Dreadnip

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A Dreadnip is a very powerful creature that can be deployed against most monsters to serve as a partner in combat. Dreadnips are earned as a reward in the Dominion Tower by achieving 450 kills and spectating another player's match. When they are unlocked, 100 dreadnips are awarded; 100 more can be obtained for every 5 kills over 450 achieved in the tower. Dreadnips stack in the inventory, allowing players to carry many at once.

Dreadnips are usable against most monsters, as explained below, but cannot be used against other players. Many players find dreadnips very useful in the Fight Kiln, as most of the monsters there are extremely weak to their typeless attacks.

To deploy a dreadnip, a player must be attacking the monster that will be the dreadnip's target. Just being attacked by a monster does not suffice. In multicombat, it is easier to use right click to attack and again to deploy the dreadnip on the desired target. This must be done quickly if auto-retaliate is turned on or the player will change targets causing the dreadnip to be unable to be deployed.

When a dreadnip is deployed against a monster, it unfolds on the ground into a small insect-like or scorpion-like creature and begins attacking. It has three different attacks, which it randomly uses:
 * A typeless damage attack. This attack can hit up to 413 damage and can even damage monsters that are normally immune to damage, such as frost dragons in their blue orb phase. As the attack is typeless, it cannot be blocked with protection prayers. It can also hit monsters that normally require specific equipment or attack styles to kill, such as Vyrewatch, Kree'arra, and the Wild jade vine. This attack appears to earn experience in constitution. In addition when attacking with ranged or melee styles dreadnips give experience in the last melee stat used (controlled if one has not gained xp in melee since login). The amount of experience earned from a dreadnip attack is the same amount a player would normally receive.
 * An attack that poisons starting at 108 damage. It is possible for a single dreadnip to use multiple poison attacks, though this will have no additional effects other than to prolong the time the target is poisoned. A creature that is immune to poison in general is also immune to being poisoned by a dreadnip.
 * An Entangle-like attack that freezes the target in place for 20 seconds. However, this attack will NOT prevent the Giant Mole from digging around her lair. It is also good to note that when the mole and simlar monsters teleport within a dreadnips attack range, the dreadnip will move in the monsters direction.  This attack range seems to stretch just outside the range of the minimap.Dreadnip deploy.gif

Only one dreadnip may be deployed at a time, and each will last 30 seconds before disappearing. During that time, a dreadnip will attack up to five times, giving it an attack speed of 0, or one attack every 6 seconds. A dreadnip will also disappear if its owner exits combat, moves too far away from it, or kills the target monster. It will also disappear if you stop attacking after deploying the dreadnip. (In a multi-way combat area, you do not have to keep attacking the monster the dreadnip was deployed against. Any monster will do, as long as you keep attacking.) If a dreadnip is deployed but there is an obstacle between the dreadnip and its target, the dreadnip is blocked from reaching the target and will soon give up and disappear. Unlike Summoning familars, there is no 'call' ability for a dreadnip to move, so be careful not to move too far away from a dreadnip or to deploy one if an obstacle will block it.

Players and other monsters block dreadnips. A dreadnip deploys in a random square near the player. If it deploys so that the player is between it and its target, the player should step aside to let the dreadnip pass, or else the dreadnip will soon disappear. If the monster is killed before the dreadnip can attack it, the dreadnip may not immediately disappear.

Monsters do not retaliate against dreadnips, nor can players attack them. As such, dreadnips essentially act as an invincible, if short-lived, source of extra damage, poison, and binding. Furthermore, as dreadnips do not count as Summoning familiars, they can be used in conjunction with a familiar, as well as in the TzHaar Fight Cave (where familiars are not allowed).

Dreadnips ignore the rules of multicombat and may be used in single-combat zones and multicombat zones alike.

Dreadnips can attack any target except for the following:

Other players (however, dreadnips can attack other players' summoning familiars).
 * The Barrows brothers.
 * Saradomin wizards, Zamorak wizards, Guthix wizards, and double agents during Treasure Trails.
 * Quest boss monsters that can appear in the Dominion Tower. This includes these monsters not only in the tower itself but also during the quest the boss is encountered. For example, dreadnips cannot be used against Agrith Naar during the Shadow of the Storm quest.
 * Animated armour in the Warriors' Guild.
 * The Tormented Wraith.
 * Mazchna's special task monsters.
 * The Ferocious Barbarian Spirit from pyre ships.

Dreadnips cannot be used within the Dominion Tower; attempting to deploy them yields the message: "You can't use dreadnips inside the tower."

Note that dreadnips can be used against quite powerful monsters that are not quest bosses, including the Kalphite queen and the King Black Dragon. There are some monsters that dreadnips can be used against but are not particularly effective against, including:
 * Ganodermic beasts, which are both very strong against melee and immune to poison.
 * Grifolaroos, Grifolapines, Fungal rodents, Fungal mages, Ganodermic runts and Infested axes are also included.

Faster deployment
The standard deployment is: attack a monster, click a dreadnip in inventory, click the deploy dreadnip control, and then click the monster to target the dreadnip on it. A slightly faster way to get the dreadnip into combat is to click the dreadnip in inventory before attacking a monster:
 * 1) Click a dreadnip in inventory. The dreadnip deployment control appears, but do not click it yet.
 * 2) Attack a monster to start attacking it yourself.
 * 3) Click the deploy dreadnip control.
 * 4) Click the monster to target the dreadnip on it.

This saves one click once combat has begun that the standard way, which both gets the dreadnip into combat and allows the player to resume combat against the monster a bit quicker.

Trivia

 * Dreadnips count as a "non-combat item" and cannot be taken into Soul Wars.
 * Deployment typically takes 0.6 seconds, and doing something (such as clicking to attack the enemy) during that 0.6 seconds will interrupt and cancel deployment.
 * Dreadnips usually despawn when their target dies, however at present there is a glitch which sees a deployed dreadnip remain after a gargoyle has been killed with the rock hammer. This glitch prevents players from deploying another dreadnip until the first's timer has run out.
 * Before an update on 6 December 2011, dreadnips could be used by players to kill monsters for which they did not have the required Slayer level to fight.
 * Dreadnips will cause a Tormented demon to change to Protect from Melee prayer, and will not hit through its melee prayer.
 * Attempting to cast Monster Examine on a dreadnip results in the message "You can't find out their stats."
 * Unlike most animals, dreadnips will not run away on death, and can be recovered from a gravestone. This suggests they are in a dormant state when obtained.
 * When stunned by a dreadnip, Mutated jadinko males will bid nearby vines to whip the player.
 * When using dreadnips against Abyssal demons, watch for the effects of the demon randomly teleporting itself and the player. If it teleports to a position where the dreadnip cannot reach it, the dreadnip will give up. In these cases, move away from the demon, so that it moves out to attack you and back into the reach of the dreadnip.
 * Your first hit against a Warped tortoise (with the Crystal chime in inventory) cleanses the tortoise and initiates combat against it. However, dreadnips don't count this as attacking the tortoise, so you have to hit the tortoise again before you can deploy a dreadnip against it. Presumably this is the case with Warped terrorbird as well, but this has not been confirmed.
 * Before a hidden patch, it was possible to kill a Stray dog with a dreadnip, and it was also possible to kill dominion markers to get free bones.
 * If in combat with the Skeletal Horror and it drops in level Dreadnip will continue to attack even after you bury the body part