Combat level


 * To determine a player's combat level, use the combat level calculator.

A player's, monster's, or non-player character's combat level indicates the difficulty in defeating him, her, or it in combat. All new players start out at combat level 3, and the maximum level for RuneScape is level 138 (126 on the free version), while in RuneScape Classic, it is level 123.

Combat level is calculated by taking into account the following skills:
 * Attack
 * Strength
 * Defence
 * Hitpoints
 * Ranged
 * Magic
 * Prayer
 * Summoning

Levels that are lower than the player display shades of green, levels that are slightly lower than one's display yellow-ish green , levels that are equal to one's are displayed as yellow and levels that are higher than yours display shades of orange to red.

Effects of combat level
Normally, aggressive non-player characters stop attacking when the player's combat level is higher than double their combat level. There are exceptions, however - for example, any monsters in the wilderness that are normally aggressive will be aggressive to players no matter what their combat level is.

Monsters with a higher combat level than a player cannot be attacked by using a left mouse click. Instead, players need to right click and select the attack monster option. So, to be able to attack a Blue Dragon with combat level 111 with a simple left click, a player needs a combat level of at least 111.

Combat level is the only in-game visible parameter that players have to evaluate another player. High combat levels do not always accurately describe a player's capabilities in other skills. There are players with maximum combat that have very low levels in other skills and there are pure skillers with no combat levels and very high non-combat skills. Yet, there is a reasonable chance that a high combat level also implies a decent skill level and a reasonable knowledge of the game.

A more complicated assessment is in the trustworthiness of a player in trades. Some players place higher trust in higher combat level players, as they have more to lose when they get banned after being reported for illegal trading practices.

Jagex revealed formula
In the Combat Triangle Wallpaper update, Jagex revealed the basic formulas used for calculating the combat level in non-member worlds on the top right of the wallpaper.

The combat level is calculated for each combat type (melee, magic and ranged). The character's overall combat level in non-member worlds is the highest of the following three combat types.

The calculations are performed using integer arithmetic, so when multiplying by a fraction, the remainder is discarded.

For example, if prayer is 43, then $$\frac{1}{2} \text{prayer}$$ gives 21 and not 21.5.

When summoning was released, Jagex revealed that the summoning has the same effect as prayer on the formula. This means that the character's overall combat level in member worlds is the highest of the following three combat types (with summoning included).