Attack

The Old School RuneScape Wiki also has an article on: osrsw:AttackThe RuneScape Classic Wiki also has an article on: classicrsw:Attack

This article is about the melee skill. For fighting in general, see combat.

For other uses, see Attack (disambiguation).

Attack
Release date	4 January 2001 (Update)
Members only	No
Statistics
Minimum level to be ranked	15 (as of 11 Apr 2021)
Players with 99	275,991 (as of 11 Apr 2021)
Players with 120	22,939 (as of 11 Apr 2021)
Players with 200M XP	5,391 (as of 11 Apr 2021)
Infobox • Talk page

Attack is a melee combat skill which determines the accuracy of a player's melee attacks and the types of weapons a player may wield. A higher Attack level means that players can use better weapons which possess greater damage and accuracy. As Attack is a vital skill in melee combat, increasing one's Attack level will increase one's combat level associated with melee.

History

Attack level-up music

Attack was one of the first skills available, introduced with the launch of RuneScape on 4 January 2001. Throughout the expansion and development of RuneScape, the concept for the skill has largely remained the same.

While the concept is largely unchanged, higher tiers of equipment have been released as the game has progressed. Bronze through adamant equipment were introduced with the game itself, but it was not until 26 July 2001 that rune equipment was added. On 27 February 2002, the first pieces of dragon equipment were released with the Lost City and Heroes' Quest quests, further increasing the Attack level necessary to equip all items. On 14 June 2004, special attacks were added to certain weapons. Dragon weapons and excalibur, along with a few Ranged weapons, were the first weapons to feature special attacks. Each special attack was unique to the weapon and used up a certain percentage of a player's special attack energy. Since the introduction of special attacks, several additional weapons have been added which feature unique special attacks.

However, no new weapons were introduced until after release of RuneScape 2 with the introduction of Slayer. The new skill introduced abyssal demons, monsters which dropped the abyssal whip, a powerful one-handed weapon which required 70 Attack to wield. Later that year, several other weapons were introduced which also required 70 Attack to equip. These weapons were part of different degradable armour sets of Barrows equipment, originally used by the 6 Barrows brothers. Of these 6 equipment sets, 4 were melee oriented and required 70 Attack to wield.

Nearly 2 years passed without the introduction of a higher-levelled weapon than the abyssal whip and the various Barrows weapons. On 28 August 2007, the God Wars Dungeon was introduced, featuring 4 warring factions, each protecting their respective versions of the fabled godsword. The godswords were massive two-handed weapons, offered a generous strength bonus, and required 75 Attack to wield. The reign of the godsword, however, was short lived, and on 15 October 2008, different sets of Ancient Warriors' equipment were released. The equipment was degradable, lasting for only a limited amount of time before disappearing. Although these weapons required 78 Attack to wield, they each had a "corrupt" counterpart which only required 20 Attack to equip. These corrupt versions lasted for an even shorter period of time than the normal versions. Additionally, the corrupt dragon weapons were the first new free-to-play weapons released since the introduction of rune equipment.

A player punching a training dummy.

The release of the Dungeoneering skill marked the release of chaotic weaponry, degradable weapons available for purchase via Dungeoneering tokens. Three different melee weapons were introduced, the chaotic longsword, maul, and rapier, each requiring at least level 80 Attack to equip. The release of this new skill also introduced weapons that could only be used within Daemonheim while training Dungeoneering. This included the addition of the first set of weapons which required skill mastery in Attack to wield; the primal weapons all required 99 Attack to use, with the exception of the primal maul. These weapons were among the strongest melee weapons introduced into the game with several of them setting attack and strength bonus records.

On 12 July 2011, the whip vine was introduced. This item was released as an attachment to the abyssal whip, and when combined, resulted in an abyssal vine whip. While the abyssal vine whip offered offensive bonuses which were inferior to those of the various chaotic weapons released as rewards from the Dungeoneering skill, it nevertheless required 85 Attack and 80 Slayer to wield, a higher Attack requirement than any weapon obtainable outside of Daemonheim at the time.

After six months of beta testing, the Evolution of Combat went live on 20 November 2012. This update dramatically changed the way players interacted with monsters and other players through combat. As the entire combat system had been reworked, many weapons had accuracy and damage adjustments to re-balance the combat triangle. As part of the weapon rework, several long-standing level requirements were changed. For example, adamant and rune weapons which had required levels 30 and 40 Attack were bumped to require levels 40 and 50 attack respectively. However, some weapon requirements were decreased, as seen with the abyssal vine whip, which had its level requirement reduced from level 85 to 75 Attack. In addition to weapon adjustments, the update introduced the use of abilities, various rechargeable attacks which helped increase overall damage throughput compared to standard auto-attacks.

