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This article is about the Prayer skill. For information on training Prayer, see Prayer training (F2P) (P2P).
Prayer
Prayer
Release date 4 January 2001 (Update)
Members only No
Minimum level
for Hiscores
15
as of 12 Dec 2017
Players with
99
165,071
as of 4 Feb 2023
Players with 120 3,915
as of 4 Feb 2023
Players with
200M XP
1,015
as of 4 Feb 2023
[view][talk]
A detailed image of the Prayer icon

Prayer is a combat skill that grants the player specialised buffs in combat by evoking the power of the dead. All players start with limited access to the Prayer skill. As a player's Prayer level increases, they gain access to new prayers. As players traverse the land and complete many adventures, they find themselves presented with the opportunity to gain the prayers and blessings from various schools of thought represented by different gods. Some of the strongest prayers are only available after doing certain members' quests or activities. Prayer is currently one of the quickest skills to achieve skill mastery in, as it is possible to reach level 99 in just a few days using the appropriate bones and methods; however, quickly training prayer tends to be expensive compared to other skills.

Prayer is classified as a combat skill and is factored into the combat level formula. Therefore, leveling up in Prayer may result in a higher combat level.

A player activating a prayer for use in combat.

The main free-to-play ways to train prayer are to bury bones and scatter demonic ashes. However, for RuneScape members, using bones or ashes on a gilded altar in a player-owned house's Chapel is more efficient. For wealthier members, reinforced dragon bones are a quick and easy way to reach level 99 Prayer, while semi-prosperous players can still level up with dragon bones. Bones can be obtained by killing various creatures, by taking bone drops that other players leave behind, or by collecting the bones that spawn in various places, such as in parts of the Edgeville Dungeon or at the Chaos Temple in the southern Wilderness. Demon ashes can be obtained by killing demons or by taking demon ash drops that other players leave behind. Prayer is difficult to train in free-to-play because the greatest renewable source of prayer experience is big bones, which give only 15 experience when buried.

Initially, it was believed that prayers are aligned specifically with Saradomin, and there are those on Gielinor who believed that prayers are a response from Saradomin. As Zamorak claimed in a God Letter,[1] the God of Order deals with prayers, "so when you give dead creatures / people an honourable burial in his name it makes him pay closer attention to you, and help you out in little ways that Guthix won't notice."

However, Necrovarus' notes states that this is factually incorrect, although it is nevertheless believed by many on Gielinor. The notes state that prayer is actually energy harnessed from the dead by giving them a proper burial. Indeed, Yauchomi, the former Lumbridge Prayer Tutor, also stated that burying bones raised the player's Prayer level by increasing their "holy energies". The actual connection between Prayer and the gods of Gielinor, including Saradomin as well as others such as Zaros and Seren, is that the unique energy obtained by giving the dead a proper burial could be channelled into receiving certain boons or curses, which may be aligned with a particular god.

Prayer, unlike most skills that are directly related to their name, cannot be trained just through the act of "praying". In fact, Prayer almost completely relies on destroying remains, such as by scattering demonic ashes or burying bones to gain experience.

Quick prayers[]

On 25 March 2009, the Prayer icon next to the minimap (Prayer icon) (now next to the prayer bar on the action bar) had a function added which expanded on its function as a simple meter. This new function was recognised as "quick prayers". It can now be left-clicked to activate, or deactivate, a group of Prayers preselected by the player simultaneously. You can select which prayers are activated by right-clicking the button and choosing the "Select quick prayers" option. (You can do the same with curses; the option changes to "Select quick curses". Quick curses and quick prayers are saved separately.) Before the addition of this function, players had to, sometimes frantically, locate the Prayer icon and activate them one by one. This new function allows players to place many of the most useful prayers on immediate standby. However, many players use the button simply to turn off Prayers when accessing prayers through its tab, by double left-clicking it to turn off all prayers.

This was the official release of the "quick prayers" function, as provided by Jagex:

The fourth upgrade for this week will save you valuable seconds in times of need. The Prayer button near the minimap has undergone an overhaul so you can now set a Prayer, or group of Prayers, before you go into action, and activate or de-activate it with one click. The button will also indicate the loss of Prayer points by gradually fading out – similar to the behaviour of the life points button. This should help prevent you accidentally running out of Prayer points, and finding yourself suddenly vulnerable to your opponent's attacks.
 
— Jagex

On 10 July 2017, an update allowed players to add up to 10 presets for quick prayers or curses. Any of the presets can be dragged to the action bar for fast switching. This update also added the ability to name the presets using the names from the bank presets.

History and origins[]

Prayer is one of the oldest skills in the game, dating back to early RuneScape Classic. As with (good and evil) Magic, it had two facets: PrayGood and PrayEvil. Earlier than this, Prayer was known as Necromancy - the name change was probably because Necromancy was the moniker given to the Magic Class (back when the game had classes).

