Pay-to-play melee training

This article provides information for members about effective ways to train Attack, Strength, Defence, and Constitution through melee combat. It contains some general training tips and suggestions for suitable monsters to kill for a wide range of levels. In this article, monsters are sorted according to the level of the skill being trained, not the recommended overall combat level.

This article assumes that players are training Attack, Strength, Defence, and Constitution more or less equally. If not, go to the pure melee guide.

General training notes

 * Use the best gear you have and a weapon that has a style they are weak to.
 * Complete Slayer tasks whenever possible in order to train Slayer while training other combat skills. Additionally, a higher Slayer level allows players to kill stronger Slayer monsters, which are generally profitable because of their unique drops. The use of a black mask or slayer helm during a task also allows for faster training. However, remember that Slayer tasks may give you monsters with weaknesses to ranged or magic, rather than melee.
 * You may want to consider wearing a ring of wealth whenever fighting a monster that drops items on the rare drop table if you are interested in valuable drops rather than slightly faster experience rates from rings with combat-related stats.
 * An emergency teleport that can be activated with one click can be useful to avoid death. A simple house teleport tablet is cheap and could end up being a lifesaver.
 * Use potions in order to boost skill levels and increase experience rates. A super set (consisting of super attack, super strength, and super defence potions) is recommended.
 * When fighting monsters that are aggressive, turn Auto Retaliate on to reduce the number of clicks you have to use.
 * Completing the easy quests Fight Arena, Holy Grail, Waterfall Quest, Scorpion Catcher and Tree Gnome Village gives efficient combat experience if done at a low combat level.
 * Pay attention to your foes weakness. Try to attack monsters weak to the attack style of the weapon you are using. For example, moss giants are weak to slash attacks so it is a good idea to attack them with weapons such as the abyssal whip or the dragon scimitar rather than weapons using crush or stab.

Abilities

 * Healing abilities are a must for extending the length of a training trip. The Resonance ability is a basic level Defence ability, that causes the next hit to heal instead of damage you. Rejuvenate is an ultimate Defence ability that restores 40% of your life points over several seconds. Regenerate is a basic Constitution ability that uses whatever adrenaline you have left to restore your health if you're not in combat.
 * Although the Resonance and Rejuvenate abilities require a shield to be equipped, you only need to equip the shield for as long as it takes to activate the ability if you prefer to dual wield or use two-handed weapons.
 * Consider using threshold abilities instead of ultimate ones; the damage done by thresholds is lower, but they use less adrenaline, meaning more than one can be used in a row.
 * Set up your action bar before you go into combat, making sure all the abilities you want to use are on there, and that all the abilities are ones you can use with the weapons you have. Remember that you can have multiple bars set up at once, and there is no penalty for changing which one you're using.

Weaponry

 * Each weapon can train attack, strength, and defence.  Just click on your combat tab then click the XP button and click the stat you want your hits to train.
 * Utilise monster weaknesses. Using a crush weapon against a monster weak to crush gives a much higher chance to hit against that monster, and significantly higher hits. Monsters who have a weakness to ranged attacks will have a very high defence to melee attacks.
 * Always use the best tier of weapons you can wield. Better weapons ensure higher damage output and a higher chance to hit.
 * The abyssal whip is a very popular weapon for combat training due to its rapid attack speed, relatively low cost, and the fact that it is only one-handed, meaning it can be paired with an off-hand weapon or shield.

Armour
For extended combat training, armour with a good defensive bonus is generally recommended. Consider rune, dragon, Barrows, or Bandos armour depending on your Defence level. Bandos armour is particularly good, for those who can afford it, due to its high defensive and life point bonuses. Barrows armour is a cheaper alternative, although it degrades with use meaning that it will incur a maintenance cost.

Sacred clay equipment, rewards from Stealing Creation, doubles the experience gained from combat, even if only one piece is worn. It offers the same defensive bonuses as rune armour. Most players choose to use their Stealing Creation on skills that cost money to train rather than combat, which is usually profitable.

Healing
After the Evolution of Combat, food is much less necessary than it was before. Generally speaking, most of the time you will not need food if you use healing abilities such as Rejuvenate, an ultimate ability which restores 40% of your health (but requires a shield), Regenerate, which can be used outside combat to convert remaining adrenaline into health, and Resonance, which makes the next attack to hit you heal you instead of hurting you.

