Ironman Guide/Ranged

Ranged is trained by Ironmen similar to the normal training methods, however an emphasis is placed on affordable and easily obtainable ammunition, particularly in the early-game. Notably, this does not recommend using a dwarf multicannon.

There are few quests that reward Ranged experience, so the 10,000 combat experience reward from Shadow of the Storm can be used to skip early Ranged levels to get to 27. In addition, completing the Death to the Dorgeshuun and Horror from the Deep quests grant a total of 6,663 Ranged experience, enough to level up to 32 Ranged from 0 experience. A few of the more attainable quests are:

• Death to the Dorgeshuun requires The Lost Tribe, 23 , and 23 , rewards 2,000 Ranged experience
• Horror from the Deep requires 35 , rewards 4,663 Ranged experience
• Heroes' Quest requires many quests, 55 , 53 , 53 , 25 , and 50 , rewards 2,075 Ranged experience

After the initial levels, there are a few more viable quests that reward range experience:

• Temple of Ikov requires 40 (skippable), 42 , rewards 10,500 Ranged experience
• Zogre Flesh Eaters requires Big Chompy Bird Hunting, Jungle Potion, 30 , 4 , and 8 , rewards 2,000 Ranged experience

At 30 Ranged, is highly recommended to complete Animal Magnetism for access to Ava's devices, an item used to train Ranged more efficiently.

The Dorgeshuun crossbow is a good early-game Ranged weapon due to its low requirements and the affordability of bone bolts. Both can be purchased from Nardok's Bone Weapons in the Dorgesh-Kaan mine after the completion of The Lost Tribe. It excels against low defence targets, such as low level Slayer monsters and various crabs. Fighting the Gemstone crab awards between 14,500 and 27,000 ranged experience per hour, and the player can go from level 28 to 55 in around 7 hours.

At level 55 Ranged, the best way of gaining Ranged experience is to hunt carnivorous chinchompas and use them at maniacal monkeys in Kruk's Dungeon on Ape Atoll after stacking them. They can be caught in the Feldip Hunter area, but it can potentially be crowded, though the experience per hour using them is enough to still use this method. After 60 Ranged, it is strongly recommended to unlock the Gwenith Hunter area, requiring completion of Song of the Elves, or at 70 Ranged, the red chinchompa hunting ground, requiring completion of the hard Western Provinces Diary.

Alternatively, hunt black chinchompas to use for better experience rates, but without high stats and good defensive equipment, player killers are much more of a threat. Otherwise keep training on ammonite crabs, however it is a lot slower.

With a high Ranged level, the remaining experience can be earned while killing bosses, demi-bosses, or monsters with valuable drops such as lizardman shamans, demonic gorillas, Zulrah, and Alchemical Hydra.

Ranging Slayer tasks is generally not recommended at higher levels, except when they are particularly low Ranged defence and their other defensive stats are higher. The toxic blowpipe is the only viable option for general Slayer training in terms of damage output; it is overall faster to use melee than a toxic blowpipe, including when killing Zulrah for the Zulrah's scales.

Generally Crabs have low offensive and defensive stats and relatively high hit points, making them good for training with fast weapons and a low attack bonus. As most crabs are aggressive to players, regardless of combat level, killing them only require attention to resetting their tolerance. Two notable variations are the Gemstone Crab which requires minimal attention at the cost of a reduced experience rate, and the Morytania Swamp crabs which has negative defences against all ranged types making them more accurate.

After the completion of the Dwarf Cannon quest, steel cannonballs can be made and used in a dwarf multicannon to train Ranged.

It is good experience, especially at low levels, but is also expensive. Its damage output is high compared to a low Ranged level. It takes about 35,000 steel cannonballs to level up from level 40 to 70 Ranged while attacking with melee or Magic.

Nightmare Zone can be used after 55 Ranged to AFK train on low defence bosses while collecting some points for imbues on equipment later on.

