 Combat Guide, I wrote a guide for RW |
  |
 Aug 4 2005, 02:10 PM | Post #1 |
 
|
Unregistered
Combat Guide
Combat is one of the most popular skills in RuneScape. It is the art of fighting monsters or players, in order to get their items and coins. Combat is not just one skill, but rather a collection of multiple skills that each affect a certain aspect of combat.
How to start Combat
During your quest on Tutorial Island, there is a Combat Instructor who will teach you a few basic things about combat. You don't really need any items to start practicing combat, but it's better to use a weapon or armour, since they can influence the outcome of the battle in a positive way.
The Combat Instructor will give you a Bronze sword and a Wooden shield. After that you have to fight a rat. This is the first battle you will fight.
During a battle, you'll see damage numbers on you and your enemy. You'll also see two green bars which display how many hits you have left. One of them is your hits bar, and the other one is your opponents hits bar. A full green bar means full health, which is good if it is your hits bar, but it is bad if it your opponents hits bar. The damage points that appear on you, will be subtracted from your hits level, whereas the damage points on your opponent will be subtracted from his hits level. So you'll see both bars gradually change to red. In a battle, your goal is to let your opponent's hits level reach zero (a completely red bar), by dealing as much as possible damage on him. So you'll need to do a lot of damage and you'll need to do it very often. Also, you have to try to keep your own bar have as much green as possible. If your bar is completely red, it will mean that you're (close to) dead.
Eating food will increase your Hits level. You can eat food anytime, so during battle as well. If you know that your opponent is very strong, then you can eat food to help keeping your hits level high and the hits bar as green as possible. Note that monsters can't eat food.
The hits bar will only appear during battle, or if there is something else that is causing damage to you. If you can't see the hits bar, then you can view your current state of health in the stats tab (Hits level). The first level displayed needs to be as close as possible to the other number displayed. For instance, 72/72 means full health, 30/72 means that you need to eat food, 0/72 means you're dead.
If you're killed in battle, you will be teleported to Lumbridge Castle. You will lose all but three of your most valueable items. Members can complete the "Recruitment Drive" quest in order to change the location they're teleported to upon death. The location will be changed to Falador.
Also, once you're done with Tutorial Island, there is a house in Varrock where you can train on dummies. This should get your combat skills up a bit, before taking on the real monsters.
Combat Skills and Classes
Combat does not concern one skill. There are multiple skills that influence combat. These skills are called Combat Skills. Attack, Defence, Strength, Hits, Prayer, Ranged and Magic are the seven Combat Skills. However, these skills do not affect combat all at the same time.
The Combat system is divided into three "classes". These are Warrior, Ranger and Mage. Each of these classes have their own way of fighting the enemy. Warriors prefer weapons such as swords and axes, to fight opponents close to them. Rangers and Mages prefer a distance and shoot their enemies with physical projectiles such as arrows (Rangers) or they shoot a form of magical energy at their enemy (Mages). Which of these three ways to fight your enemies you use is your choice. However, bear in mind that it might be wise to practice the class of which the class skills are the highest, because such a decision makes you stronger.
The class skills are the skills that affect how well you perform while fighting in a certain class.
Attack and Strength affect how well you do as a Warrior.
Ranged affects your abilities as a Ranger.
Magic affects your chances in battle as a Mage.
The other skills (Defence, Hits and Prayer) are called Neutral Skills. These skills affect all classes.
Now we explain the effect of each skill in-depth:
- Attack affects the accuracy of a Warrior. High attack levels will allow you to deal damage more often while being a Warrior.
- Defence affects all classes and it influences how often you get damaged by your opponent. High defence levels will increase the probability of getting 0 damage done by your enemy.
- Strength affects the power of the attacks of a Warrior. High Strength levels increase the chances of dealing high amounts of damage to your opponent.
- Hits affects all classes. It influences how long you last in a battle. Each time you get hit by your opponent, your temporary Hits level will decrease. You will die if it reaches 0. High hits levels will make you last longer, because it is harder for your opponent to decrease your temporary Hits level to 0. The temporary Hits level gradually increases over time, regardless of what you're doing, until it is the same as your static Hits level.
- Prayer affects all classes. Prayer is the art of calling upon the power of the gods to aid you in battle. Prayer consists of various defensive spells that can do various things, such as temporarily increase one of the other combat skills, or they help decrease damage done by your opponent. For more info regarding Prayer, use the Prayer guide.
- Magic affects both accuracy and power of a Mage's spell. High magic levels will both mean doing damage more often and dealing high damage.
- Ranged works the same as Magic, but now it affects Rangers. High Ranged levels will mean a lot of damage and it will be dealt more often.
