This month we’re going to see what new items have been added which are great for magic defence. You can read last year’s article to see what was the best then.

Magic

Helm
Ever wanted to be an angel? Well now you can be an angel while having the best magical defence helmet. The god Halos from Castle Wars are the best with +11 Stab, +12 Slash, +10 Crush, +11 Magic, -1 Ranged, and +0 Summoning. They don’t cost any coins though they do require 300 Castle Wars tokens. You’d need to win 150 games which would require 62.5 hours or 2.6 continuous days. Now I wouldn’t suggest playing that much straight but if you have the tokens I would suggest getting a halo. Halos come in Saradomin blue, Guthix Green, and Zamorak red. Each halo makes certain prayer drain slower. Saradomin is primarily defencive prayers, Guthix is accuracy, and Zamorak is strength. All halos also affect the magical and ranged prayers as well as Chivalry and Piety.

Second place is held by the dethroned Armadyl helmet with +6 Stab, +8 Slash, +10 Crush, +10 Magic, +8 Ranged, and +12 Summoning as well as a +1 prayer bonus. Its price has gone down 1.8m to 3m which makes it more affordable, though considering it has -5 penalty on Stab, Slash, Crush, and Magic attack I wouldn’t suggest maging or meleeing with it.

Tied for second is the Full Slayer Helmet with +30 Stab, +32 Slash, +27 Crush, +10 Magic, +30 Ranged, and +7 Summoning. I didn’t mention this helm last year because it didn’t exist. I would suggest this helm over the Armadyl helm for a few reasons:
A) It gives +3 ranged and Magic attack bonus and does not give a negative melee bonus so it’s more efficient.
B) It gives better Melee and Ranged defence and only slightly worse Magic defence.
C) It gives +15% damage against slayer tasks when meleeing, ranging, or maging. Since many slayer tasks use magic this is much better than the Armadyl helm.
D) It only costs about 2.8m, which is slightly cheaper than the Armadyl helm.
The Slayer helm requires level 55 crafting to make and 35 slayer to wear. Smoking Kills must be completed to make or wear it. One of the most useful aspects of this helm is that it counts as a Nose peg, a pair of Earmuffs, a Facemask, and a Spiny helmet, making it very useful for tasks which require those protective items.

Third is the Third Age Mage hat with +8 Magic attack and defence as well as +12 Summoning defence. Surprisingly the price is still about 34.5m.

Fourth place is the Bearhead from the Mountain Daughter quest at +12 Stab, +14 Slash, +10 Crush, +7 Magic, +9 Ranged, and +0 Summoning. It’s a good helm for lower levels or anyone who doesn’t want one of the above helms or can’t afford them. It’s also good for dangerous situations because it can be retrieved from Hamal the Mountain Chieftain for free.

F2Ps should use either a Coif or Green Dragonhide Coif. Both give +4 magic defence, though the Green Dragonhide Coif gives +4 Stab, +6 Slash, +8 Crush, +5 Ranged, and +4 Summoning as well.

Amulet
The Fury is still top dog with +15 to all defences, +10 to all attacks, +8 bonus to strength and +5 bonus to prayer. Its price has taken quite a significant jump, rising from 2.7m to 15.1m over the last year.

If you’re not made of money I’d suggest the Amulet of ranging. It gives +10 magic defence and +15 ranged attack, which makes it good for magic defence or ranging. You can either buy it for 730k or fight Aquanites until you get one.

Rather surprisingly is the Amulet of Power in third. It gives +6 to all defence, attack, and strength bonuses as well as +1 to prayer. It’s a good cheap amulet for F2Ps and P2Ps alike, coming in at around 8.5k.

Cape
I think I’ll quote myself for this popular award winner:
Quote:
“For now the Fire Cape from the Tzhaar Fight Caves still holds the record for best defence. It gives +11 to all defence, along with +1 to all attacks, +4 strength bonus and +2 prayer bonus. The annoying thing about this cape is that it requires the defeat of the Tztok-Jad, one of Gielinor’s most dangerous known monsters.”

Indeed, it is a great cape, albeit challenging to get. I should really get myself one some day. It still holds first place and if you like a good challenge I’d suggest it.

Second place is still the god Capes with +1 Stab, +1 Slash, +2 Crush, +10 Magic, +0 Ranged, and +5 Summoning. One nice thing about these capes is that they also give +10 magic attack which is useful when you need magic defence while using magic.

