Ice strykewyrm

Ice strykewyrms are level 93 Slayer monsters. They can only be killed when assigned on a slayer task, with the exception of one kill needed to complete a Fremennik Elite Task, or if the player is participating in the Rush of Blood D&D. Players must complete The Tale of the Muspah quest before Slayer Masters may assign these creatures. The only Slayer masters who can assign Ice strykewyrms are Duradel/Lapalok, Kuradal and Morvran, with Kuradal assigning them more often than Duradel/Lapalok.

When ice strykewyrms were first released, there was also the restriction that they could only be assigned to players who own a fire cape. However, one month after their release, ice strykewyrms became available to slayers who wished to purchase the ability to fight them by using 2,000 Slayer reward points (level 93 slayer is still required, and temporary boosts can't be used). Despite this, purchasing the ability does not allow players to kill ice strykewyrms outside of a slayer task; it merely unlocks the ability to be assigned them and to kill them without owning and wearing a fire cape. Because of this, and the fact that most players who have level 93 Slayer will have high enough combat stats to get a fire cape quite easily, it is generally considered a waste of points to purchase this. Nevertheless, it is still an option for players who have particular difficulty in obtaining the fire cape.

An update introduced the completionist cape, which can replace the fire cape as an item to kill ice strykewyrms. To obtain it, you will need to have obtained a fire cape at least once, and killed an ice strykewyrm at least once, plus other requirements. An update on 28 February 2012 included the ability to use a TokHaar-Kal to damage Ice Strykewyrms.

It's not possible to damage an ice strykewyrm unless the player is either wearing a fire cape or has paid the 2,000 slayer reward points. Otherwise a message will appear in chat "The strykewyrm numbs your hands and freezes your attack" and no damage will be dealt. This includes means such as Deflect Curses, Vengeance, rings of recoil, and poison. Players wearing a fire cape deal 2.0x damage to ice strykewyrms with fire-based spells.

Like all strykewyrms, ice strykewyrms reside underground beneath mounds until provoked by a player with the necessary Slayer task. Slayer Masters claim that only those who have been assigned to hunt them may surface the strykewyrms due to the strykewyrm being able to smell the intent of the slayer. By investigating the mounds, the strykewyrm will surface and attack the player. However, the strykewyrm will not attack for about two to three seconds, so players may take advantage of this time to change their position or to get a few good hits in. Players without the necessary task to kill strykewyrms will not be able to surface the strykewyrm and will instead perform the think emote.

Levelling up augmented magic equipment here can be seen as efficient since fire spells inflict twice as much damage as normal, as well as being able to drop staves of light which could also be augmented.

Getting there
The quickest way to get to the ice strykewyrms is to use fairy ring code, which is just south of the cave they're located in. Players can also use the Rellekka lodestone and run northeast.

Once inside the cave, the ice strykewyrms are behind the cave mouth to the east of the entrance. If there is water coming through the mouth, the player must block the eastern stream in the cave north of where you entered, where Jhallan was frozen during The Tale of the Muspah.

To block the stream, hop across the flat rocks just north of the entrance, enter the cave opening to the northwest, jump across the flat rocks to the east (ignore this ice mound), jump across the flat rocks to the northeast, and click on the ice mound beside you to block the stream. Then head back to the entrance cave, hop back across the flat rocks, and head east into the ice strykewyrm cave.

Blocking the other streams in the middle cave are not necessary, but can be used to remove all water streams in the entrance cave.

Attack styles
Ice strykewyrms have four types of attacks: melee, magic, freezing spell and burrow. If the player is within one square of a strykewyrm, it will use any of the four attack types. At a distance, the strykewyrm mostly uses its magic attack but will occasionally use its freezing spell (which looks like Ice Barrage), which renders the player unable to move for around three seconds and cancels the player's next attack. Simply clicking the strykewyrm will resume attacking immediately.

The ice strykewyrm's strongest attack is when it burrows underground during battle and then pops back up, dealing up to 2000+ life points to the person it is fighting. There was an update to prevent other players from getting hit by someone else's ice strykewyrm, but it does show an animation of that getting thrown out of the way, but not losing life points. The strykewyrm becomes invulnerable during this time, so attempting to attack it while it is burrowed is futile. This attack can be easily avoided by quickly moving two steps away in any direction. The further away the player is from the strykewyrm when it burrows (such as when maging from a distance), the easier it is to avoid this attack. It can also use the burrow attack if a player walks into its square and stays there for a couple of seconds, so it is recommended not to do this. The strykewyrm will not use the burrow attack if the player is standing next to an obstacle, such as the cave wall or a stalagmite. Some players believe moving away from the burrow is easier than trying to stand by an obstacle, while other players believe it is easier to use obstacles.

Strategies
Despite the fact that a Slayer level of at least 93 is required in order to damage them, these creatures have low defence and may be killed fairly easily.

Ice strykewyrms are weak to fire spells. Players are advised to kill them by casting Fire Wave or better using a staff, such as a crystal staff or better, and Magic Power armour, such as robes of subjugation. A full slayer helmet (or an upgraded variant) should also be worn. Alternatively, players may cast Blood Burst/Barrage if they find that they need to heal, although is unlikely to be necessary. In order to damage ice strykewyrms, players must have a Slayer level of 93 or higher and be wearing a fire/kiln cape (preferably a TokHaar-Kal-Mej), unless they have purchased the ability to damage them for 2,000 Slayer points (which is not recommended, as wearing a fire cape or equivalent also increases all damage dealt to ice strykewyrms). Weaker players may wish to bring an emergency teleport and/or food, such as sharks.

Because they are not aggressive, players can use the Regenerate ability after a kill to heal, the drawback being the extra time that requires. A combination of Regenerate, shark drops, enhanced excalibur, the Soul Split curse or a healing familiar can eliminate the need to bring any food.

Use of ice spells is not an option, as this heals ice strykewyrms instead of damaging them.

Trivia

 * Ice strykewyrms, along with the other strykewyrms, were the first monsters to incorporate particle effects.
 * When attacking an ice strykewyrm for the Fremennik Province Tasks, the goliath gloves' special effect is able to deal damage to it, making it possible to slay it at level 65 (the minimal requirement to obtain the gloves).
 * When the TokHaar-Kal was given the ability to count as a fire cape when fighting Ice strykewyrms, it did not give the bonus damage effect, and simply allowed players to deal normal damage the same way as the slayer reward. This was later fixed with an update on 13 March 2012.
 * When using a steel titan or any another combat familiar, using scrolls may cause the ice strykewyrm to target your familiar. This may not be noticeable, and then when it burrows to attack, it seems to disappear. This seems to only happen when using scrolls.

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