Runescape Magic Guide

Introduction to Mage
Spellbooks and their differences
Spells, the Costs, the effect, and the experience (Modern)
Spells, the Costs, the effect, and the experience (Ancient)
Spells, the Costs, the effect, and the experience (Lunar)
Armours
Weapons
Levelling Tips
Suggested Equipment Setups

Mage (Magic) is the ability to use the the power contained in the Rune Stones to damage your opponents, or decrease their combat prowess, or to teleport around runescape or even just to compost your farming patch!

It is undoubtedly the most variable skill in the game as there is no single use for it. Some use it to kill their fellow players, some simply to decrease travel times and some use it purely to sustain themselves via the infinitely useful bones to peaches spell.

Personally, I find Mage to be incredibly fun in Castlewars, I've been using ot there since I was around level 40 and even then my bind spells were useful for capturing flags. Now with Ice Barrage the fun that can be had is... Unbelievable.

However, this fun has a very large pricetag. At the high end spells can cost over 2,000gp per cast. And that's a lot. I, though, would argue that it's entirely worth it. That however is for you to decide.

Runescape currently has three different books (sets of spells) for the player to use, these are, in order of release:

Modern Magics (The default)
Ancient Magics (Made to kill other players, gained from completing Desert Treasure)
Lunar Magic (Used to assist the player, or to act as a white mage, gained from Lunar Diplomacy)

Moderns make up the bulk of the spells available in the game. There are many teleports to most of the cities in the game, so they are very helpful for a player looking to travel. You can also find the jewlery enchant spells and the bind spells in the moderns. In addition to this they contain many cheap but damging spells such as Magic Dart (18 damage at the cost of of about 400gp) or the god spells (30 damage at the cost of aproximately 1300gp). In addition to damaging spells they also contain the stat reducing spells which can allow you to nerf your opponent's combat stats by up to 15 percent!

Not only this but the ever helpful alchemy spells and bones to peaches reside in this book. Modern Magics could be said to be the balance in the game between the ability to kill players and the ability to assist yourself.

Ancients, however, are another matter entirely. These spells are made purely for the purpose of destroying anything and anyone that gets in your way. There are two types of spells in the ancients: Teleports and Killing spells. A number of the teleports lead to wilderness locations, though the Canifis teleport (Kharyll) could be said to be usefull. The killing spells, however... Those are fun...

Imagine a fully charged up god spell. Now put an even better version of entangle on it. Sounds awesome doesn't it? Oh, wait, it can hit up to nine players in a single cast, silly me, forgot about that...

This means, of course, an upper limit of 270 damage in a single casting. That's a lot.

Lunars however have NO directly damaging spells. However they do have a number of useful teleports (Fishing Guild, anyone?) as well as the ability to take up to four friends with you when you teleport. Also the ability to cure poison magically can be found here, and other miscelanious helpful little tricks (stringing amulets, making glass, all sorts). Of course the most powerful aspects of this spellbook are the ability to heal your friends, removing their need to eat food and perhaps the ability to use the Vengence skill (Ring of recoil, but returns 75% of the damage done. So if you take 20 damage they take 15)

All spells are grouped by category, not by level.

Offensive Spells

All offensive spells give an extra 2xp for every 1 point of damage inflicted

Strike Spells

Spell Name	Level Needed	Runes Needed	XP Gained	Max Damage
Air Strike	1	1 Mind + 1 Air	5.5	2
Water Strike	5	1 Mind + 1 Air + 1 Water	7.5	4
Earth Strike	9	1 Mind + 1 Air + 2 Earth	9.5	6
Fire Strike	13	1 Mind + 2 Air + 3 Fire	11.5	8

Notes: According to the god letters, Air Strike is the foundation of all other spells. Additionally you will find that the Strike Spell family is the only one where the Max damage increases by 2 with each step instead of 1 which is the increment in all other families (Including Ancients). Finally, these are the only spells which will effect Sardin the Twisted in the Yanille agility dungeon.

Bolt Spells

Spell Name	Level Needed	Runes Needed	XP Gained	Max Damage
Air Bolt	17	1 Chaos + 2 Airs	13.5	9
Water Bolt	23	1 Chaos + 2 Airs + 2 Waters	16.5	10
Earth Bolt	29	1 Chaos + 2 Airs + 3 Earths	19.5	11
Fire Bolt	35	1 Chaos + 3 Airs + 4 Fires	21.5	12

Notes: After completing the Family Crest guide you can opt to receive the Chaos Gauntlets which will have a fairly large impact on the damage you are capable of inflicting with the Bolt Spells. Fire Bolt, for example, will increase from 12 damage to 15 which is only one damage less than Fire Blast. With Chaos Gauntlets these spells are quite arguably the most cost efficient for training with offensive magic.

Blast Spells

Spell Name	Level Needed	Runes Needed	XP Gained	Max Damage
Air Blast	41	1 Death + 3 Airs	25.5	13
Water Blast	47	1 Death + 3 Airs + 3 Waters	28.5	14
Earth Blast	53	1 Death + 3 Airs + 4 Earths	31.5	15
Fire Blast	59	1 Death + 4 Airs + 5 Fires	34.5	16

Notes: It's worth noting that unless you craft your own deaths, each of these spells will cost at least aproximately double the amount of GP that it's Bolt Spell counterpart costs. These are the spells that free play PKer mages use and also people who don't mind paying extra GP to train a bit faster. Personally, I'd stick to the Bolt spells if you wish to train, and Wave spells if you wish to kill.

