Pay-to-play melee training

See Also: Free-to-Play Melee Training Guide

This melee training guide will help you raise your combat levels, starting from level 1 to the maximum combat skill levels of 99, a feat accomplished by only the most skilled warriors of RuneScape. The guide will explain which are the best monsters to kill at your level, along with providing the advantages and disadvantages of training on each monster. This guide is for pay-to-play only, although some monsters are found in F2P areas.

General Tips

 * Keep a good balance of Attack, Strength, and Defence that you feel most comfortable with. If you do not feel comfortable being a pure, then don't! It's your account, so you control what to train.
 * Find a good balance of food and potions to bring. - Filling up with food sounds good when training, but where will you keep your drops? Bring mostly food, leaving some spots open to keep desired items.
 * If it works well, then stay with it - If you find a monster that you can kill easily, or a good area with few people, then stay there and kill away!
 * If you can, train slayer at the same time. Black masks also help greatly with combat due to its slayer bonus.
 * Bring a one-click teleport; you never know when you will need a quick escape.
 * Use halberds when you can; this weapon is of great aid to all players.
 * Undeads are susceptible to Salve amulets. They also raise your experience considerably.

The levels below refer to individual combat stat levels, not your overall combat level.

Level 1 to 15
1. Kill goblins across the bridge near Lumbridge.

Advantages:
 * Many goblins wandering around.
 * Fly-fishing spots nearby (source of food).
 * Players tend to leave bones lying around. Bury them for free Prayer experience!
 * General store nearby. Sell any unwanted goblin drops for coins!

Disadvantages:
 * May be crowded.

Tips:
 * Goblins sometimes drop goblin mail. Save three of these for the Goblin Diplomacy quest!
 * There is a broken-down shack near the fishing area. Inside this shack is an iron dagger respawn.

'''2. Kill Cows or Undead Cows.

Advantages:
 * Many bones may be lying around. Use this to raise prayer.
 * Cowhides can be sold or used to raise Crafting.
 * Raw beef can be made into Sinew and spun into crossbow strings, sold at a hefty sum of 600 each.

Disadvantages:
 * May be crowded.

3. Kill Chickens all over RuneScape.

Advantages:
 * Chickens have very low attack; not much food is needed.
 * Another place where people forget about bones!

Disadvantages:
 * May be crowded.

Tips:
 * Gather the feathers that the chickens drop. You can sell them (they go for around 10 coins each), or save them for fly fishing or fletching arrows.

'''4. Kill men or women found anywhere in Runescape.

Advantages:
 * They do not hit very often; their hitpoints are high for their level.
 * Bones=Prayer XP.
 * They have decent drops for beginners.

Disadvantages:
 * May be targets of macroers.

Tips:
 * Their drops are not bad. They drop herbs which can be saved for Herblore. If you are lucky they may just drop a level 1 Clue scroll!

5. Kill Seagulls on the pier in Port Sarim.

Advantages:
 * The level 2 seagulls have a large amount of hitpoints for their level (6 hitpoints) and the level 3 seagull have 8!
 * This place is usually not very crowded.
 * They can never hit you!

Disadvantages:
 * Pummeling seagulls for a long time may get boring and repetitive.
 * Things can get lonely because it is not a very popular place.
 * They only drop bones.

Tips:
 * Collect their bones to gain prayer xp. Be careful though, prayer raises your combat level.
 * If you are a level 1-10, do not attack level 3 seagulls as they have a bit more defence then level 2 seagulls.

'''6. Kill Rabbits found in desolate places.

Advantages:
 * Rabbit meat is very decent food.
 * Not crowded.
 * They can never hit you.
 * Bones=Prayer XP.

Disadvantages:
 * Killing rabbits is very boring and the spawns are slow.

'''7. Kill Monks found in the Monastery near Edgeville and Ardougne.

Advantages:
 * They will heal you when you ask, even if you just killed their comrades!
 * Not crowded.
 * Bones=Prayer XP.

Disadvantages:
 * They only drop bones.

'''8. Kill Highwaymen found near Falador and Draynor Village.

Advantages:
 * They will automatically attack you, so you can lay back and relax.
 * Not crowded.
 * Bones=Prayer XP.
 * They drop the basic black cape.

