Free-to-play Ranged training

See also: Pay-to-play Ranged training

Defence can also be trained when ranging by setting combat experience gain to Defence or Defence and Ranged.

Weapons and ammunition

For training, a player should use the type of ammunition that fits best to their used weapon. For economical training players should avoid using too expensive ammunition though, which especially includes rune arrows and higher tiered gem-tipped bolts.

The ammunition used with a given ranged weapon affects damage dealt in a hit, but does not affect the weapon's accuracy. A hit is determined only by the accuracy bonus of bows, while the strength of the hit is affected by the ammunition (arrows/bolts) as well as the damage potential of the bow. Using a lower tiered ranged weapon with a higher tiered ammunition caps the damage value to the weapon used.

Bows

Except for chargebows and quickbows, bows are used in conjunction with arrows.

Shortbows

The shortbow is the ideal ranged training weapon for free players. With its extremely high rate of fire and accuracy and damage per shot equivalent to those of a shieldbow of the same material, it is superior to shieldbows in almost all aspects of training. It is also the ranged weapon of choice in PvP situations as the high attack speed can quickly wear down the opponent's life points. The best non-degradable shortbow in F2P worlds is the magic shortbow, whereas the best degradable shortbow in F2P worlds is the gravite shortbow. However, as the gravite shortbow requires several hours of dungeoneering, the magic shortbow is more commonly used.

Shieldbows

As they have equal accuracy but lower speed and damage per shot compared to a shortbow of the same material, shieldbows are considered inferior to their corresponding shortbows. Usage of any F2P shieldbow, except the maple shieldbow (sighted) or magic shieldbow (sighted), is discouraged, especially in training. The magic shieldbow (sighted) is more accurate than the magic shieldbow, but as free players have no access to tier 55 arrows the damage doesn't increase.

Shieldbows, however, have additional health and defence capabilities. This makes for better training against enemies if not in a safe spot or against enemies with ranged attack capabilities. Training on such monsters is not recommended, as the point of training is to gain as much experience as possible by having a high damage rate.

Chargebows

Kayle's chargebow is very easily obtained from The Blood Pact. There is also an ordinary chargebow which is dropped by various spiders and creatures in the wilderness. The ordinary chargebow (which can be obtained easily from goblins) is not recommended, having slightly worse stats than Kayle's variant. Kayle's chargebow attacks quickly (as fast as a shortbow), provides a small ranged attack bonus and is very weak. Requiring no ammunition, the quickbow is the strongest no-ammunition bow available to free players. It is also stronger than Kayle's chargebow and attacks at the same speed. Therefore, it should be used for training instead of Kayle's chargebow. If a player has this weapon and level 5+ ranged, it is an arguably free method to train Ranged, but gives significantly less experience (even if quickbow is used) compared to a bow with, for example, steel or mithril arrows.

The true strength of training with chargebows/quickbow lies not the speed of training but rather the low maintenance; since it requires no ammunition, it does not leave wasted arrows lying on the ground. Chargebows/quickbow are therefore an excellent method of training at locations filled with hostile weak monsters. However, Kayle's chargebow has a ranged attack bonus that is less than a bronze arrow, with low accuracy. It also has an invisible damage multiplier of 0.9, which implies a 0.9x experience penalty as the overall damage is reduced. The quickbow is therefore the best option for maintenance-free ranged training.

Crossbows

Free players are able to use the crossbow, the phoenix crossbow and all one and two-handed metal crossbows up to rune. They're able to use basic bolts up to rune, as well as gem-tipped ones up to diamond. Since an update all of these items can directly be made by free players.

If previously obtained free players can also use the discontinued exquisite crossbow up to tier 40 or the valentine event based heartseeker crossbow up to tier 50. Both remain at tier 1 for ironmen.

Throwing knives

On February 29, 2016, dual wielding was introduced on F2P worlds. Because of this, knives have become a viable option as the fastest F2P ranged weapons and the only ranged dual-wielding weapon. In particular, the release of dual wielding came along with gravite knives and their off-hand counterpart which boast the highest possible dps in a F2P world.

