Ranged - The Basics

Introduction | Getting Started | Attack Styles | Inflicting Damage

Introduction

Ranged is a very flexible and useful skill to develop as part of your arsenal. It allows you to attack opponents from great distances, using a variety of projectile weapons. The bow and arrow is the most common weapon used by rangers. However, you can also train your Ranged skill using other weapons, such as throwing knives, darts and javelins.

Getting Started

To get started in the Ranged skill you will need a basic bow and some arrows.

You can buy ranging equipment, such as bows and arrows, from archery stores in:

Catherby
Rimmington
Varrock

Look for the archery shop symbol on your minimap to help you find the exact location of such stores.

To wield a bow in your inventory, simply left-click on it. Then left-click on a set of arrows in your inventory to store them in your quiver. You are now ready to attack your opponents.

Bows are the favoured weapon of rangers. They can fire normal or poisoned arrows, which can inflict additional damage on an opponent. Longbows are more powerful, but at the price of rate of fire. Shortbows have a quicker rate of fire, but they sacrifice power to achieve this.

A ranger attacks

Like all other forms of combat, you must select a monster or player that you wish to attack by left-clicking on them to begin the fight. You will now begin to fire arrows at your chosen target until you run out of arrows, are attacked by another monster or player, die or defeat the monster.

As you fire your arrows, some will miss, lodging into the ground next to the monster. After the battle, you can retrieve the arrows and use them again. Please note there is an 80% chance of keeping any projectile and that anything you fire will only remain for a couple of minutes, so be prepared to lose a few if you are training for a long time!

You cannot attack a monster or player if you do not have a direct line of sight (for example, if there is a tree or wall between you and your enemy). When enemies are attacked by ranging, they will attempt to run and attack you in hand-to-hand combat. If you decide to shoot at a monster from the other side of an obstacle, then the monster will not be able to retaliate, thus saving you from taking damage.

Be warned that some monsters have the ability to use Ranged attacks and will attack you from a distance. The most accomplished rangers will use the terrain to gain an advantage over an enemy, as they are relatively weak in hand-to-hand combat.

Attack Styles

Style	Image
Accurate
Rapid
Long range

There are three recognised forms of Ranged attack - 'accurate', 'rapid' and 'long range'.

[image]

All ranged weapons use these three attacking styles. Simply click on the crossed swords icon in the control panel.

You will then be able to control your attack style from the interface that is displayed.

When the Ranged attack style is set to accurate, your arrows are more likely to strike your opponent and cause damage . Using the rapid attack style increases the rate at which you release the arrows - your character fires more often. The long range attack style allows the player to attack an opponent from a greater distance than the other two attack styles.

Inflicting Damage

Accuracy: Your accuracy when ranging determines how often you inflict damage on your opponent. It will increase as you achieve a higher Ranged level. Your accuracy will also depend on all the items you have wielded, i.e. weapons and armour and the Ranged bonuses they provide. This is the equivalent to a melee fighter's Attack skill.

Please note: Your Attack, Strength and Defence skills have no effect on your Ranged success.

The better the bow or ranged weapon you wield, the higher your Ranged attack bonus will be.

Leather and dragonhide armour will provide you with various defence bonuses (stab, slash, crush, magic and range), as well as a Ranged attack bonus.

Ranged Strength: Arrows and other ammunition do not provide any form of attack bonus or defence bonus, but the stronger the ammunition you use, the more damage you will inflict on your enemies. This is just like the way Strength bonuses work on melee weapons.

Click here to view the Ranged FAQs

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