Ranged

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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

The 2003 manual contains information related to this topic.

For information on training this skill, see Ranged training.

Ranged is a skill in RuneScape Classic that is trained by shooting ammunition at monsters or other players. No Hits experience is received when ranging, so the total Ranged experience per kill comes from the monster's base experience plus the experience normally obtained in Hits.

Using Ranged, players can attack enemies from a distance, but Ranged cannot be used once attacked with melee. Once a player attacks a monster with Ranged, the monster will automatically retaliate with melee if the player is reachable and no other players, monsters, or obstacles are blocking its path. For this reason, Ranged is primarily used to 'safe spot' (attacking monsters from behind obstacles), to assist other players with monsters like the King Black Dragon, or to assist other players PKing in the Wilderness. The prayer Protect from missiles gives 100% protection from Ranged attacks from other players.

Ranged projectiles (like magic projectiles) can be fired over other players and monsters, tables, through gates and fences, and over many scenery items, but not solid walls. Unlike in later versions of RuneScape, in RuneScape Classic it is also possible to fire projectiles through windows. Ranged projectiles are green, to distinguish them from blue magic projectiles.

Ranged influences combat level as levels are gained if the player character doesn't have high melee levels, but acts as an alternative to Attack and Strength in the combat level formula, making its overall impact much lower than magic at high melee levels.

Weapons

When attacking with a Ranged weapon, a green projectile travels towards the target.

All Ranged weapons are identical in attack speed, but differ in maximum attack distance, damage, and accuracy.

Bows

Bows and arrows are made using the Fletching skill and cannot be used with a shield. The primary difference between the bow types is that longbows can be used at up to 5 tiles of distance from the target, while shortbows can be used at up to 4 tiles of distance. The tier of bow affects accuracy, while the ammunition affects the maximum hit. Most RuneScape Classic players prefer to use longbows over shortbows due to the increased attack range.

Image	Name	Level	Best ammunition
	Shortbow	1	Iron Arrows
	Longbow	1	Iron Arrows
	Oak Shortbow	5	Steel Arrows
	Oak Longbow	10	Steel Arrows
	Willow Shortbow	15	Mithril Arrows
	Willow Longbow	20	Mithril Arrows
	Maple Shortbow	25	Adamantite Arrows
	Maple Longbow	30	Adamantite Arrows
	Yew Shortbow	35	Rune Arrows
	Yew Longbow	40	Rune Arrows
	Magic Shortbow	45	Rune Arrows
	Magic Longbow	50	Rune Arrows

Weapon poison can be applied to most arrows to make them into poisoned arrows, which can poison other players in the Wilderness.

Crossbow

Like bows, the crossbow fires ammo but instead of arrows, it shoots bolts. There are only two crossbows in RuneScape Classic, the standard crossbow and the Phoenix crossbow, which is needed during the Shield of Arrav quest. Unlike bows, crossbows can be used with shields, which provides some extra protection in the event the player is attacked with melee. Crossbows can be used at up to 4 tiles of distance from the target, one less than longbows and the same as shortbows.

There is no known difference in effectiveness between the Phoenix Gang and standard crossbow, and they both have the same capabilities and lack any Ranged level requirement.

Neither crossbows nor standard crossbow bolts can be made by players, and can instead by acquired from shops, trading, or from various item spawns. Oyster pearl bolts provide some extra power and can be made by players as a modification of standard crossbow bolts.

They were useful for player killing in free-to-play since they dealt slightly more damage than a bow with Bronze Arrows, making them the hardest-hitting free-to-play Ranged weapon.

Image	Name	Level	Ammunition
	Crossbow	1	Crossbow bolts, Oyster pearl bolts
	Phoenix Crossbow	1	Crossbow bolts, Oyster pearl bolts

Weapon poison can be applied to standard crossbow bolts to make Poison Crossbow bolts, which can poison other players in the Wilderness. Oyster pearl bolts cannot be poisoned.

Darts

Darts are one-handed weapons made using the Smithing and Fletching skills after completing the Tourist Trap quest. The higher level the dart, the more damage it will inflict against opponents, and the more accurate it will be. Darts are believed to deal slightly less damage than arrows, but with slightly higher accuracy. They do not require a bow to use (allowing the player to have an extra inventory slot free), and can be used with a shield, providing some extra protection if the player is attacked with melee. They require the player to be closer to their target than a crossbow or shortbow would.

They are invisible when equipped, making them a somewhat "stealthy" weapon (until you attack).

As with arrows, throwing knives, and spears, weapon poison can be applied to darts to poison other players in the Wilderness. Due to a likely unfixed bug, the poisoned variants of these weapons have no requirements to wield.

