OSRS: The 10 Best Ranged Weapons (Ranked)

What are the best ranged weapons in OSRS?

In old school Runescape, there are a total of 3 classes, ranged being one of them.

Most players agree that this class is one of the most commonly used in player-vs-monster combat due to how much greater the danger per second can be compared to other combat classes. 

If you’re playing as a ranger, you’re going to want to make sure that you have the best ranged weapons possible.

This is easier than it sounds, as there are plenty of useful options to choose from.

The hardest part about selecting the best ranged weapon in Old School Runescape is sorting through all of the great choices available.

This can seem daunting, especially for new players, but you don’t have to worry since we’ve done a lot of the work for you. 

OSRS: The 10 Best Ranged Weapons In OSRS

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

Here’s our list of the 10 best ranged weapons in OSRS:

10. Dorgeshuun Crossbow

If you’re new to Old School Runescape, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better ranged weapon to rely on in the early game.

The Dorgeshuun crossbow is favored by Ironmen and other early game players looking for some quick and inexpensive ranged experience without sacrificing quality. 

Stats

The Dorgeshuun crossbow requires players to have at least 28 in ranged to equip, making it perfect for training at low to medium levels, especially since it has several advantages that allow it to stand out from other bows with the same level requirements. 

For example, this crossbow fires one tick faster than most others, giving it an impressive attack speed, and it fires bone bolts, which are cheaper than almost all other types of ammunition with similar strength. 

It also provides players with a decently impressive +42 ranged attack bonus, especially valuable for low-level players. 

Along with this, it is one of the lightest crossbows in the game, and because it is a crossbow, you can still make sure of your shield slot for additional offensive or defensive bonuses.

This makes it slightly more useful than shortbows, which prohibit using this slot while the bow is being used. 

How To Get It

To get the Dorgeshuun crossbow, you must first complete the Lost Tribe quest, after which it can be purchased from Nardok in the Dorgeshuun Mines. 

However, if you have 2,000 coins, this bow can also be bought on the Exchange without completing the quest beforehand.

9. Black Chinchompas

Unlike a bow, black chinchompas are thrown weapons that do some of the best area of effect (AOE) damage in the game.

Thrown like darts, they explode on impact doing damage to a 3×3 square area.

This makes the weapon great for battles with clusters of enemies that can easily be herded together, such as in the Monkey Madness tunnels. 

Stats

In player-vs-monster (PvM) combat, black chins have a damage cap of 12, while in Player-vs-player (PvP), this damage is capped at 10.

Although they cannot be picked up again once you use them, because they are technically living animals that won’t return to you, while equipped, they can provide a +80 to ranged attack. 

How To Get It

Black chins require a ranged level of 65 to use, and they can be found by box trapping black chinchompas inside the Wilderness.

To do this, you will need a 73 hunter level, and per catch, you can receive 315 hunter experience points. 

Keep in mind that if you die with these in your inventory, they will disappear under the assumption that, since they’re animals, they will run away.

However, if another player kills you, they can pick up any on you once you die.

8. Dwarf Multicannon

This ranged weapon is an amazing tool, and it allows you to have another weapon set as your primary damage dealer.

Essentially, this multicannon is placed on the ground near you and will serve as a sort of turret, firing at any enemy within its 360-degree range. In multi combat areas, this cannon can really shine. 

Stats

The dwarf multicannon is a great way for players to increase their DPS, even if they have a slow-firing ranged weapon.

Any damage dealt by the cannon will also yield half ranged experience to the player, 2 rather than 4. 

It has a max hit of 30 with regular cannonballs and 35 with granite cannonballs, regardless of what the player’s ranged level is, and this cannot be boosted by gear.

However, the cannon’s accuracy can be impacted by either the melee or ranged accuracy of the player. 

You should also remember that the multicannon will decay after 30 minutes of use, requiring you to repair it.

However, this is fairly easy, and all you need to do is click on it to get it back into firing shape. 

How To Get It

To grab this weapon, you’ll need to complete the Dwarf Cannon quest, after which you can purchase the entire cannon from Nulodion, south of Ice Mountain, for 750,000.

