Metal is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat, or magical energy in certain cases, relatively well. Metals can be found across all of Gielinor, whether it be cutlery, armour, jewellery or anything else, it plays a large part in creating most things.
Each metal has its own properties, strengths, and weaknesses, and as much as this page is an attempt to further the information of those, it is the goal for the page to be a guide for people to understand the metals and find out which type of metal would be fitting for the equipment of their character.
Ranking[]
The scale of metals from worst to best in terms of use, durability, protection, etc. in the context of combatant or practical forms like armour, weapons, or knives is as follows:
- Bronze
- Iron
- Steel variants
- Mithril
- Adamant
- Rune
- Orikalkum
- Necronium
- Banite
- Elder Rune
However, the scaling of these metals isn't perfectly linear. Strength, price, and other desirable traits vary independently. Bronze and iron are usually within monetary reach for the average man, steel somewhat less so, but still affordable. Where lines tend to blur is in the upper-tier, fictional metals like mithril, adamant and rune.
Primary Metals[]
Bronze[]
Bronze is an alloy, primarily consisting of Copper with added Tin, and is the weakest of all known metals. Bronze is used for simple weapons and armor, as well as arrowheads and bolt tips. Bronze is also commonly used for conductive wiring.
Iron[]
Iron is a common Metal that is often employed for the creation of mass-produced armor and weapons. It is also often used for making moving parts, metal bindings in construction, and as the basis for cooking and blacksmith equipment.
Steel[]
Steel is an alloy much like bronze, however, consisting of iron and typically carbon; usually from simple Coal. Possibly one of the most flexible metals used commonly in Gielinorian smithing, it can be crafted in various ways to create various properties. Other ores and metals may be added to give the metal different properties; if a white hue is desired, antimony, tin, lead, cadmium, bismuth or zinc might be added and can be mixed to achieve the desired goal or need.
Steel is significantly harder, stronger, and more refined than iron and bronze, and is also particularly manageable and crafty when heated. As a result, it is a very popular metal used for armor and weaponry in Gielinor.
Mithril[]
Mithril is a bluish purple-tinged metal which is both stronger and lighter than steel. Used since the First Age by early dwarves for equipment and machinery, it fell out of popularity with the mass adoption of adamant apart for dwarven jewelry. It saw a limited resurgence during the God Wars, when Guthixian dwarves fled underground for safety.
It is the strongest metal that humans can smith easily work with, as it can still be smelted using normal coal, and such as earned a reputation of being a fine product worthy of being forged as weapons and armor for nobility and military officers.
Adamant[]
Adamant is a dark-green metal that is only found deep underground. Compressed for thousands of years under immense pressure, Adamantite ore requires extremely high temperatures to extract pure Adamant metal which can only be achieved with Luminite. Denser and tougher then Mithril, the metal saw swift adaptation over Mithril by the dwarves when it was discovered, and became a prized commodity.
However, in the Second Age, dwarves who left Guthix to worship Saradomin revealed the secret to their new deity, creating a rift between the two factions that lasted thousands of years. When the Guthixian Dwarves went underground for their safety during the God Wars, access to most sources of Adamantite was lost. The result of this was the gradual decline back into the use of Steel and Mithril.
In the novel Betrayal at Falador, the Protagonist has an adamantite sword that cuts through the variants of steel with ease, making this metal vastly superior. The rarity and expense of adamant equipment are very high, relative to the danger in acquiring and processing both itself and the lumnite ore requires to refine it. This results in it the material likely only being utilized by higher society, or by those lucky enough to recover existing samples.
Rune[]
Rune is a bright blue metal that, despite the name, has no direct connection to Runes or Rune Essence. Naturally weak, soft and deformable, the material is unique in generating a passive, invisible energy field when refined with Lumnite. This energy field has the unique power to damage and disrupt objects that come into sudden contact with it, to the point where Rune plating can deflect blows from Steel and Mithil without effort, and overall making it a far superior material to Adamant.
