Strength
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Strength is a melee combat skill that determines how much damage is done in melee combat. Some times this is shortened to Str. The higher the Strength level, the higher the maximum hit and the higher the average damage. This is the most common level 99 skill, having 106,750 players at 99 Strength (As of Oct. 24, 2009). The current minimum requirement to be ranked (at rank 2,000,000) on the hiscores for Strength is level 63.
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[edit] Experience
A formula is used that decides how much experience a player obtains when fighting aggressively. If a player hits an opponent, whatever damage they deal is multiplied by 4 and given to the player's experience in their strength skill. For example, if a player hits a 1, then they will receive 4 Strength experience.
Some experience is also given to a player's Hitpoints level when they deal damage. If a player hits an opponent, whatever damage they deal is multiplied by 1.33 and given to their Hitpoints. For example, if a player hits a 1, then they will receive 1.33 Hitpoints experience, in addition to the 4 experience in Strength.
If a player fights with the "controlled" attack style, then whatever damage they deal will be multiplied by 1.33 and given to the player's Strength, Attack, Defence, and Hitpoints experience.
Many prefer the Saradomin sword to train Strength, as it has the same stats as an Abyssal whip, but is a two-handed weapon. Also, the abyssal whip is cheaper these days, more people might prefer it to train although strength can only be trained with the shared xp option. However, most players that cannot afford a Saradomin sword use a Dragon scimitar instead. Characters who are pure strength with no attack or defence often use a Red topaz machete or an Obsidian maul.
[edit] Strength bonus
Most weapons have a strength bonus which can be seen in the equipment menu, beside the inventory menu. This bonus, along with the Strength level, is used to calculate maximum hit.
The more powerful weapons such as the two handed swords or battleaxes have higher strength bonuses, while the weaker weapons such as daggers and swords have lower strength bonuses. Also, the stronger the metal, the better strength bonus. For example, a rune two-handed sword has a higher strength bonus than an adamant two-handed sword.
Strength is also now required to wield halberds and granite shields, as well as a few of the Barrows weapons. It is also a necessary stat in several Agility shortcuts along with other skills and quests.
[edit] Highest strength bonus possible
The following armour gives the highest possible strength bonus for members:
[edit] 
Best Strength Bonuses
The following armour gives the highest possible strength bonus for members. See also Strength:
[edit] Best strength bonus
| Image | Item | Bonus | Requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Berserker helm[1] | +3 | 45 Defence, completed Fremennik Trials |
 | Vesta's chainbody[2] | +6 | 78 Defence (20 Defence for Corrupt version) |
 | Vesta's plateskirt[2] | +3 | 78 Defence (20 Defence for Corrupt version) |
 | Godsword[3] | +132 | 75 Attack |
 | Barrows gloves | +12 | Completed Recipe for Disaster |
 | Dragon boots | +4 | 60 Defence |
 | Fire cape | +4 | Completed the TzHaar Fight Cave |
 | Amulet of strength | +10 | None |
 | Berserker ring (i) | +8 | Mobilising Armies Rank of 300 |
| Total
| +182 | 75 Attack, 78/60 Defence, completed of Recipe for Disaster, Fremennik Trials, and TzHaar Fight Cave, and a Mobilising Armies Rank of 300 |
- ^ The Helm of neitiznot (requiring 55 Defence and Fremennik Isles) and Statius's full helm (requiring 78/20 Defence) both give the same strength bonus.
- ^ a b All Ancient Warriors' Equipment comes in corrupt versions. Normal versions require level 78 in relevant skills and last for 1 hour. Corrupt versions require level 20 and last 15 minutes.
- ^ All Godswords give the same Strength bonus.