Following the introduction of the Evolution of Combat, chaotic weapons once again held the highest Attack requirements to wield. This held true until 14 January 2013, with the release of the Kalphite King and drygore weaponry. The King dropped main- and off-hand drygore rapiers, maces, longswords, each requiring 90 Attack to equip. These weapons were significantly stronger and more accurate than chaotic weapons when they were first released. However, due to an update in late May which changed how weapon accuracy and damage are calculated, the accuracy difference between drygore and chaotic weapons was lessened.

With the release of Araxxi on 28 July 2014, the level-90 Noxious scythe tied Drygore weaponry for the position of the second strongest melee weapon outside of Daemonheim. Weapons requiring 85 Attack were the major releases in 2015: the Tetsu katana and wakizashi, dual-wielded swords obtained from the Player-owned port minigame were released on 26 January. The Lava whip, a one-handed weapon made by combining an abyssal whip with a Wyrm spike (a very rare drop from a Lava strykewyrm), was added on 16 February. Main- and off-hand ripper claws were included as drops from Ripper demons on 9 November.

The strongest melee weapons outside of Daemonheim are currently the tier 92 Zaros godsword, Khopesh of Tumeken and Khopesh of Elidinis, being a two-handed and dual melee weapons respectively. Components for the Zaros godsword are dropped by Telos, the Warden, while components for the khopeshes can be found in the Sophanem Slayer Dungeon and Shifting Tombs.

Gaining experience

Combat

Main articles: Pay-to-play melee training and Free-to-play melee training

Players may receive Attack experience during combat by selecting the Attack skill in the Settings interface > Gameplay tab > Combat drop-down > Combat XP menu > Attack XP checkbox. The Combat XP checkboxes may also be accessed in the Skills drop-down > Experience menu.

If using legacy combat mode, the Combat XP selection may also be made in the Combat tab.

Experience is only gained when the player slays an enemy, after which both Attack and Constitution experience are awarded dependent on the opponent's stats. It is also possible to earn experience across all melee combat skills by selecting Attack, Strength, and Defence in the experience menu. If this is chosen, the amount of experience that would have been awarded to Attack alone is evenly split among the three skills.

Experience rewards

Main article: Attack/Experience rewards

Attack experience may be awarded after the completion of certain quests, miniquests, tasks, random events, Distractions and Diversions, and other minigames. Additionally, experience lamps, dragonkin lamps, and books of knowledge may be used to gain Attack experience.

Bonus/other experience

Several items provide bonus experience in Attack, as well as other melee skills, when equipped. Melee brawling gloves provide a 300% experience bonus to Attack (as well as Strength and Defence) when training combat in the Wilderness and a 50% bonus when training outside of the Wilderness. The brawling gloves last for approximately 100,000 experience before disintegrating.

Hati paws, a reward from a seasonal Winter event, boosts experience to combat skills during the months following the event. The amount of bonus experience rewarded is limited, however, as the paws lose charge when providing bonus experience.

Individual pieces of sacred clay equipment obtained through the Stealing Creation minigame also provide an experience bonus to Attack and other combat skills. These items double the amount of experience received through combat when equipped. Only one piece of sacred clay armour must be worn to receive this bonus. Similar to the brawling gloves, a piece will disappear after the experience threshold of 24,450 experience is reached.

Equipment

One of the main uses of the Attack skill is determining which types of weapons a player may wield. Generally, higher level weapons provide greater offensive bonuses than similar weapon types of a lower level, providing an incentive for players to train the skill.

Common weapon types

Below is a list of some common types of weapons available through the use of the Attack skill.

