Ranged has proved to be the most devastating combat style in all of Old School RuneScape.
Being able to deal hard-hitting damage from a distance in any scenario has made the Ranged combat style one of the best setups to go for when going for pure DPS.
Recommended Read: Who Is the Best Slayer Master in OSRS?
Some of the best Ranged gear can go for hundreds of millions of gp, but equipment and other Ranged items still go for a hundredth of that price.
While all of them have their own requirements to equip and use, investing in the best Ranged gear will absolutely work out in the long run in Old School RuneScape.
The best Ranged gear in OSRS includes the Masori armour set, the Twisted Bow, the Ava’s devices, the Twisted Buckler, the Zaryte Crossbow, the Venator ring, and many other high-tier Ranged items.
Table of Contents
Best Ranged Weapons
At its core, Ranged gear is all about making your attacks as accurate as possible so you can consistently deal damage over a period of time.
While there are other effects and bonuses that may come with certain items, the Ranged combat style is pure DPS in Old School RuneScape.
Here are the best ranged weapons to use in the game.
Twisted Bow
The Twisted Bow, the most well-known and expensive weapon on this list, has proven to be one of the most powerful weapons in Old School RuneScape. It requires 85 Range to equip.
With its price range varying around 1.4-1.6t (that’s “t” as in “trillion”), the Twisted Bow has incredible bonuses, making it used in high-level PvM scenarios.
Its +70 Ranged Attack and +20 Ranged Strength, combined with the ability to use Dragon Arrows, make it an endgame item that players strive to get.
A lesser-known fact is that the Twisted Bow has a passive effect that increases its Ranged attack and strength based on how high the target’s Magic level is. This makes it incredibly powerful against bosses like TzKal-Zuk, Zulrah, Vorkath, and many more.
Aside from buying it from another player, you can obtain the Twisted Bow as a rare reward from the Chambers of Xeric.
Zaryte Crossbow
Previously discussed in our guide for the best ranged weapons, the Zaryte Crossbow is the strongest crossbow in the game. It requires 80 Ranged and shares traits similar to the Twisted Bow.
The Zaryte Crossbow sells for around 450m on the Grand Exchange but can also be earned using a Nihil Horn on an Armadyl Crossbow.
Both items can be received as drops from bosses (Nex and Commander Zilyana, respectively) in the God Wars Dungeon.
It has a jaw-dropping +110 Ranged Atack bonus, along with minor defensive stats and a +1 Prayer bonus, making this one of the only weapons in OSRS to have a bonus to Prayer.
The Zaryte Crossbow also has a passive effect that increases the effect of enchanted bolts. For example, if you are using Diamond Bolts (e), the cap for the maximum hit for its enchanted effect goes from 115% to 126%.
The Zaryte Crossbow also has a special attack that automatically triggers the effect of the enchanted bolt they are using with it (as long as the next attack hits, which the crossbow doubles its accuracy for).
Dragon Hunter Crossbow
If you prefer to spend your time killing draconic creatures like Vorkath or Chambers of Xeric, the Dragon Hunter Crossbow may be your Ranged weapon of choice.
Requiring 70 Ranged to use, it is considered one of two “dragonbane weapons” that provide additional accuracy and damage when fighting dragons.
Any kind of bolt can be used with it, so you may benefit from both the increased 30% and 25% accuracy and damage, along with enchanted bolt effects when fighting draconic monsters.
The Dragon Hunter Crossbow currently sells for around 65m on the Grand Exchange but can also be obtained as a rare reward from the Chambers of Xeric.
It is worth noting that the Dragon Hunter Crossbow’s ability does stack with other offensive boosting items like the Slayer Helm or Void Knight equipment.
Heavy Ballista
In the PvP community, the Heavy Ballista reigns supreme over every other Ranged weapon.
Requiring completion of the “Monkey Madness II” quest and 75 Ranged to use, it is a powerful two-handed weapon that is known for its high-hitting damage.
The Heavy Ballista has a +125 Ranged Attack bonus and an extra +15 Ranged Strength bonus.
What makes the Heavy Ballista so powerful is that it uses javelins as ammunition as opposed to bolts or arrows, meaning you can add the +150 Ranged Strength bonus from Dragon Javelins to hit incredibly high.
Often paired with the Ranged Void Knight set, the Heavy Ballista is a dangerous weapon to be on the other end of when you are in the Wilderness.
Bow of Faerdhinen
Otherwise known by the OSRS community as the “bowfa,” the Bow of Faerdhinen is a powerful bow requiring 80 Ranged and 70 Agility to use.
What makes it so special is that it generates its own ammunition, so you do not need to worry about arrow costs. It also gives a +128 Ranged Attack and +106 Ranged Strength bonus, the highest in the entire game.
