What it is good at, precisely
The scythe hits up to three times on targets larger than one tile, with each hit doing less than the last. Against a big multi-tile boss that is an enormous damage increase over any other melee option. Against a normal-sized monster it hits once, and a far cheaper weapon does the job.
In practice that means it earns its price at Theatre of Blood, on Vorkath-sized targets, and in the parts of Chambers of Xeric with large monsters. If your week is mostly slayer tasks on ordinary-sized creatures, you are buying the wrong weapon and a fang or a whip will serve you better for a fraction of the money.
The running cost nobody budgets for
The scythe degrades as you use it. Keeping it working means charging it with blood runes and vials of blood, consumed continuously while you fight. That cost is real, ongoing, and separate from the purchase price — it is the reason some owners sell.
Before buying, price a few hours of the content you intend to run and work out what the charges will cost you over a month. Plenty of people buy the weapon and then cannot afford to use it, which is the worst of both outcomes: capital tied up in something sitting in the bank.
This is the single biggest difference between the scythe and the twisted bow. A twisted bow you buy once. A scythe you buy, and then keep buying.
Why every scythe is sold uncharged
A charged scythe cannot be traded — the charges have to come off before it will go into a trade window — so what changes hands is always the uncharged weapon. Charging it is a cost you take on after delivery, which is exactly why it belongs in your budget before you order rather than after.
If a listing does not say, ask in the order chat and get the answer in writing before you order. Everything agreed in the order chat is on the record and available to a reviewer if the order is disputed. Anything agreed elsewhere is not.
Before you order a scythe
- Confirm the content you run actually has large targets. On single-tile monsters the scythe is beaten by far cheaper weapons.
- Work out the charge cost for a month of your normal play, and add it to the purchase price.
- Budget for charging it before ordering: the scythe arrives uncharged, because a charged one cannot be traded.
- Compare current listings rather than a remembered price.
- Keep every agreement in the order chat.
- Never confirm delivery until the weapon is in your inventory.
Worth knowing before you buy
Buying items for real money breaches Jagex's terms of service and can result in action against your account, up to a permanent ban. Escrow protects your payment — it cannot protect your game account. Decide with that in mind.