Godsword

Godswords are powerful two-handed swords that were originally released on 28 August 2007, along with the God Wars Dungeon. They were added to Old School RuneScape on 17 October 2013. Requiring 75 Attack to wield, godswords have the second highest slash bonus of any weapon after the Soulreaper axe. The godsword consists of a godsword blade, to which a godsword hilt is attached. One hilt exists for each of the gods whose armies still fight in the God Wars Dungeon: Armadyl, Bandos, Saradomin, Zamorak, and Zaros. Consequently, there are five different godswords: the Ancient godsword, Armadyl godsword, the Bandos godsword, the Saradomin godsword, and the Zamorak godsword. All five godswords have identical stats, but each has a different special attack, as detailed below.

Godswords are created by smithing the three different godsword shards into a godsword blade at an anvil. Doing so requires 80 Smithing, and gives a total of 200 Smithing experience. A godsword hilt is then attached to the godsword blade, which requires no stats and can be done by any player. Hilts can be attached or removed at will, at any time. Godsword hilts are dropped exclusively by the generals within the God Wars Dungeon, while godsword shards are dropped by the generals and their bodyguards.

Somewhere near the end of the God Wars, during the Third Age, Zamorak had gathered armies so powerful that his victory seemed inevitable. In a last-ditch effort to oppose him, Saradomin formed an alliance with Armadyl and Bandos. They created the godsword, a weapon meant to ensure Zamorak's final defeat.^[1]

A group of Armadyl's aviansie was given the task of delivering the godsword to the army of Saradomin, which stood ready to do battle with Zamorak's forces. Having learned of the godsword's existence as well as its destination, Zamorak laid an ambush for the aviansie transporting the godsword. At the same time, he launched an attack against Saradomin's army with his own forces.^[2]

Upon coming under attack, the aviansie carrying the godsword retreated into a temple beneath the mountains, and set up a defence against Zamorak's forces in an attempt to protect the godsword. Bandos and Saradomin sent portions of their armies into the temple as reinforcements for the aviansie,^[3] and for a time the three groups fought as allies against Zamorak's minions. However, as the battle wore on, old distrust between the forces of Armadyl, Bandos, and Saradomin resurfaced, and the forces of the three gods turned on one another, dissolving the alliance. The battle in the temple became a four-way free-for-all for control of the godsword; it is believed that during this great melee, the godsword was shattered into four pieces.

It was then that Zamorak cast a mighty spell with such power that all of northern Gielinor, much of Zaros's old territory, was destroyed, transforming the once-tranquil land into the desolate and hellish Wilderness. This spell also caused the entrance to the temple beneath the mountains to collapse, sealing the four armies inside. However, the struggle for the godsword continued.^[4]

Before the battle could drag on any further, Guthix awoke from his deep slumber. Furious at the ruin that the God Wars had wrought upon the world, he forced the four warring gods to cease their battles in Gielinor, and erected the Edicts of Guthix in order to prevent any further wars between gods in Gielinor. The temple and the armies within were frozen by a follower of Guthix,^{[citation needed]} where they would remain undisturbed for thousands of years, their battle - and the godsword - long forgotten.

However, during the Fifth Age, tectonic movements within the Wilderness caused hot springs to surface in the dungeon, thawing it and the armies within.^[5] Unaware that the God Wars have ended, the followers of Armadyl, Bandos, Saradomin, and Zamorak continue to wage war for control of the godsword. Adventurers are now able to enter the dungeon for themselves and do battle with the armies within. Those who are powerful enough to defeat the mighty leaders can obtain the pieces of the godsword, and reconstruct it for themselves.

Later during the Fifth Age when Nex's Ancient Prison was uncovered, it was revealed she ordered the creation of a godsword hilt during her imprisonment.^[6]

All five godswords share the same combat stats, which are as follows:

The godsword's special attack varies depending on which hilt is attached to the blade. All the special attacks will consume 50% of the player's special attack energy, along with doubling effective accuracy and increase effective strength by 10%.^[7]

The Ancient godsword is the least common type of godsword due to its hilt being dropped by Nex. Its special attack, Blood Sacrifice, marks a target for sacrifice, giving them eight ticks (4.8 seconds) to move at least five tiles away from the attacker. If the target fails to do so, they will take 25 damage, and the attacker will be healed for 15% of the target's Hitpoints level (up to a cap of 25 against NPCs and 15 against players). The delayed damage, in PvP, allows one to set up a large amount of damage to hit all at once.

The Armadyl godsword is most effectively used in PvP situations and against boss monsters due to its high-hitting special attack, The Judgement, which is capable of inflicting enormous amounts of damage. Because of the sheer strength of its special attack, the Armadyl godsword is the most popular godsword, but not the most expensive one.

The Bandos godsword's special attack, Warstrike, is often used against other players and powerful boss monsters. Most bosses have extremely high Defence and a large hit from Warstrike can make it significantly easier to kill them. It is especially dangerous against combat pures that have low Defence, as the special attack could potentially drain Strength after draining Defence all the way down to 1.

The Saradomin godsword is most effectively used in monster-killing situations, due to its helpful special attack. Healing Blade can be useful to players who are training Slayer, doing the Barrows activity, or attempting the TzHaar Fight Cave. Along with healing effects such as Guthan's set, the Saradomin godsword can act as a replacement for food. Its prayer restoration can also save players doses of prayer potions. The Saradomin godsword is especially powerful on monsters where max hits are guaranteed such as Fremennik warband archers and Judges of Yama, as these monsters also guarantee max healing.

While the Zamorak godsword's special attack, Ice Cleave, is not particularly useful for general monster killing, it is very effective in a few special cases. One popular use of Ice Cleave is to freeze Commander Zilyana, who has devastating melee and Magic attacks that she will use only at melee range. Additionally, Ice Cleave has a few uses during PvP situations, such as freezing players in place either to prevent their escape or to make it easier to escape them. Rangers and mages can also use Ice Cleave in lieu of Entangle or equivalent to hold their target in place and attack them at a safe distance. During Castle Wars, the Zamorak godsword can be used to freeze players who are carrying the flag, or players who are attempting to capture the flag.

Additionally, as the godsword's freezing effect disables Auto Retaliate on players, players can freeze their target, step away, attack once, then immediately step away again before their opponent can retaliate. This works even against faster weapons such as an abyssal whip.

• Godswords attack slightly faster than other two-handed swords and similar weapons such as halberds. With an attack speed of 6, godswords attack at the same rate as battleaxes.
• Although godswords are very strong and carry the second highest slash bonus of any weapons in the game, some players still prefer to use weaker but faster weapons, such as the abyssal dagger, Zamorakian hasta, abyssal bludgeon, abyssal whip, dragon scimitar, and Saradomin sword when training combat skills against lower-Defence monsters, due to their higher damage-per-second rating than godswords. Nonetheless, godswords will generally deal more damage against higher-Defence monsters than these weapons.
• The walking and running animations appear much smoother while having a godsword equipped. The same applies to the Saradomin sword, Zamorakian spear, Barrelchest anchor, and pet rock.
• When a godsword is equipped, capes worn by the player start waving as if there is a 'heroic' wind present.
• As they have a slash bonus of at least 100+, godswords will always successfully slash web barriers.

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  Armadyl godsword
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  Bandos godsword
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  Saradomin godsword
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  Zamorak godsword
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  Ancient godsword
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  Armadyl godsword (or)
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  Bandos godsword (or)
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  Saradomin godsword (or)
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  Zamorak godsword (or)