Best OSRS Magic Defense Armor - Top PvM & PvP Gear Guide

10.03.2025 - 21:36:18
Game Guides , OSRS Guides , Runescape

Best OSRS Magic Defense Armor - Top PvM & PvP Gear Guide

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Magic is one of the 3 combat skills in Old School Runescape. As such, throughout your OSRS journey, you will encounter many monsters and players trying to kill you using magic. There are various ways to keep your character safe from magical attacks, and today we will explore the armor side of things. This guide will give you insights on how magical defense works and how you can utilize armors for different situations to avoid taking damage as much as possible.

Defence Against Magic

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Unlike the other combat styles, protecting against magical attacks is a little bit different. For other combat styles, the game will calculate your defensive bonus against an attack by taking your defence level plus your respective defence bonus into account. For magic, however, defence is calculated with your magic level plus your magic defence bonus, plus your defence level. For both instances, prayer can also be used to increase this bonus.

The effectiveness of your Magic level is much higher than your defence level against incoming magical attacks.

So, in a nutshell, get a high Magic level and Defence level in order to have the maximum passive protection from magical attacks. The Defence level will also allow you to wear much better armor and shields for extra magic protection.

Best In Slot Defensive Gear

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Whether you are fighting a monster that uses magical attacks or a player trying to freeze you, the following gear will provide the best magical defense bonus in the game. Obviously, having the best-in-slot gear for this doesn't really make that much sense in real scenarios, but it is good to know the exact setup regardless. After this, we will get into more realistic setups.

SlotItemBonusInformation
HeadMasori mask (f)+12Requires level 80 Defence and Ranged to wear.
NeckAmulet of fury+15No requirements.
BodyMasori body (f)+74Requires level 80 Defence and Ranged to wear. (only +4 from a Armadyl chestplate)
LegsMasori chaps (f)+46Requires level 80 Defence and Ranged to wear. (only +6 from a Armadyl chainskirt)
BootsEternal boots+8Requires level 75 Magic and Defence to wear. (Pegasians provide +5 if you are going for a full Ranged setup)
CapeImbued god cape+15Requires level 75 Magic and the completion of the Mage Arena 2 miniquest. (Ava's assembler provides +8 if you are going for a full Ranged setup)
ShieldSpectral spirit shield+30Requires level 65 Magic, 75 Defence, and 70 Prayer to equip. (Dragonfire ward provides +28 if you are going for a full Ranged setup.)
Gloves3rd Age Vambraces+9Requires level 65 Ranged and 45 Defence to wear. (This is very unrealistic; black d'hide vambs provide +8 and are dirt cheap.)
RingRing of Suffering (i)+20Requires level 75 Hitpoints to wear. Needs imbuing via minigames.
WeaponPurging staff+25Requires level 77 Magic and 50 attack to use.
Total+254  

Surviving The Wilderness

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If you are doing any activity in Wilderness, you can expect to encounter some PKers. These thirsty fools are after your GP, so you have to defend yourself against them. If they get a tele-block on you, you will have to tank them and running is a big part of the escaping process, and they will try to freeze you to prevent that. Having a high magic defence bonus here will help massively, as each time they splash, you will be able to run further away. Here are some realistic setups that you can use for this:

4 Iteming Expensive

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SlotItemBonusInformation
HeadKaril's coif/Slayer helmet (i)+6/+10Requires level 70 Defence and Ranged, really cheap. If you are on Slayer task, slayer helmet (i) is the better choice.
NeckAmulet of glory+3No requirements. Cheap.
BodyMasori body (f)+74Requires level 80 Defence and Ranged to wear. (only +4 from a Armadyl chestplate)
LegsMasori chaps (f)+46Requires level 80 Defence and Ranged to wear. (only +6 from a Armadyl chainskirt)
BootsMixed-dragonhide boots+3Really cheap and provides offensive bonuses.
CapeMythical cape/ Ava's Device+8 / +4Requires Dragon Slayer 2 or Animal Magnetism
ShieldDinh's Bulwark-10We are suing this shield to round off our defensive stats. Even though this shield provides -10 Magic bonus, it provides massive defensive bonuses in all other styles.
GlovesBarrows gloves/Black d'hide vambs+6/+8Requires the completion of the quest "Recipe for Disaster". Black d'hide gives more magical bonuses but fewer offensive bonuses.
RingRing of Suffering (i)+20Requires level 75 Hitpoints to wear. Needs imbuing via minigames.
Weapon---
Total+156  