Third is held by the ever so popular Capes of Accomplishment with +9 to all defence. These are great all around capes and even better when they become trimmed and give a +4 prayer bonus.

No F2P capes give magic defence, which is rather annoying even though there aren’t many magical monsters on F2P.

Body
Since your upper body is the largest part it makes a great target for magical spells, for this reason correct protection is critical.

The Armadyl chestplate remains in first place with +56 Stab, +48 Slash, +61 Crush, +70 Magic, +57 Ranged, and +52 Summoning. Like all Armadyl god Wars Dungeon items, the chestplate reduces attack bonuses slightly. The price has only risen 4m over the last year which is somewhat surprising.

Remaining in second is the Karil’s leathertop with +47 Stab, +42 Slash, +50 Crush, +65 Magic, +57 Ranged, and +60 Summoning. It costs 90k every 15 hours of combat to repair which makes it a little annoying to use, especially with its Grand Exchange price rising over 4m over the past year to 4.9m.

Third place is the Third Age Range top with +60 magic defence. However since it costs nearly 45m I won’t spend much time on it.

Fourth, and by far the most efficient, is the Black Dragonhide body with +55 Stab, +47 Slash, +60 Crush, +50 Magic+55 Ranged, and +55 Summoning. Only requiring level 40 defence and 70 ranged, this is a piece of armor that’s cheap(at only 8.2k), efficient, and sturdy.

F2Ps will have to settle for their trusty Green Dragonhide body which gives +40 Stab, +32 Slash, +45 Crush, +20 Magic, +40 Ranged, and +40 Summoning. This only requires 40 defence and ranged and the completion of Dragon Slayer.

Gloves
Gloves haven’t changed much, the Third Age Vambraces are still in first place with +6 Stab, +5 Slash, +7 Crush, +9 Magic, +0 Ranged, and +5 Summoning. They’ve actually dropped about 5m over the past year which is good, though I still won’t be paying 12.4m for them.

Black Dragonhide is always good, especially when it comes in second place. These vambracers give +6 Stab, +5 Slash, +7 Crush, +8 Magic, +0 Ranged, and +6 Summoning and an additional +2 strength when turned into spiky vambraces. At a cost of only about 3k I’d suggest you keep a pair in your bank.

Barrows gloves are in an unwavering third despite their namesake heritage with +12 Stab, +12 Slash, +12 Crush, +6 Magic, +12 Ranged, and +6 Summoning and an equal amount to the respective attack stats, as well as +12 to strength. If you’ve completed Recipe for Disaster I’d highly suggest paying the 100k to buy these gloves. Even though they aren’t the greatest Magic defence they’re worth using for all around combat.

F2Ps will have to use Green Dragonhide vambracers which give +3 Stab, +2 Slash, +4 Crush, +2 Magic, +0 Ranged, and +3 Summoning. Cheap, easy to use, and non-degradable.

Ring
The Seers’ Ring(I) takes first place with +8 magic attack and defence. The ring itself costs around 360k and must be imbued at Mobilising Armies for 205,900 reward points.

The Onyx ring(I) takes second with +6 to all attacks and defences (except summoning). The ring itself costs 9.4m and requires 144,100 reward points to imbue.

The Dragonstone ring(I) gives +5 to all bonuses just like the Onyx ring. It costs about 50k coins and 141,300 reward points to imbue.

A cheaper alternative is to just buy a normal Seers’ ring as it will still give +4 to magic attack and defence while remaining affordable.

F2Ps have no good rings for magic defence so I’d just suggest the Lumbridge Explorer’s ring.

Legs
Almost as important as body armor, legs are what keep you moving. Stopping your legs can really put a stopper on you.

First place remains held by the Armadyl chainskirt with +32 Stab, +26 Slash, +34 Crush, +40 Magic, +33 Ranged, and +25 Summoning. They give great defence but are a little pricey at 15m, 3m more than last year.

Second place is retained by the Karil’s leather skirt with +26 Stab, +20 Slash, +28 Crush, +35 Magic, +33 Ranged, and +30 Summoning. The annoying thing about all barrows equipment is that it degrades after 15 hours of combat. The repair price does lower the higher your smithing level is if you use a POH Armor stand to repair it. The skirt costs about 580k on the Grand Exchange and costs 80k to repair.

Not much has changed with the Third Age ranged legs, they’re still about 35m and still in third place with +30 magic defence.

