Strength

Strength (often abbreviated as str) is a melee combat skill that determines how much damage is done in melee combat. The higher the Strength level, the higher the maximum hit and the higher the average damage.

This makes it the most common level 99 skill and the skill with the highest minimum requirement to be ranked.

Strength is also required to wield certain weapons and armour. It is also a necessary stat in several agility grapple shortcuts, for barbarian fishing, and is a requeriment for several quests.

Experience
A formula is used that decides how much experience a player obtains when fighting aggressively. If a player hits an opponent, whatever damage they deal is divided by 2.5 and given to the player's experience in their Strength skill. In other words, you receive Strength experience equal to 40% of the damage dealt. For example, if a player hits a 10, then they will receive 4 Strength experience.

If a player fights with the "controlled" attack style, then whatever damage they deal will be divided by 7.5 and given to the player's Strength, Attack and Defence experience.

The Constitution skill also receives some experience, but it will be equal to the damage dealt divided by 7.5 regardless of combat or attack style. For example, if a player hits a 30 while on aggressive style, then they will receive 4 Constitution experience, in addition to the 12 experience in Strength.

Training
Strength can be trained the same way Attack and Defence can be trained, by using a melee combat style and dealing damage and there is not a drastic difference between the three in terms of training, besides having to use the Aggressive style, or Controlled style to divide experience equitatively between the three skills.

People believe that the higher you hit, the easier it will be to train other melee skills. Thus, Strength is usually kept higher than Attack and Defence to maximise experience gained. However, if Attack is neglected, the training can become more difficult. It is no use to be able to hit 500 at level 30 if you never hit at all. It is the same with Defence, as if your Defence is too low you will not be able to train effectively. You will need to run to banks all the time to get more food,or use prayer potions, which is impractical for training.

For high-levels, the best weapon for training strength would be the chaotic rapier in terms of experience per hour. However, many prefer the Saradomin sword to train Strength, as it has the same stats as an abyssal whip. However, it is a two-handed weapon. Although the abyssal whip is cheaper, the only way to train strength using it is by selecting the controlled attack style, rendering the abyssal whip inefficient for training strength on its own. Most players that can't afford a Saradomin sword use a Dragon scimitar instead. The Staff of Light is now considered to be an equal if not better alternative to using a Dragon scimitar to train Strength. The only drawback is the high price of the Staff of Light. Characters who are pure strength with a low attack often use a Red topaz machete or an Obsidian maul with a berserker necklace, due to their null attack level requirements.

Strength is preferred to Attack by most players, as it allows you to hit higher at the expense of accuracy.

Weapons

 * Barrelchest Anchor - Requires level 40 Strength and level 60 Attack to wield. Boosts can't be used.
 * Granite maul - Requires level 50 Strength and level 50 Attack to wield. Boosts can't be used.
 * Granite mace - Requires level 50 Strength and level 50 Attack to wield. Boosts can't be used.
 * Obsidian maul - Requires level 60 Strength to wield. Boosts can't be used.
 * Dharok's greataxe - Requires level 70 strength and level 70 attack to wield. Boosts can't be used.
 * Torag's hammers - Requires level 70 strength and level 70 attack to wield. Boosts can't be used.
 * All Halberds - All halberds require a Strength level half of the Attack level required to wield, except for the steel halberd, which requires no strength. Boosts can't be used.
 * For example the Rune halberd requires level 40 Attack and 20 Strength.

Armour

 * Black Mask - Requires level 10 Strength and level 10 Defence to wear.
 * Full slayer helmet - Requires level 20 Strength, 10 Defence, 20 Magic, 20 Ranged and the completion of the Smoking Kills quest to wear.
 * Void Knight equipment - Requires level 42 Strength, 42 Attack, 42 Defence, 42 Constitution, 42 Magic, 42 Ranged and 22 Prayer to wear.
 * Granite equipment - Requires level 50 Strength and Defence to wear.
 * Torva armour - Requires level 80 Strength, 80 Defence and 80 Constitution to wear.