Budget 4 Iteming

SlotItemBonusInformation
HeadKaril's coif/Slayer helmet (i)+6/+10Requires level 70 Defence and Ranged, really cheap. If you are on Slayer task, slayer helmet (i) is the better choice.
NeckAmulet of glory+3No requirements. Cheap.
BodyKaril's leathertop+65Requires level 70 Defence and Ranged. Great budget tank top.
LegsKaril's letherskirt+35Requires level 70 Defence and Ranged. Great budget tank bottom.
BootsMixed-dragonhide boots+3Really cheap and provides offensive bonuses.
CapeMythical cape/ Ava's Device+8 / +4Requires Dragon Slayer 2 or Animal Magnetism
ShieldDinh's Bulwark-10We are suing this shield to round off our defensive stats. Even though this shield provides -10 Magic bonus, it provides massive defensive bonuses in all other styles.
GlovesBarrows gloves/Black d'hide vambs+6/+8Requires the completion of the quest "Recipe for Disaster". Black d'hide gives more magical bonuses but fewer offensive bonuses.
RingRing of Suffering (i)+20Requires level 75 Hitpoints to wear. Needs imbuing via minigames.
Weapon---
Total+136  

Budget/Skulled

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SlotItemBonusInformation
HeadKaril's coif/God coif+6/+4Requires level 70 Defence and Ranged, really cheap. If you have a lower defence level you can use any god coif.
NeckAmulet of glory+3No requirements. Cheap.
BodyBlack d'hide body+45Very cheap and requires level 40 Defence and 70 Ranged.
LegsBlack d'hide chaps+23Very cheap and requires level 40 Defence and 70 Ranged.
BootsMixed-dragonhide boots+3Really cheap and provides offensive bonuses.
CapeMythical cape/ Ava's Device+8 / +4Requires Dragon Slayer 2 or Animal Magnetism
ShieldBlack d'hide shield+15Very cheap whilst providing great magic defence bonus.
GlovesBarrows gloves/Black d'hide vambs+6/+8Requires the completion of the quest "Recipe for Disaster". Black d'hide gives more magical bonuses but fewer offensive bonuses.
RingRing of shadows+5Completion of the Desert Treasure 2 quest. Free ring.
WeaponAhrim's staff+15Cheap staff. Requires level 70 Magic and Attack to weild.
Total+131  

Feel free to change items around and find the best setup for you and your budget. It also totally depends on what you are doing in the Wilderness and what you need as well.

Top Magic Defence Items

Here is a list of the top items you can use to gain the most Magic defence for every equipment slot.

Head Slot

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ItemBonusDescription
Masori mask (f)+12Requires level 80 Defence and Ranged to wear. Expensive.
Any halo+11Castle wars reward, pures can wear this.
Armadyl helmet+10Requires level 70 Defence and Ranged.
Slayer helmet (i)+10It's the best in slot for any Slayer task.
Crystal helmet+10Requires level 70 Defence and 50 Agility to equip.
Eclipse moon helm+10Requires level 75 Ranged and 50 Defence to equip. It's a great low-level helmet.

Neck Slot

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ItemBonusDescription
Amulet of fury+15It's a well-balanced item with no requirements, and the blood version has the same bonus.
3rd age amulet+10Not very realistic to use.
Amulet of defence+7Holds up to its name.
Amulet of power+6Only good if you are an Ironman with no better options.
Amulet of avarice+3Great for revenants.
Amulet of glory+3This bonus is true for all versions of the glory.

Body Slot

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ItemBonusDescription
Masori body (f)+74Requires level 80 Ranged and Defence. Technically, the Morrigan's leather body is the best-in-slot with a +75 defence bonus, but since that can only be used in BH, we will skip that.
Armadyl chestplate+70Requires level 70 Defence and Ranged.
Karil's leathertop+65Requires level 70 Defence and Ranged. Cheap compared to the previous options.
3rd age range top+60Requires level 65 Ranged and 45 Defence. Expensive, considering its stats, and it is a cosmetic item.
Hueycoatl hide body+56Requires level 40 Defence and 70 Ranged. It's a great alternative for low-defence account builds.
Eclipse moon chestplate+55Requires level 75 Ranged and 50 Defence. More effective when used with the entire set.