Disadvantages:
 * They do a significant amount of damage to low leveled players. Do not train on them until your combat level is above 12.

Level 16 to 30
By this point, you should have Steel armour (5 Defence) and a Steel weapon (5 Attack), or even Black armour if your Attack or Defence level is 10. If you're rich enough and have the right stats, go for Mithril armour!

It is recommended to still stick with killing lower leveled NPCs, but if you want more of a challenge, then...

'''1. Kill Crawling Hands in the Morytania Slayer Tower.

Advantages:
 * Good drops for their level.

Disadvantages:
 * Members only.
 * Slayer level 5 and Priest in Peril quest required.

Tips:
 * For such low level monsters, they have awesome drops! Examples are colored gloves, rings, and even dragon spears!

'''2. Kill barbarians in Barbarian Village.

Advantages:
 * Multicombat, so you can attack a barbarian that another player is attacking.

Disadvantages:
 * It is possible that you could accidentally get into a fight with multiple barbarians.

Tips:
 * Do not underestimate these guys. They are pretty tough opponents and vary in level.

'''3. Kill Al-Kharid Warriors in the Al-Kharid palace.

Tips:
 * Careful...this is a multi-combat area! When you attack a warrior, any other warriors nearby will shout and run to his aid, so you may be attacked by 3 enemies at once! This is dangerous if your combat level is in the 20s. It is good experience though if you are over level 30.

'''4. Kill Minotaurs in the 1st level of the Stronghold of Security.

Advantages:
 * Frequent Iron arrow drops

Disadvantages:
 * Low hitpoints levels, meaning slower XP.

Tips:
 * Stick with the level 12 ones. There are level 27 Minotaurs further in the Stronghold and are notably stronger then the level 12s. None of them are aggressive, however.
 * Minotaurs constantly drop iron arrows, around 7 to 14 at a time. Save them for Ranging!

'''5. Kill Rock Crabs in the northern Fremmenik Province (completion of Fremmenik Trials quest recommended for a better training area.

Tips:
 * If you can, make these your first choice training monster. They are only level 13 but have 50 HITPOINTS!!! Unfortunately, many players train on rock crabs so it may be quite crowded.

6. Kill Dark Warriors in the wilderness.

Advantages:
 * Many high level runes spawn in the castle, meaning that you can make quite a bit of money along the way.
 * This place is not crowded due to its location.
 * Food lasts a long time there.

Disadvantages:
 * Other players can attack you!
 * They have bad drops.

'''7. Kill Dark Wizards found south of Varrock.

Advantages:
 * They drop a good amount of runes.
 * Bones=Prayer XP.
 * They are aggressive, another place to sit back without clicking often.

Disadvantages:
 * VERY crowded.
 * They use magic, so they will hit you very often if you wear melee armor.

'''8. Kill Chaos Druids found in Taverley Dungeon and the Tower near Ardougne.

Advantages:
 * They drop herbs very often, sold unidentified for a good amount of cash.
 * They have low defense.

Disadvantages:
 * Can be crowded.
 * They use magic to bind and weaken you.
 * The Chaos Druid Tower requires 46 thieving to enter.
 * Taverley Dungeon is far from bank.
 * Yanille agility dungeon require you to have 33 agility to get to the level 13 chaos druids.

'''9.Yaks found at Netiznot.

Advantages:
 * 50 HITPOINTS!!!!
 * Rarely ANYONE AT ALL there.
 * Drops can be made into an excellent Range/Melee Hybrid armour.
 * If anyone else is there they don't pick up thier bones---FREE PRAYER XP!
 * They drop pretty decent raw meat that can be cooked at a range that is only 50 paces away!
 * They have fence around them!Great for Ranging,Maging and Hallying
 * Very close to a bank.
 * Max hit is 2!

Disadvantages:
 * Must have started The Fremmenik Isles to access
 * After a while your hp can get very low!

Level 31 to 45
Make sure that you are well prepared with food before training on any of these monsters.