Weapon type		Attack level	Notes
	Bronze	1	Bronze weapons are among the weakest weapons available.
	Iron	10	Iron weapons are stronger than bronze weapons.
	Steel	20	Steel weapons are stronger than iron weapons.
	Corrupt Ancient Warriors'	20	Corrupt Ancient Warriors' equipment consists of several degradable weapons and only last for 15 minutes.
	Black	25	Black weapons are stronger than steel weapons. They cannot be created with the Smithing skill.
	White	25	White weapons have the same offensive bonuses as black weapons, but white weapons include a small Prayer bonus. White weapons require completion of the Wanted! quest and a certain Knight ranking to purchase from Sir Vyvin. They cannot be created with the Smithing skill.
	Mithril	30	Mithril weapons are stronger than black weapons.
	Adamant	40	Adamant weapons are stronger than mithril weapons.
	Rune	50	Rune weapons are stronger than adamant weapons.
	Sacred clay	50	The sacred clay scimitar provides the same offensive bonuses as a rune scimitar.
	Gravite	55	Gravite weapons are obtained from the rewards trader for a cost of 40,000 Dungeoneering tokens, requiring 45 Dungeoneering to purchase. The weapons last for 10 hours of combat before needing to be recharged.
	Granite	55	Granite weapons include the Granite maul and Granite mace and require 55 Attack and Strength to wield. These weapons only provide crush style attacks.
	Obsidian	60	Obsidian weapons are stronger than rune weapons. All of these weapons require 60 Attack to wield with the exception of the TzHaar-Ket-Om, which requires 60 Strength.
	Dragon	60	Dragon weapons are stronger than rune weapons.
	Dragon (corrupt)	60	Corrupt dragon weapons provide the same stats as regular dragon weapons, but the corrupt versions have a limited existence. Each weapon lasts for 30 minutes of being equipped and turn into dust after the 30 minutes.
	Barrows	70	Barrows equipment features item sets used by the 6 Barrows brothers. When all of the items of a particular set are equipped, there is a chance of activating the equipment set's "set effect".
	Abyssal whip	70	The abyssal whip is a fairly powerful one-handed weapon with a high attack speed, same as that of scimitars.
	God Wars Dungeon-related	75	The Saradomin sword, Zamorakian spear, and the four Godswords are two-handed weapons obtained in the God Wars Dungeon. There are four types of godswords, each type offers the same offensive bonuses but different passive effects. The Godswords are the strongest non-degradable weapons available.
	Ancient Warriors'	78	Ancient Warriors' equipment includes powerful, degradable weapons which only last for 1 hour of being equipped.
	Chaotic	80	Chaotic weapons require 80 Dungeoneering and 200,000 Dungeoneering tokens to purchase. The weapons last for 10 hours of combat before needing to be recharged.
	Tetsu	85	Tetsu weapons can be made from resources in the Player-owned port minigame. The weapons last for 10 hours of combat before needing to be recharged.
	Drygore	90	Drygore main and off-hand weapons are degradable weapons dropped by the Kalphite King. They may be repaired using chitin scraps.
	Zaros godsword	92	A two-handed weapon, whose components are dropped by Telos, the Warden.
	Khopesh of Tumeken	92	Alongside its off-hand component, the Khopesh of Elidinis, are main and off-hand weapons with components being found in the Sophanem Slayer Dungeon and Shifting Tombs respectively.

Miscellaneous weapons

Many miscellaneous weapons all over RuneScape do not fit into any particular category, such as quest and minigame rewards. All of the weapons listed are members only.

Type		Level
	Basic decorative sword	5
	Ogre club	5
	Ancient mace	15
	Detailed decorative sword	20
	Excalibur	30
	Intricate decorative sword	30
	Fremennik blade	30
	Brine sabre	40
	Profound decorative sword	40
	Void knight equipment	42
	Leaf-bladed spear	50
	Leaf-bladed sword	50
	Keris	50
	Barrelchest anchor	60
	Brackish blade	60
	Balmung	60
	Ring of vigour	62
	Penance master trident	70
	Abyssal vine whip	75
	Korasi's sword	75
	Lava whip	85

Dungeoneering weapons

Conventional weapons used throughout Gielinor are not allowed in Daemonheim, so a separate set of metals is used during Dungeoneering. The metal types are classified by their "tiers", with tier 1 being the weakest and tier 11 being the strongest. Tiers 1 through 10 weapons may be player made or received as a drop from several monsters, but tier 11 items may only be received as a drop from boss monsters.

Tier	Weapon type		Attack level
1		Novite	1
2		Bathus	10
3		Marmaros	20
4		Kratonite	30
5		Fractite	40
6		Zephyrium	50
7		Argonite	60
8		Katagon	70
9		Gorgonite	80
10		Promethium	90
11		Primal	99

Fun weapons

The rubber chicken, one of many fun weapons.

