Barrows

The Barrows is a minigame which challenges the player in a fight against the six Barrows Brothers, in order to reap rewards such as coins, runes and rare Barrows equipment. The Brothers all have special abilities which the player should be aware of when attempting to defeat them. The best way to fight the brothers is to use Magic; four of the brothers wear armour that is weak to magic-based attacks. Any high-hitting spells (blast spells, wave spells, or god spells) will work well; using Bind, Snare or Entangle or the Ancient Magicks ice spells work well as the brother will be rendered immobile. Magic Dart is a very popular spell to use as all runes required to cast the spell are possible chest rewards.

The Barrows are located to the east of Mort'ton, in Morytania. To gain entrance the player must use a spade and dig on one of the Barrows. They will then enter the tomb of one of the Brothers. Each specific tomb has a specific Brother. After defeating five of the Brothers the player will enter a maze, and upon completing it and defeating the final Brother and passing the puzzle locks on the door to the main chamber of the crypt, they will gain access to a chest containing treasures such as magic runes, coins and bolt racks to the rarer half keys, dragon medium helm and Barrows equipment.

Time taken and kill count do not affect the drops gained from the chest; only killing the Brothers will affect this.

Note:This is a dangerous minigame. If you die here, you will lose your items!

General Advice
It is recommended that before attempting the Barrows players should have a combat level of at least 70, level 43+ Prayer, level 50+ Magic, and level 59+ Hitpoints. Players are also advised to turn their "Accept Aid" option off before fighting the brothers, as other players may attempt to use Tele-other spells in order to distract potential grave robbers. It is recommended that players wear a ring of life when fighting the brothers.

Quests Required

 * Priest in Peril
 * Started Nature Spirit
 * It is advisable to complete In Search of the Myreque to access a shortcut from Canifis to Mort'ton
 * In Aid of the Myreque gives the player access to a bank in Burgh de Rott, which is right next to the Barrows.

Reaching the Barrows
There are several ways to get to the Barrows; you could go through the temple east of Varrock or use the shortcut to the south of the temple which requires level 65 Agility; an Ectophial (gained from the Ghosts Ahoy quest) can be used to get just north of Port Phasmatys; or Kharyll Teleport can be used to get to the "Hair of the Dog" pub in Canifis which is conveniently next to the bank and the Myreque shortcut, which is behind the pub. The Fairy ring teleport system has two rings (CKS and DLS) that are useful for reaching the Barrows, the first coordinate (CKS) will take you right outside the Canifis mushroom patch north of the Mort Myre Swamp, and the second coordinate (DLS) will place you in the Hollows, (the Myreque tunnel) beneath the Mort Myre Swamp.

What to Take
The Barrows is an excellent example of the delicate balance of the combat triangle between the three combat classes, as it is best to use Magic against the melee brothers, Ranged against the mage (Ahrim), and Melee against the ranger (Karil). However, despite his high magic defence bonus Karil also has a very low Magic level, making him more susceptible to Magic than may be expected.

Magic
There are several strategies using Magic spells that work well at the Barrows:


 * Ordinary Magic: Players should use the highest level offensive spell that they can; spells below blast spells are not recommended.


 * Ancient Magicks: Players must have completed the Desert Treasure quest to use these spells; having at least level 58 Magic to use Ice Rush is recommended. This method isn't very cost effective, but is fast in killing the brothers; players may want to take an Ancient staff for auto casting the spells. The best spells to use are ice spells which will freeze and damage the brothers.


 * Magic Dart: This method requires level 50 Magic, level 55 Slayer and a slayer staff. This is very effective; doing up to 19 damage and uses one death rune and 4 mind runes. These runes are often regained from the chest, making this method very cost-effective. Your maximum hit using this spell is determined by 10+ 1/10th of your Magic level so hypothetically the maximum you can hit is 20 (99 Magic using a skillcape boost, or even higher with a combat potion or magic potion), it has been confirmed by Jagex that your magic attack bonus does affect how hard this spell hits, so wearing Mystic robes as mentioned is advised, although the brothers' magical defence bonus is so low that it is common to successfully hit them even in full rune armour.

Ranged
Useful when when killing Ahrim; it is best to use rune arrows or adamant arrows, wear your best ranger armour (black dragonhide armour works well and can also be used as melee armour), and wield a magic shortbow or crystal bow (or strongest shortbow possible). The magic shortbow special attack is very useful against Ahrim.

