Aberrant spectre

Aberrant spectres are Slayer monsters that require level 60 Slayer to kill. They frequently drop large amounts of valuable herbs and herb seeds. A Macaw Summoning familiar is helpful as it will improve herb drops (requires level 41 Summoning), as will herb gloves (a reward from the Fist of Guthix activity). They seem to be slightly weaker to crush than the other melee attack styles.

Aberrant spectres have an abhorrent stench that quickly drains stats and life points, so they are very deadly to fight without proper protection. A Nose peg, Slayer helmet, or Full slayer helmet protects against the stench.

Killing aberrant spectres at the Slayer Tower is often used as a way to make money, due to the short distance between the tower and the bank in Canifis. Faster banking can be achieved by teleportation, such as using a Ring of duelling to bank at Castle Wars and then a Ring of slaying to teleport back to the tower. Another way to get herbs for a very long time without banking is, when inventory is full of herbs, use the Tool leprechaun at the farming patch due south of the Slayer Tower to notes the herbs and then return to the tower. This is faster than banking in Canifis (about twice as fast) but not as fast as using teleport to bank and return.

If the player does not have a high enough Agility level to use the shortcut to the spectre's floor in the tower, however, the Desert Slayer Dungeon is a very good alternative. There is a Summoning obelisk in the area with the spectres, and quick access can be gained by moving one's house to Pollnivneach or using a Ring of slaying to teleport there. An alternative to moving your house to Pollnivneach is to use the chipping technique to make a house teleport tab teleport to the POH portal(completion of the Love Story quest). Note that using a Slayer helm is necessary in the dungeon, as you will need protection from the smoke as well as the Aberrant spectre's stench.

Locations

 * Morytania Slayer Tower (middle floor)


 * Pollnivneach Slayer Dungeon

Slayer Master Tip
"Aberrant specters are fetid, vile ghosts. The very smell of them will paralyse and harm you. A nosepeg will help you ignore their stink when fighting them. They can be found in the Slayer Tower near Canifis and I have heard rumours that they also live beneath Pollnivneach in the desert." ~ Kuradal

Strengths and weaknesses
Players must equip either a nose peg or a Slayer helmet when fighting Aberrant spectres, or the player's stats (including lifepoints) will be rapidly reduced due to the Aberrant Spectre's smell. Spectres use a very accurate Magic-based attack with a max hit of 119, which will hit fairly often even with a high magic defence. If caught without a Nose peg or Slayer helmet you will be hit for 160 every hit and stats lowered drastically. This can be especially hard on combative familiars like the ever-popular Spirit Terrorbird, to the point that one's stay is usually limited by the familiar's lifespan, rather than by one's own.

Aberrant spectres seem to be weak to Ranged attacks, although a weapon with a Slash attack works just fine. In addition, if using melee, wearing a Salve amulet(e) will give a large advantage, since they are classified as undead. For players on Slayer tasks, however, note that the effects of a Salve amulet does not stack with those of a Black mask or a Slayer helmet.

Recommended player armour depends on one's approach. If using the magical defence approach, wear dragonhide (preferably black) or Karil's; an elemental-, mind- or body shield or a Holy book, with other high magic defence armour. One can use Armadyl armour instead, since it has a very high magic defence, but is not recommended for meleeing due to its negative melee attack bonuses. Alternatively, take the prayer booster approach by using gear like Proselyte armour, Falador shield 3, White boots, the Soul Wars Cape, etc. and use the Protect from Magic prayer. Having a Holy wrench in your inventory recovers more Prayer points per sip of the Prayer potion, but takes up an inventory slot; it is an optional item.

During a trip the Spectres should drop enough Grimy ranarrs to recoup or even make a profit over the cost of the Prayer potions used. On average, a Grimy Ranarr is dropped every 10-20 kills. Aberrant spectres also drop high-value seeds, which can make prayer-using trips profitable even if the ranarrs are not sold. Other herbs to look out for are Grimy lantadyme, Grimy dwarf weed, Grimy avantoe, Grimy kwuarm, Grimy cadantine, and Grimy Irit. The latter three are less valuable than the former three; accordingly only pick them up if enough inventory space is present.

The only non-aggressive Aberrant spectres are in the Pollnivneach Slayer Dungeon. Players cannot kill them safely until the player makes the Slayer helmet because both the nose peg and facemask are needed to fight them without suffering the effects of the spectres or the smoke. The smoke, however, will only damage players down to 10 life points, so it is possible to use a nose peg, with the Protect from magic prayer, to avoid damage from the spectres and remain at 10 life points. This is very risky, as if the player's prayer runs out, or is otherwise turned off, for just a second, there is a very high chance that the player will die, and hence is not recommended. In the Desert Slayer Dungeon, there is also the option to use a cannon, preferably in combination with the prayer-boosting set-up described above, as very many Spectres will be attacking.

Guthan's set could be used to heal on the nearby Bloodveld if you are in the slayer tower. This could extend your trip long enough to fill your inventory with herbs, until banking is necessary. Note: equipping Guthan's set before leaving the Aberrant Spectre's may result in hefty magic damage, as Guthan's set does not provide good magic defence against the spectre's accurate and powerful magic attacks; make sure you are clear of spectres before preparing guthans. Furthermore, bloodveld use a magic-based attack, so this strategy could backfire

A Dwarf multicannon will speed a slayer task, at the expense of cannonballs. However, this can only be done in the Desert Slayer Dungeon, as cannons are not permitted in the Slayer Tower.

