OSRS Pure Builds Guide: 1 Defence, 13 Defence, Void and 45 Zerker

Overview

A pure is an account that keeps a combat stat low on purpose so its damage is high for its combat level. Defence is the stat most builds cap. It adds nothing to your max hit, yet under the combat level formula it counts exactly like Hitpoints: a quarter of a combat level per point.

Short answer: choose the Defence cap before you train anything. 1 Defence is the classic PK pure and tops out at mithril gloves. 13 Defence comes from one quest, Nature Spirit, and adds adamant gloves and the Slayer helmet. 42 is the void pure, and 45 is the zerker with the berserker helm and Barrows gloves. Do the Attack quests first, decline Daero's training after Monkey Madness I, and never use a controlled, defensive, longrange or long fuse style.

Before You Start: Combat Level Math and Quest Order

The wiki's formula takes a quarter of Defence plus Hitpoints plus half your Prayer as the base. It then adds 0.325 times either Attack plus Strength, or one and a half times your better of Ranged and Magic. Two rules fall out of that. Every Defence level costs as much combat level as a Hitpoints level, and Ranged and Magic can climb to roughly two thirds of your Attack plus Strength before they move your level at all.

Worked example: 1 Defence, 60 Attack, 99 Strength, 99 Hitpoints and 63 Prayer is combat 84. The same account at 45 Defence is combat 95, eleven levels higher with the same max hit. That gap is what a zerker pays for the berserker helm and Barrows gloves.

The 1 Defence quest order

Quest XP costs no training time and, Witch's House aside, adds no Hitpoints XP, so it is the cheapest Attack a pure will ever get. The One-defence pure page lists six safe ones, and Witch's House is an optional first step for the Hitpoints:

Together that is 63,600 Attack and 13,750 Strength XP: level 45 Attack and 30 Strength from scratch, with Defence untouched. Vampyre Slayer, Tree Gnome Village, The Grand Tree, Fight Arena and Witch's House are also five of the quests the Nightmare Zone asks for, so the same order also opens NMZ for AFK training.

Next come the 1 Defence unlock quests: Lost City for the dragon dagger, Monkey Madness I for the dragon scimitar, Desert Treasure I for Ancient Magicks, Horror from the Deep for god books, Animal Magnetism for Ava's accumulator and five Recipe for Disaster subquests for mithril gloves.

Pure Builds Compared: 1, 13, 42 and 45 Defence

Each cap below is a level where something new becomes wearable, and each one is reached mostly through quest XP. Defence levels between those breakpoints cost combat level and buy nothing.

Pick 1 Defence if you want the lowest combat level for your damage and plan to PK. Pick 13 if you also want the Slayer helmet and adamant gloves for PvM. Pick void if you are a Ranged pure that wants cheap, untradeable armour. Pick zerker if you want Barrows gloves, Vengeance and an account that can still do most PvM.

1 Defence

The best gloves you can wear without ever gaining Defence XP are mithril gloves: +6 Strength, bought from the Culinaromancer's Chest after five Recipe for Disaster subquests. Barrows gloves are off the table. They have no Defence requirement, but the Barrows gloves page puts the minimum at 35 Defence once every quest in the chain is counted. Other Strength bonus with no Defence gate: climbing boots (+2), the fire cape (+4) and the Fremennik kilt (+1, an elite clue reward).

10 or 13 Defence

10 Defence unlocks the Slayer helmet, black armour, the black defender, xerician robes and the hardleather body. The Low-defence pure page advises against stopping there. Nature Spirit gives 2,000 Defence XP in one go and level 13 starts at 1,833 XP, so the quest takes a 1 Defence account straight to 13. A 10 Defence account already has at least 1,154 XP, so doing it later lands on 17, not 13.

At 13 you get adamant gloves, which need 13 Defence and six subquests and are the first tier better than a combat bracelet for melee. Nature Spirit is also a requirement for Freeing the Lumbridge Guide, which is how a 13 Defence account reaches that sixth subquest. Do not buy rune gloves expecting to wear them: they can be bought at 13 Defence but will not equip until Daero's training or the final Culinaromancer fight.

42 Defence void pure

Void Knight equipment needs 42 Attack, Strength, Defence, Hitpoints, Ranged and Magic plus 22 Prayer. With the ranger helm it adds 10% to ranged accuracy and damage, and the elite top and robe raise the damage part to 12.5%. A set with one helm costs 850 commendation points, and because the pieces are untradeable a void pure risks very little.

For the Defence, Holy Grail (15,300), Dragon Slayer I (18,650), The Fremennik Trials (2,812.4) and Olaf's Quest (12,000, which needs the Trials) add up to 48,762 XP. That is level 42 with 1,577 XP to spare before 43, so plan any other Defence reward against that margin. Our Pest Control guide covers the points.

