Armoured zombie

Armoured zombies are level 85 undead monsters encountered during and after the Defender of Varrock quest. There are two varieties based on their type of attack, and they can be identified by the colour of the crest on their helmets:
 * Ones with yellow crests use Melee. Some of these wield scimitars and the others wield battleaxes.
 * Ones with blue crests use Ranged. All of these wield throwing axes.

Whenever an armoured zombie is killed, players received a message, "A strange red mist rises from the dying zombie", and see the mist. During the Defender of Varrock quest, this mist must be captured several times in bottles (found in the zombie's dungeon) for use to open doors further in the dungeon. After the quest, the red mist is not needed, and it and the bottles have no value.

Because zombies are undead, a Salve amulet (e) is very helpful when fighting these creatures, and the Crumble Undead spell works against them, although melee is much more effective.

Armoured zombies are classed as zombies and therefore give Slayer experience when killed during a zombie task. Note that the effects of a Salve amulet does not stack with those of a Black masks or Slayer helmets, for players who use this headgear on slayer tasks.

They are also a good monster to train on as they commonly give 70,000 to 90,000 experience per hour (including Constitution experience), sometimes up to 100,000 experience per hour depending on stats and boosts. This is because players can use the stats-boosting Piety prayer, as there is an Altar for recharging prayer points just outside the entrance to the dungeon. When using piety with the Dragon battleaxe's Special attack (along with a restore potion or just using super attack potions to restore attack) and a Salve amulet (e), a player can gain a total bonus of +63% Strength, +40% Attack and +25% Defence.

Locations

 * The Chaos Temple Dungeon during and after the Defender of Varrock quest. The entrance to this dungeon in a the Wilderness Chaos Temple and thus is in the low-level Wilderness. Revenants can occasionally be nearby. A quick way to reach the temple is using a Games necklace to teleport to either Clan Wars or the Wilderness Volcano, both of which are safe areas.
 * Varrock castle, only during the invasion during Defender of Varrock. At the castle, the armoured zombies only drop bones and grant 10 experience when killed.

Tactics
An abyssal whip coupled with a Rune Defender or a Dragonfire Shield is excellent. Players wanting to train strength should use a Saradomin Sword for maximum experience. However, a dragon scimitar works well for many. Bandos armour (Bandos tassets, and Bandos chestplate) is recommended but players with lower defence levels can use rune or dragon armour or a Fighter torso. Proselyte and Initiate armour is excellent for players using Piety because of increased prayer bonuses (so recharging prayer isn't so often), but this armour has lower defence bonuses.

Super strength potions or the Dragon battleaxe special along with restore potions or super attack potions are recommended for maximum experience per hour.

Players using prayers should climb the ladder to the altar to recharge when they have around 5 prayer points left. Protection prayers can be used, as long as the players remember to switch prayers based on whether they are being attacked with melee or ranged. Players using prayers should stay in the area by the ladder rather than going deeper in the dungeon.

Achieving maximum experience per hour requires that the zombie remain aggressive to the player, so that they are always attack as soon as possible. When the zombies in an area become tolerant of the player, the player can run to another part of the dungeon and then return (such as back to the ladder's area), as this will make the zombie aggressive again.

To maximize profits when killing these zombies, players should pick up most of the stackable/noted drops: charms, all types of planks, pure essence, Runes, and mithril arrows (but not the eyes of newts). For maximum experience per hour players should not bury bones or bother with herbs lesser in value than Ranarr weeds, but they should pick up the valuable herbs and other valuable drops like key halves. Because these zombies frequently drop noted planks and runes, some players may find them a decent source of money: perhaps over 150,000 coins per hour.

Killing Methods
Here are the two most popular methods of killing armoured zombies.

