Dagannoth Mother (Blood Runs Deep)

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The Dagannoth Mother fought during Blood Runs Deep is the daughter of the Dagannoth Mother from Horror from the Deep. She is the fourth strongest quest monster in RuneScape defeatable by conventional methods. At the end of the quest, she can be found south of the hatchery in Waterbirth Dungeon, guarded by Dagannoth Sentinels and guardians.

She has similar damage immunity as her mother, except the battle has to be initiated with the Balmung. Also, she is significantly stronger than her mother, capable of dealing a maximum of 430 life points with her melee attack. The colour of the stripe down her back shows her current weakness. However, unlike her mother, whose colour change follows a specific pattern, she can change her weakness at will. Players are also told in the chatbox when she changes colour. At the end after you defeat her she will not die but will scream at you to stop and fall to the ground from pain, breathing heavily and unable to move, you set your trap causing a cave-in that crushes her (and yourself) under rocks.

The Dagannoth Mother is fight-able as a class A boss monster in the Dominion Tower minigame if the player has completed Blood Runs Deep.

Tips and strategies

 * If your combat level is over or around level 105, she really isn't too hard to kill. If you have done Forgiveness of a Chaos Dwarf, it is recommended to take a Chaos Dwarf Hand Cannon, since it deals high hits and is relatively inexpensive. Get a super set, Balmung, 100 casts of each of the highest elemental spells you can cast, 2 prayer potions and a bunch of rocktails. A few diamond bolts(with 75 ranged, Ava's Accumulator and void range about 10-20 bolts can suffice) with a rune crossbow works too. Bring at least 50 of them, just in case the battle goes longer than expected.
 * Do not overestimate her, but at the same time underestimating her can prove fatal.
 * Bring LOTS of food if you meet the bare minimum combat requirements of the quest, as the Dagannoth Mother hits fairly high. With 100+ combat excluding summoning, about 2 Saradomin brews worth of healing generally suffices, but bring more food incase. Note that she rarely hits anywhere near her maximum if you have 75+ defence.
 * The battle must be initiated with Balmung or else her back will not change colours. After using Balmung, when her stripe changes back to orange, if you wish to use a different melee weapon other than Balmung on her, you may. When the player hits the Dagannoth Mother, she will show surprise at the weapon, and only then will the player be able to start dealing damage to her. Players will get a few hits with the balmung before she starts changing colour
 * If you wish to stand back from the mother, she will not attempt to melee you, much like a metal dragon, allowing you to focus on her magic and range attacks. It is, however, necessary to run in and melee her at times.
 * You may not want to use special attack weapons when Dagonnoth Mother turns orange, unless you have a high hitting weapon such as a Dragon Halberd, dragon claws, a Dragon dagger, or an Armadyl godsword. A Bandos godsword is also useful to drain her defence, though if you follow her colours she doesn't have very high defence. An Enhanced excalibur is a good alternative to those, as it can also be used while the Mother is another color. However it is usually more effective to use the above mentioned hard-hitting weapons. Even though the Korasi's sword special attack is magic damage it only hits when the Mother is orange(as the magic damage is based on your melee maximum damage, and the sword itself is a melee weapon).
 * When changing attack styles she generally tends to stay on her new style for a little while, much like tormented demons. This means that the player can avoid taking substantial damage by switching prayers. Her most lethal attack is melee, which can hit up to 430.
 * She will change vulnerabilities more often if you are able to attack with all three attack styles. She will change vulnerability after a few hits from any style, but will stick to one vulnerability if you are unable to attack her when she is in that form. For example, if you did not bring a range attack style with you she will be more likely to stay green for the majority of the fight, making it difficult for you to kill her efficiently.
 * Bringing only one-handed weapons is a good strategy, as you will be able to keep the same shield (preferably a God Book, as Falador Shield 3 reduces magic attack bonus) through the entire fight (after weakening her with Balmung). To this effect a rune crossbow, an abyssal whip, and a Staff of Light will serve you well. However note that the balmung is 2-handed and it can deal very high damage, so its worth considering.
 * Try to recognise her attacks. When 3 grey spikes (which are quite difficult to see) come out of her back and you hear a "needle" sound effect, this is her Ranged attack. When a Water Wave comes out of her mouth, this is her Magic attack. Finally, when she bends down and opens her mouth and she sounds like she's softly growling, this is her Melee attack. Knowing her attack styles and the sounds associated with them will help prevent a lot of damage when switching Protection Prayers. When she is about to change combat styles, she makes a soft growl.
 * A click-efficient way to kill her is to use only two attack types for the majority of the fight. Many players omit Ranged, although omitting Melee (after the first strike with Balmung) is also quite viable. Players need melee to initiate the fight (and Balmung can easily hit high on her). It is not viable to omit Magic.
 * Switching between magic and only one other style means that players do not have to switch weapons, a click-consuming action which can be dangerous if the player can't keep up with the conditions of the fight, risking taking huge amounts of damage or even dying. They continuously wield either a melee weapon or a ranged weapon, casting spells while wielding the non-magic weapon.
 * Use the Spellbook interface to select the Autocast spell and the Combat styles interface to select the Ranged or Melee attacks.
 * Players can only sacrifice one attack style. Omitting more than one allows the Mother to change her vulnerabilities between the attack styles players do not have, effectively rendering her completely invincible.
 * An advantage to omitting melee is that players can stand a short distance away to avoid her melee attacks, needing to switch prayers between only magic and ranged protection/deflection. Standing a sufficient distance away from her can permit a player to distinguish between her attacks more easily.
 * Another way to reduce clicking is to use the function keys to switch interfaces quickly. F1 goes to the inventory for food, weapons, and potions; F2 goes to the equipment screen; F3 goes to the Prayer menu to switch prayers; F4 goes to the Spellbook to cast spells; and F5 goes to the combat styles screen. This greatly reduces mouse movement and clicking. Practice switching interfaces beforehand to get used to which button does what.
 * Using void knight equipment and switching between the helms can allow a quick battle.

