Wikia

Special attacks was removed from RuneScape after the Evolution of Combat.

This article is about various special attacks. For the item also known as "spec", see Spectral spirit shield.

Before the Evolution of Combat some weapons in RuneScape had special attacks available for them. There were many types of special attacks, from temporary boosts in stats, to strikes dealing extra damage.

The messages given when a player has regained 50% and 100% special attack energy respectively.

They were activated by the player by clicking on the special attack bar under the Combat Options interface. Special attacks had an energy bar that was drained when you used the attack; this is drained of varying amounts according to which weapon was used. The special energy bar regenerated at a rate of 10% every 30 seconds, and required 5 minutes to regenerate from empty to full. The bar would have not regenerated while the player was logged out, nor would it regenerate while a player had their bank window open. The energy bar was related to the player, not to the weapon - in other words, changing weapons did not change the special energy bar. Special attacks were only available for members' weapons and therefore only members could have used them. Interestingly, special attacks' names were not shown anywhere in-game; instead, they were revealed on the RuneScape website.

A Ring of Vigour could be bought from the Dungeoneering Rewards trader for 50,000 tokens, and would reduce all special attacks costs by 1/10th of the total cost of that special attack when worn. So for example, a Dragon scimitar's special attack normally used up 55% would, when the Ring of Vigour was worn, use up only 50%. After the Evolution of Combat update, the ring affects Adrenaline as Special attacks have been removed.

With level 86 Prayer, members who had access to the Zarosian Ancient Curses could use the Leech Special Attack to boost their own special attack energy whilst draining their opponent's, up to 10%. After the Evolution of Combat the curse has been slightly modified to affect Adrenaline instead of special attacks.

Recover special potions restored 25% of the special attack bar percentage (After the EoC they boost player's Adrenaline by 25%). This potion could only be drunk once every 30 seconds. They may not be used in the Wilderness.

It was possible to block special attacks received from other players by using the spell Disruption Shield on the Lunar Spellbook just like normal attacks, even those composed of multiple hits. An example of this could have been seen clear on the Dragon claws special attack, where all of the 4 strikes would be nullified.

As stated above, Jagex has removed the special attack system with the Evolution of Combat update, and has replaced them with abilities that require Adrenaline.

For a gallery of all former special attacks, please go to Special attacks/Gallery.

Melee weaponsEdit

Dragon weaponsEdit

Dragon daggerEdit

Puncture. 25% drain.

Two quick slashes with increased accuracy and damage. Was often used to quickly finish off opponents by high-level players.
Extra: Requires the completion of Lost City to equip.

Dragon pickaxeEdit

Shock. 100% drain.

Drained 5% from the opponent's Attack, Ranged, and Magic.
A large overhead swing that took longer than a normal attack.

Dragon scimitarEdit

Sever. 55% drain.

A slash with increased accuracy that, if successful, prevented the target from using protection prayers for five seconds.
Extra: Requires the completion of Monkey Madness to equip

Dragon longswordEdit

Cleave. 25% drain.

Dealt extra damage.
Extra: Requires the completion of Lost City to equip.

Dragon maceEdit

Shatter. 25% drain.

Drastically increased Strength and decreased accuracy for one hit.
Extra: Requires the completion of Heroes' Quest to equip.

Dragon battleaxeEdit

Rampage. 100% drain.

Temporary boosts:

Strength +20% of original level

Attack -10% of original level

Defence -10% of original level

Ranged -10% of original level

Magic -10% of original level

Extras:

Was often used in conjunction with restore potions to make up for loss of attack and defence levels. Requires the completion of Heroes' Quest to equip.
The player shouted out "Raarrrrrgggggghhhhhhh!" when the special attack is performed
In Pest Control, there was a glitch in which if a player was holding the battleaxe while the lander landed, the player could click on the special attack bar then go to their inventory to change the weapon. Thus, the player would perform the Rampage special attack, but he/she will be holding a different weapon. This glitch was later fixed.
When a player's session was ended in the Fight Caves, a player's stats were returned to normal, but the special attack bar would remains the same. This meant that if a player used Rampage while in the fight cave and then died, their stats would be reset, but the bar would still be drained for the next session.
A player could use the chat window to make a "custom phrase" by pressing ENTER with a selected phrase and clicking on the special attack bar at the same time. Although both phrases would appear on the chat window, this phrase would then override the default phrase in the game window.
The formula used was $Boost=10+\lfloor 0.25\times (\lfloor 0.1\times magic\rfloor +\lfloor 0.1\times range\rfloor +\lfloor 0.1\times defence\rfloor +\lfloor 0.1\times attack\rfloor )\rfloor$ ; note that the boost depends on the current levels of the other combat skills (boosting/draining other combat skills affects the boost).