Prayer was the last of the original skills in which players were able to reach the maximum skill level of 99. Before any of the "prayers" were made available (the current motive for training this skill), players could still gain Prayer levels through burying bones and completing The Restless Ghost. While Prayer did not have any uses, it existed in the Good Magic and Evil Magic skills simply as a "moral compass" of sorts. Although superficially burying bones may not seem to have much to do with Prayer, it has been said in Postbag from the Hedge that although Saradomin condemns violence, he does like the player to bury the body honourably. In the God Letters, Guthix himself commented:

Saradomin has a great pride upon himself, and his time is mostly spent with listening to the songs of his glories from the religious and the offerings of bones made to him by those seeking to gain his favour through prayers.
 
Prayer interface

The standard prayer book

These, and Zamorak's statement above, would appear to align with the widespread belief that prayer is associated specifically with Saradomin, and many on Gielinor actually believed that prayer is a response from Saradomin in return for offering of bones. However, as stated in Necrovarus' notes, prayer actually draws its power on the souls of the dead. By giving them a proper burial, they emit a unique energy that can be channelled by skilled individuals to gain boons or curses, which are taught within a school of thought represented by a god.

On 6 September 2011 Prayer points were updated to work in the same way as life points, i.e. the maximum number of Prayer points a player normally has is 10x their Prayer level. The drain rate of Prayer points has been updated to match the change.

On 20 November 2012, the Evolution of Combat update reduced the effect of many prayers. For example, the damage reduction of protection prayers was changed from 100% to 50%. It also nerfed stat-boosting prayers severely. But it did introduce some new prayers for mages and rangers, to make the combat triangle balanced prayer-wise. Melee still appears to be a little better in the original prayers as melee prayers require lower Prayer levels than Magic prayers.

Overview of how Prayer works[]

Increasing a player's Prayer level is generally done through various uses of bones or demonic ashes, with non-members limited to burying them (except in Daemonheim, where they can be used on altars). Members have other options that are faster; such as offering bones to the gods at a gilded altar; worshipping at the Ectofuntus; or taking part in activities that award prayer experience such as Soul Wars, Conquest and Pest Control.

To use a prayer, players must click on any prayer available. Prayers that are highlighted with colour can be used by the player, while Prayers unavailable are darkened. When a player clicks on a prayer, a lighted circle will appear around it, indicating that they are using it.

Using a prayer drains the player's Prayer energy at varying speeds, and once this energy is depleted, prayers can no longer be used; therefore, use of any and all prayers are temporary. To slow the rate of drain, players may equip items that add Prayer bonuses, such as a blessed holy symbol or a priest gown, which reduces the drain rate by increasing Prayer bonuses. Increasing Prayer level does not reduce the drain rate of prayers.

Once the player's Prayer points reaches zero, all prayers will deactivate and no prayers will be able to be in use until the player recharges their Prayer points.

Prayer level determines the player's maximum prayer points: if it's drained due to factors such as a trap in a Clan Battlefield, the maximum amount of prayer points is reduced accordingly. This can be remedied with the use of a restore potion or super restore.

Recharging[]

Praying at altar

A player recharging Prayer points.

To recharge Prayer points, a player must pray at an altar or drink a potion that restores Prayer points. If a holy wrench is in the player's inventory or pocket slot while drinking a Prayer-restoring potion, additional Prayer points will be restored. Other options include dying or entering one of the many minigames that are PvP related.

There are some altar locations that will charge the player's Prayer points and offer a small boost to Prayer. These locations are:

Note: Praying at these altars will not raise the player's base level, it will only provide a small boost – similar to other stat-boosting potions.

The prayer cape's special ability will raise it from 990 to 1000.

The Dungeoneering reward items split dragontooth necklace, twisted bird skull necklace, and demon horn necklace recharge Prayer points while burying various types of bones, which can be very useful in combination with the bonecrusher, another Dungeoneering reward item.

The Falador shields, obtainable from the Falador Tasks, can also restore the player's Prayer points, but may only be activated once per day. The saradomin godsword has a passive effect giving it a chance to restore both life and Prayer points with each hit.

Jangerberries restore 10 Prayer points. Spicy stew with yellow spice can increase Prayer points by 10–60 points, however it may also decrease it by the same amount.

While wearing full Citharede robes, a player can listen to a musician, restoring 30 Prayer points every game tick, or 150 points every 3 seconds.

Wearing a full set of Penance armour will allow prayer to slowly replenish at a rate of 30 prayer points every minute.

The Penance aura enables the player to gain Prayer points equal to 5% of any damage they receive.

Other uses[]

Players with level 70 or greater Prayer may also bless the gravestones of others to increase a gravestone's lifespan, up to 5 minutes.

Players under level 70 Prayer can repair the gravestones of others to return the gravestone's timer back to its original time. For example, a gravestone that lasts for four minutes, when repaired, will return to its time of four minutes.

Players with level 80 or greater Prayer can battle Gregorovic and Telos, the Warden (who also requires 80 Attack, Ranged and Magic).

