Hellhound

Hellhounds are mid to high level demons often given as a slayer assignment to mid to high level players. The introduction of the Summoning skill brought about a rise in players killing them due to their gold charm drop rate. They have the second highest combat level of any monster outside of Daemonheim in F2P, only to be surpassed by the Revenant Knight.

With the removal of Bounty Hunter, Hellhounds were put in the Wilderness crater. They have been moved to the Forinthry Dungeon with the re-release of the Old Wilderness system.

An update on March 16 2011 caused hellhounds to drop gold charms less frequently. Rather, they seemed to drop blue charms much more often. This was, however, fixed in the same update as A Clockwork Syringe on March 28 as noted in the patch notes of that date.

Taverley dungeon
A very popular location for killing hellhounds with both melee and ranged. It is strongly encouraged that players have at least 65 Agility when attempting to kill them here without a Guthan's set, as the summer pie's +5 boost will allow players to take a shortcut to the blue dragons. Having at least 75 Agility for a shortcut to an area just south of the hellhounds will cut down time between trips. If neither of these requirements are met, it is strongly recommended that players bring along a Guthan's set and some food (incase the set effect does not activate often enough) or ranges as going to the hellhound location will be very tedious. Ranging or using Guthan's will allow players to stay there indefinitely until Guthan's fully degrades or they run out of bolts. Players can go to the centre of the hellhound room with Guthan's, and the aggressive nature of the hellhounds will cause another hound to attack immediately after one dies, resulting in less attention needed. If they become unaggressive, enter the resource dungeon, run far into the resource dungeon, and exit the resource dungeon to make them aggressive again.

Taverley Resource Dungeon
This location is multi-combat and thus Guthan's will rarely heal players enough to continue combat, and safespotting is hard as players have to get all the dogs trapped or far away. However, using a dwarf multicannon while using the protect or deflect melee prayers will allow more experienced players to kill many hellhounds per hour.

Witchaven Dungeon
Generally not recommended, despite its several safespots. There are only two dogs here, and the respawn rate even on a highly-populated world is frustratingly slow. It's mostly deserted because of this fact.

God Wars Dungeon
If players don't have 65 Agility and don't want to use Taverley dungeon, the God Wars Dungeon is possibly the next best thing, provided the player has items from 3 of the God Wars Dungeon factions (Bandos, Saradomin and Zamorak. Aviansies from Armadyl are nowhere near the entrance of the Zamorak fortress, and thus Armadyl protection is not required). A good set-up for melee would be the Bandos tassets, Zamorak book, and a ring of devotion. See the God Wars Dungeon page for more set-ups. If players have the 70 Constitution requirement for entering the Zamorak fortress, players only need an item of zamorak. However note that you need 700 lifepoints remaining to enter the fortress, and thus you may want to bring some food to recover from damage taken along the way. Compared to those at other loactions, hellhounds here are higher-leveled and do not drop charms, and thus may be unappealing.

Kuradal's Dungeon
If assigned a hellhound task by Kuradal, her dungeon is the best place to finish your task. The ferocious ring adds 40 damage to every hit and thus can speed up tasks. If players have rebuilt the fairy ring, quick banking is also available. Note that if you do not have a hellhound task from Kuradal, players will not be able to enter the dungeon to kill hellhounds. See Kuradal's dungeon for more information.

Forinthry Dungeon
The area is multicombat, which makes it rather undesirable. However, the main factor to consider is that the area is PvP and there are often revenant-hunters or pkers on the lurk. Pkers that come here to kill revenant hunters will not hesitate to increase their earnings by attacking hellhound hunters, and they often cast teleblock, making it hard to escape. Revenant hunters are always prepared for pvp combat and won't mind adding other players' items to their loot. There are two ways to hunt hellhounds here - players can either only bring 2 pieces of armour and a weapon and food (and thus will keep their expensive armour and weapon upon death) or they can risk bringing a full set of armour and log out immediately when another person enters the cave. Players can also come prepared for pvp combat, but be aware of the risks. This area is generally not recommended, unless players have combat brawling gloves they wish to use to their full potential.