Wave Spells

Spell Name	Level Needed	Runes Needed	XP Gained	Max Damage
Air Wave	62	1 Blood + 5 Airs	36	17
Water Wave	65	1 Blood + 5 Airs + 7 Waters	37.5	18
Earth Wave	70	1 Blood + 5 Airs + 7 Earths	40	19
Fire Wave	75	1 Blood + 5 Airs + 7 Fires	42.5	20

Notes: The epitome of the elemental spells, I'd strongly advise against using these for training (Unless you're rolling in cash) and instead save them for occasions like castle wars and such. Additionally I'd like to point out that if we assume Blood Runes cost 550gp, Chaoses are 150gp, airs and fires cost 20gp then the cost of Fire Wave is 790gp for 20 damage which compares badly with the Chaos Gaunts Fire Bolt which has a cost of only 290gp for 15 damage. Is that extra five damage really worth it?

Special Spells

Spell Name	Level Needed	Runes Needed	XP Gained	Max Damage
Crumble Undead	39	1 Chaos + 2 Airs + 2 Earths	24.5	15
Magic Dart	50	1 Death + 4 Minds + Slayer Staff	30	19
Iban Blast	50	1 Death + 5 Fires + Iban Staff	30	25

Notes: Crumble Undead has a lesser rune cost than Earth Bolt yet gives more exp and its damage is equal to that of Earth Blast. However it will only work on skeletons, zombies and things like that as the name suggests. The Slayer Staff can auto-cast this. Magic dart does *incredible* damage however on top of the level 50 Magic requirement you also need to be wielding a Slayer Staff which requires level 55 slayer. Said staff can also Auto-cast the spell which makes it one of the best spells in the modern mage spell book, overall.

The Iban Blast looks great on paper but it cannot be auto-cast and also after 100 casts you will need to recharge it deep within the Underground Path. Not very practical but until level 80 no spell will beat it for damage (Modern, Ancient or otherwise).

God Spells

Spell Name	Level Needed	Runes Needed	XP Gained	Max Damage
Saradomin Strike	60	2 Bloods + 2 Fires + 4 Airs + Saradomin Staff	61	20
Claws of Guthix	60	2 Bloods + 1 Fire + 4 Airs + Guthix Saff or V. Knight Mace	61	20
Flames of Zamorak	60	2 Bloods + 4 Fires + 1 Air + Zamorak Staff	61	20
Charge	60	3 Bloods + 3 Fires + 3 Airs	180	Raises all God spells max damage to 30

Notes: All three god spells have small side effects which are as thus:
S. Strike - Reduces opponent's prayer a little
G. Claws - Reduces opponent's defense a little
Z. Flames - Reduces opponent's Mage a little

Charge cannot be used to train magic as it can only be used aproximately once every 2 minutes.

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Stat/Hinderence Spells

Stopping Spells

Spell Name	Level Needed	Runes Needed	XP Gained	Effect
Bind	20	2 Natures + 3 Waters + 3 Earths	30	Opponent cannot move for 5 seconds
Snare	50	3 Natures + 4 Waters + 4 Earths	60	Opponent cannot move for 10 seconds
Entangle	79	4 Natures + 5 Waters + 5 Earths	89	Opponent cannot move for 15 seconds

Notes: All of these spells are capable of inflicting some damage but as I am not completely certain about exactly how much (Although I *think* Entangle peaks at 4) I will refrain from listing the guesses. Just be aware of it. Additionally Snare and Entangle are member only spells which is kind of bad as they're really the only two worth using...

Body Spells

All Body spells reduce one of your opponents stats by 5%, I will simply list which stat it is that is effected.

Spell Name	Level Needed	Runes Needed	XP Gained	Effect
Confuse	3	1 Body + 3 Waters + 2 Earths	13	Attack lowered
Weaken	11	1 Body + 3 Waters + 2 Earths	21	Strength reduce
Curse	19	1 Body + 3 Earths + 2 Waters	29	Defense lowered

Notes: If you want to level up cheaply and swiftly, Curse is the way to go all the way from 19 into perhaps the 40s or 50s. It's phenomenal experience at those levels.

Soul Spells

All Body spells reduce one of your opponents stats by 10%, I will simply list which stat it is that is effected.

Spell Name	Level Needed	Runes Needed	XP Gained	Effect
Vulnerability	66	1 Soul + 5 Waters + 5 Earths	76	Attack lowered
Enfeeble	73	1 Soul + 8 Waters + 8 Earths	83	Strength reduce
Stun	80	1 Soul + 12 Earths + 12 Waters	90	Defense lowered

Notes: Mud Staff + Stun = Better experience than a Fire Wave which hits 20 every time

Teleblock

Spell Name	Level Needed	Runes Needed	XP Gained	Effect
Teleblock	85	1 Law + 1 Chaos + 1 Death	95	Removes target's ability to teleport for 5 minutes