Armour

In general, a player should wear the best possible ranged armour available at their Defence and Ranged level. Free-to-play ranged armour is much cheaper than melee armour, as the raw materials for the armour are easier to obtain. Free players obtain most of their equipment by themselves as drops or by using the crafting or fletching skills. Because they are so commonly produced to train Crafting, all of the armour listed below can be bought easily off of the Grand Exchange.

Level 1 – 9 Defence

Recommended set: Leather

When players have access to any of the veteran capes it is recommended to use those instead due to their superior armour and style bonuses. If players want to use an all-styled cape instead, they can use any of the team cape variants, which offers slightly less armour, but can also be used for melee and magic combat.

A free and viable alternative is the hybrid pathfinder armour, which can be used up to level 20.

If a player cannot afford the Ring of luck, it is recommended to use the Ring of potency or any variation of the Explorer's ring instead.

Level 10 – 19 Defence

Recommended set: Hard Leather

Level 20 - 29 Defence

Recommended set: Studded leather

Level 30-39 Defence and Ranged

Recommended set: carapace armour.

Level 40-49 Defence and Ranged

Recommended set: Green dragonhide armour, Yew shortbow, Adamant arrows, Asylum doctor's ring.

If players have previously unlocked the discontinued starfire cape, it is recommended to start using it at this point, as the tier 40 variant offers the highest stats of any cape in f2p. The cape will remain capped at tier 1 for ironmen though.

If players instead want to use power boots, they can obtain basilisk boots by trading with members.

Level 50+ Defence and Ranged

Recommended set: Blue dragonhide armour, Farsight snap shot necklace (with Dungeoneering 50), Magic or Gravite shortbow, Rune arrows, explorer's ring 4.

If players instead want to use power boots, they can obtain turoth boots by trading with members.

Amulets

Players with Ranged and Dungeoneering levels of 50 or higher are strongly recommended to purchase a farsight snap shot necklace from the Rewards Trader in Daemonheim for 15,000 Dungeoneering tokens as it provides the highest Ranged bonus of all neck slot items available to free players, and +9 more Ranged bonus than the amulet of power.

The amulet of power is the most commonly used armour in the neck slot, as it provides the second highest Ranged bonus of all neck slot items available to free players. It has no requirements to use and can be easily obtained from the Grand Exchange, so players can and are recommended to train with it at any Ranged level.

The amulet of defence may be helpful against monsters that deal damage quickly but also have low defence, as it provides an armour rating of 6 as well as a respectable Ranged bonus of +8. This amulet should be considered by low-level players in situations where safe spots are not available, as the increased armour rating may be worth the lesser Ranged bonus in comparison to the amulet of power. Note that it is hybrid equipment, and as such decreases the combat triangle effect.

The twisted bird skull necklace may also be used by players who train Ranged with Prayer. This can allow players to use Ranged Strength prayers such as Unrelenting Force and Overpowering Force. It is recommended to only equip this while burying bones, and wear an amulet of power while actually attacking monsters, therefore keeping it in your inventory when you are not burying bones to increase your Ranged bonus.

The amulet of zealots can be used in conjunction with the Overpowering Force prayer to hit slightly higher than with a farsight snap shot necklace. However, this amulet is considered ineffective for training because its ability is very limited, and it gives a negative prayer bonus, reducing the effectiveness of flashing Overpowering Force by using up Prayer points fast. However it is possible to use it with the twisted bird skull necklace to restore Prayer points. It also costs 40,000 Dungeoneering tokens to purchase which is considered by most players to be overpriced.

Experience settings and combat modes

XP Selection is located in the Combat Settings section of the Powers interface (F4 by default in the NIS). Players can set the experience that they gain from killing monsters with Ranged attacks to Ranged & Defence (equal parts Ranged and Defence experience), Ranged (all experience goes to Ranged), or Defence (all experience goes to Defence).

