Key points
- There are three styles: melee (up close), ranged (bows and thrown weapons) and magic (spells).
- Each is strong against one style and weak to another: the combat triangle.
- Hitpoints is health. Eat food to heal; at 0 the character dies.
- Start on chickens, cows and goblins around Lumbridge.
Three styles
| Style | Skills it trains | What it needs |
|---|---|---|
| Melee | Attack, Strength, Defence | A weapon in hand, such as a sword or a scimitar. |
| Ranged | Ranged, Defence | A bow and arrows, or thrown weapons such as darts. |
| Magic | Magic, Defence | Runes for each spell. The first, Wind Strike, needs an air rune and a mind rune. |
Every style also trains Hitpoints, and Defence protects against all three.
Which skill gets the XP
Each weapon has a few attack styles, picked in the combat options tab. With a sword, Accurate trains Attack, Aggressive trains Strength, Defensive trains Defence, and Controlled shares the XP between all three.
- Attack makes hits land more often.
- Strength makes them hit harder.
- Defence makes enemies miss more.
Together with Hitpoints, Ranged, Magic and Prayer they make the combat level: 3 for a new character, 126 at most.
The combat triangle
Melee is strong against ranged, ranged is strong against magic, and magic is strong against melee. The reason is armour. Metal armour turns arrows aside but does little against spells. Leather armour for ranged resists spells but not blades. Robes for magic stop almost nothing but magic.
It is a rule of thumb, not a law: any style can beat any other. It matters most against bosses and other players.
Health, food and prayer
The Hitpoints orb shows current health. It falls as monsters hit and comes back by itself at 1 point a minute. At 0 the character dies.
Eating food heals much faster: cooked 
Prayer gives short boosts while prayer points last; bury bones to train it. At Prayer 43, Protect from Melee stops melee damage from most monsters.
Gear, tier by tier
Melee weapons and armour come in metal tiers. Each tier needs a level to use: Attack for weapons, Defence for armour.
| Tier | Level | Weapon | Armour | Free |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bronze | 1 |  Bronze scimitar |  Bronze platebody | Yes |
| Iron | 1 |  Iron scimitar |  Iron platebody | Yes |
| Steel | 5 |  Steel scimitar |  Steel platebody | Yes |
| Black | 10 |  Black scimitar |  Black platebody | Yes |
| Mithril | 20 |  Mithril scimitar |  Mithril platebody | Yes |
| Adamant | 30 |  Adamant scimitar |  Adamant platebody | Yes |
| Rune | 40 |  Rune scimitar |  Rune platebody | Yes |
| Dragon | 60 |  Dragon scimitar |  Dragon platebody | No |
Scimitars are fast, which makes them the usual melee weapon to train with. The rune and dragon platebodies also need the quest Dragon Slayer I, and the dragon scimitar needs Monkey Madness I.
What to fight first
- Chickens (level 1) and cows (level 2) in the farms around Lumbridge. Cows drop cowhides, which sell; chickens drop feathers.
- Goblins (level 2 and up) around Lumbridge.
- Al Kharid warriors (level 9) in the palace east of Lumbridge, once Attack, Strength and Defence are near 20.
Careful. Some monsters are aggressive and attack on sight. Hover over a monster to see its combat level before walking past it.