Armour

For boxed armour sets, see Item set.

The term Armour describes items that can be equipped to provide defence (and many times, other) bonuses duringcombat. Defence bonuses decrease a player's chance of being hit, in addition to reducing the amount of damage taken. Armour comes in many shapes and forms for some classes, giving the player a variety of bonuses to choose from. To wear armour of different metal types, certain defence levels are required. Good armour is recommended when attacking enemies of a higher level, as the higher defences give the opponent less opportunity to do damage. Players should always have the best armour they can afford and equip, although 'the best' may differ from player to player.

The Combat TriangleEdit

Main article: Combat triangle

The combat triangle is a vividly-complex and functioning diagram showing how weak or strong one fighting style is against another.

• Melee fighters overcome Rangers because swords can cut through [1]A typical combat triangle.leather armour with ease. Melee armour is also effective at protecting against ranged ammunition, as flying projectiles cannot penetrate melee fighters' thick metal plate armour.
• Rangers are able to overcome Magic users because of their long range capabilities, as well as ammunition which is able to penetrate through magic users' robes. Ranged armour is usually crafted from thick animal hides, and is highly resistant to magical attacks.
• Magic users overcome Melee fighters because Melee armour "conducts" magical energy, making magic attacks very effective against those wearing full Melee armour (Jagex states on a loading screen tip that it "cooks" players in their own armour). Effective mages are also able to use binding or ice spells to hold warriors and prevent them from reaching their targets, and their magic enveloped robes resist melee attacks.

However, the combat triangle is not as straightforward as the ideal case presented above. The triangle is subject to change from fight to fight due to differences between overall levels of combat, levels of a certain skill, differentprayers, types of combat tactics, and amulets or a myriad of other accessories that can change stat bonuses, affecting the outcome of the fight.

After the Evolution of Combat update, the combat triangle has become more significant in combat. For example, mages are now much stronger against warriors when in combat, reflecting the triangle.

Melee ArmourEdit

Main article: Armour/Melee armour

• Melee armour is usually made from metal, making this type of armour strong, but heavy.
• Melee armour provides strong bonuses to defence against melee and ranged attacks, but tends to provide negative bonuses toward magic attacks.
• Melee also tends to provide bonuses in attack or defence, as well as a few to strength.
• Melee armour slows the player down, making the player more of a target to mages and rangers in PvP (Wilderness)

Ranged ArmourEdit

Main article: Armour/Ranged armour

• Ranged Armour tends to be more flexible material, like Leather or Dragonhide.
• Ranged Armour is capable of defending against light attacks, but is weak against close-combat.
• Ranged Armour also dispels Magic fairly well, while negatively impacting Magic Attack, though not as much as Plate Armour.
• Ranged Armour offers the necessary mobility for Ranged Attack bonuses which most players wear while using Ranged Attack.

Magic ArmourEdit

Main article: Armour/Magic armour

• Magic Armour is not "armour" per se. It is more in the line of robes and other similar garments.
• Despite being mostly made of cloth, Magic Armour deflects melee attacks very well, but it is not very effective at stopping arrows and other ranged attacks.
• Wearing Magic Armour will slightly negatively impact the wearer's melee attacks, and will inhibit ranged attacks even more.
• Examples of Magic Armour include:
  • Imphide, spider silk, and batwing robes
  • Splitbark armour
  • Elemental equipment

Hybrid ArmourEdit

• After the Evolution of Combat, some armour have an "All" or "Hybrid" type.
• These armour may be useful for balancing out defence rating as armour belonging to a specific side of the combat triangle is extremely susceptible to damage from the stronger side of the triangle.
• Armour that have an "All" type include Culinaromancer gloves, skillcapes, team capes, amulet of defence, Legends cape and Void armour (excluding the helms).
• Armour that have a "Hybrid" type include the TokKul-Zo.

Prayer ArmourEdit

Main article: Armour/Prayer armour

• Prayer armour is not as often meant for protection, but lowering the rate at which prayer points drain, which can be useful in some battles.
• Prayer armour is more diverse in terms of types of armour available, including items from all three forms of the combat triangle, generally providing decent, although not outstanding, defence. A large portion of Prayer armour, similar to Magic armour, is however more in the line of robes, although it is this category that often provides the highest bonuses.
• Most Prayer armour is only available for members, such as Proselyte. Exceptions include Monk's robes which can be obtained at the monastery and are obtainable by both free players and members.

Armour ratingEdit

Amour rating is the total defence a piece of equipment gives you. For many tiered equipment (e.g. Dungeoneering equipment) armour rating is calculated as following:

Armour up to level 10 = 

Armour beyond level 10 = 

Where X is 23 for body armour, 22 for leg armour, 20 for helmet and shield, 5 for boots and gauntlets, and 3 for capes.

Defence ratingEdit

Main article: Combat Stats

Defence rating (or "defending rating" as it is known on the equipment stats' screen)  is the actual defence you have against each style of the combat triangle, based on your armour rating. The defence values you recieve against each style of the combat triangle for a piece of a equipment is calculated as following:

• Class the equipment is strong against: 1(x)
• Same class as the equipment: 0.625(x) or 5/8(x)
• Class the equipment is weak against: 0.3125(x) or 5/16(x)

 Where x is the total armour rating of the equipment.

In the case that 2 or more different styles of equipment are being worn by the player, combine and average the appropriate formulas above for each piece of different style armour being worn before multiplying your total armour rating.

• Example: Your character is wearing a melee top and a ranged bottom so;
  • Melee rating multiplier is (0.625+0.3125)/2 = 0.469
  • Magic rating multiplier is (0.3125+1)/2 = 0.656
  • Ranged rating multiplier is (1+0.625)/2 = 0.813
• Alternate Example: Your character is wearing melee top, ranged boots, and ranged gloves so;
  • Melee rating multiplier is (0.625+0.3125+0.3125)/3 = 0.417
  • Magic rating multiplier is (0.3125+1+1)/3 = 0.771
  • Ranged rating multiplier is (1+0.625+0.625)/3 = 0.75

In the case your character is wearing some hybrid armour (or in other words class-all armour) with a piece of equipment, add 1 to each of the formulas for each piece of hybrid armour being worn and average them before multiplying your total armour rating. 

• Example: Your character is wearing 1 piece of hybrid armour with a piece of equipment on so;
  • The multiplier of the class the equipment is strong against is: (1+1)/2= 1
  • The multiplier of the same class as the equipment is: (0.625+1)/2= 0.813
  • The multiplier of the class the equipment is weak against is: (0.3125+1)/2= 0.656

Side note: If your character is wearing 2 more pieces of equipment when wearing a piece of hybrid armour, then similar to the previous method above, take the apropriate formulas for each piece of equipment then add them together, along with the multipliers from each piece of hybrid armour, and average them.

• Example: Your character is wearing a melee top & bottom with a skill cape so;
  • Melee rating multiplier is (0.625+0.625+1)/3= 0.75
  • Magic rating multiplier is (0.3125+0.3125+1)/3 = 0.541
  • Ranged rating multiplier is (1+1+1)/3 = 1

Armour Set EffectsEdit

Main article: Passive effects

Some armour provides special effects when the full set of armour is worn. This may make the armour useful for reasons other than just the standard defence bonuses. Barrows armour set provides its own specific effect when used in combat. For example, Dharok's hits higher when on lower lifepoints, Verac's has a chance of hitting through an opponent's defence, Guthan's has a chance of healing, and Torag's lowers your opponent's adrenaline. Other armour, such as Battle robes, give a chance of saving runes when casting certain spells.