Known to exist since the Early Second Age by the dwarves, it was deemed to be an inferior material to even Iron and was often discarded. Later, Saradominist dwarves experimented with Runite with dangerous Lumnite in an attempt to locate new Adamant sources and unlocked the metal's latent magical energy field. Despite attempts to harness its magical energy field as a power source, dwarves found it too unstable and reserved it exclusively for weapons and armor.
Much like its predecessor, Adamant, Rune equipment is dangerous to manufacture and is often prohibitively expensive. However, recent discoveries in deposits across the planet have seen the price come down closer to Adamant.
Orikalkum[]
- For the full article on how roleplayers approach 'Dragon' Equipment, which is made with Orikaklum, see here.
Orikalkum is a hard, dark red metal that has become heavily associated with the deadly Dragonkin. Only found in secluded deposits across Gielinor, Orikalkum is very difficult to refine as it somehow resists the heat generated from coal and Lumnite. It instead had to be refined using magical Dragonfire. However, when done correctly, Orikalkum equipment is tougher then Adamant in raw strength, stronger then Runite's energy field, and lighter then Mithril. Initially, only the Dragonkin possessed the innate ability to produce the Dragonfire to heat Orikalkum. When the Dragonkin engineered the Dragon race, they passed on that ability.
During the Second Age, dwarves discovered that rocks that had been exposed to Dragonfire (often from Zaros' Dragon Riders) had been subtly transmuted into a material known as Drakolith. With experimentation, Saradominist dwarves coaxed out Drakolith flames that while cooler then Lumnite, could melt down the ore into usable metal. The Dragonkin, however, retain the secret to using Dragonfire directly, and by using this secret in antiquity, can purify Orikalkum further into legendary Dragon Equipment.
Saradomin discouraged the use of Orikaklum in favor of Runite for his forces, believing the metal's color to be an ill omen, and in secret knowing the connection to the Dragonkin.
The extreme scarcity of Orikalkum and Drakolith, combined with the associated danger with its Dragonkin connections, had seen Orikalkum equipment as something seldom seen in the Sixth Age. Only a monarch could offer up the immense wealth required for even a single piece, let alone a complete set. In general, it is not fully accepted in role-playing without a proper backstory.
Necronium[]
Necrolith is a dark fusion of bone, third age metal, and ancient magicks. The skulls of humans and larger, monstrous creatures protrude from the deep cyan-green of this ore. In its presence, the skin crawls. Phasmaite is a pale, greenish-white, powdery rock formed primarily of bone which burns with a brilliant green flame and a sound of distant screaming.
When necrolith is heated in the flame of Phasmaite it does not melt or sag but rather stretches and rises as if straining for something. It forms itself into the plates and shapes of armor and weapons, though bizarre and misshapen. A skilled smith can guide and correct this process and create usable and extremely powerful equipment. The resulting necronium has a dark blue sheen and is still covered in the skulls and bones of the dead that grant it strength.
Necrolith is extremely rare, and much harder to collect than that of Orikalkum, rune, and further down the list. To create this metal, it would require phasmitite ore, which is located within the dangerous region of Morytania, the wilderness, and a remote location within Asgarnia.
Bane[]
Banite is a famed and feared dark-purple metal that is unique in possessing some sentience, in the form of a state of permanent hatred. This unique property can be attuned towards an individual race, either at the forge or though spellcasting, as so to inflict greater pain on that race. Bane metal is also comparatively stronger than Necronium, but can inflict a dangerous feeling of dread upon the wielder if not attuned.
Banite Ore was first discovered in the early Fifth Age on the island of Jatizso. The Fremennik attempted to forge the metal and discovered its exotic properties in the process, but became so fearful of it that no warrior wished to wield anything made of it, and so destroyed the prototypes. In time Banite was associated as being the "Flesh of Jormungor", after a legendary sky-serpent in Fremennik legend that was said to be large enough to encircle the planet, bearing utter loathing for all other beings. This was further exaggerated when the Lunar Clan, who where exploring the northern sea, discovered more Banite deposits in a winding sinuous pattern across the northern pole.