You may also purchase individual parts for 200,625 coins each, and if a cannon decays, Nulodion can provide a replacement for free. 

Keep in mind that this cannon is very heavy and will make your weight extremely high.

If you’re planning on doing a lot of running around with one in your inventory, you may want to pack a few stamina or super energy potions to make up for the rapid loss of energy.

7. Magic Shortbow

The magic shortbow is an extremely useful ranged weapon, and it is one of the only ones in Old School Runescape to provide a special attack bar.

Popular with player killers, it can also be imbued to improve its stats, making it one of the best ranged weapons for mid-level players.  

Stats

Requiring a level 50 ranged to use, the magic shortbow provides players with a +69 ranged attack bonus, and a +75 ranged attack bonus if imbued. 

Its special attack, Snapshot, allows players to shoot two arrows in rapid succession, which uses 55% of the player’s special attack bar.

However, if the magic shortbow has been imbued, this cost is lowered to 50%. 

Along with this, the magic shortbow has a fairly high attack speed, and it can also fire rune and amethyst arrows.

Amethyst arrows have a +6 higher ranged strength than rune arrows and are a good choice for PvP matches. If you have a fetching skill of 82, you can craft them in sets of 15. 

How To Get It

To get the magic shortbow, you will need to fletch it with a knife, magic logs, and a fletching level of 80. It may also be rarely received from hard clue scrolls or dropped from Spiritual rangers.

6. Craw’s Bow

Craw’s bow was once owned by a follower of Armadyl named, you guessed it, Craw.

As one of the most formidable followers during the God Wars, it makes sense that his bow packs a punch. It also counts as an Armadyl item in the God Wars Dungeon. 

Stats

Craw’s Bow provides players with a +75 ranged attack bonus and +60 ranged strength. This makes it very effective in ranged combat, especially when battling enemies in the Wilderness. 

If that wasn’t enough, Craw’s bow also has a special effect that allows it to be 50% more accurate while dealing 50% more damage. 

Keep in mind that this bow does need to be charged with Revenant ether to use but will provide its own ammo as a trade-off.

While you will need a ranged level of 60 to use it, the power it can provide is well worth it, as it’s one of the best osrs ranged weapons of all time. 

How To Get It

To get your hands on Craw’s bow, you will need to be extremely lucky as it is rarely dropped only by the Revenants in Revenant Cave.

However, this bow can be purchased as well, though the price is extremely high at 24 million.

5. Crystal Bow

Similar to Craw’s bow in that it provides its own ammo, this bow is made from enchanted elven crystal that will deteriorate over time.

However, despite this degradation, the crystal bow can be extremely useful and serves as a worthy weapon for anyone looking to improve their ranged combat effectiveness. 

Stats

The crystal bow provides an impressive ranged attack bonus of +100, and a +70 ranged strength bonus.

It is also one of the only bows to fire over 10 squares, making it useful for keeping your distance in the Fight Cave and when fighting the Dagannoth Kings.  

Although this bow degrades over time, after which it reverts to a crystal weapon seed, it can be turned back into a crystal bow by using a singing bowl or taking it to Ilfeen. 

How To Get It

To get the crystal bow, you will need to complete the quest Roving Elves, and it is required to complete the quest Hard Western Provinces Diary, in which you need to kill an elf with a crystal bow.

4. Armadyl Crossbow

Like Craw’s bow, the Armadyl crossbow counts as an Armadyl item in the God Wars Dungeon, and it has some serious benefits that any ranger should consider. 

Stats

As a contender for the title of best ranged weapon in OSRS, the Armadyl crossbow boasts an impressive +100 ranged attack bonus, along with a +1 prayer bonus, the only crossbow to offer this boost. 

Along with this, the Armadyl crossbow provides a special attack called the Armadyl Eye, which doubles the player’s overall accuracy for one shot at the cost of 50% special attack energy. 

Requiring a level 70 ranged to wield, the Armadyl crossbow is only outclassed by the dragon hunter crossbow when battling draconic monsters. 

How To Get It

To get this crossbow for yourself, you’ll need to defeat Commander Zilyana, who can be found at the Saradomin encampment.