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Teleporting Magic

Destination	Level Needed	Runes Needed	XP Gained
Varrok	25	1 Law + 3 Airs + 1 Fire	35
Lumbridge	31	1 Law + 3 Airs + 1 Earth	41
Falador	37	1 Law + 3 Airs + 1 Water	48
Your House	40	1 Law + 1 Air + 1 Earth	30
Camelot	45	1 Law + 5 Airs	55.5
Ardougne	51	2 Laws + 2 Waters	61
Yanille	58	2 Laws + 2 Earths	68
Trollheim	61	2 Laws + 2 Fires	68
Ape Atoll	64	2 Laws + 2 Waters + 2 Fires + A Banana	74

Notes: After Camelot each teleport spell requires a quest to be completed before it can be used, these quests are as follows:
Adougne - Plague City
Yanille - Watchtower Quest
Trollgeim - Eadgar's Ruse
Ape Atoll - Monkey Section of Recipe for Disaster
Note that the House Teleport spell is one of only spells in the game where the level neded is higher than the experience gained from casting the spell in the moderns spell book. The other is Bones to Peaches. Also you need a house to be able to teleport to.

Tele-Others

Destination	Level Needed	Runes Needed	XP Gained
Lumbridge	74	1 Law + 1 Soul + 1 Earth	84
Falador	82	1 Law + 1 Soul + 1 Earth	92
Camelot	90	1 Law + 2 Soul	100

Notes: Helpful for transporting friends who are on different spell books, not really good for training mage as the Stun Spell is *far* more efficient.

Misc

Spell Name	Level Needed	Runes Needed	XP Gained	Effect
Tele-Grab	33	1 Law + 1 Air	43	Get items you otherwise could not reach

Notes: Tele-grab is used in several quests.

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Imbuement Spells

Enchanting Spells

Enchant spells don't have a name, instead they are simply given levels.

Jewelry

Spell Name	Level Needed	Runes Needed	XP Gained	Used on
Level 1	7	1 Cosmic + 1 Water	17.5	Saphire Stuff
Level 2	27	1 Cosmic + 3 Airs	37	Emerald Stuff
Level 3	49	1 Cosmic + 5 Fires	59	Ruby Stuff
Level 4	57	1 Cosmic + 10 Earth	67	Diamond Stuff
Level 5	68	1 Cosmic + 15 Waters + 15 Earths	78	Dragonstone Stuff
Level 6	87	1 Cosmic + 20 Fires + 20 Earths	97	Onyx Stuff

Crossbow Bolts

These are accessed through the crossbow image which takes residence in the level 4 magic slot in the Modern Magic book. Note that level 4 is the MINIMUM needed and you may not be able to enchant your bolts. Each enchant will imbue up to 10 of your gem-tipped bolts with a special effect. Also, enchanted bolts are untradeable. Note that as they have no names (at all) I will simply list the type of gem which must be the tip of the bolt.

Used on	Level Needed	Runes Needed	XP Gained	Effect
Opal	4	1 Cosmic + 2 Airs	??	Target randomly hit by lighting for more damage
Saphire	7	1 Cosmic + 1 Water + 1 Body	??	Chance of draining opponent's prayer
Jade	14	1 Cosmic + 2 Earths	??	Target randomly hit to the ground
Pearl	24	1 Cosmic + 2 Waters	??	Target randomly hit by water for more damage
Emerald	27	1 Cosmic + 1 Nature + 3 Airs	??	High chance of super poisoning target
Topaz	29	1 Cosmic + 2 Fires	??	Chance of lowering target's mage level
Ruby	49	1 Cosmic + 1 Blood + 5 Fires	??	Lose 10% of your HP to make opponent lose 20% of theirs
Diamond	57	1 Cosmic + 2 Laws + 10 Earth	??	Chance of ignoring opponent's range defense
Dragonstone	68	1 Cosmic + 1 Soul + 15 Earth	??	Chance of using Dragonbreath (40+ damage)
Onyx	87	1 Cosmic + 1 Death + 20 Fire	??	Chance of doing extra damage + draining HP

Orb Charging

Charge Spells

All the spells are named Change (Element) Orb but for spacing reasons I've just used (Element) Charge

Spell Name	Level Needed	Runes Needed	XP Gained	Effect
Water Charge	56	3 Cosmics + 30 Waters	56	Aligns an unpowered orb to water
Earth Charge	60	3 Cosmics + 30 Earths	70	Aligns an unpowered orb to earth
Fire Charge	63	3 Cosmics + 30 Fires	73	Aligns an unpowered orb to fire
Air Charge	66	3 Cosmics + 30 Airs	76	aligns an unpowered orb to air

Notes: Although the Air rune precedes all others, the Air Orb is the most difficult to create. Logically this makes no sense, it's simply because it happens to be the most versatile and thus useful staff of the four so Jagex gave it the highest requirements.

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Assist Spells

Alchemy

Spell Name	Level Needed	Runes Needed	XP Gained	Effect
Low Level Alchemy	21	1 Nature + 3 Fires	31	Turn item into some coins
High Level Alchemy	55	1 Nature + 5 Fires	65	Turn item into more coins

Notes: If you have 55 magic you should never use low level alchemy, just use a fire staff and the costs are identical.

Conversion Spells

Spell Name	Level Needed	Runes Needed	XP Gained	Effect
Bones to Bananas	15	1 Nature + 2 Waters + 2 Earths	25	Turns all bones in inventory into bananas
Bones to Peaches	60	2 Natures + 4 Waters + 4 Earths	35.5	Turns all bones in inventory into peaches

Notes: Bananas heal 3, peaches heal 8. Bones to Peaches must be earned from the Mage Training Arena located in al kharid north of the Duel Arena.

