Slayer

Slayer is a members-only skill that allows players to kill monsters which are often otherwise immune. Slayer was introduced on 26 January 2005. Players get a Slayer task from one of seven Slayer Masters, and players gain Slayer experience for killing monsters that they are assigned. The experience gained per monster is usually equal to the monster's hitpoints. Slayer experience is granted in addition to regular combat experience.

If more than one person is slaying the same monster, the experience is divided equally among or between them; for example, if two people slay a creature, one half goes to the person who does the most damage; the other half goes to whoever gets the last hit. There are currently 7,822 players with level 99 Slayer as of 20 February 2010, including two with level 3 combat.

Slayer can be profitable since many Slayer assignments drop valuable items, such as abyssal whips dropped by abyssal demons, dark bows dropped by dark beasts and even the Staff of light dropped by Ice strykewyrms. Ice strykewyrms are currently the highest level slayer creature in the game. Generally, the stronger the monster, the more valuable its drops will be. Many Slayer monsters drop grimy herbs and other useful, valuable items, giving players an opportunity to train such difficult-to-train skills as Herblore and Summoning.

Slayer is one of three skills not used in the Stealing Creation minigame; the list also includes Firemaking and Farming. However, Slayer is a crucial aspect in the Soul Wars minigame. Alternative ways to gain slayer experience (besides slaying assigned creatures) are: Penguin Hide and Seek, Soul Wars and Tears of Guthix.

Introduction
Players are assigned tasks that require them to travel to areas around RuneScape to kill various monsters. Some monsters require special equipment, such as earmuffs for Banshees. Otherwise, players will find it difficult, if not impossible, to kill certain creatures. The idea of slaying monsters that have a special quality that normally makes them impervious to damage is similar to the various abilities Hercules and Perseus employed in Greek mythology.

The tasks given out by Slayer masters are usually relevant to the player's combat level and skill level. There are currently 7 slayer masters located around RuneScape.

All Slayer masters sell enchanted gems that allow players to contact their Slayer Master to ask for tips, where the masters are located, and 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, or by casting the NPC Contact spell. An alternative to the gem is a Slayer ring, which functions in the same way as the enchanted gem (and can also tell Slayer reward points), or by wearing a Combat bracelet that contains at least 1 charge left. After the charges are gone, players will not receive any more updates that would otherwise occur every 10 kills.

Karamja gloves 3 from the Karamja Diary allow very quick access to Duradel/Lapalok, the Shilo Village Slayer Master.

''Players who have not completed the Karamja Diary can teleport to Ardougne and pay 30 coins for the ship to Brimhaven. Just south from the arrival point is a cart that teleports the player next to the Shilo Village bank for 10 coins. This method is not much slower than using Karamja gloves 3.''

A Ferocious ring obtained by killing any monsters inside Kuradal's Dungeon allows a teleport to Kuradal using up one of 5 charges of the ring. This is very useful as it prevents having to pass Brutal green dragons (level 227) and Waterfiends (level 115) on the way. This also allows the use of a summoning familiar pre-summoned as jumping into the waterfall does not allow this. Another way to access the dungeon is to use the new fairy ring (Code BJQ) that was added at when Kuradal was added to the game. The new fairy ring must be activated by using five mushrooms with the ring while having a spade in your inventory.

If player receive an assignment they do not wish to do, Turael in Burthorpe can give players an easier assignment if the current, unwanted assignment is something that Turael does not also assign. For example, if Vannaka assigns a player banshees, then Turael cannot change their task, as he also assigns Banshees. 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 or more Kalphite, then Turael will change this for another task (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 did not like it. All Slayer masters can assign the same types of monsters as the masters below them. As the difficulty of Slayer masters increases, there is a higher chance of getting a more difficult assignment. The masters are shown on the world map with a yellow skull icon.

Variations of monsters count towards some Slayer assignments, e.g., if a player has been assigned to kill blue dragons, they may instead slay baby blue dragons and still receive Slayer experience. Since the amount of experience received is often based on the monster's hitpoints, there are advantages (and disadvantages) to slaying the assignment with the most Hitpoints. The experience rate for slayer experience is around 15-60k per hour, depending on your gear, slayer task and use of dwarf multicannon. Killing Black Demons with a dwarf multicannon is the only way to achieve up to 60k slayer experience per hour.

Killing Summoning familiars will not count towards a player's task. If a player kills any monster which they have been assigned inside a player-owned house, they will receive the message, "Monsters inside a player-owned house do not count towards your slayer target."

An update on 9 June 2009 made it impossible to get the same Slayer task twice in a row, after players complained of getting the same Slayer assignment multiple times.

Summoning familiars that assist the player during combat in multi-combat areas do not interfere with a Slayer task. The familiars will attack monsters that the player attacks and can damage them, but the monster's death counts towards the player's assignment even if the familiar delivers the deathblow. Using a familiar also bestows an advantage in that the monster will occasionally divert its attention from a player to instead attack the familiar. This can increase an individual's "staying time." If the familiar is relatively weak in relation to the target monsters, the familiar can be killed, which can be a nuisance if a player is counting on its abilities.

Slayer Masters
Seven Slayer masters are found in RuneScape; each master gives assignments oriented towards a general range of combat levels. Slayer Masters have now been given a right-click ‘Get-task’ option to speed things up a bit. You can also find out how many more kills you need with a right-click option on enchanted gems, which will even work if you are currently in combat. Kalphites are the only monster that can be given out by every Slayer master. Black Demons are a common Slayer task for the higher Slayer Masters, but they can be annoying to kill, and players may like to block them permanently for 100 Slayer Points.