3. Dragon Hunter Crossbow

The dragon hunter crossbow is the best in slot range weapon when it comes to fighting the many dragon-type enemies, like Vorkarth.

This is because this crossbow is one of the Dragonbane weapons in Old School Runescape. 

Stats

The dragon hunter crossbow provides an exceptional +95 range bonus on top of a 30% increase in accuracy and damage when fighting dragons. 

Best of all, these benefits stack with slayer helmet, void, and salve bonuses, so you can set your character up to do some significant damage with the right loadout and this crossbow. 

This crossbow is also the second-best in slot range weapon for the Olm fight in the Chambers of Xeric. 

How To Get It

The only place you can get this crossbow is inside the Chambers of Xeric as a rare drop.

It’s a good thing you can go through these chambers multiple times since using it here can be highly effective.

2. Toxic Blowpipe

If you’re looking for a ranged weapon that can provide a high DPS, the toxic blowpipe is something you shouldn’t overlook as it has one of the fastest attack speeds in all of Old School Runescape. 

Stats

As a two-handed dart weapon, the toxic blowpipe requires a level 75 ranged to wield.

If you meet this requirement, you can benefit from a +60 ranged attack bonus and a chance to inflict venom damage on your opponent. 

Using the toxic blowpipe on its own has a 25% chance of inflicting venom damage on an opponent.

However, if you’re fighting an NPC and wearing the serpentine helm, you’ll have a 100% chance of envenoming them. 

In PvM encounters, the blowpipe has an attack speed of 3, equal to darts, and in PvP, this is raised to 4, equal to a shortbow. 

The toxic blowpipe is charged with Zulrah’s scales, and it cannot be used if uncharged. 

In addition, you will need to load it with darts, and an average of two scales is used for every dart you fire.

While this does make this an expensive weapon to use in the long term, it can be a great choice to equip for raids, slayer bosses, and range training.

How To Get It

To get this weapon, you’ll need to kill Zulrah for the Tanzanite Fang, which can be turned into the toxic blowpipe with a crafting level of 53.

1. Twisted Bow

The twisted bow takes the cake for being one of the best ranged weapons in Old School Runescape, and many players consider this to be the most sought-after bow in the game.

While this may sound like an over-exaggeration, once you learn just how good this bow is, you’ll be scrambling to get your hands on it. 

Stats

Providing players with an impressive +70 ranged attack and a +20 ranged strength bonus, this bow may not sound like much at first.

However, the passive effect that the twisted bow provides is what sets it apart from all the rest. 

This bow’s passive effect allows players to hit higher based on their opponent’s magic level. The higher the level is, the higher you can hit. 

For example, typically, the twisted bow has a max hit of 84 outside of the Chambers of Xeric, but inside, it can get as high as 104.

Keeping in mind that this is just normal attack damage, it becomes obvious why this bow is considered so powerful. 

Along with all of this, the twisted bow can also fire any arrow type and has an attack range of 10 tiles. 

How To Get It

The twisted bow can be found as a very rare reward from the Chambers of Xeric.

If you’re thinking of heading to the Exchange to buy it, you may want to think again, as currently, this bow is worth 817 million.

Summary

Ranged weapons in Old School Runescape are some of the most powerful weapons that players can equip and wield.

Many also provide some surprising and helpful benefits that can make slaying even the toughest foes a walk in the park.

If you’re a ranger, new or old, you’ll want to keep your eyes peeled for any of these ranged weapons so that you can build the most effective and devastating arsenal possible.

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 Weapons of All Time (Ranked)
• OSRS: The 10 Best Crush Weapons (Ranked)
• OSRS: The 10 Best Gloves (Ranked)
• OSRS: The 10 Best Rings (Ranked)
• OSRS: The 10 Best Skillcapes (Ranked)
• OSRS: The 10 Best Shields for Every Class (Ranked)
• OSRS: The 10 Best Ranged Helms (Ranked)
• OSRS: The 10 Best Ranged Armors (Ranked)
• OSRS: The 10 Best Mage Armors (Ranked)

What’s your favorite ranged weapon in OSRS? Leave a comment below.