Misc Spells

Spell Name	Level Needed	Runes Needed	XP Gained	Effect
Superheat Item	43	1 Nature + 4 Fires	53	Turn Ores into Bars

Again these spells are grouped by type, not level (Although it pretty much amounts to the same thing with this book)

Offensive Magic

Notes: ALL Smoke spells can poison your opponent. ALL Shadow spells can lower your opponent's Attack. ALL Blood spells heal you by aproximately 1/4 of the damage dealt. ALL Ice spells work like the bind spell set. (From 5-20 seconds in increments of 5)

Rush Spells

Spell Name	Level Needed	Runes Needed	XP Gained	Max Damage
Smoke Rush	50	2 Deaths + 2 Chaos + 1 Air + 1 Fire	30	13
Shadow Rush	52	2 Deaths + 2 Chaos + 1 Soul + 1 Air	31	14
Blood Rush	56	1 Blood + 2 Deaths + 2 Chaos	33	15
Ice Rush	58	2 Deaths + 2 Chaos + 2 Waters	34	16

Notes: If you're not using Ice Rush then you shouldn't be using these, and even then I'd still prefer Fire Blast. 'Still, the 5 seconds of no movement for your opponent should be helpful.

Burst Spells

Spell Name	Level Needed	Runes Needed	XP Gained	Max Damage
Smoke Burst	62	2 Deaths + 4 Chaos + 2 Airs + 2 Fires	37	17
Shadow Burst	64	2 Deaths + 4 Chaos + 2 Souls + 1 Air	37	17
Blood Burst	68	2 Bloods + 2 Deaths + 4 Chaos	39	21
Ice Burst	70	2 Deaths + 4 Chaos + 4 Waters	40	22

Notes: All of these spells are capable of hitting all targets in a 3x3 square around the selected target with every cast. That means you can theoretically hit up to 9 people per cast. Also, compare Ice Burst to Ice Rush, for an extra 340 gp you get 10 seconds of snare instead of 5, 22 damage instead of 16 and all of this on up to 9 people instead of 1. Awesome set.

Blitz Spells

Spell Name	Level Needed	Runes Needed	XP Gained	Max Damage
Smoke Blitz	74	2 Bloods + 2 Deaths + 2 Airs + 2 Fires	43	23
Shadow Blitz	76	2 Bloods + 2 Deaths + 2 Souls + 2 Air	43	24
Blood Blitz	80	4 Bloods + 2 Deaths	45	25
Ice Blitz	82	2 Bloods + 2 Deaths + 3 Waters	46	26

Notes: Although they only hit 1 target, these are all deadly. Except Blood Blitz but only because it's so costly that few people use it outside of the Duel Arena (Where, incidently, the only thing better is Blood Barrage). Ice Blitz is very much like Iban Blast merged with Entangle owing to the massive damage and 15 seconds of freezing.

Barrage Spells

Spell Name	Level Needed	Runes Needed	XP Gained	Max Damage
Smoke Barrage	86	2 Bloods + 4 Deaths + 4 Airs +4 Fires	48	27
Shadow Barrage	88	2 Bloods + 4 Deaths + 3 Souls +4 Airs	48	28
Blood Barrage	92	4 Bloods + 4 Deaths + 1 Soul	51	29
Ice Barrage	94	2 Bloods + 4 Deaths + 6 Waters	52	30

Notes: Observe the fact that the most damaging and arguably useful spell, Ice Barrage, is also the cheapest of the barrage set. Gotta love Jagex. These spells are like exactly like the Burst Family. Except on major steroids. This time the Ice Spell will freeze for 20(!!!) seconds. Also given that the maximum damage is 30 per person and that it can hit 9 people, that means 270 possible damage which yields 540exp per cast + the 52 base. So at almost 600xp per cast, it is physically possible to use this for training.

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Teleporting Magic

Teleports

Destination	Level Needed	Runes Needed	XP Gained
Edgeville	54	2 Laws + 1 Air + 1 Fire	64
Digsite	60	2 Laws + 1 Soul	70
Canifis	66	2 Laws + 1 Blood	76
Ice Mountain	72	2 Laws + 4 Waters	82
Wildy Ruins (Lvl 30-40)	78	2 Laws + 2 Airs + 3 Fires	88
Wildy Graveyard (Lvl 18)	84	2 Laws + 2 Souls	82
Demon Ruins (Lvl 45-48)	90	2 Laws + 2 Bloods	100
Ice Plateau (Lvl 50-53)	96	2 Laws + 8 Waters	106

Notes: All costly teleports to the places which were -at the time of the God wars - the modern day important cities. Edgeville teleport can be useful for abyss Rune Crafters.

There are really only three sections with this spell set, White Magic, Teleports and Misc.

