OSRS: The 15 Best Melee Armor (Ranked)

What is the best OSRS melee armor?

In Old School RuneScape, melee combat makes up a large majority of the action, and it is one of the three main styles that players can choose to specialize in.

If your character specializes in melee, numerous pieces of equipment can boost melee stats to make you a devastating opponent.

However, not all gear is created equal, and some melee armor is undoubtedly better than others.

OSRS: The 15 Best Melee Armor (Ranked)

Our ranked lists are created by researching and rounding up information from the most reputable web sources.

Here’s our list of the 15 best OSRS melee armor:

15. Berserker Helm

The Berserker Helm is a piece of equipment that sees a lot of use during player-vs-player combat. This is because it is the lowest level item of headgear that provides a strength bonus.

It also looks pretty impressive, with its two large horns giving it a stereotypical imposing Viking vibe.

Stats

Along with providing a +3 to strength, this helm also adds a +31 to stab defence, +29 to slash defence, +33 to crush defence, and +30 to ranged defence.

How To Get It

To acquire the Berserker Helm, players must have at least 45 defence and complete the quest, The Fremennik Trails, in order to be able to equip it.

It can be purchased from Skulgrimen’s Battle Gear shop for 78,000 coins, or you may receive it as a reward from a high gamble in the Barbarian Assault minigame.

14. Ferocious Gloves

These gloves are some of the best in slot melee gloves in Old School RuneScape, and for characters specializing in melee, these can be a must-have.

Although they do come with negative attack bonuses of -16 to magic and ranged, their melee stats more than make up for this.

Stats

Boasting an impressive +14 to strength and +16 to all melee attack types, these gloves stand out when it comes to offensive combat.

How To Get It

To get the Ferocious gloves, you’ll need at least 80 attack and defence.

They can be obtained as a rare drop from the Alchemical Hydra or crafted by combining Hydra leather with a pair of Barrows gloves at the strange machine in Lithkren.

13. Infernal Cape

The Infernal Cape is by far the best cape for melee in Old School RuneScape, and it is incredibly powerful. However, getting it can be a challenge reserved for only the toughest and most resolute players.

Stats

When equipped, this cape provides players a +4 to all melee attack bonuses, along with a +1 to magic and ranged attack.

In defence, it offers +12 to all attack types across the board. Coupled with its +8 strength and +2 prayer bonus, this cape is a force to be reckoned with.

How To Get It

To get the Infernal Cape, players first need to complete the Inferno.

While this may not sound hard on the surface, once you learn everything this involves, you’ll start to understand why this feat is so difficult.

The Inferno tasks players with surviving 69 consecutive waves of enemies before throwing the final boss, TzKal-Zuk, into the ring.

However, if you do manage to complete the Inferno, you will be awarded this powerful cape to show off just how awesome your character is.

12. Primordial Boots

The Primordial boots are the best offensive melee boots in the game, and they are worth a staggering 21 million on the Grand Exchange.

Stats

These boots require players to have 75 in strength to equip, but they provide a +5 to strength as a reward.

Along with this, they increase melee attack bonuses by +2 and all melee defence bonuses by +22.

How To Get It

To get the Primordial boots, players can combine a Primordial Crystal with a pair of Dragon boots. These crystals can only be obtained from Cerberus, who drops them at a rate of 1/512.

To combine the crystal with the boots, you need at least a level 60 in both magic and runecrafting.

However, they can also be purchased from the Grand Exchange if you have millions of coins burning a hole in your digital pocket.

11. Guardian Boots

In terms of footwear, the Guardian boots provide the best melee and ranged defence.

This makes them a worthy investment if you want to protect yourself from as much damage as possible.

Stats

The Guardian boots have impressive defensive stats, granting players +32 to all melee defence and a +24 to ranged defence.

While these boots do have a -3 to magic attack and -1 to ranged attack, it makes up for this by providing a +3 to strength and a +2 prayer bonus.

How To Get It

To get these boots, you will need to first get a pair of Brandos boots, which are part of the Brandos armour set.

Combining these boots with a Black Tourmaline Core will create the Guardian boots, although this process is not reversible.

10. Justiciar Chestguard

Worth 12 million on the Grand Exchange, the Justiciar Chestguard is part of the gorgeous Justiciar Armour set, one of the best defensive armors in the game.

This melee armor has some incredible stats, and while you need a 75 in defence to wear it, the benefits it provides are well worth it.

