The Branches of Darkmeyer

The Branches of Darkmeyer is the sequel to Legacy of Seergaze and the fifth installment of the Myreque quest series. It was released on 31 August 2011. It is a master quest, with requirements around level 60-70, much higher than the prequel's requirements, which are around level 30-40. During the quest, the vampyre town of Darkmeyer is accessed to find the Blisterwood Tree, which can harm vampyres and has been sealed off by Lord Drakan. Meanwhile, Vanstrom Klause is tasked to destroy the entire Myreque and is eager to do so. This quest raised the official slayer and woodcutting level requirements for the quest point cape. The quest is not the last one of the series.

Starting out
Speak to Veliaf Hurtz under the pub in Burgh de Rott. He will tell you that he needs help with Vanstrom Klause and the Vyrewatch, who are becoming stronger while the Myreque grow weaker. He explains the situation that the Myreque and Burgh de Rott are in; the supply routes to Meiyerditch have been cut off and the vyrewatch have discovered Burgh de Rott. They have even abducted Marius and brutally murdered him. Ask what you can do to help (this starts the quest). Veliaf will say he feels terrible about asking you, but he will explain that Cornelius (the town's banker) saw a shadowy figure digging south of the bank a few nights before, and that an entrance to something was unearthed there. No one has been down yet due to the danger, but it needs exploring. Veliaf believes that the mysterious figure was Vanstrom and that he might still be in the tunnels. He asks you to go down and explore, and to defeat Vanstrom if you find him.

A strange tunnel
Go to the dungeon entrance south of the bank and climb down. You will find yourself in a tunnel with a rope to the surface, a coffin, a blood drop symbol on the floor, a letter, a decaying tome and a fountain of blood. Pick up the letter. It's addressed to Safalaan Hallow, from someone called "V", who knew Safalaan's parents and Safalaan as a child. He says he knows the answers Safalaan seeks and will meet him in the clearing in the middle of sector four. There also is a decaying tome lying in the corner, with two readable pages. They are stained with blood making some pages unreadable, although one page mentions the Icyene. Inspect the coffin. You will take some minor damage as you open it. You'll gain a medallion with an orange symbol similar to that on the floor.

Note: You can use the medallion to teleport to the Meiyerditch Dungeon and Burgh de Rott. The medallion has ten charges and can be recharged by dipping it in the pool of blood, but teleporting to a destination close to you (that is, if you are in Burgh de Rott or the Sanguinesti Region) takes no charge. The pool of blood is inside the cave just south of the bank of Burgh de Rott.

Report back to Veliaf. If you mention the medallion to him he will tell you that it is the symbol of Drakan and is of vampyric origin. He doubts that it was placed there by Vanstrom as it is old and dusty. He refuses to take it from you, calling it evil. You will then show him the letter. Veliaf will say it must have been placed there by Vanstrom as it is too clean to have been there long. He thinks that by noticing Vanstrom going into the cave, they might have ruined his plan to pretend to be a Meiyerditch citizen. Veliaf thinks that the plan is too subtle for Vanstrom, and suggests that you take the letter to Safalaan. He tells you it is too dangerous to enter Meiyerditch the usual way and gives you a teletab to take them straight to Safalaan. Before sending you he will warn you that Safalaan has been preoccupied and not himself lately. If you agreed to the teletab, you will be taken straight to the Meiyerditch Myreque hideout.

An unexpected help
Speak to Safalaan at the north end of the hideout. He will ask how you got there and say the supply runners haven't been getting through from Burgh de Rott.

Tell him about the medallion. He will ask where you got it from. You will tell him about the cave and what Veliaf said about it. When you show it him, he will say it feels familiar and ask to take it from you. You will be shown handing it to him, where it will glow in his hands. He says he added a destination to it; the Meiyerditch Myreque hideout. He doesn't know how he was able to alter a vampyric artefact, and asks you to take it away from him.

Ask him what the vampyres have been doing and he will explain that tithes have been increased and any citizen unable to meet them is taken away to an unknown location, and that rogue vyrewatch have even been appearing and snatching healthier citizens. He claims that they seem restless and they're not following tithing orders.

Tell Safalaan you have a letter for him. He will ask where from and you will explain the happenings in Burgh de Rott. He will take the letter from you and read it. Ask him what he thinks and he will express disbelief and ask if you're sure it was Vanstrom. You will repeat what you were told about the night the cave was uncovered. Safalaan is dubious, as the letter speaks of his parents, experiences and his visions.