It would be decades later until the Mahjharrat Kharshai, who was trapped unaware in his 'Koschei the Deathless' form, made the axe known as Balmung from Bane Metal, and researched and developed a magical spell to attune the metal to several aggressive races. He would later share the secret of smithing and attuning Bane metal to the World Guardian and a select number of Fremennik smiths.
Banite itself is only located in remote, secluded locations, mostly in the far north of Gielinor, and also is dangerous to refine due to its semi-sentience. As such, a very limited supply of the equipment exists, and often only with the leaders and best warriors of the various Fremennik settlements.
Elder Rune[]
Elder Rune is an exotic alloy of Runite, Light Animica, and Dark Animica, that was only discovered in the Sixth Age. The exact nature of Elder Rune is yet to be fully explored, but the process of smelting runite with both Animicia catalysts seem to supercharge the existing energy field present, possibly from the divine energy contained with these materials. The result is a highly resilient metal that is resistant to almost anything, can tear into almost anything like butter, but without much additional mass.
Light Animica is a strange, light-blue crystalline material is created on a site where a concentration of divine energy was released, and naturally crystalizes over thousands of years. Similarly, the deep-purple colored Dark Animica is formed in the same conditions, but from a source or in an environment with a very strong connection to the Shadow Realm. Because of these exact and time-consuming conditions, both Light and Dark Animica are the scarcest ores in Gielinor, and even very minute quantities would be worth a fortune.
Elder Rune is a very recent discovery, and such there are no historical examples in Gielinor. With only a handful of blacksmiths on the planet who is even begun to experiment with weaponizing the hyper-scarce alloy, nobody, not even the wealthiest monarch, could purchase a single piece so easily, or off the bat. As such, Elder Rune remains a holy grail in the blacksmithing community.
Secondary Metals[]
Elemental[]
Elemental Metal is an exotic metal only located in the bodies of several Rock Elementals, all contained in the Elemental Workshop mine below Seer's Village. Presumed to be discovered by Vitruvius the Elemental Metallurgist during the Fifth Age, Elemental Metal can be refined and primed with various elemental magic using apparatus that Virtuvius developed in his secret workshop, and forged into exotic equipment.
Silvthrill[]
Silvthril is a rare alloy of Mithril and Silver in a 1:1 ratio. This dense, soft alloy is often employed by those who hunt vampiric creatures, by combining the holy or magical properties of Silver with the toughness of Mithril.
Before the God Wars in the Third Age, Silvthrill was commonly used as a decorative metal in Saradominist-held Hallowvale. When Lord Drakan began his invasion, the metal was discovered to be an effective material against the Vyre races and was repurposed for projectile weapons and armour. Silvthrill forged in the Everlight was considered to be the best quality of Silvthril available, and the method to do so was a closely guarded secret by the Icyene.
Because of this secrecy, the knowledge to make Everlight Silvthrill was lost to history when Hallowvale fell and became Morytania. Inferior quality of Silvthril was used by Ivandis Seergaze to create the Rod of Ivandis, as a weapon in his campaign alongside the other Priestly Warriors against Lord Drakan in the Fourth Age. The Myraque would rediscover Silvtrill and adopt the use of Silvthril weapons during the late Fifth Age.
Goldrune[]
Goldrune is a rare alloy of Gold and Runite in an unknown ratio. Dense and soft, Goldrune was a precursor to Silvthrill - without the magical ability to harm lesser vyres - which was used as early as the Second Age. It has been suggested Goldrune was the result of ancient metallurgists attempting to create a precious metal that could be used for coinage and guilt decoration, but not be created by transmutation due to the presence of runite - preventing a loss of value from inflation. Archaeological evidence suggests Goldrune was continued to be used by the Incando Dwarves until their genocide in the Fourth Age.