Dragon halberdEdit

Sweep. 30% drain.

A wide slash with increased strength that hit multiple enemies if they were lined up correctly (in a multi-combat zone) and would hit larger monsters twice. Could do well over 400 damage with each swipe.
Extra: Requires the completion of Regicide to equip.

Dragon spearEdit

Shove. 25% drain.

When this special was used, the target was pushed back one square and stunned for three seconds. This attack did not inflict damage. Did not work on enemies that take up more than one space.
Extra: Most commonly used in minigames, such as Castle Wars, where it was used to push and trap people under rocks, killing them instantly.

Dragon hatchetEdit

Clobber. 100% drain.

Lowered the target's Defence and Magic by 10% of damage dealt. (Comparable to the Seercull bow.)

Dragon 2h swordEdit

Powerstab. 60% drain.

In a multi-combat area, all targets within 1 square of the player would take damage. No more than 14 enemies could be hit at a time with this attack. No advantages were offered by using this attack in a single-combat area.

Dragon clawsEdit

Slice and Dice. 50% drain.

Four very quick attacks performed at once with increased accuracy, but the last three hits depended entirely on the first hit. The second hit would always be half of the first hit, and the 3rd and 4th hits will always added up to the 2nd hit. For example, 200-100-50-50 or 180-90-50-40 or 120-60-30-30. Effectively, whatever you hit in the first strike, you would get double that hit after all 4 hits are dealt (200 + 100 + 50 + 50 = 400). There was also the chance that you hit a 0, as your first hit. This did not mean that you'd hit 0's as your first 4 hits (special attack). For example, you could hit 0-200-100-100, or 0-0-200-200 or even 0-0-0-350 (in this case damage is 1.5 times the original hit). Effectively, if one of the four special hits inflicted damage, the dragon claws guaranteed damage of at least 1.5 times the original hit.

GodswordsEdit

Armadyl godswordEdit

The Judgment. 50% drain.

Inflicted 25% more damage.

Bandos godswordEdit

Warstrike. 100% drain.

Attack did 15% more damage and drained one of the target's combat stats by 10% of damage dealt, rounded down, until it reached 0. If the stat drained reached 0 before all of the damage could be accounted for, another stat would be drained by the amount remaining. Stats were drained in the following order: Defence, Strength, Prayer, Attack, Magic, Ranged.

Saradomin godswordEdit

Healing Blade. 50% drain.

Attack dealt 10% more damage and restored the user's life points by 50% of the damage dealt (with a minimum of 100 life points) and Prayer by 25% of damage dealt (with a minimum of 50 Prayer points). The attack had no effect if it missed completely but would always take effect if the attack hit and dealt at least 1 damage.

Zamorak godswordEdit

Ice Cleave. 60% drain.

Froze the target for 20 seconds if successful, though the target could still attack a player in an adjacent square.
Also increased damage by 10% for the attack.

OthersEdit

Abyssal whipEdit

Energy Drain. 50% drain.

An attack that transferred 25% of the target's run energy to the player (only works on other players).
The old special attack of a whip would transfer 10% of the target's run energy to the player (only worked on other players).

Abyssal vine whipEdit

Vine Call: 60% drain.

This attack summoned a vine that would hit your opponent 10 times for 125% of your accuracy, and 33% of your strength. The attacks would only hit as long as your opponent was in range.

Barrelchest anchorEdit

Sunder: 50% drain.

Doubled the chance of hitting, and would lower the opponent's Attack, Defence, Ranged, or Magic level by 1% of the damage inflicted.

Brackish bladeEdit

'Rum'ify. 75% drain.