[edit] Best strength bonus without PvP armour
| Image | Item | Bonus | Requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
| Berserker helm[1] | +3 | 45 Defence, completed Fremennik Trials |
 | Bandos chestplate[2] | +4 | 65 Defence |
 | Bandos tassets | +2 | 65 Defence |
| Godsword[3] | +132 | 75 Attack |
| Barrows gloves | +12 | Completed Recipe for Disaster |
| Dragon boots | +4 | 60 Defence |
| Fire cape | +4 | Completed the TzHaar Fight Cave |
| Amulet of strength | +10 | None |
| Berserker ring (i) | +8 | Mobilising Armies Rank of 300 |
| Total
| +179 | 75 Attack, 65 Defence, completed of Recipe for Disaster, Fremennik Trials, and TzHaar Fight Cave, and a Mobilising Armies Rank of 300 |
- ^ The Helm of neitiznot (requiring 55 Defence and Fremennik Isles) gives the same strength bonus.
- ^ Fighter torsos give the same bonus and require 40 Defence
- ^ All Godswords give the same Strength bonus.
[edit] 
Max Hit - Melee 
The highest recorded maximum hit with melee is 126, excluding quests, and to hit it, a player must meet the following requirements:
- 99 strength
- On a Kalphite slayer task
- Fighting a Kalphite Guardian or the Kalphite Queen
- Using an Extreme strength potion (the 126 was hit with only using a Super Strength potion)
- Using Piety
- Wearing the following items:
| Image | Item | Bonus | Requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black mask(1) (2) | +0 | None |
| Keris(3) | +30 | Completion of Contact!, 50 attack |
| Dragonfire shield | +7 | 75 defence |
|
| Amulet of Strength | +10 | None |
|
| Vesta's chainbody | +6 | 78/20 defence |
|
| Vesta's plateskirt | +3 | 78/20 defence |
|
| Dragon Boots | +4 | 60 defence |
|
| Fire Cape | +4 | Completed TzHaar Fight Cave |
|
| Barrows Gloves | +12 | Completed Recipe for Disaster |
| Berserker ring (i) | +8 | Rank of 300 or higher in Mobilising Armies minigame. |
| Total | +84 | 78/75 defence, completion of Contact!, Recipe for Disaster, and TzHaar Fight Cave |
1. A Player could also use a Slayer helmet, but it is harder to get.
2. The Black mask or Slayer helmet gives an invisible +15% boost to Strength and Attack on Slayer tasks.
3. Keris gives an invisible +50% boost to Strength when attacking Kalphite Guardians or the Kalphite Queen.
During A Soul's Bane, the player can hit up to 200 regardless of armour. During the While Guthix Sleeps quest, players may hit over 100 after touching the Stone of Jas. Outside of the quests, the maximum hit is yielded as above.
- Note: The hit of 126 was recorded by Sosolid2k who only used a Super Strength potion and was posted on a video on YouTube:Sosolid2kk's Runescape High/Max Hits With Melee 3 . Now, players can use Extreme strength potions, which increases the maximum hit to more than 126.
[edit] Best Free-to-Play Strength Bonus
The following armour gives the highest possible strength bonus for non-members.
| Item | Image | Strength bonus | Requirements to wear/use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corrupt dragon battleaxe(1) (2) |  | +85 | 60 attack |
| Rune berserker shield(2) |  | +4 | 45 defence |
| Rune gauntlets |  | +2 | 40 defence |
| Amulet of strength | | +10 | None |
| Total | +101 | 45 defence, 60 attack |
1. The Corrupt dragon battleaxe will disintegrate after 30 minutes.
2. The best time-limitless bonus is +82, achieved by wielding a rune two-handed sword. The best time-limitless one-handed-weapon bonus is +80, by wielding a rune battleaxe and a rune berserker shield 100.
[edit] Max Free-to-Play hit - Melee
The maximum melee damage recorded on a free world is 37[source needed] . In order to hit it, player should wield:
Also, they should have a strength level of 99, drink a strength potion, have the prayer Ultimate Strength on (prayer level 31) and be on the aggressive mode.
