Slayer


 * For the unrelated quest, see Dragon Slayer.



Slayer is a members-only skill that was released on 26 January 2005 and allows players to kill normally immune monsters. Players must go to a slayer master and get an assignment, and will only gain Slayer experience for killing the assigned monsters. The slayer experience gained per monster is equal to the monster's hitpoints. Combat experience is also given, so some players use slayer as their major form of combat training. It can be profitable when in the high levels, as special types of mystic robes, granite armour, abyssal whips, dark bows, and many other items dropped only by slayer monsters can sell for vast amounts of cash. Training slayer can be a good way to obtain Charms for Summoning too.

Variations of monsters count towards the slayer assignment. For example, if a player has been assigned to kill Blue dragons, they may instead slay Baby blue dragons and receive Slayer experience. If a player has been assigned to kill crawling hands, then they can kill level 8 or level 12 Crawling hands, as well as Skeletal Hands or Zombie hands. If a player is assigned a Troll, they may attack Mountain trolls, Troll generals, or Ice trolls. Since the amount of experience received is based on the monster's hitpoints, there may be an advantage to selecting the higher level creature as a target. The Chaos Tunnels contains many slayer targets, and also contains Bork, who gives 2,500 experience for the first time it is killed, and 250 slayer experience every time he is killed afterwards, for a maximum of once per day.

Introduction
Slayer is a unique skill in terms of having to go around the world to see special people, known as Slayer Masters, and needing to kill a lot of more off-beat monsters. Some monsters require special equipment, such as earmuffs for Banshees. The idea is that, for a normally equipped player, the monster has a special ability that stops said player from being able to attack and/or kill it normally. A lot of money can be earned through Slayer as there is a wide variety of unique things that are dropped by slayer monsters, such as Armoured Boots, Abyssal whips, Dark Bows, and white/gold and black/red Mystic robes, as well as dropping better non-unique items and larger numbers of coins or clue scrolls than most non-slayer monsters per combat level.

There are currently 6 slayer masters located around RuneScape. They give players Slayer assignments to increase their slayer level, varying from level 1 spiders to level 304 mithril dragons. The monsters assigned are not necessarily slayer-specific monsters; Slayer monsters or normal monsters may be assigned to the player. Players only get experience from doing their assignment.

All slayer masters sell the same slayer equipment, which is necessary to kill certain slayer monster(s). When a player gets their task, they can ask the master for advice on killing the assigned monsters. They will inform the player if any special equipment is required. If there is no equipment necessary, they will give the player some other tips such as weaknesses in defence, and/or the location of the monster.

All slayer masters sell enchanted gems. Once a player starts training (this involves some begging from their chosen master), the player is given one for free. Afterwards, players can buy them for 1 coin each. These allow players to contact their slayer master, ask for tips, ask who the master is and where they are located, and, most importantly, see how many monsters are left to kill. The gems cannot be used to get a new assignment. For that the player must see a master in person. An alternative to the gem is a Slayer ring, which functions in the same way as the enchanted gem, but can also tell Slayer reward points, or a worn Combat bracelet, which will update the player every 10 kills.

Players who have unlocked the Lunar Spells can also use the spell NPC Contact in order to receive a new assignment from a slayer master of their choosing. The slayer gems automatically put the player in contact with the slayer master who will be best for training him/her (this may not be the one who gave the player the previous assignment).

Another popular method other than utilizing the NPC Contact spell, is using the Karamja gloves 3 from the Karamja Diary. This allows very quick access to Duradel, the Shilo Village slayer master. You must have a number of skill requirements to do the diary, including 100 combat level and 50 slayer to complete get tasks from Duradel.

The masters vary in the level of difficulty of their assignments. If a player receives an assignment they do not wish to do, Turael in Burthorpe may consider giving players an easier assignment if they talk to him. However, this only works if the assignment is something that he doesn't assign. For example, if Duradel assigns a player Desert Lizards, then the Burthorpe slayer master cannot change their task, as he assigns Desert Lizards as well. 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+ Kalphite, then Turael will change this for another mission (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 didn't like it. All slayer masters can assign the same types of monsters as the masters below them. However, as their difficulty increases, there is a substantially higher chance of getting a more difficult monster. The masters are shown on the map with a yellow skull icon.

