Armour


 * For boxed armour sets, see Item set.

Armour includes any items that can provide defence bonuses during combat. They reduce the chances of getting hit but do not reduce damage taken if hit (except some certain pieces of armour which reduce the damage of specific attacks). Armour comes in varieties for each combat class.

Medium helmets
Bronze, iron, steel, black, white(m), mithril, adamant, rune, dragon(m)

Medium helmets offer some light protection from most combat forms, but also do little to inhibit using any combat style. This makes them a good choice for players who favour melee, but want the opportunity to use Magic and Ranged, or free-to-play rangers who wish for a higher defence bonus (as opposed to a Coif).

Full helmets
Bronze, Iron, Steel, Black, White(m), Mithril, Adamant, Rune, Dragon(m)

Full helmets encase the whole of the players head and provide better range and melee defense than other helmets. A full helmet, however, imposes larger negative modifiers to Magic and Ranged attacks, but many rangers prefer them for their defence bonuses and accept the negative attack modifiers, which are significantly smaller than their mage attack penalty.

Chainbodies
Bronze, Iron, Steel, Black, White(m), Mithril, Adamant, Rune, Dragon(m)

Chainbodies are made up of small rings linked together. They are particularly useful for deflecting slashing weapons and absorbing the impact of crush attacks. Chainmail is weak against stabbing weapons as small pointy blades can pierce the rings. Chainmail is quite flexible and so does not penalize a ranger's attack bonus, though its metal construction does impede a mage's accuracy somewhat.

Platebodies
Bronze, Iron, Steel, Black, White(m), Mithril, Adamant, Rune

Platebodies are much heavier and stronger than chain, providing the highest slash, stab, and melee defence bonuses. Platebodies are weakest against crushing and magic attacks, as they conduct magic and cannot absorb the impact of a crush attack as well as dragonhide or chain armor. Rangers and Mages are at a great disadvantage trying to aim their ranged and distance mage attacks in this restrictive and heavy metal armor.

Square shields
Bronze, Iron, Steel, Black, White(m), Mithril, Adamant, Rune, Dragon(m)

The square shield has adequate melee and range defence bonuses, and does not penalize range or mage attacks as much as its cousin the kiteshield. In melee, a square shield is weakest against crush attacks. Note that there is a Dragon metal square shield, but as yet no Dragon kiteshield exists.

Kiteshields
Bronze, Iron, Steel, Black, White(m), Mithril, Adamant, Rune

Kiteshields offer better defence than a square shield, although like most heavier armour it is awkward to use in combination with Magic and Ranged. Kite shields are marginally weaker against stabbing attacks.

Spikeshields
Adamant, Rune

Spikeshields are a reward that can be purchased with tokens from the Fist of Guthix minigame. They degrade with use like Barrows equipment, and can be recharged by paying Reggie a small amount of tokens. They can only be traded when completely uncharged. The Adamant spikeshield costs 50 tokens to buy, 8 tokens to recharge and level 35 defence to weild. The [[Rune spikeshield costs 200 tokens to buy, 35 tokens to recharge and level 45 defence to wield. Like Barrows equipment, their bonuses will only decrease after the shield has completely degraded to 0%, but unlike Barrows equipment it does so after only 6 hours of solid combat.

Berserker shields
Adamant, Rune

Berserker shields are a reward that can be purchased with tokens from the Fist of Guthix minigame. They degrade with use like Barrows equipment, and can be recharged by paying Reggie a small amount of tokens. They can only be traded when completely uncharged. The Adamant berserker shield costs 100 tokens to buy, 17 tokens to recharge and level 35 defence to weild. The Rune spikeshield costs 300 tokens to buy, 50 tokens to recharge and level 45 defence to wield. Like Barrows equipment, their bonuses will only decrease after the shield has completely degraded to 0%, but unlike Barrows equipment it does so after only 6 hours of solid combat. The Rune berserker shield is the best melee shield available to non-members, when fully charged.

Fremennik armour(m)
Yak-hide, Roundsheild, Rockshell, Helm, Sheild, Warrior helm, Berserker helm, Helm of neitiznot

There are many types of Fremennik armour. Rockshell armour is very similar to rune armour. It is made from hides and rocks dropped by Dagganoths and Giant rock crabs, repectively. Yak-hide armour and the Fremennik roundshield is relatively weak, but is invaluble against ice trolls, as the armour lowers the maximum hit of the males, and the shield lowers the maximum hit of the females. The Warrior helm is not as popular as the Berserker helm, as the Warrior helm gives a small bonus to slash attack, while the Berserker helm gives a small bonus to strength. The Fremennik helm gives identical bonuses as the Adamant full helmet. The Helm of neitiznot is widely regarded as the best stand-alone helmet available. It gives similar bonuses to the Berserker helm, without any negative bonuses, and also gives a prayer bonus.

