Stronghold of Security

The Stronghold of Security, launched on 4 July 2006, is a dungeon area for training combat, with connecting doors that require correct answers to security related questions. The area immediately before the door is protected by another gate, so the player is protected from monsters while answering. It is located in the middle of the Barbarian Village, and was the first major update open to free-to-play players since the upgrade to RuneScape 2.

Doors
The doors are styled to match each level, as are their names. The doors come in pairs similar to an airlock between areas. The door leading out of an area is passed through automatically, though it is possible to be hit while apparently having already passed through, dying inside the "safe" zone between the doors. Each "airlock" is a two by two square so to be safe, a player should walk to the next square after entering an airlock.

Entering the door into the airlock grants immediate passage. The door into the next area may ask a question about account security, or may grant immediate passage as well.

However, if you click the door, then click "Click Here To Continue" then click away to walk away, you can go through the door without answers. It defeats the purpose.. but is faster.

At the start of each level is a portal leading to the reward different for every level including coins and a choice of combat or rainbow boots (each level of reward also unlocks one of the stronghold emotes including flap, stomp, and idea)and ladder room, granting quick access to players who have already negotiated the level, or who have sufficient combat level to be allowed immediate passage.

Levels
There are four levels, each one tougher than the last. Each level contains an entrance / exit point at the beginning and a portal to access the next level if re-entering after completing a level. The portal leads directly to the treasure room of the current level.

There are some general monsters, plus others specific to the level. At the end of the level, there is a reward, typically coins and an emote, and exits to deeper levels, or back toward the surface. However, in order to claim the rewards on any level, players need to have password recovery questions set.

It is possible to claim all the rewards by running through the stronghold unarmoured and unequipped (this to ensure you don't lose anything if you are killed). It helps to use the maps referenced below. However to do this you need moderate hit points (24 or more recommended) as it is quite possible to receive 8 or more hits from a single NPC as you run past it. Food, prayer and items to cure damage would also be useful if available.



Vault of War (1st level)
Occupied by level 5, 11, 13, 16 and 25 Goblins, level 1 Rats, level 12 and 27 minotaurs and level 11 and 14 wolves. This is the only level which is a Multi-combat area. The monsters in this level are not particularly challenging.
 * 1 entrance, portal and remains of an explorer
 * 2 up to Barbarian Village
 * 3 Gift of Peace
 * 4 down to level 2
 * 5 up to Barbarian Village
 * G Gobliins
 * M Minotaurs
 * S Wolves

An excellent level for ranger training, as the Minotaurs drop copious quantities of iron arrows and the fences are an excellent safe spot.

Also, there is absolutely no risk in this level unless you attack a monster, because none of the monsters are aggressive.

The Minotaurs may drop a right skull half and also drop noted bulk items, including rune essence, copper and tin ores.

Also, you will need to set Recovery Questions to receive your award.
 * Reward: At the end of the level, a chest called the Gift of peace contains 2000 coins and the "Flap" emote.

Catacomb of Famine (2nd level)
A shock compared to the previous level, apparently devoid of any safe spots other than unoccupied corridors and between door spaces. It is sometimes possible to trap a monster on corners. There are also Zombies on this level, some of them are level 30, a few are levels 44 and 55.
 * 1 entrance from level 1 and portal
 * 2 down to level 3
 * 3 ropes to the start of level(1)
 * 4 Grain of Plenty
 * F Flesh Crawlers
 * R Giant Rats
 * Z Zombies

The Flesh crawlers may drop the Bottom of Sceptre piece for the skull sceptre, but often drop more valuable items such as uncut gems. Many high level free players tend to hang at the extreme south-east room training on crawlers taking advantage of their aggressiveness. For members flesh crawlers are good for herb drops (ranarr best at 7k each) you could walk away after your training with 100-250k worth of items (not just from herb drops).


 * Reward: 3000 coins and the "Slap head" emote.

