Armour

For boxed armour sets, see armour 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.

Melee armour
*Note: (m) stands for Members only.

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 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.

Kite shields
(Bronze, iron, steel, black, white (m), mithril, adamant, rune) Kite shields 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) The rune spikeshield is a reward that can be purchased with 200 tokens from the Fist of Guthix minigame. It degrades with use like barrows equipment. It can only be traded when completely uncharged. It requires 45 defence to wield. The rune spikeshield also requires recharging once it has completly degraded it will cost 35 Fist of Guthix Tokens in Reggie's shop

Berserker shields
(Adamant, Rune) The Rune berserker shield is a reward that can be purchased with tokens from the Fist of Guthix minigame. It requires 45 defence to wield, and when charged gives slightly higher defensive bonuses than a Rune kiteshield, coupled with a strength bonus. It is the best melee shield available to non-members when fully charged. This shield is also comparable to the Obsidian shield, except that the Rune berserker shield has a lower strength bonus, a much lower ranged defence bonus. It is arguably harder to acquire than the Toktz-Ket-Xil. Like Barrows equipment its 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.[1] When completely degraded, or uncharged, it will have lower defence bonuses than a Black kiteshield but will retain a +2 strength bonus and become tradable. It will cost 50 Fist of Guthix tokens to recharge it again. When first released, its price skyrocketed from 150k to almost 340k. It has since fallen to 95k and appears to be stabilising around that price point.[2] As with all Fist of Guthix equipment, this item cannot be made using the Smithing skill.

Barrows equipment
(Dharok, Guthan, Torag, Verac, Ahrim, Karil) 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 the Barrows Reward 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
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
The Toktz-Ket-Xil (also known as the Obsidian shield or Obby shield) 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. This piece of armour cannot be made using the Smithing skill.

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
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
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.

Third Age armour
Armour from the Third Age is incredibly rare and incredibly tough. As a full set, it offers the greatest protection available to a melee fighter. Note, however, that it incorporates a shield which the Barrows sets do not, and with a good shield Barrows armour can equal or exceed Third Age armour's Defence bonuses.

Bandos armour
Bandos is the god of battle, followed by creatures who love little more than seeing their foes fall before them. The armour given to his mightiest warriors provides excellent Defence, most notably the best ranged in the game - not to mention that it makes its wearer look as intimidating as an ork on the rampage.

Ranged armour
Ranged armour is generally crafted from tanned animal hides. Currently, cows, yaks, snakes and dragons 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.

(m)=members

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.

(m)=members

Prayer armour


(m) members

Ranged attack
The following armour gives the highest possible ranged attack bonus for members: '' * An amulet of glory gives the same ranged attack bonus for a much lower cost. Also some players may prefer a rune crossbow and the unholy book to a crystal bow. This is because the crystal bow's status eventualy degrades while the rune crossbow and unholy book will not. ''

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:

Magic defence
The following armour gives the highest possible magic defence bonus for members: ''1. An Obsidian cape or Capes 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 2-handed. The most strength bonus using a shield slot item would be the Dragonfire shield and the Abyssal Whip 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 gives the same prayer bonuses.

4. God books give the same prayer bonuses.

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 defense to all melee stats, but requires 2 hands to wield.

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

6. A Berserker ring gives +4 crush defence instead of slash, and costs a lot more.

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 150+ 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 versions can also be used.

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

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

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

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

2. Team capes will give the same range attack and defense bonus.

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

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

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

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.

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. Team capes give the same bonuses.

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