Last Updated: Sep 03, 2026
By Venom
This guide covers the best boots in Old School RuneScape for all three combat styles, ranked and explained. Every stat here comes from verified sources and my personal experience in OSRS, and every price is the Grand Exchange value on that date. Prices move, so treat them as a snapshot, not a quote.
A lot has changed in this slot recently. The Avernic treads from the Doom of Mokhaiotl now sit at the top of all three lists, Aranea boots gave low-level accounts a genuinely good option out of nowhere, and the old Pegasian and primordial upgrades have shifted in value because of it. If your boot information is more than a year old, some of it is out of date.
If you would rather not grind the levels these boots ask for, our PowerLeveling page can handle that side of it for you at here.
Let’s get into it!
I ranked by overall usefulness rather than by a single number. A boot with one more strength point but no defence is not automatically better than one with slightly less strength and +32 defence in every melee style, because the two get worn in completely different fights.
When two pairs are close, I put the one that covers more situations first, then plainly say what the other does better. Price is part of that judgement too. Ranger boots have a better ranged attack than blessed d'hide boots, but paying 34M for one extra point is a decision very few accounts should make.
Cosmetic items are left out entirely. Wyrmscraig boots are a good example of what I mean: they came out with the Wyrmscraig update, they look great, and every one of their combat bonuses is zero.
The feet slot is small, which is exactly why players skip it. No pair of boots will change a kill time on its own.
The thing is that OSRS damage stacks. Strength bonus feeds your max hit through the same formula as your amulet, your ring and your weapon, so +4 from dragon boots counts for the same as +4 from anywhere else. Players who would never fight without an amulet of torture will happily run Slayer in climbing boots, and it is the same arithmetic in both cases.
Magic damage works even harder. The +1% on eternal boots multiplies against your whole setup, so it pays out more on an ancestral and occult loadout than it does on a mystic robes account. Ranged strength behaves the same way for ranged max hits, and that is why the single point on Pegasian boots beats ranger boots by more than the attack numbers imply.
Then there is defence, which nobody puts in a DPS calculator. Guardian and echo boots give +32 in every melee style and +24 against ranged, while the magic boots most people wear give nothing at all against melee. Over a two hour trip that difference is food you did not have to eat, and food saved is kills gained. Every entry below lists the defence that matters for the style it is ranked under, with anything notable from the other two styles noted alongside it.
Magic boots are ranked here by magic attack first, then by what else they bring. Magic attack raises how often your spells land, while magic damage raises how hard they hit, and only two pairs of boots in the game offer the second one.
Use the table for a quick comparison, then read the entries below for requirements, sources, defence values, and when each pair is the right call.
Boots | Requirements | Magic Attack | Magic Damage | Magic Defence | Prayer | Tradeable | Price | Best For |
Aranea boots | None | +5 | 0% | +0 | +1 | Yes | 807K | Pures and hybrids |
Wizard boots | 20 Magic | +4 | 0% | +4 | +0 | Yes | 133K | Cheap accuracy bump |
Mystic boots | 40 Mag, 20 Def | +3 | 0% | +3 | +0 | Yes | 5.7K | Early magic training |
Infinity boots | 50 Mag, 25 Def | +5 | 0% | +5 | +0 | Yes | 932K | Mid game magic |
Bloodbark boots | 60 Mag, 60 Def | +4 | 0% | +5 | +0 | Yes | 55K | Blood spell sustain |
Boots of brimstone | 44 Slay, 70 Def, Mag, Rng | +3 | 0% | +5 | +0 | Yes | 310K | Tanking while casting |
Eternal boots | 75 Mag, 75 Def | +8 | +1% | +8 | +0 | Yes | 4.1M | High-level magic PvM |
Avernic treads | 80 Def, Str, Rng, Mag | +11 | +1% (+2%) | +10 | +0 | Base only | 158M | Endgame hybrid PvM |
Note: Grand Exchange prices were checked on 26 August 2026 and will have moved since. Avernic treads are only tradeable in their base form.