Imperial Steel[]
Imperial Steel, sometimes referred to as Zarosian Steel, was a common metal used by the Zarosian Empire of the Second Age. The development of this metal, which is suspected to be an adaptation of Hellfire Metal production, gave the empire a technological advantage with stronger, weather-resistant weaponry. Almost all of a Legionnaire's armaments would be made of Imperial Steel, as well as many structural elements of imperial architecture. With the collapse of the Empire at the end of the Second Age, the method to make Imperial Steel was lost to history, setting back metallurgists by centuries.
Hellfire Metal[]
Hellfire Metal, also sometimes known as Infernal Steel, is a form of carbon steel that is produced by the demonic races of Infernus. The process for creating Hellfire Metal is unknown to modern metallurgists, but it is known it requires a specialised "Hellforge", which presumably can only be sustained in extreme temperature environments, such as the Infernal Source below The Wilderness, and Infernus itself. It is commonly used as the primary material for the armaments of demonic forces.
Stormguard Steel[]
Stormguard Steel is an exotic form of steel that was produced by the Aviansie. This form of Steel was difficult to produce, as it required exposure to natural lightning and air elemental energy to be imbued during the forging process. As such, only airborne races such as the Aviansie could reach the altitudes to suitable forging environments. It is believed the material was invented on the secretive Stormguard Citadel sometime before the God Wars by Howl the Inventor. It was used for weapons and armour, as well as experimental war golems.
With the Aviansie's near extinction during the God Wars, the secret to making Stormguard Steel was lost, and the only known facility capable of mass-producing Stormguard Steel falling into disrepair and legend. Even with the Citadel's rediscovery during the Sixth Age, it is currently impossible to reproduce and can only be reforged with existing scraps.
Warforged Bronze[]
Warforged Bronze was an incredibly resilient form of Bronze, considered to be of better quality than common steel at the time. The material, produced by enslaved Imcando forgers captured by Bandos, was produced in the Warforge under the Feldip Hills to level the playing field for his weaker Goblin armies during the God Wars. Between the abandonment of the Warforge and the near-genocide of the Incando dwarves following the God Wars, the knowledge on how to make Warforge-quality Bronze has been lost to history.
Lunar[]
Lunar Metal is a exotic metal that can only be extracted from mineral deposits, found in the stalagmites of caves on Lunar Isle. With a low melting point, Lunar Ore doesn't require any additional fuel to be extracted within a traditional furnace. Once melted and cooled into bars, the resulting metal is soft, lightweight and malleable, while also with the unique property of being a superconductor of magical energies at room temperature. It is suspected that Lunar Metal was created when metal deposits on Lunar Isle were exposed to the background energies of the Stone of Jas, before V rediscovered the Elder Artifact.
While unsuitable for use for traditional weapons and armor, the Lunar Clan have adopted the material for the construction of their ceremonial equipment, and keep the secret of Lunar Metal under close guard. As such, only a member of the clan, or someone who was participating in their initiation ritual, would have access to Lunar Metal.
Glorious Metal[]
Glorious Metal is an incredibly resilient and dense alloy made of equal parts of all 9 primary metals. Equal in raw material strength to that of Elder Rune's supercharged energy field, this exquisite metal is prohibitively expensive and reserved for the creation of Masterwork Equipment.
The process to create a single bar begins with equal measures of all 9 primary metals being mixed and cast into a single Concentrated Alloy bar. Multiples of five are then further cast and purified within a furnace to create an Enriched Alloy bar. Ten of these Enriched Alloy bars then undergo one final furnace purification, producing an Immaculate Alloy bar with a 999.9 purity of each metal.
Once an Immaculate Alloy bar is produced, it must then be folded by a master blacksmith at a heated anvil approximately 1000 times, to consistently layer each individual metal. This expensive, time-consuming process results in a single bar of Glorious Metal.
From this, Glorious Metal is hammered into a flat plate, then curved to shape, followed by a heat tempering process to increase its toughness. The plate is then given further refinement and adjustment at the anvil, then lined with soft leather to complete the individual plate.