[edit] Other strength bonuses
| Slot | Item | Image | Bonus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neckwear | Amulet of Fury |  | +8 |
| Berserker necklace |  | +7 | |
| Amulet of glory |  | +6 | |
| Amulet of power |  | +6 | |
| Body | Bandos chestplate | | +4 |
| Fighter torso |  | +4 | |
| Legs | Bandos tassets | | +2 |
| Hand | Metal gloves |          | +1 - +12 (depending on what type) |
| Combat bracelet |  | +6 | |
| Regen bracelet |  | +7 | |
| Footwear | Climbing boots |  | +2 |
| Rune boots |  | +2 | |
| Adamant boots |  | +1 | |
| Dragon boots | | +4 | |
| Shield | Defenders |      | +1 - +5 (depending on what metal) |
| Dragonfire shield | | +7 | |
| Toktz-ket-xil (obsidian shield) |  | +5 |
[edit] Weapons
- Granite maul - Requires level 50 Strength and level 50 Attack to wield.
- Granite mace - Requires level 50 Strength and level 50 Attack to wield.
- Obsidian maul - Requires level 60 Strength to wield.
- Dharok's greataxe - requires level 70 strength and level 70 attack to wield.
- Torag's hammers - requires level 70 strength and level 70 attack to wield
- All Halberds - All halberds require a Strength level HALF of the Attack level required to wield.
- Ex. The Rune Halberd requires level 40 Attack and 20 Strength
Every weapon, other than a fun weapon, any bow or a law staff has a strength bonus.
[edit] Temporary boosts
- Strength potion - Boosts Strength level by 3 to 12; amount depends on player's Strength level, (12.5 percent of Strength level).
- Combat potion - Boosts Strength level by 3 to 12; amount depends on player's Strength level. Also boosts Attack at the same time. (12.5 percent for both).
- Super strength potion - Boosts Strength level by 5 to 19; amount depends on player's Strength level (20 percent).
- Zamorak potion - Boosts Strength level by 2 to 13; amount depends on player's Strength level.
- When "Dharoking" with a full Dharok set, players can lower their Hitpoints to where they are nearly dead, such as having less than 10 hp left. Doing so greatly increases their Strength, allowing them to deal massive damage, upwards of 80 if they are lucky. Dharok's armours special effect hits double normal damage at 10% hp or lower.
- Prayer - Burst of Strength, Superhuman Strength, Ultimate Strength, Chivalry and Piety boost Strength level by 5%, 10%, 15%, 18% and 23% respectively.
- Black mask - When equipped, boosts strength level by 15%; amount depends on player's Strength level. Also boosts Attack at the same time. Only works while fighting monsters that have been assigned to you by a Slayer Master.note: not stackable with salve amulet of either charge.
- Dragon Battleaxe special attack - Boosts your Strength level by 20%. However it also lowers your Magic, Attack, Ranged, and Defence level by 10%. Drains 100 percent of your special attack bar. This is not stackable with a Strength potion, Super Strength potion, or Zamorak brew.
- Salve Amulet - Provides a boost of 15% attack and strength while fighting the undead. This effect is stackable with any one strength-boosting prayer and any one of the following: a Strength potion, Super Strength potion, Zamorak brew, or Dragon Battleaxe special attack. Note: not stackable with black mask of any charge.
- Salve Amulet (e) - Provides a boost of 20% attack and strength while fighting the undead. This effect is stackable with the same combinations of prayers and potions as the unenchanted version.
- Beer - Raises your strength by 2, but lowers your Attack by 4, while most other alcoholic drinks will raise your strength while lowering Attack on varying amounts.
- The special move of the Obsidian golem familiar raises strength by 9.
The maximum boost can be achieved using the weapons with the highest strength bonus, Overload or Extreme strength (+26%), Piety prayer (+23%), with an additional boost from the Black mask (+15%) when doing slayer tasks or from the Salve Amulet(e) (+20%) when fighting undead monsters.
[edit] Training
- Pay-to-play Melee Training and Free-to-play Melee training has detailed information on training this skill.
[edit] Fun Weapons
Fun weapons are weapons that give a large negative strength bonus and are usually used by skillers not wanting to gain any strength xp or just for showing off.
[edit] Other Features
You can go into the God Wars Dungeon with a Strength of level 60 by pushing the boulder out of the way.
A door in the God Wars Dungeon, leading to Bandos' enclosure and General Graardor, requires each player to have level 70 Strength and a hammer to open.
[edit] See also
| Skills
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| Free-to-play skills |
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| Member skills |
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