Some weapons do not give any or give very little accuracy and damage bonuses. These weapons are often referred to as fun weapons as they are often impractical for use in any combat situation. As these weapons do not exist necessarily for use in combat; they exist merely for aesthetic purposes.

Temporary boosts

Main article: Temporary skill boost

Various items, potions, prayers, and familiars provide temporary boosts. Below is a list of all possible boosts to Attack. Click on a category to sort.

Visible

Visible boosts are indicated in the stats interface by showing a level increase from the base level.

Potions

Potion	Members	Level increase	Level to make	Notes
Attack potion		1 + 8%	1
Attack mix			4	Heals 300 Life points.
Combat potion		1 + 8%	36
Combat mix			40	Heals 300 Life points.
Super attack		2 + 12%	45
Super attack mix			47	Heals 600 Life points.
Zamorak brew		1 + 8%	78	Also boosts Strength.
Zamorak mix			85	Also boosts Strength, heals 600 Life points and drains 12% of current life points.
Super warmaster's potion		2 + 12%	85	Also boosts Strength, Magic, Ranged and Defence by the same amount
Super melee potion		2 + 12%	81	Also boosts Strength and Defence by the same amount
Grand attack potion		2 + 14%	78
Extreme attack		3 + 15%	88	Non-tradeable.
Overload			96	Non-tradeable. Also boosts Strength, Ranged, Magic and Defence, lasting 6 minutes.
Supreme overload potion		4 + 16%	98	Non-tradeable. Also boosts Strength, Ranged, Magic and Defence, lasting 6 minutes. Requires Plague's End.

Other

Item	Members	Level increase	Requirements	Notes
Cup of tea		+3	20	Heals up to 375 Life points, clears the effect of Aggression potion and can drain adrenaline.
Spicy stew		-5 to +6	25	Non-tradeable. After Evil Dave's Big Day Out it grants a +2 minimum boost.
Cavefish		+2	88	Heals up to 2200 Life points, may randomly boosts other combat skills besides Attack.
Rumberry		+2	86	Non-tradeable. Also reduces defence by -1.
Attack cape		+1	99	Non-tradeable. Requires Skill mastery to equip.
Dominion marker		Varies	110 combat level	Non-tradeable. Boosts depends on marker stage, also boosts Strength, Ranged, Magic and Defence.
God banner		+5	55 or 55 or 55	Non-tradeable. Usable once per day for 30 minutes, also boosts Strength, Ranged, Magic and Defence.

Invisible

Invisible boosts are not indicated in the stats interface, but they are applied in combat calculations nevertheless.

Prayers and Ancient Curses

Book	Name	Members	Level	Boost
Prayers	Clarity of Thought		7	+2
	Improved Reflexes		16	+4
	Incredible Reflexes		34	+6
	Chivalry		60	+7
	Piety		70	+8
Ancient Curses	Leech Attack		74	+2 to +5
	Turmoil		95	+10
	Malevolence		99	+12

Other

Item	Members	Level increase	Level to make	Notes
Ruby harvest		20%	15	Boost only affects the other player it is used on.
Salve amulet		15% accuracy and damage	35	Non-tradeable. Boost only applies when fighting undead monsters. Requires partial completion of Haunted Mine.
Salve amulet (e)		20% accuracy and damage	40	Non-tradeable. Boost only applies when fighting undead monsters. Requires completion of Lair of Tarn Razorlor and the Salve amulet.
Black mask		12.5% accuracy and damage	58	Boost only applies when fighting monsters assigned by a Slayer Master.
Slayer helmet		12.5% to 14.5% accuracy and damage	35 55	Boost depends on the tier of the helmet, and only applies when fighting monsters assigned by a Slayer Master.
Dragon slayer gloves		10%	70	Non-tradeable. Boost only applies when fighting monsters assigned by a Slayer Master. Boost stacks with Black Mask.
Dharok the Wretched's equipment		Varies conform Life points	70 70 70	Full set must be worn for special effect to take place.

Warriors' Guild

Main article: Warriors' Guild

The Warriors' Guild is a guild for players who have attained mastery or near mastery of melee combat skills. Entrance to the guild requires either 99 Attack, 99 Strength, or a sum of 130 in Attack and Strength. The guild features several activities which involve combat and combat experience, one of which is the cyclops room, run by Kamfreena. Here, players may obtain defenders as drops from the cyclops and cyclossi. Additionally, Attack may be trained on the animation room of the Warriors' Guild, granting 15 experience per successful hit to a dummy.