1. Kill hill giants in edgeville dungeon.

Advantages:
 * Hill giants always drop big bones, for either selling (they cost 300-400 each in bulk) or training prayer.
 * They also drop limpwurt root used in herblore.
 * They are not crowded in member's worlds.
 * Safespots are present for halberdiers.

Disadvantages:
 * For level 35s, hill giants may be a bit harder to kill, make sure you prepare a lot of food.

'''2. Kill Yaks on Neitiznot.

Advantages:
 * They are like rock crabs, except a lot less crowded.
 * Very close to a bank.
 * Yak Hide drops are good for crafting.
 * Yak Hair drops are spun into rope.

Disadvantages:
 * Requires completion of a portion of Fremmenik Isles.

'''3. Kill Hobgoblins found in many places.

Advantages:
 * Drops Limpwurt root.
 * Other good drops.
 * Low defence.
 * Drops a Champion Challenge scroll.
 * The ones near the Crafting Guild are near Snape Grass Spawns.

Disadvantages:
 * They can damage you.

'''4. Kill Ghouls found near the entrance to Morytania.

Advantages:
 * None

Disadvantages:
 * The only reason you should be killing these guys is for their champion challenge scrolls.
 * They retreat.
 * They do high damage for their level.
 * They are still alive, so salve amulets do not work.

'''5. Kill Earth Warriors found in the wilderness portion of the Edgeville Dungeon.

Advantages:
 * They have decent drops.
 * They are deserted.
 * They drop a champion challenge scroll.
 * They may be assigned as a slayer task.

Disadvantages:
 * They are in the wilderness where other players can attack you.
 * There is an agility obstacle before their location.

'''6. Kill Zombies or Skeletons found in many places.

Advantages:
 * They have decent drops.
 * They are deserted.
 * They both drop separate champion challenge scrolls.
 * They may be assigned as a slayer task.
 * They are undead, so salve amulets will work.

Disadvantages:
 * They are not very good experience.
 * Salve amulets are not usually accessible by players at this level.

Level 46 to 55
Make sure to bring food and put auto-retaliate on so you will automatically attack the monsters. 1. Kill Flesh Crawlers in the Stronghold of Security.

Advantages:
 * No matter what level you are, Flesh Crawlers will attack you when you enter the area they are in.
 * Not many people train at the Flesh Crawlers, so there isn't much competition.

Disadvantages:
 * Although the Flesh Crawlers are quick experience, they only have 25 health, which means only 100 experience per kill.

Tips:
 * Since the Flesh Crawlers will only be aggressive for a limited time, leave the area and go to the next nearest area where there are more Flesh Crawlers. By doing this, you can continually switch back and forth between areas, so they will always attack you.
 * Wear melee armour, preferably Adamant Armour or Rune Armour for best defense.

2. Kill Experiments in the Experiment Cave.

Advantages:
 * Experiments are level 25 with 100 hitpoints, which means you get a whopping 400 exp. per monster.
 * The Experiments max hit is 1, so unless you want to, you don't need to wear any armor whatsovever!

Disadvantages:
 * The Experiments area is crowded most of the time which means lots of competition for monsters.
 * In order to access the Experiments you must have worked through the Creature of Fenkenstrain quest up to the part where you get the Star amulet.
 * Their only drop is bones so don't expect anything good.

Tips:
 * Bring Strength potions (or any strength boosting items) if you want to kill the Experiments fast.
 * Bring a fast attacking weapon, such as a Dragon dagger or Abyssal whip.
 * killing experiments gives you average of 33 000 experience points per hour

3. Kill Moss Giants in Crandor, the Wilderness, Brimhaven Dungeon, Varrock Sewers, or Pirate's Cove.

Advantages:
 * Moss Giants drop Big Bones for Prayer.
 * All the spawns are deserted in Member's worlds.
 * The Pirate's Cove is not well known, and there are many spawns packed close together there.
 * Good seed drops.
 * Many drops can be alchemized for a good deal of money.
 * This is the fastest training experience for all melee weaponry, despite what you may think. The Pirate's Cove can be used all the way until level 99!

Disadvantages:
 * Must have done Dragon Slayer to access Crandor.
 * Must have started Lunar Diplomacy to access Pirate's Cove
 * Player Killing is popular in the wilderness area on member's worlds.
 * The Varrock Sewers cannot be efficiently used without a decent agility level.
 * 875 coins are required to enter the Brimhaven dungeon each trip.