Summoning familiars that fight for you in Multi-combat areas do not interfere with your slayer tasks. The familiars will attack monsters that you attack and can damage them, but the monster's death counts towards your slayer assignment even if the familiar delivered the "final blow". Using a familiar also confers an advantage in that the monster will occasionally divert its attention from you to attack the familiar instead. This can increase your "staying time". If the familiar, however, is relatively weak in relation to the target monsters, the familiar can be killed, which can be a nuisance if you are counting on its abilities.

Using Poison in slayer tasks is a bit problematic. If the final blow that kills a monster comes from poison, you are not credited with the kill for your slayer task. (Presumably this is to prevent players from poisoning a monster, then hiding in a Safe spot and letting the poison do all the work.) If the monster is poisoned but you (or your familiar) delivers the final blow, the kill is credited to you. Some players always avoid using poison when on slayer tasks. Others are willing to use poison against monsters they find challenging, on the theory that poison still speeds completing the task even though an occasional kill is not counted.

Slayer Masters
A handful of slayer masters dot the map; each master gives assignments oriented towards a general range of combat levels.

Currently, there are six Slayer Masters scattered around RuneScape


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


 * During the quest While Guthix Sleeps, Turael and Duradel are killed by Lucien. Because of that two new slayer masters appear as substitutes, Spria and the Disciple of the Devourer respectively.

Slayer equipment
All slayer masters operate a Slayer Equipment shop, selling various tools and weapons for use against certain monsters they assign. All slayer masters offer the same shop, at the same prices.

''1. Although the Facemask requires level 10 Slayer to wield, the player cannot hurt Dust Devils until level 65 Slayer. Similarly, the Witchwood icon can be wielded at level 35 slayer, but players cannot harm Cave horrors until level 58 slayer.''

2. These items do not have a Slayer level requirement, but are only useful at these levels, as that is the level their respective monsters require.

3. The Slayer helmet and Slayer ring does not have a required Slayer level, however, to purchase the rings, or gain the ability to make the helmet or rings, the player needs complete Smoking Kills, which requires level 35 Slayer.

Slayer monsters
Some monsters can ONLY be killed once players have reached a certain level in Slayer. Not all of them require special equipment.
 * 1. Although official manual says that they need only level 5 slayer to kill, players need level 31 slayer to reach Skeletal and Zombie hands.



Training

 * See Slayer Training guide for more info.



Temporary boosts

 * A Slayer's respite will boost slayer by 1. This can be brewed using the cooking skill, at level 59.
 * A Mature Slayer's respite will boost slayer by 2. This can also be brewed using the cooking skill, at level 59.
 * A Wild pie will boost slayer by 5. This can be made at level 85 cooking.
 * 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 is required. The Masks have a number of charges, represented by a number behind them from 10 to 1.  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.
 * 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 Specters, Banshees, and Shades. The player can make it enchanted 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.



Slayer reward points

 * See Slayer reward point for more information.

On 6 June 2008, Jagex released Smoking Kills, which released many new rewards that can be bought with Slayer reward points. Slayer reward points are earned by completing 5 or more tasks in a row without having a task changed by Turael, however you are allowed to cancel a task by using 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 to 50, players get 75 points every 5 tasks. After 50 tasks, players get 75 points every 10th task.

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 buy monsters off a player's task list 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 4 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 them.

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 helmet option for slayers.

Trivia

 * If two people are slaying the same monster, the experience is divided in half. The person who does the most damage, and the one who gets the last hit.


 * The idea of some slayer monsters having a special quality that makes them normally unattackable is similar to the various tricks Hercules and Perseus employed in Greek mythology.


 * Slayerbelle was the first player to get an untrimmed Slayer Cape, first thought an impossible feat to achieve by other players. This is because slayer normally (can differ) levels up at 1 xp per hitpoints a monster has, but the player will receive 1.33 xp per hitpoints a monster has when killed. Therefore, hitpoints will usually reach level 99 before slayer, causing the slayer cape to be trimmed. However, Slayerbelle was able to defy this normal course of levelling by using the Dwarf Multicannon, which offers Ranged exp but does not give experience to Hitpoints, and by using controlled attack modes so ensure that combat experience was as low and distributed as possible.


 * 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 slayer gem. The Abyssal demons, Cave Horrors and the Dark beasts did not receive a graphical update. (However, the Dark Beasts had already been updated months before.)