Go through the dialogue options. Safalaan will explain that he doesn't remember much about his past, including being young or how old he is. He has also been having visions, and he feels that there is some greater power in him ready to be released, for good or bad.

Ask what you should do. Safalaan says he will have to meet the letter's sender. He thinks Vanstrom must know something, and that if he was truly after Burgh de Rott he would have simply attacked. You mention that it might be a trap and Safalaan agrees. He says they can't give Vanstrom what he wants, but they must still find out what is going on. He decides to send you in his place. He sends Vertida Sefalatis and Mekritus A'hara with you, and advises you to look from a window to the north of the clearing (which is west of the base) before meeting the contact. Directions to the meeting point will be in your quest journal.

Traversing Meiyerditch
Follow the directions in your quest journal.

"Head out of the base, up the stairs and across into the next building. Go west from there, until you reach the barricade. Then, go south and head to the upstairs of the building with the fireplace and the portrait. Jump the wall to get to the building next door, and go back to the ground floor. If you leave this building to the west, the meeting point will be to your west. You'll need to make your way round to the building to the north to make sure the coast is clear."

So, exit the base, go through the wall and climb up the stairs. Jump the floorboards to the west and go down. Exit and go west a bit, then south at the barricade. Enter the building and open the door there in the room with the portrait. Climb up the ladder.

At this point, you will run into two of the rogue vyrewatch Safalaan described. The first wants to take more than a tithe from you, but the second tells it to wait and says that you are "the one". The other agrees, calling you fresh and full of blood, and says that "it'll have a worse time with her". You ask them what they're talking about, but they fly off. Now jump over the wall to the building to the west and climb down the ladder. Open the door, exit and close the door. Now go north and west around the next building. Enter it and go east, where Vertida will be standing.

Speak to Vertida and he will tell you that Mekritus is upstairs and that the wall beside him can be climbed to reach him. Climb up the wall and speak to Mekritus. Mekritus explains that the window overlooks the meeting place and can be used to check whether the coast is clear. He and Vertida will flank around to give ground support. Click the white sickle logo on the ground to spy. A cutscene will play, showing Vertida and Mekritus in position when the informant comes out of a building: it's a cyring, young girl called Nessie. Go downstairs and speak to Nessie.

Meeting the Contact
Nessie (combat level 424) says she saw you in the window and asks why it took you so long to come down, claiming the vyrewatch could have got her. She claims she knows your name because you're the great hero of the Myreque. When asked, she explains that she's lost and a scary vampyre, Vanstrom, told her to stay there. You say he's the worst vampyre besides Drakan, but she laughs and says his power is nothing compared to hers. She then transforms into Vanescula Drakan. Vertida yells for you to attack. Do so and she will counter with what looks like a ring of smoke that throws you backwards and teleports your Myreque companions away.

You will then have an option to talk to Vanescula. She will tell you to calm down and that she's not there to fight, and that you wouldn't be a challenge anyway. When questioned, she says she's there to help. She planted the letter in Burgh de Rott (and is insulted about being mistaken for Vanstrom). She knows about Safalaan but says any information about him is between them alone.

Vanescula knows about the Myreque's dream of defeating Drakan and freeing Meiyerditch. She sees no reason why that shouldn't happen, but thinks that the Myreque aren't doing a good job by themselves. According to Vanescula, she will help the Myreque because she feels that Lowerniel Drakan is no longer a good leader, and he's spending more and more time shut in his castle obsessing over a rock. He hasn't noticed the influx of the Mercenary Protocol, the threats from Misthalin or even the recent infighting amongst the vyrewatch, and Vanescula thinks he is a blind fool who is letting the vampyric society fall apart. Moreover, she is also bored.



Vanescula cannot kill Drakan herself because of the vyrelords, whose respect she must have in order to become the leader of the vampyres (although she claims to be able to do it easily). She claims that discoveries made through the study of Haemalchemy mean that vampyres could survive without blood and so the citizens of Meiyerditch could be freed if she was leader. Vanescula says you should trust her because she hasn't killed you yet, and because she has claimed you as her personal blood tithe, so none of the Vyrewatch will tithe you as you travel through Meiyerditch.

She also tells you about the vampyre city Darkmeyer, "where your greatest weapon lies". She tells you about the Blisterwood Tree, the mere touch of which harms vampyres, which could make a weapon more potent than the Ivandis flail (which she claims is merely a stick to the higher ranked vampyres) if it could be chopped from and the logs carved. She will give you a written offer for you to give to Safalaan.