White Magic

Spell Name	Level Needed	Runes Needed	XP Gained	Effect
Cure Other	68	1 Astral + 1 Law + 10 Earths	48	Cures target of poison
Cure Me	71	2 Astrals + 1 Law + 2 Cosmics	46	Cures you of poison
Cure Group	74	2 Astrals + 2 Laws + 2 Cosmics	59	Cures up to 4 people around you of poison
Stat Restore Pot Share	81	2 Astrals + 10 Earths + 10 Waters	49	Allows you to share Prayer/Stat/S.Stat restore pots with up to 4 players around you
Boost Pot Share	84	3 Astrals + 12 Earths + 10 Waters	62	Allows you to share non-super stat boost pots with up to 4 people around you
Energy Transfer	91	3 Astrals + 1 Nature + 2 Laws	68	Suffer some damage to transfer energy and special attack bar to target
Heal Other	92	3 Astrals + 3 Laws + 1 Blood	86	Drains you of HP to heal target
Heal Group	95	4 Astrals + 6 Laws + 3 Bloods	124	Drains you of HP to heal up to 4 people around you

Notes: The obvious benefits of this are that in the wilderness your partner may not have to eat food or cure poison at all as you have the ability to heal them. It also allows up to 8 dds specs in a row, but that's kinda cheap... Still if it gets you a good pk, who cares?

Teleports

Note that if you use a group teleport, you will teleport as normal but if anyone was standing beside you they will be able to teleport with you in the same way as the Modern Mage Tele-Other spells work.

Teleport Spells

Destination	Level Needed	Runes Needed	XP Gained
Moonclan	69	2 Astrals + 1 law + 2 Earths	50
G. Moonclan	70	2 Astrals + 1 Law + 4 Earths	51
Waterbirth	72	2 Astrals + 1 Law + 1 Water	51
G. Waterbirth	73	2 Astrals + 1 Law + 4 Waters	53
Barb Village	75	2 Astrals + 2 Laws + 2 Fires	53
G. Barb Village	76	2 Astrals + 2 Laws + 6 Fires	55
Khazard	78	2 Astrals + 2 Laws + 4 Waters	54
G. Khazard	79	2 Astrals + 2 Laws + 8 Waters	56
Fishing Guild	85	3 Astrals + 3 Laws + 10 Waters	65
G. Fishing Guild	86	3 Astrals + 3 Laws + 14 Waters	70
Catherby	87	3 Astrals + 3 Laws + 10 Waters	78
G. Catherby	88	3 Astrals + 3 Laws + 15 Waters	80
Ice Plateau (Lvl 50-53 wild)	89	3 Astrals + 3 Laws + 8 Waters	96
G. Ice Plateau (Lvl 50-53 wild)	90	3 Astrals + 3 Laws + 16 Waters	99

Notes: The Moonclan teleport allows effortless spellbook switching when changing away from Lunar spells, also the group spells can be really useful, even for PKing when you can take your entire team straight to the deep wild.

Miscellanious Spells

Misc

Spell Name	Level Needed	Runes Needed	XP Gained	Effect
Bake Pie	65	1 Astral + 5 Fires + 4 Waters	26 + Cooking xp	Cooks all unbaked pies in inventory
Cure Plant	66	1 Astral + 8 Earths	26	Cures plants of disease
NPC Contact	67	1 Astral + 1 Cosmic + 2 Airs	30	Allows you to talk to various NPCs
Superglass Make	77	2 Astrals + 10 Airs + 6 Fires	41 + 10 craft xp	Allows you to make molten glass without a furnace
String Amulet	80	2 Astrals + 10 Earths + 5 Water	44 + 4 craft xp	Strings an amulet without ball of wool
Magic Imbue	82	2 Astrals + 7 Fires + 7 Waters	51	Allows you to make combo runes for a short while
Fertile Soil	83	3 Astrals + 2 Nats + 15 Earths	61 + 18 Farm xp	Fertilises farm patch with super compost
Vengence Other	93	3 Astrals + 2 Deaths + 10 Earth	73	Put vengence effect on target
Vengence	94	4 Astrals + 2 Deaths + 10 Earth	75	Put Vengence effect on self

Notes: Vengence effect will return 75% of the damage you receive to your opponent for one hit. IE you take 20 damage, they take 15. NPC contact can be used for slayer, removing the need to visit your master after every task but other than that.... I mean, String Amulet, that's just desperation on Jagex's part...

In RuneScape there is a fairly vast amount of armour available for you to pick and choose from as you please. There's cheap clothes that even a player fresh off of Tutorial Island can get fairly easily. Then you have the big bad stuff that costs a pretty penny. Of course after that you get the rediculously expensive stuff which gives less stat boosts... Yeah... Unfortunately given the unique way in which RuneScape's player market works (or doesn't) I won't be able to list prices because... Well, I could list something as 5gp then it becomes a rare item worth 5M.... *Cough* Iron Sickle *Cough*

This section will be devised into 8 key areas:

Hats
Jewelery
Chests
Legs
Gloves
Boots
Capes
Books
Hats

Note that no Mage Hat in the game gives any sort of boost to either Strength or prayer, so they will not be listed. The top line of stats will be the Attack Boosts, the second to the Defense boosts. In order of stat boosts (To mage attack):

