Intro
Ranged is a skill you can use to fight monsters and other people. It allows you to attack from a distance with a bow and arrow typically, although there are many different weapons you can use which are explained later on. It is an easy level to get into and can be used in many situations.
Basics
To start off, you can use the basic bow and arrow. You will need to wield your bow as your weapon by clicking on it in your inventory and then click on your arrows to hold them in your quiver. You will see your character now ready for action. Just like normal fighting, to start attacking you simply select attack on the monster you want to start ranging. You will see your character start taking arrows from his/her quiver and shooting at the enemy.
You can either attack up close or you can use an obstacle to stop the monster reaching you. This is a useful tactic to avoid damage and can be seen in the picture below. Beware however that some monsters have their own ranged weapons and will attack you from a distance as well. An important point is that some of your arrows fall next to the monster and you can pick them up to use them again. However some are damaged and are not recovarable, approxiametly one in three arrows that you fire will be damaged. The better the metal of your arrow, the more you will recover as they are less easily damaged.
Training
Experience points you recieve towards your ranged skill depend on which of the three attacking styles your are using, shown below. With Accurate or Rapid styles, for each damage point you inflict you will recieve four experience points. However for Longrange, you will recieve two ranged xp points and two hits xp points. It is up to you the style you want to train with. A quick example is that if you hit an 8 on a goblin using the accurate style, you would recieve 32 ranged xp.
It is worth noting that a short bow fires arrows faster than a long bow. How often you inflict damage depends on the value of your 'ranged attack' (show in blue below) of your equipment and the 'ranged defence' value of your opponent. This also applies in the reverse situation, where how much you get hit - depends on the value of your 'ranged defence' (shown in orange below).
Your 'ranged attack' value increases by wielding a better bow or wearing special leather armour as described below. 'Ranged Defence' works in the same way. For example, scorpions naturally have good solid body armour which would be hard to hit. As for how hard you hit, this increases with a higher ranged level and better arrows, as described later below. A higher 'ranged attack' only affects how often you hit.
Weapons
There are different types of bows which give different 'ranged attack' values and the better ones will need you to have a higher ranged level to wield them. Free players can only wield normal and Oak bows.
Weapons
There are different types of bows which give different 'ranged attack' values and the better
ones will need you to have a higher ranged level to wield them. Free players can only wield normal and Oak bows.
| Bows |
| Picture |
Name |
Ranged Level to wield |
Ranged att value |
 |
Short Bow |
Any |
+8 |
 |
Long Bow |
Any |
+8 |
 |
Oak Short Bow |
5 |
+14 |
 |
Oak Long Bow |
5 |
+14 |
 |
Willow Short Bow |
20 |
+20 |
 |
Willow Long Bow |
20 |
+20 |
 |
Maple Short Bow |
30 |
+29 |
 |
Maple Long Bow |
30 |
+29 |
 |
Yew Short Bow |
40 |
+47 |
 |
Yew Long Bow |
40 |
+47 |
 |
Magic Short Bow |
50 |
+69 |
 |
Magic Long Bow |
50 |
+69 |
You can use your bow with different types of arrows. The better the arrows
the higher you can hit , and the better the bow you need to be wielding
so that you can fire it. Free players can use up to steel arrows.
| Arrows |
| Picture |
Name |
Minimum bow required |
Price |
 |
Bronze Arrows |
Any |
2-6 gp |
 |
Iron Arrows |
Any |
3-18 gp |
 |
Steel Arrows |
Oak |
12-72 gp |
 |
Mithrill Arrows |
Willow |
upto 32 gp |
 |
Adamant Arrows |
Maple |
upto 80gp |
 |
Rune Arrows |
Yew |
upto 400gp |
