RuneScape's skills represent your character's capabilities.
Performing actions associated with a skill earns you experience points (XP) in that skill, and as you earn XP your level in that skill will increase.
Higher skill levels unlock new activities: equipment to make, locations to explore, quests to complete, and much more.
Skills marked with a 
are members' skills, although most can be trained up to level 5 by non-members as a preview of what they offer.
The exception to this is Invention, which is an Elite Skill accessible to high-level members only.
| Agility | Improves run energy regeneration rate, as well as allowing access to shortcuts around the world. |
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| Archaeology | Uncover lost knowledge that grants access to ancient summoning, ancient invention and relics that offer passive benefits whenever you play. |
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| Attack | Improves your accuracy in Melee combat. Also allows the use of more powerful weapons. | ||
| Cooking | Allows fish and other food to be cooked on a fire or range. Higher levels allow better foods (that heal more life points) to be prepared. | ||
| Constitution | Increases your maximum amount of life points. Also unlocks several important combat abilities. | ||
| Construction | Allows the creation and improvement of a Player-Owned House. Higher levels allow the creation of more decorative furnishings and rooms. |
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| Crafting | Allows the creation of a wide range of items such as jewellery, leather armour and battlestaves. Higher levels allow more items to be crafted. | ||
| Defence | Reduces the accuracy of opponents' attacks from all styles and allows stronger armour to be equipped. | ||
| Divination | Gather the scattered divine energy of Guthix and weave it into powerful portents, signs, and temporary skilling locations. |
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| Dungeoneering | Allows exploration of the randomly generated dungeons of Daemonheim. Higher levels allow deeper floors to be accessed. | ||
| Farming | Allows crops to be grown for use in other skills, notably herbs for Herblore. Higher levels allow more crop types to be grown. |
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| Fishing | Allows fish - one of the main sources of food - to be retrieved from bodies of water. Higher levels allow more types of fish to be caught. | ||
| Firemaking | Allows fires to be built from logs. Higher levels allow more types of logs to be burnt. | ||
| Fletching | Allows the creation of bows, arrows, bolts and crossbows from logs. Higher levels allow more advanced items to be made. | ||
| Herblore | Allows the creation of potions from herbs, used to temporarily bestow a variety of different effects. Higher levels create more potent potions. |
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| Hunter | Allows the trapping of various wild creatures using different methods. Higher levels allow more types of creature to be caught. |
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| Invention | Customise your gear with cutting-edge augmentations. Invention is an Elite Skill, and requires 80 in Smithing, Crafting and Divination to begin training. |
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| Magic | Increases accuracy - but not damage - of magic attacks. Allows more spells and better magical weapons and armour to be used. Also increases defence against magic attacks. | ||
| Mining | Allows ore to be obtained from rocks, for use in skills such as Smithing, Crafting and Invention, or to be sold. Higher levels allow rarer, more valuable types of ore to be mined. | ||
| Necromancy | Channel the power of necrotic energy and conjure powerful spirits to fight alongside you in combat. |
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| Prayer | Grants access to modal buffs, which are useful in many areas of the game. Levelling unlocks new prayers, and allows prayers to stay active for longer. | ||
| Ranged | Increases the accuracy and damage of ranged attacks such as bows, throwing knives and crossbows. and allows the usage of better ranged weapons and armour. | ||
| Runecrafting | Allows the creation of runes for use in magic spells. Higher levels allow more rune types to be made, as well as multiple runes per essence. | ||
| Slayer | Allows otherwise-resilient creatures to be damaged, often using specialist equipment. Higher levels allow more powerful creatures to be slain. |
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| Smithing | Allows metallic bars and items to be made from ore. Higher levels allow better items to be made from higher-level materials. | ||
| Strength | Improves your maximum hit in melee combat, increasing the amount of damage caused. Higher Strength is also a requirement to wield some weapons. | ||
| Summoning | Allows familiars to be summoned, which help in combat and other activities. Higher levels allow more powerful familiars to be summoned. |
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| Thieving | Allows the player to steal from NPCs, disarm traps and open certain locked chests. Higher levels reduce failure rate and open up more lucrative targets. |
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| Woodcutting | Allows trees to be cut down, producing logs for Fletching, Firemaking and Construction. Higher levels allow more types of trees to be cut down, yielding better logs. |