Cape of Accomplishment

A player performing the Attack cape's emote.

As with all skills, players who achieve level 99 in Attack may purchase a Cape of Accomplishment from the skill's master. The Attack cape and hood are sold by Ajjat in the Warriors' Guild for 99,000 coins. Players with more than 1 skill at level 99 will receive a golden trim on the sides of the cape. However, players with only 1 level 99 skill will receive an untrimmed version of the cape. The Attack cape's perk gives a 2% chance for degradable items not to degrade (this does not apply to augmented items, except those that degrade to dust).

Skilling pet (Sifu)

Main article: Sifu

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

Quests with an Attack requirement

• 15 - Another Slice of H.A.M.
• 30 - Holy Grail
• 30 - Beneath Cursed Tides
• 35 - Quiet Before the Swarm
• 50 - TokTz-Ket-Dill
• 75 - Blood Runs Deep
• 75 - The Lord of Vampyrium
• 78 - River of Blood
• 78 - The Void Stares Back
• 79 - The Mighty Fall

Quests for Attack experience

Main article: Quest experience rewards § Attack

Quest	Members	Experience reward	Attack requirement	Other requirements
The Blood Pact		100	N/A	N/A
A Shadow over Ashdale		300	N/A	N/A
In Search of the Myreque		600	N/A	25 Agility
Mountain Daughter		1,000	N/A	20 Agility
A Fairy Tale I - Growing Pains		2,000	N/A	N/A
In Aid of the Myreque		2,000	12	25 Crafting 7 Magic 15 Mining
The Fremennik Trials		2,812	N/A	40 Crafting 25 Fletching 40 Woodcutting
Underground Pass		3,000	N/A	25 Ranged
Heroes' Quest		3,075	N/A	53 Cooking 53 Fishing 25 Herblore 25 Defence (Black Arm Gang only) 50 Mining
Quiet Before the Swarm		4,000	35	42 Strength
TokTz-Ket-Dill		5,000	50	50 Construction 43 Crafting 41 Mining 45 Strength
Tree Gnome Village		11,450	N/A	N/A
Fight Arena		12,175	N/A	N/A
Waterfall Quest		13,750	N/A	N/A
The Mighty Fall		80,000	79	69 Slayer 72 Defence 78 Constitution 79 Strength
Total		141,262

Update history

The update history project is a work-in-progress – not all updates to this topic may be covered below. See here for how to help out!

• ninja 20 August 2018 (Update):
  • The Mizuyari now appears in the Attack skillguide.

• patch 10 July 2017 (Update):
  • Skill guide entries for khopesh weaponry have been added.

• patch 13 January 2014 (Update):
  • The stated Attack level for Excalibur has been amended in the skill guide.

• patch 20 August 2013 (Update):
  • The Skill Advance Guides for Attack, Ranged and Magic have been updated to correct information about salamanders.

• patch 4 March 2013 (Update):
  • The Attack Skill Advance Guide now clarifies that the requirements for Daemonheim weapons don't apply to mauls.

• patch 28 February 2012 (Update):
  • The Attack skillguide no longer lists A Clockwork Syringe as a requirement to wield a Brackish blade.

• patch 4 January 2011 (Update):
  • Fixed a typo in “Marmaros” in the in-game skill guide for Attack.

• patch 9 June 2009 (Update):
  • Clarified the requirements to wield a leaf-bladed sword in the Attack skill guide.

• patch 21 April 2009 (Update):
  • The granite mace has been added to the Attack skill guide.

• patch 25 February 2009 (Update):
  • The mystic steam staff has been added to the Attack skill guide.

• update 4 January 2001 (Update):
  • Runescape beta goes live, releasing Attack into the game.

Trivia

The old attack level-up music

• In the early days of RuneScape Classic, players who chose to be a warrior in their character creation process started out with level 4 Attack, and players who chose to be an adventurer started out with level 3 Attack.
• The current minimum requirement to be ranked (at approximately rank 1,585,089) on the hiscores for Attack is level 15. As of 11 April 2021, there are 275,991 current members that have achieved level 99 in Attack. There are 22,939 current members that have achieved level 120 in Attack.

See also

• Free-to-play Melee training, a guide to training Attack for free-to-play players
• Pay-to-play Melee training, a guide to training Attack for pay-to-play players
• Attack/Level up table
• Combat calculator
• Quest experience rewards - Attack