Fourth place is held by the ol’ faithful Black dragonhide chaps with +31 Stab, +25 Slash, +33 Crush, +28 Magic, +31 Ranged, and +30 Summoning. They’re one item you can rely on, barely changing in price over a year from 6k to 5.4k

F2Ps should continue to use their Green Dragonhide chaps which give +22 Stab, +16 Slash, +24 Crush, +8 Magic, +22 Ranged, and +15 Summoning. Cheap and effective, they’re good for anyone who can’t wear better.

Boots
Hot foot! Hot foot! Wearing good boots is key for protection from waves of fire and water alike.

The Infinity boots are tied for first with the Silly Jester boots from The Fremennik Isles, both giving +5 magic defence. The good thing about the Infinity boots is that they also give +5 magic attack and +5 summoning defence, the bad thing is they cost about 900k. The good thing about the Silly Jester boots is that they’re free, the bad thing is they give -5 range defence.

The Wizard boots hold a good second with +4 magic defence and attack. Their popularity has increased slightly over the year and now cost about 900k, up from 320k last year.

Mystic boots are in a decent third with +3 magic attack and defence as well as summoning. The blue boots are the cheapest at 7.6k and the black ones are the most expensive at 170k.

Ranger and Lunar boots are also decent if you have them as they both give +2 magic defence. The difference however is that Ranger’s cost over double of their price of last year of 6.8m, now being 15.4m. Lunar boots are free if you’ve done the quest and only cost a little to buy back if you lose them.

There are no good boots for F2Ps so I’d suggest just wearing your fighting or fancy boots.

Shield
For second and first place I shall quote last year…
Quote:
“Among many it’s thought that the Mage Book holds the record for best Magic defence in a shield, however that’s not true.

The Mage’s book from the Mage Training Arena comes in second at +15 Magic defence and an equal amount to Magic attack. At 2 million, I wouldn’t suggest buying it because it only adds to Magic attack & defence, unless you plan on maging your maging opponent.”

The Spectral shield actually has a quite surprising price change this year, dropping to about 63m from 120m last year, nearly half.
The Mages book has over doubled from 2m to 4.4m.

The DFS (or DragonFire Shield) comes in a good third being tied with the newly added Void Knight Deflector and Tome of Frost, both giving +10 magic defence. When fulled charged the DFS gives hefty melee and ranged defences in the mid to upper 70s. The Void Knight Deflector gives +30 to all other defences, including summoning. The DFS has nearly doubled in the past year, rising from 17m to about 33m. The Void Knight Deflector is non-tradeable and must be bought for 150 Void Knight points. The Tome of Frost gives unlimited water runes and costs 43k Dungeoneering reward points.

The Elemental Body and Mind shields both give +9 magic defence for fourth place, with the body shield giving +30 Summoning defence, 21 more than the mind shield.

In fifth place is the Holy Book, or Saradomin God Book with +8. It costs about 350k to buy all the pages to make the book but is free to retrieve if lost. It also gives a +5 prayer bonus, which is nice.

F2Ps can use the Tome of Frost if they work hard in Daemonheim.

Weapons
Ever tried catching a spell with a weapon? Some of these weapons seem good enough to!

In first place is still the Master Wand from the Mage Training Arena with +20 magic attack and defence. Surprisingly the price of this has risen from 560k to 3.1m over the past year.

In second place is a new staff but not new to most people nowadays, the Staff of Light! Yielding +17 magic attack and defence as well stats making it comparable to the Dragon longsword. One of the most popular features of this staff is that it has a 12.5% chance to not use any runes when casting a combat spell. This means it casts the spell for free and still gives full experience. Another great feature is that it gives +15% bonus damage to all spells cast with it. It also has a good ‘panic-button’ special attack which will put an aura of light around you which protects from 50% of all melee damage for one minute. This staff is definitely worth the 4.2m it costs.

The Ancient Staff, Ahrim’s Staff, and Toktz-Mej-Tal are all tied for third with +15 Magic Defence and attack. The Toktz-Mej-Tal gives +10 Stab, +15 Slash,+5 Crush, and +5 Prayer and the Ahrim’s Staff gives +65 to Crush Attack and Strength bonus. The Ancient Staff Costs about 67k, up 7k from last year, Ahrim’s staff costs 96k, up 46k from last year, and the Toktz-Mej-Tal costs 75k, down 45k from last year. The Ancient and Ahrim’s staves both give +10% magic damage, the Toktz-Mej-Tal does not.

F2Ps should use an Elemental Fire, Air, Water, or Earth staff as they all give +10 magic defence and attack.

Strong in the force you will be, if study your enemy first you do.