The singing swing of a keenly honed blade sets the blood to dancing in the veins like nothing else. From time immemorial, great warriors have risen to do battle with the monsters that plague humankind, whether they were literal beasts in the forests and vales or legendary monsters that emerged from the mists of myth, granting the heroes that vanquished them a tale worth telling.
Now it’s your turn to rise and earn your tale. In this OSRS combat guide for F2P, we’ll track your meteoric rise from humble commoner of Gielinor to mighty champion, charting a course as you learn to wield blade and battleaxe while putting the fear of Saradomin in the monsters of Asgarnia and Misthalin. It’s sure to be a long and perilous journey. But you’re not one to shy away from a challenge, are you?
I thought not. The definitive 1-99 combat guide for OSRS F2P starts right here — but should you see your quest through, your legend will never end.
OSRS F2P Combat Guide: Preparing for 99 Combat Stats
I hope you like questing, because if you’re looking to max combat stats, you’re likely going to want to complete dang near every available F2P quest there is. Not for the XP — though there’s a little XP to be had — but because you’re going to want to complete Dragon Slayer so you can wear rune platebody armor. The time spent on quests will be a drop in the bucket next to the time spent maxing stats, though, and you’ll ideally be completing them concurrently with other combat training.
In order to begin Dragon Slayer, you need 32 quest points so you can enter the Champions’ Guild. How you get those quest points is up to you, but if you’re looking to minimize your time spent questing, you may want to consider the following list:
Quest Name | QP | Level Requirements |
---|---|---|
Cook’s Assistant | 1 | None |
Sheep Shearer | 1 | None |
The Restless Ghost | 1 | None |
Pirate’s Treasure | 2 | Ability to defeat a level 4 enemy |
Doric’s Quest | 1 | 15 mining is helpful |
Witch’s Potion | 1 | None |
Rune Mysteries | 1 | None |
Romeo & Juliet | 5 | None |
Black Knights’ Fortress | 3 | 12 Quest Points; the ability to defeat level 33 enemies |
Prince Ali Rescue | 3 | Ability to defeat level 26 enemies |
Goblin Diplomacy | 5 | None |
Demon Slayer | 3 | Ability to defeat one level 26, three level 20, and two level 7 enemies with melee |
The Corsair Curse | 2 | Ability to defeat a level 35 enemy |
Vampyre Slayer | 3 | Ability to defeat a level 34 enemy |
The sections outlined later in this guide will go into more detail on which quests you’ll want to pursue, so don’t see the above list as content you need to knock out before you can even begin. It’s more complimentary in practice. The goal is completing Dragon Slayer so you can don that sweet, sweet rune platebody. A few hitpoints saved here and there will add up over hundreds of hours of training.
As you may have gathered, the gear you bring along for the ride is important. Generally, when training combat stats, you’re going to want to use a weapon that offers a Strength bonus for better max hits. In the case of F2P players, your best strength weapon will be the scimitar across all tiers.
As you farm gold and sell your loot, plan to make trips back to stores or the Grand Exchange to upgrade your armor and weapons. You’ll always want the highest tier plate armor you can wear and the matching scimitar.
To round out your equipment, you’ll find that a kiteshield provides valuable protection, and the fighting boots obtained from the Stronghold of Security will be your Best-in-Slot boots. Lastly, an amulet of strength or an amulet of power will be your best magical supplements — though you’ll likely favor the strength amulet for the same reasons you’ll want the scimitar.
Now it’s time to talk leveling. The OSRS combat leveling guide for F2P we’ve put together below will have common threads whether you’re looking for efficient XP or maximum profit, but there will be certain milestones where you get to make a choice. When you’re grinding monsters for days on end, variety is the spice of life.
It’s also important to remember there are actually three different skills that govern melee combat in OldSchool RuneScape: Attack, Strength, and Defense. You didn’t think this was a single skill guide, did you?
The Road to 99 and Its Many Paths
The road to level 99 in any (or all) combat stats will take you all across the face of OldSchool RuneScape’s world — and occasionally beneath it, especially if you’re questing at the same time. Like every other skill, there are three fundamental paths for you to consider: the max experience path, the max profit path, and the max fun path (assuming “fun” for you means an occasional change of pace).
These paths remain largely the same across Attack, Strength, and Defense. Lest you forget, the F2P combat guide for OSRS is technically (and by necessity) a 3×99 skill guide. The specific skill you level as you fight depends on the attack style you choose: accurate for Attack, aggressive for Strength, defensive for Defense, and controlled if you want to distribute the XP evenly across all three.
Naturally, controlled attacks are the slowest route to 99, but they may prove valuable when preparing for certain combat-heavy quests. This is especially true early on if you want to keep your levels mostly in sync (even though rushing Strength allows you to hit harder than a freight train).
Now, let’s take a look at the three paths before you.
The Path of Experience
If you want to sprint straight to 99 in any combat stat, the monster progression below will get you there.
Target | Levels | Location |
---|---|---|
Chickens/Goblins | 1-10 | Lumbridge |
Monks | 10-20 | Edgeville Monastery |
Giant rats | 20-30 | Lumbridge Swamp |
Giant frogs | 30-35 | Lumbridge Swamp |
Flesh crawlers | 35-45 | Stronghold of Security Level 2 |
Zombies | 45-55 | Stronghold of Security Level 2 |
Giant spiders | 55-99 | Stronghold of Security Level 3 |
As you might notice, following this path means you’ll be spending a lot of time in the Stronghold of Security. If you’re looking to AFK train and power through shows on Netflix, perhaps that’s your jam.