Hats

Name	Stab	Slash	Crush	Magic	Range
Wizard Hat	0	0	0	2	0
Defensive Bonuses	0	0	0	2	0
Skeletal Helmet	0	0	0	2	0
Defensive Bonuses	10	9	11	3	0
Lunar Helmet	0	0	0	3	-2
Defensive Bonuses	8	7	10	2	0
Ghostly Hood	0	0	0	3	0
Defensive Bonuses	0	0	0	3	0
Gnome Hats	0	0	0	3	0
Defensive Bonuses	0	0	0	3	0
Splitbark Helmet	0	0	0	3	-2
Defensive Bonuses	10	9	11	3	0
Mystic Hat	0	0	0	4	0
Defensive Bonuses	0	0	0	4	0
Enchanted Hat	0	0	0	4	0
Defensive Bonuses	0	0	0	4	0
Infinity Hat	0	0	0	6	0
Defensive Bonuses	0	0	0	6	0
Farseer Helmet	-5	-5	0	6	-5
Defensive Bonuses	8	12	10	6	0
Ahrim Hood	0	0	0	6	-2
Defensive Bonuses	15	13	16	6	0

Notes: The Farseer is fairly cheap yet gives identical mage+ to both Ahrim AND Infinity, it also doesn't degrade. Against normal monsters you should not be using Ahrim's hood when Farseer is available. Unless you like burning money to look cool, in which case you may procceed. Also note that the full enchantment set is basically like God armour... It's identical to mystic in stats but looks cooler.

Jewelery

Name	Stab	Slash	Crush	Magic	Range	Strength	Prayer
Lunar Amulet	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Defensive Bonuses	0	0	0	1	0	-	-
Unholy Symbol	2	2	2	2	2	0	8
Defensive Bonuses	0	0	0	0	0	-	-
Lunar Ring	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Defensive Bonuses	0	0	0	2	0	-	-
Seers Ring	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
Defensive Bonuses	0	0	0	4	0	-	-
Amulet of Magic	0	0	0	10	0	0	0
Defensive Bonuses	0	0	0	0	0	-	-
Glory Amulet	10	10	10	10	10	6	3
Defensive Bonuses	3	3	3	3	3	-	-
Amulet of Fury	10	10	10	10	10	8	5
Defensive Bonuses	15	15	15	15	15	-	-

Notes: The unholy Symbol can be a useful aid in things like the Fight Cave, I mean it's not gonna boost your attack success rate by an extreme amount, but who knows can really say. Amulet of Magic is absolutely fantastic for new players, providing identical mage attack bonus to even the super expensive Amulet of Fury! Personally I favour the Glory Amulet. Those teleports are a life saver, sometimes literally.

Chests

Name	Stab	Slash	Crush	Magic	Range	Strength	Prayer
Zamorak Robe Top	0	0	0	2	0	0	3
Defensive Bonuses	0	0	0	3	0	-	-
Wizards Robe	0	0	0	3	0	0	0
Defensive Bonuses	0	0	0	3	0	-	-
Ghostly Robe Top	0	0	0	5	0	0	0
Defensive Bonuses	0	0	0	5	0	-	-
Skeletal Top	0	0	0	8	-10	0	0
Defensive Bonuses	35	25	42	15	0	-	-
Lunar Torso	0	0	0	10	-10	0	0
Defensive Bonuses	34	22	40	12	0	-	-
Splitbark Top	0	0	0	10	-10	0	0
Defensive Bonuses	36	26	42	15	0	-	-
Mystic Robe Top	0	0	0	20	0	0	0
Defensive Bonuses	0	0	0	20	0	-	-
Enchanted Top	0	0	0	20	0	0	0
Defensive Bonuses	0	0	0	20	0	-	-
Infinity Top	0	0	0	22	0	0	0
Defensive Bonuses	0	0	0	22	0	-	-
Ahrim Robe Top	0	0	0	30	-10	0	0
Defensive Bonuses	52	37	63	30	0	-	-

Notes: For such a difficult armour to acquire, skeletal is a fairly poor armour. Granted the defense is nice but it's not even as good as Splitbark. Mind you, it's fairly cool looking. It is also worth noting that Infinity isn't really much better than Mystic. The extra few million gp it costs will grant you a grand total of 4 more stats than the Mystic... Then again, Ahrim blows both of them away, and costs less than the Infinity.

Legs

Name	Stab	Slash	Crush	Magic	Range	Strength	Prayer
Zamorak Robe Bottom	0	0	0	2	0	0	3
Defensive Bonuses	0	0	0	3	0	-	-
Ghostly Robe Bottom	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
Defensive Bonuses	0	0	0	4	0	-	-
Skeletal Bottoms	0	0	0	6	-7	0	0
Defensive Bonuses	22	20	24	10	0	-	-
Lunar Legs	0	0	0	7	-7	0	0
Defensive Bonuses	20	19	23	9	0	-	-
Splitbark Legs	0	0	0	7	-7	0	0
Defensive Bonuses	22	20	25	10	0	-	-
Mystic Robe Bottom	0	0	0	15	0	0	0
Defensive Bonuses	0	0	0	15	0	-	-
Enchanted Robe	0	0	0	15	0	0	0
Defensive Bonuses	0	0	0	15	0	-	-
Infinity Bottom	0	0	0	17	0	0	0
Defensive Bonuses	0	0	0	17	0	-	-
Ahrims Robe Skirt	0	0	0	22	-7	0	0
Defensive Bonuses	33	30	36	22	0	-	-

