Hellhound

Hellhounds are mid to high level demons killed by slayers and treasure trail enthusiasts alike. They are commonly given as a slayer task to higher level players, since the introduction of the Summoning skill these monsters have risen in popularity because of their gold charm drop rate.

With the removal of Bounty Hunter, Hellhounds were put in the Wilderness crater, it became the strongest non-revenant monster in free-to-play worlds. 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.

Locations

 * Taverley Dungeon
 * Taverley Resource Dungeon (Multi-combat)
 * Witchaven Dungeon, lots of safe spots but requires the quest Family Crest.
 * God Wars Dungeon (level 127)
 * Fight Arena (Bouncer) (level 137) Note: Can only be killed once.
 * Kuradal's Dungeon
 * Forinthry Dungeon

Fighting strategy
Hellhounds are vulnerable to stab attacks, more so than slash. This makes Guthans a good armour set because of its stab bonus and ability to heal.

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 120 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 slow, this may not be the most efficient place to slay them for a Slayer assignment. 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 or a combination of Bunyip pouches and the Bones to Peaches spell. (Highly recommended)

If one refrains from picking up any bones, 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


These monsters 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. If you did choose to train on these beasts, then take into consideration they have no drops for F2P besides 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.

For rangers and mages, they can take a safespot just near the south-western entrance of the volcano, and not to worry about other hellhounds. This is one of the few safespots in the volcano.

100% drop

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Other (Members only)

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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 bloodvelds, they are the only demons that drop bones rather than ashes.
 * Sumona simply says that hellhounds deserve to die, even though they are not cats. This is a reference to her being the Devourer.
 * On 16 June 2009, hellhounds were placed in the Wilderness Volcano.
 * Hellhounds are followers of Zamorak, as seen in the God Wars Dungeon, and in the FunOrb game, Armies of Gielinor.
 * In the God Wars Dungeon and Witchaven Dungeon hellhounds have a hunched back, whereas in other locations their backs are straight. This could mean that in the past they were more savage than present day
 * Before the update on 15 December 2009, Hellhounds would respawn much slower than usual in Kuradal's dungeon. This has been fixed.
 * Since a Dungeoneering update, several safe-spots have been removed. The only currently known safe-spot is near the north-eastern corner, slightly south west of the stalagmite. Any pursuing hellhounds may be able to reach you there, but once you get there no hellhounds will be able to reach you.
 * 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.
 * Clues are now a much rarer drop as of 28 March 2011.