Greater demon

Greater demons are strong demonic beings often found in remote places. They follow the god Zamorak, seeing as they are Demons. They are the second highest-leveled, third most accurate, and third strongest maximum damage causing, free-to-play monster that is neither revenant, a quest monster, nor a random event monster. In accuracy and maximum damage per hit, they were surpassed by level 85 skeletons when the Stronghold of security came out in 2006, and then these records went to the hellhound with the update on 16 June, 2009.

Greater demons are stronger than lesser demons, with highly accurate melee attacks that hit up to 92. Physically, their only difference in addition to simply being bigger in size is that greater demons have larger horns than lesser demons and have wings that lesser demons do not. With the release of Summoning, players may kill greater demons for crimson charms. For profit purposes, players may want to kill Waterfiends instead.

Locations

 * Demonic ruins (also called Annakarl) in level 45-48 Wilderness.
 * Entrana Dungeon (no armour or weapons allowed) if you bring runes or make your own ranged weapons you can safespot Greater Demons from the Dramen Tree Area.
 * Brimhaven Dungeon
 * Ogre Enclave (caged).
 * Dungeon at the end of the Lava Maze (the dungeon is also wilderness).
 * Kuradal's Dungeon
 * Wilderness Volcano

Strengths and weaknesses
The hardest part of fighting greater demons is getting to them, as they are found in rather remote or dangerous locations. However, the Wilderness Volcano, just northeast of Stealing Creation, is usually uncrowded and has four or five greater demons in the area closest to the entrance into the crater; there's a bank very close nearby for restocking on food. Though revenants neither spawn nor patrol here, it is possible for a fellow player to lure them into the area. You should be able to run through the entrance in plenty of time in the extremely unlikely event of this happening. They can be maged or ranged fairly easily in most of their locations, with safespots in the crater limited to over volcanic spots or from behind rocks.

Since they are demons, Silverlight, Darklight and Holy water will work effectively when fighting these monsters. Bring good food, however, because their melee attacks are fairly accurate and can hit frequently even against a character with high defensive bonuses; this problem with constant damage is far more dominant in free-to-play. Because of that it's recommended you are either a member, have 80+ defence with best possible armour and food healing at least 100, use safespot tactics, or use the Wilderness Volcano so you can resupply quickly. Otherwise, you will be spending much of your time for resupplying.

Another good way to train on these monsters is to bring full Guthan's, which will heal you. With stats around 75 Attack, 80 Strength, 75 Defence and 80 Constitution, you will not need to bring food.

Greater demons are very susceptible to magic attacks.

Demonic Ruins
For those desiring to stay a long trip, there is a nearby lobster fishing spot, ideal for players with level 40 and over fishing, providing they have the means to cook the lobsters. However, care is essential, as revenants patrol here very frequently, most notably the Revenant Hobgoblin, and the Revenant Ork, the biggest threat a low-levelled player can encounter. In addition, it is very far from a bank and the Wilderness obelisks (the fastest way to reach the location) can be unreliable. It is definitely not the best place for members, as there are safer and less remote locations, such as the Brimhaven Dungeon for members and the Wilderness Volcano for free players. More information on strategies for fighting these may be found in the tactics section below.

Brimhaven Dungeon
The main problem with this area is that it is rather far from the nearest bank; however, there is a good number of greater demons here to kill. This is a decent spot for melee users, but not the absolute best for rangers and mages due to the lack of a large amount of safe spots. Mages and rangers can still get by here, though. It is recommended to only go here if you have a reasonable combat (90+). The aggressive Wild dogs can be irritating as well for players under combat level 127 (where they stop being aggressive). It is possible to make them tolerant by killing a few of them. A hatchet is required to navigate the obstacles in the dungeon, as is an entrance fee to access the dungeon.

Entrana Dungeon
This is not a recommended spot for training. It is almost completely unusable for meleers, and mages will be stuck with a very low magic bonus due to weapons and armour being banned on Entrana, despite runes being allowed. If you wish to use ranged, bring the unfinished bows, crossbows, and bolts and fletch them in the dungeon. Arrows are allowed even if finished. Making weapons or armour on the island itself will result in you being forced out.

