Melee is one of three attack styles, enabling players to fight in close-combat using handheld weaponry such as battleaxes, longswords, and daggers. Unlike Ranged, melee increases your level in Hits while training. This is a guide on how to train using Melee, enabling more efficient use of Attack, Strength, and Defense during combat.
Weaponry Choice
- Two-handed swords give the highest damage per second of any melee weapon in RuneScape Classic, but thus sacrifice a large amount of Armour bonus provided from use of a shield. These are useful in areas where defense is unnecessary at your level, or when using Prayer to train melee. Some monsters which you might train with a two-handed sword on include lesser demons or black knights.
- Battleaxes provide damage per second similar to Two-handed swords and allow use of shields, but significantly reduce WeaponAim. The Dragon Battleaxe is the highest hitting weapon in the game, however the Rune Two-handed sword and the Dragon sword both provide higher offensive capability. These are best used on enemies that have high power but low defense, such as fire giants.
- Longswords give WeaponAim exceeding that of a battleaxe and are one-handed, however a large amount of WeaponPower is sacrificed. These are best used on enemies which have high defense but hit significant amounts of damage, such as green dragons.
- Most other weapons are seldom used, as they are often considered unsuperior compared to the weapons listed above. These include maces (weapons that give only moderate WeaponAim and WeaponPower but provide a prayer bonus), daggers (which can be poisoned, however poison does NOT reward experience), and scimitars (which are weaker than longswords).
Training from Levels 1-15 Attack/Strength/Defense
1. Kill chickens in various farms located throughout Lumbridge
Pros:
- Low defense, easy to kill
- Drop feathers which can be sold to other players for a good source of wealth
- Drop bones which can be used to train prayer (3.75 experience per set of bones buried)
- Raw chicken drops can be cooked for cooking experience
- No food is necessary, as chickens rarely hit (they have a maximum hit of 1)
- Give 9 or more experience in chosen attack style per kill and 3 hits experience
- All chickens are clumped close together, so little distance is traveled
Cons:
- Sometimes crowded, one player can be capable of killing off large amounts of chickens in one area, reducing your experience gain
- After reduced to around to 1 hitpoint, chickens will procede to run away, and thus you must reclick on them to kill them.
2. Kill goblins located around Lumbridge
Pros:
- Moderate defense, easy to kill
- Will not retreat from battle, unlike chickens
- Drop bones which can be used to train prayer (3.75 experience per set of bones buried)
- Have a maximum hit of 1, so little food is required
- Give 15 or more experience in chosen attack style per kill and 5 hits experience
- Drop Goblin Armour, which is used during Goblin Diplomacy
Cons:
- Unvaluable drops
- Goblins are often spaced far apart
- If your Defense level is low or you cannot kill goblins in one hit, a small amount of food is required
3. Kill mans located in the house in Edgeville
Pros:
- Moderate defense, easy to kill
- Do not retreat from battle
- Drop bones which can be used to train prayer (3.75 experience per set of bones buried)
- Have a maximum hit of 1, so little food is required
- Give 21 or more experience in chosen attack style per kill and 7 hits experience
- Drop valuable herbs often bought for good prices from high-levelled players
- Can be pickpocketed to train thieving while training melee
- Very close to bank
Cons:
- If your Defense level is low, then you will need some food to train here
- You may accidently select "Talk to" a man, and be forced to listen to his conversation
- May be crowded
4. Kill gnomes located at the Khazard battlefield
Pros:
- Rarely crowded, extremely easy to kill
- Rarely deal damage, and have a maximum hit of only 1, thus no food is required
- Give 9 or more experience in chosen attack style per kill and 7 hits experience
- These are the best source of experience for players keeping their Attack and Strength levels at 1 while training defense
- Drop bones which can be used to train prayer (3.75 experience per set of bones buried)
Cons:
- Far away from a bank
- They only drop bones
- Must travel a long distance to reach the Khazard Battlefield
5. Kill cows located in the pen at Lumbridge
Pros:
- Drop cowhides, which can be used for crafting or sold to higher levelled players
- Only deal damage occasionally if you have decent armour, have a maximum hit of 1
- Give 24 or more experience in your chosen attack style per kill and give 8 hits experience
- Drop bones which can be used to train prayer
- Drop raw meat, which you can cook using logs from nearby trees, removing the need for food (unless you have low defense)
- Very close to the starting point of the game
Cons:
- May deal some damage
- May be crowded
- Fairly long distance from a bank (unless you use the one at Al-Kharid