Each special attack is useful depending on the situation you find yourself in. And generally, special attacks are there to make your life just a tiny bit easier. This can be from making a boss fight easier, or helping a skilling activity go by a little faster. I personally make use of special attacks constantly – they are way too useful to ignore. Let’s go through the best special attack weapons in Old School RuneScape that’ll make your sessions that much easier.
15. Excalibur
Starting off this list is the sword of legend: Excalibur! Its special is called “Sanctuary” which uses 100% of the special bar, and temporarily raises your defence level by +8. One of the reasons this sword just barley makes it into the list in this spot is due to its status as a reward from a quest – making this entirely free to obtain. While this special is not often used by many players, it can be helpful for early game ironmen who need a boost in defence for dangerous activities. Especially since in the early game they won’t’ have access to super defence potions. Ultimately you’ll retire this famous sword at some point. But it is a beautiful weapon, and could save your life in a bind. How to get: Obtained from the Lady of the Lake in the quest “Merlin’s Crystal”.
14. Dragon Battleaxe
Raarrrrrgggggghhhhhhh! That’s the epic scream you’ll make (literally) while using the Dragon Battleaxe’s special attack. “Rampage” causes the player to lift the axe above their head while screaming a battle cry! Your special bar will use 100% of its energy, while draining your Defence, Attack, Range, and Magic levels by 10%. In exchange, you’ll get an increase in strength of 10 levels + (levels drained / 4). Used correctly, this special can temporarily boost your strength by a whopping 21 levels, the biggest boost in OSRS. Many people use this weapon in conjunction with a super restore, or with an ornate pool, to restore their drained stats and keep the strength boost. How to get: The Dragon Battleaxe can be bought from the Hero’s Guild.
13. Staff of the Dead
Summoning the spirits of the dead can result in some spooky results. The Staff of the Dead has a special attack called “Power of Death” and uses 100% of your special energy for it. Using this special offers protection from opponent melee attacks. All melee damage you receive is halved, making this an amazing weapon for tanking enemies – or for preserving food in a getaway attempt. The overall effects last up to one minute. But the effects will also only last while the staff is equipped. So be sure to leave the staff equipped for a full minute to enjoy the protection to the fullest. How to get: The only way to obtain this is as a drop from K’ril Tsutsaroth, who can be found in the God War Dungeon. The drop rate is fairly rare at 1/512.
12. Ancient Mace
This is a very niche weapon in the game. It’s only used for its special attack, and only in very particular circumstances. This special is named “Favour of the War God” and uses 100% of your special attack energy. With it, this special allows you to hit through another player’s protect from melee prayer – and will drain the opponent’s prayer points for whatever damage they receive. In exchange, your prayer points will be restored by whatever was drained from your opponent. In a PvP setting this is often used by lures to smite unsuspecting players of their +1 item, so always be wary if you see this in the Wilderness. In PvM, people often use this on their undead combat dummies, in their homes, to maximize their prayer points, and to provide points above your base prayer level. This can be very useful for fight cave attempts where prayer is rationed. How to get: The mace is acquired during the quest “Another Slice of HAM”. Completion of the quest is required to wield it as well.
11. Toxic Blowpipe
The Toxic blowpipe is probably the best range weapon in the entire game in terms of versatility and usefulness. So it’s only fitting that it has a great special attack too. “Toxic Siphon” uses 50% of the special attack bar, and heals you by 50% of the damage dealt. For example, a hit of 20 on your opponent would heal you by 10 hitpoints. This can be very useful in almost any situation because it saves you food, as well as game ticks, since you don’t’ have to waste time eating when you could be attacking. Toxic Siphon has also become something of a meme in the OSRS community, as many players who use the special in a bind could hit back to back 0’s – resulting in them either dying or wasting food. How to get: Zulrah who drops a Tanzanite Fang. Then the fang must be crafted into the blowpipe, which requires level 53 Fletching.
10. Dragon Spear
This special attack is rather infamous, as it’s mostly used by players who are attempting to lure players into multi-combat areas within the Wilderness. “Shove” quite literally does as the name suggests: shoving the user’s opponent in whichever direction you’re facing (and also stuns your foe). This uses a total of 25% of the special bar. Your opponent will not be able to eat, move, teleport, or do much of anything for the time they’re stunned (3 seconds). Many teams of Pk’ers will all spam a single opponent with multiple specials, pushing them into multi-attack areas where they can be smited and killed with ease. How to get: To obtain the Dragon Spear you need to either get very lucky on the rare drop table, or this can be obtained as a rare drop from Brutal Black Dragons.
9. Dark Bow
As another PvP weapon, the Dark Bow’s special is used as a “Knock Out” attack to finish off opponents with overwhelming force.
The special attack actually has the highest potential max hit out of any weapon in the entire game – provided you have Dragon Arrows equipped.
“Decent of Darkness” with Dragon Arrows equipped fires two arrows which deal up to 50% more damage than base, with a minimum possible hit of 8.
The total damage per arrow can be a maximum of 48 here. That means an astounding possible total of 96 damage.
Talk about overpowered!
The bow also only uses 55% of the special attack bar each time.
How to get: Dark Beasts, requiring level 90 Slayer to kill, will drop the Dark Bow. The best place to kill these would be in the Mourner’s Tunnels or in the Catacombs of Kourend.