Stats

Although the Justiciar Chestguard does come with a -40 magic attack and -20 ranged attack, along with a -16 magic defence, the melee defensive bonuses compensate for this beautifully.

Boasting a +132 stab defence, +130 slash defence, +117 crush defence, +142 ranged defence, and + 4 prayer, this armor is simply amazing.

How To Get It

While you can buy this melee armour from the Grand Exchange for a large sum of coin, it can also be found as a rare drop from the Theatre of Blood, where it has a 1/86 drop rate chance.

9. Bandos Tassets

As part of the Bandos armor set, the Bandos Tassets provide players with the highest strength bonus of any item equippable to the leg slot.

Coupled with this item’s stats and bonuses, the Bandos Tassets are great to wear during melee training or while completing slayer tasks.

Stats

Along with a strength bonus of +2 and a prayer bonus of +1, this leg item also comes with a +71 to stab defence, +63 to slash defence, +66 to crush defence, and +93 to ranged defence.

How To Get It

Bandos armour pieces are dropped by General Graador and his bodyguards, who are found in the God Wars Dungeon.

They can also be purchased on the Grand Exchange for the hefty sum of 24 million coins.

8. Neitiznot Faceguard

If you’re specializing in melee, strength bonuses are something you’re always going to be on the lookout for.

The Neitiznot Faceguard offers a fantastic strength bonus, along with some pretty decent defence bonuses.

Stats

This face guard offers +36 to stab defence, +34 to slash defence, +38 to crush defence, +34 to ranged defence, and +3 to magic defence. It also comes with a high strength bonus of +6 and a prayer bonus of +3.

While not necessarily the best melee armor on this list, it is a good choice for players who want a helmet slot item that boasts high strength.

How To Get It

To get the Neitiznot Faceguard, you will need to have completed the Fremennik Exiles and have a defence of 70.

It can be made by combining a helm of Neitiznot and a basilisk jaw.

7. Serpentine Helm

Like the Neitiznot Faceguard, this helm comes with a high strength bonus.

However, unlike the faceguard, it also comes with a decent passive effect that can be beneficial to players.

Stats

The Serpentine Helm comes with a +5 to strength but lacks a prayer bonus.

In defence, it provides +52 to stab, +55 to slash, +58 to crush, and +50 to ranged.

As a passive effect, players will be immune to poison and venom and have a 16.7% chance to inflict poison damage on an opponent when using a non-poisoned melee weapon and a 50% chance if using a poisoned weapon.

How To Get It

To get this helm, you will need to have a level 52 crafting with which you can use a chisel on a Serpentine Visage to create this piece of headwear.

6. Elysian Spirit Shield

The Elysian Spirit Shield is the best shield slot item in the entire game for all play styles.

Although it has no attack bonuses, its defensive bonuses and passive effect make it something that no player will want to miss out on.

Stats

The Elysian Spirit Shield provides players with +63 stab defence, +65 slash defence, +75 crush defence, +57 ranged defence, and +2 magic defence.

Along with this, it also provides a +3 to prayer, and its passive effect offers a 70% chance of reducing the damage received by 25%.

For players looking to make their characters able to tank a lot of attacks, this shield is definitely something worth nabbing.

How To Get It

To get the Elysian Spirit Shield, you will need to attack an Elysian Sigil to a Blessed Spirit Shield. For this to be possible, you will need to have an 85 in smithing and a 90 in prayer.

If you don’t meet these requirements, Abbot Langlet can do all of this for you to the tune of 1.5m gold.

5. Slayer Helmet

As the name suggests, this helmet is one of the best for completing slayer tasks.

Although it does have a -6 magic attack, -1 magic defence, and -2 ranged attack, the benefits it offers outweigh these downsides by far.

Stats

When equipped, this helmet offers +30 stab defence, +32 slash defence, +27 crush defence, and +30 ranged defence.

While this may not sound spectacular, it also provides a melee boost of 16.67% against the monsters assigned as a slayer task.

If you’re grinding a lot of slayer assignments, this helmet is definitely worth keeping on hand.

How To Get It

To get the slayer helmet, you will need to combine various pieces of slayer equipment with a level 55 crafting skill after having unlocked the Malevolent Masquerade ability for 400 slayer points.

4. Spectral Spirit Shield

If you’re a melee character looking for good magic defence, the Spectral Spirit Shield is for you.

It also has a decent passive ability that makes it great for characters who need to guard against prayer-draining attacks.