Other methods of healing include:


 * Using food
 * Guthan the Infested's equipment has excellent defence bonuses and a set effect, which players can use to heal themselves. However, use of Guthan's has a few downsides. Use of guthan's helm prevents the use of other head-slot items, such as a slayer helm or face mask. Guthan's spear is merely an average weapon. For these reasons, some players bring a set of Guthan's in addition to their regular armour set, and switch between the two as necessary when needing to heal.
 * Bones to Peaches is a spell unlocked at the Mage Training Arena which allows players to convert bones and big bones into peaches, each of which heals 80 life points. Players who have not unlocked this spell can instead buy and use bones to peaches tablets.
 * Soul Split requires 92 Prayer and access to the Ancient Curses. It heals its user 20% of the damage dealt if it is activated during a successful hit against a monster. Because of its rapid drain rate, many players use the prayer flashing technique to drastically reduce, or outright nullify, Prayer point drain.
 * The saradomin godsword's passive effect, Healing Blade, has a 25% chance of healing the player for the damage dealt with every hit.
 * Auras such as vampirism help by healing the player by 5% of damage dealt with every hit.
 * Healing familiars such as the Bunyip and Unicorn stallion.

Potions

 * Potions are well worth the extra cost. They increase your training xp/hr rate significantly.
 * It can help to get 96 Herblore for overloads which makes training much faster. Other extreme potions such as extreme attack, strength, and defence are also worth the added cost.
 * If unable to create overloads or extremes due to low Herblore, super sets work well too.
 * Regular combat potions are more cost effective than attack potions and strength potions because they combine the effects of both while being cheaper than the two individual items combined.

Suggested training monsters
''Note: These level guidelines are for all three Attack, Strength and Defence. For example: levels 1-10 kill chickens. Meaning, for levels 1-10 in all three Attack, Strength and Defence you should kill Chickens. Once all three have reached level 10, you can then move on.''

Level 10-20

 * Cows give good xp when compared to the difficulty of killing them, and their hides are also valuable. Killing cows is one of the best ways to get your melee stats up until about level 15. Cows can be found on fields such as near the Crafting Guild, Lumbridge or Falador farm.
 * Kill the cows in Burthorpe as they have less hp and same xp.
 * There is a field next to Beefy Bill where you can collect cowhides and bank them with him. However he will take anywhere from 1-4 of your cowhides and bank the rest for you. (He takes 4 if you have a full inventory.) This method is especially good for starting players who want to make money. Banking hides will lower xp rates, though the additional money can help fund future equipment improvements. This field can be found by following the path north from Lumbridge (towards Varrock), past the goblins and the milk seller to an area slightly north. Alternatively you can home teleport to Varrock lodestone (not Varrock teleport) and head south-west past the Champions' Guild, mining area and farming patch.

Level 20-30

 * Al Kharid Palace is a good training location at this level. With a moderate Defence level, the Al Kharid Warriors (37 xp) here will deal low damage while also dropping grimy herbs quite frequently.
 * At level 25 use a black scimitar (duel-wield for more damage or a 2h) if you can afford it.

Level 30-50

 * The barbarians in the Barbarian Village give better xp rates for these levels. Barricading yourself in the longhall (the large building on the north side of the village) seems to be a nice way to keep the barbarians in a small, dense area and prevents yourself from having to run all over the village to kill them. Remember to use the best equipment for your level, such as Adamant armor or, if funds permit, the Elite Black armour.
 * Fighting giant spiders in level 3 of the Stronghold of Security gives more XP than barbarians, and their spawn rate is sufficient enough that you will not be waiting without a target. They do not drop anything, though. Weak to crush.

Level 50+

 * Deadly-red-spider.png Even though considered to be a better training mob for levels above 60, it's still possible with the right equipment (Off-hand Dragon Mace) or a granite maul (If you have a decent strength level) and potions (Super attack/strength).
 * Killing deadly red spiders found in the Chaos Tunnels and Varrock Sewers can provide very great amounts of experience for many players with melee stats in these ranges, as each kill is worth 552-557 experience (along with 139.3 constitution experience). They are weak to crush, so using dual-wielded crush weapons and super attack and super strength potions, one could easily manage to gain over 40,000 experience per hour in any given melee skill while using Momentum.  After testing done with attack and strength levels around 90, and using abilities, experience rates reached between 175,000 to 225,000 experience per hour.  For maximum experience, use weapons that have the best possible crush bonus, such as Torag's Hammers, Saradomin Sword, or the Chaotic Maul.


