Godsword

Godswords are powerful two-handed swords that were released on 28 August 2007, along with the God Wars Dungeon. Requiring 75 Attack to wield, they are among the strongest melee weapons to be found outside Daemonheim. A godsword consists of a godsword blade, to which a godsword hilt is attached. There exists one hilt for each of four of RuneScape's gods that are still fighting in the God Wars Dungeon: Armadyl, Bandos, Saradomin, and Zamorak. Consequently, there are four different godswords: the Armadyl godsword, the Bandos godsword, the Saradomin godsword, and the Zamorak godsword. Each godsword has a different passive effect as well as a different appearance, but all four have the same stats.

The godsword is created by smithing the three different godsword shards into a godsword blade at an anvil. Doing so requires 80 Smithing, though the Assist System can be used, and gives a total of 200 Smithing experience. A godsword hilt is then attached to the godsword blade, which requires no stats and can be done by any player. Hilts can be attached or removed at will, at any time. Godsword hilts are dropped exclusively by the generals within the God Wars Dungeon (aside from Nex) and godsword shards are dropped by the generals and their bodyguards.

Historical context
Somewhere near the end of the Third Age, Zamorak had been pushed back and contained in the Forinthry region. His defeat seemed inevitable. A loose alliance between Saradomin, Armadyl and Bandos began construction on the godsword, a weapon meant to ensure Zamorak's final defeat. The blade itself was forged by the aviantese, while each of the of the three gods created hilts that would control the blade's tremendous power.

A squadron of Armadyl's best aviantese was given the task of delivering the godsword to the army of Saradomin, who was doing battle with Zamorak's forces. However, the existence of the blade had been leaked to Zamorak and aware its destination, he sent a battalion of his best forces led by one of his most powerful generals, the mighty K'ril Tsutsaroth, to capture the blade. They laid an ambush for the aviantese transporting the godsword. Zamorak created his own hilt in hopes of using the weapon to break the siege of his forces by the other gods.

Upon coming under attack, the aviantese carrying the godsword retreated into a temple beneath the mountains, and set up a defense against Zamorak's forces in an attempt to protect the godsword. Bandos and Saradomin sent portions of their best forces into the temple as reinforcements for the aviantese, and for a time the three groups fought as allies against Zamorak's minions. However, as the battle wore on, old distrust between the forces of Armadyl, Bandos, and Saradomin resurfaced, and the forces of the three gods turned on one another, dissolving the alliance. The battle in the temple became a four-way free-for-all for control of the godsword; it is believed that during this great melee, the godsword was shattered into four pieces.

However the battle was dwarfed by the conflict going on in Forinthry, where Zamorak's forces were staging a last stand. By a massive stroke of luck Zamorak found the Stone of Jas, and knowing that he had to do something drastic to escape doom, used the Stone's immense power to lay waste to the entire region, creating the Wilderness. The sheer destruction of the action had several effects. So many aviantese were caught in the blast that they were driven to near extinction, to Armadyl's anguish. It also sealed the God Wars Dungeon, freezing its combatants in ice, where they would remain undisturbed for thousands of years, their battle - and the godsword - long forgotten. Lastly the explosion cut into the Anima Mundi itself, and its cry of pain caused Guthix to awaken; furious, he ended the God Wars, expelled the young gods from Gielinor, and enacted the Edicts of Guthix to prevent any more catastrophic conflict.

During the Fifth Age, a combination of tectonic movements within the Wilderness and long rows of fires lit by adventurers thawed the dungeon and the armies within it. Unaware that the God Wars have ended, the followers of Armadyl, Bandos, Saradomin, and Zamorak continue to wage war for control of the godsword. Adventurers are now able to enter the dungeon for themselves and do battle with the armies within. Those who are powerful enough to defeat the mighty leaders can obtain the pieces of the godsword, and reconstruct it for themselves.

Grand Exchange prices and effects
The godsword's passive effect varies depending on which hilt is attached to the blade.

Armadyl godsword
The Armadyl godsword has the effect of raising the wielder's Attack and Strength levels by 1, up to 10% of the wielder's level. This effect does not stack with potions, resulting in a decrease in effectiveness while combat training as most combat potions provide a better boost than the Armadyl godsword. Also, the Saradomin godsword is far more effective for saving inventory space or cutting down on combat supplies and so is downright superior. While the Armadyl godsword is vastly cheaper than the Saradomin godsword, the benefits provided by the Bandos godsword (lowering opponents' defence rating) combined with combat potions result in the Bandos godsword being better for training than the Armadyl godsword.

Bandos godsword
General Graardor is commonly killed in the God Wars Dungeon so there is a large supply of Bandos hilts, resulting in the Bandos godsword being the cheapest of the four godswords. However, as the Bandos godsword has a chance to drain Defence, the usefulness of its passive effect is directly proportional to the amount of time spent to kill an enemy. This means the Bandos godsword's passive ability is not useful for Slayer training, or any sort of combat activity in which monsters are killed rapidly. The passive effect is most useful against high-level boss monsters, as it has the best chance to drain the greatest amount of Defence during long battles.

Saradomin godsword
The Saradomin godsword is most effectively used in monster-killing situations since it has a 25% on hit to restore life points. Its passive effect can be useful to players who are training Slayer, doing the Barrows activity, or attempting the TzHaar Fight Cave. Along with healing effects such as bunyips, Guthan's set of Barrows equipment, a regen bracelet, and Soul Split, the Saradomin godsword can act as a replacement for food. Its prayer restoration can also save players doses of prayer potions. The effect is also very useful at fighting high level bosses, as the time a player can last at bosses without banking is usually limited by the amount of food or healing methods available to the player and so its effect will allow the player to last considerably longer.

Zamorak godsword
While the Zamorak godsword's passive effect is not particularly useful for general monster killing; it is very effective in a few special cases. One popular use is to stun Commander Zilyana, who has devastating melee and Magic attacks that she will use only at melee range. Additionally, the effect has a few uses during PvP situations, such as freezing players in place either to prevent their escape or to make it easier to escape them. This is especially useful in PvP when fighting against rangers who use the Binding Shot ability to 'farcast' players who use melee. During Castle Wars, the Zamorak godsword can be used to freeze players who are carrying the flag, or players who are attempting to capture the flag.

Additionally, as the godsword's freezing effect disables Auto Retaliate on players, players can freeze their target, step away, attack once, then immediately step away again before their opponent can retaliate. This works even against faster weapons such as an abyssal whip.

Trivia

 * Prior to the Evolution of Combat, all four godswords had different special attacks. To compensate for the loss of their special attacks, each godsword was given a passive ability that is meant to mimic its old special attack.
 * Although Nex is a leader within the God Wars Dungeon, she does not drop a hilt; as such, there is no such thing as a Zaros Godsword. Before her release in January 2011, many players speculated that she would drop a Zaros hilt. However this never happened as technically, Zaros was never part of the God Wars and therefore wouldn't know about the Godsword, so there was no point in making a hilt.
 * For a time after their release, godswords were controversial among players, as the strongest available melee weapons at the time were the abyssal whip and Barrows equipment. As such, godswords represented an enormous increase in power over Ranged and Magic, and a common complaint on the forums was that godswords excessively unbalanced the combat triangle.
 * All godswords have become available as a 'lucky' reward from the Treasure hunter activity. These are not tradeable.
 * All godswords currently have active specials in the combat beta which are comparable to their original specials (prior to the Evolution of Combat). This has resulted in major changes to the swords prices, although it is not yet known if the specials will be changed before the implementation of the new combat system. The specials are currently triggered with adrenaline, as opposed to the special bar which was used when the godswords were first released.