Melee

Melee is one of the three combat styles in RuneScape. It involves using swords, daggers, and other weapons to damage opponents, as well as 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, giving warriors a defensive advantage over rangers.

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 tier increases; the tier defined by the minimum Attack level required to wield the weapon. The general trend is that Melee weapons of the same tier have the same accuracy value. Most melee armour does not hinder the accuracy of Melee weapons, nor does it improve Melee accuracy directly as a direct increase to damage or accuracy statistics. Wearing power armour, certain jewelry, and other accessories will increase the player's style bonus for melee, which carries a damage bonus. However, wearing a piece of Ranged or Magic armour will reduce this style bonus, making melee combat less effective.

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. Defence increases your ability to block attacks. The higher the Defence level the less damage you will receive against monsters and players.

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 per second.

Most melee weapons can be fit into categories by their attack speed and whether or not they are one-handed or two-handed. Many melee weapons also have an off-hand equivalent which can be equipped to allow the use of dual wield abilities and will bring up the player's DPS to match that of two-handed weapons.

Fastest speed, one-handed

 * All weapons of this speed attack between 2.4 second intervals (4 ticks) and have the same damage value. They only effectively vary for monster weaknesses, or in the case of Dragon weaponry their special attacks - a notable exception being rune claws, which have a special attack.

Stabbing

 * The dagger is a stab-type melee weapons and are typically the cheapest of all melee weapons compared to weapons of the same metal or type. This is so because prior to the Evolution of Combat, daggers were the weakest and generally less accurate than other weapons of their type, even compared to those of the same speed such as the scimitar. However, unlike other weapons, they were able to be poisoned.

Slashing

 * Scimitars are slash-type melee weapons and are the most popular overall compared to other melee weapons of their speed. Prior to the Evolution of Combat they were among the most popular weapons, as they were close in power to longswords of their tier while being faster by one tick.
 * Claws are slash-type weapons. They are equivalent to scimitars except for having a critical hit bonus. When combined with their offhand equivalents the rune claw and the dragon claw are capable of performing a special attack.
 * Whips are generally higher-level weapons and are equivalent to scimitars. The abyssal whip is a very popular weapon for its affordability and effectiveness.

Crushing

 * The mace is a crush-type melee weapon and does not share the popularity of the dagger or the scimitar although they carry a Prayer bonus. Their unpopularity is attributed to the fact that they had an attack speed that was slow for its strength bonus usually equivalent to swords of their type, making them outclassed by other types of weapons.

Fast speed, one-handed

 * All weapons of this speed attack between 3 second intervals (5 ticks) and have the same damage value.

Stabbing

 * The sword is a stab-type melee weapon and are generally unpopular. Prior to the Evolution of Combat they were generally left unused due to being weaker than scimitars although they had the ability to use both slash and stab attacks rather effectively.
 * Rapiers are an uncommon weapon type that are equivalent to swords. They exist mostly in Dungeoneering.
 * Hastae are one-handed spears that are equivalent to swords except for the fact that they lack offhand equivalents. Prior to the Evolution of Combat they were able to be poisoned, and like their two-handed counterparts could also accept karambwan poison as well.

Slashing

 * The longsword is a slash-type melee weapon. They were relatively popular before the Evolution of Combat and were often compared to the scimitar in terms of effectiveness.

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.

Average speed, one-handed

 * All weapons of this speed attack between 3.6 second intervals (6 ticks) and have the same damage value.

Slashing

 * Battleaxes are slash-type melee weapons. Prior to the Evolution of Combat they were relatively unpopular due to their slow speed although they had a very high Strength bonus compared to other one-handed weapons of their type.

Crushing

 * Warhammers are crush-type melee weapons. They are rather uncommon and are rather very unpopular. Prior to the Evolution of Combat this was so due to the fact that they were slow weapons limited to crushing attacks yet were only as powerful as longswords.

Average speed, two-handed

 * All weapons of this speed attack between 3.6 second intervals (6 ticks), bar the use of a shield or off-hand weapon, and have the same damage value.

Stabbing

 * Spears are stab-type melee weapons. They were unpopular before the Evolution of Combat for having a low Strength bonus for being two-handed weapons with a lower-than-average attack speed. They were, however, able to be poisoned and could also accept karambwan poison.

Slashing

 * Two-handed swords are slash-type melee weapons. They were rather popular before the Evolution of Combat due to their high strength bonuses albeit at the cost of having a very slow weapon speed.

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 very 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 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. In fact, it is worse, not providing 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, same as White armour.

Mithril armour
Mithril is a medium level metal, requiring 30 defence to equip. Mithril armour offers decent bonuses for players who can 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 and requires level 50 defence to wear. 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 are often traded for 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 stuff 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 using 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 availability 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 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, however outside of the TzHaar and TokHaar activities the armour acts as a tier 60 set.

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.

Malevolent armour
Malevolent armour is the strongest melee armour outside of Daemonheim. It requires level 90 Defence to wear. This armour cannot be repaired at any level of degradation, and will be destroyed after 60,000 hits.

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