To Darkmeyer
Use the medallion to teleport back to the Meiyerditch hideout with the letter Vanescula gives you (choose the teleport option Meiyerditch). Take it to Safalaan, who will be worried about you. He will be excited over the contents of the letter; Vanescula knows about his past, a thing which has always been a mystery to him. You ask him to focus on Vanescula's promises about helping them. Safalaan will tell you to do as Vanescula has suggested. He tells you to speak to Vertida for advice as he will be busy pondering on the letter.

Speak to Vertida. He is wary about trusting both Vanescula and Safalaan, as Safalaan hasn't been himself lately. He thinks Safalaan is so desperate for information that he isn't thinking clearly and is too quick to trust. He tells you about the huge walls of Darkmeyer and how dangerous the city is and that it is impossible to enter, except by using a drainage gate along the uppermost wall in eastern Meiyerditch that you may be able to climb under to access Darkmeyer. He suggests taking some smoke bombs from the storeroom and a hatchet to cut the tree. He also reminds you to look for seeds to grow their own tree.

Take the 30 smoke bombs from a crate west of the exit stairs. The fastest and easiest way to reach the drainage gate that leads to Darkmeyer is to use the Medallion to teleport to the Meiyerditch Laboratories. If you didn't bring your Medallion or it's out of charges (unlikely), follow the second instructions.
 * From Meiyerditch Laborartories, go up the stairs, through the slashed tapestry, and out the building. From here run south-west along the diamond building (clockwise) and just run north until you reach the drainage gate.

Vanescula will meet you on the other side of the drainage gate. She tells you the tree is guarded in the upper tier of Darkmeyer. You'll try and go to it, but a vyrewatch will tell you that Vanescula's protection doesn't help you in Darkmeyer and teleport you to the gate again. Talk to Vanescula again and she will explain that the Darkmeyer vyrewatch are more independent than the Meiyerditch ones. Vanescula advises you to use the smoke bombs to find a disguise to fool the juvinates, but to avoid the vyrewatch who will be able to smell you. She says to come back to her once you have a disguise, and she gives you a needle and some thread to alter your disguise to fit.
 * Head out of the Myreque base, up the stairs and across into the next building. Leave this building and run through the building directly to the north. Turn right, then run north. Once past the fish shop, turn left. Then, run north.

Use the smoke bombs only when out of sight of the vampyre juvinates. Do not go near vyrewatch. Search chests inside buildings to find clothing. If caught you will be teleported back to Vanescula. TIP: try to get to a building before your smoke shroud vanishes. Once in a building, immediately close the door and move to the back of the building. This will keep any vampyres outside who were on their way to teleport you away, though they may wait until you re-emerge and teleport you away in any case. Look for vyrewatch or juvinates that match your movements, as they will try to catch you as you leave. If you do spot vyrewatch or juvinate that is waiting for you, you can exit to the lobby for a minute and they will move on.

Once you've found, fixed and equipped all four pieces of the outfit (hood, torso, trousers and boots) your title will change to Vyreling and the vampyres will be a bit nicer, at least not throwing you out. Return to Vanescula. She will cover your human scent with her own and explain how to get to the blisterwood tree.


 * Darkmeyer_Map.png● V - Vanescula Drakan
 * ● A - Grigan Kaninus
 * ● B - Valentina Kaust
 * ● C - Sanguinus Varnis
 * ● D - Maria Gadderanks
 * ● E - Sentinel Bloodmortis
 * ● F - Misdrievus Vakan
 * ● G - Captured Meiyerditch citizens
 * ● H - Ranis Drakan.
 * ▬ - Poster
 * ▪ - Common position for Bloodveld younglings
 * ▪ - Common position for Bloodveld younglings

Gaining Status
To get to the Arboretum with the tree you need to be a respected vampyre. To do this you must raise your status in Darkmeyer. Head north east through the low-tier to reach the middle-tier, where Vanescula will be waiting for you. You will be asked what your name is by Sentinel Mortshade. Make one up from the options given. This will be your vampyre name.

Talk to the named vampyres to get tasks from them. Completing these earns rating. When half of the rating bar is full (by completing all of the tasks in the middle section) you can enter the upper section and you can access the Arboretum when it is ¾ full

Note: you do not have to find all the bloodveld younglings to go to upper floor.