Prayer bonus[]

Prayer level use

This Prayer level is drained by 260 points.

Prayer bonuses can be viewed in the Equipment and Stats window. Here, players can see all their bonuses, including Prayer. Prayer points will drain slower or quicker, depending upon the amount of Prayer bonuses a player has. Players who have a positive Prayer bonus will drain slower Prayer points than usual. The higher the Prayer bonus is, the slower the player's Prayer points will drain when using Prayer.

Each point of Prayer bonus reduces the drain rate by 1% of the regular drain rate of the Prayer(s). A general formula for the time (interval) between dropping Prayer points with a given Prayer bonus is:

Where the drain interval is the number of seconds per point (i.e. 1 point per x seconds).

For example, if a player uses the Protect from Melee prayer with a Prayer bonus of 0, their Prayer points would drain at a rate of 1 point every 0.3 seconds. If that player then equips armour giving a Prayer bonus of +25, the drain rate of this Prayer is slowed to 100 – 25 = 75%, so the drain interval becomes 0.3 × 100 / 75 = 0.4, or 1 point per 0.4 seconds instead of 1 point every 0.3 seconds.

You can also use the Prayer Drain Calculator to see your prayer drain rate based on which prayer(s) you have active and what your prayer bonus is.

To generate a Prayer bonus, players must equip certain types of armour, clothing, weapons, and jewellery. See the prayer equipment page for more information.

Prayer bonuses, however, do not help to stave off the side-effects of locations (such as the Barrows crypts and tunnels) and NPCs which drain Prayer.

Prayers[]

This is the list of all prayers in the game. As a player's Prayer level increases, more of these Prayers will become available for usage.

While members have the ability to be granted access to all 30 prayers, free players are only able to access 21 out of 30 prayers, restricted from the last eight along with Protect from Summoning. Prayers can be activated in the Prayer List interface (Prayer-icon) Players can also use some prayers at the same time with others, though doing so will compound the drain rate of these prayers. Some prayers cannot be used simultaneously and are marked in the table with the same background colour. For example, activating the Smite prayer while the Protect from Melee prayer is active will automatically deactivate Protect from Melee as they are incompatible Prayers.

Prayer Level Effect Drain rate (second per point) Drain rate (points per minute) Notes
Thick Skin Thick Skin 1 +2 Defence levels when calculating block chance 6 10 [p 1]
Burst of Strength Burst of Strength 4 +2% Melee damage 6 10 [p 1][p 2]
Clarity of Thought Clarity of Thought 7 +2 Attack levels when calculating hit chance 6 10 [p 1][p 2]
Sharp Eye Sharp Eye 8 +2 Ranged levels when calculating hit chance 6 10 [p 1][p 2]
Unstoppable Force Unstoppable Force 8 +2% Ranged damage 6 10 [p 1][p 2]
Mystic Will Mystic Will 9 +2 Magic levels when calculating hit chance 6 10 [p 1][p 2]
Charge (prayer) Charge 9 +2% Magic damage 6 10 [p 1][p 2]
Rock Skin Rock Skin 10 +4 Defence levels when calculating block chance 1.5 40 [p 1]
Superhuman Strength Superhuman Strength 13 +4% Melee damage 1.5 40 [p 1][p 2]
Improved Reflexes Improved Reflexes 16 +4 Attack levels when calculating hit chance 1.5 40 [p 1][p 2]
Rapid Restore Rapid Restore 19 2x restore rate for all skills except Constitution Life points, Prayer Prayer and Summoning Summoning 6 10 [p 3]
Rapid heal Rapid Heal 22 2x restore rate for Constitution Life points 6 10 [p 3]
Protect Items Protect Item 25 Players keep 1 extra item when they die. Also on Ancient Curses. 6 10 [p 3]
Hawk Eye Hawk Eye 26 +4 Ranged levels when calculating hit chance 1.5 40 [p 1][p 2]
Unrelenting Force Unrelenting Force 26 +4% Ranged damage 1.5 40 [p 1][p 2]
Mystic Lore Mystic Lore 27 +4 Magic levels when calculating hit chance 1.5 40 [p 1][p 2]
Super Charge Super Charge 27 +4% Magic damage 1.5 40 [p 1][p 2]
Steel Skin Steel Skin 28 +6 Defence levels when calculating block chance 0.6 100 [p 1]
Ultimate Strength Ultimate Strength 31 +6% Melee damage 0.6 100 [p 1][p 2]
Incredible Reflexes Incredible Reflexes 34 +6 Attack levels when calculating hit chance 0.6 100 [p 1][p 2]
Protect from Summoning Protect from Summoning 35 Members only.
Protect against damage from Summoning Summoning attacks and special moves
0.4 150 [p 4]
Protect from Magic Protect from Magic 37 Protection from Magic Reduces the damage you take from magical attacks by 50%.
Halves the duration of holding spells (Bind, Snare and Entangle) and Teleport Block.
0.4 150 [p 5]
Protection from Missiles Protect from Missiles 40 Protection from Ranged Reduces the damage you take from ranged attacks by 50%. Halves the duration of immobility as a result of bolas. 0.4 150 [p 5]
Protection from Melee Protect from Melee 43 Protection from Attack Reduces the damage you take from melee attacks by 50%. 0.4 150 [p 5]
Eagle Eye Eagle Eye 44 +6 Ranged levels when calculating hit chance 0.6 100 [p 1][p 2]
Overpowering Force Overpowering Force 44 +6% Ranged damage 0.6 100 [p 1][p 2]
Mystic Might Mystic Might 45 +6 Magic levels when calculating hit chance 0.6 100 [p 1][p 2]
Overcharge (prayer) Overcharge 45 +6% Magic damage 0.6 100 [p 1][p 2]
Retribution Retribution 46 Members only.
Deals damage of up to 15x your Prayer level to all nearby enemies in a 3x3 radius upon death. Note that this prayer will not hurt other players outside of PvP areas.
0.4 150 [p 5]
Redemption Redemption 49 Members only.
Heals a player by 25x of their Prayer level if their Constitution life points fall below 10%. When this prayer takes effect, all remaining Prayer points are drained.
0.4 150 [p 5]
Smite Smite 52 Members only.
1 of every 150 damage dealt is removed from an enemy's Prayer points.
0.3 200 [p 5]
Chivalry Chivalry 60 Members only.
+7 Attack levels when calculating hit chance
+7% Melee damage
+7 Defence levels when calculating block chance
Requires completion of King's Ransom and the Knight Waves Training Grounds minigame.
0.4 150 [p 6]
Rapid Renewal Rapid Renewal 65 Members only.
5x restore rate for Constitution Life points
Requires level 65 Dungeoneering and needs to be purchased with 38,000 Dungeoneering tokens
0.6 100 [p 3]
Piety Piety 70 Members only.
+8 Attack levels when calculating hit chance
+8% Melee damage
+8 Defence levels when calculating block chance
Requires completion of King's Ransom and the Knight Waves Training Grounds minigame.
0.3 200 [p 6]
Rigour Rigour 70