Level 50+ Wilderness
Players who spend a great deal of time in the wilderness (killing the KBD or chaos elemental or training at the wilderness Agility course frequently) will find that in deep wilderness in a world with few people, pkers are rather rare. If a player is willing to risk it all, they can kill hellhounds here, as its not a particular hotspot (unlike the Forinthry dungeon or level 4-10 wilderness) and it's close to both the mage arena lever and the ardougne lever. Bringing emergency teleports is pointless, and upon seeing anyone, even unarmed and obviously not fit for pking, players should log out. If players are caught by pkers who do not Entangle, their should try to make their way to the mage arena or ardougne lever. Lots of food, even if using Guthan's, is recommended to survive the rare pker attack. Although not popular this 'can' very well be one of the best locations, depending on luck.

Wilderness Volcano
Generally not recommended, except for f2p players who do not wish to enter the Forinthry dungeon. However, be aware that in the Wilderness level 20s, the Wilderness volcano is a very popular hotspot for f2p high-level wilderness pkers, and it's a somewhat infamous p2p hotspot on some worlds. It is very hard for f2p to get here, furthermore, and on the way they will pass low-level wildy filled with pkers. Members can use the games necklace to the corporeal beast, and go to the volcano from there. The wilderness graphical update in December 2011 has made this place more dangerous, a haven for ambush pkers, as the volcano was completely re-worked. Do not go here, at all, unless you are an f2p.

Fighting strategy
Hellhounds are vulnerable to stab attacks, more so than slash. Perhaps surprisingly, hellhounds count as a large target for purposes of the dragon halberd special attack. So if you are safe-spotting, the halberd will hit twice with each special attack.

Hellhounds have a low defence for their levels, but make up for this with a high strength level. The level 122 and 127 hellhounds have maximum hits of 118 and 130, respectively. They can be ranged and cannoned fairly easily in the Taverley Dungeon, making it a decent way to train the Ranged skill. In addition to several safe spots, players can stand outside of the target's wander zone to stay safe.

If fighting them in Level 50 Wilderness, there is a safe spot next to the southern most dead tree right next to the lava around the Deserted Keep; if you stand directly to the west of that tree, the hellhound will back against the fence and will not attack you while you range it.

The two hellhounds in the Witchaven Shrine Dungeon can also be easily ranged and maged once they become tolerant of the player. There is a gold rock in the middle eastern part of the room that is commonly used as a safe spot. If the hellhounds are not yet tolerant, the player can use the safespot next to the column (see photo) to hide from both of them. This dungeon is a quick trip to and from the south-east Ardougne bank.



Since there are only two, and the respawn rate is approximately 45 seconds on a medium-populated world, this may not be the most efficient place to slay them for a Slayer assignment, if you are able to kill them very quickly. An option for fastest kills for a slayer task is entering the Dungeoneering resource dungeon in the Taverley dungeon.The area is multi-combat and because of the 12 Hellhounds found here is an excellent place to set up a cannon and an attacking or healing familiar. Using prayer boosting gear and a few prayer potions one can finish a task in very little time.

However, the hellhounds in the Witchaven Shrine Dungeon are also the most cost effective, as players can use the Protect From Melee prayer while slaying the hounds. After the player's prayer points has run out, he/she may exit the dungeon to recharge prayer at the altar in Witchaven, then run back to the dungeon to kill more hellhounds. (Depending on the player's levels, 15-30 hounds may be slain before prayer must be recharged.)



Despite the high accuracy and damage of their attacks, a player can still fight Hellhounds for a nearly limitless amount of time using either Guthan's set, a combination of Bunyip pouches, or unicorn stallion with healing aura scrolls.

If one refrains from picking up any bones, or uses a Bonecrusher, one would theoretically only need a maximum of 5 free inventory slots to pick-up any items that the hellhounds drop (All four kinds of charms + any eventual clue scroll). However, additional inventory spaces could be taken up by Ancient effigy drops, although this is quite rare. The rest of the player's inventory could then be filled with potions or food in order to prolong the trip. Wearing the complete Guthan's Set can also be helpful. If killing the Hellhounds in Kuradal's dungeon, several spaces should be left open for possible Ferocious Ring drops. However, with a full inventory of lobsters or better, a level 50+ with level 36 ranged and using emerald bolts (e) could use their special effect to kill them easily.

Free-to-play strategy


Hellhounds can be easily killed with all three attacks in the combat triangle with a fairly high combat level (90+) in the Wilderness Volcano or Forinthry Dungeon, the only places where non-members can kill them. Their low defence stats can easily fool a player as they have high offensive stats, and can hit at their max very often. Killing these is not a good way to train as their only drop in F2P is bones. Wearing full rune is the best option for killing them. As they do a maximum damage of 118, it is advised to bring a full inventory of swordfish or anchovy pizza as food.

