Barbarian Assault

Barbarian Assault is a team-based combat Minigame located at the Barbarian Outpost. A team of five players must work together to battle 10 waves of Penance and on to finally defeat the Penance Queen. World 6 and 71 are dedicated to Barbarian Assault, and it's recommended that you find teamates there.

There are no requirements, but the higher your Hitpoints and Defence levels are, the more likely you will survive. Additionally, a high Agility level is helpful if your role involves a lot of running around. This is a safe minigame, so you won't lose any items if you die.

Starting off
Go to the Barbarian Outpost and talk to Captain Cain to begin the tutorial. After you've watched all of the lessons, you will need to deposit all of your runes and bronze to mithril arrows. The bank only has a deposit box, so you'll need to use another bank to gather supplies. It is also a good idea to empty your inventory, ridding yourself of everything except armour and a good weapon. If you're planning to be an attacker, take a weapon that can attack accurately, defensively, aggressively, and controlled. Prayer is not permitted.

There are 10 waves of Barbarian Assault, and you must play them in order. To start playing, go into the basement of the Barbarian Assault lobby. There are eleven rooms in here, one for each wave, as well as a "quickstart" room. Either enter the room with a 1 on it or the quickstart room.

Equipment strategy
There are some advantages and disadvantages to different types of weapons and armour while playing Barbarian Assault.

Rune, Dragonhide or Granite armour is recommended. Of these, Rune is a better canidate for Waves 1-9, as all damage received will be either Melee or Range. The Queen in Wave 10 attacks by Ranging, and her spawn use Melee, so granite is recommended for this wave.

Example equipment for melee:
 * Berserker helm or Helm of Neitiznot
 * Granite body or Fighter torso
 * Dragon longsword or Dragon scimitar
 * Obsidian shield
 * Rune platelegs or Dragon platelegs
 * Climbing boots or Dragon boots or Boots of lightness
 * (Note that it is not beneficial to weild a Rune Defender, as the Obsidian Shield will give the same strength bonus. In BA, attacking with the correct combat style never misses, so the attack bonus of the Rune Defender is pointless, whereas the high ranging defense of the Obsidian Shield is very helpful.)

Example equipment for maging:
 * Full void knight robes with void magic helm or Ahrim's robes
 * Mystic air staff
 * Dragon boots or Boots of lightness or Runner boots
 * God book or Mage's book

Example equipment for ranging:
 * Full Black dragonhide armour with Archer helm or Armadyl armour
 * Magic bow or Dark bow
 * Ranger boots or Boots of lightness or Runner boots

Player roles
Unlike Castle Wars, Pest Control, and Trouble Brewing, you are bound to a specific role when you play Barbarian Assault. Each team has five players on it, and must have at least one player to each role.



Recruiting
The Numbered Rooms are, in the long run, more efficient point-earners than the Quickstart. Playing before the world is asleep (i.e. before 12:00 PM EST) will really affect how easy it is to get a team.

Quickstart room
If you'd like to begin playing immediately, enter here. The quickstart room is recommended for beginners, since you can't get fired if you mess up your role. Simply choose one of the roles (or say "I'll do any role"), then enter the room. Once there is at least one person doing each role and at least five people in the room, the game will start, using the lowest wave for the people playing, so if a person is on wave 1, then the game will start on wave 1. Your progress will be reset to that lowest level (for example, if you were on wave 10, and a teammate was on wave 2, you would be reset to wave 2--not recommended).

If someone is killed or someone leaves, all other players will start back on the wave that was played, even after leaving the quickstart room. If the wave is completed then the team will be able to advance to the next wave after leaving the room. The team will not stay together after finishing the first wave.

Numbered rooms
To start a game in the numbered rooms, one person must take a recruitment scroll from the table and use it on four other players. They will then be able to choose their roles, and the recruiter will see their level in that role and be able to accept or decline their offer. The recruiter must also write down their own role. Not recruiting and waiting for an open role is only recommended if you have a combat level higher than 60, as recruiters tend to avoid players who may die easily.

Once the recruiter has their team, the wave will start after the recruiter has climbed down the ladder. The recruiter becomes the team captain and can decide whether or not to keep their team after each wave. If nobody leaves or gets fired, the next wave will automatically start after 30 seconds.

