Slayer

Slayer is a members-only skill that allows players to kill normally immune monsters. Players must go to a slayer master and get an assignment, and will only gain 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 slayer monster-dropped items can sell for vasts amounts of cash.

Variations of monsters count towards the slayer assignment. For example, if a player has been assigned to kill blue dragons, then they can kill baby blue dragons as well. If a player has been assigned to kill crawling hands, then they can kill level 8 or level 12 crawling hands (however, the amount of experience received is based on the monster's hitpoints). The current minimum to be ranked on the hiscores in Slayer is 30 Slayer and experience.

Introduction
Slayer is a more unique skill in terms of having to go around the world to see special people, known as Slayer Masters, but being able 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 kill it normally. Slayer can lead to making a lot of money. There are a wide variety of unique things 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 amounts of cash than most non-slayer monsters per combat level.

There are currently 5 slayer masters located around RuneScape. They give players assignments to increase their slayer level, varying from level 2 goblins to level 246 Steel Dragons. The monsters assigned are not necessarily slayer-specific monsters. Slayer monsters or normal monsters killed. Players only get experience from doing their assignment.

All slayer masters sell the same batch of slayer equipment, which is necessary to kill certain slayer monsters. 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.

One of the things the masters sell is an enchanted gem. 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 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).

The masters vary in the level of difficulty of their assignments. If a player receives an assignment they do not wish to do, the master 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 too assigns Desert Lizards. However, if the number given is far greater than Turael would normally give, it IS possible to change your task. For example, if Duradel assigns 140+ Kalphite, then Turael WILL change this for another mission (or a lower amount of Kalphite, randomly). 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.

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

In total, there are five Slayer Masters:
 * Turael, who is in Burthorpe;
 * Mazchna, who is in Canifis;
 * Vannaka, who is in the Edgeville Dungeon;
 * Chaeldar, who is in Zanaris; and
 * Duradel, who is in Shilo Village.

Slayer monsters
Some monsters can ONLY be killed once players have reached a certain level in Slayer. Not all of them require special equipment.

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.
 * A mature Slayer's respite will boost slayer by 2. This can also be brewed using the cooking skill.
 * A Wild pie will boost slayer by 5.
 * 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 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.
 * 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 for the amulets do not stack with the effect of a Black Mask.

Trivia
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.

Drop rates of abyssal whips, dragon legs, and dragon boots have been greatly lowered from their initial values. This is because many people were getting vast quantities of these items in a single trip.

Zezima was the first person to 99 Slayer.

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 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.