Cockroach soldier

Cockroach soldier is the fourth strongest non-revenant, non-quest and non-random event monster in free-to-play, only to be beaten by Greater demons in the Wilderness and Ankous and level 85 Skeletons in the Stronghold of Security, This monster was released by Jagex on March 11, 2008 along with the Stronghold of Player Safety.

They use an somewhat accurate melee attack hitting up to 8. They also use a range attack that can hit up to 10 if attacked by long-ranged magic or ranged weapons. They will not move towards you if you attack from a distance, similar to metal dragons (and like dragons, they take 4X4 squares of space).

Cockroaches' range attacks are fairly inaccurate, but the max hit of the range attack is higher than the max hit of the melee attack (see right). Those range attacks can be nullified by wearing probably full rune or high defence. It is important to note this as a perceived upgrade to the attack's strength and accuracy was made since its initial release.

Compared to level 82 Lesser Demons, these monsters have higher hitpoints and defence. Nonetheless, these cockroach soldiers have much better drops for f2p players, and as such it is advised that a player kill them with a clan and have lootshare on to get the drops as many player will attack them because they are in a multi-combat zone.

Since it is a new monster, the places are often very crowded with high-leveled players so it may be difficult to get a drop. Also players may find it almost impossible to solo-fight unless they have a high combat level (90+).

Cockroach soldiers drop charms quite often. Killing them is a good method for obtaining charms, especially crimson.

Weapons and Armour

 * Mithril med helm
 * Rune sq shield (fairly rare)
 * Rune Scimitar (semi-rare)
 * Shield Left Half (extremely rare, member's only)
 * Dragon med helm (extremely rare, member's only)
 * Rune Chainbody (extremely rare)
 * Rune javelin (5) (extremely rare, member's only)
 * Rune 2h sword    (extremely rare)
 * Dragon Spear (Very Rare, members only)
 * Dragon Scimitar (rare, members only)
 * Mithril platebody (extremely rare)

Seeds (Members only)

 * Avantoe Seed
 * Cactus seed
 * Jangerberry seed
 * Kwuarm seed
 * Lantadyme Seed
 * Limpwurt seed
 * Marrentill seed
 * Poison Ivy Seed
 * Ranarr Seed
 * Snapdragon seed
 * Spirit weed seed
 * Strawberry seed
 * Tarromin seed
 * harralander seed
 * Watermelon seed
 * Whiteberry seed
 * Wildblood seed
 * Mushroom spore

Runes

 * 2-67 Fire runes
 * 1-27 Law runes (Fairly common)
 * 1-17 Death runes
 * 1-28 Blood runes (Members only)

Charms (Members only)

 * Gold charm
 * Crimson charm (Common)
 * Green charm
 * Blue Charm

Other

 * 5-500 coins (common)
 * Uncut sapphire
 * Uncut emerald
 * Uncut ruby (semi-rare)
 * Uncut diamond (rare)
 * 3 noted mithril ore (common)
 * 1-2 noted adamantite ore (common)
 * Rune ores 2-10 noted (extremely rare)
 * 1-2 Mushroom (Members only)
 * Half of a key (Members only)
 * Clue scroll (level 2) (Members only)
 * Red spiders' eggs
 * Nature talisman (Members only)

Trivia

 * Cockroach soldiers have the highest hitpoints of any free-to-play monster, exceeding that of the level 92 Greater Demons and some Revenants.
 * Cockroach soldiers are the only free-to-play monsters to attack with 2 types of combat styles (Melee and range) outside the wilderness, other than Elvarg or Melzar the Mad.
 * Cockroach soldiers have the best drops for free-to-play, they drop Rune chainbodies and Rune 2 handers which can be sold in the Grand Exchange for a decent amount of money, the Rune square shields and Rune scimitars can be alched. Their current highest-valued drop are noted Rune ores (2-10) which are worth 12,000gp per ore.
 * Cockroach soldiers used to drop level 3 Clue scrolls but this has been updated and the soldiers now drop level 2 Clue scrolls.