Slayer



Slayer is a members-only skill that allows players to kill monsters which are often otherwise immune to damage. Slayer was introduced on 26 January 2005. Players get a Slayer task from one of seven Slayer Masters, and players gain Slayer experience for killing monsters that they are assigned. The experience gained per monster is usually equal to 1/10 the monster's lifepoints. Slayer experience is granted in addition to regular combat experience.

The player that hits the monster first gains all the combat and slayer experience despite whether or not another player kills the monster or deals more damage.

Slayer can be profitable since many Slayer assignments drop valuable items, such as Staff of light dropped by Ice strykewyrms, and even Whip Vine by Mutated jadinko guard and Mutated jadinko male. Ganodermic beasts are the highest slayer level requirement in the main game, beaten only by Daemonheim's Soulgazer. Generally, the stronger the monster, the more valuable its drops will be. Many Slayer monsters drop herbs and other useful, valuable items like runes, charms and clue scrolls, giving players an opportunity to advance such expensive-to-train skills as Herblore and Summoning.

Slayer is one of five skills which are not used in the Stealing Creation minigame; this list also includes Firemaking, Farming, Dungeoneering, and Divination. However, Slayer is a crucial aspect in the Soul Wars minigame.

Introduction
A Slayer is someone who is assigned to slay, i.e. kill, specific monsters.

Players are assigned tasks that require them to travel to areas around RuneScape to kill various monsters. Some monsters require special equipment, such as earmuffs for Banshees. Otherwise, players will find it difficult, if not impossible, to kill certain creatures.

The tasks given out by Slayer masters are usually relevant to the player's combat level and skill level. There are currently 7 slayer masters located around RuneScape.

All Slayer masters sell enchanted gems that allow players to contact their Slayer Master to ask for tips, where the monsters are located, and how many monsters are left to kill. The gems however, cannot be used to get a new assignment; for that, the player must see a master in person, or by casting the NPC Contact spell in the Lunar spellbook. An alternative to the gem is a Slayer ring, which functions in the same way as the enchanted gem (and can also tell Slayer reward points), or by wearing a Combat bracelet that contains at least 1 charge left. After the charges are gone, players will not receive any more updates that would otherwise occur every 10 kills.

A Ferocious ring obtained by killing any monsters inside Kuradal's Dungeon allows a teleport to Kuradal using up one of 5 charges of the ring. This is very useful as it prevents having to pass Brutal green dragons (level 128) and Waterfiends (level 154) on the way. This also allows the use of a summoning familiar pre-summoned as jumping into the waterfall does not allow this. Another way to access the dungeon is to use the new fairy ring (Code BJQ) that was added when Kuradal was added to the game. The new fairy ring must be activated before use by using five bittercap mushrooms with the ring while having a spade in your inventory.

If players receive an assignment they do not wish to do, Turael in Taverley can give players an easier assignment if the current, unwanted assignment is something that Turael does not also assign. For example, if Vannaka assigns a player banshees, then Turael cannot change their task, as he also assigns Banshees. However, if the number given is far greater than Turael would normally give, it is possible to change the player's task. For example, if Duradel assigns 140 or more Kalphite, then Turael will change this for another task (or a lower amount of Kalphite, randomly). However, it is not advised to do so because players will lose their streak of Slayer points. Under normal circumstances, players would use their points to change their task if they did not like it. The higher level Slayer masters tend to give more difficult assignments. The masters are shown on the world map with a skull icon.

Variations of monsters count towards some Slayer assignments, e.g., if a player has been assigned to kill blue dragons, they may instead slay baby blue dragons and still receive Slayer experience. Since the amount of experience received is based on the monster's lifepoints, there are advantages (and disadvantages) to slaying the assignment with the most Lifepoints. The experience rate for slayer experience is around 15-100k per hour, depending on your gear, slayer task, use of prayers and use of dwarf multicannon.

Killing Summoning familiars will not count towards a player's task. If a player kills any monster which they have been assigned inside a player-owned house, they will receive the message, "Monsters inside a player-owned house do not count towards your slayer target."

An update on 9 June, 2009 made it impossible to get the same Slayer task twice in a row, after players complained of getting the same Slayer assignment multiple times. This can be overridden by either cancelling tasks until one gets the desired monster assigned again, which is potentially costly in Slayer reward points, or by wearing a Slayer mask, which allows the player to collect an assignment for the relevant monster once per day, even if it was their previous task.

