Gear Progression

From Melvor Idle
Revision as of 14:47, 6 July 2021 by Falterfire (talk | contribs) (→‎Melee stats: Made consistent with a later section)
This page was last updated for (v0.19.1).

This guide was mainly written by Tim|Feels#4191 in the Discord Chat, with the help of the wiki & help channel. If you have more questions or comments on this guide, feel free to pm him there. Also feel free to add to the guide.

Introduction

This guide will feature standard gear progression, in a way that will fit the playstyle of most players. Melvor Idle grants plenty of gear choices to experiment with, so by no means is this guide for everyone. Especially for Combat-only players, please refer to the HCCO guide. This guide will assume you started with non-combat skills, or at least some basics. For an easy and smooth gear progression, you will need to master all types of combat.

This guide will not give you DR vs Hitpoints requirements for Dungeons, or most efficient level paths. For this, please refer to other guides or join the MelvorIdle Discord. Most Dungeons have a guide on this wiki as well, for example Volcanic Cave/Guide.

The base guideline of gear progression is: The highest possible damage whilst still having enough Damage Reduction to survive.

With the addition of the Agility skill, a lot of buffs can be gained outside of gear. Refer to the skill page for more information.

Gear stats

All gear has certain stats, linking it to a certain combat style (melee, range or magic). As with most gear progressions, more difficult to obtain or upgrade gear will provide better stats.

For stat breakdown and math, refer to the Combat page.

Shared stats

The first shared stat is Attack Speed (AS), determined by mainly the attack speed of your weapon. Attack speed is given as seconds per attack, so a lower number is better.

For most part of the game the most important stat is Damage Reduction. Damage reduction, in combination with your HP level and auto eat tier, is the main thing holding you back from that next dungeon or slayer enemy. Damage reduction can only be found on armor and shields, not weapons. Potions, Prayer, Leonardo, Erran and Agility can be used to add extra damage reduction.

Armor (and some weapons) also has defensive stats. These are divided in melee, range and magic defense. In most cases these defensive stats correspond with the combat triangle. For example, most melee gear, used to fight ranged enemies, will have high range defense, but lower (or even negative) magic defense. Defensive stats are linked to Evasion Rating.

A last shared stat is bonus slayer xp. This is a useful stat when training Slayer, as it gives you extra exp per slayed monster.

Melee stats

Melee armor and weapons focusses on 4 stats:

  • Strength bonus: one of the factors that determine your max hit.
  • Stab, slash & block bonus: determines the accuracy (chance to hit) of training on that particular attack style.

A higher strength bonus is always beneficial. For training purposes, certainly in early levels, it is important to look at stab, slash & block bonusses. For example, it is best to use a sword for stab/attack training, a scimitar for slash/strength training & a 2h sword for block/defense training.

Ranged stats

Ranged armor and weapons focusses on 2 stats:

  • Ranged strength bonus: determines your max hit.
  • Ranged attack bonus: determines your accuracy.

Besides your armor and weapons, your ammunition (bolts and arrows) also have additional stats.

Magic stats

Magic armor and weapons focusses on 2 stats:

  • Magic damage bonus: a percentage increase in max hit
  • Magic attack bonus: determines your accuracy

Your max hit is also determined by the spell you use.

Specials and passives

Besides stats, equipment can also have Special Attacks or passive effects.

Special attacks have a percentage of triggering when in combat, and will replace a standard attack.

Passive effects are bonusses that are always in play. Prime examples of this are ammo conservation on some ranged equipment, reduced rune costs on staffs and wands and slayer area effect negation of slayer gear. Very important here is the chance for double drops, as given by a Aorpheat's Signet Ring or Chapeau Noir. These are very often used while farming Dungeons.

Melee gear progression

For most players, melee is the first style of combat they use, since it requires no additional resources like ammunition or runes.

Melee gear progression in the early to mid-game levels is heavily tied to Smithing. With 99 Smithing you can basically gear yourself for your first elite dungeon, the Volcanic Cave .

Melee armor progression

Melee armor early game

We define early game as the leveling phase up to your first elite dungeon, the Volcanic Cave. The advised gear progression will make you level efficiently, whilst working towards enough DR to tackle the volcanic cave.

Work your way up through the standard metal armors. Metal gear can be upgraded to an (S) or (G) variant, which adds extra stats (most importantly DR %!). Metal gloves can not be upgraded, which leaves 5 upgradeable pieces.

