Armour/Melee armour

For a full list of items and their stats worn in the body slot, see this table.

Melee armour, used in the Attack, Strength and Defence skills, is generally made out of some kind of metal. There is a "default" (regular) series of armour, consisting of Bronze, Iron, Steel, Black/White, Mithril, Adamant, Rune, and Dragon (in ascending order of the quality of the armour). For each piece of armour, there is a counterpart made for each other type of metal (with the exception of Dragon armour which has some items yet to be released). All these can be made from the Smithing skill, with the exception of Black, White, and Dragon, which can only be purchased or received from a monster drop.

All armour items not made from those metal types can be considered "special" and generally cannot be made from the Smithing skill, but rather sold by an NPC or obtained as a monster drop. Some players may consider these more desirable, as they often provide higher bonuses than other forms of armour.

Melee armour sets

A set generally comprises a full helm, platebody, platelegs/skirt, and a kiteshield where applicable. It's very typical among the metal armours.

To save money, low-tier armour pieces can be bought at the following places:

• Helmet Shop in Barbarian Village
• Horvik's Armour Shop in East Varrock
• Louie's Armoured Legs Bazaar or Ranael's Super Skirt Store in Al Kharid
• Cassie's Shield Shop in Falador

level	Icon	Armour	Other skills/ requirements
1		Bronze armour	None
1		Iron armour	None
5		Steel armour	None
10		Black armour	None
10		White armour	Wanted!
20		Mithril armour	None
20		Initiate armour	10 and Recruitment Drive
30		Adamant armour	None
30		Proselyte armour	20 and Slug Menace
40		Rune armour	Dragon Slayer (for platebody)
40		Rock-shell armour	The Fremennik Trials
42		Void Knight Equipment	850 Pest Control points plus the following: 42 , , , , , , and 22
50		Granite armour	50
60		Obsidian armour
60		Dragon armour	Money Legend's quest (for the sq shield)
65		Third-age warrior armour	Money
65		Bandos armour	Money
70		Barrows armour	Fully degrades after 15 hours in Combat

Melee armour pieces

Defence Level	Icon	Type	Other skills/ requirements
1		Warrior ring	650,000 Nightmare Zone points only to imbue
1		Berserker ring	650,000 Nightmare Zone points only to imbue
41		Barrows gloves	Recipe for Disaster
1		Fire cape	Defeated TzTok-Jad
1		Infernal cape	Completing The Inferno
10		Slayer helm	55 and 400 Slayer reward points
20		Yak-hide armour	None
25	File:Fremennik round shield.png	Fremennik round shield	None
30		Fremennik shield	The Fremennik Trials
30		Fremennik helm	The Fremennik Trials
40		Fighter Torso	Barbarian Assault: 375 Honour points in all four roles and killed the Penance Queen
45		Spirit shield	55
45		Warrior helm	The Fremennik Trials
45		Berserker helm	The Fremennik Trials
55		Helm of neitiznot	The Fremennik Isles
60		Toktz-Ket-Xil	None
70		Crystal shield	50 and Roving Elves; fully degrades after taking 2500 hits that deal damage
70		Blessed spirit shield	60
75		Elysian spirit shield	75
75		Serpentine helm
75		Dragonfire shield
75		Primordial boots	75

Set items

Medium helmets

Bronze, Iron, Steel, Black, White, Mithril, Adamant, Rune, Dragon

Medium helmets offer little protection compared to full helms (shown below) from most combat forms, but also do little to inhibit using any combat style. This makes them a good choice for players who favour Melee, but want the opportunity to use Magic and Ranged. But if you prefer Melee-fighting, the full helm is a better choice.

Full helmets

Bronze, Iron, Steel, Black, White, Mithril, Adamant, Rune, Dragon

Full helmets encase the whole of the players head and provide better Ranged and Melee Defence than other helmets. It does, however, impose larger negative modifiers to Magic and Ranged attacks, but many rangers prefer them for their Defence bonuses and accept the negative attack modifiers, which are significantly smaller than their magical attack penalty.

