Combat level

A player's, monster's, or NPC's combat level indicates the difficulty in defeating him, her, or it in combat. In the very early days of RuneScape classic, players started out as Level 1 Combat, but this was changed and now all new players start out at Combat Level 3, with the maximum level for RuneScape being level 138 (126 for free-to-play), while in RuneScape Classic, it is level 123 and in DeviousMUD the highest an account ever reached was 52. The strongest monster in RuneScape, Nex, has a combat level of 1001. The maximum combat level if combat skills didn't have a level cap would be 174. This occurs when combat skills are level 126 (at least 188,884,740xp).

Combat level is calculated by taking into account the skills:
 * Attack and Strength or Ranged or Magic
 * Defence
 * Constitution
 * Prayer
 * Summoning

Levels that are lower than the player display shades of green, levels that are slightly lower than one's display yellow-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. In the Wilderness, levels outside the combat range will appear white. The difference in colours can be seen up to 10 levels higher or lower than your current combat level after which it will either show the brightest shade of green or red depending on whether the combat level is lower or higher.





Effects of combat level
Normally, aggressive NPC's will stop attacking a player if that player has double the NPC's combat level +1. There are exceptions, however - for example, any monsters in the wilderness that are normally not aggressive will be aggressive to players no matter what their combat level is. Also, monsters that are normally aggressive will always attack a player if the monster is level 69 or higher, since the maximum combat level is level 138 for members.

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 a simple left click, a player needs a combat level of at least 111. The only exception to this is in Daemonheim and specific bosses such as Nomad and Nex. In Daemonheim, you can simply left-click to attack a monster, even if their combat level is higher than yours.

Combat level is the only in-game visible parameter that players have to evaluate another player without using Stat Spy or the Inspect option in Dungeoneering. 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.

Combat level, in the game itself, matters very little; however, there are some few requirements in game that require a certain combat level. The only known requirements so far are in two quests Smoking Kills and Dream Mentor (both requiring 85 Combat), training with certain Slayer Masters, and also the Void Knight activities Pest Control and Conquest. In Slayer, your combat level determines which slayer masters you can go to. So basically, combat levels don't matter at all in free to play RuneScape, and in members, it matters very little. However, many quests require players to kill somewhat difficult monsters, so having a higher combat level would be very helpful, Pest control also requires certain combat levels to board different boats.

Basic formula - F2P
In the Combat Triangle Wallpaper update, Jagex revealed the basic formulas used for calculating the basic combat level (excludes Summoning) on the top right of the wallpaper.

Please note: The basic formula revealed in the wallpaper, however, is at an early stage and using the formula as provided does not in all cases result in the combat level players observe in game. This is particularly true for Mages and Rangers, as also here even and odd levels do seem to play a role in calculating the correct combat level. In the RuneScape Forums (Combat skill section) a more accurate calculation method has been found by a group of adventurers - see calculations below.

The combat level is calculated for each combat type (Melee, Magic and Ranged). The character's basic combat level is the highest of the following three combat types. Also, the character's Prayer level used in the formula is the character's lowest even level (for example, if you're level 43 Prayer, then compute the formula as if you only have level 42 Prayer).

Note: The player's combat level is rounded down in-game. 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.

Basic Formula - P2P
In member worlds, a player's Summoning level is taken into account in the combat level calculation in the following cases:
 * In non-Wilderness areas
 * In the Wilderness when the player either:
 * has a summoned familiar.
 * is carrying a summoning pouch or summoning scroll.

The effect of the Summoning level in these cases is similar to Prayer. This means that the character's overall combat level in these cases is the highest of the following three combat types (with the Summoning included).

Note: The player's combat level is rounded down in-game.

When it is not included, the potential Summoning increase is displayed separately. For example, 79+6 instead of 85.

Advanced Formula
Three easy steps to calculate your correct combat level as discovered by the Combat Formula Crew.

Calculate your Base Combat level
Variable A: Your Defence level times 100

Variable B: Your Constitution level times 100

Variable C:
 * If your Prayer level is odd: Your (Prayer level - 1) times 50
 * If your Prayer level is even: Your Prayer level times 50

Variable D:
 * If your Summoning level is odd: Your (Summoning level - 1) times 50
 * If your Summoning level is even: Your Summoning level times 50

(A + B + C + D) divided by 400, equals your Base Combat level. Remember this number.

Denote $$EV(x) \,\!$$ to be a function to minus 1 for x is odd (nothing for x is even), a simplified formula should be:

$$(Def + Con)*{1 \over 4} + (EV(Pray) + EV(Sum))*{1 \over 8} \,\!$$

Calculate your Class Combat Levels
Variable E: Your Attack level times 130

Variable F: Your Strength level times 130

Variable G:
 * If your Ranged level is odd: (Your Ranged level times 195) - 65
 * If your Ranged level is even: Your Ranged level times 195

Variable H:
 * If your Magic level is odd: (Your Magic level times 195) - 65
 * If your Magic level is even: Your Magic level times 195

(E + F) divided by 400, is your Melee class combat level. G divided by 400, is your Ranger class combat level. H divided by 400, is your Mage class combat level.

Calculate your Final Combat Level
So if the Melee class combat level is the highest, you are a warrior (Melee); if the Ranger class combat level is the highest, you are a ranger (Ranged); if the Mage class combat level is the highest, you are a Mage (Magic).
 * 1) Look at your Melee, Ranger and Mage class combat levels.
 * 2) Pick the one that has the highest value. The one you pick, will also determine your class.
 * 1) Add the class combat level you picked, to the Base Combat level you calculated earlier.

The result is your combat level.

In-game, your current combat level is always rounded down.

Trivia

 * Early in RuneScape Classic after the introduction of the Wilderness, combat levels only appeared when hovering over a player with the mouse in the Wilderness. After the release of members, combat levels appeared everywhere on members' worlds due to the release of duelling across the map. In free worlds, combat levels remained invisible outside of the Wilderness until a major game change on 24 September 2002.

Combat level Kampfstufe Combat level

Combat level Combat Level