Recruiting examples

 * "[Role] here" - Player is solo and willing to join a team as the said role
 * "Lvl [#] [role] here" - Player is solo, willing to join a team, and is experienced in the said role
 * "[Role] must be to go" - Player is solo and willing to join as said role, if they are in the last slot

Gameplay
The key to this game is teamwork. If just one team member doesn't do their job, then the whole team will gain very little points and possibly fail. The game ends when someone quits by climbing up the ladder, logs out, or dies. You do not lose any items when you die, but you don't keep anything that you acquired through the minigame. The object of the game is to defeat all of the Penance.

Horn
Everyone will get a horn in their inventory to contact their teammates about what they should do (this is very important for the game to work.)



The horn is separated into different functions. At the top right of the screen it comes in this layout for example.


 * DO what is next to the EAR icon
 * TELL / SHOUT out what is next to the MOUTH icon.

Depending upon role, when right-clicked the horn will give options for what to tell your partner:
 * attack style,
 * egg colours,
 * poisoned food, or
 * food to lure with.

In the example, the Defender's Horn interface on the screen shows that the Defender needs to TELL (MOUTH icon) the partner (Healer) to use Poison meat to kill the Penance Healers by right-clicking the horn and selecting the Tell-meat option. The EAR icon shows that the partner (Healer) is telling the Defender what to DO: use Tofu as bait in order to lure Penance Runners to the trap.

Action items change about every 20-30 seconds; a player will need to check the Horn interface for changes and tell the partner any changes as well. It is important to tell the partner what to do as the player and team will lose points for every:
 * wrong attack style, plus damage to attacker
 * runner that gets to the tunnel
 * wrong egg picked up, explodes and causes damage to the collector
 * wrong poison used on a Penance Healer

If you need healing, right-click the horn and choose "Medic" so the Healer will come.

There is also a "horn of glory" in the corner that can be used to contact everyone at once. If a teamate often forgets to call, this can make life a lot easier for other teamates.

Job summaries
There are four different types of Penance in these waves: Fighters, Rangers, Healers, and Runners.

Attacker
Difficulty on regular waves: Difficulty on Queen waves: Calls to: Collector

It's the attacker's job to kill the Penance Fighters and rangers. Runes and arrows are available from the attacker machine near the entrance.

The Penance Fighters and Rangers can only be hurt by one type of attack at any given time. Using the wrong attack will cause you to lose 2 hitpoints and hit no damage. The collector will tell you which attack they are vulnerable to with their horn. Fast weapons like scimitars and shortbows dispose of Penance quickly, but slower weapons like battleaxes and longbows give more time to change attack styles and avoid penalties.

The four attack types are: Controlled/Wind/Bronze, Accurate/Water/Iron, Aggressive/Earth/Steel, and Defensive/Fire/Mithril.

Having a high combat level as an attacker is a significant advantage in the game.

Collector
Difficulty on regular waves: Difficulty on Queen waves: Calls to: Attacker

The collector gathers eggs dropped by killed penance monsters and loads them into the cannon that any teammate can fire.

There are three different coloured eggs: Red, blue, and green. They are dropped by dead Penance. At any given time, only one colour of egg can be picked up. The others will explode if you try. The attacker will tell you which colour you should pick up using their horn. You will be given an egg sack to store the eggs in, but they can also be stored in your inventory.

When you shoot enemies with the egg launcher, you can use blue eggs to stun them for a few seconds, red eggs to damage them (3 damage and 1 splash damage), and green eggs to poison them (1 damage per hit). '''Please note... anyone may fire the cannon and, contrary to popular opinion, firing the cannon does not reduce any players' points for the wave.'''

In a nutshell, the egg launcher should only be used to help a teammate who is having trouble with his role.

While on the final wave of Penance, the Collector role is by far the easiest. During the 10th wave, it is not necessary for the Collector to pick up any eggs, as he will receive 80 points regardless. Therefore, many Collectors on the final stage will camp at the Glory Horn, calling out commands for everyone else. (Note that the horn will become inaccessible after the Queen emerges, however.)

Defender
Difficulty on regular waves: Difficulty on Queen waves: Calls to: Healer

The defender must drop the food the healer tells them to drop in order to lure the Penance Runners into traps. This is done by laying the food in a line that the runner can follow. Bait can be found in the defender machine near the entrance.

There are three types of bait: Worms, tofu, and crackers. The runners will be attracted to one type of bait at any given time. The healer must tell the defender which one to use with their horn. The defender will then drop that type of bait on the trap and make a small trail leading to the north caves. With luck, the runner will follow the trail and get killed by the trap. It is also recommended to drop a line of wrong food two or three squares north of the exit cave. When the runners eat incorrect food they run a few squares to the north. Also, the Defender typically has the easiet job on Wave 10 as there are no penalties, meaning that there is less pressure to stop Runners from escaping.