Chainbodies

Bronze, Iron, Steel, Black, White, Mithril, Adamant, Rune, Dragon

Chainbodies are made up of small rings linked together. They are particularly useful for deflecting slashing weapons and absorbing the impact of crush attacks. Chainmail is weak against stabbing weapons as small pointed blades can pierce the rings, as can arrows, therefore it is less effective at defending against Ranged attacks. Chainmail is quite flexible and so does not penalise a ranger's Attack bonus, though its metal construction does impede a mage's accuracy somewhat. However, they offer a lesser Magic Defence penalty than platebodies.

Platebodies

Bronze, Iron, Steel, Black, White, Mithril, Adamant, Rune

Platebodies are much heavier and stronger than chainbodies, providing the higher slash, stab, and Ranged Defence bonuses. Platebodies are weakest against crushing and Magic attacks, as they conduct Magic and cannot absorb the impact of a crush attack as well as dragonhide or chain armour. Rangers and mages are at a great disadvantage trying to aim their Ranged and distance magical attacks in this restrictive and heavy metal armour. The Dragon Slayer quest is required to wear the Rune platebody.

Platelegs and plateskirts

Bronze, Iron, Steel, Black, White, Mithril, Adamant, Rune, Dragon

Platelegs and plateskirts are a vital part of a warrior's armour, and provide the second best defensive bonuses after the platebody. As with all Dragon equipment, the Dragon platelegs/plateskirt cannot be made via the Smithing skill.

Square shields

Bronze, Iron, Steel, Black, White, Mithril, Adamant, Rune, Dragon

The square shield has adequate Melee and Ranged Defence bonuses, and does not penalise Ranged or Magic attacks as much as the kiteshield. In Melee, a square shield is weakest against crush attacks, but stronger towards stab. Square shields are not often used, as most players prefer the kiteshield for its higher Defence bonuses. In similarity towards medium helmets, square shields provide less Ranged and Magic attack penalties and could be more preferred by those who aren't using Melee.

Kiteshields

Bronze, Iron, Steel, Black, White, Mithril, Adamant, Rune

Kiteshields offer better Defence than a square shield, although like most heavier armour it is awkward to use in combination with Magic and Ranged. Kiteshields are marginally weaker against stabbing attacks.

Metal gloves

Bronze, Iron, Steel, Black, White, Mithril, Adamant, Rune, Dragon, Barrows

The Culinaromancer's metal gloves can be bought from the Culinaromancer's chest after completing varying numbers of Recipe for Disaster subquests, the exception being White gloves, which are purchased from Sir Vyvin. White gloves are also the only tradeable metal gloves.

Metal gloves provide good protection against all attack styles. Barrows gloves give the best Attack bonuses for all Attack styles of any pair of gloves, and also the highest Strength bonus. These gloves also do not degrade.

Defenders

Bronze, Iron, Steel, Black, Mithril, Adamant, Rune, Dragon

Metal defenders are small dagger-like items worn in the Shield slot. Defenders make a trade off whereby they sacrifice much of a shields defensive capabilities to further boost offensive stats and are as such desirable for warriors who favour stronger and more accurate attacks over survivability. They cannot be made nor bought, only received as a drop from cyclopes on the top floor of the Warriors' Guild. Once the first - bronze - defender is received, it must be shown to Kamfreena outside the room before an iron one may be received, which must then be shown before a steel one may be received, etc. Entrance to the cyclops' room is temporary and the Guild's tokens are required for access. The owned amount slowly decreases as one is in the room.

Bronze armour

Bronze armour is the weakest of all Melee armours, requiring no levels whatsoever and costing little. Bronze is a copper and tin alloy and as such may be smelted using copper and tin ore. It can be made on an anvil with requirements starting from level 1 Smithing.

Iron armour

Iron armour is slightly better than bronze, and requires level 1 Defence. It is made from iron bars.

Steel armour

Steel armour is slightly better than the previous metal, iron. Steel armour and weapons require level 5 Defence and Attack respectively to equip and may also be smithed from steel bars, which are the result of smelting iron ore with coal.

Black armour

Black armour, as worn by the Kinshra, has an evil and dangerous look, but is not any better than white armour. It is, in fact, worse, not offering any Prayer bonuses. Black armour, like white, cannot be smithed, only received as a drop or bought from several shops. A number of different versions exist, all received from Treasure Trails. There is gold-trimmed black armour, white-trimmed black armour and five different sets of heraldic armour. It requires 10 Defence to wear, as does white armour.