Gloves

Name	Stab	Slash	Crush	Magic	Range	Strength	Prayer
Chaos Gauntlets	2	2	2	0	0	0	0
Defensive Bonuses	8	9	7	0	0	-	-
Leather Gloves	1	1	1	1	1	1	0
Defensive Bonuses	1	1	1	1	1	-	-
Ghostly Gloves	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Defensive Bonuses	0	0	0	2	0	-	-
Splitbark Gauntlets	0	0	0	2	-1	0	0
Defensive Bonuses	3	2	4	2	0	-	-
Mystic Gloves	0	0	0	3	0	0	0
Defensive Bonuses	0	0	0	3	0	-	-
Lunar Gloves	0	0	0	4	-1	0	0
Defensive Bonuses	2	1	1	2	0	-	-
Infinity Gloves	0	0	0	5	0	0	0
Defensive Bonuses	0	0	0	5	0	-	-
Rune/Blue Gloves	8	8	8	4	8	8	0
Defensive Bonuses	8	8	8	4	8	-	-
Dragon/Red Gloves	9	9	9	5	9	9	0
Defensive Bonuses	9	9	9	5	9	-	-
Barrows/Dark Gloves	12	12	12	6	12	12	0
Defensive Bonuses	12	12	12	6	12	-	-

Notes: Chaos Gauntlets are listed because you should be using them whenever you're using bolt spells. Skeletal Gloves are not listed because they give no mage attack or defense whatsoever. Also all of the Recipe for Disaster gloves give some sort of mage bonus but the only ones worth using are the Rune/Dragon/Barrows, hence the others have been excluded.

Note that no Mage Boots in the game give any sort of boost to either Strength or prayer, so they will not be listed.

Boots

Name	Stab	Slash	Crush	Magic	Range
Splitbark Graves	0	0	0	2	-1
Defensive Bonuses	3	2	4	2	0
Ghostly Boots	0	0	0	2	0
Defensive Bonuses	0	0	0	2	0
Lunar Boots	0	0	0	2	-1
Defensive Bonuses	1	2	2	2	0
Mystic Boots	0	0	0	3	0
Defensive Bonuses	0	0	0	3	0
Wizards Boots	0	0	0	4	0
Defensive Bonuses	0	0	0	4	0
Infinity Boots	0	0	0	5	0
Defensive Bonuses	0	0	0	5	0

Notes: Again, Skeletal is a no show on any sort of mage bonus. Wizards boots have become fairly cheap since Infinity overtook them in terms of mage bonus, so you could consider them if you're on a budget. However, if you have the cash (Or the spells to earn it), infinity is the way to go.

Capes

Name	Stab	Slash	Crush	Magic	Range	Strength	Prayer
Fire Cape	1	1	1	1	1	4	2
Defensive Bonuses	11	11	11	11	11	-	-
Ghostly Cloak	0	0	0	5	0	0	0
Defensive Bonuses	0	0	0	5	0	-	-
God Cape	0	0	0	10	0	0	0
Defensive Bonuses	1	1	2	10	0	-	-

Notes: God cape. Note that the Lunar Cape, while cool looking, gives no Mage Attack bonuses.

Books

Name	Stab	Slash	Crush	Magic	Range	Strength	Prayer
Book of Balance	4	4	4	4	4	0	5
Defensive Bonuses	4	4	4	4	4	-	-
Unholy Book	8	8	8	8	8	0	5
Defensive Bonuses	0	0	0	0	0	-	-
Mage Book	0	0	0	15	0	0	0
Defensive Bonuses	0	0	0	15	0	-	-

Notes: Mage book is very expensive, so in the end it comes down to how much free cash you have. If you don't have much, go for the unholy, if you have tonnes, go for the Mage Book.

These are not sorted by stats, instead they are sorted by Staff/Special Staff/Wand

Staves

Name	Stab	Slash	Crush	Magic	Range	Strength	Prayer
Staff	0	-1	7	4	0	3	0
Defensive Bonuses	2	3	1	4	0	-	-
Magic Staff	2	-1	10	10	0	7	0
Defensive Bonuses	2	3	1	10	0	-	-
Staff of Air/Water	0	-1	7	10	0	3	0
Defensive Bonuses	2	3	1	10	0	-	-
Staff of Earth	1	-1	9	10	0	5	0
Defensive Bonuses	2	3	1	10	0	-	-
Staff of Fire	3	-1	9	10	0	6	0
Defensive Bonuses	2	3	1	10	0	-	-
Battlestaff	7	-1	25	10	0	32	0
Defensive Bonuses	2	3	1	10	0	-	-
ANY Elemental Battlestaff	7	-1	28	10	0	35	0
Defensive Bonuses	2	3	1	10	0	-	-
ANY Elemental Mystic Staff	10	-1	40	10	0	50	0
Defensive Bonuses	2	3	1	10	0	-	-

Notes: The Elemental Battle Staves and Mystic Staves include the Mud and Lava staff, they're all identical stat-wise.