Members only.
+8 Ranged levels when calculating hit chance
+8% Ranged damage
+8 Defence levels when calculating block chance
Requires completion of King's Ransom and the Knight Waves Training Grounds minigame.

0.3 200 [p 6]
Augury Augury 70 Members only.
+8 Magic levels when calculating hit chance
+8% Magic damage
+8 Defence levels when calculating block chance
Requires completion of King's Ransom and the Knight Waves Training Grounds minigame.
0.3 200 [p 6]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u These prayers will replace less powerful versions of themselves when unlocked.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Cannot be combined with any other of this type, unless it affects the same combat style.
  3. ^ a b c d These prayers have no restrictions, can be used with any others.
  4. ^ Protect from Summoning can be used with other protect prayers, but not with Smite, Redemption or Retribution
  5. ^ a b c d e f Overhead prayers cannot be combined.
  6. ^ a b c d These prayers have the same effect, but to different combat styles. They cannot be combined with each other or the prayers these prayers combine.

Ancient Curses[]

Deflect Magic

A player demonstrating overhead curses.

Ancient Curses are the prayers of the god Zaros and the goddess Seren. They are high-level prayers that are accessed after The Temple at Senntisten. They are only available to members. Similar rules from the regular prayer list apply: sap curses cannot be used with leech curses. Deflect curses cannot be used together, except Deflect Summoning can be used with another deflect curse.