Tasks include:
 * Middle tier:


 * Vandalising posters put up by vyrelords and ladies. This task is given by Sanguinus Varnis.
 * Terrorising Maria Gadderanks.
 * Talk to Maria while wielding the Gadderhammer.
 * Talking to Maria Gadderanks.
 * Using the Angry emote next to Maria Gadderanks.
 * Talking to Valentina Kaust; drink the vial of blood she gives you, then select any of the options. Warning: Drinking the blood damages you for half your health.
 * Recapture bloodveld younglings (after talking to Grigan Kaninus). These vanish for long periods of time, so they can appear in places you've already checked. [1 or 2 have reportedly been found on lower tier.]
 * Talk to Sentinel Draemus about citizens in Meiyerditch, the Myreque and Burgh de Rott (3 conversations).


 * Upper tier:


 * Entertain Misdrievus Vakan by humiliating a blood tither (upper-tier).
 * Subsequently talking to the Tithe master about the tither. The options chosen do not affect the amount of status gained.
 * Speak to Vanescula Drakan to pledge allegiance to the Drakan family.
 * Kill Captured Meiyerditch citizens for the Vyrewatch guards.
 * Talk to any upper tier sentinel and discuss your opinion of Vanstrom Klause.
 * Talk to a Sentinel and discuss your opinion of Lord Drakan.

Notes
 * You will get a message in your chatbox when you have enough status for upper-tier vampyres to acknowledge you. If you try to go up the steps to the upper tier too soon, you will be teleported back to the bottom of the steps.
 * If you get stuck at any point you can speak to Vanescula in the very north of the middle-tier (before you get enough status to progress further) or near the Tithe master's building (after gaining enough status) to ask for help.
 * Once you have enough status you can free Maria Gadderanks. Make sure the guard is out of the building (or kill him), close the door, remove your disguise and break the lock. Equip your disguise again before leaving.

The Arboretum
Once you have enough status speak to Vanescula and she will tell you to enter the Arboretum. She will warn you once again to watch for Ranis.

Ranis will stop you as you run towards the doors. He will question you as to whether you think Vanescula, whom you pledged allegiance to, is more important than he is. He will demand that you pledge fealty to him as well. The bloodmark given to you on your pledge to Vanescula will do some damage to you. Ranis dismisses you and warns you that he'll be watching.

Check the health of the Blisterwood tree. You're told that the tree needs to be given sequences of energy in the correct order. The first sequence is water, then light, then nutrition.

Pull the lever on the machine. Several glowing circles will fill the first three rows of the tray next to the lever. You must get it so each row contains one of each colour, starting from the top. The circles are moved by clicking on the bottom left one of a group of four, which will rotate the four circles clockwise. Align the circles so that: Water - Water- Water- Water

Light - Light - Light - Light

Nutrition - Nutrition - Nutrition - Nutrition

Pull the lever and check the tree again.

This time the tree needs nutrition, water, light, nutrition. Pull the lever again to get more circles, which are moved in the same manner as before. Align the spheres so that: Nutrition - Nutrition - Nutrition - Nutrition

Water - Water- Water- Water

Light - Light - Light - Light

Nutrition - Nutrition - Nutrition - Nutrition

Check the tree a third time. The instructions are more complex this time; no water can touch another water, or nutrition another nutrition, diagonally, vertically or horizontally. Water and nutrition may touch each other and light may touch anything. One solution is as follows: Nutrition - Water - Nutrition - Water

Light - Light - Light - Light

Water - Nutrition - Water - Nutrition

Light - Light - Light - Light

For the fourth infusion of energy, light and water may not touch in any way, light can touch light, water can touch water and nutrition can touch anything. One solution is: Light - Light - Light - Light

Light - Light - Water - Water

Water - Water - Water - Water

Light - Light - Light - Light

Light - Light - Nutrition - Nutrition

Nutrition - Nutrition - Nutrition - Nutrition

(Any mix will work, as long as the basic setup is held, so that nutrition doesn't touch water in any way)

''For those who find the puzzle difficult, an easy method would be to use 2 circles at a time, going from left to right. So, if the first row requires 2 blues, you would have to arrange the circles in the second row with 2 blue circles. Once that is done, click the left corner to move both blue circles up to the first row.''

You can now chop the blisterwood tree. This will attract the attention of Ranis. After you've chopped three logs in a row, he will demand that you come out of the Arboretum, while changing to his vyre form. Vanescula will come over in her vyre form and Ranis will tell her that he doesn't think you're really one of them. The screen fades to black and Ranis' corpse is shown on the floor with Vanescula standing nearby.