Weapons and Armour
There is a wide range of weapons and amour available, that can help you during battle. Good weapons will make you hit higher and more often and good armour will reduce the probability of getting hit by your opponent. Both training combat skills and equipping good weapons and armour are very good ways to become stronger. The weapons and armour must be equipped before they have any effect. Once equipped, they will be moved to the equipment tab:
This will display all types of weapons and armour that are currently equipped. Once equipped, they will raise those numbers you see below the equipment. These numbers display the offensive and defensive capabilities of your current equipment. The Attack bonus will dipslay how well your weapon can hit your opponent (in various ways such as stabbing, slashing, crushing, magic and ranged). Some goes for the defensive bonus but those will display how well your equipment can defend you against such attacks from enemies. Having these numbers very high is vital in becoming a very strong combattant. To equip armour and weapons, you need to have attained a certain attack level (for weapons) or defence level (for armour).
Armour/Weaponry type - Required attack/defence level to equip:
Bronze - 1
Iron - 1
Steel - 15
Black - 20
Mithril - 30
Adamant - 40
Rune - 50
Dragon - 60
Crystal/Barrows - 70
Combat Modes
To train these skills, you'll need to look at the combat modes of your weapons (empty-handed has combat modes as well). These modes decide your behaviour in battle, and they also decide which combat skills are trained.
More details on how train Magic, Ranged and Prayer can be found in their respective guides.
To train the Warrior skills, you'll have to equip a Warrior weapon. Now open up the combat modes tab which is the first one in the row.
You'll see the combat modes. These are the four modes (can be three with other weapons) you can choose. If you look at the picture above, you can see that below "Chop", which is the name of the first combat mode, it says "(Accurate). This is the "combat mode type"', and it means that fighting in this combat mode, will cause your Attack level to be a tiny bit higher than usual. Also, the exp will go to Attack and Hits (see chart below). So if you want to train attack, then put it the combat mode where the type says "(Accurate)". Here's a list of the combat mode types, together with how the amount of exp you'll receive is distributed to the combat skills, per damage point.
- Accurate: Fight with increased accuracy (Attack lvl). - 4 exp to Attack, 1.33 exp to Hits
- Defensive: Fight with increased defence (Defence lvl). - 4 exp to Defence, 1.33 exp to Hits
- Aggressive: Fight with increased weapon power (Strength lvl). - 4 exp to Strength, 1.33 exp to Hits
- Controlled: Fight with less increased accuracy, defence and weapon power - 1.33 exp to Attack, Defence, Strength and Hits.
The following modes conern Ranged weapons:
- Accurate: Shoot physical projectiles with increased accuracy. - 4 exp to Ranged, 1.33 exp to Hits
- Rapid: Shoot physical projectiles at a faster rate, but less accurate. - 4 exp to Ranged, 1.33 exp to Hits
- Longrange: Shoot physical objects at greater distances. - 2 exp to Ranged, Defence, and Hits.
Combat level
RuneScape has a certain stat called "Combat Level". You can view it in the lower right corner of the stats tab, below your Total level. Combat level is a valuable piece of information, that displays your overall winning chances in combat. Note that there are actually three combat levels. Each class has its own combat level. Each of these three combat levels is calculated by a formula, and displays your actual combat strength in a certain class, by looking at the current skill levels of the Combat skills:
Warrior combat level = (0,32707 * Attack lvl) + (0,249 * Defence lvl) + (0,324 * Strength) + (0,25 * Hits) + (0,124 * Prayer)
Mage combat level = (0,4835 * Magic lvl) + (0,249 * Defence lvl) + (0,25 * Hits) + (0,124 * Prayer)
Ranger combat level = (0,4865 * Ranged lvl) + (0,249 * Defence lvl) + (0,25 * Hits) + (0,124 * Prayer)
^ I assume that my combat formulae are highly accurate, but feel free to replace it by a different formula or leave it out completely if you feel that is necissary.
You can see that the Neutral skills are included in all three formulae. You can also see that the Class Combat skills only affect their own Class combat level.
The highest of these three combat levels is the one displayed in-game. It also decides in which class you're in. If the Warrior formula would give the highest answer, then you're a Warrior. Your current class displays the way of fighting that would give you the best chances of winning a battle. So Warriors should fight with swords and axes etc. Mages should fight with spells and Rangers should fight with bow and arrows or some other Ranged weapon. This way, you will have used the full extent of your combat ability.
Class Switch
Throughout your RuneScape life, you will probably not stay in one class all the time. In fact, most people make a so-called "class switch" all the time, without even noticing it. A class switch is the progress of switching to a different class, because the game thinks that you're no longer stronger in the old class, but it would be better if you started fighting in the new class. Such class switches usually happen if someone starts to train a class combat skill such as Magic, while he is not a Mage, but a Warrior. At first, warrior combat will be better for him, but after training a whole lot of Magic levels, it will obviously mean that his qualities as a Mage will give him better chances. At this point, you have made a class switch.