Prayer Level Effect Drain rate (second per point) Notes
Protect Item Protect Item 50 Keep 1 extra item if you die. Also available on the normal prayer list. 6 [c 1]
Sap Warrior Sap Warrior 50 Drains enemy Attack by 2 levels when determining hit chance, increasing to 6 over time. 0.6 [c 2]
Sap Ranger Sap Ranger 52 Drains enemy Ranged by 2 levels when determining hit chance, increasing to 6 over time. 0.6 [c 2]
Sap Range Strength Sap Range Strength 53 Drains enemy Ranged damage by 3%, increasing to 9% over time.
(Reduced to 2% to 6% in PvP)
0.6 [c 2]
Sap Mage Sap Mage 54 Drains enemy Magic by 2 levels when determining hit chance, increasing to 6 over time. 0.6 [c 2]
Sap Magic Strength Sap Magic Strength 55 Drains enemy Magic damage by 3%, increasing to 9% over time.
(Reduced to 2% to 6% in PvP)
0.6 [c 2]
Sap Spirit Sap Spirit 56 Drains enemy adrenaline by 10% each sap. 0.6 [c 2]
Sap Defence Sap Defence 57 Drains enemy Defence by 2 levels when determining block chance, increasing to 6 over time. 0.6 [c 2]
Sap Strength Sap Strength 58 Drains enemy Melee damage by 3%, increasing to 9% over time.
(Reduced to 2% to 6% in PvP)
0.6 [c 2]
Beserker Berserker 59 Boosted stats last 15% longer. 1.2 [c 1]
Deflect Summoning Deflect Summoning 62 Reduces damage dealt from Summoning attacks, prevents the use of a familiar's special moves, and can deflect some of the damage back to the attacker. 0.4 [c 3]
Deflect Magic
Deflect Magic 65 Provides 50% damage reduction against magical attacks and can deflect some of the damage back to the attacker. 0.4 [c 4][c 5]
Deflect Missiles Deflect Missiles 68 Provides 50% damage reduction against ranged attacks and can deflect some of the damage back to the attacker. 0.4 [c 4][c 5]
Deflect Melee Deflect Melee 71 Provides 50% damage reduction against melee attacks and can deflect some of the damage back to the attacker. 0.4 [c 4][c 5]
Leech Attack Leech Attack 74 Boosts Attack by 2 levels when determining hit chance, increasing to 5 over time; drains enemy Attack by 4 levels when determining hit chance, increasing to 8 over time. 0.3 [c 2]
Leech Ranged Leech Ranged 76 Boosts Ranged by 2 levels when determining hit chance, increasing to 5 over time; drains enemy Ranged by 4 levels when determining hit chance, increasing to 8 over time. 0.3 [c 2]
Leech Range Strength Leech Range Strength 77 Boosts Ranged damage by 2%, increasing to 8% over time; drains enemy Ranged damage by 6%, increasing to 12% over time.
(Enemy damage drain reduced to 4% to 8% in PvP)
0.3 [c 2]
Leech Magic Leech Magic 78 Boosts Magic by 2 levels when determining hit chance, increasing to 5 over time; drains enemy Magic by 4 levels when determining hit chance, increasing to 8 over time. 0.3 [c 2]
Leech Magic Strength Leech Magic Strength 79 Boosts Magic damage by 2%, increasing to 8% over time; drains enemy Magic damage by 6%, increasing to 12% over time.
(Enemy damage drain reduced to 4% to 8% in PvP)
0.3 [c 2]
Leech Defence Leech Defence 80 Boosts Defence by 2 levels when determining block chance, increasing to 5 over time; drains enemy Defence by 4 levels when determining block chance, increasing to 8 over time. 0.3 [c 2]
Light Form Light Form 80 Doubles the chance of Seren-aligned spell effects occurring when using abilities. 0.2 [c 6][c 7]
Dark Form Dark Form 80 Doubles the chance of Zaros-aligned spell effects occurring when using abilities. 0.2 [c 6][c 7]
Leech Strength Leech Strength 82 Boosts Melee damage by 2%, increasing to 8% over time; drains enemy Melee damage by 6%, increasing to 12% over time.
(Enemy damage drain reduced to 4% to 8% in PvP)
0.3 [c 2]
Leech Energy Leech Energy 84 Steals an enemy's energy and restores it to the player. (10% every other hit) 0.3 [c 2]
Leech Adrenaline Leech Adrenaline 86 Steals an enemy's adrenaline and restores it to the player. (10% every other hit) 0.3 [c 2]
Chronicle Absorption Chronicle Absorption 87 Automatically absorbs chronicles while training divination, granting Hunter and Divination XP. 0.6 [c 6][c 1]
Soul Link Soul Link 88 Equally shares all damage and healing with another player also using this effect. 0.2 [c 6]
Wrath Wrath 89 Deals damage of up to 25x your Prayer level to all nearby enemies in a 5x5 radius upon death. 0.3 [c 4][c 8]
Teamwork Protection Teamwork Protection 89 Gives 5% damage reduction and 1% damage reflection for all nearby players who have the same prayer active. Stacks up to 5 times for a total of 25% reduction and 5% reflection. 0.2 [c 6][c 4]
Superheat Form Superheat Form 91 Automatically burns logs and smelts ore into bars for XP. 0.6 [c 6][c 1]
Soul Split Soul Split 92 Heals a player by 10% of his or her damage dealt, and lowers the enemy's Prayer points by 1 point for every 85 damage. 0.2 [c 4]
Fortitude Fortitude 94 Boosts Defence by 15%, adds 3% damage reduction, increases life points by 10 + 10 per Constitution level, increases accuracy of Defensive abilities by 10%, doubles base regeneration and allows regeneration in combat. 0.2 [c 6][c 2]
Turmoil Turmoil 95 +10 Attack levels when determining hit chance
+10% Melee damage
+10 Defence levels when determining block chance
-6 enemy Attack levels when determining hit chance, increasing to -10 over time
-6 enemy Defence levels when determining block chance, increasing to -10 over time
-9% enemy Melee damage, increasing to -15% over time (PvM)
-6% enemy Melee damage, increasing to -10% over time (PvP)
0.2 [c 2]
Anguish Anguish 95 +10 Ranged levels when determining hit chance
+10% Ranged damage
+10 Defence levels when determining block chance
-6 enemy Ranged levels when determining hit chance, increasing to -10 over time
-6 enemy Defence levels when determining block chance, increasing to -10 over time
-9% enemy Ranged damage, increasing to -15% over time (PvM)
-6% enemy Ranged damage, increasing to -10% over time (PvP)
0.2 [c 2]
Torment Torment 95 +10 Magic levels when determining hit chance
+10% Magic damage
+10 Defence levels when determining block chance
-6 enemy Magic levels when determining hit chance, increasing to -10 over time
-6 enemy Defence levels when determining block chance, increasing to -10 over time
-9% enemy Magic damage, increasing to -15% over time (PvM)
-6% enemy Magic damage, increasing to -10% over time (PvP)
0.2 [c 2]
Malevolence Malevolence 99 +12 Attack levels when determining hit chance
+12% Melee damage
+12 Defence levels when determining block chance
-6 enemy Attack levels when determining hit chance, increasing to -10 over time
-6 enemy Defence levels when determining block chance, increasing to -10 over time
-9% enemy Melee damage, increasing to -15% over time (PvM)
-6% enemy Melee damage, increasing to -10% over time (PvP)