The Eclipse atlatl has a unique mechanic where its max hit is based on visible strength bonus and invisible ranged bonus (i.e. ranged prayers). Accuracy is still based on ranged bonuses. On the rapid combat style and with mid-game strength gear, the atlatl is a three-tick weapon that can hit 30+. Irons with 75 Ranged and a high Strength level may elect to grind out this weapon and its ammunition from Moons of Peril. The atlatl darts deal standard ranged damage, not light ranged, and Ava's devices do collect them.

The atlatl's max hit mechanic means it pairs unusually with other equipment as the player progresses. Endgame ranged gear is not best-in-slot with this weapon. Instead, the atlatl deals more damage against low-defence enemies with high-strength equipment, even early-game strength equipment (e.g. amulet of strength, climbing boots). The best tribrid equipment such as Barrows gloves, Amulet of fury, and Aranea boots will usually increase DPS against high-defence enemies. The corresponding eclipse moon armour grants both ranged and strength bonuses, allows the use of its special attack, and inflicts Burn via its set effect. The Berserker ring (i) and later the Ultor ring usually outperform the Ring of shadows and Brimstone ring.

There are several caveats to the atlatl:

• Unlike most enemies, the Moon bosses severely punish low defence, incentivizing grinding out Barrows tank armour first. A Crystal shield or Dragon square shield will also make runs more consistent.
• Although the Lunar Chest has a duplicate-protection mechanic where it will not award a duplicate until a player has completed a set, note that there are three sets of four pieces each.
• The Eclipse set effect increases DPS and allows using the atlatl special attack, but the set effect cannot be used with a Slayer helmet (i). For the purposes of training, note that the extra damage from Burn does not award experience.
• As of yet (i.e. as of Varlamore Pt.2), Moons of Peril and the new fletching method are the only ways to obtain darts. The other two sets are desirable as well: the Blood moon armour set has the same offensive bonuses as Bandos armour and is best-in-slot against The Hueycoatl's tail; the Blue moon armour set has the same offensive bonuses as Ahrim's equipment plus strength bonuses for hybriding (e.g. for Dagannoth Kings, Demonic gorillas, Tormented Demons, and Raids).

The atlatl can be used with a Slayer helmet (i) for general slayer. Additionally, it can be used with the full eclipse moon armour and a Salve amulet(ei) against undead monsters such as Undead Druids, Armoured zombies, and Ankou. The set's versatile hybrid bonuses are also effective for Raids.

• Low-level thrown weapons, such as iron knives or iron darts, are a good source of early Ranged experience when used on low-defence monsters. These weapons can be made from bars obtained while training Smithing.
• The Dorgeshuun crossbow, or bone crossbow, offers good accuracy and damage considering its low requirements to obtain and use while bone bolts are very affordable.
• The magic shortbow is available from spiritual rangers ( 63 ) and from hard clue scrolls. For ammunition, rune arrows can be obtained through Last Man Standing, purchased from the Ranging Guild or obtained over time from various monster drops. Broad arrows are also a good alternative after unlocking the ability to fletch broad ammunition from a Slayer master. Furthermore, the bow can be upgraded to a magic shortbow (i) with a magic shortbow scroll obtained from Last Man Standing or obtained as a drop from monsters in the Wilderness Slayer Cave.
• The rune crossbow paired with broad bolts is a staple weapon for Ironmen, due to its high accuracy, high damage, availability of ammunition, and its ability to be used with a shield. The crossbow can also fire ruby bolts (e) and diamond bolts (e), making it suitable for killing certain high-level boss monsters. Crafting the crossbow from scratch requires 91 Smithing, so two methods are commonly used to obtain the crossbow early:
  • The complete crossbow is dropped by the Crazy Archaeologist, however because he is in the Wilderness, Hardcore Ironmen are advised to be extremely cautious.
  • Runite limbs are dropped by several monsters, notably iron dragons, steel dragons, and the Deranged Archaeologist. The unstrung crossbow is also dropped by Skeletal Wyverns ( 72 ). With either of these drops, only 69 Fletching (which can be boosted) is required to finish the crossbow with a yew stock and/or crossbow string.
• Karil's crossbow offers higher damage per second than a rune crossbow with broad bolts. However, it must be obtained as a rare drop from Barrows. Additionally, it can only fire bolt racks, which are obtained from a Barrows reward potential higher than 87.0% or they can be purchased from Ak-Haranu. These can be expensive to use as they cost 55 gp each when bought and do not benefit from the ammo-saving effects of Ava's devices. Alternatively, they can be bought from the Last Man Standing shop.
• Hunter's sunlight crossbow has very similar stats to Karil's crossbow if using Sunlight antler bolts, or better if using Moonlight antler bolts with 91 Hunter. Creating the crossbow requires 74 Fletching in addition to 72 Hunter to catch Sunlight antelopes. As even creating the Moonlight antler bolts requires only 72 Fletching (62 for Sunlight antler bolts), players may opt to boost to the crossbow's one-off requirement.
• The eclipse atlatl offers a unique training opportunity for players with high strength, as its max hit is determined by visible strength bonus (and ranged prayer), as described above.
• Endgame ranged weapons include the toxic blowpipe from Zulrah, the dragon hunter crossbow and twisted bow from Chambers of Xeric, the Armadyl crossbow from Commander Zilyana, the bow of Faerdhinen made from an enhanced crystal weapon seed from The Gauntlet, and the Zaryte crossbow from Nex.