For rapid, free prayer restore, and banking:
 * 1) Players with the Ardougne cloak (1, 2 or 3), once depleted prayer points, food, or inventory space, can teleport to the monastery south of Ardougne, then teleport back either using the Kharyrll (Canifis) teleport or a Portal Chamber (see below), returning to the Slayer tower after banking at the Canifis bank. You could also use fairy rings from the Tower of Life to Canifis, or bank at East Ardougne and use a Ring of slaying to teleport back to the Slayer tower.
 * 2) Players with a Player-owned house and a Chapel and a Portal Chamber to Kharyrll (Canifis) portal can carry Teleport to House teletablets. Once full, they can then teleport to their house, recharge prayer at the altar in the chapel, use the portal to teleport to Canifis, bank there, and then return to the nearby slayer tower. Players who use Summoning familiars can recharge their summoning points at the obelisk on the way to the tower (players with a Menagerie at their house can also recharge summoning there). For even faster access to the tower without banking, the trip from Canifis to the tower can be skipped if the teleport ability of a Ring of slaying is used.
 * 3) Alternatively, players without a Kharyrll teleport or portal may use a Ring of slaying and a player owned house with a Mounted Glory and a Chapel. A player is able to recharge prayer at their chapel, bank in edgeville and teleport back to the slayer tower using the Ring of slaying.

Using Prayer

 * Full slayer helmet/Slayer helmet/Nose peg though a Slayer Helmet is preferred because there is also the smoke to consider.
 * Soul Wars cape/Ardougne cloak 3/Trimmed Skillcape/God Vestment cloak/Fire cape/God Cape/Cape of Legends
 * Salve Amulet (e)/Demon Horn Necklace/Amulet of fury/God stole/Unholy symbol/Holy symbol/Amulet of Glory
 * (If you are using Slayer Helmet and on an Aberrant Spectre slayer task, it is not recommended to wear the normal Salve Amulet since the boosts do not stack).
 * Abyssal whip/Korasi's sword /Dragon scimitar/Saradomin sword/Dragon mace/rune scimitar
 * Falador Shield 3/Falador shield 2/Faithful Shield/Holy Book/Unholy book/Book of balance/Dragon Defender/Any Spirit shield
 * Proselyte hauberk/Initiate hauberk/Monk's robe (top)
 * Proselyte cuisse/Initiate cuisse/Monk's robe (bottom)
 * Dragon boots/Rune boots/Rock climbing boots/White boots/Bandos boots
 * Your best Metal gloves, e.g. barrows/Regen bracelet/Combat bracelet/White gloves
 * Ring of wealth/Explorer's ring/Fremennik ring of your attack style/Beacon ring
 * A Saradomin Godsword is extremely helpful, reducing the need for prayer potions to about 1-3

Inventory

 * A quick teleport
 * 6-10, 4 dose Prayer potion
 * Some food, in case you run out of prayer or turn it off by accident
 * Optional Beast of Burden. If using a BOB bring extra prayer potions (about 3). Try to not let the familiar attack the aberrant spectre as the familiar could be killed if it doesn't have high lifepoints.

Using Magic Defence

 * Full slayer helmet/Slayer helmet/Nose peg
 * God capes/Skillcape/Fire cape
 * Salve Amulet (e)(boost does not stack with slayer helmet)/Amulet of Fury/Amulet of power
 * Abyssal whip/Korasi's Sword/Dragon scimitar/Saradomin sword/Dragon mace
 * Spectral spirit shield/Mages' Book/Void knight deflector/Chaos Shield/Dragonfire shield/Holy Book/Dragon defender/Spirit shield/Unholy book/Elemental Shield
 * Karil's leathertop/Black d'hide body
 * Void Knight Bottom/Karil's leatherskirt/Black d'hide chaps
 * Infinity boots/Silly jester boots/Rock climbing boots/Snakeskin boots
 * Your best Metal gloves/Regen bracelet/Combat bracelet/black d'hide vambraces
 * Fremennik ring of your attack style/Explorer's ring 3/Beacon ring

Inventory

 * Enhanced Excalibur (For healing and defence)
 * Quick teleport
 * 15+ shark or other high healing food
 * A super set or combat potion (optional, but highly recommended for fast kills) (do not bring a super defence potion if you're using Enhanced Excalibur)

Champions' Challenge
Aberrant spectres are one of the races who have lesser champions in the Champions' Challenge distraction and diversion. To fight the Aberrant Spectre Champion, the player must kill aberrant spectres until one drops a Champion scroll, which is an extremely rare drop.

Seeds

 * }

Herbs

 * }

Weapons/Armour

 * }

Other drops

 * }

Trivia

 * Aberrant means absurd or abnormal, spectre means ghost.
 * Some players prefer to use Prayer-Flashing, to extend their trip without using any supplies. A skilled Prayer-Flasher can stay until he/she is forced to bank his/her herbs. Prayer-Flashing is not recommended when using a cannon or fighting more than one Aberrant spectre.
 * Although they are using a long-ranged magic attack, they will always engage in close combat when first targeting.
 * The Aberrant spectre will never drop a combination of herbs or seeds. Eg: It will never drop a Grimy tarromin and an Irit seed on the same kill.
 * The name of the monster used to be spelled "Aberrant specter", but it was changed to the British -re ending in a hidden update several years ago.
 * The creature's max hit was once 12 (120), but is now 119, as stated by monster examine.
 * This monsters examine is extremely similar to that of the Plague frogs, which is "A very smelly frog."
 * Since Aberrant Spectres drop a lot of unwanted herbs, herbicide may be useful to bring because it removes the useless herbs, allowing you to see only those that you want to pick up.
 * In one of the rooms of Aberrant specters in the Slayer Tower, there are two skeletons. One is lying on the floor and the other is sitting against the wall. If a player wishes to examine the one on the floor, the examine text will say "How do you make a skeleton laugh?" When you examine the one sitting against the wall, the examine text will say "Tickle his funny bone."

Fäulnis-Geist Aberrant Spectre