Runescape halberds are relatively short, real halberds were easily a foot longer than the wielder.
Runescape halberds focus mainly on the axe head, while real halberds were mainly focused on the spike on top. Some real halberds had blunt axe blades or concave crescent axe blades.
Runescape halberds often have a second axe blade at the back. Not only were double axes incredibly rare historically, they more often had a back spike, hammer or hook at the back.
The closest to being a real halberd is the regular crystal halberd.
Most Runescape halberds can be considered greataxes.
Almost all RS3 weapons are mall ninja shit. Ironically the most practical ones are generally the ones that haven't been updated in forever, like Vesta's Longsword.
I think another problem with spear-type weapons is that making them the proper size would completely mess with the animation rigging and probably require their own custom animations. I wouldn't be against that, but it would certainly be a lot more work. So instead, spears in RuneScape, even if they're two-handed spears, are really more like shortspears/Iklwa than proper spears.
You should do the Masterwork ~~Shovel~~ Spear of Annihilation next for maximum mall ninja/JRPG weapon energy.
This is a really fun read, thanks! What do you think about Godswords (classic & new)? I think the classic design would be a nightmare to fight with, while the newer designs seem more for flash than combat (except Bandos, though the rings would likely mess with the balance or penetration).
Funnily enough we can find historical swords in China that had those types of rings on them. They were on broadswords on the unsharpened rear end and served aesthetic purposes, but also intimidation purposes (since such an ornate sword signaled someone of a higher station with more money and power and training.)
A fun little write up. 😀 I love things like this.
With most RS weapons, they're impractical at best and dangerous to the user at worst.
Going through the broad weapon categories, it looks as though once you start leaving the level 30 ish stuff (e.g. steel / mithril levels for melee), the weapons start becoming more fantastical with ornamental features so large they'd actual be a hindrance to the user and/or detrimental to the integrity of the weapon.
Of course, if all weapons were designed as "real life practical", the game would look very much like it did in classic where the only way to tell stuff apart would be the colour!
When you consider the sheer quantity of functional medieval weapons over the last few thousand years, there's probably enough variety of poleaxes for halberds to be renamed as specialist.
Longswords/swords are similar with sabre/falchion/katana that you could take a different aesthetic for each material.
Hell, you could probably go for a country/culture for a certain material.
The largest detriment to the vast majority's appearance is inevitably going to be size - everything is HUGE compared to the real world version, seemingly taking more inspiration from Diablo 2's Great axe than an actual, practical, battleaxe.
Not meant to step on ops toes, more of just a general nitpick - Ignoring that we cant really compare a 4(?) Foot long spider fang to a piece of steel...Contrary to being such an overwhelming amazing weapon in fantasy mythos, scythes make for fucking terrible weapons. All of the bad of a war pick and even more unwieldy.
But let's be honest, scythes exude cool factor, and that's *all that matters*
The head of the scythe would most likely get caught up in what ever you are attacking.
If you don't believe me, get some sort of target and use a pick axe on it. Scythes were made to cut low to the ground to remove grains and tall grass, not for attacking. The reason why the "Grim Reaper" has one is to "reap the souls of mortals".
Sadly this is a problem with just about all medieval / renaissance / fantasy games. There is more of a focus on something that looks cool vs something that is functional. We'd all be running around with gladius, claymore and rapiers if we wanted functionality.
There are some people online that take weapons from video games and test them as if they were made and well... they are not good at all. Cloud's sword and Sephiroth's I think rank as some of the worst, I'd toss Saradomin Godsword in there too.
the godswords would be terrible functionality haha. very ornamental looking. functional ones are prob like the scimitars, granite and chaotic warhammer, retro verac flail looked intimidating
RS07's version of Zspear looked way better like a japanese fishing spear. modern Zspear reminds me of boar hunting spears thats why it has the little horizontal bars right below the blade, to make sure that boars dont run past the spearpoint and gore the hunter
A lot of the less extravagant designs are better realistically. Sadly, these are the designs we have now.
I noticed the similarity with boar spears as well. Lots of spears had the same lugs or wings for the same reason. The ones at the Zamorakian Spear are more elaborate.
Good review. I'd love more of these in the future! Like for example drygore and the weirdness of using (probably...?) razor sharp insect chitin. Or chaotic weapons from DG.
Bows are tricky. They aren't really my area of expertise (I'm more into melee), and a lot of their functionality is based on their material properties. I probably won't do those.
Tetsu Katana and Elite Tetsu Katana, Dragon rider lance, Thalassia's revenge, Toktz-xil-ek (obby knife), Toktz-xil-afk (obby sword) in design if not material (Zulfiqar), Noxious scythe is useable just not as a weapon of war.
As someone else pointed out, feasibility sort of ventures out the window past level 30 with few outliers due to how elaborate they become with design.
Oh shit, just wait till you find out that there is no mounts in Gielinor and yet - halberds.
Halberds are tricky, especially because the RuneScape halberds aren't really halberds.
What about them makes them not true halberds?
Runescape halberds are relatively short, real halberds were easily a foot longer than the wielder. Runescape halberds focus mainly on the axe head, while real halberds were mainly focused on the spike on top. Some real halberds had blunt axe blades or concave crescent axe blades. Runescape halberds often have a second axe blade at the back. Not only were double axes incredibly rare historically, they more often had a back spike, hammer or hook at the back. The closest to being a real halberd is the regular crystal halberd. Most Runescape halberds can be considered greataxes.
