OSRS Melee Levelling Guide (1-99)

Old School RuneScape offers over 20 skills, but seven are tied to RuneScape gold combat. Among them, Melee is split into three independent skills: Attack, Strength, and Defence. To master Melee combat, especially if you're not building a pure, all three must be trained.

Attack: Allows you to wield stronger weapons.
Strength: Increases your max hit and DPS.
Defence: Reduces incoming damage and unlocks better armor.

This guide covers efficient training methods, gear tips, and progression routes from level 1 to 99.

Starting (Levels 1-40+)

Complete Combat XP Quests First

Before training manually, take advantage of OSRS's generous early-game quest rewards.

Recommended Early Quests:

Waterfall Quest (13,750 Attack & Strength XP)
Fight Arena (12,175 Attack XP)
Tree Gnome Village (11,450 Attack XP)
The Grand Tree (18,400 Attack XP)
Vampire Slayer (4,825 Attack XP)
Fremennik Isles (20,000 XP to a combat stat)

Completing these can get you to cheap RuneScape gold level 44, attack enough to wield Rune weapons-without swinging a sword.