Legs Slot

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ItemBonusDescription
Masori chaps (f)+46Requires level 80 Ranged and Defence. Morrigan's leather chaps have the same bonus but can only be used in BH.
Armadyl chainskirt+40Requires level 70 Defence and Ranged.
Karil's leatherskirt+35Requires level 70 Defence and Ranged.
Crystal legs+34Requires level 70 Defence and 50 Agility. Only makes sense if you are using the full crystal set.
Blood moon tassets+32Requires level 75 Strength and 50 Defence. It's a great mid tier item for melee.
Blue moon tassets+32Requires level 75 Magic and 50 Defence. Only makes sense when using the full set.

Boots Slot

ItemBonusDescription
Eternal boots+8Requires level 75 Magic and Defence. They are the best magic boots.
Bloodbark boots+5Requires level 60 Magic and Defence. Can wear the full bloodbark set to gain additional benefits.
Boots of brimstone+5Requires level 70 in Defence, Magic, Ranged, and 44 Slayer. One of the best tank boots in the game.
Infinity boots+5Requires level 50 Magic and 25 Defence. Doesn't make sense unless you have a low level account.
Pegasian boots+5Requires level 75 Ranged and Defence. Best in slot Ranged boots.
Silly jester boots+5These boots can be obtained from the Fremennik Isles quest for free. It is useless aside from this magic bonus that rocks.

Cape Slot

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ItemBonusDescription
Imbued god cape+15Requires level 75 Magic. Requires the completion of the miniquest Mage Arena 2. Best in slot magic cape.
Infernal cape+12Best in slot melee cape. It can only be obtained by beating Inferno.
Fire cape+11Second best melee cape in the game. It can only be obtained by beating the fight caves.
God cape+10It can only be obtained after completing the Mage arena 1. It is a very easy cape to obtain and is free.
3rd age cloak+9Requires level 65 Prayer. Really expensive and mostly cosmetic.
Any achievement cape+9Any achievement cape has this +9 like skill capes.

Shield Slot

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ItemBonusDescription
Spectral spirit shield+30Requires level 65 Magic, 75 Defence, and 70 Prayer to equip. Has a passive effect that reduces all prayer draining effects.
Dragonfire ward+28Requires level 70 Ranged and 75 Defence. It is the best tank ranged shield in the game.
Twisted buckler+26Requires level 75 Ranged and Defence. It is the best offensive ranged shield in the game.
Odium ward+24Requires level 60 Defence.
God d'hide shields+15Any god d'hide shield works, requires level 40 Defence and 70 Ranged.
Ancient wyvern shield+15Requires level 70 Magic and Defence. It is the tankiest magic shield in the game.

Gloves Slot

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ItemBonusDescription
3rd age vambraces+9Requires level 65 Ranged and 45 Defence. Mostly cosmetic.
God vambraces+8Requires level 70 Ranged. Any god vambrace has the same bonus.
Black d'hide vambraces+8Requires level 70 Ranged. Super cheap and effective.
Hueycoatl hide vambraces+8Requires level 70 Ranged. It is superior in other stats compared to the god and black vambraces.
Barrows gloves+6Requires the completion of the Recipe for Disaster quest. One of the best gloves in the game, super cheap.
Red d'hide vambraces+6Requires level 60 Ranged to equip.

Ring Slot

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ItemBonusDescription
Ring of suffering (i)+20Requires level 75 Hitpoints. This is the best tank ring in the game. If you don't imbue this ring, it only has a +10 Magic defence bonus.
Seers ring (i)+12If you don't imbue this ring, it will only have a +6 Magic defence bonus.
Brimstone ring+6Pretty well rounded ring, if you don't have access to Imbued rings.
Ring of shadows+5It can be obtained after completing the quest Desert Treasure 2.
Lunar Ring+2It can be obtained during the Lunar Diplomacy quest.
Ring of the gods+1Both the imbued and non imbued versions provide a +1 Magic defence bonus.

Weapon Slot

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ItemBonusDescription
Purging staff+25Requires level 77 Magic and 50 Attack to wield. It is an untradable item requiring 74 Crafting and 55 Smithing to craft. Great against demons.
3rd age wand+20Requires level 65 Magic to wield. Purely cosmetic item.
Accursed/Thammaron's sceptre+20Requires level 70 Magic to equip. Best staff in Wilderness.
Kodai wand+20Requires level 80 Magic. The best one handed staff in the game.
Master wand+20Requires level 60 Magic. Cheap alternative to the kodai wand.
Toxic staff of the dead+17Requires level 75 Attack and Magic to equip. Both the staff of dead and staff of light provide the same bonus.

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