Reading the results
- Max hit is the biggest number this setup can roll. It only moves at breakpoints, so a small strength upgrade can change nothing.
- Accuracy is the chance that one attack passes the hit check against this monster's defence for the style you picked.
- DPS is average damage per second over a long fight, misses included. It is the number to compare setups on.
- Time to kill is roughly the monster's hitpoints divided by your DPS. Real kills run a bit longer because of overkill on the last hit, walking and switches.
The DPS formula, step by step
Melee and ranged follow the same order, and the game rounds down at almost every stage. Magic uses its own versions of the first three steps, but the hit chance and DPS steps are the same.
- Effective level. Boosted level × combat boost multiplier, rounded down. Add the style bonus (+3 for accurate, +1 for controlled on Attack; +3 aggressive, +1 controlled on Strength), then add 8. A full void set multiplies the result by 1.1.
- Attack roll. Effective Attack × (your attack bonus for that style + 64), then any target bonus such as a slayer helm or salve amulet.
- Defence roll. For a monster: (Defence level + 9) × (its defence bonus against your style + 64).
- Hit chance. If your attack roll is higher: 1 − (defence roll + 2) ÷ (2 × (attack roll + 1)). If not: attack roll ÷ (2 × (defence roll + 1)).
- DPS. Hit chance × average damage of a landed hit, divided by the weapon's attack speed in seconds. One game tick is 0.6 seconds.
A landed hit rolls evenly from 0 to your max hit, and a 0 on a successful hit is raised to 1. That makes the average landed hit a touch over half the max.
Worked example: a 4-tick weapon against a tanky monster
Say 99 Attack and Strength, a super combat potion, the level 70 melee boost and aggressive style on a 4-tick slash weapon, with +130 slash attack and +110 strength bonus in total. The target has 100 Defence and +50 slash defence.
- Boosted level: 99 + 14 + 5 = 118 in both Attack and Strength.
- Effective Attack: 118 × 1.20 = 141, nothing for aggressive, + 8 = 149. Attack roll: 149 × 194 = 28,906.
- Effective Strength: 118 × 1.23 = 145, + 3 + 8 = 156. Max hit: 0.5 + 156 × 174 ÷ 640 = 42.9, so 42.
- Defence roll: 109 × 114 = 12,426.
- Hit chance: 1 − 12,428 ÷ 57,814 = 78.5%.
- DPS: 0.785 × 21.02 ÷ 2.4 = about 6.9.
Put the same player on a slayer task with a black mask or slayer helmet and both the attack roll and max hit go up by a sixth. Accuracy rises to 81.6%, the max hit to 49, and DPS from about 6.9 to about 8.3. That is a 21% gain from one item, which is why the helmet stays on for every task.
Attack speed matters as much as max hit
| Weapon | Ticks | Seconds |
|---|---|---|
| Abyssal whip, scimitars, daggers | 4 | 2.4 |
| Scythe of Vitur | 5 | 3.0 |
| Elder maul | 6 | 3.6 |
| Darts and toxic blowpipe on rapid | 2 | 1.2 |
A slow weapon with a higher max hit can still lose. An elder maul needs half again the damage per swing of a whip just to break even, because it attacks every 3.6 seconds instead of 2.4. Rapid style takes a tick off ranged weapons, which is why it is the default for most ranged setups.
Why your DPS looks lower than expected
- Wrong attack type. A whip only slashes. A monster with high slash defence and weak stab defence wants a stab weapon instead.
- Defence not lowered. A landed dragon warhammer special cuts the target's current Defence by 30%, which feeds straight into the defence roll.
- Bonuses that do not stack. For melee, the salve amulet and slayer helm bonuses do not combine. Only the salve applies against undead.
- Negative bonuses. Tank gear or a shield with negative attack stats drags the attack roll down more than people expect.
When you plan an upgrade, change one slot in the second loadout and compare. The melee gear progression and best in slot lists cover what to buy next, and the melee max hit calculator shows how far you are from the next breakpoint. For a common first test, try a Vorkath preset with a dragon hunter lance against your usual weapon.