It is unlocked by using the praesul codex.

0.15 [c 2]
Desolation Desolation 99 +12 Ranged levels when determining hit chance
+12% Ranged damage
+12 Defence levels when determining block chance
-6 enemy Ranged levels when determining hit chance, increasing to -10 over time
-6 enemy Defence levels when determining block chance, increasing to -10 over time
-9% enemy Ranged damage, increasing to -15% over time (PvM)
-6% enemy Ranged damage, increasing to -10% over time (PvP)

It is unlocked by using the praesul codex.

0.15 [c 2]
Affliction Affliction 99 +12 Magic levels when determining hit chance
+12% Magic damage
+12 Defence levels when determining block chance
-6 enemy Magic levels when determining hit chance, increasing to -10 over time
-6 enemy Defence levels when determining block chance, increasing to -10 over time
-9% enemy Magic damage, increasing to -15% over time (PvM)
-6% enemy Magic damage, increasing to -10% over time (PvP)

It is unlocked by using the praesul codex.

0.15 [c 2]

Notes:

  1. ^ a b c d These curses can be used with any others.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x These curses can be used with the deflect, Wrath, and Soul Split curses, and others of the same type (e.g. Sap Warrior and Sap Mage), but sap and leech curses cannot be used at the same time, Turmoil / Malevolence follows the same rules except it cannot be used with sap or leech curses.
  3. ^ Deflect Summoning can be used with other deflect curses, but not with Wrath, or Soul Split
  4. ^ a b c d e f Cannot be used with other overhead prayers except for protect from summoning
  5. ^ a b c Like the 'Protect from' prayers, deflect curses stop 50% of damage caused by most NPCs and other players (in PvP).
  6. ^ a b c d e f g This prayer requires The Light Within to be completed.
  7. ^ a b Can not be used with other curses which double the spell effect occurrence rate.
  8. ^ Can not be used with other curses which in any way reduce the damage taken for nearby players.

Formula[]

The formula for protection prayers is:

  • Melee, Ranged, Magic, and Summoning attacks: Reduced damage = (0.50 x normal damage)
    • For example, if 40 damage were inflicted to you, the damage would be reduced to 20 damage (i.e., for every 2 damage that you normally take, only 1 damage is dealt instead).
    • If you were to take 3 damage, for example, the result would be rounded off as follows: Reduced damage = ( 0.50 x 3 = 1.5 [1.5 --> 1 damage)
  • Magic bind spells: Reduced time = (0.50 * Time)
    • For example, a spell that would normally hold you for 10 seconds, would be halved to only hold you for 5 seconds. However this shorter holding effect does not work for Ancient Magicks ice spells.

Burying bones and scattering ashes[]

Main article: Remains
Burying bones

A player burying bones into the ground

Many types of bones and demon ashes exist that players can bury or scatter for Prayer experience. However, most of them are available only to members. To bury bones or scatter ashes, simply left-click on the bone or ashes in your inventory.

Many players with a high Construction level choose to build a gilded altar with incense burners in their house as this is a much faster way to gain Prayer experience than any other. Although less experience is granted per bone than the Ectofuntus, more bones may be processed in a shorter time span. Often the RuneScape Forums are a good place to find other players who are happy to allow 'loan' of their altars for a short amount of time. Alternatively, one can go to a house party world, and at peak times many players advertise gilded altars. World 31 is a themed world dedicated to this.

Prayer-restoring potions[]

Lua error: bad argument #1 to 'formatNum' (NaN). If a potion is untradeable the price of the ingredients is used instead. Prayer points needs to be rounded down after using the formulas.

