Abyssal whip

The abyssal whip is a powerful one-handed melee weapon which requires 70 Attack to equip. The whip is among the most powerful non-degradable melee weapons outside of Daemonheim and is capable of attacking at the same speed as that of daggers and scimitars at 2.4 seconds per hit. It may only be obtained as a drop from abyssal demons, monsters which require 85 Slayer to harm, or by trading with another player, either directly or through the Grand Exchange.

Abyssal whips were introduced into the game with the release of the Slayer skill. The update added the Slayer Tower to a previously unoccupied area north of Canifis and placed abyssal demons, along with various other Slayer monsters, in the tower. Given the high Slayer level required to obtain abyssal whips and the slow speed of the skill, abyssal whips were fairly uncommon immediately after the skill's release.

On 12 July 2011, the abyssal vine whip, an extension of the abyssal whip, was released. The abyssal vine whip may be crafted by combining an abyssal whip with a whip vine dropped by mutated jadinko guards and mutated jadinko males, high level slayer monsters in the Jadinko Lair. The enhanced version offers slightly increased slash and strength bonuses in comparison to the regular whip and boasts a significantly different special attack.

Special attack
The abyssal whip posses a unique special attack, Energy Drain, which consumes 50% of the special attack bar, increases the accuracy of the hit, and drains 25% of the opponent's run energy when player killing.

Dropping monsters

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Colouring
With the Barbarian Assault improvements update on 19 January 2010, players were given the option of purchasing abyssal link paint in any of four different colours for a price of 50 honour points each. The whips may be coloured blue, white, green, or yellow, and colouring a whip renders it untradeable and non-lendable. However, the paint may be removed using a cleaning cloth, returning the whip back to normal. On 29 March 2010, the rewards interface was updated so that players could recolour whips indefinitely once the specific colour had been purchased. Prior to this, each time a whip was coloured, 50 honour points were required. Additionally, abyssal vine whips may be coloured just as regular abyssal whips are.

History
Since the whip's introduction into the game in 26 January 2005, it has undergone several graphical and functional changes. Upon its release, the special attack consumed 50% of the special attack bar and would result in either a maximum hit or a miss. Later, the special attack was altered so that it drained 10% of the target's run energy. Jagex claimed that this change was made due to the previous special attack causing a glitch.

When PvP worlds were introduced, an abyssal whip was a possible drop from killing another player in PvP combat. However, on 16 June 2009, abyssal whips, along with other unique boss drops, were removed from the drop table. Jagex cited complaints on the forums as the reason for this move.

Immediately after its release, the market price of an abyssal whip was several million coins. Since its release, the whip's price has been greatly influenced by several updates, including those which changed PvP drop tables, provided anti-'76k'ing measures, added the ability to colour whips, changed the 100% drop of abyssal demons to infernal ashes, introduced the whip vine, and removed most macros from the game. Overall, the price of an abyssal whip has been in a relatively steady decline for the past few years.

Training
Many players make use of the whip's fast attack speed, high offensive bonuses, and moderate cost to train Attack and Defence effectively. Because the whip lacks an aggressive attack style, it is not possible to train Strength using the whip unless fighting in the controlled mode. However, this will equally distribute experience among Attack, Strength, and Defence, decreasing the speed in which each individual skill is levelled.

Trivia

 * The abyssal whip is featured in the emote for the max cape when the player latches the whip around the monster's neck and pulls it to the ground for the killing blow.
 * Mod Mark described the abyssal whip as the spine of an abyssal demon.
 * A fake abyssal whip may be obtained from an abyssal minion. When equipped, it will merely turn into ashes.

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