Stats

Providing +53 stab defence, +55 slash defence, +73 crush defence, +30 magic defence, +52 ranged defence, and +3 prayer, this shield is nothing to turn your nose up at.

As a passive benefit, it reduces the effectiveness of all prayer draining attacks by 50% outside of player-vs-player combat.

How To Get It

To make this shield, you will need a 90 in prayer and an 85 in smiting, with which you can attack a spectral sigil to a blessed spirit shield.

If you don’t have these skills, Abbot Langley can combine the components for you at the cost of 1.5m gold.

3. Dragonfire Shield

The Dragonfire shield is one of the best shields in OSRS, and its defence bonuses are very high across the board.

Stats

Although it does bring down magic attack by -10 and ranged attack by -5, it boosts strength by +7 and offers decently high defensive stats.

When charged, this shield provides +70 stab defence, +75 slash defence, +72 crush defence, +10 magic defence, and +72 ranged defence, making it one of the best to rely on.

Holding a total of 50 charges, the Dragonfire Shield can be recharged by absorbing dragon fire from dragons or icy breath attacks from wyverns.

How To Get It

To make the Dragonfire Shield, you will need to attack a Draconic Visage to an anti-dragon fire shield with a level 90 in smithing.

You can also pay 1.25m gold to have Oziach do this for you.

2. Avernic Defender

This upgraded Dragon Defender comes with an impressive strength bonus that makes it a worthy addition alongside the best melee armor pieces.

Featuring the highest offhand offensive melee attack bonus in all of OSRS, you’re going to want to pick this up if you have the chance.

Stats

While it does have a -5 magic attack and defence, as well as a -4 ranged attack and defence, these pale in comparison to the bonuses it offers.

With +30 stab attack and defence, +29 slash attack and defence, and +28 crush attack and defence, this defender is greatly balanced for both offensive and defensive strategies.

Along with this, it provides a +8 strength bonus, which melee characters can benefit from immensely.

How To Get It

To get the Avernic Defender, you will first need the hilt, which can be found as a rare drop in the Theatre of Blood.

Once you have this, it can be combined with a Dragon Defender to create this impressive melee piece.

1. Dinh’s Bulwark

If you want the highest overall defence you can find in OSRS, look no further than this two-handed shield.

Because of its high defensive stats, many players use this shield when venturing into the Wilderness to ensure that they can receive as little damage as possible from dangerous monsters and other players.

Stats

While you can’t equip other weapons with this shield, you can attack with it, and it comes with a +124 crush attack bonus.

Coupled with +109 to all melee defence stats and +148 to ranged defence, this shield can help keep you alive in some very dangerous situations.

Along with this, it also boasts an impressive +38 to strength, which is nothing to pass up willingly.

How To Get It

Dinh’s Bulwark can be obtained as a drop from completing the Chambers of Xeric, which has a drop rate of 1/23.

Summary

When it comes to melee armour pieces in OSRS, players have a lot of options, but not all are going to be ones that you want to keep around long-term.

These 15 armour pieces are some of the best melee items that you can equip in-game, and they can help you either deal out damage, protect yourself, or a bit of both in some cases!

Depending on your playstyle, some of these items may work for you better than others, but all of them are powerful inclusions that all serious melee players should keep in mind.

If you enjoyed this article, check out some of our other OSRS gear lists:

• OSRS: The 10 Best Melee Weapons (Ranked)
• OSRS: The 10 Best Shields for Every Class (Ranked)
• OSRS: The 10 Best Ranged Weapons (Ranked)
• OSRS: The 15 Best Melee Armor (Ranked)
• OSRS: The 10 Best Ranged Helms (Ranked)
• OSRS: The 10 Best Mage Helms (Ranked)
• OSRS: The 10 Best Melee Helms (Ranked)
• OSRS: The 10 Best Ranged Armors (Ranked)
• OSRS: The 10 Best Foods for Healing (Ranked)
• OSRS: The 10 Best Mage Armors (Ranked)

Here’s a quick recap of the 15 best OSRS melee armor:

1. Dinh’s Bulwark
2. Avernic Defender
3. Dragonfire shield
4. Spectral Spirit Shield
5. Slayer Helmet
6. Elysian Spirit Shield
7. Serpentine Helm
8. Neitiznot Faceguard
9. Bandos Tassets
10. Justiciar Chestguard
11. Guardian Boots
12. Primordial Boots
13. Infernal Cape
14. Ferocious Gloves
15. Berserker Helm

What’s your favorite OSRS melee armor? Leave a comment below.