Stronghold of Security

The Stronghold of Security, released on 4 July 2006, is a dungeon area for training combat, with connecting doors that previously required players to answer a security related question. The area immediately before the door is protected by another gate, so the player is protected from monsters. It is located in the middle of the Barbarian Village and was the first major update open to Free-to-play players since the upgrade to RuneScape 2.

Doors
The Doors are styled to match each level, as are their names. The doors come in pairs similar to an Airlock between areas. The door leading out of an area is passed through automatically, though it is possible to be hit while apparently having already passed through, Dying inside the "safe" zone between the doors. Each "airlock" is a two by two square so to be safe, a player should walk to the next square after entering an airlock.

Entering the door into the airlock grants immediate passage. The passage leads to a series of chambers which contain NPC's, the chamber should not be attempted by low level players unless appropriately equipped. At the end of each chamber lies a reward in a closed case.

At the start of each level is a portal leading to the reward different for every level including coins and a choice of Fighting boots or Fancy boots (each level of reward also unlocks one of the stronghold emotes including flap, stomp, slap head, and idea) and ladder room, granting quick access to players who have already negotiated the level, or who have sufficient combat level to be allowed immediate passage. The Stronghold of Security was named after the 4 Horsemen of the apocalypse: War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death

Levels
There are four levels, each one tougher than the last. Each level contains an entrance/exit point at the beginning and a portal to access the next level if re-entering after completing a level. The portal leads directly to the treasure room of the current level.

There are some general monsters, plus others specific to the level. At the end of the level, there is a reward, typically coins and an emote, and exits to deeper levels, or back toward the surface.

It is possible to claim all the rewards by running through the stronghold unarmed (this to ensure nothing is lost if killed). It helps to use the maps referenced below. It has been proven that at a very low combat that it can completed with no armour or food, but you can receive 80 or more hits from a single NPC as you run past it. Although life points are helpful, it is possible to run through while at 100 life points. This is not recommended however, since monsters in the 4th level of the dungeon can hit low-levelled players extremely hard. If following the maps through the spots with less or lower levelled monsters. Food, Prayer and items to restore from damage would also be useful if available. If players have no food, prayer and have low life points, one trick is to rest in between the airlocks for health. Although this is slow, it may ensure survival.

Advice: When training combat at these monsters, bring runes to teleport to Varrock, you'll avoid some tedious walking and save some time.

Vault of War (1st level)

 * 1: The entrance, portal and remains of an explorer
 * 2: Ladder up to Barbarian Village
 * 3: The Gift of Peace
 * 4: The ladder down to level 2
 * 5: Ladder up to Barbarian Village
 * G: Goblins
 * M: Minotaurs
 * S: Wolves


 * Occupied by level 5, 11, 13, 16 and 25 Goblins, level 1 Rats, level 12 and 27 minotaurs and level 11 and 14 wolves. This is the only level which is a Multi-combat area. The monsters in this level are not particularly challenging.
 * An excellent level for ranged training, as the Minotaurs drop copious quantities of iron arrows and the fences are an excellent safe spot.
 * Also, there is absolutely no risk in this level unless you attack a monster, because none of the monsters are aggressive.
 * The Minotaurs may drop a Right skull half and also drop noted bulk items, including Rune essence, Gold bars, and copper and tin ores.
 * The reward at the end of the level is gained from a chest called the Gift of peace containing 2000 coins and the "Flap" emote.

Catacomb of Famine (2nd level)

 * 1: The ladder from level 1 and the portal.
 * 2: The ladder down to level 3
 * 3: The ropes to the start of level 1
 * 4: The Grain of Plenty
 * F: Flesh Crawlers
 * R: Giant Rats
 * Z: Zombies


 * This level is much more difficult than the previous level, apparently devoid of any safe spots other than unoccupied corridors and between door spaces, and the fact all the monsters are aggressive, but giant rats.
 * This level contains level 30, 40, 44 and 53 Zombies, level 28, 35 and 41 Flesh Crawlers, and level 26 Giant rats.
 * It is sometimes possible to trap a monster on corners, and fight them safely with Ranged or Magic.
 * The Flesh crawlers may drop the Bottom of Sceptre piece for the skull sceptre, but often drop more valuable items such as uncut gems. Many high level free players tend to hang at the extreme south-east room training on crawlers taking advantage of their aggressiveness. For members flesh crawlers regularly drop grimy herbs (Ranarrs and Lantadymes being the most valuable at and  coins each, respectively). It is possible to walk away after your training with 100-250k worth of items.
 * The reward at the end of the level is gained from a sack called the Grain of Plenty containing 3000 coins and the "Slap head" emote.