The combat level displayed in-game is that of your current class. The other two are "sub-class combat levels". During a class switch, one of the sub-class combat levels will suddenly be higher than the currently displayed combat level. Because of the rule that the currently displayed combat level must be the highest of the three at all times, the currently displayed combat level must be replaced by the sub-combat level that now has a higher value. So now, a sub-combat level will have taken the "throne". This is what actually happens during a class switch. A lesser combat level will kick the displayed one off his throne and it'll take his place. Now that a different class combat level is on top, you will also be in a different class.
If the three combat levels are close to eachother (because most people like to keep their skill levels equal), you are more likely to make a class switch, because it will require only a few levels for a lesser combat level to become the highest. This shows that class switches happen a lot.
You will not notice anything if you make a class switch. It can only happen when a combat skill levels up, that belongs to a currently lesser combat skill. Due to this system, a class switch can NEVER cause a decrease in combat level. This is impossible.
The maximum combat level in RuneScape is 126. Everyone starts with 3. At this intial state, you're a warrior. Also, because Attack and Strength weigh more than Magic or Ranged, warriors can attain a higher combat level (126) than Mages or Rangers can (110). You can't train beyond level 110 without class switching to a Warrior. This automatically means that people with combat level 111 or higher are always Warriors. So if you intend to stay Mage or Ranger, then the maximum combat level for you is 110.
Player versus monster combat
Most of the time while praticing combat, you'll be fighting monsters. Monsters are ideal to train combat skills in order to become better at other forms of combat as well.
Monsters are so-called NPC's which stands for Non Playable Character. It basically means that these characters are controlled by a script rather than a real person like other players. NPC's can be recognised by a yellow-coloured name, which will appear when you hover over them with the mouse cursor. Other players will have a white-coloured name. Not every NPC is a monster. Monsters will have an added combat level next to their name:
The combat level will have a certain colour, depending on your own combat level. This colour should give you an idea on the monster's combat strength compared to yours. A monsters combat level is displayed in green if it is lower than your combat level, yellow if it is equal and orange/red if it is higher. This system works exactly the same with players.
- If the monster's combat level is displayed in green, you will not have any problems with beating it. Monsters like these are good for training. You might need food for these monsters, but they won't do damage very often.
- If the monsters level is displayed in a colour which is a combination of green and yellow, then it might be wise to take food with you. These monsters are good for training, but you might need a lot of food for long training periods. Beating this monster is not hard at all.
- If the monster's level is displayed in yellow, then it's quite strong for you. With some food, it won't be hard to beat it, but focus your attention as fighting a lot of these monsters could mean your death if you don't eat food every now and then.
- If the monster's level is displayed in a colour which is a combination of yellow and red, then it will be a pretty strong monster. Pay attention and bring food, and you'll be able to beat it easily. These monsters aren't really suitable for training though.
- If the monsters level is displayed in red, then you must bear in mind that it can either be about 10 combat levels higher than yours, or a whole lot. So look at their combat level and compare it with your own. If it's only 10 levels higher, you can beat it without too much trouble if you bring food. If it's a whole lot higher, then you might wanna add potions (See Herblore Guide) or defend yourself using Prayer (See Prayer Guide). These monsters can kill you easily if they're a whole lot stronger.
As your combat level increases, you'll notice that the combat level of monsters will gradually turn from red or yellow, to green. There will be less monsters who are too strong for you, so you'll need to worry less about encountering monsters with red-coloured combat levels. Prepare well if you're going on a quest (you'll be more likely to encounter strong monsters) and try to stick with green/yellow coloured combat levels if you're going to train.
Player versus Player
This way of fighting is also called PK'ing, which is short for Player Killing. This involves fighting a player. This is usually harder than fighting a normal monster, but the rewards are a lot better. You might get some very valuable stuff. Bear in mind that players can and probably will use food and various other ways of making themselves stronger. Always prepare well. If a player kills you, the same thing will happen when a monster kills you. If you kill a player, you'll get his items, except for the three most valuable ones. He will keep those. The rest is yours. But you will receive a skull above your head. Beware that getting killed while having this curse, means that you'll lose ALL of your items. You won't keep anything.
