Ranged combat in Old School RuneScape is powerful, flexible, and—at times—overwhelming. Between bows, crossbows, specialized armor sets, and extremely expensive endgame weapons, it’s easy to waste gold on upgrades that look impressive but offer little real improvement. This guide focuses on smart progression, helping you choose the right ranged gear at every stage so your hard-earned RuneScape gold delivers meaningful power.

Free-to-Play Foundations

Most players begin their journey in free-to-play, and fortunately, early ranged gearing is simple and affordable.

At 40 Ranged, equip the green dragonhide set (body, chaps, and vambraces) alongside a coif, maple shortbow, adamant arrows, and an amulet of power. This setup costs very little yet provides enough accuracy and defense to comfortably train through early content.

If you’re playing a low-defense or pure account, swap the dragonhide body for a leather body, which only requires 1 Defense. Either way, this foundation prepares you for the dramatic power jump that comes with membership.

Early Members Priorities

The moment you enter members’ worlds, one unlock becomes absolutely essential: Ava’s device from the Animal Magnetism quest.

Ava’s Attractor (below 50 Ranged) retrieves 60% of fired ammunition.

Ava’s Accumulator (50+ Ranged) retrieves 72%.

Saving arrows and bolts dramatically reduces training costs, making this upgrade effectively mandatory.

From there, grab several inexpensive improvements:

Blue dragonhide at 50 Ranged, then red at 60 and black at 70.

Magic shortbow (imbued) for stronger accuracy and a cheaper special attack.

Amulet of glory for better stats and useful teleports.

Snakeskin boots and a bandana for small but efficient bonuses.

Book of Law to boost accuracy and Prayer when using one-handed ranged weapons.

These upgrades are cheap yet impactful, forming the backbone of early-mid progression.

Understanding Weapon Paths

Ranged combat splits into two long-term categories:

Fast DPS weapons – shortbows, blowpipes, and similar tools used at close to mid range for sustained damage.

Heavy ranged weapons – crossbows and specialized bows that attack slower but hit harder and allow shield use.

Learning when to use each category is key to efficient PvM.

A major milestone is the rune crossbow, especially when paired with enchanted ruby bolts. Their special effect can remove a percentage of an enemy’s remaining health, making them extremely strong for bossing even at moderate levels.

Midgame Power Spikes

As your bank grows, so do your upgrade options.

Armor Improvements

Blessed dragonhide (god d’hide) matches black dragonhide’s offense while adding Prayer bonus and stronger defenses, making it ideal for longer PvM trips.

Crossbow Progression

The dragon crossbow unlocks dragon bolts, significantly increasing ranged strength and enabling powerful enchanted effects. This is a major DPS jump and a worthwhile investment.

Essential Gloves

Completing Recipe for Disaster grants Barrows gloves, a versatile best-in-slot hybrid glove for most midgame combat styles.

Entering High-Level Ranged

Once you reach 75 Ranged, the game changes dramatically.

Toxic Blowpipe

The toxic blowpipe is one of the most influential ranged weapons in OSRS:

Extremely fast 2-tick attack speed

Strong against low-defense enemies and Slayer tasks

Healing special attack for survivability

While costly to maintain, its speed makes it invaluable across huge portions of PvM.

Necklace of Anguish

This necklace provides ranged strength, translating directly into higher max hits—making it a priority best-in-slot upgrade.

Slayer Helmet (Imbued)

For Slayer, nothing beats the percentage-based accuracy and damage boost from an imbued Slayer helmet.

Specialized Crossbows and Shields

High-tier ranged builds introduce situational upgrades:

Dragon hunter crossbow – devastating against dragons and certain raid bosses.

Twisted buckler – powerful ranged shield with accuracy and strength bonuses.

Odium ward – a cheaper stepping stone before the buckler.

These items shine in specific PvM niches rather than general training.

Late-Game Gear and Endgame Choices

At the top end of progression, upgrades become extremely expensive—but also extremely powerful.

Bow of Faerdhinen + Crystal Armor

Often called Bowfa, this setup delivers:

Massive accuracy and damage bonuses with full crystal armor

Strong performance across a wide range of PvM

Much lower cost than a Twisted Bow

For many players, this is the true gateway to endgame ranged combat.

Masori Armor

Masori becomes best-in-slot ranged armor outside crystal setups, especially when fortified for additional defense and Prayer.

Zarite Gear

Zaryte vambraces – only gloves with ranged strength.

Zaryte crossbow – boosts enchanted bolt effects, ideal for high-level bossing.

These represent peak range optimization.

Rings and Boots

Venator ring – best offensive ring, though often a final luxury upgrade.

Pegasian boots – minimal improvement for huge cost, typically lowest priority.

Lightbearer – doubles special-attack regeneration and can outperform pure DPS rings in certain builds.

Niche but Powerful Options

Several weapons excel in specific scenarios:

Venator bow – chain-hits enemies in multi-combat, amazing for Slayer.

Webweaver bow – dominant at Wilderness bosses.

Sunlight crossbow – fast, cost-efficient Slayer training.

Scorching bow – powerful versus demons.

Dizana’s quiver – best-in-slot ammo bonus for many ranged setups.

Elite Void ranged – strong percentage boosts in select boss encounters.

These tools aren’t universal upgrades but can be game-changing in the right context.

Final Thoughts

Ranged progression in OSRS is expensive, complex, and deeply rewarding. The key isn’t buying the flashiest weapon—it’s choosing upgrades that match your current goals, whether that’s Slayer efficiency, boss farming, or long-term PvM mastery.

Build gradually, prioritize meaningful power spikes, and avoid unnecessary luxury purchases until the fundamentals are complete. With smart planning, ranged becomes one of the most versatile and dominant combat styles in the entire game. Having enough cheap Runescape gold can be a great help in the game.