Protection Prayers
The player may use protection prayers to kill the zombies, because of the altar located directly above them. The zombies use both ranged and melee attacks, so some attention must be paid. Players may also use skill-boosting prayers such as Piety and Chivalry to increase the experience gain. It is sometimes difficult to see the colour of the crests on the zombies' heads with clouds of red mist hanging around, so you might want to judge by attack sound instead. Turn your sound up. The melee zombies attack with a trademark zombie grunting sound. Ranged zombies attack with a spinning, hissing sound. Also some may try lowering their camera angle and adjusting monitor brightness. It is a good idea to bring a full inventory of moderately cheap food that could heal enough to compensate the life you lost through wrong prayers, but cheap enough for you to drop without regret to make room for zombie drops. Climbing up the ladder and praying at the altar does not count as leaving the area, and the zombies would not be aggressive again. This might be beneficial for lower levelled players. After the zombies have become tolerant, it is recommended in stick to melee zombies to avoid the hassle and damage from prayer switching.

Tank Method
The player may also tank the armoured zombies. By using strong defensive armour, such as Bandos armour or Barrows Equipment, coupled with a healing familiar (such as a Bunyip) or the Saradomin Godsword, there is no need for protection prayers or food. Bandos is advised due to the fact that it doesn't degrade, but it is not vital. Of course, the player can still use boost prayers such as Piety to increase the overall experience gain. Bring around 2-3 void spinners, bunyips or a better healing familiar, one summoned when players head out. This means players need something to restore summoning points, so a summoning potion 4-dose is needed. A super restore can do the same job. In addition to the familiar's healing ability it might also be wise as to bring an enhanced excalibur for extra healing to remain in the dungeon even longer. If using you're standard prayers, always plan to have piety or chivalry on, and watch prayer points. If you prefer to use curses, it's advised to bring a combat potion and activate Berserker. Climb back up the ladder at around 5 prayer points remaining.

For those who desire to train using a near effortless method travel deeper into the tunnels where less players are found. The first two gates are unlocked. This can be a simple way to train for those tired of crowded entrance areas and for those who train with strong armour, a bunyip, super strength, and super attack. A super defence potion may be needed for those with lower defence (below 80). Be sure to bring an extra bunyip pouch for longer stays. When zombie aggressiveness wears off simply run down the corridor and back. Very little clicking is needed. Using this method provides good experience while requiring little to no attention.

Bones to Peaches is also effective here, as not only do the zombies have a 100% drop of bones, but multiple sets of bones respawn around the altar outside the dungeon.

Note: It seems that the group of zombies around the first bend after going down the ladder hit more often than the group closest to the ladder.

100% drops
Bones (Though there have been cases in which they haven't dropped anything, this glitch is being looked into, according to the Jagex staff)

Weapons, armour and ammunition

 * 4 Mithril arrows
 * Steel mace
 * Adamant kiteshield
 * Dragon spear (extremely rare)
 * Shield left half (extremely rare)
 * Rune spear (extremely rare)
 * Rune Javelin (extremely rare)

Runes

 * 6 Cosmic Rune
 * 3 Nature Rune
 * 12 Chaos Rune
 * 3 Death rune
 * 3 Blood Rune

Herbs

 * Guam
 * Marrentill
 * Tarromin
 * Harralander
 * Ranarr
 * Irit
 * Avantoe
 * Kwuarm
 * Cadantine
 * Lantadyme
 * Dwarf weed

Charms
Please add your charm drop rates to the next template: 


 * Gold charm (most common)
 * Blue charm (least common)
 * Green charm (second most common)
 * Crimson charm (second least common)

Others

 * Coins (common)
 * 9 noted Planks
 * 5 noted Oak planks
 * 2 noted Teak planks (rare)
 * 3-16 noted Pure essence
 * 1-4 noted Eye of newt
 * Uncut Sapphire (rare)
 * Uncut Emerald (rare)
 * Uncut Ruby (rare)
 * Uncut Diamond (rare)
 * 7 Fishing bait
 * Loop half of a key (very rare)
 * Tooth half of a key (very rare)
 * Zombie champion scroll (extremely rare)
 * Chaos Talisman (very rare)
 * Zombie bone
 * Ancient Effigies (very rare)

Trivia

 * "This one hasn't quite got round to dying" is a reference to Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
 * They seem to be wearing a mangled version of the Elite black armour.
 * There is a glitch where sometimes the player will kill an Armoured Zombie, and their loot will be floating on top of the red mist. This glitch has not yet been fixed.
 * "He sure looks grave" could be a reference to Romeo and Juliet when Mercutio is dying, claiming he will be a grave man.