45 Defence zerker

The berserker helm needs 45 Defence and The Fremennik Trials, and costs 78,000 coins at Skulgrimen's Battle Gear in Rellekka. 45 also covers the spirit shield (with 55 Prayer), the fighter torso and rune defender from 40, and Lunar Diplomacy, which needs 40 Defence and leads to Vengeance at 94 Magic.

The wiki's zerker quest list is Monkey Madness I (take the Strength and Hitpoints option), Dragon Slayer I, Nature Spirit, The Fremennik Trials, Heroes' Quest, Between a Rock..., What Lies Below, A Soul's Bane and both Myreque quests. Done in full they leave you on 44 Defence, 4,875 XP short of 45. Between a Rock... needs 30 Defence to finish, so save it for later in the list. Holy Grail and Olaf's Quest are left off on purpose: either one pushes you past 45.

Quests That Give Defence XP: Skip or Time Them

These are all the quests with a fixed Defence reward on the wiki's Quest experience rewards list. The third column shows where each one leaves an account that started at 1 Defence.

Defence XP that is not on that list

1. 1

   Daero's training after Monkey Madness I.

   The options are 35,000 Attack and Defence with 20,000 Strength and Hitpoints, or the reverse. Either way it is at least 20,000 Defence XP, level 33 from 1. Since November 2022 you can go back to Ape Atoll without it: use the right-click Travel option on Daero instead of talking to him.

2. 2

   Monkey Madness II.

   It does not force Defence XP. Its two 50,000 XP rewards from Duke go to a combat skill you choose, and the game only offers them after Daero's training.

3. 3

   The Observatory Quest.

   The reward depends on a random constellation, and some give 875 Attack, Strength, Defence or Hitpoints XP. Since November 2018 the game will not hand you a combat constellation for a skill that is still level 1, unless you started the quest before then.

4. 4

   Lamps.

   The Ides of Milk lamp (1,000 XP, any combat skill) and the X Marks the Spot lamp (300 XP, any skill) both list Defence. Read the skill before you click.

The One-defence pure page notes that Dragon Slayer I, Holy Grail, Between a Rock... and What Lies Below can be started on a 1 Defence account, which is enough for some diary tasks and clue steps, the beacon ring and, for Dragon Slayer I, the anti-dragon shield. Start them, never finish them. Our Dragon Slayer I guide has the full requirement list.

Attack Styles That Keep Defence at 1

Combat Options decides where XP goes. Per point of damage, accurate gives 4 Attack, aggressive 4 Strength, defensive 4 Defence, and controlled 1.33 each to Attack, Strength and Defence. Every melee and ranged style also adds 1.33 Hitpoints. Longrange splits 2 Ranged and 2 Defence, and defensive autocast gives 1.33 Magic and 1 Defence per damage, with the spell's casting XP still going to Magic.

Two older updates help. Since February 2014 the game tries not to drop you into a Defensive stance when you switch weapons, and since February 2019 weapons that share a category remember the style you last used. Neither stops you landing on Lunge or Lash, because those are controlled styles, not defensive ones. Check the highlighted button after every new weapon.

Weapon Progression by Build

For most 1 Defence pures the order is rune scimitar, dragon scimitar at 60 Attack for Strength training on Slash, then a special attack weapon for PK. Zerkers follow the same path and add the whip and tentacle as Attack trainers. Our Attack guide and Strength guide cover the main-account side.

Pure-Safe Training: Pick Your Method

Pures train in the same places as mains, minus anything that leans on Defence gear. The rates are the wiki's Pay-to-play Melee training, Ranged training, Nightmare Zone strategies and Blast Furnace pump figures; expect less with pure gear.

The naguas' 130,000 XP figure needs a full Blood Moon set and Piety, and neither is possible here: Blood Moon armour needs 50 Defence and Piety needs 70. The chin table assumes Rigour, top gear and two helpers stacking monkeys; on Eagle Eye the wiki puts it 5–7% lower. The pump only pays while the furnace has coke in it, so real pump rates sit under 12,000.

Pick the Gemstone Crab or the Nightmare Zone for AFK Strength at 1 Defence, sulphur naguas once you have 55 Attack and 48 Slayer, and the cannon or the pump if you are keeping Hitpoints low. For Magic, splashing and alching give no Hitpoints XP at all.

Hours and XP to Each Goal

Where a line has a rate, the hours are the XP gap divided by the wiki figure, rounded. Treat them as best case with good gear.

1. 1

   Attack 1–45 from quests:

   63,600 XP from six quests and no combat training.