Barrows equipment(m)
Dharok, Guthan, Torag, Verac

Barrows armour is said to be both ancient and powerful, and is obtained from the Barrows minigame. If the player is lucky enough to receive all the items from one of the brothers' armour sets (including the weapon), they'll be rewarded with a set effect. More information on the set effects of the Barrows armour can be found on this page. Verac's armour also conveys a Prayer bonus. However, due to the effects of being so ancient it has to be periodically repaired by various NPCs or by the player for quite a hefty price.

Crystal shield(m)


The Crystal shield can only be used once the player completed the Roving Elves quest and has 50 Agility. The crystal shield is especially good at defending against Ranged attacks, but provides little protection from Magic. As the shield protects the player from damage, it will weaken, until it eventually turns back into the crystal seed from which it was grown.

Toktz-Ket-Xil(m)
The Toktz-Ket-Xil is an obsidian shield that requires at least 60 Defence to wield. Its defensive stats are the exact same as the granite shield's, but what makes this shield a more popular choice is its +5 strength bonus. Its strength bonus rivals that of a Rune defender but it does not provide attack bonuses. Thus, it is quite popular among players who want a strength bonus and better defense. To obtain an obsidian shield the player can either buy one from the weapon shop in the TzHaar city, trade with another player or obtain one as a monster drop from a TzHaar-Ket.

Anti-dragon shield
The Anti-dragon shield does not provide much by way of armour, but it is invaluable when fighting dragons as it protects against most of their potentially devastating dragonfire. With the addition of a draconic visage it becomes the powerful Dragonfire shield. Some F2P warriors wield it because it gives a small Magic Defense bonus, and F2P mages often use it due having no Magic Attack penalty compared to other shields.

Dragonfire shield(m)
The Dragonfire shield is an outstanding piece of equipment as it provides a very high defence, (one of the highest levels of protection in Runescape), along with the benefits of an anti-dragon shield. In order to reach its pinnacle it must be charged by absorbing dragonfire, which the player can later discharge against their foes. When the dragonfire is discharged it is able to hit a maximum of 25 damage.

Granite armour(m)
Granite armour is tough, resilient armour requiring not only a Defence level of 50 to wear, but also a Strength level of 50 due to its weight. The Granite body and Granite helmet have slightly better bonuses than their rune counterparts, especially in ranged defense. Granite, being a very solid rock, boasts an impressive Defence against Ranged attacks, which for all pieces surpass their rune counterparts. Oddly enough, although the Granite legs and Granite shield have enhanced stats against range attack they are weaker in melee defense than rune. When combined as a full set (Granite body, Granite helmet, Granite legs, Granite shield), the melee defense equals rune, but with an increased ranged defense. Granite armour is mainly obtained from monster drops, or trading with another player.

Third age warrior armour(m)
Armour from the Third Age is incredibly rare and incredibly tough. A full set of Third age melee armour offers the greatest melee protection available. However, Barrows armour, when incorporating a good shield, can exceed the Third age set's bonuses. Third age armour is a very rare reward for a Treasure trail, or can be bought from another player. Third age warrior armour is reportedly made from magical silver (know as "mithril" in many other games).

Bandos armour(m)
Bandos armour is very srtong armour, providing excellent defensive bonuses, most notably the best ranged defence available. The Bandos chestplate and tassets give a strength bonus also. Many players consider Bandos armour to be one of the best armours in the game. Bandos armour is dropped by General Graador and his sergeants.

Ranged armour
Ranged armour is generally crafted from tanned animal hides. Currently, cows, yaks, snakes, dragons, and dagannoths are the few creatures which drop hides upon death.

It provides moderate defence against melee attacks but high defence against magic attacks. Ranged armour usually has moderate attack bonuses for Ranged attacks.

Ranged armour is considerably lightweight compared to metal or stone melee armour. It's also cheaper by comparison and doesn't affect melee stats. For this, it is often worn in place of melee armour by 'hybrid' warriors who are fighting against mages.

Because some pieces of ranged armour require no defence level but provide large defence bonuses, ranged armour is preferred by pures.

* Defence level refers to the ability to wear the body. In sets of leather, studded leather, and dragonhide armour, only the body requires a defence level to wear.

Leather armour
Leather, Hardleather, Studded, Frog-leather(m)

Leather armour is the most basic armour available for rangers. Leather armour gives an attack boost to ranged, and a defence boost to magic. Leather armour is particularly useful to low-levels, and to those who wish to use ranged in a dangerous player-verses-player situation - leather armour is very cheap to reobtain. Frog leather cannot be crafted, and so must be bought from the stall or thieved from the chests in Dorgesh-kaan. This, coupled with its limited usefulness, makes is an uncommon sight.