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 Lapalok. Between the recruiting and return of Mazchna, there is also another Slayer master to replace Mazchna.

End of spoilers. 

There's a special task that you can get when taking an assignment from Kuradal,

Sometimes Kuradal will assign you to kill Tzhaar but instead of killing over 100 tzhaars you can challenge the fight cave and defeat Tz-Tok-Jad Once you've defeated jad you will be rewarded 25,000 Slayer experience and of course the Fire cape.

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.

After the release of While Guthix Sleeps, if a player would talk to Turael (for those who had not completed the quest) and ask for tips, his name in the chat box would appear as "slayer_master_1_multi". This has since been fixed by Jagex.

Slayer Equipment
All Slayer masters operate a Slayer equipment shop that sells various tools and weapons for use against certain monsters they assign. All Slayer masters offer the same shop as well as the same prices.

Slayer monsters
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 Dark beasts did not receive a graphical update; however, they had previously been updated. Gargoyles have a new ‘Smash’ option when they're near death to allow you to more easily finish them off with a rock hammer.

Jade vine
Slaying Jade vine, daily
 * 2,500 Slayer experience

Bork
Kill Bork in the Chaos Tunnels, daily
 * 250 Slayer experience (5,000 for the first kill);

Phoenix
Kill the Phoenix in its lair, daily
 * 500 Slayer experience (5,000 for first kill)

Skeletal horror
Kill Skeletal horror, weekly
 * Experience 1,250 Slayer and 1,000 Prayer (First time - 10,000 Slayer and 7,000 Prayer)

Boosts
Potions and food Equipment
 * A Slayer's respite will boost Slayer by 1 level. It can be brewed using the Cooking skill beginning at level 59.
 * A Mature Slayer's respite will boost Slayer by 2 levels. It can be brewed using the Cooking skill beginning at level 59.
 * A Wild pie will boost Slayer by 5 levels. This can be made at level 85 Cooking.
 * A Spicy stew made with Yellow spice may raise or lower your Slayer level by 6 levels but it can also lower it by as many or not affect slayer at all.
 * A Slayer cape Boost the player from level 99 to level 100 for a short period of time
 * 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 and light source is required. The masks have a number of charges, represented by a number following the item title, (eg; black mask(10), black mask(3), ranging from 1-10). 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.
 * A Focus Sight will boost Ranged accuracy and strength by 15% while fighting monsters that have been assigned by a Slayer Master. They can be obtained as drops from Desert Strykewyrms, which require 77 Slayer to kill. These can only be found in an area with a desert effect, hence it is advisable to carry more food allowance or waterskins when killing these.
 * A Hexcrest will boost Magic accuracy and strength by 15% while fighting monsters that have been assigned by a Slayer Master. They can be obtained as drops from Jungle Strykewyrms, which require 73 Slayer to kill. It should be noted that these monsters have the ability to poison players.
 * 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 Spectres, Banshees, and Shades. The player can enchant it 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.
 * Dragon slayer gloves can be purchased for 200 Fist of Guthix tokens from Reggie (the owner of Fist of Guthix Rewards Shop), giving 15% more Slayer experience and a 10% Attack bonus when worn while slaying dragons as part of an assigned slayer task. These boosts stack with the Black mask and Slayer helm. They will crumble to dust after killing 1,000 assigned dragons while wearing the gloves.
 * The Slayer helmet gives the same advantages which a black mask gives but also acts as a multi task protection helmet. It is made using a black mask, earmuffs, nose peg, facemask and a spiny helmet on each other. The Slayer helmet gives the protection of all of these items against their specific monsters. This helmet requires you to buy the knowledge to make it for 400 slayer points as well as have 10 defence and 55 crafting. This helmet is very popular amongst high level slayers for its practicality and its ability to still give the 15% bonus in attack and strength whilst fighting monsters you otherwise would need a different helmet for.

Slayer reward points
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 a player is 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 1-4 earn no points, tasks 10, 20, 30, 40, 60, 70, 80 and 90 earns 75 points, task 50 and 100 earns 225 points and all other tasks earn 15 points. Slayer reward points are only accessed after Smoking Kills.

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 prevent players from being assigned a specific task 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 earned points. (See below for more details)

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 melee helmet option for slayers. This allows for monsters like aberrant spectres and dust devils to be killed while having the bonuses of the 15% attack and strength increase. Since the update on February 8 2010, Players can combine a Slayer helmet with a Hexcrest and Focus Sight to make a full slayer helmet. This gives all the bonuses of the slayer helmet, while boosting ranged and magic by 15% as well.

Trivia

 * Slayer levels up at a usual 1 xp per Hitpoints a monster has with some exceptions, but the player will receive 1.33 Hitpoint XP per damage done to the monster. Therefore, Hitpoints will usually reach level 99 before Slayer, causing the Slayer cape to be trimmed. By using the Dwarf Multicannon, which offers Ranged XP but does not give experience to Hitpoints, and by using controlled attack modes to ensure that combat experience is as low and distributed as possible, it is possible for absolutely any player to achieve an untrimmed Slayer cape.
 * Because of Soul Wars, it was possible to effectively achieve 99 Slayer without having to raise the player's combat levels at all, resulting in 99 slayer at level 3 combat, but now, with the activity bar, this is no longer possible.
 * HS Zezima was the first player to achieve 99 Slayer on 9 July 2005, which is one of the reasons why he is well-known.