, bring an amulet of strength, as it is extremely cheap and gives a great strength bonus! For both, it is advised to bring either cheap melee armor (iron), cheap robes, or nothing. For most free players, the pure will max out at 40 attack, leaving an opportunity for a MASSIVE strength level! Many free player pures try to train to high levels, as mage pures max out at level 59 mage.

Sub-Types
There are four types of melee pures, dependent on the attack level.

Free or 40 Attack
Most free players are these! They are easy to make as 40 in a skill is easy to obtain. They often have incredibly high strength levels, making them a threat. They have a max hit on a free world of a 29 with a Rune two-handed sword, making them extremely potent.

Example of a level 50 Free melee pure:

A free character can only train attack and strength in combination with hitpoints. (Here the hitpoint experience is one third of the combined strength and attack experience)

DDS or 60 Attack
These make up a large amount of the pures and are very dangerous. They commonly use a Dragon Dagger Super Poison and use the special attack liberally. They mostly are members who feel like keeping a somewhat average character.

Example of a level 50 DDS pure: Other stats at 1.
 * 60 Attack
 * 64 Strength
 * 50+ Hitpoints

Whip or 70 Attack
These are the most dangerous of pures who also take the most risk. Every time they PK, they risk 1.65 million coins. They get what they pay for though. With an extremely high rate of attack and an extremely powerful weapon, they are the most feared of pures.

Example of a level 60 Whip pure: Other Stats at 1.
 * 70 Attack
 * 80 Strength
 * 60+ hitpoints

Other
There are quite a few pure types that are outside melee, range or mage.

Hybrid
One type is a hybrid where two skills in different combat styles are trained. A common type which has nearly totally replaced the range pure is the range mage hybrid. An example of the combat statistics of a mage range hybrid:


 * 59+ Magic
 * High Range
 * High Hitpoints

Other combat stats at 1

Advantages of any hybrid is that there are few weaknesses to different combat styles. In the example of the advantages of mage range hybrid to a magic or melee pure. A mage would be extremely effective against melee but not against range but on the other hand, range is susceptible to melee and extremely effective to magic. For a range mage hybrid, the magic will cancel out the weakness of range to melee. Hybrid's are mostly effective against prayer beasts.

Combat statistics of other hybrids.

Melee Range Hybrid:
 * 40+ Attack
 * High Strength
 * 40 or High Range
 * High Hitpoints

Melee Mage Hybrid
 * 40+ Attack
 * 50+ Strength
 * 59+ Magic
 * High Hitpoints

Other combat stats at 1

Prayer Beast
Another is the prayer beast which can vary greatly as prayer does not possess any weaknesses. Combat combined with prayer can be very effective as a PK but also can be very difficult to train. Example of combat statistics of two types of a melee prayer beast:


 * 40+ Attack
 * High Strength
 * 25-43 Prayer
 * Medium Hitpoints

Other combat stats at 1

Advantages of a lvl 43 prayer, prayer beast is that the player is able to use protection prayers against various forms of combat. A lesser form of prayer beast with lvl 25 prayer is uncommon but does exist. Level 25 prayer enables the player to use protect item prayer and is particularly useful for 1 item PK's or 4 item PK's (who wait until being attacked). The lvl 43 prayer, prayer beast is extremely effective against pures but not hybrids.

Defence Pure
A defence pure is possibly one of the most uncommon in Runescape. Defence is often underestimated as fairly useless and is often sacrificed to other combat skills. The defence pure has several different categories and combat statistics can range fairly dramatically.

The major advantage of a defence pure is having such a high defence, it is difficult for the player to be dealt damage. The disadvantages of a defence pure is the low amount of damage the player is able to deal on another player/NPC.

Listed are a few examples of defence pures and combat statistics.

Simple Melee Defence Pure


 * High Defence
 * 40 Attack
 * High Strength
 * Hitpoints at around their combat level

Other stats low. This is generally considered least effective as a PK.

Complex or Varied Melee Defence Pure


 * High Defence
 * 40+ Attack
 * 45+ Strength
 * Normal Hitpoints

All other combat stats at 1. The advantage of this pure is that it is more effective as a PK and can be used to complete Dragon Slayer to enable wielding rune platemail.

Rune Pure


 * 40 Defence
 * 40+ Attack
 * High Strength

All other combat stats at 1. It is considered to be highly effective against strength pures with low defence and is similar to the defence pure listed directly above. This pure can be considered in the strength pure category. Can be used to complete Dragon Slayer.

Tank


 * 40 Defence
 * High Magic and/or Range
 * 40+ Hitpoints

Effective as a PK but not as versatile as a Rune Pure for quests and killing various NPC's. As stated in the Duel Arena guide in Runescape wiki, it is common in arenas.

Staker Tank


 * 70+ Attack
 * 40 Strength
 * 70+ Defense

All other combat stats are 1 but it is wise to raise range to 70+ and mage to 94 for Ice Barrage or Vengeance. These pures are only effective in the Duel Arena and require veracs armour to be able to work effectively.

No Prayer
Some players choose to make all the normal combat statistics, however keeping their prayer level at 1. For instance, it has been calculated that a person with 70 attack, 70 strength, 70 defence, 70 HP, 43 Prayer, and 50 Range and 60 Mage would be at level 85 Combat. Whereas another player with the exact same stats, with the the prayer being level 1 instead, would be level 80 Combat. Also, you would have a large advantage at that level against level 81 and 82s with normal prayer in the duel arena.