Ranged is a combat skill that involves the use of bows, crossbows, and thrown weapons to take down opponents, and wearing armour based on various monsters' hides. Players who specialise in this skill are known as rangers or archers. The Combat Triangle dictates that Rangers are strong against.
All hardcore OSRS players know that a big draw of the “grind” that it takes to achieve the highest levels is seeing your character’s stats maxed out beyond reproach. There are few things more satisfying than seeing your OSRS character with a 99 and max stat bonuses, but all hardcore players also know the bitter truth that there is never a true “best” loadout. Sometimes you might want to hit your enemy at full force with a maximum attack bonus, and other times it might be better to sacrifice a little power for some combination defense stat bonuses. For Ranged players, this balance can be even more delicate given a variety of armor sets all serving different play styles and weapons differently. For example, gear that gives a good Ranged Defense bonus might not actually be the best bet if you’re fighting melee or magic opponents, though Ranged Defense is often a perk of Ranged gear sets. We’ve collected some of the top OSRS Range Gear, including loadouts for a variety of circumstances so you’re sure to know which gear suits you best.
What’s going on with High-Level range and defense Veterans?
- Slot Image Item Stab bonus Notes Fighter hat+5 45 Must also have 275 Honour points in each role from the Barbarian Assault minigame. Amulet of torture+15 The Amulet of glory gives a+10 bonus, but is significantly cheaper. Requires 75 Hitpoints to wear. Bandos chestplate+0 Any will work as armour.
- 3rd age range equipment is high-level Ranged armour, and currently the second best non-degradable Ranged armour (just like its Melee and Magic counterparts). Members can obtain a set of 3rd age range armour as a very rare reward from level 3 Treasure Trails. 3rd age range armour is supposedly made from white dragonhide.
For players who want the most powerful stat bonuses, the Ranged skill line is the best bet as you have the maximum available stat bonus of the three combat skills. Despite the longstanding confusion and discrepancy over the comparative benefits of Ranged Strength vs. Ranged Attack, it’s generally best to lean toward maximum Attack with faster attacks at the expense of a slight strength decrease. Though you may hit a lower maximum damage, your accuracy from the high Ranged Attack bonus plus the faster attack speed of a rapid stance will offset the decreased power and fares best against most opponents. For the best overall Attack and Strength combo, go to this:
- Head: Armadyl helmet
- Necklace: Necklace of Anguish
- Ring: Archers’ ring (imbued)
- Chest: Armadyl Chestplate
- Legs: Armadyl Chainskirt
- Cape: Ava’s Assembler
- Boots: Pegasian boots
- Gloves: Barrows gloves
- Weapon Option 1: Twisted buckler and Armadyl crossbow
- Weapon Option 2: Heavy ballista
The gear set above is popularly considered the “best” for Ranged users by most metrics. It lends a whopping 239 Ranged Attack bonus with the Heavy ballista equipped or 232 when using the Armadyl crossbow with the Twisted buckler. Those players really looking to go all out might wish to purchase both and use mouse keys to switch between them in combat. However, know that much of this gear requires at least a level 70 Defense stat to use, and to use all of the items a character will need a level 75 Defense. Additionally, Ava’s assembler may only be equipped when a player has completed Dragon Slayer 2 and Vorkath’s head. To imbue the Archers’ ring you’ll need 650,000 Nightmare Zone points, and the bonus will only jump from 4 to 8, so many players forgo this. Finally, these items cost some considerable GP on the Grand Exchange, and you shouldn’t expect to spend any less than 12 mill on your whole set at the time of this writing. Still, for the perfectionists out there, it doesn’t get any better than this. For everyone else, we have a few other more feasible options for you to try.
For more RuneScape, check this out: OSRS Thieving Guide for 1-99
Which is the best (common) OSRS Range Gear?
- Head: Archers’ helmet
- Necklace: Amulet of Glory
- Ring: Archers’ ring (imbued)
- Chest: Black D’hide
- Legs: Black D’hide
- Cape: Obsidian cape
- Boots: Blessed D’hide boots
- Gloves: D’hide vambraces
- Offhand: Book of Law or Dragonfire Shield
- Weapon: Magic short bow (i)
This setup is ideal for players who are still training their ranged or using it casually for dungeoning or questing. It balances cost with some solid attack and defense bonuses to make sure you can hold your own against high-attack and high-defense opponents. Furthermore, all of these items can be obtained on the Grand Exchange at a reasonable price – we bought them all for 2.4 mill in total.
If you use prayer often, you may wish to opt for Blessed D’hide instead of regular Black D’hide, but this is a bit more expensive of an option. As for prerequisites, your character will only need a defense level of 40 to equip all the items we have listed here, and no quests are required to acquire any of these items. This makes this gearset much more accessible to the average player and still grants some very respectable stat bonuses. If nothing else, it’s good to keep these items for backup in case you want to go range in an area that might be too risky to carry your more expensive gear.
Osrs Best Magic Shield
How about Range Pure with no defense
- Head: Robin Hood Hat
- Necklace: Amulet of Fury or Amulet of Glory
- Ring: Archers’ ring (imbued)
- Chest: Rangers tunic
- Legs: Black D’hide
- Cape: Ava’s Accumulator or Obsidian
- Boots: Ranger boots or Blessed D’hide boots
- Gloves: Combat Bracelet
- Offhand: Book of Law
- Weapon: Magic short bow (i)
Best Shield Osrs
Wrap-Up
I’ll be honest with you. Having leveled a Ranged pure myself in the past, this is my favorite gear set of anything OSRS has to offer. I don’t think any combat skill comes close to matching the capabilities as a pure of the Ranged skill line, and the gear options are superior to pure Magic or Strength characters in every way. With only a few tweaks to account for your level 1 Defense, this setup will still grant you almost as much attack stat bonuses as the best Common gear layout, and similar defense bonuses. As a drawback, some of these items can get to be a bit more expensive, such as the Ranger boots, but the great thing about the Ranged gear sets is that you can always swap these out for a comparable and significantly cheaper item. For a budget, go with D’hide or Snakeskin boots instead of the Ranger boots. The Book of Law can be replaced with either the Dragonfire shield or even a regular old Anti-Dragon shield if you’re really balling on a budget. No matter how you mix and match the items, you’re sure to enjoy playing with these OSRS Range Gear sets.
Best Shield Slot Osrs
For more RuneScape, check this out: OSRS Range Training for 1-99