Summoning familiars that assist the player during combat do not interfere with a Slayer task. The familiars will attack monsters that the player attacks and can damage them, but the monster's death counts towards the player's assignment even if the familiar delivers the deathblow. Using a familiar also bestows an advantage in that the monster will occasionally divert its attention from a player to instead attack the familiar. This can increase an individual's "staying time." If the familiar is relatively weak in relation to the target monsters, the familiar can be killed, which can be a nuisance if a player is counting on its abilities.

Another, more common use of Summoning familiars is to bring a Beast of Burden to store extra food or potions or by bringing a Bunyip to heal the player regularly for 20 lifepoints.

Slayer Masters
Seven Slayer masters are found in RuneScape; each master gives assignments oriented towards a general range of combat levels. Slayer Masters have now been given a right-click ‘Get-task’ option to speed things up a bit. You can also find out how many more kills you need with a right-click option on enchanted gems or a slayer ring, which are both obtainable from any Slayer Master (a ring of slaying can only be bought from a Slayer Master if you have completed Smoking Kills). Kalphites are the only monster that can be given out by every Slayer master. Black Demons are a common Slayer task for the higher Slayer Masters, which some players may wish to skip or block while other prefer to complete the task for the Black Demon's high Crimson charm drop rate and high Slayer experience. Non-members can get tasks from Turael and train Slayer up to level 5

Kuradal was the first to administer Slayer Challenges:

Sometimes Kuradal will assign you to kill Tzhaar. Instead of killing over 100 TzHaar, you can challenge the Fight Caves and defeat TzTok-Jad, as well as 8 of his level 130 healers. Once you've defeated Jad you will be rewarded 25,000 Slayer experience and of course, the Fire cape. Including the 25,000 experience for defeating the Jad, completing the fight caves with this assignment will give 45,640 slayer experience.

Additionally, those who have completed Lunar Diplomacy can use the spell NPC Contact (67 Magic required). This allows players to instantly contact any Slayer master and request a new assignment, assuming they have the prerequisite combat level to use that master.

Turael and Spria, the Slayer masters in Burthope, can be used by players to avoid undesirable slayer tasks that have not been blocked. Speaking with one of them will allow you to replace your current slayer task with one of theirs (which can usually be completed very quickly). However, this is not recommended because it will reset your slayer task count.

Slayer equipment
All Slayer masters operate the shared Slayer equipment shop that sells various tools and weapons for use against certain monsters they assign. They may be required for protection, or to damage (or strike a killing blow) upon these monsters. All Slayer masters offer the same shop, including the same (linked) stock, and prices, with the exception of tutorial gear.

Note that many damage boosts are available using other types of equipment - see the Other Boosts section below.

Slayer monsters
On 5 June 2008, many Slayer monsters had an unannounced graphical update. Players with an already assigned task on this date would receive the message, "We seem to have lost your records in our recent reshuffle", from their Slayer master when contacted through the Enchanted Gem. The Abyssal demons, Cave Horrors, and Dark beasts did not receive a graphical update; however, they had previously been updated. Gargoyles have a new ‘Smash’ option when they're near death to allow you to more easily finish them off with a rock hammer.

Jade vine
Slaying Jade vine every 15 hours


 * 2,500 Slayer experience

Bork
Kill Bork in the Chaos Tunnels, daily
 * 500 Slayer experience (5,000 for the first kill);

Phoenix
Kill the Phoenix in its lair, daily
 * 500 Slayer experience (5,000 for first kill)

Skeletal horror
Kill Skeletal horror, weekly
 * 1,250 Slayer and 1,000 Prayer Experience (First time - 10,000 Slayer and 7,000 Prayer)

Tarn Razorlor

 * You can also kill Tarn Razorlor in his lair for 5000 slayer experience, however you can only kill him once, although you can train on, and be tasked, the terror dogs which spawn there at any time.

Pollnivneach Dungeon Slayer Bosses

 * Each of the bosses in the Pollnivneach Slayer Dungeon can be killed once each, each one rewarding the player with 1000 slayer experience, and more if that creature is also your current assignment. This can only be done once, and, upon the boss's death, the boss chamber will fill with normal versions of that creature type.

Mr. Mordaut

 * After completing "A Tail of Two Cats" and "Ritual of the Mahjarrat", providing the player has defeated the King Black Dragon and Queen Black Dragon at least once, the player may talk to Mr. Mordaut about the dragonkin. They will then be given a Dragonkin Lamp that will reward them with 25,000 Slayer xp.