The Avernic treads are the closest thing OSRS has to a universal boot, and they rewrote the feet slot when the Doom of Mokhaiotl started dropping them. Base treads already beat eternal boots by three points of magic attack, and they carry real melee defence instead of the flimsy +5 most magic gear settles for. Feeding in a pair of eternal boots along with 4,000 demon tears at 80 Magic and 60 Runecraft pushes magic damage to 2%, though the treads stop being tradeable the moment you do it. At roughly 158M they are not a casual purchase. If you split your time between raids, Slayer and general PvM, they replace three separate upgrades at once.
For most players this is still the realistic best in slot. Eternal boots are Infinity boots upgraded with an Eternal Crystal from Cerberus, which needs 60 Magic and 60 Runecraft with no boosts allowed. That +1% magic damage looks tiny written down, but magic damage multiplies against everything else on your setup, so it is worth far more on an ancestral and occult loadout than the number suggests. I bought my pair at around 4M and have never had a reason to take them off outside Wilderness trips. If 158M for treads is out of reach, this is where the money goes.
Infinity boots come out of the Mage Training Arena, which costs 1,200 Enchanting Chamber points plus 120 in each of the other three rooms. Most people buy them instead, and at just under 1M, that is fair enough. What makes them worth owning is that they are the base item for eternal boots, so the money is never wasted even if you upgrade later. The 50 Magic requirement also puts them within reach long before you own the gear that justifies them.
The araxytes in Araxxor's lair drop one of the odder items in the game. Aranea boots match infinity boots for magic attack, sit just behind blessed d'hide boots for ranged attack, carry +4 strength, and ask for nothing at all to equip. The catch is zero defence in every category, so this is a pure offence item. On a pure or a low level account they are close to unfair. On my main I keep a pair for hybrid content where I switch styles mid fight and would rather not carry three pairs of boots.
Wizard boots drop from medium clue caskets at about 1 in 1,133 per slot, which is the only reason a 20 Magic item costs six figures. They beat mystic boots by a single point of magic attack and a single point of magic defence. Whether that point is worth 127K depends entirely on what you are fighting. I would say yes if you are squeezing accuracy at Barrows or early Zulrah, and no if you are still training magic on Ammonite Crabs.
Brimstone boots are made by using a drake's claw on boots of stone, and they answer the question of what to wear when you need to take hits while casting. Ten defence in every melee style is more than any other magic boot offers below Avernic treads, and the +5 ranged attack means one pair covers a ranged switch as well. I wore them at Zulrah for years before I owned Eternals, and they still go on for tanky Slayer tasks. The awkward part is the shopping list: four separate requirements to wear them, and a drake's claw that only drops at 84 Slayer, so most people buy the finished boots instead.
Under 6K for +3 magic attack is the best value in the feet slot and it is not close. If the Grand Exchange is dry you can buy a pair straight from the Magic Guild store in Yanille for 10K. Every account I have levelled has worn these from 40 Magic until infinity boots became affordable. Nobody writes about mystic boots because they are boring, but boring and cheap is exactly what that stage of the game needs.
Bloodbark boots give no magic attack at all, so their place on this list needs a word of explanation. Each bloodbark piece adds 2% to the healing you get from blood spells, and the full set takes that to 35% of damage dealt. On long solo trips where supplies decide how long you last, that sustain is worth more than a couple of points of accuracy. You craft them at a Blood Altar with 77 Runecraft using splitbark boots and 100 blood runes, after reading a Runescroll of bloodbark. Situational, but strong when the situation fits.
Ranged boots split into two groups: the ones that give ranged attack, and the two pairs that also give ranged strength. Ranged strength raises your max hit, so it is worth considerably more per point than accuracy is once your gear is decent.
The list below runs from most ranged attack to least, with one exception. Echo boots earn their place on defence rather than offence: they are the only pair here with a negative ranged attack bonus, and also the only pair that gives +24 ranged defence.
