Waterfiend/Strategies

This article contains information for players seeking to kill waterfiends. Recommended equipment, levels, and strategy are all covered here.

Skill level recommendations
Waterfiends' ranged attack is more powerful than their magic attack. Therefore, to take the least damage from them, a player should use Protect from Missiles along with armour with high magic defence (such as dragonhide or Karils). If a player has 95+ defence and magic levels they may be able to tank rather than pray, but they will still be hit fairly often.
 * 90 
 * 95 
 * 92  (for Soul Split)

A high level ranger can have some success, using broad or enchanted diamond bolts, from the safe spot west of the waterfall entrance. In general, however, it is much faster to kill these with crushing weapons, where the waterfiends' defensive resistance is merely good. Popular crush weapons include the following:
 * Chaotic maul
 * Saradomin sword
 * Any Godsword
 * Zamorakian spear
 * Unarmed with Goliath gloves
 * Verac's flail
 * Torag's hammers
 * Dragon mace
 * Dragon battleaxe
 * Tzhaar-ket-em
 * Ancient Staff
 * Granite Maul
 * Barrelchest anchor
 * Gravite 2h sword
 * Dragon 2h sword
 * Guthan's warspear
 * Balmung (After Blood Runs Deep)

Of these weapons, the chaotic maul has the highest damage rate, and the Saradomin Sword has the second highest. One-handed weapons should be used in tandem with a Dragon defender for added strength and crush bonus. The Tzhaar-ket-em, while not as effective as a Saradomin sword, should be combined with a berserker necklace if it is to be used. Another underrated weapon is the Ancient Staff (or Mystic Staff). It has the moderate speed, with a decent crush bonus. It can be used as a fairly cheap alternative to the more expensive Zamorakian Spear, and unlike the spear, can be used with a shield or defender. For lower leveled players with 64 or higher dungeoneering, the gravite 2h sword may be considered. It has a +90 strength bonus and +87 crush bonus, though it suffers from slow speed. Yet another weapon with an excellent crush bonus, for those who have completed Blood Runs Deep, is the Balmung. Depending on the players preference of Saradomin Sword or Zamorakian Spear, the Saradomin Sword is stronger but the Zamorakian Spear has a higher crush bonus and therefore the Zamorakian Spear hits more accurately but hits less.

Players who have the summoning level to use an Iron titan or Steel titan can kill waterfiends much more quickly in the Chaos Tunnels than in the Ancient Cavern, with consistent usage of the titan's scroll (load a slayer helm with scrolls for even faster kills). In conjunction with Soul Split, high level players can stay for a very long time (enough to make full usage of a Familiarisation triple-charm period).

After completing The Temple at Senntisten, the waterfiends at Ghorrock become level 115 (the same as at the other locations), but their drops are different from the norm. The Waterfiends at Ghorrock have a lower charm drop rate, but drop two charms at a time; a cannon can also be used there. Note that if you are using a cannon, your accuracy is based on the accuracy that you are using to attack the waterfiends with your melee/ranged weapon. Therefore, it may be advantageous to use a godsword rather than a zamorakian spear if you can do more than half of your damage with the cannonballs. A Saradomin godsword and cannon can save food and prayer, and allow most of your cannonballs to hit.

Since waterfiends drop large quantities of raw fish, it is sometimes recommended to take advantage of this either by cooking them on a fire in the cavern or using the Bunyip's scroll special to consume them raw. The latter is much easier to do in combat, but players must be aware that in order to use this special move, the player needs to have the required cooking level to cook the raw fish. Bunyips' healing abilities will also be welcome in the face of the Waterfiends' accurate attacks. If you have repaired the fairy ring and can use it, it might be wiser to duck out and cook your food in Zanaris where there is no risk of attack.

Ranging waterfiends is also a much cheaper strategy that involves finding a spot where you are around 4 spaces away from a waterfiend. Their attack range is 4 squares from their target. As long as you remain 4 squares between you and a waterfiend they cannot hit you. The one spot most used and easily used is the nearest spot to the stairs where you enter the cave. Across the pond to the north and to kill the waterfiend that spawns across the little river section. Another location is west of that spot on the other side of the river. After the waterfiends stop becoming aggressive (around 10-14 kills), you can just range them at will. It is recommended however, to bring a melee weapon as well as a few prayer pots for the beginning while they are aggressive and in case you miss safe-spotting one.