'''4. Kill Chaos Dwarves in Taverley Dungeon.

Advantages:
 * Drops Muddy Key
 * High Hitpoints.
 * Not crowded.
 * Aggressive.

Disadvantages:
 * They have medium defence.
 * They can hit HARD.

'''5.Yaks found at Netiznot.

Advantages:
 * 50 hitpoints, meaning 200 experience per kill (excluding HP).
 * Usually empty.
 * Drops can be made into an excellent Range/Melee Hybrid armour.
 * They have fences around them for halberds to be used, however it is barely worth the effort.
 * Very close to a bank.

Disadvantages:
 * Must have started The Fremmenik Isles to access

Level 56 to 75
1. Kill Ogres, Jogres, or Mogres (42 Slayer required).

Advantages:
 * Ogres are all over RuneScape, including Karamja, Castle Wars, and Port Sarim.
 * Drops big bones and various seeds. The ranarr seed that the ogres sometimes drop can be sold for 20-30k.
 * High HP and low defence.

Disadvantages:
 * Spots close to a bank can get crowded in largely populated worlds during peak hours.

'''2. Kill monsters in the Dungeon of Tolna.

Advantages:
 * They are almost always abandoned, and they have 50 HP each with low offense and defense stats. Many spawns present.
 * Gnome Glider spot nearby.

Disadvantages:
 * Must complete A Soul's Bane.
 * No safespots.
 * They drop absolutely nothing.

'''3. Kill Kalphite Soldiers in the Kalphite Dungeon.

Advantages:
 * They have low defense and Keris can be used on them for massive hits.
 * Overlooked by many players.
 * Potato Cacti spawn there, they sell for 4K each, meaning that each time you leave to bank you can earn around 100K if you can carry 25 of them.

Disadvantages:
 * They poison frequently, although Superantipoison Potions take care of that.
 * It is multi-combat and they are aggressive, so you must stay with singular spawns to be safe.
 * They have bad drops.

'''4. Kill Ice Giants and Ice Warriors in the Ice cave near Port Sarim.

Advantages:
 * They are aggressive, and it is single combat so you can be a bit lazy with clicking.
 * They have decent drops.
 * They have a high HP level.

Disadvantages:
 * Far from a bank.
 * Crowded at peak times.
 * Can damage you rapidly without good armor.

'''5. Kill Catablepons found in level 3 of the Stronghold of Security.

Advantages:
 * Drops a piece of the skull sceptre.
 * High HP.
 * Not crowded.
 * Drops a level 2 clue scroll.
 * Drops the left half of the Dragon Square Shield.

Disadvantages:
 * They drain your strength.
 * They can damage you.

Level 76 to 99
'''1. Kill TzHaar-Kets or TzHaar-Xils in Tzhaar City.

Advantages:
 * Good for halberdiers as there are a lot of rocks to hide behind.
 * Excellent drops that can be sold for money or worn.
 * Right next to a bank in case you need supplies.
 * It is a multi-combat area, meaning your friends can team up.
 * They are all Non-aggressive despite their combat level.

Disadvantages:
 * They can hit up to 16's, so either wear very strong armour such as Dragon or Barrows, wear Proselyte armour to boost prayer and use Protect from Melee, or attack them with a halberd.
 * They may drop nothing.
 * Very far from a common teleport; although a fairy ring and a Glory telespot are nearby.
 * There is not a single altar on the entire island so you will need to die in one of the nearby minigames in order to recharge your prayer. Some players use Nitroglycerin or Rock Cakes to die instantly in Fight Caves.
 * Some of the Tzhaar-Xil use ranged attacks that hit very often; watch out for the ones wielding Obsidian Rings.

'''2. Kill Bloodvelds in the Slayer Tower at Morytania.

Advantages:
 * They have very high HP but very low defense, meaning that you are able to do your maximum damage often.
 * Drops are similar to that of a lesser demon.
 * Close to a bank if you can use the agility shortcut.
 * They have low attack and low strength, meaning with food, bones to peaches, or full Guthans you can stay there for a very long period of time.
 * This spot can be used all the way up to level 99.

