Barrows/Strategies

This is a page for possible strategies to kill the Barrows brothers. It outlines the equipment and tactics necessary for each method to be successful.

Basic equipment

 * Prayer potions (About 1-5, or more if you plan on killing the brothers several times per trip)
 * Holy wrench (Optional, Not recommended after level 55 prayer as prayer potions restore more.)
 * Quick teleport (Drakan's medallion is the best choice, as it can teleport directly to Barrows for free and is equipable; with a bank available in Burgh de Rott and Canfis, and an altar in Darkmeyer. Teleport to house is also good if there is a Canifis teleport portal and an altar)
 * Guthan's set or food - monkfish or above (Basket of strawberries can be very effective for non-emergency food)
 * Stat-boosting potions (Optional)
 * Special attack weapon (Optional)
 * Runes (For magic approach only)

Magic
If using magic, there's a greater chance of receiving runes from the chest. There are several strategies using Magic that work well at the Barrows.

Polypore Staff (with prayer)
The polypore staff is arguably the best staff to use at barrows due its cheap cost, high damage and accuracy. It also gives a prayer bonus which is essential at barrows due to the prayer drain. It requires no runes so more prayer potions or food can be taken per trip. Using this staff, barrows trips can be done easily even when on the lunar spellbook.

At high magic levels (90+), using the polypore staff in conjunction with void knight equipment can be very effective. Players are encouraged to bring along a special attack weapon and a melee weapon for Karil and Ahrim. With at least 90 magic, 80 prayer and the polypore staff, it is possible to do a barrows run with just 0-2 doses of a prayer potion. This is done by using up all your prayer killing the brothers, and only restoring prayer in the tunnel to fight the brother in the tunnels. Since Torag and Ahrim do not need prayer, if either one of them is in the tunnel, you do not need to restore prayer to fight them, effectively using no prayer. If the tunnel brother is a melee brother, one dose of prayer potion should be more than enough to finish them off with the polypore staff. However, if the brother is Karil (who is quite resistant to medium-level weapons like the abyssal whip) the time taken to defeat him combined with the prayer drain effect can make 2 doses necessary.

Suggested Order

 * 1) Karil
 * 2) Dharok
 * 3) Verac
 * 4) Guthan
 * 5) Ahrim (no prayer)
 * 6) Torag (no prayer)

Inventory (for one round)

 * 1 Prayer potion (Only 2 doses are needed)
 * Special attack weapon
 * Melee weapon
 * Dragon defender
 * Void melee helm (If using void robes)
 * Drakan's medallion (Once Vanescula has enchanted it during the quest)
 * Vyrewatch clothing (If using medallion)
 * 5-6 monkfish (Likely less, but just in case torag manages to land a few lucky hits)

Polypore Staff (without prayer)
Players can make this method even more efficient by using entangles in conjunction with the spell. The player can easily take out all the melee brothers without prayer by entangling them and moving away. This would result in prayer only being used at Karil, which makes prayer potions void (but bring at least one dose in case). The risk in this is that you become unlucky and fail to kill Dharok before the entangle wears off, and you are too slow to turn on protect from melee. This is the reason why it is recommended to have at least 700 LP at all times, to survive one blow from a weakened Dharok. Melee is used against Karil, and the inventory is similar to above except with 2-3 monkfish, 10 entangle rune sets (only 6 needed but in case) and 1 dose of prayer potion.

Suggested Order

 * 1) Karil (since you will be using prayer against him)
 * 2) Dharok (you want to make sure you have some prayer points to survive a blow from him)
 * 3) Verac
 * 4) Guthan
 * 5) Torag (you do not have to waste an entangle on him, if you have brought enough food)
 * 6) Ahrim (you should have your special attack bar restored by now, tank attacks)

Magic Dart
Magic Dart is one of the cheapest and most effective way on killing brothers. Since the player can easily replenish their runes as the reward often gives mind and death runes.