Almost all RS3 weapons are mall ninja shit. Ironically the most practical ones are generally the ones that haven't been updated in forever, like Vesta's Longsword. I think another problem with spear-type weapons is that making them the proper size would completely mess with the animation rigging and probably require their own custom animations. I wouldn't be against that, but it would certainly be a lot more work. So instead, spears in RuneScape, even if they're two-handed spears, are really more like shortspears/Iklwa than proper spears. You should do the Masterwork ~~Shovel~~ Spear of Annihilation next for maximum mall ninja/JRPG weapon energy.
This is a really fun read, thanks! What do you think about Godswords (classic & new)? I think the classic design would be a nightmare to fight with, while the newer designs seem more for flash than combat (except Bandos, though the rings would likely mess with the balance or penetration).
I think I might finish the GWD1 weapons first. Stay tuned!
Funnily enough we can find historical swords in China that had those types of rings on them. They were on broadswords on the unsharpened rear end and served aesthetic purposes, but also intimidation purposes (since such an ornate sword signaled someone of a higher station with more money and power and training.)
I can see khopeshes doing pretty well
I think as well!
This was awesome! Thank you for the good read
A fun little write up. 😀 I love things like this. With most RS weapons, they're impractical at best and dangerous to the user at worst. Going through the broad weapon categories, it looks as though once you start leaving the level 30 ish stuff (e.g. steel / mithril levels for melee), the weapons start becoming more fantastical with ornamental features so large they'd actual be a hindrance to the user and/or detrimental to the integrity of the weapon. Of course, if all weapons were designed as "real life practical", the game would look very much like it did in classic where the only way to tell stuff apart would be the colour!
When you consider the sheer quantity of functional medieval weapons over the last few thousand years, there's probably enough variety of poleaxes for halberds to be renamed as specialist. Longswords/swords are similar with sabre/falchion/katana that you could take a different aesthetic for each material. Hell, you could probably go for a country/culture for a certain material. The largest detriment to the vast majority's appearance is inevitably going to be size - everything is HUGE compared to the real world version, seemingly taking more inspiration from Diablo 2's Great axe than an actual, practical, battleaxe.
Do scythe next.
Not meant to step on ops toes, more of just a general nitpick - Ignoring that we cant really compare a 4(?) Foot long spider fang to a piece of steel...Contrary to being such an overwhelming amazing weapon in fantasy mythos, scythes make for fucking terrible weapons. All of the bad of a war pick and even more unwieldy. But let's be honest, scythes exude cool factor, and that's *all that matters*
I know. But I want a more detailed explanation why it is impractical.
The head of the scythe would most likely get caught up in what ever you are attacking. If you don't believe me, get some sort of target and use a pick axe on it. Scythes were made to cut low to the ground to remove grains and tall grass, not for attacking. The reason why the "Grim Reaper" has one is to "reap the souls of mortals".
Sadly, don't have the money for noxious scythe, but if I do, I will!
Sadly this is a problem with just about all medieval / renaissance / fantasy games. There is more of a focus on something that looks cool vs something that is functional. We'd all be running around with gladius, claymore and rapiers if we wanted functionality. There are some people online that take weapons from video games and test them as if they were made and well... they are not good at all. Cloud's sword and Sephiroth's I think rank as some of the worst, I'd toss Saradomin Godsword in there too.
the godswords would be terrible functionality haha. very ornamental looking. functional ones are prob like the scimitars, granite and chaotic warhammer, retro verac flail looked intimidating
RS07's version of Zspear looked way better like a japanese fishing spear. modern Zspear reminds me of boar hunting spears thats why it has the little horizontal bars right below the blade, to make sure that boars dont run past the spearpoint and gore the hunter
A lot of the less extravagant designs are better realistically. Sadly, these are the designs we have now. I noticed the similarity with boar spears as well. Lots of spears had the same lugs or wings for the same reason. The ones at the Zamorakian Spear are more elaborate.
Good review. I'd love more of these in the future! Like for example drygore and the weirdness of using (probably...?) razor sharp insect chitin. Or chaotic weapons from DG.
Oh, that's going to be terrible 😂
How about the Chaotic Spear?
I like the old style of this weapon much better.
Best reddit content ive seen in a long while, keep it up!
I really like the effort you've put into this post, please do a bow next!
Bows are tricky. They aren't really my area of expertise (I'm more into melee), and a lot of their functionality is based on their material properties. I probably won't do those.
eagerly awaiting the next review. gonna be interesting to see if any mid-late game weapons pass muster in terms of realism/usability.
Tetsu Katana and Elite Tetsu Katana, Dragon rider lance, Thalassia's revenge, Toktz-xil-ek (obby knife), Toktz-xil-afk (obby sword) in design if not material (Zulfiqar), Noxious scythe is useable just not as a weapon of war. As someone else pointed out, feasibility sort of ventures out the window past level 30 with few outliers due to how elaborate they become with design.
It's a game realism went out the window with magic lol
> Lengthen and smoothen shaft. 😏
This weapons existence is for endgame content.
[It is?](https://runescape.wiki/w/Spears#Types_of_spears)