Melee

Melee is one of the three combat styles in RuneScape. It involves using swords, daggers, and other weapons to damage opponents, and wearing heavy armour made from various metals. Players who specialize in this type of combat are known as warriors.

The Combat Triangle dictates that Warriors are strong against Rangers but weak against Mages.

Melee's inability to attack from a distance means that a player may have a hard time fighting a Ranger or Mage, as they can make use of safespots. However, Melee has a high resistance to Ranged, making it somewhat ineffective for archers.

Attack types
Melee combat has three attack types: Crush, Stab, and Slash.

Melee attack
To the right of the Inventory button is the Equipment menu. From here, players can view their combat stats. Melee weapons increase in accuracy as the minimum Attack level, required to wield the weapon, increases. The general trend is that Melee weapons of the same "tier" have the same accuracy value. Melee armour does not hinder the accuracy of Melee weapons, nor does it improve Melee accuracy. However, wearing a piece of Ranged or Magic armour piece, instead of the Melee counterpart, reduces the effectiveness of Melee combat. Prior to the Evolution of Combat, Melee weapons and armour, certain amulets, capes and rings provided a Melee attack bonus.

Players can also use Melee prayers such as Piety to improve Melee combat.

Melee skills
Attack determines the accuracy of a player's melee attacks and the types of weapons a player may wield. The higher the Attack level, the fewer misses a player will incur during melee combat. As Attack is a vital skill in melee combat, increasing one's Attack level will increase one's combat level associated with melee.

Strength is a melee combat skill which increases the amount of damage a player can inflict in melee combat by one point per level. Additionally, Strength may be required to wield certain weapons and armour, access some Agility shortcuts, and complete several quests.

Defence is one of the primary combat skills that grants players protection in all forms of combat. The higher the Defence level, the fewer successful blows an opponent will land against the player. Defence is thus a vital skill for enduring attacks for long periods of time. A player's Defence level also determines which equipment he or she is able to wear, as most pieces of armour or other equipment have a Defence level requirement.

Melee weapons
Melee weapons fit into many general categories. No type is superior to others, they vary in attack style, and speed/damage. In general, weapons of the same tier have the same damage per second ratio, with two handed weapons dealing approximately 50% more damage per second.

Daggers
The fastest and generally the cheapest of all melee weapons. It is the first weapon that players can smith upon gaining access to a new metal.

Swords
Able to hit higher than a dagger, but with slightly lower speed. It is not too commonly seen as a result.

Longswords
Slower than scimitars, maces, and daggers, but can deal the same damage per hit as a shortsword of the same metal type, except with slashing impact instead of stabbing. Although its speed is slightly slower than scimitars, its extra damage makes it as suitable as a scimitar.

Two-handed swords
One of the most powerful basic weapons, but it sacrifices both speed and the ability to be used with the offhand slot, as its name suggests. However, it can be used with two-handed abilities, many of which can cause large amounts of damage.

Scimitars
A very popular weapon that can hit just as fast as a mace or dagger. Scimitars are, however, generally more expensive than the dagger and do not carry the mace's prayer bonus.

Maces
Equally as fast as a dagger. However, maces are unique among other weapons of a given metal in that they carry a prayer bonus which makes them useful for those who make heavy use of Prayer.

Warhammers
A powerful weapon that sacrifices speed for damage per hit. It is not commonly used because of its low speed.

Battleaxes
Identical to a warhammer of the same metal type, except it causes slashing impact instead of crushing.

Halberds
This two-handed members-only weapon is equally strong (and slow) as a two-handed sword. It has the unique ability to reach over small obstacles (such as tables, fences etc.)

Spears
This two-handed members-only weapon is the stabbing equivalent of a two-handed sword.

Hastas
This weapon is identical to the shortsword in every way, except that it does not have offhand equivalents.

Claws
A members-only slashing weapon that is similar to the scimitar, but has an added bonus to Melee Critical hit chance.

Mauls
These powerful two-handed weapons mainly appear in Daemonheim and follow a standard scale. Outside of Daemonheim, however, they do not follow the standard metal scale. You usually get them either in granite or obsidian. A new type is the Chaotic Maul, a reward from Dungeoneering.