Metal Bronze Iron Steel Mithril Adamant Rune Dragon
Defence level 1 1 5 20 30 40 60
(G) set DR % 0 0 5x1%=5% 5x3%=15% 5x4%=20% 5x5%=25% 5x6%=30%


If you lack the appropriate Smithing levels, there is a possibility to farm rune items from the Rune Knight; Dragon armor comes from the Volcanic Cave. Silver bars and Gold bars come from Statues.

The dragon armor (G), compiled of the (G) Dragon Helmet, (G) Dragon Platebody, (G) Dragon Platelegs, (G) Dragon Boots & (G) Dragon Shield, will provide you with 6% DR each, totaling 30% DR. This will fill only 5 out of 8 armor slots.


For the glove slot there are two possibilities:


For the amulet slot there are multiple possibilities:

Elite Amulet of Defence.


The ring slot also depends on the situation:

  • For combat training purposes a Gold Emerald Ring is most beneficial. Another possibility is the Gold Topaz Ring, in case you didn't get a signet piece yet.
  • the DR ring for early game is the Silver Diamond Ring, offering 1% DR.
  • In case you do not need the extra DR, a great choice of ring for dungeon farming is the Aorpheat's Signet Ring. This will give you 5% chance of double loot, including chests from dungeons.


Clearing the volcanic dungeon for the first time will award you with a Fire Cape, your first useful cape. It is advised to do this dungeon once manually to obtain the cape for its DR %.

Honorable mention: In case you do not need DR but are farming items or dungeons, the use of a Aorpheat's Signet Ring and Chapeau Noir will give you 15% chance of a double drop, which adds up quickly for volcanic cave farming. This tactic is used throughout the game, as more and more high DR % items come into play.

Melee armor mid game

For melee armor midgame we work on the preparation towards God Dungeons. The first God Dungeon, the Air God Dungeon, is designed for Melee combat. Depending on your HP level, you will need most, if not all, Ancient Armor items and upgrade them to their (G) version. For this you will need to farm the Volcanic Cave.

For the glove and ring slot not much changes. For the amulet slot, you can start working towards the Fury of the Elemental Zodiacs (FEZ). This amulet will last you till the endgame.


Attack Bonus Str. Bonus Defence Bonus DR Lvl Req
Item Name Ranged Magic Strength Defence Ranged Magic Defence Defence
(G) Ancient Helmet (G) Ancient Helmet -2 -5 10 63 52 -3 7% 70
(G) Ancient Shield (G) Ancient Shield -4 -10 8 73 67 -3 7% 70
(G) Ancient Platebody (G) Ancient Platebody 0 -20 18 149 101 -4 7% 70
(G) Ancient Platelegs (G) Ancient Platelegs -2 -25 13 106 79 -5 7% 70

The (G) Ancient Shield can be upgraded to a Dragonfire Shield, one of the main endgame shields. Besides a 8% DR stat, this shield will also boost your HP by 30, allowing you to run dungeons with less DR %.

Whenever possible, try to do the Infernal Stronghold once. This will give you one of the best endgame capes, the Infernal Cape, with 4% DR.

Melee armor late game

Late game melee armor is the Terran God armor and the Ragnar God armor, from their respective God Dungeons. The Terran God dungeon also gives the Earth Layered Shield (ELS), the endgame shield. The Terran armor is defensive melee armor, Ragnar armor is offensive melee armor.

To obtain these items, you will also need progression into your Ranged and Magic gear.

Besides the God Dungeon armors slayer gear gets more important. Late game Slayer areas have serious debuffs, which need to be taken care of by slayer area effect negation of the slayer gear. Aiming for Elite Slayer Helm/ Platebody, and perhaps even Master Slayer Helm/ Platebody in endgame is a good choice.

Another replacement for a god dungeon helm is the Elder Crown, obtained by killing Elder Vampires. This crown reduces AS by 0,1s, whilst also providing lifesteal.

In late game a wider variety of jewelry is available. For the ring slot, a Signet Ring is used for a lot of farming purposes. A Wasteful Ring can reduce the DR you need for certain grinds. A Hunter's Ring is useful for slayer. A Fighter Ring is possible, but not often used due to lack of passive.

As amulets, a FEZ is still one of the best choices, as well as the Fighter Amulet for its stun. The Guardian Amulet is used in more niche cases.

Melee weapon progression

Melee weapon early game

As with melee armor progression, early game is leveling and gearing up towards the Volcanic Cave.