Speak to Vanescula. She says she'll blame the death of Ranis on you (meaning the Myreque), but that it had to be done; he would have exposed you otherwise. She also says that the tree produces no seeds, and that Vanstrom knows where the Myreque hideout in Meiyerditch is. She demands the medallion off you. She restores its full potential and hands it back to you, adding a teleport back to Darkmeyer and the Barrows to it. Vanescula then returns you to the Meiyerditch side of the drainage gate.

Emergency status
Go back to Meiyerditch. Speak to Vertida to find out that Safalaan has been missing since shortly after you left for Darkmeyer.

Vertida calls a meeting to discuss what you've discovered. Kael remains suspicious of Vanescula throughout the meeting. You inform the Myreque that Vanstrom knows the location of the base. Vertida calls the Myreque to evacuate. Kael and Mekritus say that they're tired of running and hiding and wish to fight. Vertida agrees with the majority and says they must take the fight to Vanstrom and enter Darkmeyer. It is decided that because you're recognised amongst the vyre ranks as a respected member of vampyre society, you must go alone.

Speak to Vertida to learn how to make blisterwood weapons. He advises you to make one for each combat style, and to get two silver sickles from Kael. He offers you a knife. Use it on the a set of blisterwood logs you collected and make a blisterwood polearm, a staff and some stakes. You will also be given a bottle of holy water which he says will be of use against a vampyre's mist form and the bloodveld minions Vanstrom is known to make use of. He also suggests you ask the other Myreque for advice on fighting Vanstrom. Kael can tell you about Vanstrom's darkness attack, which he once witnessed being used on a vampyre juvinate. Mekritus will warn you that Vanstrom will turn into mist when severely weakened. Teleport back to Darkmeyer and bank with the vyre treasurer. Make sure to have a super potion set, lots of food (preferably rocktails - and many of them), your best armour, the holy water and Drakan's medallion. Something to restore run enery is almost required. A spirit terrorbird and scrolls is very helpful as it can also carry more food. If you wish you may speak to Vanescula again on your way to Vanstrom's house (look for the biggest house), which is just south east of her.

Once you enter the house you will be attacked by Harold, a level 161 Bloodveld pet. This fight should be no trouble for you if you have decent armour and combat stats. To defeat him, you must throw the holy water given to you by Vertida over him. It is advisable to take a better weapon than thet blisterwood polearm to defeat Harold first, and thrn go back to the bank and get more supplies. If you die in the house you keep both your medallion and the Darkmeyer disguise, which means that you can easily teleport back to your gravestone, which will be just outside the house. This makes death only a "minor" issue. There is also an altar in the city if needed.

Note: you do not need to bring all three different Blisterwood weapons to Vanstrom's house, the polearm only is the best as Vanstrom is weakest to it.

Go through the metal door at the other end of the entrance hall and Vanstrom will be waiting. He will tell you that he wants to kill Safalaan as he is half-Icyene with considerable powers, thank you for previous events such as bringing him to the Myreque hideout and rebuilding Burgh de Rott. He then attacks you. Make sure to equip your armour and drink your potions before entering the room.

The battle with Vanstrom
Tip: With the medallion in your inventory, equip your battle armour in a bank outside Darkmeyer; leaving your Darkmeyer disguise in the bank (if you have space). This way, you will have extra inventory spaces for vital food. If you die, quickly run to the bank and equip your Darkmeyer disguise and teleport to Darkmeyer with your medallion to reclaim your items.

Inventory
Wear the Darkmeyer disguise until entering the house. Upon death (which is highly likely, Vanstrom is an extremely powerful opponent even for 100+ combat players) the medallion can be used to teleport back to Darkmeyer. The Darkmeyer disguise and medallion are always kept upon death, so reaching your gravestone shouldn't be a problem. Your grave will appear outside Vanstrom's house.
 * Food (rocktails recommended)
 * Run energy restoration such as potions or the Salt-water spring in the Oo'glog spa
 * Stat boosting potions
 * Drakan's medallion
 * Melee equipment to switch to after entering the house
 * Vertida's bottle of holy water
 * Blisterwood polearm as a weapon

Due to the considerable running to avoid Vanstrom's blood bomb attack, run energy is essential; running out of energy during a barrage of blood bombs will almost certainly cause death. Tireless run scrolls or Super Energy potions could be useful to prevent running out of energy along with a high Agility (70+) level. None of these are needed if one uses the Salt-water spring in the Oo'glog spa, which will grant 15–25 minutes of endless run energy.