Combat modes

Players can select one of two combat modes: Full Manual (which requires each ability to be triggered manually) or Revolution (which automatically triggers Basic abilities placed in the first nine action bar slots, and also allows players to manually trigger other basic, threshold and ultimate abilities without turning off Revolution). For the purposes of Ranged training, it is strongly recommended that players use the Revolution combat mode and the following action bar (or a variant thereof), activating threshold and ultimate abilities as necessary:

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This bar is a variant that is used with shieldbows and includes transfigure and devotion. Set your quick prayer to Overpowering Force if you wish to use prayer during your training otherwise set it to whatever you want it to be. You can move all the threshold and ultimate abilities to where you want them to be and you can do the same for the potions. I usually keep devotion in front of dazing and have the potions set z and x on the keyboard. I also don't recommend the use of ricochet when training on higher levelled enemies it becomes very annoying.

In order to receive the abilities Sacrifice, Devotion, and Transfigure, they must have either been bought during the second World Event The Bird and the Beast or obtained in the member's-only God Wars Dungeon.

Ranged training guide

Tips

• Prayer flash to get a ranged boost without losing Prayer points. Select Eagle Eye as your quick prayer and double-click (without delay between clicks) on the prayer icon. With the help of the XP Counter, make sure that the prayer sound effect is played while experience is gained.
• Remember rangers can attack diagonally, a great advantage against large monsters who move 1.5 squares, as they can be easily blocked by small obstacles that are otherwise easily avoided by regular monsters.
• Use the safespots. Just get the right adjustments and then fire from an angle.
• Take advantage of the Defence ability Rejuvenation. This is an ability that can grant a free and very effective heal which can be used for extensive Ranged training on dangerous monsters. 

Levels 1 - 30

Monster name	Location(s)	Combat level	Life points	Experience	Requirements	Recommendations
Troll chuckers and Troll shamans	Burthorpe cave (North of the bank)	1	50	40	None	Use the dropped charge bow>Kayle's chargebow>quickbow for the most cost-effective training.
Advantages				Disadvantages
Troll chuckers drop the quickbow, the best ammoless bow for free-to-play Can be killed with one shot and provides reasonable XP per hour Rarely hits and does low damage Drops bones to train Prayer with, and cooked food Drop Staff of Air which sells for a decent amount on the Grand Exchange				Worthless drops At level 25+ range its easy to clear the whole room before respawns start.

Monster name	Location(s)	Combat level	Life points	Experience	Requirements	Recommendations
Chickens	Lumbridge, Port Sarim	1	50	33	None	Chargebows should be sufficient to take out low health enemies.
Advantages				Disadvantages
Drops feathers, which are stackable and sell for a decent amount of gold Rarely hits and does low damage Drops bones to train Prayer with, and raw chicken for food once cooked				Less exp/hour than some mobs (but definitely worth it for the gold gain in the early levels) Some areas are often crowded, even by botters.

Monster name	Location(s)	Combat level	Life points	Experience	Requirements	Recommendations
Cow calves	Lumbridge, Port Sarim, Taverley	2	50	33	None	None
Advantages				Disadvantages
Drops cowhide, a full inventory (28 inventory spaces) of which is worth 8,848 coins Drops bones to train Prayer with, and raw beef which can be cooked and used as food Calves in Lumbridge can be found in a more open space, and the Lumbridge cow field is generally less crowded than the chicken farm just on the other side of the path.				Calves can do more damage to low-level players than chickens, level 3 players should be careful Cowhide doesn't stack like feathers, meaning trips to a bank are more necessary.

Monster name	Location(s)	Combat level	Life points	Experience	Requirements	Recommendations
Corpse Spider	Second room in Lumbridge Catacombs	4	150	34	Completion of The Blood Pact	Wield a quickbow
Advantages				Disadvantages
They frequently drop runes and bronze arrows				Sometimes crowded

Monster name	Location(s)	Combat level	Life points	Experience	Requirements	Recommendations
Crawling corpse torsos	Fourth room in Lumbridge Catacombs	9	350	37.5	Completion of The Blood Pact	None
Advantages				Disadvantages
Decent drops (e.g. leather, a full inventory of which is worth 10,780 coins)				Not very close to a bank Small hitbox (click on the head)

Monster name	Location(s)	Combat level	Life points	Experience	Requirements	Recommendations
Warped bats	Seventh room in Lumbridge Catacombs	16	600	47.5	Completion of The Blood Pact	Use the most powerful shortbow that you can wield and arrows of the same tier
Advantages				Disadvantages
Decent drops				Not very close to a bank

