Defense

The RuneScape Wiki also has an article on: rsw:DefenceThe Old School RuneScape Wiki also has an article on: osrsw:Defence

The RuneScape Classic Wiki
Stats	Quests
Skills	Fletching
Attack	Fishing
Defense	Firemaking
Strength	Crafting
Hits	Smithing
Ranged	Mining
Prayer	Herblaw
Magic	Agility
Cooking	Thieving
Woodcut	Quest Points
Fatigue
Equipment Status
Armour	Magic
WeaponAim	Prayer
WeaponPower
Overall levels
Skill total
Combat level

Defense (occasionally spelled defence) is a combat skill on RuneScape Classic.

When Defense is raised to higher levels, it will decrease the chance of an attack inflicting damage on the player. Defense does NOT decrease the amount of damage a player takes from attacks, but rather it increases the amount of zeroes an opponent will hit relative to their Attack level.

Armour

There are eight general armour types in Classic, each requiring a specific Defense level to equip. As players raise their Defense levels, they are able to equip better armour that offer a higher Armour bonus. A higher Armour bonus does NOT reduce the damage taken, rather it reduces the chance of being inflicted damage.

A player wearing armour.

Image	Armour	Defense Level
	Bronze	1
	Iron	1
	Steel	5
	Black	10
	Mithril	20
	Adamant	30
	Rune	40
	Dragon	60

Training

Defense can be trained in combat with either the Controlled or Defensive buttons on the combat window selected in a fight.

To train Defense, choose the defensive option

The amount of Defense experience gained while in Defensive stance can be found using this formula: $3\times H=Experience$

While in Controlled stance, the experience is divided between the three skills (Attack, Strength, and Defense), so you instead use this formula: $H=Experience$

In both cases, H = the amount of Hits experience received from the kill. This is different for each opponent, and unlike in RuneScape 2, is unrelated to the opponents' Hits.

Boosts and Drains

Invisible boosts can be stacked with visible boosts. Drains will gradually eliminate positive boosts with each use, until the point the level is the exact percentage below the base level.

Item/Prayer	Boost/Harm	Visibility	Requirement
Thick skin	+5%	Invisible	1 Prayer
Rock skin	+10%	Invisible	10 Prayer
Steel skin	+15%	Invisible	28 Prayer
Super defense Potion	+15% + 5 levels	Visible	None
Defense Potion	+10% + 3 levels	Visible	None
Cabbage (Draynor Manor)	+1	Visible	None
Potion of Zamorak	-12.5%	Visible	None
Greenmans ale	-5%	Visible	None
Dwarven Stout	-5%	Visible	None
Wizard's Mind Bomb	-5%	Visible	None
Odd looking cocktail	approx. -1	Visible	None
Curse (inflicted by a player)	-5%	Visible	19 Magic
Claws of Guthix (inflicted by a player)	-5%	Visible	60 Magic
Vulnerability (inflicted by a player)	-10%	Visible	66 Magic

Quest Experience Rewards

The following quest rewards Defense experience:

Quest	Experience Reward
Observatory Quest	$Level\times 25+125$ (optional)
Hero's Quest	$Level\times 50+75$
The Holy Grail	$(Level+1)\times 300$
Dragon Slayer	$Level\times 300+650$

Trivia

• Zonghui was the first player to achieve 99 Defense in Runescape Classic.
• When a player consumes a Potion of Zamorak it is recommended to take a drink of Stat restoration Potion to compensate the decrease in Defense.
• In the level message, Defense is spelled "Defence", while on the skill screen it's spelled Defense. It's also spelled Defence in the drain message for the Claws of Guthix spell.
• Some players, more commonly referred to as pures or prayer beasts, choose to have a lower level in Defense (and often Prayer and Magic) in order to have a much higher Strength level with a far lower combat level. Doing this is a way to gain greater three-hit potential in the Wilderness, and sometimes to one-item with protect items.

See also

• Melee training