Required
The magic defence and magic level of most brothers is so low that this spell will still work when wearing melee armour such as rune or even barrows, but wearing Mystic robes as mentioned does help to hit slightly more accurately but adds to costs and sacrifices defence.
 * Mind rune and death rune with ratio of 4:1
 * Staff of light > Greater runic staff > Runic staff > Slayer's staff

Ancient Magic
The ice spells of ancient Magicks are a good way to kill the brothers, as its freezing ability can help players conserve prayer for the more difficult brothers (i.e., Dharok and Verac). However, this approach is suggested for experienced players only, as this method requires a lot of money. Also, the player needs to run from the brothers when they are immune to the freezing effect, which can be dangerous on Dharok. However if used correctly, a player with around 50 prayer can do barrows without ANY prayer potions by doing the following:

Kill brothers in this order:
 * 1) Dharok or Karil(depends on how skilled you are at not letting Dharok touch you)
 * 2) Dharok or Karil(depends on which brother you killed first)
 * 3) Verac as with ancients he's less of a threat.
 * 4) Guthan as he has low magic defence.
 * 5) Torag
 * 6) Ahrim as he has a little higher magic defence.


 * This is because if you can avoid Dharok hitting you you can use your prayer for Karil first.

How to prevent the brother's from hitting you (besides Ahrim and Karil):
 * When you get to a melee brother do the following: Cast an ice spell so they can't hit you, then count your casts; depending on the spell that you use determinds how long they will stay frozen. Ice burst is about 3 casts, Ice blitz, 4, and ice barrage, 5. On your last cast they become immune and can move again so on you last cast run to the opposite side of the coffin to that that they're on. Again, depending on the ice spell cast determines how long they will be immune for (about 6 seconds for ice burst ranging down to 4 seconds for ice barrage). After this immunity period,quickly run to the far corner (furthest away from the brother) and quickly re-freeze him, then kill (If you can kill him within the first set of casts, this is not required). Be aware that if this spell slashes on Dharok then you are in trouble, so perhaps drink 1 dose of prayer potion.
 * This is dangerous for Dharok because if he is low on health and he just touches you, you will be hit extremely hard! This method gets a wee bit risky if the brother is diagonal from the coffin, if this happens make it go on on side on the coffin and rush to the other side before casting again.
 * Runes (Preferred ice spell)
 * Staff of light > Ancient staff/Master wand > Damage-boosting staff/Staff supplying water rune
 * Tome of frost (Suggested if using ice spell)
 * A full Battle Robe set boosts the rune-saving effect of the Staff of Light to 50%, making Ancient Magicks much more cost-efficient.

God Spell

 * God spell is another good way of dealing damage on the brothers (except Ahrim), since it can hit for a maximum damage of 200 (or 300 with Charge spell). Also, Claws of Guthix and Flames of Zamorak can reduce the defence and magic level of the brothers respectively, which can speed up killing the brothers.


 * Runes
 * God staff/Void knight mace (If using claws of guthix)
 * God capes (Advised for 80+ mages for Charge spell)

Suggested armour for magic approach
''Note: The runes on the photos are for reference only. Bring at least 150 casts for 1 loot.''
 * Verac's helm/Ahrim's hood/Helm of neitiznot/Battle hood > Rune full helm/Farseer helm > Mystic hat
 * Amulet of fury/Demon horn necklace/B > Amulet of glory > God stole >Split dragontooth necklace
 * Ahrim's robetop > Battle robe top > Black d'hide body/Proselyte hauberk/Rune platebody > Red d'hide body
 * Verac's plateskirt/Proselyte cuisse/Ahrim's robeskirt/Battle robe bottom > Black d'hide chaps/Rune platelegs
 * Suggested staff (See above)
 * Mages' book/Arcane spirit shield > God book/Falador shield 3/4 >Dragon sq shield/Falador shield 2
 * Soul wars cape > Ardougne Cloak 3 > Skill Cape (t)/God capes
 * Spellcaster Gloves > Culinaromancer's gloves 10 > Dragon gloves > Rune gloves
 * Infinity boots >Mystic boots/Dragon boots > Boots of lightness
 * Seers' ring/Explorer's ring/Ring of life

Ranged
Ranged can be an effective method for fighting the brothers, especially at high levels.

