This is mainly for those archers/waters who already understand the basic principles of plvl, and want to know - for whatever reason - the actual mechanics of it. Might help those of you who are planning ahead, and want to decide what equipment to aim for.

An important thing to realise about this thread is that it is not a... guide, as such. It is not designed to help you... it is primarily for people who are interested in the actual equations, rather than general advice.
If you want general advice for plvling: buy socs, get an archer to lvl 130, and start killing.


Damage

Note: Damage is NOT the same as attack.

To calculate your attack:
((Left Hand Weapon *0.5) + (Right Hand Weapon) + (+ Left Weapon) + (+ Right Weapon) + (Ring) + (+ Ring) + (Strength)) * (1+((%Dragons)/100))
Or go to: This link to see it all done for you.


That will give you the attack shown in your stat window. So it may seem useless, since you already know what that is... not so. If you are only lvl 115, and want to know your attack at lvl 130, you will be able to see what it is.
Click this to see composition values (for use in the calculator)
Click this to see basic item stats

Now, since people benefiting from this guide are most likely to be archers, you must know that your attack is not the same as your damage.

Your damage depends on four things:
a = Your attack
b = Your lvl
c = The monster's lvl
d = The monster's dodge
p = your proficiency


Important new note!

PROFICIENCY OFFICIALLY INCREASES DAMAGE!

For full proof, look Here

This has recently been added to the guide.

EDIT: However, prof. will not increase your attack against quest mobs, such as labyrinth or met doves. /edit

The equation for archer's damage against monsters (its very different against other players) is as follows:

Damage = (1 + (e * 0.8)) * (1 - (d / 100)) * a * p

"e" refers to your lvl bonus, which I will explain.

Have you ever noticed that on lvls ending with 0 and 5, you suddenly do much more damage to monsters than you used to? That is your lvl bonus.
The lvl bonus kicks in when you are 3 lvls higher than a monster, and you get an additional lvl bonus for every 5 lvls after that.

For example:
You are lvl 60
If a monster is lvl 57, you have one lvl bonus, as you are 3 lvls higher.
If a monster is lvl 52, you have two lvl bonuses (one lvl bonus is 55, then + 5 is 60).

So you get a lvl bonus when you are:
3 lvls higher
8 lvls higher
13 lvls higher
18 lvls higher
etc.

Which is the reason you hit pheasants so much higher than your maximum damage.

So e = number of lvl bonuses.
So, since basilisks are lvl 117, if you were 130, e would equal 3.

If you have no idea what I'm on about, here's an equation:
e = ((b - c - 3) / 5) + 1
So for a lvl 130 at bas:
e = ((130 - 117 - 3) / 5) + 1
e = 3

Note: Always round down to the nearest integer.
If e is negative, round to zero.

Remember, b = your lvl
c = monster lvl

p is your proficiency. This is factored in as you would expect, and applies for scatter as well as normal attacks.

Example: if your bow prof. is lvl 18 (6% increase), p = 1.06.

For you trojans out there, ONLY your right-hand prof. does anything. The other one has no effect whatsoever.


So now you can figure out exactly what lvl and equipment you will need to 1-shot each type of monster. Well, you would, if you knew the stats of the monsters!
(apologies for the dodgy table)

| ~~Monster~~ |Level|Dodge|HP|
| ~~AlienApe~~ | 92 | 45 | 15,432 |
|SeniorSnakeman| 97 | 45 | 20,697 |
| ~~Serpent~~ | 102 | 45 | 24,472 |
| ~AlienSerpent | 112 | 45 | 35,050 |
| ~~Basilisk ~~ | 117 | 45 | 60,460 |

If anybody has more exact HP values, please PM them to me... the bas, AS and serpent ones were basically guesses :P


Note: If you are NOT an archer, all the above still applies EXCEPT dodge. So use exactly the same equations, but with any mention to dodge taken out:
Damage = (1 + (e * 0.8)) * a