White armour

White armour does not offer great defensive bonuses, although better than steel, but does offer decent Prayer bonuses. Aside from the Prayer bonus, white armour is the same as black armour requiring 10 Defence; however, it also requires the completion of Wanted to equip. White armour may be bought from Sir Vyvin on the second floor of Falador Castle with sufficient White Knight rank, which is received from killing Black Knights. White armour is worn by White Knights of Falador, and a number of varieties exist, them being initiate, proselyte, acolyte and partisan armour as worn by the Temple Knights.

Initiate armour

Initiate armour is worn by Temple Knight recruits, which the player becomes after completion of Recruitment Drive. It offers relatively low Defence bonuses but this is compensated by decent Prayer bonuses. The set consists of a sallet, hauberk and the choice of a cuisse or tassets. The set may be bought from Sir Tiffy Cashien in Falador Park, requiring no Black Knight kills but requiring 20 Defence and 10 Prayer to wear. It appears to be yellow-trimmed white armour with the stats of Mithril armour plus Prayer bonus.

Proselyte armour

Proselyte armour is worn by Temple Knight proselytes who have advanced in rank and requires 30 Defence and 20 Prayer. Players may buy the armour off Sir Tiffy Cashien after completing The Slug Menace. Basically being an upgrade of initiate armour, it offers both higher Defence and Prayer bonuses. It looks like gold/orange-trimmed white armour possessing Adamant armour stats with Prayer.

Mithril armour

Mithril is a medium level metal, requiring 20 Defence to equip all pieces of the armour. Mithril bars are smelted from mithril ore and coal in a 1:4 ratio. Mithril armour offers decent bonuses for players who can just equip it. It is generally not used by higher levelled players. A set of mithril armour may be placed in one's skill hall in a POH, providing that the player has 68 smithing.

Adamant armour

Adamant armour is the second highest smithable armour and green in colour. It offers decent bonuses and is quite cheap and as such often used by player killers who do not want to risk losing their own armour. Adamant is extracted from adamantite ore. It requires level 30 Defence to wield. Like black armour, Treasure Trails offer variations to this armour, including gold-trimmed, white-trimmed and five sets of heraldic armour.

Rune armour

Rune armour is the best armour for free-to-play that does not degrade and requires level 40 Defence to wear, although a smith wishing to start making runite equipment needs at least level 85 Smithing. Due to runite ore being very precious, and only found in a few locations, a full set of rune armour is relatively expensive. It is often worn in PvP situations as it provides good bonuses and is easily replaced if lost. Equipping the Rune platebody requires completion of the Dragon Slayer quest. Rune is cyan in colour. As with adamant and black armour, rune armour has Treasure Trail variants: gold-trimmed, white-trimmed, gilded, five sets of heraldic armour and six different sets of god armour, with the colours of Saradomin, Guthix, Zamorak, Armadyl, Zaros and Bandos.

Granite armour

Helmet, Body, Legs, Shield

Granite armour is tough, resilient armour requiring not only a Defence level of 50 to wear, but also a Strength level of 50 due to its weight. The Granite body and helm have slightly better bonuses than their rune counterparts and all the pieces have very high ranged Defence. Granite armour is mainly obtained from monster drops, or trading with another player. The granite body is obtained by playing Barbarian Assault and purchasing one from Commander Connad. Granite armour comes with the granite maul.

Obsidian armour

Helmet, Body, Legs, Shield, Cape

Obsidian armour has moderate defensive capabilities but makes up for it with its high offensive stats with the entire set giving +12 in strength bonus. When the Body, Legs, and Helmet are worn in conjunction with each other, all obsidian weaponry receives a +10% bonus in melee strength and melee accuracy and this bonus does stack with the 20% damage increase whilst wearing a Berserker necklace. These armour pieces can all be purchased from TzHaar-Hur-Tel's Equipment Store in Mor Ul Rek with Tokkul, or by fighting various Tzhaar-kets around the city, although only the level-221 Kets drop the platebody, legs, and helmet.