Bow

 * Zaryte Bow > Crystal bow/Magic longbow (sighted)/Magic shortbow> Yew shortbow
 * Dark bow/Seercull (For special attack only)
 * Rune arrows > Adamant arrows

Crossbow

 * Chaotic crossbow>Rune crossbow > Adamant crossbow
 * Diamond bolts (e)/Broad-tipped bolt > Adamant bolt/Emerald bolts (e) > Mithril bolt

Suggested armour for ranged approach

 * Verac's helm/Helm of neitiznot > Blessed dragonhide coif > Archer helm
 * Amulet of fury/Demon horn necklace > Amulet of glory/Amulet of ranging >Split dragontooth necklace > God stole
 * Armadyl Chestplate > Karil's top/Black d'hide body > Proselyte hauberk/Rune platebody > Red d'hide body
 * Verac's plateskirt/Proselyte cuisse/Karil's skirt > Black d'hide chaps/Rune platelegs
 * Suggested bow/crossbow (See above)
 * Eagle-eye kiteshield /Spectral spirit shield >God book/Falador shield 3/4 >Dragon sq shield/Falador shield 2
 * Soul wars cape > Ardougne Cloak 3 > Skill Cape (t) > Ava's accumulator
 * Culinaromancer's gloves 10 > Dragon gloves > Rune gloves > Regen bracelet
 * Glaiven boots >Snakeskin Boots/Ranger boots > Dragon boots > Boots of lightness
 * Onyx ring (i) > Archers' ring (i)>Archers' ring/Explorer's ring/Ring of life/Ring of Wealth (4)

Melee
A melee approach can be the cheapest method because it does not require any prayer potions. However, this should be done on players that have high melee stats (80+), as the melee defence of most brothers are quite high. Nevertheless, most players can use the melee approach on fighting Karil. Players with spare money can also combine melee method with guthan's set and use it in the tunnel to heal.

Godswords
Godswords can be very effective on the brothers because of their high melee stats. A Saradomin godsword is suggested because of its special attack of healing. If the player does not have enough money for it, bandos godsword is suggested as its cheap and the draining effect by special attack. However, please be noted that the special attack uses the entire bar, so the player can only use the special attack on the 5th brother if it has been used on the 1st brother.
 * Saradomin godsword > Bandos godsword > Armadyl godsword/Zamorak godsword

Verac's armour
If the player can't afford a godsword, using Verac's armour can be effective too. The effect of Verac's set is very useful on melee brothers. However, the player should fight Dharok with prayer first, as Dharok can hit very high when he has low health. It is also advised to take plenty of prayer potions for protection prayers, mostly because Verac's armour doesn't have as high defence as the other barrows armour sets. The prayer bonus of Verac's set will help the player not use prayer points as fast, so they will not have to drink as many prayer potions.
 * Verac's helm
 * Verac's brassard
 * Verac's plateskirt
 * Verac's flail

Chaotic Weapon(s)
Chaotic weapons are some of the strongest weapons in the game. As such, they are very effective on all the brothers. The Chaotic maul is very effective since the melee brothers are weak to crush and the maul gives a very high crush bonus. The Chaotic longsword and Chaotic rapier are also very accurate and with high melee stats (90+), any of the three can be used very efficiently to kill all 6 of the brothers. Ranged armour is typically strong to crush, so it is not advised to bring a Chaotic maul as your only weapon; bring a slash or stab weapon in addition to it.