Doubled the chance of hitting, and added 2.5% of the damage dealt to your Strength, Attack and Defence. For example if you hit 200, this means your Strength, Attack and Defence would all get a visible 5 level boost.

Granite maulEdit

Quick Smash 50% drain

An extra attack done instantly with no other effects.
Because of the speed of the granite maul, the special was very beneficial, allowing 3 strikes very quickly where it would normally take a long time.
The Granite Maul was also commonly used in combination with another slow weapon, like the dark bow or the dragon 2h sword, in a "combo breaker". In a combo breaker, a user used the slow weapon, switched to the granite maul, and then used all of the granite maul's special attack bar to add two additional hits to the already high hitting weapon. The granite maul, if under perfect conditions, could do over 450 damage with each hit.
If you selected the Special attack bar before engaging in combat, you would receive the message: "Warning: Since the maul's special is an instant attack, it will be wasted when used on a first strike."
You could use the granite maul's Special Attack following a normal attack; with correct timing the granite maul and granite mace could hit up to 4 times in succession.

Granite maceEdit

If used as a first strike you would see this message

Quick Smash 50% drain

An extra attack done instantly with no other effects.
If timed correctly, you could use one normal attack, two specials, then another normal attack. This was only possible because the special attack did not affect when the next normal attack would land. This was impossible with the Granite Maul because the special on the Maul delayed the normal attack after a special.

ExcaliburEdit

Sanctuary. 100% drain

Temporarily increased Defence by 8 levels.
Extra: Made the player shout out "For Camelot!" automatically.
A previous glitch occurred where a player could type something and enter it at a certain time to replace the "For Camelot!" This was later fixed in a Hidden Update.
The movement that was performed during the special is close to the movement used by the Royal Navy (UK) when performing a long salute; (bringing sword up to face then down behind to side). This is also the standard salute in competitive fencing.
If you used Excalibur's special attack in a POH chair, the animation would occur, but the sword would not be shown.

Enhanced ExcaliburEdit

100% drain

The Enhanced Excalibur is an upgraded version of the Excalibur that can be obtained after completing the Seers' Village Tasks. It had an enhanced special attack that, in addition to an increased Defence boost (15% boost), healed the player 40 life points every 2 seconds up to 5 times for a total of 200 life points. If the elite section of the Seers' Village Tasks is completed, the sword would heal 400 life points total over twice the time.

After the game engine update of 2 September 2009, the special attack did not activate until you attacked something. The bug was fixed later that day.

DarklightEdit

Weaken. 50% drain.

Temporarily reduced the target's Attack, Strength, and Defence by 5%. Twice as effective on demons (reduced each stat by 10%).

Rune clawsEdit

Impale. 25% drain.

Increased attack with 10% more Attack and Strength, but a slower speed.

Rod of IvandisEdit

Retainer. 10% drain.

Captured a vampyre juvinate that had 1/2 or less health.
Extra: It has 10 charges before it is destroyed and must be created again.

Ivandis flailEdit

Retainer. 10% drain.

Captured Vampyre juvinates and Vyrewatch that has 1/2 or less health.
Extra: It has 30 charges before it is destroyed and must be created again.

Bone daggerEdit

Backstab. 75% drain.

Lowered the Defence of the target by 10% of damage dealt. Greatly increased accuracy on an unsuspecting target.
Extra: Requires the completion of Death to the Dorgeshuun to use the special, not to equip the weapon.

Brine sabreEdit

Liquefy. 75% drain.

Doubled the chance of hitting, and added 2.5% of the damage dealt to the user's Strength, Attack and Defence levels.
Extra: Can only be used underwater.
The special attack of the Brine sabre had the same animation as the Brackish blade, though the latter could be used outside of water.
Due to the brine sabre's special attack only being usable underwater, the special was nearly entirely useless, and served the sole purpose of making switching to another combo weapon with a special attack more fluent, due to the special bar being there 1 or 2 ticks longer.

Ancient maceEdit

Favour of the War God. 100% drain.