Use standard metal weapons from bronze towards dragon, switching between a sword, 2h and scimitar to train attack, defense or strength respectively.

Metal Bronze Sword Iron Sword Steel Sword Mithril Sword Adamant Sword Rune Sword Dragon Sword
Attack level 1 1 5 20 30 40 60

If you lack the appropriate Smithing levels, you can obtain rune weapons from the Rune Knight and Valkyries (advised). A Dragon Scimitar can be obtained from Turkul Giants (advised) or Seething Horned Elites.

An upgrade from your dragon scimitar is the Desert Sabre, also gained from killing Turkul Giants. This Sabre will help a lot during your farming for the next upgrade.

For your first real weapon upgrade, there are two (or three) possibilities:

The Sunset Rapier and the Dragon Claw are quite similar, but you will need a Dragon Claw anyway for the mid and late game.


Attack Bonus Str. Bonus Defence Bonus Lvl Req
Item Name Attack Speed Two Handed? Attack Strength Defence Strength Defence Attack
Sunset Rapier Sunset Rapier 2.2s No 72 55 65 63 0 70
Dragon Claw Dragon Claw 2.2s No 57 57 57 56 26 60

Melee weapon mid game

For the melee weapon midgame you're supposed to have at least some decent combat stats, with one of the early game weapons, such as the Sunset Rapier, and some Ancient Gear.

It is now time to grind for the Ancient Claw, the weapon that will carry you through the Air God Dungeon. The fragments for this weapon can be farmed from Pegasus.

The next upgrade is the Infernal Claw, which combines both the Dragon and Ancient Claw, together with 10 Infernal Cores (from the Infernal Stronghold). Clear this dungeon as soon as you can.

There are other weapons that can be considered mid game melee weapons, like the Darksteel Dagger and Sanguine Blade. These will probably have some niche uses, but are in general worse than the Infernal Claw.


Attack Bonus Str. Bonus Defence Bonus Lvl Req
Item Name Attack Speed Two Handed? Attack Strength Defence Strength Defence Attack
Ancient Claw Ancient Claw 2.2s No 71 71 71 75 39 70
Infernal Claw Infernal Claw 2.2s No 71 77 71 81 39 75

Melee weapon late game

Late game weapons are the different Godswords, but also still the Infernal Claw. Some Godswords, particularly the Ragnar Godsword, but also the Glacia and Terran Godsword, have higher dps than the Infernal Claw. But the Infernal Claw is one-handed, making it the only option if you do not meet DR requirements without a Shield.

The true endgame weapon is the Tidal Edge, classified as Tier 90 (T90), obtained from farming Tidal Edge Fragments from Umbora.


Attack Bonus Str. Bonus Defence Bonus Lvl Req
Item Name Attack Speed Two Handed? Attack Strength Defence Strength Defence Attack
Ragnar Godsword Ragnar Godsword 3.8s Yes -4 145 145 340 25 85
Tidal Edge Tidal Edge 2.4s No 89 120 89 100 0 90

Ranged gear progression

As with melee gear and the Smithing skill, Ranged gear is tied to the Crafting skill (for armor) and the Fletching skill (for weapons).

Ranged armor progression

Ranged armor early/mid game

Early/mid game for range armor we look leveling armor. The end goal is to obtain level 85 ranged, setting you up for the Water God Dungeon.

Progress from leather gear towards the different dragon gears: green, blue, red, black and ancient. All these gears (except ancient) can be crafted, although you will need to kill Black Dragons for their leather. Another option is to farm the Spider Forest dungeon. The Spider Chest contains a lot of ranged-related gear. For ancient gear you will need to farm Dragons Den. Shields follow the same route.

Metal Leather Body Hard Leather Body Green D-hide Body Blue D-hide Body Red D-hide Body Black D-hide Body Ancient D-hide Body
Ranged level 1 10 40 50 60 70 80

In general it is not needed to upgrade your d-hide to it's (U) version, since you will be switching to the God Dungeon set at level 85 anyway. If you want to do some early dungeons with ranged, Dragons Den should give you plenty of hides to upgrade your Ancient gear.

For boots and hats the ideal gear is the Ranger Hat and Ranger Boots, both from the Spider Chest. These will add some Ammunition preservation, but are often skipped because of their low droprate. The Chapeau Noir can also be used to give extra double drop chance.

The Cape of Ranged Preservation is your best choice for the cape slot, adding even more ammo preservation. These drop from Holy Archers.