 * Most of all, I would advice to start at jungle spiders, they are 12 levels lower and you sacrifice ~150 xp but they are easier to kill and this means you can kill more than you can kill deadly red spiders.
 * These spiders can be found behind Yanille on a small island, the island has only one NPC which is Hazelmere who is one of the npc's for the "The Grand Tree" quest.
 * These are also weak to crush weapons and are definitely no match to their superior Deadly red counterpart.
 * Deadly red spiders have decent accuracy and can hit up to 272, with an attack speed of 6 (equivalent to scimitar/mace/dagger speed). It is reccommended for lower combat levels to bring food and super defence pots.
 * After the 18_3_2012 Patch, Deadly Red Spiders have become much harder to kill for lower level players. Deadly Red Spiders will no longer hit for 1 damage and have improved accuracy. These are now recommended for players with melee skills above 70. (Attack, Strength, and Defense respectively)

Level 60-70

 * One way to train exp is in the Tzhaar fight pits, which give you over 300 exp per kill.
 * Playing Pest Control can also be a good training method.

Level 70+

 * The TzHaar area is fairly useful after the Evolution of Combat update, using abilities one can get an estimated 50k experience an hour while making a fair profit. Using the Regenerate, Resonance and Rejuvinate ultimate ability one can eliminate the need for food. The area is rarely crowded, and the monsters can be killed by low levels, though the expected experience rates will be less impressive for those with lower levels.
 * At level 70, dagganoths are your best bet. It is really worth it. Use a combination of a 2H weapon for their Area of Effect capacities, and a 1H / Shield for the healing capacities of the shield.
 * Killing fire giants at 70 Attack and above can provide large amounts of experience. These giants are weak to slash, so use of slash weapons such as the abyssal whip is recommended. A Dragon Halberd is also highly recommended and even though it is a 2h weapon, with the use of abilities it provides one of the fastest experience gains at Fire Giants.
 * If you have 65 Slayer, dust devils can give up to 250k xp/hr if using a chaotic maul and the Berserker ability.
 * The Living Rock Caverns provide a great way to gain experience. Over 500 experience per kill (380 to the designated skill, the remaining to Constitution). They provide great drops, and aren't crowded (unless on the Living Rock Caverns world). High levelled players can make up to 400k an hour while levelling up fairly quickly.
 * The most effective way of gaining attack expierence is in the bandit camp, this is a dual wielders haven for leveling up attack. Because when you fight one, the rest come at you, enabling you to use flurry, to instantly kill all the sorrounding enemies. And gaining so much experience you will only need 10 days to get to level 99 attack

Level 80+

 * There is a way to semi-afk melee training but requires some pre-requisite work, by combining the bonecrusher and split-dragontooth necklace (or any variant) and using piety/protect melee alongside using a Guthan's set, a player can stay at hellhounds for a prolonged period of time as they are aggressive, and the prayers/guthans will ensure you heal the damage you are taking, (at 90 defence, prayers are needed to keep healing more than the damage you are taking), and the dungeoneering items will regenerate prayer faster than you are using it, it is recommended to use the Taverly hellhound resource dungeon and exit and re-enter when they stop being aggressive, as this resets the aggression. This method is recommended for those who wish to train with minimal attention. This method yeilds around 140k xp/h.
 * Using Guthan's set, a Bonecrusher, Turmoil and a Split Dragontooth Necklace, one can stay at an area like Bandit's in the Bandit Camp for an infinite amount of time, provided your combat stats are 85 or higher.  The xp turnover is around 80k xp/h.
 * If you have stats over 80-85 in combat, you can duel wield an abyssal whip/chaotic rapier with an enhanced excalibur with a split-dragontooth necklace and a bonecrucher at bandits. Because the bandits have low defence, you can kill them very easily and their bones will renew your prayer automatically. Also, since they have low defence you will hit very high, your enhanced excalibur will heal you much more than if you hit very low.
 * Mutated jadinkos offer very high rates of xp/hour, easily exceeding 200k/hour. The downside is that you will need dual drygores to earn the maximum xp/hour and a Slayer level requirement of 86.
 * Killing the followers of the zamorak boss can be very rewarding. The werewolves and goraks can easily be killed for 500+ melee xp. The only downside to this method are the longs trips to the bank to restock on food. This can be shortened by sacrificing two inventory spaces for Trollheim teleport, unless the drop trick is used.
 * Spiritual Rangers can give 140k xp per hour, with about 900+ melee xp per kill and 7000 lifepoints, they are worth training on, with a Saradomin Godsword, and Bandos armor one can stay here for practially infinite amount of time, not to mention they are weak to melee in general, allowing relatively quick kills. the only downside being that they are in the God Wars Dungeon meaning, depending on which god they are aligned to, some if not all protection from the 4 factions is essential.