--------------------------------------------------------------------- Runescape Ranging Guide --------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2005 Scott Moore This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. Please E-mail me at sgm1990@gmail.com if you see this used on another site. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Version History --------------------------------------------------------------------- Version 1.0 - finished on 28/8/2005 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Introduction --------------------------------------------------------------------- Ranging is increasingly becoming the most used combat class in all of Runescape. It is even beginning to be more popular than warriors, on both f2p and members. Ranging is good because it costs comparitively less than its long range counterpart of a mage and is not much more expensive than a warrior. Ranging has the advantage of being able to hit monsters and players long before they are able to hit you. This guide will feature the weapons and armour of rangers as well as a guide to level up to level 50 ranging. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Table Of Contents --------------------------------------------------------------------- I. Ranging Basics (RB) II. Weapons Of A Ranger (WOAR) i. Bows And Arrows ii. Crossbows And Bolts iii. Special Weapons iv. Dwarven Cannon III. Armour (AMR) i. Leather ii. Dragonhide IV. Leveling Up (LVLUP) V. Special Thanks (SPT) --------------------------------------------------------------------- I. Ranging Basics? (RB) --------------------------------------------------------------------- The basics of ranging will be briefly shown to you during the tutorial island. After setting foot in Lumbridge you will be equiped with a shortbow. Ranging in the beginning is hard work and so you will want to get a stock of arrows. All the arrows and bows on f2p can be bought from Lowe's Ranging Shop in Varrock. Varrock is simple to get to from Lumbridge and can easily be reached using the map supplied by Jagex or buying a newcomer map at Lumbridge General Store. To range you will require the following: 1) A weapon 2) Ammo for your weapon 3) A monster to kill Then chose your attack style from the crossed swords tab in the menu. You can chose between; accurate, fast, or long ranged. Equip your chosen ranging weapon and ammo and click on a monster to begin firing. You will notice that some arrows you fire will appear on the floor. Either kill the monster and collect them after the battle, or collect them while fighting (if it is a monster with high hp then the second is recommended). If you do not pick them up after a while they are available to all. Be careful you don't forget to pick them up, and then find all your runite arrows have gone! The arrows collected can then be re-equiped. Often you will find that you have fired 10, for example, but only have picked up 8, for example again... This is because sometimes the arrow 'breaks' and hence disappears. The most popular choice of weapon for a ranger is a bow and arrow. You can choose from a longbow and shortbow. A longbow can fire further, but a shortbow is more rapid. As stated earlier you can choose between accurate, fast (rapid) or long ranged styles of attack. Accurate and long ranged will get you 4 range experience, and 1.33 experience towards hitpoints. Long ranged gives you 2 range and defence experience and 1.33 hitpoint experience again. --------------------------------------------------------------------- II. Weapons Of A Ranger (WOAR) --------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------- i. Bows and Arrows ------------------------------------- Here is a list of the bows and arrows available to buy. The *bows are members only. Bow Level To Use Ranging Attack Boost Shortbow 1 +8 Longbow 1 +8 Oak Shortbow 5 +14 Oak Longbow 5 +14 Willow Shortbow 20 +20 Willow Longbow 20 +20 Maple Shortbow 30 +29 Maple Longbow 30 +29 *Yew Shortbow 40 +47 *Yew Longbow 40 +47 *Magic Shortbow 50 +69 *Magic Longbow 50 +69 Of course the bow requires something to fire, and that is arrows. The better the arrow the higher the damage. Good arrows require good bows to wield. The price of arrows changes with the player market, but the most you can be expecting to pay is about 500gp for runite arrows. Arrow Bow Required To Wield Bronze Arrows Any Bow Iron Arrows Any Bow Steel Arrows Oak Bows Mithril Arrows Willow Bows Adamant Arrows Maple Bows *Runite Arrows Yew Bows ------------------------------------- ii. Crossbows And Bolts ------------------------------------- Disappointingly, Jagex never really capitalised with this type of ranging weapon, and is hence very unpopular. The advantage of a crossbow is that a shield can be wielded, but only give +6 ranging. A non-member can only use a crossbow with normal bolts. Crossbows are