For the amulet slot there are multiple possibilities:

Elite Amulet of Defence and Elite Amulet of Magic.


The ring slot also depends on the situation:

  • For combat training purposes a Gold Emerald Ring is most beneficial. Another possibility is the Gold Topaz Ring, in case you didn't get a signet piece yet.
  • the DR ring for early game is the Silver Diamond Ring, offering 1% DR.
  • In case you do not need the extra DR, a great choice of ring for dungeon farming is the Aorpheat's Signet Ring. This will give you 5% chance of double loot, including chests from dungeons.


Honorable mention: In case you do not need DR but are farming items or dungeons, the use of a Aorpheat's Signet Ring and Chapeau Noir will give you 15% chance of a double drop, which adds up quickly for volcanic cave farming. This tactic is used throughout the game, as more and more high DR % items come into play.

Ranged armor late game

The late game range armor is the Aeris God set, farmed from the first God Dungeon, the Air God Dungeon. As this is the last ranged armor set, it is advised to stay at the Air God Dungeon until you complete the Aeris God set.

For shield choices, most people opt for DR shields, like the DFS or ELS.

As with melee, the introduction of God dungeon gear gives a wider variety of jewelry. For the ring slot, a Signet Ring is used for a lot of farming purposes. A Wasteful Ring can reduce the DR you need for certain grinds. A Hunter's Ring is useful for slayer. The Deadeye Ring itself is not used in many cases, because of the lack of passive.

As necklaces, a FEZ is a good option for its DR stat. A Deadeye Amulet is a good choice for damage. As always, an Amulet of Looting can be used as well.

Ranged weapon and ammunition progression

Ranged weapons early/mid game

Important to note is that, if you are using a standard bow, it is best to use a longbow on rapid. This will give the same DPS as a shortbow, but with lower ammo consumption.

In the early levels, work your way up through the standard longbows. If you have the fletching level, you can just craft your own gear. It's also possible to get higher level bows from monsters, like the Frozen cove for the ice longbow, or the bandit base or holy archers for other bows.

Arrows to use with a bow are either fletched yourself, or looted from monsters and dungeons. Frozen Archers can be killed for Ice Arrows, which are close to Rune Arrows. Other arrows can be farmed through the Bandit Base.

Metal Normal Longbow Oak Longbow Willow Longbow Maple Longbow Yew Longbow Ice Longbow Magic Longbow Redwood Longbow
Ranged level 1 5 20 30 40 40 50 60

As most lategame ranging is done with a shield, a crossbow is the weapon of choice for the lategame. Therefore, it is a good idea to work towards a Dragon and Slayer's Crossbow, followed by an Ancient Crossbow, from Dragons Den.

For crossbows, bolts are used. These are made through the fletching skill. The bolt to use is the Emerald Bolts.


Attack Bonus Str. Bonus Lvl Req
Item Name Attack Speed Two Handed? Ranged Ranged Ranged
Dragon Crossbow Dragon Crossbow 3.2s No 65 102 60
Slayer's Crossbow Slayer's Crossbow 3.2s No 65 102 60
Ancient Crossbow Ancient Crossbow 3.2s No 76 132 70


Because of their fast attack speed, Throwing Knives can also be used for training purposes, as well as serve as a good choice in some niche situations, like golbin farming.

Ranged weapons late game

For late game, there are four weapons to use:

All the crossbows use Emerald Bolts or Jadestone Bolts (from the Hunting Greater Dragon).


Attack Bonus Str. Bonus Lvl Req
Item Name Attack Speed Two Handed? Ranged Ranged Ranged
Stormsnap Stormsnap 3.0s Yes 0 0 80
Shockwave Shockwave 3.2s No 81 142 90

Mage gear progression

For Magic gear the linked skill is Runecrafting. Runecrafting will provide you with magic weapons and armor, but more importantly with runes. Using magic without using Runecrafting is very hard.

Mage Armor progression

Mage armor early/mid game

The early/mid game goal for magic is mainly leveling, getting you to level 85 magic so you are able to wear Glacia God armor, needed for the Earth God Dungeon. Because there is the possibility of Alternative Magic, there is a possibility you don't any magic armor before you get Glacia. However, using magic can be optimal in some cases, like farming the Volcanic Cave.

It is best to start with Alt magic to at least some extent, but armor progression in the early game is very easy:

For each element there is an Acolyte, Adapt and Expert version for the hat, top, bottom and boots slot. Just use the one you can that corresponds with the spell you are using.