Pit of Pestilence (3rd level)

 * 1: The entrance from level 2 and the portal
 * 2: The Box of Health
 * 3: The ladder down to level 4
 * 4: The ladder to the start of the level
 * C: Catablepon
 * S: Scorpions
 * G: Giant Spiders


 * This level contains level 24 Spiders, level 50 Giant spiders, level 37 and 59 Scorpions, and level 49, 64 and 68 Catablepon.
 * The Catablepon that roam this floor may drop a sceptre piece, but are tough opponents for lower levels, doing damage at an alarming rate. They also appear to have a high magic defence. It is difficult to find an ideal strategy, as they use magic to weaken, but have a melee attack. There is one safespot that always works, and is ideal for rangers or mages, although you will have to run into the group of aggressive catablepon to retrieve your arrows.
 * The level 50 Giant spiders are a popular place to train for higher levelled players, as they are aggressive to any levelled player (though they become non aggressive after a good amount of kills), and do relatively little damage. They do not die so fast that it is ineffective to train on them, and they are relatively weak enough that you can kill them easily. With Guthans, a player could easily train to level 99 in a combat skill with no need of banking, except for when their Barrows armour depletes completely.
 * The reward at the end of the level is gained from a chest called the Box of Health containing 5000 coins and the "Idea" emote. This chest will also provide full healing and stat restore, useful for restoring your Strength against the Catablepon. However, this only works once.

Sepulchre of Death (4th level)

 * 1: The entrance from level 3 and the portal. There are also Shades, but they aren't aggressive.
 * 2: The Cradle of Life
 * 3: Exit to Barbarian Village
 * A: Ankous
 * S: Skeletons
 * G: Ghosts


 * This level contains level 83 Shades, level 60, 68 and 85 Skeletons, level 76 and 77 Ghosts, and level 75, 82, and 86 Ankous.
 * All of the monsters in this level are Undead, so are highly susceptible to the Crumble undead spell, the Salve amulet and its enchanted version.
 * There are some Safe spots which, as in the pestilence level, are usable only when the monsters have given up attacking. There is one safespot in the south-western room where Ankous and skeletons are, although it is annoying trying to kill ankous because they can still get around it. After receiving your reward from this level, the cradle of life, you no longer have to answer questions to pass every other door when going through the stronghold.
 * The Ankous may drop a Left skull half, which is one of the four items needed to make a Skull sceptre.
 * The reward at the end of the level is gained from a chest called the Cradle of Life containing boots in a choice of two styles and the "Stomp" emote..

Criticism
A common criticism of the Stronghold is that monsters can still attack players even if they have passed through the door. This can cause death or wasted life points. This is incorrect, though, as they cannot attack you through the gate but if you are hit before entering the gate, the damage may not be registered until once you are safely inside the airlock.

Rewards
A total of 10,000 coins are earned from all four levels, as well as the four emotes: Idea, Stomp, Flap, and Slap Head.

Skull sceptre
The Skull sceptre can be obtained in four pieces from monster drops. It is inferior in combat stats to a magic staff, but has five charges to teleport back to Barbarian Village Or Gunnarsgrunn. In addition, many players think it looks much better than a magic staff.

Only one kind of piece can be found in one level. They are a fairly rare drop, and can be obtained from Minotaurs (Right skull half) on the first level, Flesh Crawlers (Bottom of sceptre) on the second, Catablepons (Top of sceptre) on the third, and Ankous (Left skull half) on the fourth. Some monsters that drop the pieces come in various levels. The higher levelled ones seem to drop the piece more frequently, although this is not proven. To make it, you add the two skull pieces together, the two handle pieces together, and the handle and the skull together.

Boots
The two styles, fancy boots or fighting boots, may be obtained, exchanged, or replaced if lost, from the Cradle of Life at the end of the fourth level, reachable by the portals and ladders once all levels are completed. The difference between them is purely cosmetic; the fancy ones attract more attention, but the fighting ones have a more serious look.