Disadvantages:
 * Their attacks are Magic based Melee, so regular melee armor will not work well. Wear dragonhide for best Defense, although it means you must have a decent ranged level to train efficiently there.
 * They constantly drop only Coins.
 * You must have a Slayer level of 50.
 * This is a very well known spot, thus it will get crowded.

'''3. Kill Ankous in the Stronghold of Security

Advantages:
 * They are undead, so a Salve Amulet can be used.
 * Frequent Blood Rune and Death Rune drops (Law runes for F2P) that can be sold for money or used to train Magic.
 * Close to Edgeville Bank.
 * Drops a piece of the Skull Sceptre.
 * Some safespots present.
 * They drop Cooked Bass, which can be used to heal.
 * Bones to peaches can be used here.
 * They drop level 3 Clues

Disadvantages:
 * Must complete 3 levels of the Stronghold of Security to get into this area.
 * Crowded at times.
 * The safespots cannot be used until they stop being aggressive.

'''4. Kill Trolls or Troll Generals in Trollheim

Advantages:
 * Close to Trollehim Teleport.
 * Frequent Seed drops.
 * High HP and low attack.
 * Usually isolated.
 * Troll Generals drop the Granite Shield.

Disadvantages:
 * They can hit very hard due to their high strength.
 * Troll Generals must be attacked with a safespot or prayer. They hit up to 46's.

'''5. Kill Cyclops in Warrior's Guild

Advantages:
 * Close to Bank
 * Frequent alchable drops.
 * High HP and low defence.
 * Drops defenders.
 * Drops level 3 clues.

Disadvantages:
 * They can get very crowded.
 * Warrior Tokens are required to stay.

'''6. Kill Monkey Guards at Ape Atoll.

Advantages:
 * You can use Protect from Melee to stay there forever since an altar is nearby.
 * They drop Big Monkey Bones which can be buried for prayer.
 * They have very high HP, so Full Dharoks can perform well there.
 * They can even regenerate to provide more xp!
 * You can use prayers that boost attack and strength to hit harder and more often.
 * You can switch the Ring of Wealth to a Warrior Ring or a Berserker Ring to help you out here, since you do not have to worry about drops.

Disadvantages:
 * There are poison spiders nearby.
 * Barrows armor wears off very quickly there since over 5 NPCs can pile on you at a time.
 * They have a high defence.
 * If your prayer runs out you may be faced with frequent 16's being hit on you.
 * Must start Monkey Madness and complete it to a degree.
 * Must have Ape Atoll Teleport to use efficiently.

'''7. Kill Dust Devils in the Smoke Dungeon.

Advantages:
 * They have low attack and defence, and a high HP.
 * Drops comparable to Fire giants.
 * Can drop the Dragon Chainbody. (Very rare)
 * Not crowded.
 * Bones to Peaches can be used here.

Disadvantages:
 * Facemask and 65 Slayer required.
 * Far from bank.

'''8. Kill Dragons found in many places.

Advantages:
 * Dragonhide and Dragon Bones are worth a lot of money.
 * Level 3 clue drops.
 * Black Dragons can drop the Draconic Visage.

Disadvantages:
 * They can get very crowded.
 * Anti-Dragon/Dragonfire shields are required.
 * Red, black, and metal dragons have very high defence.

'''9. Kill Hellhounds in Taverley Dungeon and Family Crest Dungeon.

Advantages:
 * Bones to Peaches can be used.
 * High HP and low defence.
 * Drops level 3 clues.

Disadvantages:
 * They can get very crowded.
 * Taverly Dungeon can only be effective if you have 70/80 agility.
 * They only drop bones, and of course clues are rare
 * You may have to compete with a cannon
 * May have to walk through posionous spiders

'''10. Play the Pest Control minigame.

Advantages:
 * You are awarded coins for each game won.
 * Recommendation points can be spent on XP or other rewards.

Disadvantages:
 * Experience is halved for combat damage (2XP per damage for non-controlled attacks)
 * Loss of a game rewards nothing.
 * One game has a minimum time of 112 seconds, provided that portals are destroyed within 7 seconds of unshielding.