Other Magic Armor can be found in the Hall of Wizards, Miolite Caves or by killing one of the Wizard types.

There is also an Ancient robe set, gained from the Hall of Wizards. Whilst being a better set than the Expert robes, the grind to obtain it is often considered not worth it.

Metal Air Acolyte Wizard Hat Air Adept Wizard Hat Air Expert Wizard Hat Ancient Wizard Hat
Magic level 1 35 65 70


For the glove slot, the Elementalist Gloves (from the Elementalist) are your best choice, even in the late game. These do lack DR, so if DR is needed, you will need to look to other combat styles (for example the Paladin Gloves).

For the cape slot, an Enchanted Cape is your best choice until you saved up enough slayer tokens to obtain the Skull Cape.

As a shield, using a Book of Eli, obtained from Hall of Wizards, gives the best damage bonus. A Miolite Shield can be used for extra DR.


For the amulet slot there are multiple possibilities:


The ring slot also depends on the situation:

  • For combat training purposes a Gold Emerald Ring is most beneficial. Another possibility is the Gold Topaz Ring, in case you didn't get a signet piece yet.
  • the DR ring for early game is the Silver Diamond Ring, offering 1% DR.
  • In case you do not need the extra DR, a great choice of ring for dungeon farming is the Aorpheat's Signet Ring. This will give you 5% chance of double loot, including chests from dungeons.


Honorable mention: In case you do not need DR but are farming items or dungeons, the use of a Aorpheat's Signet Ring and Chapeau Noir will give you 15% chance of a double drop, which adds up quickly for volcanic cave farming. This tactic is used throughout the game, as more and more high DR % items come into play.

Mage armor late game

The Glacia god set, obtained from the Water God Dungeon, is the best magic set. It is possible to use Elementalist Gloves over the Glacia God Gloves, as these provide a higher damage % (but a lower DR %).

For the cape slot, you should now have a Skull Cape. The rune cost saving of this cape makes it BIS for pretty much every place.

For shields, a Book of Eli will stay your best bet for damage. For higher level farming a DFS or ELS is used for their DR %.

For the ring slot, a Signet Ring is best for farming, a Wasteful Ring can be useful to lower DR reqs and a Hunter's Ring can be used for slayer. The Warlock Ring gives a nice 10% magic damage buff. As for amulets, besides the Amulet of Looting, a FEZ is a good choice if you need the DR. If not, a Warlock Amulet is a great choice, as its healing passive compensates for the lower defense of magic armor.

Mage weapon progression

Mage weapon early/mid game

There are two types of magic weapons, namely Staves (2-handed) and Wands (1-handed). Most staffs and wands are tuned to one element, reducing the rune cost of the respective elemental rune.

For early- and midgame, you should use the best staff you can, which corresponds to the spell you are using. A wand can be used when you need DR from a shield. Do not make wands (certainly the elite wands) with runecrafting, as this is a huge waste of runes. Wands can be farmed later on.


Attack Bonus % Dmg Bonus Defence Bonus Lvl Req
Item Name Attack Speed Two Handed? Magic Magic Defence Magic Magic
Staff of Air Staff of Air 3.0s Yes 10 5% 3 10 1
Air Battlestaff Air Battlestaff 3.0s Yes 15 10% 3 15 30
Mystic Air Staff Mystic Air Staff 3.0s Yes 23 20% 3 23 40

Mage weapon lategame

Magic weapons in the lategame is all about the wands. By farming the Water God Dungeon, you should get yourself some Elite Wands. You should aim to have one of each element, but of course focus on the spells you are using first.

The Cloudburst Staff from the Water God Dungeon is rarely used.

The endgame weapon is the Ocean Song. This weapon will make Standard Magic yet again a contender, compared to Ancient Magicks that will rule the late game of magic.


Attack Bonus % Dmg Bonus Defence Bonus Lvl Req
Item Name Attack Speed Two Handed? Magic Magic Magic Magic
Air Imbued Wand Air Imbued Wand 2.6s No 32 18% 32 70
Water Imbued Wand Water Imbued Wand 2.6s No 32 18% 32 70
Earth Imbued Wand Earth Imbued Wand 2.6s No 32 18% 32 70
Fire Imbued Wand Fire Imbued Wand 2.6s No 32 18% 32 70
Ocean Song Ocean Song 2.6s No 38 60% 38 90
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