Hit through Protect from Melee and drained Prayer points of the opponent by 100% the amount hit while recovering the user 100% the amount hit. (A hit of 100 drained 100 Prayer and granted 100 Prayer points to the user)
Required completion of Another Slice of H.A.M. to equip. Could boost Prayer points over the base level (e.g. 750/600).
Using the special attack on a Pheasant in the Lederhosen random event did allow prayer restoration.
The old special attack of the Ancient mace resembled the old special attack of the Barrelchest anchor. In fact, the animation was exactly the same with it being the player holding it above their head and the anchor glowing yellow. For a split second after the special attack had been performed, the player held the mace like the Anchor even though it is one handed.

Statius's warhammerEdit

Smash. 35% drain.

Dealt up to 25% more damage and decreased opponent's Defence by 30%.
Extra: Can be obtained by killing revenants and the Chaos Elemental.

Vesta's longswordEdit

Feint. 25% drain

Dealt 25% more damage and was more accurate.
The audio used for the Vesta's longsword's special attack was the same as used with the Dragon Longsword
Extra: Can be obtained by killing revenants and the Chaos Elemental.

Vesta's spearEdit

Spear Wall. 50% drain.

Damaged everyone adjacent and prevented melee attacks from striking you for 5 seconds.
Extra: Can be obtained by killing revenants and the Chaos Elemental.

Saradomin swordEdit

Saradomin's Lightning. 100% drain.

Hit two lightning bolts, the first hit was a regular hit which granted experience in the chosen melee skill. The second hit was magic based, and could hit 50-180, giving magic experience. (The special attack did not give defence experience unless defensive casting was enabled).

Zamorakian spearEdit

Shove. 25% drain.

When this special was used, the target was pushed back one square and stunned for three seconds. This attack did not inflict damage. Did not work on enemies that take up more than one space.
This special attack had the same effect as the Dragon spear.

Korasi's swordEdit

Disrupt. 60% drain. (15% drain during The Void Stares Back.)

This special would always deal between 50%-150% of your max hit, and in multi-way combat, it could hit up to three enemies, with the damage being halved for each subsequent enemy struck. It was also capable of keeping the Pest queen from using her own special attack, but it must have been deployed while she charged. During the fight with the Pest queen, the special attack only used 15% of the player's special attack energy, but outside of it, it instead required 60%.

Dwarven army axeEdit

Cyclone attack. 100% drain.

This dealt 3 lots of damage to 1 target. Your target would be hit for 20, 30 and 40 simultaneously, for a total of 90 life points, except if the opponent had Protect from Melee or Deflect Melee active, then the hits were reduced to 12, 18, and 24, which is 54 lifepoints in total.
However, if the opponent had less than 90 life points remaining, damage would be reduced in a reverse order of the hits mentioned.
The damage dealt was not affected by prayers or the set effect of the Void Knight Equipment.

KeenbladeEdit

Critical strike. 75% drain.

The Keenblade special used to hit for 50 damage. (30 through Protect from Melee.)
The animation looked similar to the Saradomin Godsword's special attack.

Ranged WeaponsEdit

Magic shortbowEdit

Snap-shot. 55% drain.

Fired two arrows very rapidly but with reduced accuracy.

Magic longbowEdit

Powershot. 35% drain.

This attack used the full power of the longbow and would never miss (unless blocked by Disruption shield).

Magic composite bowEdit

Powershot. 35% drain.

An accurate shot that had an increased chance of hitting your opponent.

Rune throwing axeEdit

Chain Hit. 10% drain per hit.

Bounced between targets in multi-combat, striking multiple targets.
When the special attack was used, multiple rune thrownaxes could be seen if it struck multiple targets.
Using the special attack caused the axe to temporarily take on the appearance of a steel one.
There was a glitch where using the special attack while having ammo equipped (bolts, arrows, etc.) would prompt a message stating "You can't use that ammunition with your bow." This has since been fixed.

SeercullEdit

Soulshot. 100% drain.

Inflicted damage and decreased the Magic level of the target by 10% of the damage dealt.

Saradomin BowEdit

Restorative Shot. 55% drain.

Dealt regular damage, and over a period of time, healed twice the amount hit.

Guthix BowEdit

Balanced Shot. 55% drain.

Dealt damage that is 1.5* the regular damage, and over a period of time, healed the amount hit that would have been done before the 1.5* multiplier. The healing effect happened in small increments over time, not all at once.

Zamorak BowEdit

Twin Shot. 55% drain.