Dragon armour

Dragon armour is one of the most sought-after armour sets and pieces of dragon equipment can cost millions of coins. Dragon cannot be smithed by players and is only for members. The weaponry may be received as a rare drop from a very limited amount of monsters or bought from several shops (often requiring quests to be completed), while the armour is limited to the former. For example, the elusive, fabled Dragon full helm can be dropped by level-304 Mithril dragons. The origins of dragon armour are unknown, but it is widely believed the Dragonkin created it and brought dragon metal to Gielinor. Dragon armour requires level 60 Defence to be worn and is very popular.

Fremennik armour

Yak-hide, Rockshell, Helm, Shield, Warrior helm, Berserker helm, Helm of neitiznot
Rockshell: Helmet, Plate, Legs, Gloves, Boots
Yak-Hide: Top, Legs, Roundshield

Fremennik helmets

Out of the six Fremennik helmets, three are suitable for warriors. All Fremennik helms require completion of The Fremennik Trials to wear them, but the Helm of neitiznot requires The Fremennik Isles.

Fremennik helm

The Fremennik helm is the most basic helm that the Fremennik have in store and is received as a drop from Fremennik warriors and Waterbirth Dagannoths. Due to its low bonuses, it is generally not used by players.

Warrior helm

The Warrior helm is a more popular choice of helmet, as it gives decent Defence bonuses and a slash attack bonus. This helmet may be bought off Skulgrimen or received as a drop from Dagannoths.

Berserker helm

Like the Warrior helm, the Berserker helm offers decent bonuses and a small strength bonus. This helmet can be bought as well as dropped by Dagannoths. Its stats are equal to the Warrior's helm. 

Helm of Neitiznot

The Helm of Neitiznot is by far the most popular Fremennik helm. Not only does it yield higher bonuses than the other helms, it also has an additional Prayer bonus and strength bonus. It is received from Mawnis Burowgar, the burgher of Neitiznot, after completion of The Fremennik Isles and may be re-obtained from him if lost.

Yak-hide armour

Yak-hide armour and the Fremennik round shield are relatively weak, but valuable against Ice trolls, as the armour lowers the maximum hit of the males, and the shield lowers the maximum hit of the females. They are made during The Fremennik Isles from yak-hide and split Arctic pine logs. It has poor bonuses, meaning it is not used very often. 

Rock-shell armour

Rock-shell armour is very similar to Rune armour. It is made from hides and rocks dropped by Dagannoths and Giant rock crabs, respectively. It's not very widely used due to the difficulty to obtain and the existence of better armour.

Void Knight equipment

Void melee helm, Void knight top, Void knight robe & Void knight gloves

Void knight robes requires 42 Attack, Strength, Defence, Ranged, Hitpoints and Magic, and it also requires 22 Prayer. However, you need 850 Pest Control points. The Melee helm grants the player a +10% bonus towards accuracy and damage, if the player is wearing the rest of the Void Knight equipment.

As some players find it more effective to wear other full sets of armour, such as Bandos or Barrows armour, than a full set of Void Knight armour due to the Defence bonuses, this item is not frequently bought. However, those who do buy it can see a higher max hit and a higher average hit. Additionally, it classes as a hybrid set (besides the helmet), and as such gives equal Magic, Ranged and Melee Defence, thus making it an alternative choice in minigames where hybridding is common.

Note that the armour is only Melee-based if you are wearing the Melee helm; if you are, your Melee damage is increased by 10%.

Third-age warrior armour

Helmet, Platebody, Platelegs, Kiteshield

Armour from the Third Age is incredibly rare and tough. However, Barrows armour has better stats and Bandos armour is generally favoured for its strength bonuses despite its lower defensive bonuses. Third Age armour can be obtained as a very rare reward from level 3 Treasure Trails, or can be bought from another player. Third-age warrior armour is reportedly made from magical silver which has ceased to exist.

Bandos armour

Chestplate, Tassets, Boots

Bandos armour is very strong armour, providing excellent defensive bonuses. Bandos armour is one of the best armours in the game. Bandos armour is dropped by General Graardor (who wears the armour himself) and his sergeants in Bandos's Stronghold in the God Wars Dungeon, requiring level 70 Strength to enter, as well as having killed forty Bandosians in the dungeon.