The Path of Wealth
If you’d rather have some extra coin to show for your efforts, consider the following quest path.
Target | Levels | Target Items | Location |
---|---|---|---|
Chickens | 1-5 | Feathers | Lumbridge |
Cows | 5-15 | Cowhide | Lumbridge |
Minotaurs | 15-25 | Iron arrows, rune essence, gems, ores | Stronghold of Security Level 1 |
Giant frogs | 25-35 | Big bones | Lumbridge Swamp |
Hill giants | 35-45 | Big bones, limpwurt roots, runes, giant keys | Edgeville Dungeon |
Hobgoblins | 45-55 | Limpwurt roots, gems, runes | West of Crafting Guild |
Moss giants | 55-70 | Weapon/armor drops, gems, runes, big bones | Varrock Sewers |
Ice giants | 70-80 | Weapon/armor drops, adamant arrows, gems, runes, big bones | Asgarnian Ice Dungeon |
Ogresses | 80-99 | Weapon/armor drops, runes, gems | Corsair Cove Dungeon |
Lesser demons | 80-99 | Weapon/armor drops, runes, gems | Karamja Dungeon |
Note that you have two different options for wrapping up from Level 80 to 99: ogresses and lesser demons. Their drops are pretty similar, so it’s up to you which direction you want to go.
If you prefer to go with ogresses, we recommend completing The Corsair Curse for optimal access to Ogress Warriors and Shamans. Plan for trips to the GE to sell your loot as well.
The Path of Variety
If variety is your objective, then this final path will likely pique your interest.
Target | Levels | Location |
---|---|---|
Chickens | 1-10 | Lumbridge |
Monks | 10-20 | Edgeville Monastery |
Minotaurs | 20-30 | Stronghold of Security Level 1 |
Hill giants | 30-40 | Edgeville Dungeon |
Hobgoblins | 40-50 | West of Crafting Guild |
Moss giants | 50-60 | Varrock Sewers |
Giant spiders | 60-70 | Stronghold of Security Level 3 |
Ice giants | 70-80 | Asgarnian Ice Dungeon |
Ogresses | 80-90 | Corsair Cove Dungeon |
Lesser demons | 90-95 | Karamja Dungeon |
Ogresses | 95-99 | Corsair Cove Dungeon |
Lesser demons | 95-99 | Karamja Dungeon |
Greater demons | 95-99 | Demonic Ruins (Wilderness) |
You’ve got three routes to finish the grind starting at Level 95: ogresses, lesser demons, and greater demons. Consider those to be organized in escalating order of risk and reward.
Like we said before, ogresses and lesser demons are approximately equivalent in the amount of risk you adopt and the amount of reward you can expect. Greater demons provide the highest risk/reward ratio — not just because of the bump in combat level, but due to their location deep in the Wilderness where PKers are wont to slip a blade between your ribs.
Note that your Prayer Points will automatically and slowly recharge in the Demonic Ruins, providing another angle to the use of greater demons for training. The points recover fast enough to make use of at least one overhead prayer and two lower-level prayers. If you’ve been burying big bones instead of selling them, you might find this option more appealing.
Wrapping Up the OSRS F2P Combat Guide
Whichever path you choose, you’ve now reached the end of the F2P OSRS combat guide. You’re likely 99 in one (if not more) combat stats, and you’ve earned your place among the pantheon of Gielinor’s legendary heroes. But your journey doesn’t end here — far from it. Now that you’re the biggest and baddest around, leveling skills like Mining or Smithing might be a tad easier, no?
But they can wait for another day. Savor your victory — you’ve earned it.
Related Reading
- OSRS F2P Ranged Guide
- OSRS F2P Mining Guide
- OSRS F2P Smithing Guide
- OSRS F2P Fishing Guide
- OSRS Birdhouse Run Guide
Old School RuneScape Navigation
- The Ultimate OSRS F2P Woodcutting Guide (1-99)
- The Ultimate OSRS F2P Firemaking Guide (1-99)
- The Ultimate OSRS F2P Runecrafting Guide (1-99)
- The Ultimate OSRS F2P Crafting Guide (1-99)
- The Ultimate OSRS F2P Prayer Guide (1-99)
- The Ultimate OSRS F2P Magic Guide (1-99)
- The Ultimate OSRS F2P Cooking Guide (1-99)
- The Ultimate OSRS F2P Combat Guide (1-99)
- The Ultimate OSRS F2P Ranged Guide (1-99)
- The Ultimate OSRS F2P Mining Guide (1-99)
- The Ultimate OSRS F2P Smithing Guide (1-99)
- The Ultimate OSRS F2P Fishing Guide (1-99)
- The Ultimate OSRS P2P Hunter Training Guide (1-99)
- The Ultimate OSRS P2P Combat Guide (1-99)
- The Ultimate OSRS P2P Prayer Guide (1-99)
- The Ultimate OSRS P2P Mining Guide (1-99)
- The Ultimate OSRS P2P Ranged Guide (1-99)
- The Ultimate OSRS P2P Cooking Guide (1-99)
- The Ultimate OSRS P2P Magic Guide (1-99)
- The Ultimate OSRS P2P Crafting Guide (1-99)
- The Ultimate OSRS P2P Runecrafting Guide (1-99)
- The Ultimate OSRS P2P Firemaking Guide (1-99)
- The Ultimate OSRS P2P Woodcutting Guide (1-99)
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