Dealt double the regular damage of the shot.

Dorgeshuun crossbowEdit

Snipe. 75% drain. After completing Death to the Dorgeshuun it was possible to use a special attack called Snipe, which increased accuracy on an unsuspecting opponent (If the opponent was not looking your way when you use the special attack) and also lowered the opponent's defence by 1/10 of the amount of damage inflicted.

Zanik's crossbowEdit

Defiance. 50% drain.

Dealt increased damage (max. +150?) to players using Prayers and/or equipment marked by the gods. Did 30-150 extra damage to other enemies.
Extra: Requires completion of The Chosen Commander to obtain the weapon.

Dark bowEdit

The dark bow had 2 special attacks, depending on what type of arrow was used:

Descent of Darkness inflicted up to 30% more damage and did a minimum of 50 damage per arrow (25 on players).
Descent of Dragons inflicted up to 50% more damage when using dragon arrows and does a minimum of 50 damage per arrow (80 on players).

Each special attack drained 65% of the special attack bar. It used to be 55%, but this changed in the updates of 7 October 2009 to prevent players from performing two special attacks in a row by using the Recover special potion. With the release of the Ring of vigour, it was again possible to perform two special attacks in a row.

If the attacked player was using the Protect from Missiles prayer, the minimum hit of the special was lowered to 30 for normal arrows and 48 for Dragon arrows.

The dark bow's special attack used to have a far higher minimum damage (50 for normal arrows and 80 for dragon arrows), but this was changed with the introduction of the new-style hitsplats.

The dark bow was one of five weapons in RuneScape with special attacks that change under certain circumstances, the other four being Zanik's crossbow, the dragon halberd, the penance trident, and Korasi's Sword, but was the only weapon where the animation also changes.

Morrigan's throwing axeEdit

Hamstring. 50% drain.

Dealt 20% extra damage and drained target's run energy four times faster for the next minute.
Extra: Can be obtained by killing Revenants or the Chaos Elemental.

Morrigan's javelinEdit

Phantom strike. 50% drain.

Inflicted continuous damage in the same way that poison does, but faster and target could still be poisoned. This could be considered as a pre-EoC of damage over time implementation which later appeared in some of abilities.
Extra: Can be obtained by killing Revenants or the Chaos Elemental.
The additional damage from the special attack occurred at dart-speed until it doubled the damage dealt by the original special attack. Thus, if you hit a 260 with the special, the opponent would be hit by 50s at dart speed until 250 damage has been dealt.
This special attack could only be used in PvP combat.

Hand cannonEdit

Aimed Shot. 50% drain.

It had increased accuracy, but took longer to fire. It also increased the chance of the hand cannon blowing up and damaging yourself.

QuickbowEdit

Twin shot. 75% drain.

Fired two arrows for 25 damage each, and always hit.

Magical weaponsEdit

Staff of lightEdit

Power of Light. 100% drain.

Reduced all melee damage taken for the next minute by 50%.
Damage reduction was nullified if the staff was unequipped.
When the special effect wore off, the player got the message "The power of the light fades. Your resistance to melee attacks return to normal."

Penance tridentEdit

Reap. 50% drain.

Had a chance of instantly killing a monster if it has a combat level less than 50. Does not apply to bosses, summoning familiars, monsters with special methods of defeat or players.
When used on players, has a chance of doing damage equal to one third of their current life points.
If the special attack 'Reap' successfully hit one of the humans in Canifis (level 24) it would not kill the NPC as it would transform into a werewolf before the damage could take effect, but once it has transformed into a werewolf (level 88) the NPC would be hit 600 life points (the human form's LP), hence not completely killing it.
The special attack couldn't even be attempted on NPCs above level 50. The chat box said "The Penance Trident only works on foes with a Combat Level less than 50." and no special attack energy was drained.

MindspikeEdit

Rune flame. 75% drain.

All four types (Mindspike (air), Mindspike (water), Mindspike (earth), Mindspike (fire)) had this special attack. Always hit 50 magic damage with a melee-range, rune-free spell of the same element that the staff is attuned to.

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Melee weaponsEdit

OthersEdit

Ranged WeaponsEdit

Magical weaponsEdit

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