Bandos

One nice thing about being a writer is that you don’t have to speak. Which is really nice since today I just went to the dentist and had a filling put in. Which (if you’ve ever had one) you’ll know is not very comfortable and I’m praying the numbness and pain goes away soon.

That just so happens to be what we’re talking about today. No, not teeth, Prayer. Prayer is such an essential skill and equipment stat for certain situations that your life sometimes depends on it.

Prayer

Helm
Ever wonder why some people where those funny looking hats called Mitres? It’s because they give +5 to prayer and with that take first place. With the cheapest one being around 85k, it’s a pretty decent piece of headwear for just prayer bonus.

Coming in second and with the highest popularity is the Proselyte sallet with +4 prayer bonus as well as a decent melee defence, though since you’re going to be using prayer physical defence doesn’t matter too much usually. At only around 4,500, it’s easy to see why this is such a good helmet for prayer bonus.

Third is the Helm of Neitiznot tied with the Initiate sallet with +3 prayer bonus. The Helm of Neitiznot however gives slightly better physical defence bonuses then the Initiate sallet and can store summoning scrolls. Not to mention it’s free.

Amulet
The best piece of neckwear is actually a god stole, or tie. Why it’s called a stole I don’t know. I certainly hope the gods didn’t steal it. Anyways, it gives a whopping +10 prayer bonus which is the highest currently. However due to it not doing anything else it’s not the most common neckwear for prayer.

Second and with majority vote is the (un)Holy symbols of Saradomin and Zamorak which both give +8 prayer. The Saradomin one also gives +2 to all defences and +3 to summing defence whereas the Zamorak one gives +2 to all attacks.

Third is the amulet of Fury with +5, as well as a decent +10 to all attacks and +15 to all defences. However due to its cost (around 1.9m) I don’t suggest it if you’re going for prayer bonus.

Cape
Ahh a cape, one of my favorite garments. The leader of these being a trimmed skill cape, which gives +4 prayer as well as +9 to all other defences. A trimmed prayer cape would be best as it can boost your prayer by 1 point every minute if you operate it.

Second is the Holy cloaks with +3 to prayer. At their current price (520k for the cheapest) I would rather go without.

Third, surprisingly, is the Fire cape with +2 prayer. The nice thing about this cape though is that it also gives a +4 strength bonus, +11 to all defences, and +1 to all attacks.

No other capes give prayer bonus, sorry 🙁

Body
Even when praying you should wear proper body clothing. And the best piece to wear is the Proselyte hauberk which gives +8 to prayer. At a cost of only about 7k, you almost can’t afford not to have this piece.

In second is the Initiate hauberk tied with the Monk Robe top with +6 to prayer. This Hauberk looks almost the same as it’s higher brother but doesn’t quite do as much, though appropriately it doesn’t cost as much either, at only about 6k. Monk’s Robes however don’t cost anything if you pick them up in the prayer guild, though they don’t give any other stats either.

Third is the Verac’s Brassard with +5 to prayer. Some like it for its looks, others like it because it complete’s their Verac’s set. No matter the reason, at only about 215k this is a decent piece of armor if you need prayer and melee defence.

Shade Robes also offer +5 to prayer, but they are a rare, non-tradeable, pure black, robe top dropped by shade random events.

Gloves
The only gloves that give a prayer bonus are the white gloves from the White Knight armory. They require 800 black knight kills and give +1 to prayer. Not much, but better than nothing.

Ring
Surprisingly there is only one ring in all of RuneScape that gives a bonus to prayer, and that is the Lumbridge Explorer’s ring with a +1 bonus. The nice thing about this ring is that it not only gives a prayer bonus but also restores 50% run energy(3 times), has 30 charges of low alchemy, can teleport you to the cabbage patch south of Falador and has a chance of giving extra runes when crafting certain types. Though it’s based on a free area, this is a great ring for anyone to have, especially for running great distances.

Best thing about this ring is it’s free!

Legs
Hmm, legwear, not as important when praying as when fighting dragons…or is it?

Tied for first is the Monk Robe Bottom, the Initiate cuisse, and the Proselyte legwear with +5. The Monk robe bottom doesn’t weigh much, but also doesn’t give any other bonuses. The Initiate cuisse gives more defences than the Monk Robe bottom but weighs more. The Proselyte legwear (Cuisse and Tasset) gives even more physical defence and weighs the same as the Initiate cuisse, but requires a few more defence and prayer levels.

The Verac’s Plateskirt, Shade robe bottom, Druid robe bottom, and god robe bottoms all give +4 to prayer. The Verac’s plateskirt gives some pretty decent physical defences and has no negative against magic, unlike the Initiate and Proselyte pieces. However it costs around 475k. the Shade Robe and Druid Robe are both light weight pieces that lack any physical defence. The god robe bottom gives +4 to magic attack and defence and summoning defence. With the cheapest piece being about 100k, I’d rather just go fight a druid.

The Zamorak and priest robes both give +3 to prayer and are light weight.

Boots
There are only two boots which give prayer bonus, White Knight and Bandos, each give +1. The Bandos boots are nice because they give decent physical defences, however they cost around 760k. I would suggest White Knight Boots, which are unlocked at the same time as White Knight gloves.

Shield
I love shields. They’re one of the best pieces of defence.

Taking first place is the Falador Shield 3 with +7. Before the addition of the Falador Achievement diary the god books all held the record with +5, but not this shield holds the record. Not only does it give a great prayer bonus, it also has a special ability that allows you to recharge all of your prayer points once per day.

Second to this are the newly dethroned god books from Horror from the deep. Each give +5 to prayer, but each also gives a specific bonus to defences or attacks depending on the god it belongs to. The Holy Book gives +8 to all defence, the Book of Balance gives +4 to all attacks and defences, and the Unholy Book gives +8 to all attacks.

Holding tie with these three is the Falador shield 2, which gives +5 prayer bonus and has physical stats equal to a mithril kiteshield. It can also restore 505 of your prayer points each day.

The Blessed and enchanted spirit shields and the Falador Shield 1 all are tied for third with +3 to prayer. The Spirit shields all give decent physical defences, but cost alot. The Falador shield 1 is ok for prayer, but not so god for physical defences. It does, however, have an ability which lets you restore 25% of your total prayer once per day.

Weapon
Prayer can be offensive you know…

Leading this category is the Godsword with +8 to prayer. Dealing high damage while not taking any is great, if you can afford it. The Godsword denies the ability to use a shield, which, if the shield is a Falador shield 3, makes it not a very good choice for max prayer.

Second is the god croziers with +6 to prayer. I don’t remember if these are one handed or two handed. I think they’re two handed because I remember being disappointed when I got mine. At only about 3,500 for the most expensive one, they’re pretty good if you’re going for looks or don’t have a shield.

Though these are in third, I would suggest most of them over the aforementioned weapons.
Ivandis Flail, WolfBane Dagger, TokTz-Mej-Tal, and the Dragon Mace all give +5 to prayer, along with other good advantages. The Ivandis Flail and TokTz-Mej-Tal I believe are two handed, which makes them not so good to use if you have a Falador shield 3. I would suggest either the Wolfbane or the Dragon mace. Specifically the mace as it has a great special which can hit very high.

F2Ps should use Rune maces, as they give +4 to prayer.

Totals

The best total for a member: 47
The best total for a non-member: 24

Both are pretty respectable numbers considering we’re talking about prayer.

If I got anything wrong (which I hope I didn’t) just post a comment and tell me. I know there’s one of you who will.

Even if you don’t find anything wrong please comment anyway! I love reading and replying to comments from readers.