Image	Name	Level
	Bronze Throwing Dart	1
	Iron Throwing Dart	1
	Steel Throwing Dart	5
	Mithril Throwing Dart	15
	Adamant Throwing Dart	25
	Rune Throwing Dart	35

Throwing knives

All throwing knives except Black can be made using the Smithing skill. Throwing knives are one-handed and can also provide bonuses for melee combat. The higher level the knife, the more damage it will inflict against opponents, and the more accurate it will be. Throwing knives are slightly stronger than arrows, but each will occupy an inventory slot (i.e. they are not stackable), meaning that players will have to withdraw them from a bank if they wish to use more than 30. These factors make their use quite uncommon. When equipped, their appearance is identical to most swords.

As with arrows, darts, and spears, weapon poison can be applied to throwing knives to poison other players in the Wilderness. Due to a likely unfixed bug, the poisoned variants of these weapons have no requirements to wield. For this reason, the Poisoned Rune throwing knife in particular was popularly used by players looking to deceive others about their levels, especially magic tanks when dueling after the hiscores were removed.

Image	Name	Attack level	Ranged level
	Bronze throwing knife	1	1
	Iron throwing knife	1	1
	Black throwing knife	1	1
	Steel throwing knife	5	5
	Mithril throwing knife	20	15
	Adamantite throwing knife	30	25
	Rune throwing knife	40	35

Spears

Spears can only be obtained from various monsters. Like throwing knives, they are one-handed and can be used for both melee and Ranged attacks. The higher level the spear, the more damage it will inflict against opponents, and the more accurate it will be. Spears provide the highest Ranged damage out of all weapons in the game besides possibly the Dwarf multicannon.

They cannot be made by players, and in most cases they are only available as an uncommon monster drop, making them difficult to acquire in large quantities. Each spear will occupy an inventory slot (i.e. they are not stackable), meaning that players will have to withdraw them from a bank if they wish to use more than 30. These factors make their use quite uncommon.

As with arrows, darts, and throwing knives, weapon poison can be applied to spears to poison other players in the Wilderness. Due to a likely unfixed bug, the poisoned variants of these weapons have no requirements to wield.

Spears can be thrown at 3 tiles of distance from the target, a shorter distance compared to bows.

Image	Name	Attack level	Ranged level
	Bronze Spear	1	1
	Iron Spear	1	1
	Steel Spear	5	5
	Mithril Spear	20	15
	Adamantite Spear	30	25
	Rune Spear	40	35

Dwarf multicannon

The Dwarf multicannon is the most powerful weapon against monsters in RuneScape Classic, but it cannot be used in player killing. It fires multiple cannonballs at multiple targets simultaneously. You must complete the Dwarf Cannon quest to have access to it.

Holy Water

Holy water can be made during the Legend's Quest, after having obtained the Book of Binding and preferably whilst not having depleted the Shallow water from the Kharazi Jungle. It is used to weaken the demon Nezikchened, just like Silverlight would on other demons.

Although theoretically it doesn't require a Ranged level to use, starting the Legend's Quest requires the completion of the Underground pass quest, which requires a minimum Ranged level of 25.

Image	Name	Level
	Holy Water Vial	25

Boosts

Item	Boost	Visibility
Ranging Potion	+10% + 4 levels	Visible

Aside from weapons, there is no equipment that provides a known boost to Ranged in RuneScape Classic.

Drains

• Hand of Death Cocktail, at the Rising Sun Inn from the Barcrawl card miniquest.

Quest Experience Rewards

The following quests provide Ranged experience:

Quest	Experience Reward
Hero's Quest	$Level*50+75$
Temple of Ikov	$Level*250+500$

Changes

Date	Changes
27 May 2003 (Update)	Ranged now contributes to Fatigue.
27 May 2003 (Update)	Introduced the dwarf multicannon.
14 April 2003 (Update)	Introduced spears, throwing knives, and darts.
10 July 2002 (Update)	Bug where iron arrows were usable on the free servers is fixed. Bug where you could get a skull for retaliating to a ranged attack is fixed. Bug where arrows did not stack correctly, if multiple players shot the same target is fixed. Bug where player occasionally ran in random direction after ranged kill is fixed.
25 March 2002 (Update)	The range of available Ranged weapons was expanded with the new Fletching skill.
27 February 2002 (Update)	Weapon poison introduced with pay-to-play. It is now possible to poison Arrows and Crossbow bolts.
10 May 2001 (Update)	Fixed 'using ranged combat advances other skills too' bug.
7 February 2001 (Update)	The damage of Magic spells is no longer determined by Ranged level.
27 January 2001 (Update)	Experience now gained for each successful hit, so it's easier to advance a level. Fixed a bug which some players were using to shoot super rapidly. Arrows now fire 25% faster.
4 January 2001 (Update)	Released with the game.
28 December 2000	Bows and arrows now usable.

Trivia

• The first player to achieve level 99 Ranged was Snake Slava. The second player to achieve level 99 Ranged was Snake Slavik.
• There seems to be an approximate increase in Ranged accuracy by 1% with each level.

See also

• Gnome Ball -- a minigame that gives small amounts of Ranged XP.
• Ranged training