Combat styles in Old School RuneScape are built around three main melee attack types: slash, stab, and crush. Ideally, each style would have meaningful situations where it shines. In OSRS gold reality, however, crush attacks are currently the least useful of the three in most PvM scenarios. While they do have a few niche uses, the overall meta strongly favors slash or stab weapons.
Recent discussions around upcoming rewards and weapon designs have brought this issue back into the spotlight. Many players have debated whether new crush-focused weapons could fix the imbalance. However, the truth is that the weakness of crush attacks isn't really about the weapons themselves-it's about how the current combat meta, boss design, and gear bonuses interact. Having many cheap OSRS gold can also be very helpful.
The Dominance of Slash Weapons
The biggest reason crush weapons struggle to compete is the overwhelming strength of slash-based gear. Some of the most powerful melee weapons in the game rely on slash attacks, including the iconic Scythe of Vitur. This weapon offers extremely high damage potential and strong bonuses that allow it to outperform many alternatives-even against enemies that technically have lower crush defense.
Mid-tier slash weapons are also very effective. Items like the Abyssal Tentacle provide reliable damage output in a wide range of cheap OSRS GP encounters. Because slash weapons scale so well with high-end armor and gear bonuses, they often remain the best choice even when enemies have moderate resistance to slash damage.
Combat styles in Old School RuneScape are built around three main melee attack types: slash, stab, and crush. Ideally, each style would have meaningful situations where it shines. In OSRS gold reality, however, crush attacks are currently the least useful of the three in most PvM scenarios. While they do have a few niche uses, the overall meta strongly favors slash or stab weapons.
Recent discussions around upcoming rewards and weapon designs have brought this issue back into the spotlight. Many players have debated whether new crush-focused weapons could fix the imbalance. However, the truth is that the weakness of crush attacks isn't really about the weapons themselves-it's about how the current combat meta, boss design, and gear bonuses interact. Having many cheap OSRS gold can also be very helpful.
The Dominance of Slash Weapons
The biggest reason crush weapons struggle to compete is the overwhelming strength of slash-based gear. Some of the most powerful melee weapons in the game rely on slash attacks, including the iconic Scythe of Vitur. This weapon offers extremely high damage potential and strong bonuses that allow it to outperform many alternatives-even against enemies that technically have lower crush defense.
Mid-tier slash weapons are also very effective. Items like the Abyssal Tentacle provide reliable damage output in a wide range of cheap OSRS GP encounters. Because slash weapons scale so well with high-end armor and gear bonuses, they often remain the best choice even when enemies have moderate resistance to slash damage.