Melee
Players should only use this when killing Karil, as he is relatively weak to melee attacks. Wear your best melee armour, and use an effective weapon such as a dragon item or an abbysal whip; a super-poisoned dragon dagger is highly recommended, as its special attacks can be used to take most of Karil's hitpoints.

General Inventory
Players should wear their highest magic attack bonus to the barrows (for example Mystic robes), a ring of life and wield 80 arrows. (more are required for several trips) Don't forget to take a spade with you.


 * Spade
 * Bow and best Ranged armour
 * Weapon
 * 3-5 Prayer potions (4 doses)
 * Runes
 * Food
 * Stat boosting potions (not essential)
 * A method of leaving e.g. teleport runes (not essential; players can run out)

Melee armour is not required as Protect from Melee will be on for much of the time; the Ranged armour will suffice for the time it is not in effect. The exception is versus Guthan, as his special effect (healing himself) can be minimized by having a high melee defence bonus.

Suggested Inventory and Equipment

 * Runes for the spell you will be using
 * Prayer Potions
 * Ectophial/Teleport runes
 * Spade
 * Melee Armour (If wearing magic armor)
 * Range Armour (red dragonhide or better)
 * Magic Shortbow
 * Food (lobsters or better)
 * Stat boosting potions (not essential)


 * Mystic top (for mage)/Rune platebody or anything better (for melee)
 * Mystic bottoms (for mage)/Rune platelegs or anything better (for melee)
 * Mystic boots/Rune boots
 * Legends/any God cape/stat boosting cape
 * Rune Kiteshield/Any god book
 * Barrows gloves (recieved upon full completion of the quest Recipe for Disaster, these give +12 to all stats except for magic (+6 to both attack and defense) prayer (no bonus).
 * Ring of life
 * Farseer Helm/ or anything better
 * Amulet of Glory or Amulet of Fury
 * at least 30 Rune arrows (or the best you have, alternatively throwing axes knives etc) (not required)

The first set-up will give you a higher magic bonus. The second set-up will give you a higher melee defence bonus, which may be useful if you plan to tank-mage Torag and/or Guthan. Don't worry about splatting too much; the brothers' magic levels are extremely low. You'll probably hit just as well as you would if you wore mystic robes.

Killing the Brothers
Killing each brother will mean that the player has a chance of recieving his armour from the Barrows chest; as such, killing all the the Brothers gives the highest chance of a Barrows reward. One of the mounds will not contain a brother, and will instead lead to a small tunnel maze; kill the other 5 brothers before proceeding into this maze. If the player dies, logs out or leaves during their trip to the barrows, the amount of brothers killed will not change; for example if you had a kill count of 3, you will still have the same kill count if you return, the only way to reset this is by looting the chest.

The Brothers
This is the recommended order of combat.


 * 1) Dharok the Wretched (Level 115): Uses melee. Strength rises as his health becomes depleted; he can hit up to 58 damage, hence it is advised to have 59 Hitpoints or above to attempt the Barrows. Magic is the most effective combat style to use. Prayer is considered by many to be a necessity, as he can kill any player with 2 hits when at low health.
 * 2) Verac the Defiled (Level 115): Uses melee. Hits through armour and prayer. You should use prayer if possible, as he will hit far less often and lower than if you do not use it at all. Magic advised.
 * 3) Guthan the Infested (Level 115): Uses melee. Health recovers proportionate to the damage done to the player; for example, if he hits 20 damage he will heal 20 Hitpoints. He will not always recover health but he can do it very often. This also works through protection prayers; although he will not do damage, he will still be healed if he were to have hit without the prayer. For this reason wearing high-defence is advised; it will limit Guthan's ability to heal himself. Magic attack are still effective due to Guthan's extremely low magic defence.
 * 4) Torag the Corrupted (Level 115): Uses melee. Depletes run energy. This brother is the least dangerous of all the brothers; hits comparatively low and his special effect does not affect combat.
 * 5) Karil the Tainted (Level 98): Uses ranged. Lowers the player's Agility level by 20%. His hits are very fast and accurate; kill him quickly using melee and the Protect from Ranged.
 * 6) Ahrim the Blighted (Level 98): Uses Fire Wave. Lowers the player's combat stats using curse spells. Use Ranged to kill Ahrim; even at low Ranged levels he is significantly weaker to Ranged than he is to Melee. Players with higher Magic levels may be able to fight Ahrim without the use of Protect from Magic, if they also wear armour with high magic defence.

