OSRS Best In Slot Melee Gear Guide

With so many weapons and gear to choose from, becoming a melee fighter in OSRS can be very exciting. However, you’ll probably want to put your character to the best of its potential so it’s important to get the best in slot gear for melee combat. In this guide, we’ll show you the best items to have for any melee builds out there. Before anything else, however, let’s talk about how melee gear and their respective bonuses work.

OSRS Melee Gear: How Do They Work?

Melee gear in OSRS comes with your standard bonuses for defense and offense. Other than that, the weapons have bonuses for three melee damage types: stab, slash, and crush. These three damage types are worth knowing because you’ll know which to use against certain types of enemies.

• Stab: This attack type is best against enemies that are using armor like chainbodies and leather. They are also strong against dragons. Don’t use stab-type weapons against enemies wearing heavy armor such as platebodies.

• Slash: You can use this against opponents that are wearing clothing or even leather armor. It’s also effective against enemies that have no armor at all. It does poorly against those that have metal armor or scaly skin.

• Crush: This weapon type works best against platebodies and small monsters like spiders. It does bad against enemies with soft bodies such as plant-like creatures.

Keep in mind that some weapons have a primary and secondary attack type so there are those that carry two damage types. The bonuses on melee weapons will indicate how accurate you are with it. For instance, achieving a higher stab bonus for your set means that your weapons are most likely to hit.

Melee gear also often has a Strength bonus. Players tend to be confused as to what this really means. A point to your Strength bonus doesn’t equate to a point to your Strength Skill.

Instead, a Strength Bonus increases the amount of maximum damage you can do with your melee strikes. On the other hand, the Strength Skill determines how easy it is for you to deal maximum damage with your attacks. For most players, investing in Strength Bonus isn’t that bit of a priority considering the returns are small. Getting +16 Strength Bonus only increases your maximum hit by 1.

OSRS Best In Slot Melee Gear

On this part of the guide, we’ll be showing you each of the best in slot gear for all slots of your equipment. For the weapon, we’re going to choose one for stab, slash, and crush.

1. Best In Slot Stab - Osmumten’s Fang

Osmumten’s fang isn’t just considered as one of the best stab weapons in the game, it’s often regarded as the best melee weapon in general. Unfortunately, getting it requires a ton of work as you’ll have to go through the Tombs of of Amascut and get it as a rare reward. The Tombs of Amascut is a tough raid which will take a lot of time and effort to prepare for.

Once you get the weapon, you’ll have to train well too as it requires 82 Attack to wield. Although we’re sure that you’re most likely past this level requirement if you’re able to beat the Tombs of Amascut. You can attach a cursed phalanx to the weapon to make a cosmetic variant of it.

Aside from its high stats, one of the best things about the weapon is that it has a unique passive which makes it more effective against enemies that have a high Defence level. This makes it easier for you to start taking out bosses in the game.

2. Best In Slot Slash - Soulreaper Axe

This is a two-handed axe that you can get by combining loot acquired from The Leviathan, Vardovis, Duke Sucellus, and The Whisperer. To make matters worse, you’ll need 2,000 blood runes as well.  The items are Leviathan’s Lure, Executioner’s axe head, Eye of the duke, and Siren’s Staff. All of these items are rare and come from rather challenging fights in the game. However, working for them is all worth it for this slash weapon.

When used properly, the Soulreaper axe can be very deadly but when not used as intended, it could be dangerous as well. Each time you hit an enemy, you’ll take 8 Hitpoints of damage. However, each time this happens, you’re getting a Soul Stack as well. Each Soul stack boosts your Strength by +6%. Once you have 5 Soul Stacks, you won’t take any more damage. When using this weapon, make sure to maximize your stacks first and focus on dealing damage. Just make sure you have healing potions prepared as you’ll be taking 40 Hitpoints of damage to max out Soul Stack.

3. Best In Slot Crush - Elder Maul

You can obtain this weapon as a rare reward from the Chambers of Xeric. It’s currently the strongest Crush weapon in the game and is also the one with the highest Strength Bonus. The only downside is that this weapon doesn’t have a special attack but if you’re looking for a weapon that’s used purely for damaging, this is it.

The Elder Maul is relatively slow and is actually beat by Abyssal Bludgeon in terms of overall DPS despite having a lower attack. The Elder Maul is still pretty much a favorite though and most players use it as a last-hit switch weapon while fighting other players inside the Wilderness.

4. Best in Slot Armour - Justiciar Armour Set

If you’re going for defences alone, then the best armour set in the game has to be the Justiciar Armour set. You can get the three pieces of the set as a drop reward from doing the Theatre of Blood. It has the best Melee and Ranged defense bonuses, which both goes above and beyond Torag’s armor. Another great thing about this armour set is also gives you a 10 Prayer Bonus. While there are other armor sets that provide higher Prayer bonuses, none of them can be the Justiciar Armour when defense is concerned.