Barrows armour

Guthan's, Dharok's, Torag's, Verac's
Helmet, Platebody/Brassard, Platelegs/Plateskirt/Chainskirt, (weapon: Greataxe/Warspear/Hammers/Flail)

Barrows armour is very strong and popular. It is obtained from the Barrows minigame, or from trading with another player. If the player is lucky enough to receive all the items from one of the brothers' armour sets (including the weapon), they'll be rewarded with a set effect. Barrows armour needs to be repaired every 15 hours of Combat for a price. This can be done on an armour stand (with discounts based on one's Smithing level) or by speaking to Bob in Lumbridge.

Guthan's armour

The armour set of Guthan the Infested has a very desirable bonus effect, as it has a chance of healing the wearer when they deal damage. The weapon of the set is a long warspear.

Dharok's armour

Dharok the Wretched's equipment set effect has a useful, but dangerous set effect. The lower the wearer's health, the higher his/her maximum hit is. 

Torag's armour

Torag the Corrupted's equipment set effect is the chance to drain run energy from the target with each hit.

Verac's armour

The set effect of the armour of Verac the Defiled is useful when fighting another player or the Kalphite Queen, as it hits through Prayer and armour once in a while.

Toktz-ket-xil

 Buy one from TzHaar-Hur-Tel's Equipment Store in Mor Ul Rek, trade with another player or obtain one as a rare monster drop from a TzHaar-Ket. This Toktz-ket-xil is extremely popular amongst mid-level warriors who are unable to afford a better-suited shield for their level, and because it also possesses a strength bonus, it is often used by those who cannot currently gain access to the Warriors Guild but have the defence level requirement of 60 to use it.

Crystal shield

The Crystal shield is a high-level piece of armour. It requires completion of Roving Elves, 70 Defence, and 50 Agility to wield.

Dragonfire shield

The Dragonfire shield is a high-level piece of armour. It provides protection not only from dragonfire but also the icy breath of the Skeletal Wyvern.

Spirit shields

Plain, Blessed, Arcane, Elysian, Spectral

Spirit shields are a range of shields available to members after the Corporeal Beast update. The shields are all derived from the "basic" one. Some holy elixir, dropped by the Corporeal Beast, must be poured onto it to bless it, increasing its stats and value. The spirit sigils are items which can be added to a blessed spirit shield to modify its abilities even further. These sigils are arcane, elysian and spectral. The elysian spirit shield has a special effect that reduces the amount of damage taken

The basic spirit shield requires level 45 Defence and level 55 Prayer to hold, the blessed one requires 70 Defence and level 60 Prayer, arcane and spectral spirit shield 75 Defence, 70 Prayer and 65 Magic, and elysian requires 75 Defence and 75 Prayer.

Best F2P Melee Armour Setup

Best F2P Melee Armour

Notes

• You will have to set up a 2-step verification for your account to obtain fancy boots or fighting boots from the Stronghold of Security; however, you can disable this after you obtain the boots. Remember if you lose your boots and disabled 2-step verification that you will need to re-enable the verification in order to get them back.
• An amulet of power is better to use for players who expect to be training on enemies with high Defence, otherwise amulet of strength is better.
• All F2P rune god armours have the same stats, and the only reason it is better than rune armour is because of its +1 Prayer bonus on each armour piece creating a total of a +4 Prayer bonus.
• Fancy boots and fighting boots have the same stats.
• All team capes and regular capes have the same stats.
• Currently, there are no rings in F2P that give any stat increases.

Best P2P Melee Strength Setup

Best P2P Strength Armour

Notes

• The fighter torso gives the same Strength bonus.
• The amulet of torture has better offensive stats than the amulet of fury yielding; +15 across all attack bonuses, however, has no defensive bonuses. Where the amulet of fury has +15 in all defensive stats, it has a +2 difference in Strength bonus.
• The slayer helmet or black mask will give a higher Strength bonus if on task.
• The dragon defender is arguable with the Dragonfire Shield (DFS) as the DFS has more Strength bonus than the defender, but the defender has Attack bonuses.