Boots | Requirements | Ranged Attack | Ranged Strength | Ranged Defence | Prayer | Tradeable | Price | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Aranea boots | None | +6 | +0 | +0 | +1 | Yes | 807K | Pures and hybrids |
Shayzien boots (5) | 20 Defence | +4 | +0 | +0 | +0 | No | Free | Ironmen and budget |
Snakeskin boots | 30 Rng, 30 Def | +3 | +0 | +0 | +0 | Yes | 800 gp | Early ranged training |
Ranger boots | 40 Ranged | +8 | +0 | +0 | +0 | Yes | 34.1M | Base for Pegasians |
Boots of brimstone | 44 Slay, 70 Def, Mag, Rng | +5 | +0 | +5 | +0 | Yes | 310K | Tanky ranged Slayer |
Mixed hide boots | 60 Rng, 50 Def | +5 | +0 | +3 | +0 | Yes | 15K | Best budget upgrade |
Blessed d'hide boots | 70 Rng, 40 Def | +7 | +0 | +4 | +1 | Yes | 120K to 360K | Best value ranged |
Guardian Boots | 75 Defence | -1 | +0 | +24 | +2 | Yes | 1.5M | Best ranged defence |
Pegasian boots | 75 Rng, 75 Def | +12 | +1 | +5 | +0 | Yes | 35.3M | High level ranged |
Avernic treads | 80 Def, Str, Rng, Mag | +15 | +2 (+3) | +10 | +0 | Base only | 158M | Endgame ranged PvM |
Fifteen ranged attack puts the treads three clear points above Pegasian boots, and the ranged strength climbs to +3 once you feed in a pair of Pegasians and 4,000 demon tears at 80 Magic and 60 Runecraft. Ranged strength is the stat that raises your max hit, so that single point does more work than the accuracy does at high level. The defence is what really sells them for me. Pegasians give +5 across the board while treads give +21 to +25 against melee, which changes how the Colosseum and multi way content feel. Base treads are tradeable, so you can buy them and decide about the upgrade later.
Pegasians held the ranged crown for years and they are still the sensible target for anyone not sitting on 158M. You make them from ranger boots and a pegasian crystal dropped by Cerberus, at 60 Magic and 60 Runecraft with no boosts. That +1 ranged strength is why they beat ranger boots by more than the attack numbers imply. Watch the price relationship before you buy: ranger boots are trading around 34.1M against 35.3M for Pegasians, so the crystal is currently adding barely a million to the cost. If you already own ranger boots, the upgrade is close to free.
Ranger boots are the most famous medium clue reward in the game, and the price reflects the clue grind rather than the stats. Thirty four million for +8 ranged attack and no ranged strength is a hard sell on its own terms. People buy them because they are the base for Pegasians and because 40 Ranged is a very low bar to clear. If you are buying purely for stats and cannot afford the crystal, blessed d'hide boots give you +7 for a fraction of a percent of the price.
One point of ranged attack behind ranger boots, for well under one percent of the price. That comparison alone tells most accounts where they belong. All six variants (Armadyl, Ancient, Bandos, Guthix, Saradomin and Zamorak) share identical stats, so buy whichever is cheapest on the day unless you need a specific god item for the God Wars Dungeon. The +1 Prayer and the +4 defence across every style are quietly useful on longer trips. These were my ranged boots for years and I never once felt held back by them.
Six ranged attacks with no level requirement whatsoever makes these the obvious pick for pures and low defence builds. On an account that cannot wear blessed d'hide boots without breaking its defence level, aranea boots are simply the best ranged option available. They cover magic and melee too, so one pair handles every style on a hybrid setup. The complete absence of defensive bonuses is the trade you accept, and in PvP that matters more than the stat sheet suggests.
Two points of ranged attack behind blessed d'hide, with more than double the defence to show for it. Whenever a boss is throwing melee or ranged damage at me and the kill is not a race, brimstone boots go on. They also solve the hybrid problem neatly, since +5 ranged and +3 magic in one item means no boot switch during phase changes. Wearing them only takes 44 Slayer, but making them takes a drake's claw, and drakes in the Karuulm Slayer Dungeon need 84 Slayer to kill. At 226K it is usually faster to buy the finished pair.
Mixed hide boots are the quiet bargain of this list. Five ranged attack for around 15K, with defence numbers close to blessed d'hide and +2 strength on top, at 60 Ranged and 50 Defence. You craft them at 69 Crafting from a mixed hide base and a sunlight antelope fur, or pay Pellem at the Hunter Guild 17.5K to make them if you supply the fur yourself. For the stretch between snakeskin boots and blessed d'hide they are the obvious wear, and the strength bonus makes them useful on hybrid Slayer tasks as well.
Free is a very good price. Beat the tier 5 soldier at the Shayzien Combat Ring and you walk away with +4 ranged attack backed by actual melee defence, which is more than snakeskin boots manage. For ironmen this is the default ranged boot until blessed d'hide becomes available, and it is a perfectly reasonable stop for a main on a budget. They cannot be traded, so this one costs time rather than gold. You can also smith them at 87 Smithing from a lovakite bar.
Three hundred and thirty eight coins. That is the whole argument. Snakeskin boots give +3 ranged attack at 30 Ranged and 30 Defence, and below 60 Ranged the only thing that beats them is the free pair from Shayzien. Ironmen can craft their own at 45 Crafting from six snakeskin. I still keep a pair banked for Wilderness ranging trips where I fully expect to die.
Melee boots are usually chosen on strength bonus alone, and that is a reasonable default while you are training. It stops being right once you start bossing, because the tank options give up one or two strength for defence numbers nothing else in the slot comes close to.
Both types are ranked together below. The last two entries are situational rather than simply worse: granite boots exist for accounts capped under 60 Defence, and bandos boots give no strength at all but are the required base for guardian boots.
Boots | Requirements | Strength | Melee Attack | Melee Defence | Prayer | Tradeable | Price | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Aranea Boots | None | +4 | +0 | 0/0/0 | +1 | Yes | 740K | Best for Starter Levels |
Granite boots | 50 Def, 50 Str | +3 | +0 | 15/16/17 | +0 | Yes | 396K | Sub 60 Defence builds |
Dragon boots | 60 Defence | +4 | +0 | 16/17/18 | +0 | Yes | 215K | Mid game standard |
Bandos boots | 65 Defence | +0 | +0 | 17/18/19 | +1 | Yes | 830K | Base for guardian boots |
Primordial boots | 75 Str, 75 Def | +5 | +2 all styles | 22/22/22 | +0 | Yes | 19.6M | Maximum melee damage |
Echo boots | 75 Defence | +3 | +0 | 32/32/32 | +4 | No | 1.66M+ | Long tanking trips |
Guardian boots | 75 Defence | +3 | +0 | 32/32/32 | +2 | Yes | 1.66M | Affordable tank boots |
Avernic treads | 80 Def, Str, Rng, Mag | +4 (+6) | +5 all styles | 21/25/25 | +0 | Base only | 158M | Endgame hybrid PvM |
Note: Melee defence is listed as stab/slash/crush. Grand Exchange prices were checked on 26 August 2026. Echo boots cannot be traded and must be made from a pair of guardian boots.
Sink a pair of primordials and 4,000 demon tears into these and you get +6 strength, one point clear of primordial boots on their own. The treads are also the only boots worth mentioning for offensive melee accuracy, at +5 in all three styles against primordial's +2. Defence is where the gap really opens up: 25 slash defence against 22, plus magic and ranged defence that primordials do not offer at all. If you only ever melee, the upgrade over primordials is small and the price gap is enormous. If you switch styles regularly, this is the best single gear purchase in the game.
For most of OSRS history these were simply the best melee boots and nothing came close. You make them from dragon boots and a primordial crystal dropped by Cerberus at 60 Magic and 60 Runecraft, or you get lucky on an elite clue. One extra strength point over dragon boots does not sound like much, and on Sand Crabs it is not. At Vorkath, in the Chambers of Xeric, or anywhere max hit tiers decide whether a kill takes one extra attack, it adds up across a trip. At 19.2M they are the last melee boot most players ever buy.
Two strength short of primordials and worth wearing anyway in the right fight. Thirty two melee defence with +4 Prayer is the strongest defensive package in the feet slot, and the recoil chips one damage off anything hitting you in melee range while it has charges. I put these on at the Colosseum and anywhere a trip ends because supplies ran out rather than because the damage was too slow. The echo crystal comes from Fortis Colosseum, and once it goes into a pair of guardian boots the result cannot be traded or reverted.
The tradeable version of echo boots, made by combining bandos boots with a black tourmaline core from the Grotesque Guardians. Identical defence, two less Prayer, no recoil effect. At 1.66M they are the cheapest route to serious defence on your feet, and they are what I point people towards for Barrows, Slayer bosses and anything where you are tanking rather than racing the kill timer. They are also the required base for echo boots, so buying a pair is never a dead end.
The upgrade every melee account eventually makes. Spiritual mages in the God Wars Dungeon drop them at 1 in 128, so supply stays steady and the price has held reasonable for years. Four strength for 215K is the best strength per coin ratio above the free options, and 60 Defence is a level most mains pass without trying. They are also the base item for primordials, which makes that 215K a deposit on a future upgrade rather than money spent.
Granite boots drop from the wyverns in the Wyvern Cave and fill the gap between rune boots and dragon boots. Three strength with defence close to dragon boots, at 50 Defence and 50 Strength. Most players skip them, and the numbers explain why: they cost more than dragon boots while giving one less strength, so the only reason to buy is a defence level capped below 60. They also give +8 ranged defence, which dragon boots do not, and that is occasionally the deciding factor.
Bandos boots give no strength bonus at all, which is the first thing to know before you buy a pair. What they do give is 17 to 19 melee defence, +15 ranged defence and +1 Prayer at 65 Defence, and General Graardor drops them at 1 in 381. The real reason to own them is that they are the base item for guardian boots, so the 830K you spend here is money you will not spend on the finished article later. As something to wear right now they suit tanking and Prayer heavy setups rather than anything where max hit is the priority.
Four strength with no level requirement at all is the whole appeal here, and for a level 1 Defence pure, that makes Aranea boots the ceiling of the slot. The araxytes in Araxxor's lair drop them at 1 in 4,000 for the level 96 version and 1 in 2,000 for the level 146 one, halving on a Slayer task. On a main with 60 Defence, there is no reason to pay 807K for them, because dragon boots match the +4 strength for a quarter of the price and bring +16 to +18 melee defence with it. Where they earn their money is hybrid setups, since one pair covers melee, ranged and magic and saves you two boot switches mid-fight. Zero defence in every category is the cost, and in PvP that hurts more than the stat sheet lets on.
If you take one thing from this guide, make it the upgrade paths. Dragon boots become primordials, ranger boots become Pegasians, infinity boots become eternals, and bandos boots become guardian boots. Buying the cheap version first is never wasted, and it lets you upgrade whenever the crystal price makes sense rather than waiting until you can afford the finished item.
For most accounts, the honest answer is unglamorous. Dragon boots for melee, blessed d'hide for ranged, mystic or infinity for magic. That covers you until you are deep into bossing, and the gap between those and the endgame options is far smaller than the gap in price.
Avernic treads changed the top of every list, and if you do a bit of everything, they are worth the 158M in a way that no previous boot upgrade ever was. Just be certain before you put a crystal in them, because that decision cannot be undone.
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