unfortunately much less accurate, and never seem to do as much damage as a bow and arrow. Other bolts can be made on members, and correspond to a type of arrow. Bolt Similar Damage To Bolts Iron Arrows Pearl Tipped Bolts Steel Arrows Opal Tipped Bolts Mithril Arrows Barbed Tipped Bolts Adamant-Runite Arrows ------------------------------------- iii. Special Weapons ------------------------------------- All Special Weapons are members only. They are not used as much as bows and arrows but are popular with those who like to be different. There are 5 special weapons: Darts, Throwing Knives, Throwing Axes, Javelins and The Crystal Bow. Darts and Throwing Knives are available in every type of metal. Darts can only be made after completing the tourist trap quest. To make darts you smith the metal and attach feathers. You recieve 10 darts per bar. Throwing Knives are made by smithing the metal into throwing knives and make 5 per bar. Javelins and Throwing Axes can be wielded with shields and give comparible ranging attack to bows. Javelins can be made from any metal, with runite giving a +38 ranging attack. Throwing Axes can also be made from any metal, and give +26 ranging attack at runite. The crystal bow is an extremely powerful, but extremely expensive weapon. To get it many quest have to be completed with the actual quest to get it, being the Roving Elves Quest. It requires level 70 ranging, but doesn't require arrows. It comes with 2500 'uses' to begin with. As the 'uses' run out so does the bows power. It has 10 stages. At 10/10 it is the most powerful, and at 1/10 it is the least. Nevertheless, it is still powerful even at its lowest stage. After all 2500 'uses' have been used it needs to be re-charged. This is very expensive, and initially the same price as you buy it for... 900,000gp!!!! It gets cheaper after every re-charge until it becomes 180,000gp per re-charge. Here are the power stages and corresponding ranging attack. Power Stage Ranging Attack Boost 10/10 +100 9/10 +96 8/10 +92 7/10 +88 6/10 +84 5/10 +80 4/10 +76 3/10 +72 2/10 +68 1/10 +64 ------------------------------------- iv. Dwarven Cannon ------------------------------------- This is a huge and very powerful ranged weapon only available after completing the Dwarf Cannon Quest. It costs 750,000gp and comes in 4 parts. A cannonball ammo mould, with steel bars will also be required. Once set up and loaded, it will rotate and fire at any NPC, causing mass destruction. Great fun! --------------------------------------------------------------------- III. Armour (AMR) --------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------- i. Leather ------------------------------------- The basic armour of a ranger. Designed to be light and free, this armour gives some protection against magic, and a little against ranging. This armour is pretty weak against warriors attacks however. This armour is available from players or you can make it yourself using cowhide (and steel bars for studded armour). All leather armour is available to f2p. Here are the stats that this armour gives. Key: -AMR = Armour -LVLN(R/D) = Level Needed (Range/Defence) -ATTB = Attack Bonuses -DEFB = Defence Bonuses -STB = Stab -SLH = Slash -CRH = Crush -MGC = Magic -RNG = Range ATTB DEFB AMR LVLN(R/D) STB SLH CRH MGC RNG STB SLH CRH MGC RNG Vambraces (1/1) 0 0 0 0 +4 +2 +2 +1 0 0 Cowl (1/1) 0 0 0 0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +2 +3 Leather Body (1/1) 0 0 0 -2 +2 +8 +9 +10 +4 +9 Leather Chaps (1/1) 0 0 0 0 +4 +2 +3 +1 0 0 Hard Leather Body (1/10) 0 0 0 -4 +8 +12 +15 +18 +6 +15 Coif (20/1) 0 0 0 -1 +2 +4 +6 +8 +4 +4 Stud Leather Body (20/20) 0 0 0 -4 +8 +18 +25 +22 +8 +25 Stud Leather Chaps (20/1) 0 0 0 -5 +6 +15 +16 +17 +6 +16 ------------------------------------- ii. Dragonhide ------------------------------------- However the best armour is made from dragonhide. This is got by killing dragons and can be crafted like leather. It requires high ranging to wear, and level 40 defence to wear the body. The body can only be worn after completing Dragon Slayer. Like the dragons in the game dragonhide offers superior magic resistance and is also good at stopping arrows. Green dragonhide is wearable to f2p but blue and above is members only. Here are the stats each dragonhide gives. Key: -AMR = Armour -LVLN(R/D) = Level Needed (Range/Defence) -ATTB = Attack Bonuses -DEFB = Defence Bonuses -STB = Stab -SLH = Slash -CRH = Crush -MGC = Magic -RNG = Range ATTB DEFB AMR LVLN(R/D) STB SLH CRH MGC RNG STB SLH CRH MGC RNG Green Vambraces (40/1) 0 0 0 -10 +8 +3 +2 +4 +2 0 Green Body (40/40) 0 0 0 -15 +15 +40 +32 +45 +20 +40 Green Chaps (40/1) 0 0 0 -10 +8 +22 +16 +24 +8 +22 Blue Vambraces (50/1) 0 0 0 -10 +9 +4 +3 +5 +4 0 Blue Body (50/40) 0 0 0 -15 +20 +45 +37 +50 +30 +45 Blue Chaps (50/1) 0 0 0 -10 +11 +25 +19 +27 +14 +25 Red Vambraces (60/1) 0 0 0 -10 +10 +5 +4 +6 +6 0 Red Body (60/40) 0 0 0 -15 +25 +50 +42 +55 +40 +50 Red Chaps (60/1) 0 0 0 -10 +14 +28 +22 +30 +20 +28 Black Vambraces (70/1) 0 0 0 -10 +11 +6 +5 +7 +8 0 Black Body (70/40) 0 0 0 -15 +30 +55 +47 +60 +50 +55 Black Chaps (70/1) 0 0 0 -10 +17 +31 +25 +33 +26 +31 --------------------------------------------------------------------- IV. Leveling Up (LVLUP) --------------------------------------------------------------------- This guide is targeted for lower levels 1-50. There are many choices to train at and I will tell you, in my opinion, where the best spots are. If there is more than one good place I will put down both and tell you the pros and cons of each. This guide will feature the f2p areas of the game. *Level 1-10* In the beginning you will hit many 0. So buy as many arrows, preferably iron, and head for lumbridge. All the monsters around lumbridge are good to level up on but I recommend goblins. Of all the monsters they drop items that sell for a small price at the nearby general store. This money then can go towards buying more arrows and eventually a better bow. Other choices are the men and women around the town, chickens or cows. Men and women often drop small quantities of money, but are very spread out. There are a lot of chickens, and these are decent to level on. Feathers are bought by players for small amounts of gp, and the chicken can be cooked. However they have such a small amount of hitpoints, leveling can get slow. Especially if it is crowded. Cows have more hitpoints than chickens but also seem to more defensive to arrows. They are good to level up on, but probably better when you are a higher ranging level. *Level 10-25* By now you should have bought an oak bow, with steel arrows.As you reach level 10 you will be hitting a bit harder but at this point,more importantly, more accurately. Cows become a good leveling up choice, and goblins are still recommended. If you are brave, try the lvl 7 dark wizards outside Varrock. Be warned, they do possess powerful magic, and for a lvl 7 hit hard. Even worse if targeted by a lvl 21, you're in trouble. However provided you have some food, and stand on the path and shoot at the lvl 7's, you should be fine. They are good to level on as they have decent hitpoints, and good drops. They can drop all kinds of runes on a regular basis. At level 20 upgrade your bow and arrow to willow and use mithril arrows if you can afford it. *Level 25-40* Dwarves outside Falador-Barbarians Village are good to level up on. The barbarians are also a good choice. Especially at the bar, when you can hide behind tables. Gunther the Brave is great and he is pretty easy to hit, and has high hitpoints. Nearer to level 40, try skeletons in Varrock Sewers. There is a gate to hide behind and they have decent drops. Alternatively try attacking scorpions inside Scorpions Pit, or Dwarven Mine. With no drops they are disappointing but have reasonable hitpoints and so give some good experience. *Level 40-50* Are you using maple bows and adamant arrows now?...You should be! With good armour it is possible to attack the dark wizards at Varrock with little harm to yourself. If you are feeling adventurous, continue past the skeletons in Varrock Sewers, and attack the other monsters within. There are objects to hide behind, but be careful you don't get overwhelmed. Food should be taken, in case you run into trouble. Take a melee weapon to cut through the cobwebs near the end of the tunnel, to access the moss giants. These are very powerful, but give great rewards. It is often very crowded however, and so you will probably find you come away empty handed, or dead. I would wait until you are a bit higher before tackling these monsters. Or you could always PK. There is a nice spot above Varrock that is always swarming with people. The fence offers a nice place to house your attack, and is close enough to the non-player killing zone, if a warrior decided to attack you. If you decide to PK, I suggest you bring your second best armour and limited arrows, as accidents do frequently happen. --------------------------------------------------------------------- V. Special Thanks (SPT) --------------------------------------------------------------------- I hope you have found this guide useful, and I thank you for reading it. If you have any problems or have found a mistake I am happy to answer by e-mail (at the top of this guide). I will always acknowledge a mistake, but will only reply to a question that is well thought out. 'Where should I train at level 7?' is not valid, for example. I would like to thank the following people for their help and support towards this guide: -My Brother - for his testing of training locations -Tip.it - for helping to fill out any problems with the factual parts of the guide -Jagex - for making the game -Yourself - for reading it. Thanks again...Happy Ranging!