Levels 30 - 50

Monster name	Location(s)	Combat level	Life points	Experience	Requirements	Recommendations
Spellwisps	West of the Wizards' Tower	18	650	47.5	None	Accursed urns, to gain Prayer experience from the impious ashes that they drop
Advantages				Disadvantages
Spellwisps are weak to arrows, making your attacks with bows more effective Reasonable drops (e.g. water talismans, which are worth 8,080 coins each)				Not very close to a bank (Wizard Myrtle provides a bank deposit service)

Monster name	Location(s)	Combat level	Life points	Experience	Requirements	Recommendations
Corpse mages	Tenth room in Lumbridge Catacombs	21	750	49	Completion of The Blood Pact	They are weak to thrown weapons
Advantages				Disadvantages
Somewhat good drops (talismans, runes)				Low life points Often crowded Not very close to a bank

Monster name	Location(s)	Combat level	Life points	Experience	Requirements	Recommendations
Dark wizards	• East of Varrock lodestone • Dark Wizards' Tower, west of Falador	22, 30, 35, 37	800, 1100, 1050, 1350	65	None	Use the most powerful shortbow that you can wield and arrows of the same tier Level 5 Agility to use the Falador shortcut
Advantages				Disadvantages
Weak to ranged (bolts) Decent drops (e.g. water talismans) You can make 50K-100K an hour collecting runes				Often crowded

Levels 50 - 70

Monster name	Location(s)	Combat level	Life points	Experience	Requirements	Recommendations
Catablepon	• 3rd level of the Stronghold of Security	54	3900	198	Third floor of the Stronghold of Security	food
Advantages				Disadvantages
96.7 experience per kill Does almost no damage to players Very easy to kill Can be killed fast for a high exp/hour with ranged Up to 68,000 exp/hour with rune arrows at levels 70+ if not picking up any drops (assumes 700 kills/hour)				It is a common place to train for both free-to-play AND pay-to-play players. Sometimes, though rarely, crowded Uses weaken spell, stops only when strength level is lowered by 8

Monster name	Location(s)	Combat level	Life points	Experience	Requirements	Recommendations
Lesser demons	• Karamja Volcano resource dungeon (requires 25 to enter) • Crandor and Karamja Dungeon • Crandor	70	5000	250	30 coins (Needed to travel to Karamja or Crandor)	Explorer's ring 3 or higher, accursed urns
Advantages				Disadvantages
Easy to hit, even for players with low-medium Ranged levels Decent drops Drops accursed ashes, which provide reasonable Prayer experience Players with 25 Dungeoneering may also enter the resource dungeon, which has more lesser demons and some imps as well.				No safe spots, as these monsters use a magic attack from a distance May not be possible to obtain drops if surrounded by demons Crowded at times

Levels 70 - 99

Monster name	Location(s)	Combat level	Life points	Experience	Requirements	Recommendations
Lesser demons	• Karamja Volcano resource dungeon (requires 25 to enter) • Crandor and Karamja Dungeon • Crandor	70	5000	250	30 coins (Needed to travel to Karamja or Crandor)	Explorer's ring 3 or higher, accursed urns
Advantages				Disadvantages
Easy to hit, even for players with low-medium Ranged levels Decent drops Drops accursed ashes, which provide reasonable Prayer experience Players with 25 Dungeoneering may also enter the resource dungeon, which has more lesser demons and some imps as well.				No safe spots, as these monsters use a magic attack from a distance May not be possible to obtain drops if surrounded by demons Crowded at times

Monster name	Location(s)	Combat level	Life points	Experience	Requirements	Recommendations
Greater demons	• Forinthry Dungeon • Wilderness Crater • Demonic Ruins	82	6000	385	You must be willing to brave the Wilderness	Only take items that you are willing to risk, as each location is in the Wilderness, Accursed urns
Advantages				Disadvantages
Better drops than lesser demons (e.g. rune full helm) Drops accursed ashes The best method of training Defence in F2P except for clan wars Up to 87,000 exp/hour with rune arrows at levels 80+ if not picking up any drops (assumes 225 kills/hour)				All locations are in Wilderness, meaning there is the risk of being killed by player killers Have a high defence, due to their high combat level Accurate Magic attacks