However, there are a couple of downsides to using this bow. For starters, it has a moderately slow attack speed when compared to most crossbows, so it can still be out DPS’d in some scenarios.
The standard version of the bow also degrades over time. However, you can use 2,000 Crystal Shards on the Bowfa with a singing crystal in Prifddinas to make it so it does not degrade anymore.
The Bow of Faerdhinen is also untradable when active, as it is created from using an Enchanted Crystal Weapon Seed and 100 Crystal Shards, so creating one is a bit of an investment.
The Bow of Faerdhinen can also benefit from the bonuses of Crystal Armour, getting an extra +15% Raged Strength and +30% Ranged Attack when wearing the full set.
The main appeal of this bow (and the standard Crystal Bow) is that it has a range distance of up to 10 tiles, which can be incredibly useful for scenarios like the Inferno, where you need to attack from as far as possible.
Best Ranged Armour
These are the best ranged armour pieces in the game.
Masori Armour
The Ranged equivalent to Torva Armour, Masori Armour is the best Ranged armour in Old School RuneScape.
While it requires 80 Ranged and 30 Defense to use, its stats are second to none in terms of Ranged offensive and defensive capabilities.
The full set can be purchased on the Grand Exchange for around 170m, or each item can be obtained as a reward from the Tombs of Amascut.
Furthermore, a fortified variant requires adding Armadylean Plates to each of them, which will cost an additional 80m if buying them from elsewhere.
The keynote for the standard Masori Armour is that it provides a +82 Ranged attack and +59 Ranged Defense when worn all together.
It also provides defensive bonuses akin to Barrows armour while giving an additional +8 Ranged Strength.
The fortified variant provides the same offensive bonuses but nearly doubles all of its defensive bonuses. The fortified Masori Armour also provides a +3 Prayer bonus (+1 per item).
Armadyl Armour
While not as good as Masori Armour, Armadyl Armour is still a strong armour set that comes at around half the price.
Requiring 70 Ranged and 70 Defense to equip, it can be bought for around 85m in total or obtained as drops from Kree-arra in the God Wars Dungeon.
The full set gives you a +63 Ranged Attack and +98 Ranged Defensive bonus, along with +3 Prayer.
While its defensive stats are average for tier 70 armour, its +120 Magic Defensive makes it great for tanking enemies with high Magic attack or strength.
A chisel can be used on each Armadyl Armor piece to create the Armadylean Plates used to fortify Masori Armour.
Thus, Ironman, who has attained Masori Armour can still have a use for the Armadyl Armour that they may have collected earlier.
Blessed D’Hide Armour
One of the more unique armour sets in Old School RuneScape is the various Blessed D’Hide Armour.
Sold on the Grand Exchange for varying prices between a couple of thousand gp to a few hundred thousand, they are naturally brought into OSRS as rewards from Hard tier or higher clue reward caskets.
Blessed D’Hide shares the same stats as Black D’hide armour, including the 70 Ranged and 40 Defense requirement to use.
The key difference is it also provides a +6 Prayer Bonus (+1 per item), and the different variants represent the different gods (key to those who enter the God Wars Dungeon often).
Unlike other armour sets, its items do not stop at the body, chaps, and helm. There are also bracers, boots, and a shield that you can equip to complete the set.
While there are better alternatives for those armour slots, they are relatively cheap if absolutely needed in a pinch.
Blessed D’Hide Armour often gets compared to the Karil’s Armour set, which is also Ranged-based.
While both of them share extremely similar stats, being about to equip armour that doesn’t degrade and has an additional Prayer Bonus can make a major difference for players.
Void Knight Outfit (Range Helm)
The Void Knight Outfit has a long history of turning players into a glass cannon in Old School RuneScape.
Only requiring 42 Attack, Strength, Defense, Magic, Ranged, Hitpoints, and 22 Prayer to equip, this untradable armour set can turn mid-game players into high DPS roles against even the toughest of bosses.
The Void Knight Outfit can only be obtained as a reward from the Pest Control minigame.
In exchange for completing rounds of Pest Control, you will earn Commendation Points that you can save up and use to purchase each of the armour sets.
The standard Void Knight Outfit comes with a Top, Robe, and Gloves. You will then need to wear the associated helm for the combat style needed (in this case, the Ranged helm) to gain the additional bonuses.
Using the Void Ranger Helm with a completed Void Knight Outfit will give an additional +10% Ranged accuracy and damage. It is worth noting that you must wear all four items at the same time to get this effect.
Unfortunately, it does not have the best defensive bonuses, so you are still left somewhat vulnerable to opposing attacks.
But you can still make up for it by using the additional boost to Ranged Attack and Strength in most scenarios you may come across.
Being able to only have to switch a helm to change combat styles makes this set incredibly popular for completing hybrid/tribriding content such as raids or Vorkath.