Special Staves

Name	Stab	Slash	Crush	Magic	Range	Strength	Prayer
ANY God Staff	-1	-1	6	6	0	0	0
Defensive Bonuses	2	3	1	6	0	-	-
Dramen Staff	-1	-1	10	10	0	10	0
Defensive Bonuses	2	3	1	10	0	-	-
Iban Staff	10	-1	40	10	0	50	0
Defensive Bonuses	2	3	1	10	0	-	-
Slayer Staff	7	-1	25	12	0	35	0
Defensive Bonuses	2	3	1	10	0	-	-
Lunar Staff	3	2	16	13	0	15	3
Defensive Bonuses	2	3	2	13	1	-	-
Ancient Staff	10	-1	40	15	0	50	-1
Defensive Bonuses	2	3	1	15	0	-	-
Ahrim Staff	12	*1	65	15	0	68	0
Defensive Bonuses	3	5	2	15	0	-	-
Toktz-Mej-Tal	15	-1	55	15	0	55	5
Defensive Bonuses	10	15	5	15	0	-	-

Notes: The Ahrim Staff, mage stat wise, is the worst in the game. Granted with the full Ahrim set you can reduce your opponent's strength, which is helpful, but in normal mage clothes a regular run of the mill staff can achieve a bonus of +19 when paired with a Mage Book. The Ahrim staff cannot do this as it is two handed. Unfortunate, but true. Also the Toktz-Mej-Tal is the only staff that will offer you a prayer bonus, and with 15+ to mage as well, it's easily one of the best in the game. Would probably be the best overall if only it could cast ancients or even magic dart....

Wands

Name	Stab	Slash	Crush	Magic	Range	Strength	Prayer
Beginner Wand	0	0	0	5	0	0	0
Defensive Bonuses	0	0	0	5	0	0	0
Apprentice Wand	0	0	0	10	0	0	0
Defensive Bonuses	0	0	0	10	0	0	0
Teacher Wand	0	0	0	15	0	0	0
Defensive Bonuses	0	0	0	15	0	0	0
Master Wand	0	0	0	20	0	0	0
Defensive Bonuses	0	0	0	20	0	0	0

Notes: No weapon in the game will offer you as high a magic bonus as the Master Wand. The downside is that you get no free runes. It's entirely your decision whether this is acceptable or not.

Levelling mage is a pretty easy thing to do at low levels, but then all skills are. As your level increases though, you'll find yourself spending a hell of a lot of gold to get even just one more level. Unless you use Pest Control or are determined to High-Alch, but we'll get to that...

Level 1-19
Just use the strike spells, get yourself a nice feel for the skill. 19 will come fairly quickly.

19-35 OR 39
Curse spell, doesn't really matter what you use it on, just use it like there's no tomorow. Assuming you did nothing but curse from level 35 onward, it would take only 636 casts of the spell to get yo level 35. That's practically nothing.

35-55 Route A
Fire bolt to train on strong monsters. You can actually take on Steel Dragons at this level if you have an Antifire Shield + Antifire pots, you'll be invincible to them if you stand a short distance back. However, I'd be more leaning toward lesser demons and the like at this level. Purely from 35-55 using Fire bolt will cost a MAXIMUM of 4181 casts, however that is assuming you miss every time, which is rather unlikely.

35-55 Route B
Just keep on cursing. Will take you a while to do it but it's the cheapest method that is actually vialble. Will take about 4974 casts.

39-55
Crumble Undead. Just set yourself up in Varrok Sewers and you're pretty much sorted. With this version you will use a MAXIMUM of 4156, but keep in mind that it could also be as low as 2200 if you maxed out damage every time.

55+
High Level Alchemy is your best bet until either the 80s or 90s at which point Pest Control will actually pay you to level up magic faster than any method you can buy. If done correctly High-Level Alchemy will earn you money, but it is undeniably tedious and boring to do. However by this time you should be able to choose your own levelling methods. Go nuts :)

Now in this section I'll provide 3 different mage setup, one for low level or f2pers, one for mid-level players (Around the 60 mage mark or so) and the ultimate mage setup at the time of writing. Priority lies in the mage attack bonus, where there is a tie in this stat the one which gives the best overall bonuses is the one which is listed.

Low Level/F2p

Hats - Wizard Hat
Amulet - Amulet of Magic
Chests - Wizard Robe
Legs - Zamorak Robe Skirt
Gloves - Leather Gloves
Weapon - Elemental Staff
Boots - Any
Capes - Any
Books - None
Ring - Any

Total Bonuses	Stab	Slash	Crush	Magic	Range	Strength	Prayer
Offensive Bonuses	1	0	8	28	1	4	3
Defensive Bonuses	3	4	2	19	1	-	-

Mid-Level

Hats - Farseer Helmet
Amulet - Glory Amulet
Chests - Mystic Robe Top
Legs - Mystic Robe Skirt
Gloves - Mystic Gloves
Weapon - Slayer Staff
Boots - Wizard Boots
Capes - God Cape
Books - Unholy Book
Ring - Any

Total Bonuses	Stab	Slash	Crush	Magic	Range	Strength	Prayer
Offensive Bonuses	20	12	43	88	13	41	8
Defensive Bonuses	14	19	16	71	3	-	-

Ultimate

Hats - Ahrim Hood
Amulet - Amulet of Fury
Chests - Ahrim Robe Top
Legs - Ahrim Robe Skirt
Gloves - Barrows Gloves
Weapon - Master Wand
Boots - Infinity Boots
Capes - God Cape
Books - Mage Book
Ring - Seers Ring

Total Bonuses	Stab	Slash	Crush	Magic	Range	Strength	Prayer
Offensive Bonuses	22	22	22	128	3	20	5
Defensive Bonuses	128	108	144	133	27	-	-