Cockroach soldier

The Cockroach soldier is the fifth highest-levelled monster in free-to-play (excluding revenants and dungeoneering bosses), surpassed by Greater demons, Ankous, Skeletons, and Hellhounds in the Forinthry Dungeon. They are found exclusively in the Stronghold of Player Safety. This monster is non-aggressive.

Cockroach soldiers attack with melee or ranged depending on how they are attacked; if attacked from a distance, it will attack back with only its ranged attack; if the attacker comes within melee range, the soldier will attack with only its melee attack. Similar to metal dragons, they will not move toward a player if attacked from a distance. It is notable that their ranged attack is stronger than their melee attack, so attempting to safe spot is useless unless prayer is used.

Popularity
For several months after their release, cockroach soldiers were incredibly popular training monsters, and the Stronghold of Player Safety became crowded with players training on cockroach soldiers. There was a slight decline in popularity when the ranged attack was made more powerful. Their relatively high defence and high lifepoints also contributed to the loss of the cockroach soldier's popularity as a money-making strategy.

Killing cockroach soldiers can still be a decent money-making activity, as they commonly drop Law runes, Death runes, noted Mithril ore, noted Adamant ore, and occasionally Rune scimitars and Rune sq shields.

Location

 * Stronghold of Player Safety

Combat strategies
Cockroach soldiers are weak to crush and stab attacks, but strong against slash attacks. Ranging is possible, but only a truly effective method at higher levels. Using magic is discouraged because they boast very high magic defence. Soldiers also tend to hit quite often and quite high, so it is recommended to have a decent defence level.It is recommended to bring food as you might get damaged greatly.

Free-to-play
Since they are weak to stab, a Gravite rapier is the preferred weapon of choice, but a Rune sword(A Rune 2h sword is a good weapon for lower levels, 55-70) can suffice as well. With an 80+ attack level, the Rune scimitar can be equally as effective. The crush attacks of the Gravite 2h sword and the Rune 2h sword are extremely effective, though very slow and obviously allow no shield support.

The Ranged approach involves use of either a maple longbow (sighted) with full rune armour or a maple shortbow with a mix of green dragonhide and rune armour. Using full green dragonhide does not allow one to train for prolonged periods of time. At least 80 range and 70 defence is strongly recommended; players with low range levels should use sighted maple longbows for accuracy, while players with high range levels might consider maple shortbows for speed.

Another method of choice for few players is prayer tacking, or flashing prayer. This is when a player turns his prayer on, for roaches this would be either protect from melee or protect from range, right before the monster attacks, which blocks its attack, and then quickly turn the prayer off without the loss of prayer points. If you prayer flash perfectly you will take no damage! There is technically only one requirement for this method, and that is 43 prayer. Some recommended requirements are: high levels in all combat skills (70+), because you will kill the roach faster, not allowing you as many chances to mess up; and 34 dungeoneering for a gem bag, which will help conserve space in your inventory (you will need 34 dungeoneering to have enough tokens to buy the gem bag). It is also recommended that you boost your prayer points at the monastery before going to attack the roaches. Prayer bonuses do not effect this method, although a high prayer bonus is advised for beginners or players with a bad connection; when you keep the prayer on for to long it will drain your prayer points, but if you have a high prayer bonus you will lose less prayer points during the time you mess up. The advised set up for using the prayer method is a rune full helm, an amulet of strength (or a holy symbol for beginners), a rune scimitar or a gravite rapier or rune shortsword (it's best to use a weapon that has the same attack speed as the monster you're attacking so the timing of the prayer flashing can be in sync with your attacks and the monster's attacks), a rune beserker shield, monk's robe top and bottom (which can be picked up at the monastery), rune gauntlets, and an any explorer's ring for an added prayer bonus. This set up is ideal for maximum damage output, and not defence. Very little armour is needed unless you tend to mess up your prayer flashing often. When you use this method you will never need to bank unless you just get tired of it, because you will not use up food or any prayer unless you mess up, which even if you do you will not lose that many prayer points. Though it does use 100% of your concentration and good rhythm, it can be the best way to kill roaches.

Members
Members often prefer to train in other places, such as the aviansies, Barrows or via Slayer. Players who have completed Regicide can use the Dragon Halberd to fight these Cockroach Soldiers, since they're classified as large monsters, so the dragon halberd's special attack will hit them twice. The best stab weapons used to fight against these monsters at a high level are the Zamorakian spear, the Chaotic rapier, and Korasi's sword. Feasible crushing weapons include the Chaotic maul, the Barrelchest anchor, Godswords. The Saradomin Sword, is a good choice if the player wishes to raise their strength level. Slashing weapons such as the Abyssal whip are not recommended unless the player's attack and strength level is at least 80. When training on these, it is recommended to bring lobsters or better food.

Using Full Guthans is an effective method of healing while fighting here, and it also takes advantage of the roaches' weakness to stab and crush. A player can stay there for a very long time and earn approximately 30 crimson charms an hour. The player needs to bring a strong weapon (preferably a Zamorakian spear, although an abyssal whip works at 85+ Attack) and only use Guthan's spear to heal. Enhanced Excalibur could also be brought for further healing. Dwarf multicannons cannot be used in the Stronghold of Player Safety. Using a bunyip is also a very effective means of healing. With good armour (Barrows/Bandos) and a moderately high defence level (80+) it is possible for a bunyip to completely heal their damage.

When having a familiar fighting along side you against these monsters, they will take more damage from the cockroach's attack than you will. On familiars, it will only use its ranged attack, which can hit up to 130. However, it's rare for the cockroach to attack your familiar directly unless your familiar attacks first.

Seeds (members only)

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Other drops

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Rare drop table drops
Cockroach soldier Cockroach soldier