Entering the Tunnels
Once you have killed 5 of the brothers, return to the tunnel mound, search the sarcophagus and go into the tunnel. Players are advised to wear Melee armour in the tunnels; this is the place where you will use most of your food, as you are under constant melee attack from an assortment of monsters:


 * Bloodworms
 * Skeletons
 * Crypt Rats
 * Crypt Spiders
 * Giant Crypt Rats
 * Giant Crypt Spiders

The maze is a simple set of nine rooms in a square shape, interconnected by doors. The player must try to reach the centre room; three of the doors will not open, but the fourth will present a simple puzzle for the player to solve before being able to enter. The sixth brother may appear as a player goes through a door; if he has not appeared by the time a player reaches the centre room, he will instead appear as the player opens the chest. Once he is dead the player will be able to search the chest, take the loot, and run out of the crypt. Players may also wish to teleport out.

Do not stay in the maze. Random rocks will fall on you hitting 5-6 damage often. Getting out of the tunnels as fast as possible is highly recommended.

Higher level players with 60 prayer and above can complete the Barrows without using prayer potions; this can be done by quickly killing Dharok, Verac, and Karil and using melee armour on Guthan whilst using Magic; using Ranged against Ahrim and Magic against Torag. To do this it is advised to have 85 Attack, 80 Strength, 80 Defence, 60 Prayer and 80 Magic. If using this method players should apply other tactics, such as sidestepping, in the tunnels.

It has been known that very rarely a twin of a brother will appear if a player runs from the brother in the maze rather than fighting him; it is not known what effect, if any, killing both of these brothers has on the reward.

There are safespots in the tunnels; hiding behind rocks will allow players to use Magic against a Melee brother in safety. As Karil and Ahrim use long-ranged attacks, safespots will not work against them.

What to use in the tunnels;


 * Dharok: use a safespot or Protect from Melee prayer and Magic
 * Guthan: use a safespot or Protect from Melee prayer and Magic if you have a high enough defense, you can attempt to tank-mage him (mage while wearing melee armor)
 * Verac: use a safespot / Protect from Meleeprayer and mage, although Verac can hit through prayer, he will hit far less often and not as hard as he would if you were to fight him without it
 * Torag: use a safespot if you want/ not recommended, easily beaten with Magic and Protect from Melee prayer/ if you have a high enough defense, you can attempt to tank-mage him (Magic while wearing melee armour)
 * Karil: use a sidestep / Protect from Missiles prayer and Magic
 * Ahrim: use a sidestep / Protect from Magic prayer and Magic. Also a super set will be useful because Ahrim lowers your Strength and uses curses to lower your Attack.

Lesser Techniques
There are many techniques that a player can use to hide on the other side of the sarcophagus and still kill the brother; the most popular method is to set up a cannon then open the crypt and run to the other side. A player can also use poisoned daggers and arrows to poison the brother and wait on the opposite side of the sarcophagus for him to die; be warned though that the barrows brothers have fast healing rates, and will need to be re-poisoned when the poison damage drops to 2.

Another very time-consuming way is to mainly use prayer potions, and good prayer boosting items. If you use monk's robes, then you can still cast magic easily, but with only a somewhat high prayer bonus, the downside to this is you will use a lot of prayer potions and more food; costing even more to do the barrows, this is not recommended.

Another way that is very dangerous for lower levels, is to take either full Verac's or proselyte armor, with a very good melee weapon, and use melee on all of the brothers. The main problem for this, however, is Verac, as he can hit through prayer and armor, so it is wise to bring food for him, or have a friend supply you. This is only feasible for the highest levels, but is very money-efficient because hardly any prayer potions are needed, although a lot of food is necessary.

Rewards
Extract from runescape site : "If you have killed the 6 brothers you stand the best chance of receiving a Barrows item from the chest."


 * Mind runes - Around 300 (0-1000) per drop.
 * Chaos Runes - Around 120 (0-520) per drop.
 * Death runes - Around 75 (0-225) per drop.
 * Blood runes - Around 40 (0-120) per drop.
 * Bolt racks - Around 38 (0-146) per drop.
 * Gold pieces - 0-2500 per drop.
 * Dragon medium helmet
 * Half keys
 * Barrows equipment

Tips

 * You can use the bank at Burgh de Rott if all the Myreque quests are complete.
 * Prayer can be recharged at the Nature Spirit altar.
 * Overall it is best to have a balanced defence bonus (good mage, melee and range defence bonuses), whilst maintaining a good attack bonus for the combat style you are using.
 * If you are using modern magicks, and your house has an altar, you could teleport to your house, recharge your Prayer and Kharyll teleport back to Canifis for another trip.