Whips
The whip is an uncommon weapon type that is functionally similar to a scimitar, in that it hits low for its level, but quickly to compensate for the relatively low hits. The most notable whip is the Abyssal whip, a level 70 weapon.

Rapiers
Rapiers are primarily found in Daemonheim, though players can access other rapiers such as the Chaotic rapier outside of Daemonheim. They are identical to shortswords in every aspect.

Hatchets/Pickaxes
Intended for Woodcutting/Mining. It is not recommended to use either Hatchets or Pickaxes as weapons, as their damage-per-second is halved relative to other weapons of their level.

Melee armour
Warriors have their own sets of armour made out of various metals. Melee armour is resistant to ranged but weak against magic.

Bronze armour
Bronze armour is the weakest of all melee armours and worn only by the newest of players, requiring no levels whatsoever and costing little.

Iron armour
Iron armour is slightly better than bronze, and requires level ten Defence. It is made from iron bars.

Steel armour
Steel armour is slightly better than iron. Steel armour requires level 20 Defence to equip and may also be smithed from steel bars.

White armour
White armour does not offer great defensive bonuses, although better than steel, but does offer decent prayer bonuses. White armour, however, requires the completion of the quest Wanted!  to equip. White armour may be bought from Sir Vyvin on the second floor of Falador Castle with sufficient White Knight rank, which is received from killing Black Knights.

Black armour
Black armour has an evil and dangerous look, but is not any better than white armour. It is, in fact, worse, not offering any prayer bonuses. Black armour, like white, cannot be smithed, only received as a drop or bought from several shops. It requires 25 defence to wear, as does White armour.

Mithril armour
Mithril is a medium level metal, requiring 30 defence to equip pieces of armour of. Mithril armour offers decent bonuses for players who can just equip it. It is generally not used by higher levelled players.

Adamant armour
Adamant armour is the second highest smithable armour and green in colour. It offers decent bonuses and is quite cheap and as such often used by player killers who do not want to risk losing their own armour. It requires level 40 defence to equip.

Rune armour
Rune armour is the best armour for free-to-play that does not degrade and requires level 50 defence to wear, although a smith wishing to make runite equipment needs at least level 85 Smithing. The rune platebody requires completion of Dragon Slayer to be worn and can only be bought from Oziach or the Squeal of Fortune.

Dragon armour
Dragon armour is one of the most sought-after armour sets and pieces of dragon equipment can cost millions of coins. Dragon cannot be smithed by players and is only for members. Dragon armour requires level 60 Defence to be worn and is very popular.

Corrupt dragon armour
"Corrupt" versions of a small amount of dragon weapons and armour exist, which means that they still require 60 Defence to use, but are not members only. However, they degrade when used and disintegrate after 30 minutes of being equipped, making them very expensive but also desired by wealthy free players.

Dragonbone armour
A dragonbone upgrade kit may be used on several pieces of dragon armour to change their appearance, although this is only cosmetic and does not give any advantages.

Yak-hide armour
Yak-hide armour is relatively weak, but valuable against Ice trolls, as the armour lowers the maximum hit of the males. Its poor bonuses do not make the armour worth being used very often.

Rock-shell armour
Rock-shell armour is very similar to rune armour. It's not very widely used due to the difficulty to obtain and the option of better armour.

Bandos armour
Bandos armour is a very strong set of armour, providing excellent defensive bonuses. Bandos armour is one of the best melee armours in the game. It provides a boost to the damage you deal and is thus known as power armour.

Barrows armour
Barrows armour is very strong and popular, and like white armour, provides a small prayer bonus. Barrows armour needs to be repaired every 15 hours of combat, for a price.

Granite armour
Granite armour is tough, resilient armour requiring not only a Defence level of 55 to wear, but also a Strength level of 55 due to its weight. The granite body and helm have slightly better bonuses than their rune counterparts.

Third-age warrior armour
Armour from the Third Age is incredibly rare and incredibly tough. However, Barrows armour and Bandos armours have better stats.

Ancient warrior's armour
Vesta's and Statius' equipment degrades over time and completely vanishes after one hour of combat. A corrupt version of the armour exists, which requires only 20 defence to wear, as opposed to 78, however, it disintegrates after only 15 minutes of being worn, not necessarily in combat.