Ogre Enclave
This is a decent spot for mages and rangers. A single Greater demon can be found wandering in one corner of the dungeon. There is also a cage full of demons in the opposite corner that is ideal for killing them without being hit. Be aware though that ammunition may not be retrieved, other than with Telekinetic Grab. Halberds can also reach the demons, making it a good spot for meleers as well.

Lava Maze
This is a poor location due to the fact that it is located deep in the Wilderness (level 44), and there are Poison spiders nearby. You can also find the lever to the King Black Dragon here.



Wilderness Volcano
This is a very useful free-to-play training area. Lower levels can safespot the Greater Demons from behind the piles of bones. The main disadvantage to this area are the Ankous. If they have not become tolerant yet, they can wander into the safespot and interrupt rangers and mages. On the flip side, there is a banker right outside the volcano, and you can teleport from the majority of the volcano, should you be injured. As this area can be used for all three combat types, it's perfect for quick training.

When ranging and you have less than level 61, you should use a Zanik's crossbow or Adamant crossbow, even a Magic shortbow. Less than that level is not suggested.

Although it is located in the Wilderness, revenants don't patrol this area, though they can be led into it (see Wilderness volcano article for more information).

Kuradal's Dungeon
This location may only be used by those with a Greater Demon task assigned by Kuradal (requires 110 combat and 75 slayer), but is a very good location to fight them if this is the case. There are a few safespots from which they can be ranged, notably right next to the barrier separating them from the hellhounds.

Entrana Dungeon (P2P)
Sail to the island carrying some food, along with some of the supplies listed, based on the combat style you wish to use:
 * Rangers: Bring a Crossbow string, or Bow String, and the unstrung version of the best Crossbow or unstrung bow that you can make along with your weapon's appropriate type of ammo (bolts / arrows are allowed on to the island). You may also wish to bring dragonleather or regular leather if you have a high enough level to craft it into armour. Remember to bring your own Thread, since you cannot find it on the island. A needle is also needed, but you can find one on the island by searching the haystacks. Other suggested items: Unholy Book if using a crossbow, and any amulet that helps your ranged attack bonus, such as the Amulet of Ranging.
 * Mages: Runes are allowed on the island. Bring a fletching knife, and kill a nearby zombie for a hatchet. Use these two items to construct a Dramen Staff from the Dramen tree. For other gear, use anything that boosts magic attack that is allowed on Entrana (unholy book, Zamorak robes, ghostly robes, amulets)
 * Close Combat: It is not recommended that you do Melee combat here, as it is much easier to do damage with either Ranged or Magic, but you can try to get by with an Amulet of Strength, Combat bracelet, and a Silver sickle (which can be made at the furnace in entrana). Bring lots of bones to bananas or bones to peaches tablets / runes, because there are three bone spawns near the greater demons, which respawn rather quickly in terms of food usage. It is also suggested to have over 70 defence and use the best armour you can make with the crafting skill.

Players should not assemble their weapons or armour until after they have arrived on the island, or else they will be barred from entry until they get rid of all their worn and carried weapons and armour. Once ready players should then proceed to the North-west to the dungeon from Lost City and navigate through it, were they will find the demons. There are some stalagmites which can be used for cover as the player ranges the demon.

Brimhaven Dungeon (P2P)
A strategy for players without Guthan's armour is to bring a Super defence potion. Also with Bones to Peaches, it is possible to fight per normal but kill the usually aggressive wild dogs for their bones whenever needed to heal oneself, if combined with the Regen Bracelet players would not need much food at all.

There's a semi-safe spot at the very end of the Greater Demon area in Brimhaven dungeon, where attacked demons will mostly position themselves in a spot where they are unable to attack the player. However, Range and mage are not really recommended in this location.

It is better to kill Greater Demons here when 127 Combat or greater, as the Wild Dogs, which are extremely annoying when training slayer, are unaggressive at that point.

Ogre Enclave (P2P)
The Ogre Enclave is a good place to range/mage or even melee them with a Halberd without fear of being attacked. Most of the greater demons here are caged. Bring telegrab runes to retrieve drops.

The major downside to this location is that all arrows/bolts are unable to be retrieved by an accumulator making it quite costly to kill them here.