Social Slayer
Social Slayer was introduced on the 11th of July of 2012, and allows two players to participate together on a Slayer assignment by inviting each other using an enchanted gem or a Ring of Slaying. To invite someone, both players must not currently have a slayer task assigned, or both players are on the same task (NOTE: Due to technical reasons, if you have had a task before 11 July 2012, you must finish that task before you can invite other players with the same task). Drops are not shared unless using Lootshare or Coinshare. Combat and slayer experience are not shared with each other. The aim of the social slayer is simply to speed up the task and provide an opportunity to interact with other players. A single co-op point is obtained by both players when the assignment is complete. If eligible, each player will also receive normal slayer reward points, depending on how many of the kills in this task were performed by the player. For example, if both players killed exactly half the number of the appointed task, then both players would get half of what they would have normally gotten, if 1 player kills all monsters, and the other players kills none, then the first will get all slayer points and the second will get none.

When using the "Kills-left"-option on an Enchanted Gem/Ring of Slaying, the killcount of both players is taken into account, separately. Once the task is finished, the player who made the most killing blows and did the most damage will receive more slayer experience than the other. Due to this, social slayer is most useful when the Slayer group members are about the same level, as with imbalanced combat levels, one player may finish the task faster than the other. Also, in order to receive slayer experience, a player must either do the most damage or make the killing blow. Furthermore, if both players are not standing relatively close to each other, their kills will only count towards their own task and not the other player's.

Currently, if a player deals more damage and/or makes the killing blow, the other player's killcount will not go down. It is unknown if this is a bug.

When getting a new task, only the blocks of the player who asks for the task are taken into account. The block lists do not combine. Both players need not be present when receiving a new duo task, so long as they are in the same slayer party (easily checked by right-clicking a slayer gem or ring). Also, tasks can only be assigned by slayer masters that both slayers have unlocked and are eligible for - a team with a level 86 and a level 171 cannot receive tasks from Kuradal. (Attempting to do so does not assign a solo task to the one eligible player.)

Solomon's General Store
Upon the release of Solomon's General Store on 17 July 2012, players can purchase an animation for slayer that plays whenever a player defeats a monster during a slayer assignment. This animation costs 176 runecoins.

Slayer Challenges
Challenges were introduced on 21 April 2010. Players can get a unique challenge from each slayer master, which reward extra slayer experience and reward points. NOTE: Reward points are only available if you do the Smoking Kills quest. NOTE: Certain challenges from slayer masters require certain slayer levels.

Unlike a regular slayer task, a slayer challenge cannot be cancelled using slayer reward points at a slayer store. The only way to cancel a challenge once it has been accepted is to ask for a new task from Turael/Spria in Burthorpe. Note that doing so resets the player's slayer task count to 0.

Temporary Boosts

 * A Slayer's respite will boost Slayer by 1 level. It can be brewed using the Cooking skill beginning at level 59.
 * A Mature Slayer's respite will boost Slayer by 2 levels. It can be brewed using the Cooking skill beginning at level 59.
 * A Wild pie will boost Slayer by 5 levels. This can be made at level 85 Cooking.
 * A Spicy stew made with Yellow spice will alter your Slayer level by 5 (higher or lower), but may have no affect at all.
 * A Slayer cape will boost the player from level 99 to level 100 for a short period of time.

Other Boosts

 * A Black mask will boost both Attack and Strength by 15% while fighting monsters that have been assigned by a Slayer Master. They can be obtained by fighting Cave Horrors in a cave on Mos Le'Harmless, or by buying them from other players. When meleeing Cave Horrors, a Witchwood Icon and light source is required. The masks have a number of charges, represented by a number following the item title, (e.g.; black mask(10), black mask(3), ranging from 1-10). When the player still has charges, he or she will sometimes have his or her opponent's Defence decreased. Each time this effect randomly takes place, the player will lose one charge. When Black masks lose all their charges, they have no number. There is no known way to recharge them at this time. Black masks with no charges retain their Attack and Strength boosts. You can now remove charges from a Black mask with an update that came out 2 November 2010.
 * A Focus Sight will boost Ranged accuracy and strength by 15% while fighting monsters that have been assigned by a Slayer Master. They can be obtained as drops from Desert Strykewyrms, which require 77 Slayer to kill.
 * A Hexcrest will boost Magic accuracy and strength by 15% while fighting monsters that have been assigned by a Slayer Master. They can be obtained as drops from Jungle Strykewyrms, which require 73 Slayer to kill. It should be noted that these monsters have the ability to poison players.
 * The Salve amulet is a reward from the Haunted Mine quest, which boosts Attack and Strength by 15% when fighting any undead monster, such as Aberrant Spectres, Banshees, and Shades. The player can enchant it by defeating Tarn Razorlor and using the book obtained on the amulet. A Salve amulet (e) gives a 20% bonus to Attack and Strength. The bonuses of the amulets do not stack with the effect of a Black mask.
 * Dragon slayer gloves can be purchased for 200 Fist of Guthix tokens from Reggie (the owner of Fist of Guthix Rewards Shop), giving 15% more Slayer experience and a 10% Attack bonus when worn while slaying dragons as part of an assigned slayer task. These boosts stack with the Black mask and Slayer helm. They will crumble to dust after killing 1,000 assigned dragons while wearing the gloves.
 * The Slayer helmet gives the same advantages which a black mask gives but also acts as a multi task protection helmet. It is made using a black mask, earmuffs, nose peg, facemask and a spiny helmet on each other. The Slayer helmet gives the protection of all of these items against their specific monsters. This helmet requires you to buy the knowledge to make it for 400 slayer points as well as have 10 defence and 55 crafting. This helmet is very popular amongst high level slayers for its practicality and its ability to still give the 15% bonus in attack and strength whilst fighting monsters you otherwise would need a different helmet for.
 * The Full Slayer helmet can be made by adding a Hexcrest and Focus Sight to a normal Slayer helmet. This makes maging and ranging tasks much easier.

