Abilities

"Ability book" redirects here. For the items that unlocks abilities, see codex.
**Abilities** are a set of combat commands for Attack, Strength, Defence, Constitution, Ranged, and Magic. Abilities form the basis of combat following the Evolution of Combat, though they cannot be used by NPCs.

Abilities come in a wide variety of types; some allow NPC's to deal extra damage, heal themselves, stun their opponents, or many other things. When an ability is used, it cannot be used again for a specific amount of time (its *cooldown*), and other abilities cannot be used for 3 ticks (1.8 seconds; the global cooldown). Constantly using abilities seamlessly is generally the most effective form of combat.

Abilities are laid out by combat skill, out of Attack, Strength, Ranged, Magic, Constitution and Defence. Most abilities have a skill level requirement to be used, and most have an equipment requirement - for example, Slice requires a main-hand melee weapon, and Bash requires a shield.

## Adrenaline

There are three classes of abilities: **Basic**, **Threshold**, and **Ultimate**. There are also auto-attacks, which occur when not using an ability, and Special attacks, which are defined by specific weapons. Abilities generate and consume adrenaline during the flow of combat.

* Auto-attacks simply do the damage of the weapon with no special effects. They generate 1-2% adrenaline each.
* Basic abilities gain 8% adrenaline each, and usually have increased damage, a special effect, or both
* Threshold abilities require 50% adrenaline and will drain 15% on use, generally dealing more damage than basic abilities or having stronger effects
* Ultimate abilities require 100% adrenaline and drain the whole bar, dealing the a large amount of damage or providing a very powerful effect.
* Special attacks can only be used when using a specific weapon, and the attack itself differs with each relevant weapon. To use a special attack, an amount of adrenaline is required and it will use all of that adrenaline when used. Special attacks have no cooldown. Their damage and effects vary greatly with the weapon, but generally fit between threshold abilities and ultimate abilities. *See Special attacks for more details.*

The damage done by abilities is usually a percentage of an NPC's ability damage, which is determined by weapon/spell damage, skill level, and weapon speed.

Nearly all passive effects will work with both auto-attacks and abilities, the most notable exception being Barrows equipment set effects.

## Ability persistence

See also: Buffs and debuffs
When an ability is used, it may remain active for some time either on the NPC or on the target. Abilities can remain active on the NPC in two ways:

* Combo attacks, such as Concentrated Blast, Destroy, and Unload, take more than the global cooldown to fully use. While an ability of this type is active, the use of another ability will cancel it.
* Abilities that leave a passive, positive effect on the NPC user, for a period of time, such as Meteor Strike, Metamorphosis, and Anticipation, are often called *buff* abilities. Using another ability while this buff is active will not remove the buff.

Abilities that remain on the target and provide a negative effect to that target are often called *debuffs*. Abilities such as Combust, Debilitate, and Sever remain active on the target for several seconds. The use of further abilities will not cancel these.

Abilities active on the target are displayed in the target's status bar.

## Cooldown

All abilities have a cooldown timer. The cooldown activates when the ability is used, and stays active for a period of time specific to the ability. While it is active, the ability cannot be used. Some abilities share a cooldown: this means that using *one* of those abilities will activate the cooldown timer for *all* of them. Often these groups of abilities have something in common, like stunning the target (Kick, Binding Shot, and Impact), or moving the target several squares (Escape and Surge).

After using an ability, you cannot use another ability (or auto-attack) for 3 ticks (1.8 seconds). This is the global cooldown. (This triggers from the moment of use, so after a combo attack, you can immediately use another ability.)

## Ability menus

The different abilities can be found in the following four menus. The combat skills Attack and Strength share one, but are further divided into their own sub-tabs; as are Defence and Constitution. Ranged and Magic each have their own tab. However, the Magic tab is further sub-divided into a sub-tabs for: magic-based abilities, Combat spells, Teleport spells, and Skilling spells.

### Attack

File:Attack abilities tab.png
Attack abilities require a melee weapon wielded in the main hand to use. Some require either dual-wielded melee weapons or a two-handed melee weapon to use. Attack abilities focus on dealing a large amount of damage over time and inflicting side effects.

### Strength

Strength abilities require the player to be wielding a melee weapon in their main hand. Some abilities require dual-wielded melee weapons or a two-handed melee weapon in order to be used. Strength abilities focus on heavy instant damage, with some abilities also carrying a stun effect. They are classes along with the Attack' abilities in the **Melee Abilities** tab.

### Ranged

File:Ranged abilities tab.png
Ranged abilities require the NPC to be wielding a ranged weapon in the main hand and ammunition if needed. Some abilities require dual-wielded ranged weapons or a two-handed ranged weapon in order to be used.

### Magic

File:Magic abilities tab.png
Magic abilities require a magic weapon in the primary weapon slot and an auto-casted spell. Some abilities require dual-wielded magic weapons or a two-handed magic weapon in order to be used. It should be noted most "classic" spells could also be found in this tab, but they are omitted here. Click here to see a list of them.

### Defence

File:Defence abilities tab.png
Defence abilities focus on reducing the damage taken by the NPC that used it, along with restoring health after damage is taken. Some of these abilities require a shield to be equipped.

### Constitution

Constitution abilities have no equipment requirements and are classified alongside the Defence abilities.

pt:Livro de Recursos
fi:Ability Book