Prayer

Prayer is the skill of praying. By praying, you can get various effects to aid you in combat.

Confirmed Lore

Prayer is a result of the user channeling the power of the dead, into boons or curses which are often taught by schools of religious thought. One becomes more in touch with the dead by giving the dead proper burials, with bones laid to rest in holy places connecting the user more than a simple burial in the ground.

Regular prayers

The standard prayer set that is known and/or accessible to most common people in Gielinor can be grouped into the following categories.

• Boosting prayers give the user greater psychophysical advantages. The five main advantages that can be gained are boosts to physical strength, physical accuracy, physical protection, accuracy or strength over distance, and accuracy or strength through magic. The strength and duration of the boost gained by the user depends on the strength of his piety and the prayer he chooses to make.
  • Because the exact nature of how these prayers manifest and can be used is never explored in canon content, the details are open to user-interpretation in roleplay and may very well be different for every character. According to the descriptions of the prayers, physical accuracy could be acquired due increased clarity of thought or improved reflexes. Accuracy over distance could be acquired due better eyesight. Magical strength could be acquired due better charging (in roleplay this could be less time to charge for more powerful spells).
• Protection prayers protect the user from major harm from a specific outside threat.
  • The four major damage-types from which a player can pray against in-game are melee, missile, magic, and summoned threats. It may be up to interpretation, however, if these four specific types are the only options or if the limited number is specifically a game mechanic and the possibilities may be explored more deeply in roleplay. It is known with certainty that common sentient creatures are not capable of gaining the safety of more than one protection prayer at once by prayer alone. That said, multiple protection prayers have been witnessed in two circumstances: when used by incredible, legendary beasts (such as the kalphite queen), and when forced into effect by the aid of magical binding crystals.
  • One way to interpret this prayer is to suggest that the protection forms a cocoon around its user. That cocoon then works as a barrier against its protection type. If the protection is directed at missile attacks, for example, then any bolts, arrows, or other projectile weapons that pass into the suggested cocoon have their effects completely or majorly weakened. The exact nature of how or why the damage is avoided is not explored in canon content, thus it is up to the player to imagine and may be different for every character.
  • Protection prayers fall into the category called overheads.

• Restoration and healing prayers increase the user's health. Though the exact manner of function these prayers take is free to interpretation by each player, one way to imagine their effects is to suggest that the character's natural bodily healing processes speed up. This could result in a number of different things, including but not limited to reduced healing time required to recover from a wound or a faster recovery from a physically taxing activity.

• Retribution is a prayer that enacts vengeance upon its user's death. Canon content depicts this as a massive area-of-effect explosion crashing down over the body of the deceased just as he has died. The explanation of this phenomenon is open to user interpretation, but one possible explanation is that the user releases all of his spiritual energy at once in a potentially fatal nuke. While this prayer is presented as a final way to attack an opponent in combat, it's possible that this prayer could be used in an array of other desperate situations, too.

• Redemption is a prayer that restores the user's health in a time of need by converting all of the user's spiritual energy into physical health. The exact manner in which this happens is up to the interpretation of each player, but one ides is that it will block bleeding wounds temporally and another idea is that it works in the same way as restoration/healing prayers, but user desperation and advanced piety unlocks his ability to release all healing at once instead of gradually over time.

• Smite extracts spiritual energy from the user's opponent when aided by the infliction physical damage; when the user inflicts physical harm against an opponent, the opponent's reserve of spiritual energy also takes damage. The specifics of how this operates it not explained in canon content, therefore is open to interpretation by each player.

Curses

Curses are prayers used by Zarosians and spoken in the tongue of the Mahjarrat ancestors. As you read the Ancient Hymnal for the first time, Zaros imbues you with a very small fragment of his power, allowing you to use them. It would seem that only Zarosian faithful are capable of using them. There are various kinds of curses which can be grouped in several categories:

a player using soul split

• Sap and leech curses extract power from the opponent and adds it to the user. The user could receive clarity of thought, making it easier to charge and cast spells. The user could get a keen eye, making it better to hit at a target. The user could get stronger arms, making it better to strike the opponent harder or pull a bow further. The user could get faster reflexes, making it better to dodge and parry the opponent. The user could get more vigour and power, making it better to run or keep the user's adrenaline flowing. Vice versa, the opponent would have more confused thoughts, blurred eyes, weaker arms, slower reflexes, less vigour and less power.Sap and leech curses would thus work similar like regular boosting prayers.
• Deflect curses protects the user from harm and reflect some harm back to the opponent.
  • The four major damage-types from which a player can pray against in-game are melee, missile, magic, and summoned threats. It may be up to interpretation, however, if these four specific types are the only options or if the limited number is specifically a game mechanic and the possibilities may be explored more deeply in roleplay. It is known with certainty that common sentient creatures are not capable of gaining the safety of more than one deflect prayer at once by prayer alone. That said, multiple protection prayers have been witnessed in two circumstances: when used by incredible, legendary beasts (such as the kalphite queen), and when forced into effect by the aid of magical binding crystals.
  • One way to interpret this prayer is to suggest that it forms a cocoon around its user. That cocoon then works as a barrier against its type. If the prayer is directed at missile attacks, for example, then any bolts, arrows, or other projectile weapons that pass into the suggested cocoon have their effects completely or majorly weakened. The exact nature of how or why the damage is avoided is not explored in canon content, thus it is up to the player to imagine and may be different for every character. For deflect curses, the cocoon could bounce the hit partially back. The opponent can be potentially hit by its own weapon.
• Berserker is a state of rampage. When having this favour, the user feels that it has the heart of a beast. Potions who boosted its body, stay active for longer.
• Wrath  is a curse that enacts vengeance upon its user's death. Canon content depicts this as a massive area-of-effect explosion crashing down over the body of the deceased just as he has died. The explanation of this phenomenon is open to user interpretation, but one possible explanation is that the user releases all of his spiritual energy at once in a potentially fatal nuke. While this prayer is presented as a final way to attack an opponent in combat, it's possible that this prayer could be used in an array of other desperate situations, too.
• Soul split extracts spiritual energy and blood from the opponent to the user. For every inflicted wound, it extracts blood to the user to heal its wounds. It also extracts spiritual energy to gain more amount of favour.

Controversy

Some prayers, particuarly protection prayers, are often frowned upon in roleplay as being overpowered or godmodding.

It is up to the roleplayer to decide if he is comfortable roleplaying around the use of such prayers or to decide if he wants to use these prayers in public despite the associated risks. Prayers should be used in a responsible way and uses that cause unfair distress should be avoided. Likewise, the acceptability of prayers in roleplay should be considered case-by-case. Not all prayers used in roleplay break the basic roleplay rules.

Players who choose to use controversial prayers in roleplay are advised to talk with other roleplayers and explain how his or her character's praying functions with regard to advantages and limitations; consideration should be given to balancing these skills the same way that any other character asset should be balanced. Mutual agreement is a key to pleasant roleplaying for both parties.

Source gallery

Zaros bestowing power upon the Adventurer, attuning them to the Zarosian faith

The act of praying to Zaros to bestow x curse/sap seems to channel Mahjarrat spells giving the user what they inquired for.

Quote about how you need to be an active worshiper of Zaros.