OSRS F2P Melee Combat Guide: Fastest Way From 1-99

In this guide, I'll show you the quickest and most profitable ways to get to 99 melee combat in F2P. Going from 1-99 melee via F2P methods is much slower than P2P since you have fewer options for monsters, gear, weapons, and equipment. Today, I’m breaking down the fastest, simplest, and most efficient F2P melee training path from Level 1 to 99, based on the most accurate community knowledge and hours of personal testing.

This is a special guide for those players who, for one reason or another, want to train in F2P, although obviously, if you want more speed, it's more advisable to pay for a membership and follow our OSRS P2P Melee Combat Training Guide: Fastest From 1-99

If you're a brand-new account or coming back after years away, this guide will save you days of wasted XP. Let’s begin.

Before You Start

There’s one rule to melee training in OSRS:

•  DPS (Damage per second) = Everything.
•   → Fast DPS
•   → Slow DPS

The faster you hit, and the harder you hit, the faster you gain XP.

That means:

Fast attack-speed weapons (Scimitars > everything else)
Good Strength bonuses.
Fighting targets with reasonably high HP and low-to-nothing defence.
Staying in combat continuously—no downtime, no unnecessary clicking.

In F2P, weapon choices are limited, but still matter a lot.

F2P Gear Progression

This is ideal to use as you level up, for example:

Weapons (ranked best):

Ironman Note: If you can't buy a Rune Scimitar, the Barronite Mace or a Rune Sword becomes your next-best DPS option.

Amulets (important!)

Armor Progression

And yes — if you want to have the best DPS:
  Gold decorative boots from Castle Wars are technically best-in-slot. They require 30 defence to wear and cost 400 CW Tickets. We are currently offering Castle Wars ticket services if you are interested and don't want to do the hard work. Let's start with the grind journey.

Fastest Training Route (1–99)

Below is the exact path I recommend — tested and optimised.

Step 1: Get Level 20 Attack Instantly

This one shocks new players.

Instead of punching cows for 2 hours, do this:

1. Get Magic to level 9–10:
   Use the free runes from the Magic Tutor in Lumbridge
   Kill chickens safely
   OR complete:
   Witch’s Potion
   325 Magic experience
   Imp Catcher
   875 Magic experience

Use that Magic to safe-spot kill Count Draynor in Vampire Slayer.

  Vampire Slayer 

3 Quest points

4,825 Attack experience

Boosts Attack from level 1 → level 20.

This single step saves hours.

Levels 1–10

Training Spot: Chickens or Cows (Lumbridge)

• Infinite respawns
• Low damage
• Useful drops (feathers for fletching/fishing or cowhides for crafting profit)

Switch between Attack → Strength → Defence as needed, but always train Attack first so you can unlock scimitars faster.

  XP/hr: 5k–10k

Levels 10–20

Training Spot: Edgeville Monastery Monks

Ideal for early-mid game because they offer free healing and have higher HP than beginner monsters. You can stay here for long sessions without food because if you talk to any Monk, they can heal you for free, making them extremely cost-efficient.

• Passive healing
• Higher HP than cows/chickens
• Safe, calm, and zero food required

Stay here until you hit 20 Strength and 20 Defence.

  XP/hr: 5k–12k

Levels 20–40

Option 1 (Recommended): Lumbridge Swamp Giant Frogs

A solid training spot with decent HP, simple combat, and low-hit damage received. The only bad thing about this spot is occasional world competition due to popularity, especially for new accounts.

• Good HP
• Easy kills
• Bones for Prayer, if you want it later

  XP/hr: 5k–12k

Option 2: Barbarian Village

• Cooked meat spawns (free food)
• Slightly more engaging combat
• Better loot variety

Stay until:
✔ 40 Attack
✔ 40 Strength
✔ 40 Defence
→ Equip full Rune + Rune Scimitar once you hit 40 Attack/Defence.

  XP/hr: 5k–15k

Should You Do Dragon Slayer?

YES — but not at level 1. Only do it once your combat stats are around 30/30/30 minimum — unless you're confident flinching. 

  Dragon Slayer I gives a huge boost:

18,650 XP split between Strength and Defence

Levels 40–60 — (AFK Phase Begins)

Training Spot: Flesh Crawlers

Best option for semi-AFK training thanks to aggression and consistent respawns. Low food usage and reliable XP

• Aggressive NPCs (auto-attack you)
• Consistent XP
• Semi-AFK
• Watch HP occasionally

Just reset aggro every 10–15 minutes by stepping out and re-entering.

This stage will take some time, but it’s the most relaxed part of the grind.

Levels 60–99 — (Best F2P Melee XP)

Training Spot: Giant Spiders 

Training at giant spiders is generally not profitable, but it is the quickest and best way to get good experience rates when training melee in F2P. Another advantage of this method is that they are aggressive to all players regardless of level, so you can be afk at any combat level while killing giant spiders.