Snakeskin armour
Snakeskin armour is a medium-level ranged armour. Its usefulness is a little limited, due to the rapid aquisition of levels from level 30, when it can be used, to level 40, where green dragonhide can be used. Snakesin, used to make the armour, is uncommon, giving snakeskin armour a high price compared to other armours - notably, the Snakeskin body is often more expensive than a set of black dragonhide armour.

Spined armour
Spined armour is a medium-level ranged armour. It gives slightly less ranged attack than Green dragonhide armour. However, Spined armour gives slightly higher defence bonuses. Spined armour is not often seen, as players tend prefer a higher ranged attack bonus. Also, it is more expensive than Green dragonhide armour.

Dragonhide armour
Green, Blue(m), Red(m), Black(m)

Dragonhide armour is a common and popular ranger armour. Dragonhide armour is popular because it is cheap, easy to make and in high supply. It gives good, rounded defensive bonuses, including a high magic defence. Sepcifically. Black dragonhide armour is often used in the wildernss to avoid Renevants. Players often make dragonhide armour for crafting experience. Dragonhide coifs cannot be crafted, and are instead a Fist of Guthix minigame reward item.

Blessed dragonhide armour(m)
Blue/Saradomin, Green/Guthix, Red/Zamorak

Blessed dragonhide armour is high-level ranged armour. It's bonuses are the same as Black dragonhide armour. Blessed dragonhide armour to Black dragonhide armour is like God-trimmed armour to Rune armour. It purely looks different. Many players like to buy just the coif, as it gives the same bonuses as a Black d'hide coif, but doesn't degrade. The Saradomin and Zamorak armours will stop a follower of that got attacking the player in the God Wars Dungeon.

Karil the Tainted's armour(m)
[[Image: Karil the Tainted's armour is high-level ranged armour. When wearing Karil's set ([[Karil's coif]], Karil's leathertop, Karil's leatherskirt, and Karil's crossbow), the player has a change of lowering their opponents agility - this only works against other players. Many player's are unhappy with Karil's armour. Even though it requires reparing, it's range attack bonus is identical to black dragonhide armour. Its melee defence is less, but its magic defence is greater, so many players use it when fighting monsters with a magic or magic-based attack.

Third age ranger armour(m)
Third age ranger armour is high-level ranged armour. It's range attack bonus is slightly more than black dragonhide armour, and it's magic attack bonus is also higher. Third age ranger armour is very rare, and expensive, so wearing it is more of a status symbol than for practical use. It can either be a rare find from a Treasure Trail, or bought from another player. Third age ranger armour is reportedly made from white dragonhide.

Armadyl armour(m)
Armadyl armour is the best ranged armour available. It gives the higest range attack available, and the highest magic defence availble also. Armadyl armour is not often seen, due to its price and rarity. It is dropped by Kree'arra and his three sergeants.

Magic armour
This type of armour provides almost no Ranged and melee defence bonuses, but is used instead to harness the magic attacking ability of a mage, and provides some magic defence bonuses. Most magic armours cannot be made by players.

Wizard robes
Blue, Black

Wizards robes are the most common robes in free-to-play. Wizard robes consist of a hat and a robetop, but many players combine them with a blue or black skirt, to match. With the introduction of Fist of Guthix, some free-to-play players switched to Combat robes, as they give advanced magic attack bonuses.

Fist of Guthix Robes
Druidic mage, Combat, Battle(m)

Fist of Guthix robes degrade like Barrows armour, but in a shorter 6 hours. Druidic mage robes increase the accuracy of binding spells. Combat and Battle robes have a chance of randomly providing any Mind, Chaos, Death or Blood runes while spellcasting. Many players criticised Battle robes, as thay thought they were an unfit reward to the time spent gathering the tokens needed to buy and recharge them. Combat robes give the highest magic attack bonus in free-to-play.

Mystic robes(m)
Blue/White, White/Gold, Black/Red, Enchanted

Mystic robes are a popular medium-level magic armour. Mystic robes give a comparitively high magic attack and defence bonus, but nothing else. They are popular for safespot maging, and in Player-verses-Player combat due to their relatively low cost. Blue/White mystic robes can be bought in the Magic guild. White/Gold robes can be obtained by killing monsters in the Fremennik Slayer Dungeon. Black/Red robes are dropped by monsters in the Slayer Tower. Enchanted robes are a three-piece set of Hat, Top, and Robe, identical to their mystic robes equivalent. They are obtained from Treasure Trails.

Ranged attack
The following armour gives the highest possible ranged attack bonus for members: 1. An Amulet of glory gives the same ranged attack bonus for a much lower cost.

''2. A Rune crossbow and the Unholy book gives a +98 ranged attack bonus, but will not degrade like a Crystal bow. The best two-handed non-degrading ranged weapon is the Dark bow, giving +95 ranged attack.''

Ranged defence
The following armour gives the highest possible ranged defence bonus for members: 1. Guthan's helm gives the same bonuses.