Pit of Pestilence (3rd level)
This level is infested with spiders, giant spiders, scorpions, and catablepons. The Catablepons may drop a sceptre piece, but are tough opponents for lower levels, doing damage at an alarming rate. They also appear to have a high magic defence. It is difficult to find an ideal strategy, as they use magic to weaken, but have a melee attack. There is one safespot that always works, and is ideal for rangers, although you will have to run into the group of aggressive catablepons to retrieve your arrows. You could also use magic on the monsters, but have enough runes to do 50 or 70 damage. Ava's Attractor should work because there is nothing in the way; it's just a narrow path that is too small for catablepons to get through.
 * 1 entrance from level 2 and portal
 * 2 Box of Health
 * 3 down to level 4
 * 4 to the start of level
 * C Catablepons
 * S Scorpions
 * G Giant Spiders
 * Reward: 5000 coins and the "Idea" emote. Full healing and stat restore.

The spiders which are level 50 are a popular place to train for higher leveled players, as they are aggressive to any level player, and relatively do little damage. They dont die so fast that its ineffective to train on them, and they are relatively weak enough that you can kill them easily. They do stop being agressive after a certain amount of time, and to make them aggressive again, you must run out of the room, and run into another room on the same level, and return to the spiders. Many high leveled players bring a full set of guthans, and another set of melee armor and weapon to train. With guthans, a player could easily train to level 99 in a melee skill with no need of banking, or until their barrows armor depletes completely.

Sepulchre of Death (4th level)
The monsters here are all "undead", and are highly susceptible to the "Crumble undead" spell, among other ways of attacking. The main drawback of using the crumble spell is that only members with a slayer staff or the Void Knight Mace can autocast it, so managing the spell menu to cast and the inventory to eat requires extreme concentration. Selecting another spell to autocast avoids missing a cast if preoccupied. There are some safe spots which, as in the pestilence level, are usable only when the monsters have given up attacking. There is one safespot in the southwestern room where Ankous and skeletons are.
 * 1 entrance from level 3 and portal
 * 2 Cradle of Life
 * 3 up to Barbarian Village
 * A Ankous
 * S Skeletons
 * G Ghosts

The Ankous may drop a sceptre piece.
 * Reward: Boots in a choice of two styles and the "Stomp" emote.

Criticism
A common criticism of the Stronghold is that monsters can still attack players even if they have passed through the door. This can cause death or wasted hitpoints. This is incorrect, though, as they cannot attack you through the gate but if you are hit before entering the gate, the damage may not be registered until once you are safely inside the airlock.

Rewards
The intermediate level rewards are coins and an emote.

Skull Sceptre
The Skull Sceptre can be obtained in four pieces from monster drops. It is inferior in combat stats to a magic staff, but has five charges to teleport back to the Barbarian Village.

Only one kind of piece can be found in one level. They are a fairly rare drop, and can be obtained from Minotaurs (Right skull half) on the first level, Flesh crawlers (Bottom of Sceptre) on the second, Catablepons (Top of sceptre) on the third, and Ankous (Left skull half) on the fourth. Some monsters that drop the pieces come in various levels. The higher leveled ones seem to drop the piece more frequently, although this is not proven. To make it, you add the two skull pieces together, the two handle pieces together, and the handle and the skull together.

Boots
The two styles, fancy or fighting, may be obtained, exchanged, or replaced if lost, from the Cradle of Life at the end of the fourth level, reachable by portal and ladder once all levels are completed. There is no difference in statistics, though the fancy ones attract more attention.

The stats:

These boots are equivalent to bronze, but are available to free players as well as members.

Music Unlocked

 * Dogs of War- Vault of War
 * Food for Thought- Catacomb of Famine
 * Malady- Pit of Pestilence
 * Dance of Death- Sepulchre of Death

Trivia

 * Since this addition was for free players as well as members, the level 86 Ankou replaced the Lesser Demon as the second highest-levelled monster in Free-to-play worlds. Also, the level 85 skeletons became the strongest monster in the game, with a max hit of 10, compared to 9 from a Greater demon (the level 85 skeletons have since dropped to second strongest with the addition of Cockroach soldiers, however).
 * The four levels of the Stronghold of Security were based on the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. They were known as Pestilence, Famine, War, and Death, which are the names of the levels.
 * The entrance to the Stronghold looks like a blown open rock. It is also located in a mining area.
 * The Cradle of Life refers to the story about Pandora's box.
 * The door will give you a warning telling you recovery question are important after clicking on it too many times. The screen will shake slightly before this will happen.
 * When the Box of Life's reward is taken, hitpoints will be returned to normal, all stats will go back to normal, and all status conditions will be cured.