Although they have high hits, the protect from melee will nulify any damage they would have done to you. With some prayer sustainers like monk's robes, you won't need much food to fight these monsters.

Rangers and mages can take a safespot just near the south-western entrance of the volcano, not worrying about other hellhounds. This is one of the few safespots in the volcano.

Melee

 * Head: Slayer Helmet (if task) > Black Mask (if task) > Fighter Hat > Helm of Neitiznot
 * Neck: Amulet of Fury > Amulet of Glory > Amulet of Strength
 * Torso: Torva platebody> Bandos Chestplate > Fighter's torso >any Barrow's body> Dragon platebody > Rune Platebody
 * Legs: Torva platelegs > Bandos Tasset >any Barrow's legs> Dragon platelegs > Rune Platelegs
 * Boots: Steadfast boots > Dragon boots > Bandos boots
 * Gloves: Goliath gloves > Barrows gloves > Regen Bracelet > Combat Bracelet
 * Cape: Completionist cape > Max cape > Ardougne Cloak 3 > Fire cape > Soul Wars Cape > Skillcape (t) > Skillcape > Obsidian Cape
 * Weapon: Chaotic Rapier > Abyssal Whip > Brackish Blade > Korasi's Sword > Dragon scimitar
 * Shield: Dragon Defender > Dragonfire Shield > Chaotic Kiteshield > Toktz-Ket-Xil (obsidian shield)
 * Ring: Ferocious Ring (if slaying in Kuradal's Dungeon) > Onyx Ring(i) > Berserker ring (i) > Berserker Ring > Ring of Vigour > Warrior Ring (On slash) > Ring of Wealth (Helps with drops) > Ring of Life (Pures or low levels)
 * Aura: Greater Reverence > Reverence

Melee (Free)

 * Head: Rune full helm > Rune med helm
 * Torso: Rune platebody > Rune chainbody > Monk's robes
 * Legs: Rune platelegs/Rune plateskirt > Monk's robes
 * Gloves: Rune gauntlets
 * Boots: Leather boots
 * Cape: Team capes > Nothing
 * Weapon: Gravite rapier > Rune scimitar > Rune battleaxe
 * Shield: Rune beserker shield (charged/degraded) > Rune kiteshield > Rune sq shield

Ranged (Members)

 * Head: Slayer helmet (if task) > Focus sight (if task) > Archer's helm > Helm of neitiznot
 * Neck: Amulet of ranging > Amulet of fury > Amulet of glory
 * Body: Pernix body > Armadyl chestplate > Black d'hide body > Red d'hide body
 * Chaps: Pernix chaps > Armadyl chainskirt > Black d'hide chaps > Red d'hide chaps
 * Boots: Snakeskin boots
 * Gloves: Swift gloves > Barrows gloves > Mercenary's gloves > Black d'hide vambraces
 * Cape: Ava's device > Completionist cape > Max cape > Fire cape > Soul Wars cape > Skillcape (t) > Obsidian cape
 * Weapon: Zaryte bow > Chaotic crossbow > Rune crossbow
 * Shield: Dragon defender > Dragonfire shield > Chaotic shield
 * Ring: Ferocious ring > Ring of wealth > Ring of life
 * Bolts: Dragon bolts (e) > Onyx bolts (e) > Runite bolts > Broad-tipped bolts

Ranged (Free)

 * Head: Green dragonhide coif > Coif
 * Neck: Amulet of accuracy > Amulet of power > Amulet of defence
 * Body: Green d'hide body > Studded body > Hardleather body
 * Chaps: Green d'hide chaps > Studded chaps > Leather chaps
 * Boots: Leather boots > Nothing
 * Gloves: Gloves > Leather gloves > Nothing
 * Cape: Team capes > Nothing
 * Weapon: Maple longbow (sighted) > Maple shortbow > Maple longbow
 * Arrows: Adamant arrows > Mithril arrows > Steel arrows

Other

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Trivia

 * Slayer masters describe hellhounds as "a cross between dogs and demons". However, even though they are demons, they are not affected by the powers of Silverlight or Darklight, also along with the bloodveld, they are the only demons that drop bones rather than ashes.
 * On 16 June 2009, hellhounds were placed in the Wilderness Volcano, making it the only P2P monster to enter F2P.
 * After the ring of wealth update, the charm drop rates of hellhounds and rock lobsters had "gone walkabouts". This has been fixed as of 28 March 2011.