Multiples of each plate are then riveted together to form a piece of Masterwork Equipment. Following this process, the equipment can be etched with Masterwork Trim: a product of combining Elder Runite with essence from Praseulic and Maleovent sources, to magically enhance the metal to its full potential.
With this time-consuming process of combining all of the primary metals on Gilenior, creating anything of this alloy would take, even for a few numbers of master blacksmiths, months to complete. The price to even produce the Glorious Metal alone would require a lot of resources, probably costing that of an entire kingdom's wealth, let alone the specialist labour. Trimmed Masterwork compounds this, though the collection of the required essences from some of Gilenior's most dangerous creatures.
Decorative Metals[]
Some metals featured in RuneScape are used primarily for aesthetic purposes, often in the context of adding attractive visual details to works created primarily with other metals or crafted into non-practical products like jewelry or artwork.
Gold[]
Gold is one of the valuable metals. Due to its atomic composition, gold does not react very well with other atoms and molecules and therefore doesn't oxidate like other metals do, (like iron rusting). This causes gold to maintain it's shiny, yellowish hue and is attractive by most races on Gielinor. (Goblins especially think it's shiny, Dwarves respect the rarity, Humans may be a mix of both.) It's a commonly used form of currency, and a symbol of money there-of.
Gold resists most types of acids (not nitro-hydrochloric acid, mercury and alkaline solutions of cyanide), but other than this, it is not a very strong or hard metal. On top of this, it is a very heavy metal and therefore weaponry and armor aren't favorable to be made of gold. Gold trims, however, could be used on high-ranking officers, kings, nobles and the likes to show their status.
Silver[]
Silver is another form of currency, with some holy or magical properties. Silver Stars are a common symbol of the Church of Saradomin, as well as Silver Symbols of Zamorak used commonly. Silver is less desireable and more common than gold, so it can be used to imply humility in comparison. It is also, by far lighter.
Regardless of its malleable nature and light weight, Silver has the potential to be very powerful. The sword "Silverlight" is a silver blade blessed to slay or banish demons with ease. Weapons such as the Wolfsbane dagger are also made of Silver, with a blessing to keep Werewolves in a human form.
Blurite[]
Blurite is a light-blue, uncommon decorative metal only found in the Asgarnian Ice Dungeon mine. It is a light, yet soft metal with comparable strength and weight to Iron, but with an icy-like sheen. Its typically only used to create decorative weapons, such as a ceremonial sword or pistol-style crossbow.
Daemonheim metals[]
Created from the effects The Rift below, Daemonheim is the exclusive source of several unique metals of various strengths. These metals constantly shift from the teleportation effects of the rift, ending up as randomized deposits across every single floor of the sprawling labyrinth. Such metals also do not require a catalyst such as coal to smelt in a furnace, but can be forged into weapons and armor without additional knowledge.
However, all these metals have been given prolonged exposure to the rift. As such, they will degrade to mere dust within moments of not being within Daemonheim's presence (except for Gravite and Chaotic). The Fremenink, paranoid over this, have taken to confiscate all samples from surfacing adventurers before they can leave Daemonheim.
Novite[]
Novite is a purple-hued metal commonly found within Daemonheim. The weakest of all the metals available within its halls, Novite is comparable in strength to common Bronze found on the surface, but without the conductivity that makes it popular for wiring. As such, Novite is often shunned upon as being the worst metal on Gielinor.
Bathus[]
Bathus is a dark-grey metal commonly found in Daemonheim. Second-weakest to Novite, Bathus is Daemonheim's analog to Iron. Apart from being weaponized by both Bilrach's mercenaries, Frememmink Warriors and courageous adventurers, Bathus is commonly used in the construction of the shifting labyrinth's metal fixtures, as well as utilities such as ovens and grappling hooks.
Marmaros[]
Marmaros is a bronze-colored metal found in Daemonheim, named after it's discoverer, Marmaros Thokson. Despite often being compared for simple Bronze due to its coloration, Maramos metal is more analog to refined Steel in terms of strength.