• Complete Animal Magnetism to unlock Ava's attractor, which significantly extends the lifespan of most ammunition and can be upgraded later to Ava's accumulator and Ava's assembler.
• Void Knight equipment is excellent against low-defence monsters due to its damage-boosting set effect. Depending on the situation, a black mask (i) or Slayer helmet (i) may offer better damage. After completing the hard Western Provinces Diary, upgrade it to Elite Void Knight equipment.
• Green dragonhide armour can be purchased from various shops, though Dragon Slayer I must be completed to equip a Green d'hide body.
• Blue and red dragonhide armour sets offer incremental upgrades from green. The most reliable way to obtain them is to kill their respective dragons and craft it from the dragonhide drops. Alternatively, players can kill the Crazy Archaeologist for the red d'hide body.
• Black dragonhide armour offers the same Ranged attack bonus as Karil's armour, albeit with a lower Magic defence bonus. Though 84 Crafting, which can be boosted, is required to craft the black d'hide body. Alternatively, players that have completed the Bone Voyage quest, can kill the Deranged archaeologist for the Black d'hide body. The body and chaps can also be obtained somewhat reliably from hard clue scrolls. Blessed dragonhide armour is also available from hard clue scrolls and it offers better defensive stats than black dragonhide, as well as Prayer bonus.
• The Eclipse moon armour offers marginally better offensive bonuses than blessed dragonhide, instead of a prayer bonus.
• The Hueycoatl hide armour is a direct upgrade from blessed d'hide, offering better prayer bonuses and mage defence. However, note that the Hueycoatl is quite tedious to grind without the Blood Moon set and the hides requires 78 Crafting to craft into the full set.
• Barrows gloves offer superior bonuses compared to all vambraces except Zaryte vambraces from Nex.
• Complete medium clue scrolls to get ranger boots. Later, kill Cerberus for a pegasian crystal to upgrade them to pegasian boots.
• Dagannoth Supreme drops the archers ring, which can then be imbued through Nightmare Zone. Later, kill The Leviathan to upgrade it into a Venator ring.
• For amulets, the amulet of power is available early from the H.A.M. storeroom. After training Crafting, the amulet of glory and amulet of fury offer superior ranged bonuses. The second best ranged neck-slot item is the necklace of anguish, made from a zenyte shard obtained from demonic gorillas. The best ranged neck-slot item is the Necklace of rupture, made from the Elder venator fang obtained from the Maggot King.
• Endgame ranged armour includes Armadyl armour from Kree'arra and masori armour from the Tombs of Amascut.

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Ultimate Ironman guides	Item management Equipment Quests Minigames Money making Melee Ranged Magic Defence Prayer Hitpoints Crafting Mining Smithing Fishing Cooking Firemaking Woodcutting Runecraft Agility Herblore Thieving Fletching Slayer Farming Construction Hunter Sailing
General guidelines	Efficiency