11. Kill Moss Giants at the Pirate's Cove.

Advantages:
 * Moss Giants drop Big Bones for Prayer.
 * This location is deserted since most people do not even know about its existence, even after completing Lunar Diplomacy.
 * Good seed drops.
 * Many drops can be alchemized.
 * At these levels the experience rates from Moss Giants suddenly soar. These spawns can be used all the way until level 99!
 * The spawns are very close together, enabling continuous killing.

Disadvantages:
 * Must have started Lunar Diplomacy to access.
 * Very boring.

12. Kill Fire Giants at the Waterfall Dungeon or in the Smoke Dungeon.

Advantages:
 * Fire Giants drop Big Bones for Prayer.
 * The Smoke Dungeon is deserted since people are more attracted to the Dust Devils there.
 * Very good drops, including the Dragon Medium Helmet.
 * With Guthan the Infested's set effect, you can virtually stay here forever.

Disadvantages:
 * Must have started Waterfall Quest to enter Waterfall Dungeon.
 * Must have facemask and 10 slayer to enter Smoke Dungeon, sacrificing the helmet spot and any barrows set effects. (Healing is possible there, but you must switch to the mask every 8 seconds, or you will continuously be hit 20's until your HP is reduced to one. Ordinarily this would not be a problem, but since the fire giants is capable of hitting 1's and are aggressive, a lost connection can mean the loss of many millions of coins.

Training Tips
1. A Scimitar is the best weapon to train all stats with until 70 attack, and at 60 attack it is recommended to do quests that unlock all the dragon weapons. Use Scimitars and Halberds for slash, Longswords (controlled) and Daggers for stab, Battleaxes for crush, and a Spear for all styles (controlled and defence).

2. Train your attack up if you want to be able to wield better weapons and hit more frequently. Train strength if you want to raise your maximum damage. Defence helps you fight without taking high damage every turn. Train all three stats as you see fit.

3. Halberds cannot train attack (except by the means of controlled attack style), but they are able to train strength and defence. They are also primarily a slash weapon, despite the fact that two of their attack styles use stab.

4. Generally slow weapons are more accurate then the faster weapons, at the price of less hits per hour. (With the exception of the abyssal whip.)

5. Daggers and Spears can be poisoned up to 6 damage, so if you want to kill monsters faster at the expense of a few less experience per monster killed, they are the way to go. The Dragon Dagger's special attack is also the reason why people use that weapon. (The equivalent of 8 hits with a dragon scimitar in the time it takes to attack four times.)(Spears are almost never used due to the fact that they are slow, two-handed, and always provide defence experience. However, if you are able to make and wield hastas (One-handed spears), then the rune hasta is an ideal weapon to train your defence with at below 60 attack.)

6. Two-handed swords are only used in PvP combat due to their high strength bonus and their crush attack. They are rendered obsolete due to the introduction of the Barrelchest Anchor (Requires completion of the Great Brain Robbery).

7. Maces are rarely used since they are inferior to most other weapons. The only upside is their prayer bonus (Up to 6 with the Void Knight Mace) and the Dragon Mace's Special Attack.

8. When you are able to enter the Warrior's Guild, it is recommended that you retrieve the highest defender you are able to wield, since their attack bonus helps greatly in combat.

9. Use an abyssal whip to train efficiently at 70 attack, however the whip is unable to train strength except by the means of the controlled attack style.

10. When you are able to wear full sets of Barrows armour, their special effects can help you greatly in battle as they can be interchanged with regular weapons. Torag the Corrupted's set for defence (Best used without the hammers and with any weapon plus a shield), Dharok the Wretched's set for extremely high strength at lower HP (Best used with prayer or super defence potions and food, watch your HP), Verac the Defiled's set for ignoring defence (Best used with prayer since it gives a prayer bonus, although it is the weakest melee barrows armour), and Guthan the Infested's set for healing by the amount of damage you deal (Best used with a one-handed weapon and a rune defender, since the spear is a horrible weapon by itself).

11. Do not waste money on Dragon armour unless you want it just for show.

12. With the appropriate ranged level, you can use dragonhide armor which has good defence versus all types of attacks, even magic.