The equipment used should simply be the best armour you have, preferably Barrows or Dragon, although Elite void is also an option. An amulet of fury or glory is also recommended, unless opting to wear the medallion. Bring a dragon full helmet or a Helm of Neitiznot, dragon boots, the highest possible gloves from the Culinaromancer's chest (or dragon gauntlets from Fist of Guthix) and a good cape, such as a god cape, obsidian cape, etc.

Inventory

 * Food (rocktails recommended, although sharks will work fine at about 110+ combat)
 * (Optional) Instead of rocktails, bring Saradomin Brews and Super Restore potions. Drink 1 dose of Super Restore for every 3 doses of Saradomin Brew, and match your potion count.
 * Run energy restoration such as potions or the Salt-water spring in the Oo'glog spa
 * (Extreme) Ranged potion
 * Ranged Armour (preferably Dragonhide, Karil's or Armadyl armour) to switch to after entering the house
 * Shields are optional.
 * Vertida's bottle of holy water
 * Enough (200+) Blisterwood stakes - Note that there is barely any time to pick them up.
 * Blisterwood Polearm to melee him, if you run out of stakes.
 * Archer ring, or any other ring

Equipment
 * Armadyl Helmet / Karil's Coif / Archer's Helm / Helm of Neitiznot
 * Amulet of Fury / Amulet of Glory / Amulet of Ranging
 * Soul Wars Cape or Fire Cape / Ardougne Cape 3 / Trimmed Skillcape
 * Dragon Boots / Ranger Boots / Snakeskin Boots
 * Barrows Gloves / Any other Recipe for Disaster Gloves
 * Armadyl Chestplate / Karil's Top / Black Dragonhide Top
 * Armadyl Chainskirt / Karil's Skirt / Black Dragonhide Legs
 * Eagle Eye
 * 200+ Blisterwood Stakes (You may not need them all, but it's better to have some spares than to be short)

Inventory/ Equipment

 * Food (rocktails recommended, although sharks will work fine at about 110+ combat)
 * (Optional) Instead of rocktails, bring Saradomin Brews and Super Restore potions. Drink 1 dose of Super Restore for every 3 doses of Saradomin Brew, and match your potion count.
 * Run energy restoration such as potions or the Salt-water spring in the Oo'glog spa
 * (Extreme) Magic potion
 * Magic Armour (preferably Arhims, Infinity or better)
 * Holy Book, tome of frost or better.
 * Vertida's bottle of holy water
 * Blisterwood staff
 * Any magic boosting ring.
 * High magic cast runes. Preferably, ancient magicks.

If possible, cremate at least 500 vyre corpses to increase the staff stats. In combination with the maximum magic gear, it is possible to hit in the 800s using ice barrage.

The Battle

During the battle, you will use a fairly straightforward tactic. Just walk into the room, go through with the conversation and immediately attack Vanstrom. After a few hits he will transform into a Vyrewatch. You can read about his special attacks below.

The most dangerous attack he uses is his Flying attack. Vanstrom will take flight, and throw red bombs at the player. It is *EXTREMELY* important that you run across the room non-stop, or you can take damage of up to 573(possibly even higher). He will throw a bomb approximately once every 2 or 3 seconds. You don't necessarily have to run to avoid the bombs, just make sure you're at least 2 squares away from the bubbling pool of blood, so that there is 1 square in between you and the bomb. This attack is extremely lethal, although relatively easy to avoid. It is recommended to set your graphical settings to their minimum if you have a bad connection, to reduce your chances of disconnecting or lagging, and then dying.

Make sure you do not leave the room, as re-entering will cause 2 of Vanstrom to appear, and given that the room is multi-combat, you will be forced to fight 2 of Vanstrom.

Initiating the fight
After the aforementioned dialogue, Vanstrom will attack you in his human form. Attack him with your chosen weapon. After a few hits he will transform into his vampyric form and be much more powerful. Continue attacking Vanstrom with your chosen weapon until he uses a special attack move. Protection/Deflection prayers/curses do not work against Vanstrom's special attacks so other overhead prayers are suggested. Redemption is useful to give the player a safety net in the case of heavy damage. Soul Split is strongly advised if players can use it, or if not, curses that drain Vanstrom's stats or prayers that boost yours.

Darkness
When Vanstrom moves to the centre of the room and yells, "Stare into the darkness!", you should do the exact opposite and run to a wall facing away from Vanstrom or be hit for around 500 damage. This damage is reduced if faced the opposite direction and running. You must also turn the camera to face away from him. There is very little time to react to this, probably just over a second, so be on guard.

