Ranged is one of the three combat classes. It involves using bows, crossbows, and thrown weapons to damage opponents from a distance, and Ranged armour can mostly be made from animal hides. Rangers are capable of having the highest accuracy of any combat type, boasting a maximum of +271 to Ranged attack, beating both Magic with a maximum of +182, and Melee with a maximum of +214 to crush. For this reason, it is often used against monsters with very high Defence.
Combat Style
Ranged weapons have three combat styles: accurate, rapid, and longrange. The accurate style provides an invisible +3 bonus to the player's Ranged level, increasing their accuracy and possibly increasing their max hit. The rapid style increases the player's attack speed by 1, resulting in the highest damage per second of all the styles in almost all situations. The longrange style increases attack range by 2, provides an invisible +3 bonus to the player's Defence level, and splits earned exp between Ranged and Defence.
Levels
In order to wield weapons, a certain Ranged level requirement must be met. Commonly used items and their corresponding level requirements are as follows:
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Shortbows & Longbows | Fire bronze-dragon arrows. Longbows could be used for additional range, but are slower than shortbows on rapid. The magic shortbow has a special attack which hits twice. |
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Darts, Knives & Axes | Darts and throwing knives have the highest attack speed in the game, but low Ranged attack, Ranged strength and attack range stats. Throwing axes have superior damage and accuracy, but a slower attack speed. |
| Toktz-xil-ul | Toktz-xil-ul also known as throwing rings are as powerful as a magic shortbow with rune arrows. | |
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Chinchompas | Chinchompas deal very little damage, but they hit multiple targets, making them excellent for training. Because of this, they are extremely expensive. |
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Crossbows | Crossbows are very accurate, and crossbow bolts deal significantly more damage than arrows, making crossbows effective for training Ranged. Crossbows are slower than standard bows, but are also one-handed, so a shield or god book can be used for protection. |
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Dorgeshuun Crossbow | This is the only crossbow which can fire the cheap bone bolts. It is also faster than normal crossbows, and has a special attack which lowers the target's Defence level. |
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Karil's xbow | Despite being a crossbow, it is more like a shortbow, requiring two hands and having a fast attack speed, along with longer range. Karil's crossbow will only work with bolt racks, which break when fired, making it expensive to use. This weapon should only be used against the TzTok-Jad and players, as everything else can be done more cheaply. |
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Dark bow | The dark bow is the slowest weapon in the game, but it fires two arrows at once. It can fire dragon arrows, and it has a devastating special attack which boosts damage by 30% if using arrows that are not dragon, or by 50% if using dragon arrows, with a minimum damage of 5 per non-dragon arrow and 8 per dragon arrow. |
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Toxic blowpipe | The toxic blowpipe is a powerful ranged weapon that uses darts and Zulrah's scales for ammunition. Against monsters, it has the same speed as darts/knives, but against players, it has the same attack speed as shortbows. Additionally, the toxic blowpipe can inflict targets with venom, which deals increasing damage over time. |
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Multicannon | The dwarf multicannon is a supplementary weapon that is set up by the player and attacks enemies on its own. There is no Ranged level requirement to use it. It is fast and powerful (with a max hit of 30), yet expensive to use, and there are a limited number of areas where it can be set up for usage. For example, it cannot be used against bosses except the Corporeal Beast. Nonetheless, it's useful and great to have on board, especially on certain Slayer tasks (e.g. dagannoths). |
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Twisted bow | This is the only crossbow which can fire the cheap bone bolts. It is also faster than normal crossbows, and has a special attack which lowers the target's Defence level. |
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Crystal bow | A relatively strong composite bow. Its damage and accuracy can be increased by wearing pieces of the Crystal armour. Generates its own ammo, but degrades. |
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Craw's bow | This powerful shortbow has 50% increased damage against monsters in the Wilderness. Generates its own ammo, but needs to be charged with Revenant ether. |
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Bow of Faerdhinen | A very powerful composite bow. Its damage and accuracy can be increased by wearing pieces of the Crystal armour. Generates its own ammo. When corrupted, it does not degrade. |
Upgraded Weapons and Equipment
Certain items can also be upgraded in the Upgrader to gain empowered effects. Down below you'll find a table with all ranged equipment and weaponry, and their respective effects.
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Twisted Bow of Darkness | Uses twisted bow passive effect while shooting twice (second max hit is halved) |
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Dread Crossbow | Uses twisted bow passive effect while shooting twice (second max hit is halved) |
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Blazing Blowpipe | Uses twisted bow passive effect while shooting twice (second max hit is halved) |
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Volcanic Dark Bow | Uses twisted bow passive effect while shooting twice (second max hit is halved) |
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Volcanic Hand Cannon | Uses twisted bow passive effect while shooting twice (second max hit is halved) |
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Ava's Destructor | Uses twisted bow passive effect while shooting twice (second max hit is halved) |
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[[Twisted Armadyl] | Uses twisted bow passive effect while shooting twice (second max hit is halved) |
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Blood Pernix | Uses twisted bow passive effect while shooting twice (second max hit is halved) |
Ranged Training
Fastest Experience
Dwarf Multicannon
Using the dwarf multicannon offers the fastest experience up to level 70. There are no level requirements to use one. The cannon has a lot higher damage output compared to other options at low levels and can help to pull targets towards you while hitting higher than your weapons will be able to at this level.
Chinning
Throwing red chinchompas at Dagannoths (Waterbirth Dungeon), Bandits (Monster teleport) or Mighty Ghosts (Demonic Dungeon, bring the mask from the Ancient Curse quest) is the fastest way to train Ranged. It is best to use equipment that maximises the player's Ranged damage and Prayer bonuses to maximise damage and duration.
Slayer
Training Slayer efficiently grants the player some passive Ranged experience from using the dwarf multicannon. It is always worth using the cannon wherever applicable, as the cost of using the cannon is justified by the saved time compared to not using one. A melee task can take almost twice as long if not using the cannon; for example, in multi-combat areas such as during dagannoth and kalphite tasks the cannon will deal most of the damage, while the player is getting nearly as much Melee experience as they would without using a cannon. Should the player not be able to afford to use the cannon, it is better to make the money for the cannonballs than train Slayer without the cannon.