The very first thing you need to know about combat is what a combat level is and what you can do with it.
The combat level depends on the combat skills of a player or NPC. Generally, the higher the combat level, the more skilled the player or NPC is in combat.
An important thing to note is that combat level is based upon the armour and weapons that an NPC has, natural or equipped. For example, a black dragon has a higher combat level not only due to its natural Strength, but also because of its natural armour (dragonhide) and weapons (claws and fire breath).
When you hover your mouse cursor over an NPC or player, that person's (or NPC's) combat level will be displayed.
Combat levels in green mean that you have a higher combat level. Combat levels displayed in red mean you have a lower combat level. If the colour is displayed in yellow, it means the player has a similar combat level to you, or the NPC is within your combat level range.
Combat Areas
There are two forms of combat area found throughout the land of RuneScape - single and multicombat areas.
A single combat area restricts players so that any player can only fight a single target at any time. Similarly, any target can only be attacked by one player at a time.
Multicombat areas are identified upon entering by two crossed swords appearing in the bottom right hand corner of your screen. Anywhere else is classed as a single combat area. Multicombat areas are especially dangerous in the Wilderness as more than one monster can attack you at a time, and there is no shortage of them. This could be beneficial to a player because by fighting as a team you will decrease your chances of dying and will increase your chances of defeating stronger opponents.
Hitpoints
Hitpoints are your health! They are represented by the bar above your head during any combat.
The green area shows your remaining health, whereas the red shows how much health you have lost. If you want or need an accurate view of your health, select the 'statistics' menu - you will be able to see your 'Hitpoints'. This will display the amount of Hitpoints remaining from your total; for example, 18/45.
Always keep an eye on this and make sure that the health bar does not reach the bottom, or you will die! To avoid death, you will need to heal during a fight to restore your Hitpoints. For this you will need food. To see what food is 'best' and what heals the most, see the Cooking guide.
If you find you are losing the battle, then you can run away by clicking on the ground. If you do retreat it's best to keep moving, as monsters will pursue you and carry on attacking. If you run far enough away, monsters will eventually give up the chase.
Death
If you are unfortunate, or do not take any health supplies, you may die as a result of combat. If this happens, you will respawn at your respawn point. This point is generally Lumbridge, but for members who have completed the Recruitment Drive quest, you may change it to Falador. You change this using the 'Gaze of Saradomin' obtained as a reward from this quest. If you have completed King's Ransom you can also change your respawn point to Camelot.
If you die normally (without a skull over your head), you will respawn at your respawn point, retaining the three most valuable items that you were carrying at the time. If you are using the 'Protect item' Prayer at the time of your death, you will retain four items.
If you have any doubts as to what you will keep when you die, simply click the 'Items kept at death' button in your 'Equipped' interface. Click here to read more about this.
If you were skulled in the Abyss within the last 20 minutes and are 'skulled' at the time of your death, you will retain none of your equipped or carried items. The same applies if you die while playing Bounty Hunter.
The only exception to this is if you are using the 'Protect item' Prayer. This Prayer (if activated near the time of death and you have enough Prayer points to make it last until your death) will allow you to keep one more item. This Prayer will not work, however, if you have a penalty countdown active while playing the Bounty Hunter minigame.
NOTE: The value of an item is not dependent upon the market price. The value is the set price defined by the RuneScape world. To get an indication of these prices you can use the 'value' option on items in the many general stores around RuneScape.