Equipment[]

Main article: Prayer items

Auras[]

The reverence aura increases the Prayer point restoration from using potions by up to 10% and decreases Prayer point drain by up to 10%.

Corruption, Harmony and Salvation auras restore up to 10% of the maximum Prayer points for every 500 Prayer experience earned, as well as increase Prayer experience earned by up to 2.5%.

The potency of those effects depend on the tier of the aura used.

Gravestones[]

Players with a Prayer level of 70 or higher may bless decaying gravestones, increasing its timer up to a maximum of five minutes. This can only be done once per gravestone.

Training[]

The most common method of training is to bury bones, or play minigames and miniquests.

Free-to-play[]

Gathering bones[]

There are a number of bone respawn locations:

  • Wilderness Graveyard of Shadows/Forgotten Cemetery (level 16–21): ~10 normal bones respawn
  • Edgeville Dungeon: 7 normal bones respawn
  • Lower level Lumbridge Catacombs in the room full of corpse mages. There is almost always a swarm of botters killing them, with lots of bones lying on the ground.
  • Wilderness Chaos Temple (level 13) 11–15 normal bones respawn
  • Taverley Dungeon blue dragon lair, 5 normal bones respawn
  • Boneyard (previous Clan Wars location) has big bones and normal bones. Extremely good for free-to-play players.

Players may also frequent popular training areas and gather the unwanted bones left behind by players that kill the monsters.

A highly recommended way for free players to train Prayer is to bury big bones, as they give 15 experience, while normal bones give about 4.5 experience. If players have enough coins, they could buy big bones at the Grand Exchange. When burying large numbers of bones, you can cut the time spent in half with some timing. To do this, click any bone. About halfway through the animation, click another. You will have buried two bones while viewing the animation a single time. Players have also reported that it is possible to bury three sets of bones during a single animation using a similar technique. When simply burying bones after monster killing, Big bones are useful only if you can kill the monster faster than the time it takes to kill four chickens. Alternatively, you can also bind a particular type of bone to a keybind so that you only have to repetitively press on a single button to bury the bones.

If a player has access to Cremation, they can use a bone on a bonfire to gain experience equivalent to 2.5 times that of the same bone when it is simply buried. Players can also use bones on altars in Daemonheim to gain four times the amount.

Lamps[]

Methods to obtain experience lamps, even as a non-member, include completing all of the Lumbridge and Draynor Tasks, where for each of the four parts you have completed you will be rewarded with lamps granting you increasingly higher amounts of experience for any chosen skill(s); and venturing north to the Barbarian Village, reaching the Stronghold of Player Safety, which will contain two antique lamps.


Daily Challenges[]

Free players may want to consider doing daily challenges assigned by Challenge Mistress Fara, as the challenges require small quantities of bones or ashes to be gathered and dealt with while gaining decent amounts of experience.

Members[]

Bones cost analysis[]

Experience boosting equipment[]

First age outfit gives a 1% bonus experience per piece, as well as additional 1% for the complete set (totaling in a 6% bonus). The equipment does not work at the ectofuntus.

Prayer flicking[]

The act of prayer flicking is where a player switches a prayer on when its effect is required, and turns it off immediately after. If done correctly, the prayer will be used without a loss to Prayer points. This can be done with combat prayers, protection prayers, and Soul Split.

Flicking requires constant attention and a lot of practice, but it can be very useful where Prayer points need to be conserved, such as in Daemonheim or the TzHaar Fight Cave.

To prayer flick, one must activate and deactivate a prayer so it is active on the needed game tick. If flicking a combat prayer or Soul Split, this is the tick you attack; if flicking a protection prayer, this is the tick your enemy attacks (which is not necessarily the tick you take damage). TzTok-Jad, tormented demons, and glacors are the exception, for their attacks are instead calculated when their hit lands.

Players can access prayers via the prayer book, their action bar or their Quick Prayers (which can be placed on your action bar). Quick prayers can be used to flick multiple prayers such as Soul Split alongside a combat prayer.

If flicking auto-attacks, the player must gain a feel for your weapon's speed. Flicking abilities can be easier, since you use each ability manually, but the timing of ability flicking varies greatly between abilities and you will need extensive practice.

If flicking monsters, the player will have to study their attack speed first, and then flick as you would auto-attacks.

Where prayer could be very helpful[]

TzTok-Jad

TzTok-Jad, the ultimate test for your Prayer!

Monsters that use prayer[]

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Overhead[]

Some monsters are able to utilise prayers, mainly overhead prayers. Nex is exceptional to the rest in that she uses Curses, not prayers.

Sagittare

Nex is able to use all deflect overhead curses (including Soul Split and Wrath) while fighting her. She randomly switches between the three deflect overhead curses and during her final phase she visibly activates Turmoil and can also switch to Soul Split. When she dies, she uses Wrath which has a slightly larger area of effect radius than that of a player's.

The Kalphite Queen uses Protect from Ranged and Magic simultaneously during her first form, while she uses Protect from Melee during her second form.