Other features

 * You require a certain strength level to do certain quests. Quests marked with an asterisk on the previous link means that Strength can be boosted to fulfill the requirement.
 * Strength is a requirement for many agility shortcuts involving grapples.
 * Strength helps you in a variety of ways on barbarian fishing.
 * Strength is used on the Dungeoneering skill in several ways.
 * A Strength cape can be purchased for 99,000 coins from Sloane (or Yadech Strongarm after While Guthix Sleeps) at the Warriors' Guild by players who have achieved level 99 Strength.
 * To gain access to the Warriors Guild you need a combined total of 130 levels in attack and strength or level 99 in either.
 * You can push through the magical wheat in Puro-Puro easier with a higher strength level.*60 Strength is required to enter the God Wars Dungeon via the Strength route.
 * A door in the God Wars Dungeon, leading to Bandos' enclosure and General Graardor, requires each player to have level 70 Strength and a hammer to open.

Strength bonus
Most weapons have a strength bonus which can be seen in the equipment menu, beside the inventory menu. This bonus, along with the Strength level, is used to calculate maximum melee hit.

The more powerful weapons such as the two handed swords or battleaxes have higher strength bonuses, while the weaker weapons such as daggers and swords have lower strength bonuses. Also, the stronger the metal, the better strength bonus. For example, a rune two-handed sword has a higher strength bonus than an adamant two-handed sword.

Temporary boosts

 * Strength cape - boosts Strength level by 1 for a short period of time.
 * Strength potion - Boosts Strength level by 3 to 10; amount depends on player's Strength level, (12.5% of Strength level).
 * Combat potion - Boosts Strength level by 3 to 11; amount depends on player's Strength level. Also boosts Attack at the same time. (12.5% for both).
 * Super strength potion - Boosts Strength level by 5 to 19; amount depends on player's Strength level (20%).
 * Zamorak potion - Boosts Strength level by 2 to 13; amount depends on player's Strength level.
 * When "Dharoking" with a full Dharok set, players can lower their life points to where they are nearly dead, such as having less than 100 LP left. Doing so greatly increases their Strength, allowing them to deal massive damage, upwards of 800 if they are lucky.
 * Prayer - Burst of Strength, Superhuman Strength, Ultimate Strength, Chivalry and Piety boost Strength level by 5%, 10%, 15%, 18% and 23% respectively.
 * Ancient Curses - Leech Strength and Turmoil boosts a player's strength level by 5%, then up to 10% after time, and 23% + 10% of the opponent's level respectively.
 * Black mask - When equipped, boosts strength level by 15%; amount depends on player's Strength level. Also boosts Attack at the same time. Only works while fighting monsters that have been assigned to you by a Slayer Master. note: not stackable with salve amulet of either charge.
 * Dragon Battleaxe special attack - Boosts your Strength level by 20%. However it also lowers your Magic, Attack, Ranged, and Defence level by 10%. Drains 100 percent of your special attack bar. This is not stackable with any other Strength boosts.
 * Salve Amulet - Provides a boost of 15% attack and strength while fighting the undead. This effect is stackable with any one strength-boosting prayer and any one of the following: a Strength potion, Super Strength potion, Zamorak brew, or Dragon Battleaxe special attack. Note: not stackable with black mask of any charge.
 * Salve Amulet (e) - Provides a boost of 20% attack and strength while fighting the undead. This effect is stackable with the same combinations of prayers and potions as the unenchanted version.
 * Beer - Raises your strength by 2, but lowers your Attack by 4, while most other alcoholic drinks will raise your strength while lowering Attack on varying amounts.
 * Braindeath 'rum' - Raises your Strength by 3 and Mining by one, but decreases Attack, Defence, Prayer, Magic, Agility and Herblore by five.
 * The special move of the Obsidian golem familiar raises strength by 9.

The maximum boost can be achieved using the weapons with the highest strength bonus, Overload or Extreme strength (+26%), Leech Strength (up to 10%), then switching to the Turmoil prayer (+32% at maximum), with an additional boost from the Salve Amulet(e) (+20%) when fighting undead monsters.

Fun Weapons
Fun weapons are weapons that give large negative attack and strength bonuses and are usually used by players not wanting to gain any strength experience or are used just for showing off. Examples of a fun weapons include the Easter carrot, the rubber chicken, and snow balls (From Holiday Event).