Suggested armour for melee approach

 * Verac's helm/Guthan's helm > Torag's helm > Helm of neitiznot/Other high melee defence helm
 * Amulet of fury > Amulet of glory
 * Verac's Brassard/Guthan's platebody > Fighter torso/Dragon chainbody > Other high melee defence body
 * Verac's plateskirt/Guthan's chainskirt >Bandos tassets/Dragon platelegs > Rune platelegs
 * Suggested weapon (See above)/Guthan's warspear/Dragon dagger (p++) > Other weapons for special attack
 * Dungeoneering Shield > Spirit Shield > Dragonfire shield > Dragon sq shield/Dragon Defender
 * Soul wars cape/Fire cape/Completionist cape/Max cape > Skill Cape (t) > Skill Cape > Obsidian cape > Cape of legends
 * Culinaromancer's gloves 10 > Dragon gloves > Rune gloves
 * Dragon boots > Rune boots > Rock climbing boots
 * Berserker ring/Explorer's ring/Ring of life

Black Salamander
Black Salamander is one of the best methods for Barrows because of its all-styled attack and significant damage. Also, its damage is not affected by equipment bonus while its accuracy is no issue, given the brothers' low magic defence. Combined with praying method, one set-up can do at least 2 trips and if lucky can do up to 9 trips. about 3-4 runs through is about the average for one inventory on this setup if used with guthan's to heal in the lower level. Void armour does indeed increase its damage.

Players are also advised to bring along a melee weapon(much more effective than salamanders against Ahrim and Karil), a dragon defender(or another shield slot item boosting strength/accuracy) and a special attack weapon. An abyssal whip+dragon defender is a cheap and effective set-up.
 * Using a combination of void mage(for the melee brothers) and void melee(for Karil and Ahrim) can be very effective.
 * Verac's helm/Guthan's helm > Helm of neitiznot/Proselyte sallet
 * Amulet of fury/Demon horn necklace > Amulet of glory/Split dragontooth necklace > God stole
 * Verac's brassard/Guthan's platebody > Dragon chainbody/Proselyte hauberk
 * Verac's plateskirt/Guthan's chainskirt >Bandos tassets/Dragon platelegs/Proselyte cuisse > Rune platelegs
 * Black Salamander
 * Harralander tar
 * Soul wars cape/Fire cape > Skill Cape (t) > Skill Cape/Ardougne cloak 3/4 > Obsidian cape > Cape of legends
 * Culinaromancer's gloves 10 > Dragon gloves > Rune gloves
 * Dragon boots > Rune boots > Rock climbing boots
 * Ring of Wealth > Onyx ring (i) > Dragonstone ring (i) > Ring of Life/Explorer's ring

Special attack weapon: Dragon Claws > Korasi's Sword (together with a dragon defender) > Armadyl Godsword > Dragon Dagger > Bandos Godsword (defence-lowering effect is slightly useful)

Off hand item (if using a 1-handed melee weapon): Dragon defender > Dragonfire Shield (fully charged) > Rune defender > Toktz-ket-xil

Use the specials at the beginning of the fight, and switch to the melee weapon later. If players choose not to bring a melee weapon, not only will their trips take longer, but they will use up way more tar during a trip.

Strategy
''Note:It has been known that uncommonly a twin of a brother will appear if a player runs through a door to escape from their assigned brother in the maze rather than fighting him; killing twin brothers, or even killing only one of the two, has the same effect as killing one brother. These can be very deadly, especially in the case of a strong brother, as they have been known to come up 3+ times in a row, inflicting much damage on an unprepared player. Killing a "twin" will count as a kill towards the creatures slain count''.

Polypore Staff

 * The Polypore staff is the most effective method for fighting the brothers, if you have the required magic level of 80. As one cast only costs, it is cost effective, plus as the charges are stored on the staff two or more spaces are freed in the inventory. With 99 magic and no boosts other than the staffs 13%, it can hit up to 355, significantly higher than the Magic Dart method.

