FIGHTING!
To fight a monster or character in the game just point your mouse at your opponent and select the 'attack' option. Not every character in the game can be attacked, so if no attack option is visible on the menu, then the character is probably part of some quest or shop, and is not designed to be fought.
| When you point the mouse at your opponent their relative strength will be indicated next to their name. In the example here the rat can be seen to be a level-8 monster. This is also coloured coded to help you decide if you should fight or not. It your opponent is weaker than you the indicator is shown in green, for equal opponents it is shown in yellow, whereas for stronger opponents it is shown in red. |
| Once you are fighting a monster an indicator will be displayed at the top left of the screen which you can use to select your combat style. Choosing 'accurate' will make you more likely to hit your opponent. Choosing 'aggressive' means that when you do hit your opponent you are likely to do more damage. 'Defensive' makes your opponent less likely to hit you. Whereas 'controlled' simply improves all three by a smaller amount. The combat style you select also affects which stats you gain experience points in when you kill the monster. |
| The strength of each combat participant is indicate by a horizontal bar above their head. If your bar is entirely green you are not hurt, it will turn red as you are hit. If the bar goes entirely red your character will die. A number will also briefly appear over you whenever you are hit by your opponent, indicating how many points of damage you have just sustained. |
If you find you are losing the battle, then you can run away by clicking on the ground. You can't run away during the first few seconds of combat, but after that you are free to retreat. If you do retreat it's best to keep moving until you are some distance from your opponent as they may well pursue you.
Dying isn't much fun, so we recommend you avoid it. However most players will sooner or later get into a fight they can't win and end up losing all their hitpoints. Luckily death in RuneScape isn't permanent and after a few moments you will reappear in Lumbridge.
You keep all your stats and skills, BUT you drop the items you are carrying! It is unlikely you will be able to retrieve them so we recommend you keep as many of your valuables in the bank as possible. If you haven't attacked any other players recently (see section on player killing) you will also keep your 3 most valuable items. But you won't keep stackable items like coins, runes, arrows, etc...
Fighting other players
As well as fighting the computer controlled monsters and characters you can also choose to directly fight with other players. Fighting against other players is often a lot more dangerous because they can also use spells and prayers. Also watch out because their friends could be lurking behind a tree ready to finish you off!
| Killing other players can potentially give great rewards if they are holding valuable items. However attacking another player sets your alignment to 'evil', and a skull appears above your head to indicate this. As longer as your player is marked with a skull the risk is greater. If you die you will drop everything you are holding (you won't get to keep your 3 best items like you normally do!). If you play for 20 minutes without attacking anyone, the skull will disappear and the 3 item protection will work again. |
Not everybody likes fighting other players, so to do it you have to go to a special area of the map known as 'the wilderness'. Reaching the wilderness is easy, just keep on walking north and eventually you will get there. The wilderness is a desolate area full of death and danger. As well as the extra risk of attack from other players there are also many nasty monsters. However the rewards are also greater, and there is more treasure to be found if you dare to enter this area.
| When you enter the wilderness an icon at the bottom right of the screen will appear to remind you. This also indicates how far into the wilderness you have gone. The further north you go the more dangerous the wilderness becomes. At the south edge of the wilderness you can only fight with players who are a very similar level to yourself, whereas as you go north the range allowed increases, and by the north edge players of vastly different abilities can engage in combat and the danger is great! | |
| A further note to those with the power of teleportation - the evil auras that have built up in the wilderness are blocking teleportation to wilderness levels above 20. | |
- Members only
| Duelling allows two players to agree to a fight outside the wilderness. Either for an agreed prize, or just for fun. To start a duel with another player right click on their character and select the 'duel with' option. The other player will be informed of your request, and to accept your duel they must click on your character and also select the "duel-with" option. |
Both players will then be shown a screen where they can decide how the duel will work. First of all each player decides which items they would like to risk in the duel. If you win the duel you get all the items the other player has offered, but if you lose then the other player gets your offered items. For instance you might decide that you will wager your ruby against your opponents sword. If you wish to just duel to see who is strongest there is no need to add any items.
In addition to deciding on the stake there are 4 other options you can set:
| No retreating: | Fed up of your opponent retreating? Then tick this box and make it a fight to the death! |
| No prayer: | Disallows the use of prayers in this duel |
| No magic: | Disallows the use of magic in this duel. Good if you want to save your runes for later! |
| No weapons: | Try a bit of unarmed combat. This option disallows the use of all worn items! |
Once both players are happy with the options they should press the accept button.
A final confirmation box will appear. This clearly lists what the duel will involve and gives you one last chance to check it is what you expected. You should read this information carefully, and then once you are sure you are happy, press the green "accept" button to begin the fight.
The duel will continue until a player retreats (if allowed), or until one player has died. If a player dies the items they agreed to risk will land on the ground for the winner to take, but they will retain all their other items.