One way to handle this special is fighting him near the center (if you are using melee), with your back facing the door where you entered from. As soon as he says his special, run to the door and when you stop, heal and wait. Sometimes this avoids all damage, and sometimes you will be hit only for 200-350 damage, instead of the usual 400+. If you stay with this method, this avoids you trying to run both or other ways as sometimes he will use it again right after he finishes this special giving you little to no time to get to the opposite wall, and you will be hit even higher the closer you are to him. If not using the door tactic, you will have to react very quickly to which way he is facing, so sticking with one spot usually guarantees a 50/50 chance he will face your way and all you have to do is heal.

In the end, you basically tank his reduced damage when you are near the door using this tactic but this can save you from even higher damage from this special.

With similar concept, if you are ranging or maging, you will likely be even closer to the door since you are farcasting so you will have better success at not getting damaged or healing faster.

Note: There is currently a glitch that Vanstrom does not run to the centre, but follows you, creating an unavoidable hit of above 500. This has yet to be fixed and can lead to death quickly.

Blood Strike
Vanstrom will teleport you into the middle of the room and spawn a ball of blood under you when he yells, "Let the blood consume you!". Run away from the spot you are standing on or be hit for high damage. If you can manage to lure Vanstrom to this spot, (difficult but possible) he will take the damage.

Like the above special, quickly run to the door and heal. Most of the time this avoids all damage and if you are unlucky you will be hit for the reduced damage which is usually around 200-300 (this only happens if you didn't go there quick enough). Just make sure to heal so your health is over 450+.

Crawling in the shadows
During the fight on a few occasions he will yell out, "Come, fiends, and aid your master!", which summons 2 small bloodveld leechers who will heal him if not killed quickly. They are very weak and have only 50 lifepoints. They move slowly and spawn in the opposite side of the room from each other. Try hitting them once, or get their attention to prevent Vanstorm from healing if they get too close. Note that he keeps attacking you normally.

Flying bombs
At several points during the fight Vanstrom will take flight and throw balls under you similar to the blood blister attack that can hit for high damage. There are two tactics for this:

For either tactic make sure you are always moving around the room! Vanstrom will occasionally freeze you in place for a few seconds so be sure you're always clicking a distance away from where you currently are to avoid damage. Also, if using protection prayers, which don't really affect his damage rate on you, turn them off during this special attack as simply running away will prevent most if not all damage depending on the tactics you used above. Using the minimap to run is advisable, but be careful not to click on the world map accidentally (which can happen), which leads to a certain death.
 * 1) Run around the room in a circle until he lands.
 * 2) Run from 1 wall to another back and forth, Attacking Vanstrom once along the way each time, this makes the fight much easier and you will receive no damage if done fast enough. While Vanstrom is in flight, you can hit nearly your max hit every time, so it is a great chance to do some serious damage, there is still chance of him hitting you with a blood ball so you must be quick if you want to attack.

Ball of Mist
When Vanstrom is low on health he will turn into mist and be immune to normal attacks. Stand in the middle of the room and throw the holy water with a single left-click, which will form a large pool of water in front of you. Lure Vanstrom over the water in order to damage him. Sometimes if you get too close, he will do quick magic-based attacks on you but the damage is much lower, around 50 usually. Repeat this until he is dead.

Death
Upon death he will hit you for a near death damaging amount of lifepoints and summon 8 bloodveld guardians.

You will faint and Vanescula and Sarius will enter the room. While Sarius protects you, you will take control of her to kill the bloodveld guardians. It is recommended to use the Scream attack repeatedly as soon as it recharges. Or the Dart attack if you can get all of the Bloodvelds in a line. Once these are defeated, the fight will be over.

Finishing up
After Vanescula kills the minions, she casts a spell on Vanstrom's desk so that his information doesn't get out. Sarius reveals that her father was a member of the Myreque, and that she knows the location of the base. She brings you to the hideout in Meiyerditch.

Vertida will congratulate you on defeating Vanstrom, and will show a cutscene where Safalaan leaves Meiyerditch. Vanescula shows up and he tells her that he is heeding her warning; she assures him that once he returns from his task they can "begin". Vertida sends you to see Veliaf in the basement of the pub in Burgh de Rott as there is nothing of value in Meiyerditch.

Talk to Veliaf and explain him that you've killed Vanstrom Klause, but Veliaf says that Vanstrom's death and Ranis's puts the Myreque into greater danger for the vampyres now consider the Myreque a threat. He reconsiders, and says that they may be closer than ever to destroying Drakan.