Sigmund will counter any attack by using a protection prayer before it is able to do any damage unless the player uses the backhand ability with the ancient mace while he doesn't have Protect from Melee active; causing his prayer to deactivate.

Tormented demons initially use Protect from Melee when they spawn and counter attacks by switching their protection prayer after 3100 or more damage has been inflicted with that particular style.

Astea Frostweb uses protection prayers randomly and switches to another random protection prayer at regular intervals. Her prayers offer 100% protection and do not run out.

Sagittare uses Protect from Ranged indefinitely and does not switch.

The runebound behemoth is able to use overhead protection prayers simultaneously and they can be deactivated temporarily by activating particular crystals in the room to expose him to a particular style.

The skeletal trio use protection prayers randomly and switch to another random protection prayer at regular intervals. They may use different protection prayers at any one time.

Akrisae the Doomed can use any protection prayer and counter attacks by switching or activating a protection prayer after 1500 or more damage has been inflicted with that particular style.

Other[]

Other behaviour by monsters can be induced by the player's prayer.

The Black Knight Guardian can regenerate his health if the player has any prayer points left and is within melee range, while draining the player's prayer points.

These monsters are more likely to use their special attack that deals heavy, unblockable damage if the player is using overhead prayers/Curses.

The Hobgoblin Geomancer is more likely to use his prayer-draining special attack if players are using any prayer against him (including non-overhead).

The Warmonger will use a deadly special attack that reduces your health to 1 if you block his attacks with a prayer/deflect curse 10 times consecutively.

These monsters are able to recognise overhead prayer and will use alternate styles to counter them when battling.

Level-up table[]

Main article: Prayer/Level-up table

Temporary boosts[]

Main article: Temporary skill boost

Level[]

A player's Prayer level can be boosted by stepping on a properly configured powerup tile in a Clan Citadel battlefield. This boost simply boosts a player's temporary level. It does not boost the player's Prayer points above normal while in the battlefield. Like most other temporary boosts, this boost will wear off at the standard rate. This Prayer boost does not allow a player to use prayers that are above their base level. Prayer level can also be boosted by a pulse core.

Points[]

Prayer points can be boosted above the normal maximum (Prayer level x 10). Boosting Prayer points does Not enable a player to use prayers above his or her original Prayer level.

The following allow a boost to maximum Prayer points:

  • The altars at God Wars Dungeon (providing you are wearing a relevant god item).
  • Praying at the statue of the devourer in the Uzer Mastaba (this will drain several life points).
  • The altar in Seers' Village boosts prayer points by 20, if the player has completed the hard Seers' Village Tasks.
  • The altar in the nature grotto (requires completion of Nature Spirit), boosts 20 prayer points above maximum.
  • A spicy stew with yellow spice can increase it by 10-60 points (however it can also decrease it by 10-60 points).
  • A Prayer cape's special ability will raise it from 990 to 1000.
  • The Sulphur spring in Oo'glog will raise Prayer points above maximum depending on prayer level (at 50 Prayer it would be 570/500, at 70 it would be 780/700).
  • The Monastery's altar recharges twenty prayer points above normal maximum, making it the best free-to-play altar.
  • Praying at the Altar of Zaros in the Senntisten Temple will boost Prayer points by 15%.
  • Each statue built during the In Memory of the Myreque miniquest will boost points by 5 (up to a maximum of 50) when paying respects at one of the statues.
  • Falador shield allows you to recharge a certain percantage of your maximum Prayer points. It does not boost above maximum, however. The amount of points recharged depend on the level of the shield:
    • 1: 25 % once daily
    • 2: 50 % once daily
    • 3: 100 % once daily
    • 4: 100 % twice daily
  • Jangerberries restore 10 prayer points each as well as restore 20 life points, and raise your attack + strength by 2, however it lowers your defence by 1 point.

Skilling pet[]

Ghostly chathead
Main article: Ghostly

Like all skills, there is a skilling pet obtainable from training this skill. For Prayer, the pet is called Ghostly.

Trivia[]

  • A Prayer bonus of +50 is required to halve the drain rate of Prayers.
  • The Prayer icon colour was originally yellow, but Jagex changed the colour on 21 November 2006 when Hunter was released.
  • Most attackable monsters (like the Kalphite queen) do not use the power of prayer, but are merely immune to certain types of attacks.
  • The FAQ for The Mighty Fall has implied the existence of Bandosian prayers, which players cannot access.
  • Before the Evolution of Combat, players were capable of using prayers that had become obsolete due to unlocking superior versions of the prayer (such as using Mystic Lore instead of Mystic Might). This is no longer possible.
  • The current minimum requirement to be ranked (at approximately rank 1,173,592) on the hiscores for Prayer is level 15. As of 04 February 2023, there are 165,071 current members that have achieved level 99 in Prayer. There are 3,915 current members that have achieved level 120 in Prayer.

References[]

See also[]

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