Magic Dart

 * This is the most effective method if the player does not have the magic level that the polypore staff requires; doing up to 200 life points, and uses one death rune and four mind runes. These runes are often regained from the chest, making this method very cost-effective. Your maximum hit using this spell is determined by 100+ your Magic level so hypothetically the maximum you can hit is 200 (99 Magic using a skillcape boost, or even higher with potions).This method is much more efficient with a staff of light, with its +15% magic damage bonus. The staff also has a Special attack called Power of Light. When activated, this special attack reduces any melee damage(including magical melee) that is received by 50% for one minute, this is very effective against Verac. The staff also has a special rune-saving ability; while wielded, there is a 1/8 (12.5%) chance that any combat spell cast with this staff will not use up any runes.

Ancient Magic

 * Players must have completed the Desert Treasure quest to use these spells. Having at least level 70 Magic to use Ice Burst is recommended. (Ice Rush is not recommended as the player needs to take a lot of time to avoid the brothers' attack.) Although this method isn't very cost effective, it is a fast way to kill the brothers and players can get more loots in a trip. Players may want to take one of the few staffs that cause a 10%/15% magic bonus. The best spells to use are ice spells which will freeze and damage the brothers. Blood spells, on the other hand, restore 25% of the damage dealt to the player's life points. If relying on the freezing effect of the ice spells, remember that like players when the Brothers break out of the ice spells, they will be able to resist the freezing effect for up to 5 seconds.
 * Ice Rush: 1 Cast
 * Ice Burst: 3 Casts
 * Ice Blitz: 5 Casts
 * Ice Barrage: 6 Casts

Normal Magic
Starting at 35 magic, players can also use Fire Bolt to kill the brothers. This is a cheap and low-level alternative, and can be very effective when coupled with the Chaos gauntlets from the Family Crest quest. Except for fire bolt, fire spells are quite effective on the brothers too.

God spell
It is suggested to use Claws of Guthix in priority, as it can reduce a portion of defence to the brothers. Also, players with Void knight mace can deal even higher damage (330LP) with this god spell. If Claws of Guthix is unavailable, then Flames of Zamorak should be used, since it can reduce the brother's magic level(hence magic defence). This method can work effectively if combined with the Charge spell with 80 magic.

Black salamander with Harralander Tar
Some people may not know this, but it is a better weapon substitute for the activity. This weapon is about as fast as a longsword. Also, the ammunition is cheaper than a cast of Magic Dart, and more accurate. Moreover, the magic bonus does not affect its use, so it is suggested to use full melee armour with this. In the long run, it will save you money and time.

Ranged
Ranged is vital when killing Ahrim if a player is not meleeing; it is best to use rune arrows or adamant arrows, wear your best ranger armour (black dragonhide armour works well and can also be used as melee armour), and wield a magic shortbow, crystal bow or even a dark bow. Seercull is also useful as its special attack depletes your enemy's magic. The magic shortbow special attack is very useful against Ahrim. A Rune crossbow or Chaotic crossbow may also be used.

Another excellent ranged weapon for barrows are Toktz-xil-ul, but it is not very popular.

Melee

 * The best strategy for players who have low to average melee stats is to use melee only when killing Karil, as he is relatively weak to melee attacks, especially slash attacks. Wear your best melee armour, and use an effective weapon, anything Dragon and above is fine. Players with 70 or above attack and defence stats can bring full Veracs, a combat potion, and a super defence potion to melee every single brother without prayer. Verac's set effect, Defiler, will activate often, allowing a player to hit the brothers more frequently. You will save a lot of runes in the long run, but if the player dies, he/she would lose Verac's helm, the most expensive piece of the set. Players can interchange their weapons for this method; a whip and rune defender or even a godsword would be an efficient enough way to melee the brothers.
 * Guthans Armour Effect.gifr level players with 60 prayer or above can complete the Barrows without using prayer potions, this can be done by quickly killing Dharok, Verac, and Karil and using melee armour on Guthan whilst using Magic; using Ranged against Ahrim and Magic against Torag. To do this it is advised to have 85 Attack, 80 Strength, 80 Defence, 60 Prayer, 75 ranged, 800 life points and 80 Magic. If using this method players should apply other tactics, such as sidestepping, in the tunnels.The Ranged armour will suffice for the time it is not in effect. The exception is versus Guthan and Torag because if you have 80 defence, you should use rune and mage them. You will still hit very often and they will almost never hit you.