Player Killing can only be done in a place called the "Wilderness". There are exceptions such as the COmbat Arena and Castle Wars, but we will discuss those later in the guide. This wilderness is a very large area that can be found north of Falador and Varrock. Being anywhere else, means that you'll be safe. As you approach the wilderness, a warning will tell you about the dangers of the wilderness. The wilderness is divided in about 50 levels. These will appear on the screen during a visit to the wilderness. At first, you'll be in level 1. As you go deeper into the wilderness, this level will increase. This indicator is called the "Danger level". It displays the difference in levels where players are allowed to attack eachother. So a player battle can only begin if the difference between the combat levels of those characters is less than the danger level they're in. So a level 50 can attack a level 80 if they're in the danger level 30 or higher. A level 3 can't attack a level 50 if they're in level 1. So you don't have to fear people who are a lot higher levelled than you. If you meet them in a danger level which is less than the difference in combat level between you and them, they can't attack you. Nevertheless, always watch out for other players in the wilderness, as some can kill you very fast.
PKing involves a system called the PKing traingle:
Each class has been given a weakness. Warriors are weak against Mages. This weakness is basically experienced as the fact that Mages will do damage on Warriors more often than usual. So Warriors have a harder time fighting mages, as they will get hit more often by the spells. However, the weakness is not caused by one's class, but rather by the equipment someone is wearing. Equipping Warrior equipment will also give you the weaknesses of warrior, regardless of which class you're in. That is the only bad side of equipment. However, you can always decide to equip Ranger armour, so that your weakness against mages will be gone. In fact, the mage will now be weak against you! However, regardless of what armour you're wearing, you'll always be weak to a certain different class. That's how the triangle works.
Special Attacks **Members only**
If you're a member, then you can equip certain weapons that have a special attack. To use those attacks, the weapon must be equipped and you need to click on the special attack bar, in the combat modes tab. Some special attacks only work during battle. These are special attacks that deal an increased amount of damage on your opponent. There are also various other weapons that have special attacks that raise certain skill levels. Using these special attacks, you can increase the chances of winning a battle. You'll probably only need special attack during a special battle
.Combat tips
- To train, try to fight only monsters with green/yellow coloured combat levels. You can beat many of these without using too much food.
- Use better food to be able to heal more hits faster. Food has no requirements to eat it.
- If you're member, then monsters can poison you. During this state, you will gradually lose hits. Drink an anti-poison to cure this status ailment.
I might add some more tips later. Please post if I left anything out.
Here is a zip file containing the pictures I've used in the guide
This post has been edited by MaxTheDragon: Aug 5 2005, 09:28 AM
| | |  |
|
Aug 4 2005, 02:37 PM | Post #2 |
|
Unregistered
| | | |
|
Aug 4 2005, 03:04 PM | Post #3 |
|
Unregistered
I'll use some parts of it when I start up the combat guide. Thanks, Max!
| | | |
|
Aug 4 2005, 04:09 PM | Post #4 |
|
Unregistered
hm i cant use barrow stuff ;X stupid low def lv... well doesnt matter since i barly play
| | | |
|
Aug 4 2005, 04:54 PM | Post #5 |
|
Unregistered
| | | |
|
Aug 4 2005, 05:16 PM | Post #6 |
|
Unregistered
One thing though, in that initial part about the dying, you should put in something about the Falador respawn for Recruitment Drive thing.
| | | |
|
Aug 4 2005, 05:40 PM | Post #7 |
|
Unregistered
| | | |
|
Aug 5 2005, 12:51 AM | Post #8 |
|
Unregistered
| | | |
|
Aug 5 2005, 03:13 AM | Post #9 |
|
Unregistered
| | | |
|
Aug 5 2005, 03:25 AM | Post #10 |
|
Unregistered
| | | |
|
Aug 5 2005, 02:23 PM | Post #11 |
|
Unregistered
| | | |
|
Aug 6 2005, 06:36 PM | Post #12 |
|
Unregistered
aw man im a tramp!why am i a tramp?any1 know?some1 tell me im new here :unsure:
This post has been edited by Killerv5: Aug 6 2005, 06:37 PM
| | | |
|
Aug 6 2005, 06:45 PM | Post #13 |
|
Unregistered
When I was level 60, I spent a lot of time in the blurite cave. That was back in RS1, and so I don't know if it's still a good place to train. Rock Crabs might be good.
You should fight monsters that have 25-30 combat level. That way, you won't need too much food, but you will level up at a decent speed.
And everyone who has <20 posts here is a Varrock Tramp. Being active will get your rank up. Then you'll be a Disciple of Hans like me. :lol:
This post has been edited by MaxTheDragon: Aug 6 2005, 06:46 PM
| | | |
|
Aug 7 2005, 02:33 PM | Post #14 |
|
Unregistered
| | | |
|
Aug 7 2005, 02:56 PM | Post #15 |
|
Unregistered
I think I'll add some more stuff about attack types such as slash, stab, crush, ranged and magic, and how they can cause weaknesses and strengths.
| | | |
| « Next Oldest | RW Submit, Suggest, & Report | Next Newest » |
|
1 User(s) are reading this topic (1 Guests and 0 Anonymous Users)
0 Members: