Hexhunter bow (Dungeoneering)

The Hexhunter bow is a bow found in the dungeon of Daemonheim while Dungeoneering. The bow is a unique drop from the Soulgazer, requiring 98 Ranged to wield. Its ranged damage increases as your opponent's magic level increases. The bow is one of the rarest and most sought-after items in Dungeoneering and is a highly recommended bind.

The Hexhunter bow's max hit is limited; all monsters in Dungeoneering seem to have their magic levels capped at 99, so the bow will hit the same on every monster from a level 113 forgotten mage all the way up to the level 750 variation of Kal'ger the warmonger. That max hit is comparable to, but slightly lower than, the power of a primal 2handed sword, that is, in the mid 400s using only a Ring of kinship.

However, the bow fires at shortbow speed, which is significantly faster than the 2handed sword, and it is far more accurate against mage-type opponents. For this reason, the Hexhunter bow has a better damage rate than melee weapons when fighting forgotten mages, necromancers, reborn mages, dragons, and especially demons. It is of great help when doing challenge rooms against Mercenary Leaders or Ramokee Skinweavers and Stormbringers. It is somewhat inaccurate, but still effective, against ghosts and shades. The bow can also be used on monsters like Brutes and Hobgoblins that are weak to range even though they have low magic.

The bow is considered the best bossing weapon in Dungeoneering; it is very useful on the Necrolord, which cannot be meleed, and it outhits melee on most other bosses. These include Shadow-Forger Ihlakhizan, Unholy Cursebearer, Bulwark Beast, Hobgoblin Geomancer, Bal'lak the Pummeller, Runebound Behemoth, Flesh-Spoiler Haasghenahk, World-gorger Shukarhazh, and the magic stage of Kal'Ger the Warmonger, as well as many Frozen and Furnished bosses. The bow can also be used on Gravecreeper, Dreadnaut, and Blink if the boss' defence has been sufficiently lowered with bloodrager scrolls. Players who bind the Hexhunter bow usually also bind Sagittarian Arrows and set their class rings to quickswitch between Berserker and Desperado.

Though Soulgazers officially require level 99 Slayer to damage, they can be killed by a player with any Slayer level using retribution prayer, wrath curse, and the special effect of the Blood Necklace. Non-99 Slayers claim to have obtained bows this way; however, it is debatable. Recoil damage, such as deflect curses and the vengeance spell require your slayer level to be 99 to damage the Soulgazer. Players can also use Survivalist's Potions to temporarily raise their Slayer level. The only requirement to wield it is 98 Ranged.

The hexhunter bow gives anywhere from a 100% to 200% modifier to damage, depending on the target's magic level. In addition, when using Desperado on rapid, it will provide a 9.09% boost to damage, which stacks multiplicatively with the other damage modifier.

There is currently a trend in Dungeoneering to "snipe" rare slayer drops; that is, a low-levelled slayer will hover below the Soulgazer or run in after the kill for an attempt at the coveted bow. Level 99 slayers seeking the bow should be careful if they are trying to obtain it.

Jagex have confirmed on the Forums that they are going to make a change to slayer drops such that the item will only appear the player who did the most damage to the slayer monster for a certain amount of time before appearing to other players (similar to the rest of Runescape).

Dropping monsters

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Trivia

 * The current max hit of the Hexhunter bow is 662.
 * There was originally a glitch where the special ability of the Hexhunter bow wasn't considered when the game determined max hit splats, so the bow would produce an orange hit splat for hits in the low 200s, although it can hit much higher. This glitch was patched in a hidden update on 21 September 2011.
 * The Hexhunter bow is now affected by the Desperado Dungeoneering ring after the patch on 19 April 2011.
 * Upon receiving 98 Ranged, the level up message says "You can now wield Hexhunter Shortbows within Daemonheim." This is rather strange, as there is no Hexhunter Longbow, and the bow is just referred to as 'Hexhunter Bow' in all other parts of the game.