With the release of Dominion Tower and goliath gloves, meleeing waterfiends now has another viable option. Essentially crush style equivalent of abyssal whips, the goliath gloves, when worn without any equipment in the weapon slot, delivers fast hits, high damage and acceptable accuracy--the last former only applies the chaotic maul, whose low speed and incompatibility with a shield, defender and unholy book proves to be a disadvantage. In short, goliath gloves acts as a high expendable and effective weapon when fighting waterfiends.

Dreadnips could also be used, as they can provide huge damage or finish kill for faster xp and charms drops.Using good crush weapon, ancient curses or piety along with dreadnips and extremes can easily grant player over 200 crimson charms per hour.

At high Magic level (90+), maging waterfiends with a polypore staff becomes a feasible method. While waterfiends have a strong defence against Magic attacks, the staff's high hits (easily 500+ with boosts) somewhat make up for the decreased accuracy. Use of Leech Magic (with 78 Prayer) can help increase accuracy, as well as decreasing the accuracy and power of their Magic attacks. It is advised to wear Magic robes and use Deflect Missiles to block most of the damage from waterfiends' attacks. Players who have completed Ritual of the Mahjarrat will find Akrisae the Doomed's robes uniquely suited to the task, granting decent Magic attack and defence bonuses as well as a hefty Prayer bonus.

Recommended Equipment

 * Armour
 * Headgear
 * Full Slayer Helmet > Slayer helmet > Black mask (If it is a slayer task) or Helm of neitiznot (Strength and Prayer bonuses) or Dwarven helmet (crush bonus) or Fighter Hat (crush bonus) or Ganodermic Visor or any Halo (Magic Defence and prayer bonus) or Archer helm (Range bonus and Magic Defence) or Void Melee Helm / Void ranger helm depending on using melee or ranged
 * Body
 * Ganodermic poncho > Karil's leathertop > Elite Void Knight top > Black d'hide body > Void knight top > Armadyl chestplate > Pernix body
 * Legs
 * Ganodermic leggings > Karil's leatherskirt > Elite Void Knight robe > Void Knight Robe > Black d'hide chaps > Armadyl chainskirt > Pernix chaps
 * Gloves
 * Goliath gloves > Barrows gloves > Regen bracelet > Combat bracelet > Void knight gloves (If using Void Knight setup)
 * Boots
 * Steadfast boots > Bandos boots > Dragon boots > Rune Boots > Rock climbing boots > Infinity boots (magic defence) > Jester Boots (magic defence) > Chaos boots (for the magic defence)
 * Neck
 * Amulet of fury > Amulet of glory > Amulet of ranging (for magic defence) > Demon horn necklace (prayer bonus) > God Stole (for the prayer bonus)
 * Cape
 * Completionist cape > Soul Wars cape or Fire cape > Trimmed Skillcapes > Ardougne cloak 3 or 4 > God cloak > Obsidian Cape > Cape of legends > Veteran's Cape
 * Weapons
 * Chaotic maul > Saradomin sword > Zamorakian spear > Any Godsword > None (with Goliath gloves only) > Chaotic longsword (Stab with dragon defender) > Verac's flail > Barrelchest Anchor > Torag's hammers > Dragon battleaxe (with Dragon defender) > Dragon mace (with Dragon defender) > Rune Crossbow (with Broad-tipped bolts)
 * Shields
 * Defensively: Spectral Spirit Shield > Divine Spirit Shield, Elysian Spirit Shield > Arcane Spirit Shield > Blessed Spirit Shield > Dragonfire Shield > Chaos Shield
 * Offensively: Dragon Defender > Unholy Book > Dragonfire shield
 * Rings
 * Onyx ring (i) > Dragonstone ring (i) > Diamond ring (i) > Berserker ring (i) > Berserker ring > Ring of vigour > Explorer's ring any > Ring of Charos (i) or Ring of life > Ring of wealth (if you want to gain better drops from the rare table).
 * Summoning
 * Bunyip (With Swallow Whole scrolls) or Unicorn stallion (with Healing Aura scrolls) > Titan (with Titan's Constitution scrolls)
 * Bunyip (With Swallow Whole scrolls) or Unicorn stallion (with Healing Aura scrolls) > Titan (with Titan's Constitution scrolls)

Inventory:
 * Dramen staff or Lunar staff - Not necessary if Fairytale III - Battle at Orks Rift is completed.
 * Enchanted gem or Ring of slaying - Not necessary if wearing Combat bracelet.
 * Prayer potion - At least 4 recommended; optional if using Unicorn stallion.
 * Saradomin Brew / Super restore (optional) Excalibur (e) (also optional especially if you're using Saradomin Godsword)
 * Extreme attack / Extreme Strength > Super attack / Super strength - Bring at least two of each
 * Holy Wrench - only if bringing prayer potions or super restores (optional)
 * Good food, preferably Monkfish or better, is a must if you lack the level required to summon any of the suggested familiars, since you can only use one protection prayer at a time. Due to rising prices, Lobster might be a more apropriate choice of food as it has become quite cheap.
 * Recover special - if using Enhanced Excalibur (food replacement)
 * Tinderbox and Logs - if not using a Bunyip and wish to eat the raw food dropped by the Waterfiends.


 * Notes
 * Using a full set of Void Knight Equipment with a Void Melee Helm is arguably the best armour to wear when you aren't on a slayer task, as it has good magic defence and it boosts your attack and strength by 10%. Elite Void Knight equipment also offers a Prayer bonus of +4 per piece, or +8 total.
 * One should note that the option of using Armadyl and Pernix armor should only be considered while ranging - both provide a negative melee attack bonus, and thus are not recommended for meleeing.
 * Using the Dragon battleaxe along with a dragon defender will provide a fairly high crush accuracy and strength bonus, making this a rather useful combination, comparable to the Saradomin sword or the Zamorakian spear. Although the crush attack bonus for a dragon battleaxe and dragon defender is higher than that of a Zamorakian spear, players will get more kills per hour with a Zamorakian spear because of its faster attack speed.
 * The Enhanced excalibur, held in the inventory, can be helpful at Waterfiends for its special attack, which raises defence by almost as much as a super defence potion and heals 200 life points; however, the special attack energy can be used in other ways, such as on Saradomin godsword specials.
 * It can be said that using a Bunyip and Swallow Whole scrolls is more effective than the other options, as it allows the player to make use of the raw lobster and shark drops. These can, however, come rarely at times, and can be a bit of a gamble (though the regular healing rate should be sufficient to sustain a player until such drops are received, especially if used in conjunction with Enhanced Excalibur.)
 * It can be said that using a Bunyip and Swallow Whole scrolls is more effective than the other options, as it allows the player to make use of the raw lobster and shark drops. These can, however, come rarely at times, and can be a bit of a gamble (though the regular healing rate should be sufficient to sustain a player until such drops are received, especially if used in conjunction with Enhanced Excalibur.)

''Note: the Fairy Ring is only accessible after completing much of Barbarian Training, at least up to Pyre ships. Before the ring can be used, bittercap mushrooms must be planted there. With a Spade and 5 Mushrooms in inventory, use one of the mushrooms on the 'Enchanted lands' spot near the centre of the ring.''
 * Tips
 * They tend to drop lots of raw fish — usually more than a player can hold. A good way to keep this food is "rotate dropping": this is constantly dropping and picking up the food so it won't disappear. For example, if a player has a full inventory and the Waterfiend drops 6 raw lobsters, the player could drop 6 food or potions and pick 6 raw fish. After 1-2 kills, the player would then drop the 6 raw lobsters and pick up the 6 things that were dropped. By doing this, a player is allowed to virtually hold more. This can be very tedious but it will allow a player stay alive longer without prayer potions. This is preferably done with a Bunyip because of its ability to allow players to eat raw fish with the swallow whole scroll.
 * It is also worth mentioning that while it may cost a certain amount to kill waterfiends through use of prayer potions, food or familiars etc., players can at least break even through picking up noted water orbs, noted snape grass, water talismans, ranarrs, lantadymes, items from the rare drop table, and even the reward from the level 3 clue scrolls they drop. Some High Level Alchemy spells can be brought to alch valuable drops such as Water battlestaves or armor pieces like the Rune med helm and Adamant platebodies. Due to lack of space, many people may not want to pick up all items and usually only pick up the stackable items such as water orbs, mithril arrows, and various runes.
 * For those fighting Waterfiends in the Ancient Cavern, using the Fairy Ring (Code BJQ) is a much quicker route to stock up on food/potions than walking all the way from the Barbarian Outpost.
 * For those fighting Waterfiends in the Ancient Cavern, using the Fairy Ring (Code BJQ) is a much quicker route to stock up on food/potions than walking all the way from the Barbarian Outpost.
 * Waterfiends usually drop 1 water rune, 1 charm (typically crimson), and 1 other item (2 grimy herbs as the other item). Sometimes the other item is 90 water runes. This means if a player examines the drop and sees only "charm" and "water rune", the odds are good that the player has received a charm and 91 water runes. If a player sees a charm, a water rune, and something else (like a shark), the water rune is 1 and not 91. Usually the 91 Water Runes will appear on top of the Crimson Charm.