Slayer reward points
Note:: Slayer reward points are only accessed after the Smoking Kills quest. On 5 June 2008, Jagex released Smoking Kills, which released many new rewards that can be bought with Slayer reward points. Slayer reward points may be earned after having completed 5 tasks in a row without having a task changed by Turael. However, players may cancel a task by spending 30 points. Every 10th and 50th task, a special bonus is given to the player's slayer reward points, the bonuses also differ in points to each Slayer master. Duradel for example, tasks 1-3 earn no points, tasks 10, 20, 30, 40, 60, 70, 80 and 90 earns 75 points, task 50 and 100 earns 225 points and all other tasks earn 15 points. Whenever a task is done the player will be notified on the how many-ith task it is. So, not only with its the 10th or 50th - this can help players plan to what slayer master they prefer to go next, to maximize the number of slayer reward points in the shortest amount of time.

The rewards that can be bought with these points include Slayer experience, a Slayer ring, the ability to combine all Slayer headgear into one item, the Slayer helmet, and even the ability to prevent players from being assigned a specific task forever.

Since getting good tasks worth keeping isn't guaranteed, it is suggested that players get their first four kills on the Slayer master Mazchna, and then get any other kills from there on higher masters like Duradel.

After getting 5 or more tasks in a row, Slayer masters will hand out points when players finish their tasks. The number of points varies as the difficulty of the Slayer master increases.

After earning enough points, players will be able to buy rewards with earned points. (See below for more details)

* "Delivering killing blows quicker" means that you no longer need to use an item on specific slayer monsters to kill them. They will die like normal monsters once they hit 0 LP. Monsters which this affects includes gargoyles, desert lizards, zygomites and rockslugs. To kill the aforementioned monsters you still need to have the correct tool in your inventory.

The Slayer helmet combines the stat boosting qualities of the Black mask with the protective slayer headgear facemask, nosepeg, earmuffs, and Spiny helmet, with the defence bonuses of a Rune full helm; making it the best melee helmet option for slayers. This allows for monsters like aberrant spectres and dust devils to be killed while having the bonuses of the 15% attack and strength increase. Since the update on February 8 2010, Players can combine a Slayer helmet with a Hexcrest and Focus Sight to make a full slayer helmet. This gives all the bonuses of the slayer helmet, while boosting ranged and magic by 15% as well. The Slayer helmet cannot be combined with Salve Amulet or Salve Amulet (e) for a stackable bonus on undead creatures such as Aberrant Spectres (it's either one or the other). The Slayer helmet has a better bonus so it is recommended just to use Slayer helmet and an amulet of your choice (unless of course you're using Nose Peg for example; then a Salve amulet is recommended).

Trivia

 * The previous Slayer symbol was an animal skull.
 * Players that had a Slayer task before the 6th of June 2008 lost their task with the Smoking Kills update. Slayer Masters notified players the next time they spoke to them.
 * If you try to invite yourself to a Social Slayer task, you will get the message: If you want something done properly, you need to do it yourself...but not on this case.
 * Throughout one 2012 Winter Weekend, from Saturday 22nd December 00:00 GMT until Sunday 23rd December 23:59 GMT, there was double experience given to Slayer and Fishing.