Good armour which does not have huge penalties to Magic (such as Void Knight equipment, Black dragonhide armour, or some varieties of Barrows, like Karil's Set or Ahrim's Set), will be an advantage in this fight considering how often one will be casting spells. If you have a high Magic level (84+) and good Defence (70+), it's OK to use rune. However, it is not recommended.

If you die, you respawn in the Fremennik spiritual realm again. You keep all your items and will be sent back to your choice of either regular respawn point or Waterbirth Island. It is suggested to take a teleporting item such as a teleport tablet since you can't leave the area while under attack. Your grave appears in the area with the Dagannoth Guardians. With a bit luck, it may even be behind a rock, making you safe to attacks.

Weakness by colour

 * Bringing Chaos gauntlets may be a cheaper alternative while still being effective during the fight; as Bolt spells would hit more than their Blast counterparts. However, both bolt and blast spells are very inaccurate and weak against the Mother, wave and surge spells are virtually a must.

Trivia

 * Her chathead seems to resemble the head of Godzilla in the 1998 American remake.
 * That may be a reference to the track unlocked in Blood Runs Deep called Maiasaura as both Maiasaura in real life and Godzilla are Dinosaurs.
 * The special attack of Korasi's sword will not affect this monster during any phase of the fight.
 * When fighting this monster in Dominion Tower, if a player is already under the effect of the lunar spell Spellbook swap, that player's spellbook will not be switched to standard at the beginning of the fight. After the 2 minutes required for spellbook swap's effect to end or if another spell is cast, the player's spellbook will return to Lunar and remain that way for the duration of the fight.
 * In Dominion Tower, this monster is called Dagannoth Mother Version II.

Dagannoth Mother (Blood Runs Deep)