Obsidian armour
Obsidian armour is a degradable armour that offers high defences in all combat styles when fighting against the TzHaar and TokHaar, but has no use outside of the TzHaar and TokHaar activities as one takes increased damage outside of those areas.

Torva armour
Torva armour is the second best armour you can repair in the game. On top of the very high defensive bonuses, Torva armour offers a boost to life points when worn, in a similar fashion to rocktails, only permanent, as long as the armour remains equipped. The armour degrades, but can be repaired similarly to Barrows armour, although more expensive. Level 80 Defence, Life Points and Strength are required to equip the armour.

Tetsu armour
Tetsu armour comes in 2 forms, normal and superior, and both versions degrade in combat. The superior version is untradeable, yet has higher stats and lasts longer in combat. The normal version lasts 10 hours in combat while the superior lasts 12. Lastly, the superior version can be repaired while the tradeable one cannot and will degrade into nothing. 85 Defence and Constitution are required to wear it.

Before the armour can be made you will need to unlock the ability to make it. To do this, you will need to collect 4 scroll pieces for every piece of the armour you wish to make. A total of 12 scroll pieces is needed to be able to craft all 3 pieces of the armour.

The armour looks very similar to armour used by Samurai, and is thought to have been based on the armour of the warriors of old.

Popularity of melee combat
Melee was more than twice as popular than magic and ranged combat combined, generating 59% of users votes in January 2007. , but since the Evolution of Combat was released, magic, ranged and melee have more equal popularity. This is likely because each monster has gained their own weaknesses which can make melee ineffective against certain monsters. For example, using melee slashing attacks instead of ranged bolt attacks on Black demons will deal less damage per second due to reduced accuracy.

Shields
A shield is a protective item wielded in the off-hand slot. A shield adds substantial bonuses to armour and to life points when wielded, and unlocks the use of some Defence abilities.

Square shields
The square shield has adequate melee and range defence bonuses, and provides the same health bonuses as the kiteshield.

Spikeshields
Spikeshields degrade with use like Barrows equipment, and can be recharged. 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.

Kiteshields
Kiteshields offer better defence than a square shield, although, like most heavier armour, it is awkward to use in combination with Magic and Ranged.

Berserker shields
Berserker shields degrade with use like Barrows equipment, and can be recharged. They can only be traded when completely uncharged. The Adamant berserker shield requires level 45 defence to wield. The Rune berserker shield requires level 55 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.

Toktz-Ket-Xil
The Toktz-Ket-Xil requires at least 60 Defence to wield. It cannot be made using any skills.

Anti-dragon shield
The Anti-dragon shield does not provide much by way of armour, but it is indispensable when fighting dragons as it protects against most of their potentially devastating dragonfire.

Dragonfire shield
The Dragonfire Shield is a high-level piece of armour coming in magic, range, and melee styles. It provides protection not only from dragonfire, but also the breath of the Skeletal Wyvern.

Spirit shields
Spirit shields are a range of shields available to members after they have completed the quest Summer's End. The divine spirit shield has a special effect that reduces the amount of damage taken and directs some of it to your prayer energy instead. The elysian spirit shield simply nullifies the damage, although a smaller percentage than the divine spirit shield. As such, the divine spirit shield is one of the most expensive items available, costing several hundreds of millions. The Arcane spirit shield also has a special ability, it reduces damage taken by 30%, and drains your prayer for 10% of the damage you drain. The basic spirit shield requires level 40 Defence and level 55 Prayer to hold, the blessed one requires 70 Defence and level 65 Prayer, arcane and spectral spirit shield 75 Defence, 70 Prayer and 65 Magic, and divine and elysian require 75 Defence and 75 Prayer.

Temporary boosts
A temporary skill boost is anything caused by an item, Summoning familiar, or action that temporarily raises a player's level in one or more skills. It allows the player to do things above their current level.

Herblore
Note: The numbers in parentheses are only required for the mixes.

Melee Capes of Accomplishment

 * [[File:Attack hood.png]] [[File:Attack cape.png]] [[File:Attack cape (t).png]] Attack cape
 * [[File:Strength hood.png]] [[File:Strength cape.png]] [[File:Strength cape (t).png]] Strength cape
 * [[File:Defence hood.png]] [[File:Defence cape.png]] [[File:Defence cape (t).png]] Defence cape