A hammer and two logs respawn at the north end of the cave. These are used to repair the traps (each trap can only kill two runners before it breaks) and build barricades at the caves, which stops the Penance from appearing for a few seconds. Building barricades is usually not worth the trouble since they delay the players (including the defender himself) from performing their roles effectively. The defender is better off concentrating on the runners.

Healer
Difficulty on regular waves: Difficulty on Queen waves: Calls to: Defender

It's the Healer's job to make potions to heal their team and use poisoned food on the penance healers. Food and a healing vial can be found in the healer machine near the entrance. To heal yourself, drink from the healer spring to heal your hitpoints and cure poison. To heal your teammates, you must use the healing vial on the spring to fill it up, then use it on them. Healing replenishes run energy, so that it is good idea to heal your teammates often, so that you allow them to run more. This is especially valid for the defender and collector.

Use poisoned food on Penance Healers (they can poison you and your team for 2 damage per hit) to poison them. This poison hits four damage on them per hit. The defender should use their horn to tell you which poison to use. This will change as time goes on.

Wave 10
After you get through 9 Waves, you can then fight the Penance Queen in Wave 10. She is impervious to normal attack and must be killed by shooting her with an omega egg. Each person in the team must do their part to make the egg.

The wave starts out normal, but you'll notice that there is only one egg launcher instead of two. There are also poison springs, lava craters, and spiked mushrooms dotted around the edges of the room. One will notice that the levels of the Penance Attackers and Rangers have reduced levels compared to the Penance in Wave 9.

You must defeat all of the Penance Fighters, Rangers, Healers, and Runners before you can damage the Penance Queen, so it is best to defeat them as quickly as you can before the Penance Queen actually appears. There are no penalties for runners that pass-through, for wrong poison packs and for wrong attack types.

When the Penance Queen does appear, she will be Level 209. She has a long distance ranged attack that simultaneously hits all five team members and can potentially inflict over 20 damage. She will be accompanied by Level 63 Queen Spawn, which can be defeated by anyone with any attack.

Once the Penance Queen arrives, you need to make omega eggs. You can give the yellow eggs to other players by using the eggs on them.


 * The collector needs to gather yellow eggs that the queen drops.  They then need to pass these eggs to the healer.


 * The healer needs to dunk the eggs in the poison pools at the side of the arena, once done, they need to be given to the attacker.


 * The attacker needs to add spikes to the egg from the mushrooms at the side of the arena. The eggs need to be passed along to the defender.


 * The defender dunks the eggs in the lava pools at the side and hands them back to the collector who places them in the cannon ready to be fired.


 * Remember the order: CHAD: Collector, Healer, Attacker, Defender and back to Collector. Or with colours: yellow-green-red-blue-yellow.

Around 8-12 omega eggs are needed to kill the Penance Queen. Omega eggs may not be used by a player until they have dealt with all of their other allotted monsters.

When fighting the Penance Queen, the healer probably has the most work to do - most players will need far more healing than in earlier stages, they have to do the eggs and everything they normally do as well. For this reason it is recommended that the fifth member of the team be an extra healer, unless the healer is experienced and is level 5 one; even then 2 healers are still recommended.

It is also helpful that teammates wear a full set of Guthan's so that they don't need to be healed as often. Once all other enemies are dead it is also useful if players gather near the Healing Pool so that the healers don't have to run as far. Attackers and defenders should help the collector fire the cannon at this stage.

Gameplay strategy
The game is not as straightforward as it sounds, and there are many ways your team can maximize the points earned. The following strategies outline some tactics for your team to earn high points each round, but remember the basic rule: Always call out the correct action each time it changes. If you don't call, you and your teammates get penalized. Note that every person has a differant way of playing and as such this strategy should not be considered the only way to play.

Attacker
Although using a slower weapon may hinder your ability to kill quickly, it helps prevent penalties due to incorrect attack styles, since you usually cannot stop fast weapons quickly enough when the attack styles change. Auto-retaliate should also be turned off to prevent accidental incorrect attacks. Killing monsters slowly also allows the collector to collect all the eggs before they disappear.