2. 2

   Granite maul, Attack 45–50:

   37,733 XP left after the quests.

3. 3

   Dragon scimitar, Attack 45–60:

   210,142 XP left after the quests.

4. 4

   Strength 50–75 at NMZ hard with overloads (50,000–80,000/hr):

   1,109,088 XP, about 14–22 hours.

5. 5

   Strength 60–70 at sulphur naguas (75,000/hr):

   463,885 XP, about 6 hours.

6. 6

   Strength 70–99 at NMZ with absorptions (up to 100,000–105,000/hr):

   12,296,804 XP, about 117–123 hours.

7. 7

   Ranged 1–61 for the rune crossbow by cannon (40,000/hr):

   302,288 XP, about 7.5 hours from the cannon alone.

8. 8

   Zerker, Defence 44–45:

   4,875 XP after the quest list, which is 1,219 damage dealt on a Defensive style at 4 XP per damage.

9. 9

   Void set:

   850 points, or 284 novice wins at 3 points each. The wiki's ideal time is 9 hours 28 minutes, its realistic estimate is 12–14 hours, and a Hard Combat Achievement tier cuts it to 142 wins.

F2P 1 Defence Pure Route

Free-to-play pures cannot dodge Hitpoints XP the way members can, so quest XP and a few tricks matter more. The F2P combat pure training page gives this route.

1. 1

   On Tutorial Island, damage several rats instead of killing your assigned one:

   melee and Ranged reach level 3 (176 XP) with no Hitpoints XP.

2. 2

   Hit a dummy, such as the ones north of Varrock East Bank, until level 8 Attack, again with no Hitpoints XP.

3. 3

   Vampyre Slayer: 4,825 Attack XP, enough for level 20 on its own.

   The boss can be killed with combat spells such as Air Strike.

4. 4

   The Ides of Milk:

   a 1,000 XP lamp for any combat skill (put it in Attack or Strength), the cowbell amulet, and access to Brutus, who drops the mooleta offhand.

5. 5

   The Restless Ghost for 1,125 Prayer XP, and Imp Catcher (875) and Witch's Potion (325) for Magic.

6. 6

   Skip Dragon Slayer I.

   Its 18,650 Defence XP puts a 1 Defence account on 33.

Scimitars go iron (1 Attack), steel (5), black (10), mithril (20), adamant (30) and rune (40). For knockouts use a rune 2h sword or battleaxe at 40 Attack, or a rune warhammer at 40 Strength, and for Ranged a maple shortbow at 30. An amulet of strength (+10 Strength bonus) is the melee amulet; the amulet of power suits Ranged. Seagulls carry the first few levels, then giant frogs, hill giants, minotaurs and flesh crawlers. Brutus gives boosted XP if you avoid its special attacks.

For a 40 Defence rune pure instead, finish Dragon Slayer I with no more than 22,520 Defence XP so its reward does not carry you past 40. More free-to-play routes are in our F2P training guide.

Common Mistakes That Ruin a Pure

1. 1

   Talking to Daero after Monkey Madness I.

   Both training options include at least 20,000 Defence XP. Use right-click Travel to get back to Ape Atoll.

2. 2

   Training Strength with a whip or tentacle.

   Whips have no aggressive style, and Lash is controlled, so a third of your melee XP goes to Defence. Lunge on a scimitar or claws is controlled too, even though the same name trains Strength on a dagger.

3. 3

   Shooting on longrange.

   It splits 2 Ranged and 2 Defence per damage. The same goes for chinchompas on Long fuse, defensive autocast and the longrange option on powered staves like the trident.

4. 4

   Finishing the wrong quest.

   Dragon Slayer I puts a 1 Defence account on 33. A zerker who adds Holy Grail or Olaf's Quest to the standard list ends on 46. An F2P rune pure who finishes Dragon Slayer I past 22,520 Defence XP lands above 40.

5. 5

   Clicking Defence on a lamp or random reward.

   The Ides of Milk and X Marks the Spot lamps list Defence among the choices, and once Defence is above 1, as on a 13 or 45 build, the Observatory Quest can hand out 875 Defence XP on a random constellation.

Where Paid Help Fits

The fire cape is the one big PvM goal every build here shares. It has no Defence requirement, gives +4 Strength and is the entry fee for the Inferno, and the Fight Cave has no quest or level gate. What changes on a pure is the margin. At 1 or 45 Defence every wave lands more hits, so a late switch between Protect from Magic (37 Prayer) and Protect from Missiles (40) at Jad costs more. Try it with our Fire Cape guide first. If Jad is where the account keeps stopping, our Fire Cape service has separate rows for 1 Defence pures and 45 Defence zerkers, and the run is played by hand on your account.

FAQ

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