Continuing with this, you can earn the ability to upgrade your Void Knight armour to the elite variant after completing the Hard Tier Western Provinces Achievement Diary.
We previously made a guide on how to get Elite Void Knight Armour and the process behind it, but after you complete the diary, you can talk to the Elite Void Knight at the Outpost and spend more Commendation Points to upgrade your set.
The Elite Void Knight Armour gives an additional +2.5% accuracy and damage to all combat styles, on top of a +6 Prayer Bonus.
Best Ranged Items
These are the best ranged items that can take your ranged capabilities to the next level.
Ava’s Devices (Assembler, Accumulator, Attractor)
After completing the “Animal Magnetism” quest, you can craft the various Ava’s devices from Ava in Draynor Manor.
These items, which take up the cape-slot in your equipment, can attract and automatically pick up any ammunition you have fired from the floor.
There are three different devices that you can craft:
- 30 Ranged – Ava’s Attractor – Rewarded after quest completion.
- 50 Ranged – Ava’s Accumulator – 75 Steel Arrows.
- 70 Ranged – Ava’s Assembler – 75 Mithril Arrows & Vorkath’s Head.
While the key ability from these items is being able to retrieve ammunition straight back to your ammo slot after firing, they can also attract metallic items as you walk around OSRS, but this feature is normally disabled by players as random items taking up inventory space can be a hindrance.
If you have achieved 99 Ranged, you can use any of Ava’s devices on your Ranged Skillcape to give it the same properties. This way you can benefit from both an Ava’s device and the stats of a skillcape.
Necklace of Anguish
One of the enchanted Zenyte jewelry items, the Necklace of Anguish, provides the best Ranged Attack bonus out of all the necklace-slot items in Old School RuneScape.
Requiring 75 Hitpoints to equip, it gives a +15 Ranged Attack, +5 Ranged Strength, and +2 Prayer Bonus to anyone who wears it.
Given its powerful stats, it is also one of the more expensive jewelry items in OSRS, usually going for 11m-12m on the Grand Exchange.
Venator/Archer’s Ring
Obtained as a drop from Dagannoth Supreme, one of the Dagannoth Kings, the Archer’s Ring used to be the best-in-slot ring for Ranged bonuses. While it drops at a 1/128 drop rate, it can also be bought for around 4m.
When worn, the Archer’s Ring gives a +4 Ranged Attack and Ranged Defensive bonus. It can also be imbued through either the Nightmare Zone, Soul Wars, or a Scroll of Imbuing to double the bonuses to +8 each.
With the release of the “Desert Treasure II” quest, players were able to upgrade the Fremennik rings into the Ancient rings.
The Ancient rings, obtained naturally using materials earned from killing the four different DTII bosses, have proved more powerful than their earlier counterparts.
The Venator Ring is the Ranged-based ring that provides a +10 Ranged Attack and +2 Prayer bonus. Unlike a standard Archer’s Ring, it does not provide any defensive bonuses.
The process of making the Venator Ring (as well as any of the Ancient rings) can be daunting. If you wish to purchase one from another player, the Venator Ring typically sells for around 80m.
You use a chisel on an Archer’s Ring to get an Archer Icon, which is used with a Venator Vestige and 500 Blood Runes to make the Venator Icon.
You then use the Venator Icon with 3 Chromium Ingots at a furnace with a ring mould to create the Venator Ring.
The entire crafting process requires 90 Magic and 80 Crafting to complete.
Twisted Buckler
While there are plenty of off-hand shield items that provide Ranged bonuses, none of them compare to the Twisted Buckler. It requires 75 Ranged and 75 Defense to use, but it is absolutely worth it for high-level players.
Sold for around 20m on the Grand Exchange (which is more than other shields in OSRS), it can be obtained as a reward from the Chambers of Xeric.
The Twisted Buckler gives a player +18 Ranged Attack, +58 Ranged Defense, and +10 Ranged Strength, making it a crucial item to maximize Ranged DPS.
Similar to it being purely DPS heavy, its defensive stats are on the low side compared to something like the Dragonfire Shield, but its offensive Ranged capabilities are unbeatable.
Pegasian Boots
When it comes to boots, the best Ranged boots in Old School RuneScape are the Pegasion Boots, which can be worn at 75 Ranged and 75 Defense.
They provide a +12 Ranged Attack bonus and a clean +5 across the board for all defensive combat styles.
While they can be purchased for 31m on the Grand Exchange, they can also be made by getting a Pegasian Crystal from the Cerberus slayer boss and using them on a set of Ranger Boots (which also provide similar stats but are equally expensive).
Those are the best Ranged gear in Old School RuneScape!
Do you have any input or suggestions for this article? Let us know in the comment section below.
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Abbie Anker
Update: 2024-07-07
