Dark wizard

Dark wizards are Zamorakian mage NPCs that cast strike spells. They are aggressive towards players twice their level or lower (except the ones in the Stone Circle south of Varrock, because it is within the 'Starting area'), making them very dangerous to low combat level players.

They play a small role in the "Demon Slayer" Quest. When it was more common to see macroers south of Draynor Village, it was possible to lure the dark wizards there to them, making the bot run away, or even be killed (there are no longer dark wizards present south of Draynor Village, ever since the "Advisors and Objectives" update). These wizards also are a good way to collect runes for Free-to-play players and not really good for Pay-to-play players for there are other better rune droppers in Pay-to-play worlds.

They are present in:


 * Dark Wizards' Tower. (Members only) (levels 11, 22 & 23)
 * Level 6 and 7 Wilderness.
 * Delrith's domain, outside Varrock's south gate. (levels 7 & 20)

Strategy
Dark wizards attack with magic. The level 7 ones cast Confuse and Water strike spells, hitting effectively through metal armour and continuing to attack while players run. The water strike spells they attack with are weaker than normal, only hitting up to 2 damage instead of the standard 4. The level 20 ones' main attack spell is Earth Strike, and hence their max hit is 6. They may also cast Weaken against the player, which lowers their strength by 5% if successful. Also note that Dark Wizards cast magic at a slightly faster rate than players normally do. This difference can be observed by autocasting spells on them.

The Dark Wizards in the Stone circle below Varrock used to be aggressive. They would attack players below level 15. Many low-levelled players unfortunate to be attacked by the level 20 dark wizards there were usually killed, therefore it was common to see at least one gravestone at the stone circle in Free-to-play worlds. However this no longer occurs, as they are not aggressive there anymore.

Players are strongly advised to wear armour which has a good magic defence bonus, preferably dragonhide, as they always use magic attacks to fight. Warriors attacking in metal armour will not be as effective due to the poor magic defence. However, rangers with a good supply of arrows have will have an advantage. Mage-to-mage duels are also effective.

100% Drop

 * Bones

Runes

 * 10, 18, or 36 Earth runes
 * 10 or 18 Air runes
 * 10 or 18 Water runes
 * 10 or 18 Fire runes
 * 10 or 18 Mind runes
 * 10 or 18 Body runes
 * 4-5 Chaos runes
 * 4 Nature runes
 * 3 Law runes (uncommon)
 * 2 Cosmic runes
 * 2 Blood runes (m)

Other

 * 1, 2, 3, 4, 29, or 30 Coins
 * Staff (common)
 * Water talisman (uncommon)
 * Fire talisman (rare)
 * Wizard hat (black) (common)
 * Black robe (common)
 * Loop half of a key (very rare)
 * Nothing

100% drop

 * Bones

Runes

 * 10, 18, or 36 Earth runes
 * 10 or 18 Air runes
 * 10 or 18 Water runes
 * 10 or 18 Fire runes
 * 10 or 18 Mind runes
 * 10 or 18 Body runes
 * 4,5 Chaos runes
 * 4 Nature runes
 * 3 Law runes
 * 2 Cosmic runes
 * 2 Blood runes (m)

Other

 * 1, 2, 3, 29, or 30 Coins
 * Fire talisman
 * Water talisman
 * Staff (common)
 * Wizard hat (black)
 * Black robe
 * Mind talisman

Magicien Noir

Trivia

 * Dark wizards were used in many scams to get players' items back in 2007, but these scams are now obsolete due to gravestones, the drop limit and the fact that the Dark Wizard in the stone circle below Varrock are no longer aggressive to ALL players.