Attack

This article is about the melee skill. For fighting in general, see combat. For other uses, see Attack (disambiguation).

Attack

Also known as	Att
Release date	4 January 2001 (Update)
Members only	No
Minimum level for Hiscores	15 as of 17 November 2012 - update
Players with 99	154,239 as of 17 November 2012 - update
Players with 200M XP	97 as of 17 November 2012 - update

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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. The higher the Attack level, the fewer misses a player will incur during melee combat. As Attack is a vital skill in melee combat, increasing one's Attack level will increase one's combat level associated with melee.

The current minimum requirement to be ranked (at approximately rank 1,220,960) on the hiscores for Attack is level 15. As of 17 November 2012, there are 154,239 current members that have achieved level 99 in Attack.

History

Attack level-up music (link)

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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.

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 Dungoeneering. 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 with Dungeoneering, it nevertheless required 85 Attack and 80 Slayer to wield, a higher Attack requirement than any weapon obtained outside of Daemonheim.

Gaining experience

Combat

A player punching a dummy found in Varrock

Players may receive Attack experience during combat, and the amount of experience gained is dependent on the combat style being used. Of the four melee combat styles available, Attack experience is only awarded when fighting in the accurate or controlled stances.

When fighting in the accurate stance, $0.4*x$ Attack experience is awarded per hit, where $x$ is the amount of damage dealt. Fighting using the controlled stance, however, awards $0.133*x$ Attack experience per hit, where $x$ is the amount of damage dealt. For example, a player who hits a 10 would receive 4 Attack experience when fighting in the accurate stance and 1.33 Attack experience when fighting in the controlled stance. The amount of experience received when fighting in the controlled stance may be calculated in the same way that experience awarded to the Constitution skill is calculated.

The difference between these two stances is that the accurate stance solely provides experience for the Attack and Constitution skills. However, the controlled stance distributes experience among Attack, Strength, Defence, and Constitution evenly. A player who hits a 10 would receive 1.33 experience in each one of those skills. Additionally, fighting using the accurate stance provides a hidden boost of +3 to the Attack skill while using the controlled stance only provides a boost of +1.

Experience rewards

Attack experience may be awarded after the completion of certain quests, miniquests, tasks, random events, Distractions and Diversions, and other activities. 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.

Individual pieces of sacred clay equipment obtained through the Stealing Creation activity 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.

Attack experience may also be received from damage dealt by certain Summoning familiars. However, different familiars provide experience for different combat skills. The following familiars grant 40% Attack experience per point of damage dealt.

Familiar name	Combat level	Summoning level required
Spirit wolf	26	1
Mosquito	32	17
Albino rat	37	23
Void shifter	46	34
Bloated leech	76	49
Spirit kyatt	93	57
Spirit cobra	105	63
Ravenous locust	120	70
Praying mantis	131	75
Ice titan	139	79
Swamp titan	152	85

The following familiars grant 13.3% Attack, Strength, and Defence experience per point of damage dealt.

Familiar name	Combat level	Summoning level required
Spirit scorpion	51	19
Vampyre bat	44	31
Spirit larupia	93	57
Stranger plant	107	64
Arctic bear	122	71
Giant ent	137	78
Spirit dagannoth	148	83

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. Weapons denoted with (m) are members only.

Weapon type		Attack level	Notes
	Bronze	1	Bronze weapons are among the weakest weapons available.
	Iron	1	Iron weapons are stronger than bronze weapons.
	Steel	5	Steel weapons are stronger than iron weapons.
	Black	10	Black weapons are stronger than steel weapons. They cannot be created with the Smithing skill.
	White (m)	10	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	20	Mithril weapons are stronger than black weapons.
	Corrupt Ancient Warriors' (m)	20	Corrupt Ancient Warriors' equipment consists of several powerful, degradable weapons. The corrupt versions require 20 Attack to wield and provide the same bonuses as the non corrupt versions. However, the corrupt versions only last for 15 minutes and do not feature any special attacks.
	Adamant	30	Adamant weapons are stronger than mithril weapons.
	Rune	40	Rune weapons are stronger than adamant weapons.
	Sacred clay (m)	40	The sacred clay scimitar provides the same offensive bonuses as a rune scimitar, but it additionally doubles the amount of combat experience received when used.
	Gravite	45	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 (m)	50	Granite weapons include the Granite maul and Granite mace and require 50 Attack and Strength to wield. These weapons provide a significantly higher crush bonus than they do slash and stab bonuses.
File:TokTz-Xil-Ak.png	Obsidian (m)	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 (m)	60	Dragon weapons are stronger than rune weapons. Each weapon features a unique special attack.
	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.
	Barrows (m)	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 (m)	70	The abyssal whip is fairly powerful a one-handed weapon with a high attack speed, same as that of scimitars. The whip also provides fairly high slash and strength bonuses and does not degrade.
	God Wars Dungeon-related (m)	70	The Saradomin sword and Zamorakian spear are two-handed weapons obtained in the God Wars Dungeon. The weapons both possess a unique special attack.
	Godswords (m)	75	Godswords are the strongest non-degradable weapon available. There are four types of godswords, each with a different special attack, but each type offers the same offensive bonuses.
	Ancient Warriors' (m)	78	Ancient Warriors' equipment includes powerful, degradable weapons which only last for 1 hour of being equipped. Unlike the corrupt versions, these weapons possess unique special attacks.
	Chaotic (m)	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.

