Hellhound

Hellhounds are monsters which are commonly hunted by high-levelled Treasure Trail enthusiasts for the level 3 clue scrolls that they may drop when killed. After the release of the Summoning skill, hellhounds were hunted for the charms that are used for infusing Summoning pouches, as they drop gold charms very often (Approximately 2 gold charms are dropped in every 3 kills). Hellhounds are also given as Slayer assignments.

With the release of the Wilderness Volcano, it became the strongest non-revenant NPC in Free-to-play worlds.

Habitats

 * Taverley Dungeon
 * Level 50 Wilderness, east of the Deserted Keep.
 * Witchaven Shrine Dungeon, lots of safe spots but requires the quest Family Crest.
 * God Wars Dungeon (level 127).
 * Fight Arena (Bouncer) (level 137) Note: Bouncer can only be fought once during Fight Arena quest, and once more during the Shadow Sword miniquest.
 * Kuradal's Dungeon
 * Wilderness Volcano (the only area where non-members can fight them).
 * Hellhounds can be made in a POH dungeon, and will attack other players if challenge mode is on.

Fighting strategy
Hellhounds have a low defence, but make up for this with high offensive stats. The level 122 and 127 hellhounds have maximum hits of 110 and 140 respectively. They can be ranged and cannoned fairly easily in the Taverley Dungeon, making it a decent way to train the Ranged skill. In addition to several safe spots, players can stand outside of the target's wander zone to stay safe.

If fighting them in Level 50 Wilderness, there is a safe spot next to the southern most dead tree right next to the lava around the Deserted Keep; if you stand directly to the west of that tree, the hellhound will back against the fence and will not attack you while you range it.

The two hellhounds in the Witchaven Shrine Dungeon can also be easily ranged and maged once they become tolerant of the player. There is a gold rock in the middle eastern part of the room that is commonly used as a safe spot. If the hellhounds are not yet tolerant, the player will not be able to hide from both of them. This dungeon is a quick trip to and from the south-east Ardougne bank. Since there are only two, and the respawn rate is slow, this may not be the most efficient place to slay them for a Slayer assignment.

However, the hellhounds in the Witchaven Shrine Dungeon also the most cost effective, as wielders of the Ardougne Cloak may find it rather easy to maximise one's Prayer bonus and Protect from Melee while slaying the hounds. After the player's pray has run out, he/she may use the Ardougne Cloak to teleport back to the monastery where the player my recharge Prayer and make the short trip back to the hellhounds once more. (Depending on the player's levels, 15-30 hounds may be slayed before prayer must be recharged)

Despite the high accuracy and damage of their attacks, a player can still fight Hellhounds for a nearly limitless amount of time using either Guthan's set or a combination of Bunyip pouches and the Bones to Peaches spell. (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

If one refrains from picking up any bones, one would theoretically only need a maximum of 5 free inventory slots to pick-up any items that the hellhounds drop (All four kinds of charms + any eventual clue scroll). However, additional inventory spaces could be taken up by ancient effigy drops, although this is quite rare. The rest of the player's inventory could then be filled with potions or food in order to prolong the trip. If killing the Hellhounds in Kuradal's dungeon, several spaces should be left open for possible Ferocious Ring drops.

Free-to-play strategy


These monsters can be easily killed with all three attacks in the combat triangle with a fairly high combat level (90+) in the Wilderness Volcano, the only place where non-members can kill them. Their low defence stats can easily fool a player as they have high offensive stats, and can hit at their max very often. These are not a good way to train.

Wearing full rune is the best option for killing them. As they do a maximum damage of 118, it is advised to bring a full inventory of swordfish as food.

For rangers and mages, they can take a safespot just near the south-western entrance of the volcano, and not to worry about other hellhounds. This is one of the few safespots in the volcano.

100% drop

 * Bones - this is the only drop for non-members.

Other drops

 * Level 3 Clue scroll (uncommon, about 1/115 drops it), although it is possible to obtain a Clue Scroll within a few kills.
 * Ferocious ring (only in Kuradal's Dungeon)
 * Starved ancient effigy (rare)

Trivia

 * Slayer masters describe hellhounds as "a cross between dogs and demons". However, even though they are demons, they are not affected by the powers of Silverlight or Darklight, and they drop bones rather than ashes.
 * Sumona simply says that hellhounds deserve to die, even though they are not cats. This is a reference to her being the Devourer.
 * On 16 June 2009, hellhounds were placed in the Wilderness Volcano.
 * Despite being smaller than lesser and greater demons, hellhounds have higher levels.
 * Hellhounds are followers of Zamorak, as seen in the God Wars Dungeon, and in the FunOrb game, Armies of Gielinor.
 * In the God Wars Dungeon hellhounds have a hunched back, whereas in Taverley Dungeon and Wilderness Volcano, their backs are straight.
 * Before the update on 15 December 2009, Hellhounds would respawn much slower than usual in Kuradal's dungeon. This has been fixed.
 * Hellhounds are in fact creatures which appear often in European folklore.