Let’s face it. Equipment degradation is a pain. You either lose the equipment piece altogether, must go back to town to repair it or remake it entirely. Sure, it can be a regular break from farming or leveling, but sometimes you want to make the most of your time and continue slugging away without worrying about the equipment you’re using.
What’s more, players playing for free have limited options in equipment. However, there’s hope, because the best non-degradable equipment is available for them. It’s the Rune equipment, made from runite metal. It’s the second-best non-member equipment set, with the corrupted dragon equipment besting them, but it is the best non-degradable equipment available to them.
Without further ado, the Runescape weapons that deal the most damage.
Melee Main/Off-Hand
Contents
For melee users, Rune Battleaxes and Warhammers are tied with a good 745 damage per 6 ticks. That’s about 207 damage per second. Second best are the longsword and sword, with 204 damage per second. The ax and hammer have the same damage output, even when comparing their off-hand versions. They’re offset with a rather slow attack speed; animations swing about every 3.6 seconds.
Two-Handed
All rune two-handed weapons deal the same amount of damage, so it doesn’t matter which one to use. They all deal 1,117 damage every 6 ticks. Calculating their DPS results in about 310 per second. However, they also have the slowest attack speeds, with a swing animation every 3.6 seconds.
Ranged Main/Off-Hand
For the ranged weapons, on the main hand, the Rune Javelin has 745 damage per 6 ticks, matching the melee Battleaxe and Warhammer. Their DPS also match at 207. On the off-hand, the Off-Hand Rune Crossbow can have the highest DPS, depending on its ammunition. Its damage cap on ammo is about 480 damage per 4 ticks, about 200 damage per second. Second to this is the Off-Hand Rune Throwing Axe, at 306 damage per 6 ticks, or 85 damage per second.
Ranged Two-Handed
There’s only one weapon in this category, the Rune 2H Crossbow. It’s slower than the normal crossbow, and being two-handed, you cannot use a shield or an off-hand weapon while using it. In compensation, it provides a base damage bonus, dealing more damage per hit. It also grants the use of some abilities such as Dazing Shot, which one-handed crossbow users can’t access. If an offense is your main priority and you don’t need more defense, this weapon is your best bet.
More Information on Rune Equipment
All rune equipment may be forged by any player who has sufficient levels in Smithing, except for crossbows, crossbow bolts, and darts which need levels in Fletching as well. Various creatures (members-only and not) may also drop this equipment. The wiki lists those creatures that drop this equipment, so check those out!
You can get Rune Equipment through the Grand Exchange as well. They’re quite expensive, costing as much as thousands of OSRS gold coins, as they’re desirable equipment, especially being non-degradable. Also, this damage calculation is based on not having any bonuses added. Some character builds may surpass the numbers on this article on a different weapon. There’s also the player’s preference in play, so you can just use the weapon or equipment you want unless you do want to find the highest-damaging weapons.
Enjoy your rune equipment!