Quest complete!

Rewards

 * 2 quest points
 * 20,000 Agility experience
 * 50,000 Woodcutting experience
 * 20,000 Farming experience
 * 40,000 Fletching experience
 * 20,000 Crafting experience
 * 25,000 Slayer experience
 * 35,000 Magic experience
 * ‎Tome of xp 3rd ed with three 50,000 experience chapters in any skill 60 or higher
 * Access to Darkmeyer
 * Ability to fletch Blisterwood weapons
 * Darkmeyer disguise (can be put into a Costume box in a Player-owned house)
 * A new title depending on your statusbar progress (while wearing full Darkmeyer disguise)
 * Drakan's medallion allowing teleportation to various places in Morytania (Barrows, Burgh de Rott, Meiyerditch (Myreque Hideout), Darkmeyer and Meiyerditch Dungeon)

Music unlocked

 * Darkmeyer - Upon entering Darkmeyer.
 * Arboretum - Upon entering the arboretum.
 * Upir Likhyi - Upon entering the large chamber in Vanstrom's house.

Pre-release
For The information on Branches of Darkmeyer before the release, see The Branches of Darkmeyer/Pre-release.

Trivia

 * On the day of release, the spoiler read: The spoilers demand nutrition, light, nutrition and then water. Come back tomorrow once we've figured out what that means.
 * When you talk to the sentinel and it asks your name, one possibility is 'Tytn', which is the name of the Jagex Moderator who had been developing the Myreque series until leaving Jagex and Mod Ana taking over.
 * Also, one of the names is 'Lugosi', the last name of Bela Lugosi, the famous actor who played Dracula in the original namesake movie. Likewise, another name is Draycula, a portmanteau of Draynor and Dracula.
 * The name of the blood-tither in Darkmeyer is "Helsing", likely a reference to the fictional Abraham Van Helsing, Dracula's nemesis.
 * This was the third quest released to see members of House Drakan perish, after Vampire Slayer and Desert Treasure, which saw the deaths of Lord Drakan's brother Count Draynor and vampyre noble Dessous respectively. This is also the first to see more than one member of House Drakan die in the same quest.
 * When you complete the quest, it reads on your adventurers log: I worked with Vanescula to infiltrate Darkmeyer and create new weapons to harm the vampyres, before defeating Vanstrom. The Myreque were happy, but are worried about their future.
 * This is the first quest Jagex released a walkthrough for. The walkthrough was made available the day after the quest's release.
 * If the player does not have the medallion with them when Vanescula asks for it, she instructs them to bring it to her later. However, for some reason, the enchantment that she is supposed to place on it will have already been applied to the medallion when the player retrieves it, but the item will still be called "Mysterious medallion" rather than "Drakan's medallion" (which can be changed by simply taking the medallion to Vanescula in the Arboretum as she requested).
 * When Veliaf uses a teletab on you, you use the normal teleport emote instead of the teletab emote.
 * If you free Maria without using the Laugh or Angry emotes for status, you can return later and do them. You will still get 1 status from every emote, even though Maria will not be in the cell. When you gain enough, the message still reads "Maria no longer seems to be paying attention to you."
 * If you open the cell door on the right side of the middle tier jail it will close, and you will walk back a few spaces. If you repeatedly try to open it, the door will sometimes get stuck. Later it will close again when you try.
 * If you try talking to the guard at the middle tier jail he might look too busy. If you kill him and try again, you will have the same conversation as before, and he will once again be too busy.
 * Although Drakan is supposed to be trying to kill the Blisterwood Tree, he has it hooked up to a life support system to give it water, light, and nutrition.
 * The word "branches" in the quest's title apparently has a double meaning. While "branches" could refer to branches of the blisterwood tree, it could also have referred to the vampyre hierarchy split into various branches that exist in Darkmeyer city.
 * An un-unlockable music track plays after Vanstrom's death, Vanescula Fight.
 * If wearing a Ring of Wealth at the end of the fight against Vanstrom, you may be teleported to a death hub and will have a black screen. This can be fixed by logging out and back in.
 * If you wear a ring of life during the final fight, you will be teleported out when Vanstrom activates his final explosion. However, you will not have to re-kill Vanstrom.
 * The banker often wonders out of the bank in Darkmeyer. Look for him outside the bank.
 * You will be not be able to fully access the bank if you have been caught as a human.