When it comes to building a powerful account in Old School RuneScape (OSRS), maxing your melee stats — Attack, Strength, and Defence — is essential. Whether you're a PvM enthusiast, a PvP warrior, or just after that prestige of a 99 cape, this guide will cover everything you need to know about taking your melee stats from 1 to 99 efficiently.

We'll go over training spots, quest boosts, gear recommendations, and combat styles to help you power through the grind in style.

Why Train Melee?

Melee combat forms the backbone of OSRS. It's used for boss fights, Slayer tasks, quests, and PvP. Maxing these stats not only increases your damage and accuracy but unlocks some of the best weapons and armor in the game.

1-99 Melee Training Overview

You have three main melee stats to train:

Attack — Increases your accuracy with melee weapons.

Strength — Boosts your max hit.

Defence — Lowers the chance enemies will hit you.

You can train one stat at a time or combine them depending on your combat style settings.

Quests to Complete First

Several quests give huge early combat XP boosts. Knock these out first to save time:

Waterfall Quest — 13,750 Attack and Strength XP (at level 1!)

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

Bonus: Completing Death Plateau unlocks the Climbing Boots for a solid Strength bonus early on.

Training Methods: Level by Level

Levels 1-20

Best Option: Cows, Chickens, Goblins (Lumbridge, Varrock)

Use an Iron scimitar or Steel scimitar once you can. Focus on fast, low-risk XP.

Levels 20-60

Best Option: Sand Crabs (Hosidius Beach)

High HP, low damage

Aggressive for 10 minutes

Easy to reset aggro

Equip a Mithril scimitar, then Adamant scimitar at 30 Attack, and Rune scimitar at 40.

Alternative: Rock Crabs (Rellekka) or Al Kharid Warriors

Levels 60-80

Best Option: Nightmare Zone (NMZ)

Why NMZ?

Insane XP rates with absorption potions

AFK-friendly

Profitable with boss drops

Use Overloads and Absorptions while standing in a corner. Equip Dragon scimitar or Abyssal whip at 70 Attack.

Bonus: NMZ points can be spent on imbues like Berserker Ring (i) for even better DPS.

Alternative: Slayer Training (good money, slower XP)

Levels 80-99

Best Option: Continue Nightmare Zone

With an Abyssal whip or Saradomin Sword (Strength training) and max strength gear, you can pull 90k-100k XP/hr.

Alternative:

Slayer (consistent money, valuable boss unlocks)

Bandits (Kharidian Desert) if AFK training with Prayer

Gear Recommendations by Level

Early Game (1-30)

Iron/Steel/Mithril scimitar

Iron/Steel full helm

Leather boots

Amulet of strength

Mid Game (30-70)

Rune scimitar

Full Rune armor

Climbing Boots

Amulet of power/strength

Rune defender (from Warriors' Guild at 60 Attack & Strength)

High-End (70-99)

Abyssal whip (Attack/Defence)

Saradomin sword (Strength)

Dragon defender

Berserker helm/Serpentine helm

Fighter torso

Fire cape

Barrows gloves

Berserker ring (i)

Bonus: Slayer Helm (i) for Slayer training.

Fastest vs. Profitable Training

If you're after pure XP speed:

NMZ Overload/Absorption method

If you want XP with profits:

Slayer (Wyverns, Gargoyles, Abyssal Demons)

Bossing (at higher levels)

Money-Making Melee Options

Gargoyles at 75 Slayer: consistent GP

Abyssal Demons at 85 Slayer: whips worth millions

Kraken Boss (requires Magic but worth noting)

Revenants (if willing to risk PvP zones)

Final Tips

Always use the best scimitar/whip available for your level.

Prioritize Strength training first (it boosts max hit, speeding up other stat training).

Do your Attack/Defence levels later via NMZ or Slayer.

Use Prayer gear and Protection Prayers in higher-risk areas.

Get a Rune or Dragon defender ASAP — it's a game-changer.

Keep boosting combat stats with quest rewards early.

Conclusion

Maxing out your melee stats in OSRS is a long but rewarding journey. With smart questing, efficient training spots, and the right gear progression, you'll cut down the grind significantly while making some serious GP along the way.

Whether you go for AFK NMZ sessions or the high-profit route through Slayer and bossing, this guide gives you the blueprint to get from 1-99 melee like a pro.

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