Lower-leveled players should remember to use a shield so you don't die easily. High leveled players can also bring a set of Guthans for emergency healing when the healers are busy healing other near-death players. (When healing, you can only use the controlled or defensive styles. However, if it is a real emergency, you can use the spear when the attack styles are accurate or aggressive. You still get healed even if you don't do damage, but it costs your team honour points.)

After you kill most of the the monsters, gather near the healing pool and allow the healer to replenish your HP as you get hit for more honour points per round. in wave 10, you can switch to a faster weapon because there are no penalties. The attacker level does not matter much, since the damage still depends on your strength level.

Remember to call out when it changes if you want the collector to call back. Attackers should always try and have the horn menu open on right-click, when the attack type changes clicking the egg colour will stop attacks.

Collector
It is recommended that the honour points earned in this role NOT be used to level up your collector level, since most players consider higher collector levels all but useless. However keep in mind that at level 2 you get access to egg converter, and the higher role level, the more eggs you can gather in bag.

By collecting as many eggs as possible, you earn honour points, so collect blue eggs anyway even if they have no practical use. Call out to the attacker when the style changes if you want the egg colour called to you. When you have 5+ poison and explosive eggs, deposit into the egg launcher for the defender and other idle teammates to use against the penance runners. If you have a full inventory but cannot deposit into the egg launcher since it's full, use the egg converter to rid yourself of most of your eggs. This is another reason why you should not level up your collector level; the egg destruction method works best at level 2. You cannot use egg converter when level 1 collector. During gameplay, it is important that the egg launcher be used to kill runners whenever possible, to prevent high penalties of runners gotten away. This is valid only if defender has problems with luring runners to trap(s). If you have high level defender in the team (4-5) do not shoot runners, as the whole team will have less honour for every runner that is not killed by defender.

The egg launcher looks virtually useless against other monsters (Except omega eggs by the Penance Queen) due to their high HP, however if they are being hit by a large amount of poison or explosive eggs, coupled with attackers and/or healers, it would do considerable damage. During wave 10, before the queen comes you can stand at the horn of glory to call out, and it would be great if red eggs are deposited into the hopper to kill runners since you cannot attack the queen unless they are all killed.

Defender
This is perhaps one of the most difficult jobs to master. The defender level of a player greatly affects performance, since the lure range determined if runners are stopped or not. One way to stop runners from reaching the lure cave is by dropping a straight line of random types of bait parallel to the south wall, as it is almost an impenetrable barrier that stops runners from getting past. There is no penalty for using the wrong type of bait, and there is also no penalty for using the egg launcher, so you can put up a line of bait and use explosive/poison eggs instead. Two explosive eggs or 5 poison eggs kill a runner. Remember to call to the healer frequently. You can also block the caves when you are finished dropping the baits, since it makes the game much less chaotic. In wave 10 you can lure the runners to the lure cave instead, since no penalties are given for runners that got past. It is also a lot faster and easier to do so. Because the collector may not get the eggs loaded fast enough, here is a good strategy for actually getting them to the trap...

As soon as the wave starts, get the food and run straight for the trap. Drop 2 of the correct food on the trap or on a square next to it. Place a line of food from the trap to the hammer. This will distract and lure runners coming out of the cave. Grab a hammer and logs and head right back for the trap to fix it and lay 2 more food. After this, look for any runners which may have gotten past and lure them back to the trap with a trail of food. Note - you need to drop the correct food on the trap to kill the runners but do not need the correct food to lure them in a certain direction. The trap is good for killing 2 runners before it needs to be repaired. It's also a good idea to stick to one trap so that you don't have to run back and forth. The amount of runners you will have is one more than the wave you are on. For instance... in wave one, you will have 2 runners, in wave two, 3 runners, and so on.

Healer
The healer level is only second in importance compared to the defender level. The amount of HP restored per dose can greatly affect a team's survival chances. If the team does not have two healers, it is important for you to heal first and kill healers later.

You can drop a poison pack into healers once in a while when you are near one, but by concentrating on healing you ensure the team's survival. On a team with two healers, the higher leveled healer will concentrate on healing while the lower leveled healer kill the penance healers. On every wave except wave 10, the more hitpoints healed, the more honour points earned from healing. (It's capped at 511.) On wave 10, two healers is an absolute necessity since the penance queen damages very frequently. The higher leveled healer will heal the players as they gather around the healing pool, while the lower leveled healer will make the omega eggs. Killing healers will be easier since you can just try the poison packs instead of waiting for calls.