8. Dragon Harpoon
Finally, our first skilling special on this list! The dragon harpoon is often used for AFK’ing sharks, and is equippable unlike the normal harpoon. So this’ll help you save an inventory space as well. It also has a 20% faster catch rate than normal harpoons. “Fishstabber” uses 100% of the special attack bar and temporarily boosts your fishing level by +3. Note that you’ll need to wield the harpoon to use this special, and this requires a minimum of level 60 attack. How to get: Wyrms located in Mount Karuulm have a very rare chance to drop the harpoon at 1/10000. To increase these odds, you can get a slayer task of Wyrms, reducing this drop rate to 1/2000 (0.05%).
7. Armadyl Godsword
Here’s another very strong PvP “Knock Out” weapon. The AGS has impressive stats by itself, and an even more impressive special attack used by many Pk’ers. It’s one of the most common special attack weapons in PvP due to its relatively medium cost lvel, encouraging risk fights, and powerful special. “The Judgement” consumes only 50% of the special attack bar, and ensures that accuracy is doubled, while also dealing 37.5% more damage than you normally would! This means you have a better chance to hit, and can deal very high damage – with hits in the 70’s not being uncommon. Since this special also only uses 50%, it can be used back to back for devastating results. How to get: The only way to obtain this is as a drop from Kree’arra who can be found in the God War Dungeon. The drop rate of the Armadyl hilt is fairly rare at 1/512. Once the hilt is obtained, you’ll need to use it on a Godsword Blade to build the Godsword.
6. Dragon Axe
The Dragon Axe, which is 10% better than a Rune Axe, is in the same family as the Dragon Harpoon (they share a similar special attack). “Lumber Up” consumes 100% of the special attack bar, and temporarily boosts the user’s Woodcutting level by +3. Note that just like the Dragon Harpoon, you’ll also need to wield this axe to use this special. And this does also require a level 60 attack to equip. If you want to utilize this special with maximum efficiency then I would recommend training in the Woodcutting Guild. The guild offers an invisible boost to Woodcutting while you’re there, which will stack with the axe’s special attack. How to get: The DKS drop the Dragon Axe, otherwise you’ll need to get very lucky at Wintertod which has a 1/1000 chance to drop this.
5. Dragon Pickaxe
You might have guessed already, but the Dragon Pickaxe continues the same trends we’ve seen on the harpoon and the axe mentioned earlier. “Rock Knocker” uses a total of 100% of the special attack bar, and temporarily boosts your Mining level by +3. And just like the Axe and Harpoon, you’ll need to wield the pickaxe to use this special, and you also need a minimum of 60 attack to equip this in the first place. How to get: All of the bosses, excluding demi-bosses, drop the Dragon Pickaxe. I would personally recommend grinding Calisto for this drop as he is easy to lure and gear for.
4. Bandos Godsword
Reducing an opponent’s defence is very important in PvM. And the Bandos Godsword does an amazing job of doing just that, with its powerful special attack. “Warstrike” uses 50% of the special attack bar and doubles accuracy, plus deals approximately 21% more damage, and reduces your opponent’s stats in the following order: Defence, Strength, Prayer, Attack, Magic, Range. This effect is insanely good in PvM, considering the special can be used back to back (and the effects stack)! The BGS is often used for bosses like Corporeal Beast when you’re lower defence, or in solo runs. This weapon is also not very expensive compared to a Dragon Warhammer, costing only around 8m. How to get: The only way to obtain this is as a drop from General Graador who can be found in the God War Dungeon. The drop rate of the Bandos hilt is fairly rare at 1/512. Once you have the hilt, you’ll need to use it on a Godsword Blade to build the Godsword.
3. Crystal Halberd (i)
This weapon requires the Western Province Hard diary to wield, and the C-Hally offers a really great free special attack weapon if you’re willing to grind the diary to obtain it. This special attack “Sweep” uses 30% of the special attack bar, and it hits normal sized enemies for a 10% increase in damage, and large enemies will get hit twice. However, that second hit will have a reduced 25% accuracy. Ultimately this weapon is used as a budget version of the Dragon Claws. It’s free to obtain and still quite powerful, so definitely deserves a spot in this list. How to get: After completing the Western Province Elite Diary you can take a Crystal Weapon seed to Ilfeen who will create one for you.
2. Dragon Claws
These are a great many PvM and PvP weapons that are solely used for their special attacks. And some players have called them overpowered. This might be one such example. The special attack here is “Slice and Dice” which uses 50% of the special attack bar, and hits any opponent four times at once. This amount of damage can quickly stack up. Especially when the special is used back to back. In PvP, players can hit huge amounts of damage in a single special, sometimes up to 80-90 damage on opponents with lower defence. In PvM, this weapon’s special is often used at places where both slash and stab are the monster’s weakness. Vasa and Bloat, both raid bosses, are especially weak to Dragon Claws. So these claws make the fights go by much faster! Ultimately this God-tier weapon is the king of melee DPS in OSRS. How to get: This is only obtainable as a drop from The Chamber of Xeric.
1. Dragon Warhammer
Picking a number one spot for this list was not easy. However, if any single special attack is deserving of the number one spot, it’s the Dragon Warhammer’s special. PvM has always been the cornerstone of OSRS. And the Dragon Warhammer’s special attack “Smash” is taken to almost every single boss who has a high defence level. “Smash” uses 50% of the special attack bar, and if you land a successful hit, your foe’s defence is reduced by 30%. This can be used back to back and the effect does stack, which means when this is used in teams, a monster’s defence can be reduced to almost zero. As you can imagine, this makes them very… squishy. The DWH costs about 40m on the Grand Exchange. But it is worth every penny. And some teams will even demand that you have this weapon to even be considered for a team. How to get: The DWH is only obtainable as a drop from Lizardman Shamans at a drop rate of 1/5000 (0.02%). You could also buy this if you have enough gold. It’s quite a tedious grind but totally worth it!
