Mr-Average

G'day guys, I have some questions I need help with and figured this would be one of the better places to post. My first question is about the Attack stat. Does it only dictate what weapons you can use? Or is it calculated into combat? (example, 99 attack will hit more often than 40 attack?) My second question is about F2P items that give a damage bonus. Basically F2P equivalents to the zerk helm and fire cape. I tried using the advance search feature but you can not search for stats on items, and when you search through items manually it also does not show stats. Any help would be greatly appreciated!