Giant spiders found in the stronghold of security have a combat level of 50, hitpoints of 50, and can hit up to 7, so you will need a significant amount of food and potions if you decide to follow this route While this method may appear to be very afk, it is recommended to keep an eye on your character before the end of aggression to prevent death, especially for hardcore ironmen.

  Starting at level 60 combat, you should expect only about 25k to 30k experience per hour, increasing to 60k to 70k experience per hour as you get closer to 99, but this greatly depends on your gear. 

• Very high HP NPCs
• Fully aggressive
• Extremely AFK-friendly
• Best F2P melee XP in the game

Expect:

  20–30k XP/hour depending on stats and gear
Very little food is needed once in rune armour.
Reset aggro occasionally

This is where you’ll spend the biggest chunk of the road to 99.

Hill Giants (Optional)

They drop big bones, which this method does. Apart from combat, you can also level up prayer as you kill the hill giants, although it is not highly recommended due to its high demand, and many people go there; that's why it's more recommendable to kill giant spiders.

Drops good loot, decent XP, less AFK, but passive prayer EXP if burying bones.

  XP/hr: 8k–17k

Ogress Shamans (Combat 80+)

In F2P, killing Ogress Warriors yields the best drops. They are level 82 monsters who can hit up to 8 with a single strike. To do this method profitably, you should have 80 strength, attack, and defence, and bring good food and potions. 

Some of their drops include: big bones, mithril kiteshield, iron arrows, steel arrows, uncut ruby, uncut sapphire, uncut emerald, uncut ruby rune med helm, rune full helm, rune battleaxe, and shaman mask. They also drop different types of runes. It is necessary to bring a fire staff (or fire runes) and a nature rune to high alch the majority of these drops to save space and reduce banking trips.

  Killing Ogrress shamans can earn you up to 65k gp per hour at Level 80 combat, and this increases to 80k gp per hour as your combat level approaches 99, but the experience rates are low, with only 20k to 30k experience gained per hour.

Free Food Sources in F2P

  Want to avoid spending GP?

• Fishers at Barbarian Village drop trout/salmon on the ground constantly
• Permanent fire nearby to cook
• Free, renewable food resource — especially good for Ironmen
  
  
  

Best slot in melee gear for F2P

Best head-slot gear for F2P

Rune full helm 

You may go for the rune full helm, which is the strongest helm in free-to-play, and requires just 40 defence to wear.

Rune med helm

This helm requires only 40 defence to wear. It provides a +22 defence bonus against stab, +23 against slash, and +21 against crush.

Best body slot gear for F2P

Rune platebody

This is the strongest platebody in F2P. It requires 40 Defence to wear and completion of Dragon Slayer I. If you still need to complete Dragon Slayer I, you can opt for the rune chainbody. Although it has lower defence stats, it is still good.

Rune chainbody

This gear is pretty good for F2P; it requires 96 Smithing to be made using 3 runite bars on an anvil with a hammer in your inventory; it requires only 40 Defence to wear.

Best in slot amulet for F2P

Strength amulet

This amulet gives the highest strength bonus available in OSRS and would significantly improve your max hit

Amulet of power

This amulet gives the second-highest strength bonus with a little of attack and defence bonuses, it's a great alternative if you don't own an amulet of strength.

Best in slot weapon for F2P

Rune scimitar

This weapon is the strongest weapon available for F2P, giving the best DPS in F2P, and requires 40 attack to wield.

Best in slot cape for F2P

Any cape: You can decide to use any cape available in F2P when training combat, as they all offer low and similar combat bonuses

Best leg slot gear for F2P

Rune platelegs

This requires 40 defence to wear, and it is one of the best items for the leg slot available for F2P players. It provides up to +51 defence against stab, +49 against slash, and +47 against crush.

Best shield for F2P

Rune kiteshield 

This kiteshield is the best and requires 40 defence to wear.

Best glove slot gear for F2P

Green d’hide vambraces 

Don't worry if you don't have it; it won't make a huge difference whether you have it or not. But if you do have it, it will definitely be useful.

Best boot slot gear for F2P

Decorative boot (gold)

These boots give the highest bonus of all F2P boots. They can be gotten from the Castle Wars ticket exchange shop and require 30 defence to wear.

Decorative boot (white)

These boots can be obtained from the Castle Wars ticket exchange shop and require only 20 defence to wear, giving the second-highest bonus of all boots in F2P.

Final Tips

• Train in this order: Strength → Attack → Defence
• Always upgrade your weapon/armour first
• Scimitars are your best fast DPS friend
• Aggressive monsters = faster XP
• AFK where possible, but don't fall asleep (Hardcore Ironmen… you’ve been warned.)
  
  

Conclusion

Training combat in free-to-play can be slow, gritty, and honestly? A little nostalgic. But with the right method, it doesn’t have to take years or months.

This guide gave you the fastest, realistic path from 1 to 99 in free-to-play—whether you're training an Ironman or a brand-new account.

This is a special guide for those players who, for one reason or another, want to train in F2P, although obviously, if you want more speed, it's more advisable to pay for a membership and follow our OSRS P2P Melee Combat Training Guide: Fastest From 1-99