Kratonite[]
Kratonite is a dark-pale-green metal found in Daemonheim. Often mistaken for its inferior cousin Bathus, due to its similar coloration, Kratonite is comparable in strength and weight to Mithril.
Fractite[]
Fractite is a dark-brown metal found in Daemonheim. Often mistaken for both its inferior cousins, Bathus and Marmaros, due to its similar coloration, Fractitie is comparable in strength and durability to Adamant.
Zephyrium[]
Zephyrium is a dull-yellow metal found in Daemonheim. Sometimes mistaken to be gold, this metal has a comparable tensile strength to the energy field produced by Runite. It is also unique in being considered the least tainted of Daemonheim's metal, and even slightly holy. As such, Zephyrium is often reserved for the construction of religious altars when not for weaponization.
Argonite[]
Argonite is a pale-blue metal found in Daemonheim's lower Occult and Warped levels. Sometimes mistaken for Mithril from its coloration, Argonite has strength and weight comparable to scarce Orikalklum, but without the difficulties in purifying the metal.
Katagon[]
Argonite is a deep-blue metal found in Daemonheim's lower Occult and Warped levels. Katagon has a strength and weight comparable to scarce Necromium, but without the associations with violence, death, and necromancy, making it far-more acceptable to wear.
Gorgonite[]
Gorgonite is a dull, oxidised grey metal found in Daemonheim's lower Occult and Warped levels. It has a strength and resilience comparable to Banite, but without the hate-filled semi-sentience and dangerous dread that the metal can inflict.
Promethium[]
Promethium is a deep-crimson-hued metal found in Daemonheim's lower Occult and Warped levels. The strongest metal known to be minable on Gielnior, it can be refined into equipment as strong as Elder Rune, yet remain as light as lower-tier metals.
Primal[]
Primal Metal is an enigmatic and elusive material with unparalleled hardness, tensile strength, and lightness to anything else known to exist on Gilenior. It is unknown exactly what ore and techniques are used to produce Primal Equipment, but some believe that the later may have come from Infernus with the Kal'Gerion demons that Bilrach summoned. It is also suspected that Primal Metal has to be forged directly in natural magma.
The finish of Primal Equipment varies on the final product: Armor constructed of Primal Metal are a fiery orange with yellow trim and cyan decorations, while weapons are often mostly charred-black with greenish-brown hints and similar cyan decorations.
With no direct source, Primal equipment can only be acquired by very lucky and experienced adventurers, who delve into Daemonheim and slay Bilrach's most powerful minions and beasts.
Gravite[]
Gravite Metal is a dull, brownish-grey material which is considered to be an inferior, impure form of Chaotic Metal. Like its superior cousin, as not been as tainted by The Rift and is generally considered to be safe for use on the surface without rapid deterioration. Despite this, Gravite equipment will eventually degrade and require repair from a specialist. Strength wise, Gravite is in-between Runite and Orikalklum.
The secret to manufacturing Gravite is kept a secret to a few Fremerrink, who forge it into weapons and shields suitable for all 3 combat styles. Only two individuals, Marmaros and Wythien, have the right to exchange this equipment and its associated repair services in return for Dungoneering Tokens.
Chaotic[]
Chaotic Metal is an exotic, greyish-silver material which unlike the other Daemonheim metals except for Fractal, has not been as tainted by The Rift and is generally considered to be safe for use on the surface without rapid deterioration. It also has some morphic traits, which see the metal shift and pulse in an attempt to become something else. This eventually sees all chaotic equipment break down, and require repair before it can be used again. Strength wise, Chaotic equipment is comparable to Bane Metal.
The secret to manufacturing Chaotic Metal is kept a secret to a few Fremerrink, who have mastered the material enough to forge it into weapons and shields suitable for all 3 combat styles. Only two individuals, Marmaros and Wythien, have the right to exchange Chaotic equipment and its associated repair services in return for Dungoneering Tokens: a mark of service issued by the fremerrink for delving into Daemonheim.