2. Snakeskin boots give only +1 ranged defence but are easier to obtain.

3. An Obsidian cape or Capes of Accomplishment give only +9 ranged defence but are easier to obtain.

Magic attack
The following armour gives the highest possible magic attack bonus for members:

''1. A Lunar ring gives a +2 magic attack bonus, and is easier to obtain. A Beacon ring gives a +1 magic attack bonus.''

Magic defence
The following armour gives the highest possible magic defence bonus for members:

''1. An Obsidian cape or Cape of Accomplishment give only +9 magic defence but are easier to obtain. God capes give +10 magic defence and can be obtained from the Mage Arena minigame.''

Strength
The following armour gives the highest possible strength bonus for members. See also Strength:

1. Fighter Torso gives the same strength bonuses.

''2. Although a Godsword gives the most strength bonus, it is two-handed. The most strength bonus using a shield slot item would be the Dragonfire shield and the Dragon battleaxe as a weapon.''

Prayer
The following armour gives the highest possible Prayer bonus for members.

1. White boots are easier to obtain and give the same prayer bonus.

2. Proselyte tasset and Proselyte cuisse give the same prayer bonuses.

3. Void Knight mace and Verac's flail gives the same prayer bonuses, although the flail is two handed meaning you can't equip anything in the shield slot.

4. God books give the same prayer bonuses.

5. Vestment cloaks are easier to obtain, but only give a +3 bonus and require 40 prayer to wield.

6. Explorer's ring 1, 2, and 3 give the same bonus.

Melee defence
The following armour gives the highest possible melee defence bonus for members:

1. Guthan's helm and Verac's helmet give the same bonuses.

2. Third age platebody gives a higher crush bonus (+113) but is otherwise inferior.

3. Dharok's platelegs and Verac's plateskirt give the same bonuses.

''4. Maple blackjack (d) gives +24 crush defence, and requires completion of part of the Rogue Trader Miniquest. Guthan's warspear gives +7 defence to all melee stats, but requires 2 hands to wield.

5. An Obsidian cape or Cape of Accomplishment give only +9 ranged defence but are easier to obtain.

6. A Berserker ring gives +4 crush defence instead of slash, and is more expensive.

Melee attack
The following armour gives the highest possible melee attack bonus for members:

''1. The Dwarven helmet gives +6 crush attack. The Warrior helm gives +5 slash bonus only.''

''2. Zamorakian spear gives the best stab bonus (+85), and Dharok's greataxe gives the best crush bonus (+95).

[[Image:111 hit.png]] Max Hit - Melee
The following worn items can yield the highest melee hit in the game:


 * Keris
 * Dragonfire shield
 * Amulet of Strength
 * Bandos chestplate
 * Bandos tassets
 * Helm of neitiznot
 * Dragon Boots
 * Fire Cape
 * Barrows Gloves
 * Berserker ring

In order to hit 117, a player must be using a super strength potion while at 99 Strength, have the Piety prayer activated, and be fighting a Kalphite Guardian or Kalphite Queen.

[[Image:111 hit.png]] Max Hit - Ranged
The max ranged hit is about 152 and is acquired with special effect of enchanted ruby bolts used against an opponent's Steel Titan Summoning familiar. A high ranged level is helpful as well good Ranged Armour.

Note that the max hit for Ranged is more of a function of the bolts' special effect versus the target's hitpoints than from the benefits of the armour.

Ranged attack
The following armour gives the highest possible ranged attack bonus for non-members:

1. The trimmed or gold-trimmed versions can also be used.

2. Maple longbow fires slower but gives the same attack and defence bonus.

3. Team capes will give the same range attack and defence bonus.

Ranged defence
The following armour gives the highest possible ranged defence bonus for non-members:

1. The trimmed, gold-trimmed, or any heraldric versions can also be used.

2. Rune kiteshields give +46 ranged defence, but are easier to obtain.

3. Team capes will give the same range defence bonus.

Magic Attack
The following armour gives the highest possible magic attack bonus for non-members:

1. Any of the four elemental staves give the same bonus, as does a Magic staff.

Magic defence
The following armour gives the highest possible magic defence bonus for non-members:

1. The trimmed or gold versions can also be used.

2. Any of the four elemental staves give the same bonus, as does a Magic staff.

Strength
The following armour gives the highest possible strength bonus for non-members.

Prayer
The following armour gives the highest possible Prayer bonus for non-members.

1. Explorer's ring 1, 2, and 3 give the same bonus.

Melee defence
The following armour gives the highest possible melee defence bonus for non-members: 1. Trimmed, gold, and any heraldric versions also work.

2. All Longswords give the same melee defence bonuses.

3. Team capes give the same bonuses.

Melee attack
The following armour gives the highest possible melee attack bonus for non-members: