Find your optimal bossing setup in the Bossing Gear Guide & Recommendations. It highlights best-in-slot gear for DPS and shows inventory essentials. Use the spreadsheet as your primary reference; the sections below explain key trade-offs.
Divine vs Elysian
Players try to balance damage reduction, prayer and cost when choosing between these two shields:
- Divine spirit shield reduces damage by 30% but drains prayer each hit
- Elysian spirit shield soaks 25% of damage 70% of the time (an average reduction of 17.5%) and never drains prayer. It costs about half as much in GP.
Choose the elysian shield if its damage soak lets you skip food and preserve prayer. Choose the divine shield when you expect to eat and need a reliable 30% reduction to save on supplies.
Defence vs Offense
Some players swap their spirit shield for a dragon defender to boost DPS. A dragon defender raises your attack bonus and speeds up kills. This approach can clash with our divine/elysian shield recommendations. Use whatever gear maximises your damage and comfort.
Mixing Hybrid and Nex pieces
Some armour combinations pair the top half of one set with the bottom half of another to maximise stats. Use whichever hybrid mix best suits your defensive or offensive style.
Goliath vs Torva
You can choose between Goliath or Torva gloves:
- Torva gloves offer superior slash bonuses and never degrade
- Goliath gloves provide the highest stab and crush bonuses but degrade
Ring of wealth vs Dagannoth rings
Choose between drop bonuses and raw DPS:
- Ring of wealth (i): greatly boosts your rare-drop rate and offers nearly the same DPS as an imbued Dagannoth ring
- Dagannoth rings (i): deliver the highest DPS but give no drop bonus
You can also carry a ring of wealth (i) as a switch. Note that it doesn’t affect chest-based loot from the Noxious Demon and Queen Black Dragon.
Vesta vs Statius
Some players mix Vesta and Statius pieces (helm, platebody and tassets) for the highest melee bonuses. These sets degrade with use and are best reserved for Wilderness encounters or high-stakes DPS duels.
Swift/Goliath/Spellcaster gloves
Dominion Tower gloves degrade on use, so reclaiming them repeatedly can feel tedious. Many players reserve them for Wilderness bosses, while others stick to swift gloves as their only worthwhile upgrade. Just because they are recommended for being BIS, doesn’t mean they are necessarily worth using to you personally.
What to mix and match your gear yourself? Compare the item stats of commonly used combat gear.