Balanced offence
The fast way to kill the brothers is to attack their weaknesses. This method uses protection prayers against all six, magic against the melee brothers, melee against Karil, and ranged against Ahrim. Alternately, melee can also be used against Ahrim, as he does not have a strong melee defence, either. (It is possible to use only melee against all six, but fighting the melee brothers with melee takes much more time and expenditure of food or prayer potions or both.)

Some players hesitate to use a balanced offence because they believe they need to clutter their inventory with full sets of armour and weapons for all three combat styles. However, that is not necessary. The basic idea is to maximize magic offence and only bring the key items for the other styles.

House teleport method (with spa)
A good technique to do multiple barrows trips is to have the following (this a fast method, but can be altered): Using the above setup, when going to Barrows, wear a ring of duelling. When you are teleporting out of Barrows, use the ring's Mobilising Armies teleport and run east to Oo'glog (be careful, as there are several aggressive creatures there, including the ogress champion, which is level 99, in the way), where you can take advantage of the spa facilities there: After this, run to the bank and get your method for getting to Canifis and simply go back to the Barrows. This method is good as you get extra prayer and life points, and it costs very little to get your prayer and life points up to full. It is also repeatable, as long as you have rings of duelling and teleportation methods to Canifis.
 * Several rings of duelling
 * The ability, and the runes, to cast Kharyrll teleport (requires 66 Magic and Ancient Magicks). Alternatively, a teleport to house (runes or tablet) and a Kharyrll portal in a Portal Chamber (requires 50 Construction). The Ectophial is an alternative for players unable to use Ancient Magicks.
 * Use Rings of slaying that teleport the player outside of the Slayer Tower.
 * Completed As a First Resort.
 * The Salt-water spring will replenish your energy and keep it near 100% for up to 25 minutes (useful for running to Barrows);
 * The Thermal bath will replenish life points and remove any poisons/diseases. It will also give 15%-20% extra life points;
 * The Sulphur spring will replenish your prayer points and give 10% extra prayer points.
 * The House teleport method is more cost effective if you plan on doing more than 100 Barrows runs. It also allows you to keep your normal spellbook.

Burgh de Rott method
Another method is to use the bank in Burgh de Rott. It's extremely effective; however, it requires the completion of In Aid of the Myreque. This method will cost extra prayer potions because there is NO altar nearby, however it is extremely useful for players who have not completed Desert Treasure and/or cannot use the Canifis teleport. Check the map for the route.

Another good method is to use the Ardougne Cloak 3 or 4 to teleport to monastery south of Ardougne for a prayer recharge, then use the Drakan's medallion to teleport to Burgh de Rott for banking. Using this method will usually result only using 1-2 prayer potions per trip (recommended for players with 80 prayer+).

Drakan's medallion method
Those who have started Branches of Darkmeyer can use Drakan's medallion to teleport to and from the Barrows to Burgh de Rott to bank or, even more conveniently, Darkmeyer to replenish prayer and bank. For those who also have an Ardougne cloak, they can teleport right next to the altar, recharge, then use the medallion to teleport to Burgh de Rott, recharge if necessary, bank, and teleport directly back to Barrows. This only uses up 1 charge per trip, thereby requiring less times recharging, and the cloak teleport is closer to an altar than the medallion is.

Another method of using Drakan's medallion is to take house teleport tablets, or Air, Earth, and Law runes with you and after each run teleport to your PoH recharge your prayer at your Altar, then either use the Kharyrll Portal to send you to Canifis and use the bank there. Or from your PoH use the Drakan's medallion to teleport yourself straight to Burgh de Rott and bank there using one charge of your medallion.