Wearing a full set grants you a unique set effect that greatly mitigates the combat damage you take when doing fights outside of PvP. It does the same for typeless damage. If you’re not going for a full DPS build, then this is the best in slot armour set to get. Keep in mind

5. Best In Slot Neck - Amulet Of Torture

The Amulet of Torture is just an enchanted version of the zenyte amulet. In terms of DPS and overall functionality for DPS builds, this weapon provides the best melee attack boost out of any other items for your character’s neck slot. The only downside is that it has no defence bonus so you’ll have to compensate for that area with your other equipment slots. 

To create this, you’ll first need a zenyte amulet. Get your Magic to level 93 so you can start using the Level 7 Enchant Spell. Take 20 blood runes and 1 cosmic rune with you and enchant that on the zenyte amulet. If you want to shake things up further, you can combine the Amulet of Torture with the torture ornament kit for an aesthetic-only change to the neckwear.

6. Best In Slot Cape - Infernal Cape

While there are many great capes out there, none are comparable to the Infernal Cape in terms of bonuses for melee builds. That’s not surprising though as this cape is pretty hard to get. To use it, you’ll have to beat the Inferno which includes waves of tough enemies, ultimately leading up to a fight against TzKal-Zuk.

This cape is stronger than the fire cape as it has better melee attack and strength bonuses. If you’re looking at other benefits, the Infernal Cape is better than the Ardougne Cloak 3 and 4 in terms of Prayer bonuses, as well as Attack. Despite being formidable in its offensive bonuses, the Infernal Cape does quite well when it comes to defenses as well but there are other cape items that can protect you better.

7. Best In Slot Boots - Primordial Boots

You can create Primordial Boots by taking your dragon boots and using a primordial crystal on it. However, you’ll need to have level 60 Runecraft and magic to make this pair of the best in slot boots.

The bonuses between the Primordial Boots and the Dragon Boots are relatively the same. However, upgrading to the Primordial Boots will grant you with more melee strength bonus and a very helpful 2 attack bonus to all damage types. This build is the perfect way to round up any crush, slash, or stab build in the game. The requirements to wear it are relatively high though as you’ll need level 75 Strength and Defense to use it.

8. Best In Slot Gloves - Ferocious Gloves

These gloves are a rare drop whenever you beat the Alchemical Hydra. This is one of the best offensive gloves for those who are opting for a melee build in OSRS. If you’re currently lacking defenses in your build however, we highly suggest avoiding this weapon as it doesn’t provide any bonuses for that. In fact, it also provides negative bonuses for ranged and magic. This is not a versatile glove but is perfect for melee builds in the game.

9. Best In Slot Ring - Bellator Ring

The item on your gear slot will depend on what type of build you’re going for. There aren’t a lot of versatile rings for melee damage. However, considering the stat gane, the most powerful in terms of damage bonus has to be the Bellator ring.

This Ancient Ring has the highest slash attack bonus for any ring in the game right now. To get it, you’ll first have to kill the Whisperer at least once. Even then, you’ll first have to craft it with a requirement of level 90 Magic and 80 Crafting. Since you’re going to farm parts for the Soulreaper Axe which is the best slash weapon, the Bellator Ring is an easy pick for the ring slot already.

Once you have the skill requirements, combine a warrior icon, the bellator vestire, and 500 blood runes to create a bellator icon. Bring this item to a furnace and bring a ring mould, and three chromium ingots to finalize the creation of this ring.

10. Best In Slot Off-Hand - Avernic Defender

Lastly, we have the Avernic Defender for your off-hand slot. You can create this by combining a dragon defender and an Avernic defender hilt. It has the highest Strength upgrade in the slot compared to all shields in the game. What makes it even better is that it also has the highest attack bonus for melee builds looking for the final piece in their off-hand slot. There are other shields that provide better defenses but if you’re looking solely for one that enhances your offensive capabilities, then the Avernic Defender in the perfect choice.

Keep in mind that while these are all excellent items for each slot in your inventory, they don’t necessarily work well together. You’ll still have to mix and match your gear to create the best melee builds in the game. 

OSRS Melee Gear List

In this part of the guide, we’ll be showing you a list of all the weapons and gear that you can get for melee builds in OSRS. This is so that you have a choice and more freedom when it comes to creating the perfect melee build in the game. Before that, check out this little table for a better understanding of the melee weapons in the game.

2H Swords

Standard Two-Handed Swords

Godswords

Other Two-Handed Swords

Axes

Other Axes

Battleaxes

Standard Battleaxes

Other Battleaxes

Blunt Weapons

Blackjacks

Standard Claws

Other Claws

Polearms