Demonic Ruins (F2P)
A free-to-play strategy is to wear full rune or green dragonhide armour (to defend against Revenants' attacks) and to bring decent food (preferably tuna or better). Optionally, bring Strength potions to deal more damage and get drops faster. Fight as normal. If a revenant appears, do this:


 * Revenant comes from the east: On the western side of the ruins is a cross shaped extension. Run into the cross on the south-western square of the southern arm of the cross. This spot is safe from any revenant patrol route. Should it see you and be targeting you, log out and immediately log back in, and simply wait a moment. The revenant will continue on its way. There is no way to be hit in this spot, unless someone lures the revenant inside of the cross. If this happens run OUTSIDE the ruins on the south east side, and get in the corner where the wall meets. Log out and in immediately. This will allow you to be safe again, and give the minimum time for more revenants to possibly arrive.


 * Revenant comes from the west: If you're on the eastern side of the ruins, you don't really have to worry about this spawn, as it won't see you UNLESS you're standing north of the building. In any case, if it sees you, doing exactly what you would do if it should come from the east will work to avoid it.

Regardless of your combat level, it's advised to hide, and not fight revenants (Especially higher level ones) as just a 1-3 fights will use a large portion of your food.

Fishing spots (Lobsters and harpooning) are available on the eastern coast of the wilderness, which isn't very far from the ruins. However, the stretch here is highly prone to Revenants, especially of the Knight and Ork species, which means escape won't be easy especially when you meet a patrol group.

Wilderness Volcano (F2P)
Compared to the Demonic Ruins, the wilderness volcano is a better choice. Safe spots are plenty for rangers, plus a bank is just outside the crater, making banking very convenient. However, the cluster of Greater Demons is surrounded by level 82 Ankous and Lesser Demons and level 122 Hellhounds, which are located near some safe spots, hence making things troublesome for rangers until their aggressiveness wanes. Spawn times are quick being from 90 seconds to less than 1 second. The biggest plus of the Wilderness Volcano is that Revenants do not patrol here. However, it is recommended that you have at least 75 defence to train here as otherwise, your food is used up too fast, and it is not possible to stay here long enough to make each trip worthwhile.

Kuradals Dungeon (P2P)
Warning: Players can only enter this area if they are assigned by Kuradal to kill them. It is recommended to wear a slayer helm, ferocious ring, and a fast, slashing weapon like the abyssal whip. Another option is to bring Darklight. Darklight is slightly stronger against demons than the abyssal whip, but is also a little bit slower. The special attack of darklight is able to weaken the demon, making it very vulnerable. In Kuradals Dungeon there are also a few safe spots. Greater demons are very weak to magic attacks. So killing them with magic in these spots is recommended. It is possible to range them too, they do not have many hitpoints making them easy to kill.

100% drops

 * Ashes

Runes

 * 37, 75 Fire runes (75 more common)
 * 15 Chaos runes (common)
 * 5 Death runes (common)

Weapons and armour

 * Steel hatchet (common)
 * Steel battleaxe (rare)
 * Steel two-handed sword (common)
 * Mithril kiteshield (common)
 * Adamant platelegs (uncommon)
 * Dragon spear(m) (very rare)
 * Rune javelin(m) (very rare)
 * Rune spear(m) (extremely rare)
 * Rune full helmundefined(rare)
 * Shield left half (m)(extremely rare)
 * Rune scimitar (rare)

Gems

 * Uncut sapphire (rare)
 * Uncut emerald (rare)
 * Uncut ruby (rare)
 * Uncut diamond (very rare)

Other

 * 4, 11, 44, 132, 220, 310, or 420 Coins (most common)
 * 10 Thread (common)
 * Tuna (common)
 * Gold bar (uncommon)
 * Chaos talisman(m)
 * Loop half of a key(m) (rare)
 * Nature talisman(m)
 * Level 3 Clue scroll(m)
 * Tooth half of a key(m)
 * Ferocious ring(m) (rare, only in Kuradal's dungeon)

Different appearance
Since the graphic update on demons, greater demons now appear in at least four different variants. Because of this, some new players think one "species" of Greater demon appears stronger and tougher due to it looking more intimidating than others. However this is not true, as Jagex affirms that they are equally strong and tough and all have the same stats as one another.

Before graphical update


Before demons were updated they had heads which resembled that of a horse, or the old head of all the dragons, as well as long thin limbs, fangs, and a solid red skin tone.

In RuneScape Classic, they had reddish-orange skin with horns, and did not have wings.