Melee is a method of attack that refers to hand-to-hand combat but is usually performed with a melee weapon such as a sword. Aside from ranged and magic, melee is the most common form of attack in RuneScape Classic. Melee does not include long-range attacks like ranged and magic.
Melee combat is made up of three attack styles - Attack, Strength and Defence but also includes the Controlled option. Melee experience is received based on the attack style that a player uses throughout a battle. Upon attacking a monster, players are able to choose their attack style. When the monster is killed, the player receives experience towards the respective skill that their attack style is set on. The player will also receive 1/3 of that experience in the Hits skill. If the player chooses the controlled attack style, they will receive an even amount of experience in all of the combat skills including Hits.
Using a melee weapon, players inflict damage on monsters or other players when in combat. Types of melee weapons include daggers, maces, shortswords, longswords, scimitars, spears, battle axes and 2-handed swords. The 2-handed sword is often the most popular melee weapon choice amongst players up until level 60 attack as it has the highest weapon bonuses in comparison to any other type of weapon. At level 60 attack, the dragon longsword and dragon battleaxe are powerful weapons that players often choose to use as there is no dragon 2-hander available in RuneScape Classic.