These boots have the same stats as bronze but are available to free players as well as members. They are a much better choice for free players who use melee than Leather boots, which only have bonuses of +1 to slash and crush defence. These boots are untradeable, and have a destroy option. Because of this, it is impossible to have both pairs, as the drop trick will not work. However you can always come back, to either switch boots if you don't like your current pair or to get them back if they were somehow lost.

Shade robes
Shade robes can be obtained by killing Shades in the Sepulchre of Death; they are not aggressive and can be max hit easily and often. Their combat level suggests they are stronger than they actually are. Shade robes are not transparent like Ghostly robes. Shade robes are untradeable. This was to replace the Shade random event, where a Shade, based on your combat level, would attack you, occasionally dropping one of the two pieces of shade gear. Shade robes can still be stored in your POH costume room, in the costume box.

Using the Orb of oculus
If the player uses the Orb of oculus in certain areas of the Stronghold, he/she can see several member's locations. These include the Dragon Forge, TzHaar City and Dream World.

Music unlocked

 * Dogs of War - Vault of War
 * Food for Thought - Catacomb of Famine
 * Malady - Pit of Pestilence
 * Dance of Death - Sepulchre of Death

Trivia

 * Since this addition was for free players as well as members, the level 86 Ankou replaced the Lesser demon as the second highest-level monster in Free-to-play worlds. Also, the level 85 skeletons became the strongest free-to-play monster in the game, with a max hit of 100, compared to 93 from a Greater demon (the level 85 skeletons have since dropped to second strongest with the addition of Cockroach soldiers, however). Hellhounds have since replaced them as the highest-level monster in free-to-play worlds, and also have the highest max hit at 118.
 * The four levels of the Stronghold of Security were based on the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
 * The entrance to the Stronghold looks like a blown open rock. It is also located in a mining area.
 * The dead adventurer in the first room of the dungeon has a hat that resembles Link's from the Legend of Zelda series. The examine text, "He looks a bit past it" is further reference to the Legend of Zelda - A Link to the Past, for SNES. I wonder what's in his bag might also be a reference to Link utilizing scores of various weapons and items throughout the games.
 * The Cradle of Life refers to the Greek Mythological story about Pandora's box.
 * Previously, it was possible for players to be let through the second door in a corridor without answering a question if they repeatedly clicked doors long enough. This was changed in a hidden update; the door will now give you a warning telling you recovery questions are important after clicking on it too many times. The screen will shake slightly before this will happen.
 * When the Box of Health's reward is taken, life points will be returned to normal, all stats will go back to normal, and all status conditions (poison, disease, etc.) will be cured.
 * In the third level of the Stronghold of Security, upon examining a skeleton with its right leg propped up it will tell you: "He should have run a virus checker more often."
 * You did not have to answer any questions when you passed through a door on a PvP World.
 * When you pass through one of the doors, your character moves its head as if it was startled. This may be because graphically, your character seems to phase through the doors or teleport to the other side.
 * The tune, "Dance of Death" located in the final room could be thought of as a tribute to the British Heavy Metal band Iron Maiden, who made an album and song called "Dance of Death".
 * In the south-west corner of the first floor, there are floating objects outside of the map that appear to be stars. With the Orb of oculus players can see that these things are stars, with a plateau and a floating book on it. This appears to be the location of the battle in Dream Mentor.
 * The north-east door seems to be flipped.Fliped door.png
 * Prior to the unbalanced trade removal, many poor players in need of cash would often create new accounts to do this activity in order to make extra money. The newly-created accounts would then either drop trade the money or trade it to main account by logging onto both at once. However, this is against rule 8, so players caught risked getting banned. It has recently resurfaced with the return of free trade, but now players also risk losing the transferred money in addition to receiving lengthy bans.
 * In the far south-east corner on the first floor there is what appears to be the elemental workshop's bar priming room when viewed by the Orb of oculus.
 * On the second floor, south-west of the starting room there seems to be an ocean/sea if take the camera out far enough with the Orb of oculus.
 * In the Stronghold, rats drop regular Bones, where as rats everywhere else in RuneScape do not.
 * Before the random event update, it was very common to get the grave digger random event by burying bones on the second floor.
 * Each of the four reward areas symbolizes the direct opposite of the room they are in.
 * The doors in the Stronghold are 'passable' without clicking on them, e.g. when defending.
 * If you look east from the shade room in the bottom floor with the Orb of oculus, you can see the theatre where you can see a play after the quest TokTz-Ket-Dill.
 * When you examine the dead skeleton it will say differnt thing for each floor.