Rewards
Players gain honour points as they play. The amount of Honour Points that a player receives is based on their performance and how well they worked with their team, along with the difficulty of the wave. Note that Individual points are counted double. One in the team score and one in the individual score. It is important to do your job properly so you are not penalized twice.

Each team member gets points based on the team's performance plus points based on their own role. A player not TELLING (MOUTH icon) their partner what action to DO (EAR icon) may result in penalties for the entire team.

Players may spend these honour points by talking to Commander Connad, who can be found in the Barbarian Assault entrance hall, near Captain Cain. They can choose to:


 * Upgrade their Barbarian Assault skill levels
 * It costs 200 points in a particular skill to upgrade a level the first time, then 300, then 400, then 500.


 * Purchase specific equipment
 * Fighter hat - 275 points in each role, Queen kill
 * Healer hat - 275 points in each role, Queen kill
 * Runner hat - 275 points in each role, Queen kill
 * Ranger hat - 275 points in each role, Queen kill
 * Fighter torso - 375 points in each role, Queen kill
 * Runner boots - 100 points in each role
 * Penance gloves - 150 points in each role
 * Penance skirt - 375 points in each role, Queen kill
 * Granite body - 95,000 coins, Queen kill
 * NOTE: It is possible to have more than one of a penance item; if you lose a pair on death, you can buy another pair then retrieve the original from your grave.
 * Gamble their points which can yield items up to a Dragon chainbody
 * You can gamble low, medium, or high costing 200, 400, and 500 points. However, you must have already beaten the Queen once in order to gamble 500 points. You do not, however, need to kill the Queen more than once for all the items that require killing the Queen.

Known gambling rewards

 * Low:
 * Flax
 * Unicorn horns (10, noted)
 * Sweetcorn seed (25)
 * Guam seed (49)
 * Guam Leaf (19, noted)
 * Raw Tuna (83, noted)
 * Raw Lobster (30, noted)
 * Oak Logs (394, noted)
 * Sapphire (19 noted)
 * Uncut Sapphire (20 noted)


 * Medium
 * Cadantine (5, noted)
 * Feathers (636)
 * Watermelon seeds (6)
 * Rune arrows (p+) (52)


 * High
 * Loop Half key
 * Teeth Half key
 * Magic shortbow
 * Adamant full helm
 * Adamantite ore (23, noted)
 * Rune pickaxe
 * Rune scimitar
 * Rune battleaxe
 * Rune two-handed sword
 * Rune full helm
 * Rune platebody
 * Rune kiteshield
 * Rune throwing knife (31, 44, or 46)
 * Berserker helm
 * Ranarr weeds (50, noted)
 * Ranarr seeds (70)
 * Magic Tree Seed
 * Raw swordfish (64, 106, 112, 119 or 128, noted)
 * Tuna potatoes (23, 27, 28, 29 or 30, noted)
 * Yew logs (168, noted)
 * Teak logs (23, noted)
 * Teak plank (22, 46, or 55, noted)
 * Uncut rubies (70, noted)
 * Iron ore (62, noted)
 * Lava battlestaff
 * Death runes (37, 52, or 107)
 * Blood runes (40, 44, or 45)
 * Granite Shield
 * Coins (24,975, or 33,784)
 * Dragon bones (13, noted)
 * Dragon medium helmet
 * Dragon chainbody

Please note that the odds of getting a Dragon chainbody are exceedingly slim, seeing as it is a very rare and valuable item. As quoted from Jagex, "About the same odds as Zamorak suddenly deciding to give up his evil ways." It's commonly joked about with the odds being "never".

Other tips

 * You are allowed to use normal potions; however, potions mixed using Barbarian training may not be brought into the arena.
 * Barricaded entrances will only slow down, not stop, Penance from entering the battlefield.
 * As the price of a single Granite body is quickly approaching 180k, it's profitable to purchase one as a reward and sell it--unless you're planning to get a Penance item, of course.
 * Penance gloves weight -4kg, making them useful for things involving running.
 * A Fighter torso, with a high slash defence and strength bonus, is the first item you should purchase.
 * Runner hats and Runner boots are useful for tank pures. The hat is similar to a rune full helm in stat bonuses, and the boots are similar to black boots.  Both of these, however, have no negative Ranged and Magic bonuses, making them useful for pures who don't want to sacrifice defence for offence.

Music

 * Assault and Battery
 * Pirates of Penance - Wave 10 when Penance Queen appears