Miscellaneous weapons

Many miscellaneous weapons all over RuneScape do not fit into any particular category, such as quest and minigame rewards. Weapons denoted with (m) are members only.

Type		Level	Additional requirements
	Basic decorative sword (m)	5
	Ogre club (m)	5
	Ancient mace (m)	15
	Excalibur (m)	20
	Detailed decorative sword (m)	20
	Intricate decorative sword (m)	30
	Fremennik blade (m)	30
	Nature staff	40
	Law staff	40
	Brine sabre (m)	40
	Profound decorative sword (m)	40
	Void Knight equipment (m)	42
	Leaf-bladed spear (m)	50
	Leaf-bladed sword (m)	50
	Ancient staff (m)	50
File:Ibans staff.png	Iban's staff (m)	50
	Keris (m)	50
	Barrelchest anchor (m)	60
	Brackish blade (m)	60
	Ring of vigour (m)	62
	Penance master trident (m)	70
	Balmung (m)	75
	Staff of light (m)	75
	Abyssal vine whip (m)	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 (m)	50
7		Argonite (m)	60
8		Katagon (m)	70
9		Gorgonite (m)	80
10		Promethium (m)	90
11		Primal (m)	99

Attack bonuses

The rubber chicken, one of many fun weapons.

Melee weapons may confer positive or negative bonuses to stab, slash, and crush attack styles. Certain types of weapons are naturally better suited to certain attack styles, and many weapons are not able to utilise all three styles.

Additionally, some weapons do not give positive bonuses to any of the three attack styles and are often referred to as fun weapons. These weapons do not exist necessarily for use in combat; they exist merely for aesthetic purposes.

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.

Skill mastery

A player performing the Attack cape's emote.

Level 99 is the maximum level a player may achieve in Attack, attained at 13,034,431 experience. The amount of experience players may gain is capped at 200 million, but acquiring additional experience until 200 million experience will not increase the Attack level beyond level 99.

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 along with a +4 prayer bonus. However, players with only 1 level 99 skill will receive an untrimmed version of the cape, as can be seen to the right.

Currently, there are 154,239 players with level 99 Attack and 97 players with 200 million experience in Attack.

Temporary boosts

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

Visible

Visible boosts are indicated in the stats interface by showing a level increase from the base level. All of these boosts are members-only.

Image	Boost	Skill	Level increase	Notes
	Cup of tea	Attack	3	Heals 30 life points as well.
	Attack potion (or mix)	Attack	10%3 + 10%	Mix version heals 30 life points.
	Super attack (or mix)	Attack	15%5 + 15%	Mix version heals 60 life points.
	Extreme attack	Attack	22%5 + 22%	Not tradeable; requires 88 Herblore to make.
	Overload	Attack, Strength, Defence, Ranged, and Magic	22%Constant boost of 5 + 22% for 5 minutes	Not tradeable; requires 96 Herblore to make.
	Zamorak brew (or mix)	Attack and Strength	20%2 + 20% (Attack), 2 + 12% (Strength)	Decreases Defence and remaining life points by 2 + 10% (Mix reduces life points by 10% - (10 to 40)).
	Combat potion (or mix)	Attack and Strength	10%3 + 10%	Mix also heals 60 life points.
	Cavefish	Attack, Strength, Defence, Magic, or Ranged	2 2	Heals 200 life points.
	Attack cape	Attack	1	Requires 99 Attack to equip.
	Red spicy stew	Attack, Strength, Defence, Ranged, Magic	6-6 to 6	The stew may boost or reduce levels by 1 to 6 points randomly. +6 boost are extremely rare.

Invisible

Invisible boosts are not indicated in the stats interface, but they are applied in combat calculations nevertheless. Members-only boosts are indicated by (m).

Image	Boost	Skill	Level increase	Notes
	Clarity of Thought	Attack	5%	Requires 7 Prayer.
	Improved Reflexes	Attack	10%	Requires 16 Prayer.
	Incredible Reflexes	Attack	15%	Requires 34 Prayer.
	Chivalry (m)	Attack, Strength, and Defence	15% Attack, 18% Strength, and 20% Defence	Requires 60 Prayer and completion of the Camelot training room.
	Piety (m)	Attack, Strength, and Defence	20% Attack, 23% Strength, and 25% Defence	Requires 70 Prayer and completion of the Camelot training room.
File:Leech attack.gif	Leech Attack (m)	Attack	10% 5%, increasing to 10% over time	Requires 74 Prayer and completion of The Temple at Senntisten.
	Turmoil (m)	Attack, Strength, and Defence	21%15% plus 15% of enemy's level (Attack and Defence), 23% plus 10% of enemy's level (Strength)	Requires 95 Prayer and completion of The Temple at Senntisten.
	Ruby Harvest (m)	Attack	20%	Boost affects the player it is used on; may only be used in a multi-combat zone.
	Black mask (m)	Attack and Strength	16.67% (Attack and Strength)	Boost only applies when fighting monsters assigned by a Slayer Master.
	Salve amulet (m)	Attack and Strength	15%	Boost only applies when fighting undead monsters. Requires partial completion of Haunted Mine.
	Salve amulet (e) (m)	Attack and Strength	20%	Boost only applies when fighting undead monsters. Requires completion of The Lair of Tarn Razorlor.

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