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This article is about the minigame. For the set of armour and weapons, see Barrows equipment.
For its sequel, see Barrows: Rise of the Six.
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Redskull
This is a dangerous minigame.
If you die, you will lose your items and will need to reclaim them from Death or your grave.
Worlds Icon The official world for Barrows is world 15 (P2P).
Barrows
Barrows fighting
Release date 9 May 2005 (Update)
Members Yes
Location East of Burgh de Rott
Participants 1
Skills involved Combat
Reward currency None
In spotlight rotation No
Hiscores No
Tutorial No
Custodians Strange Old Man
Music unlocked Dangerous Way
Developers Original: Graham B
Update: Tim C
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Barrows icon

The Barrows is an area-based combat minigame. It involves defeating the six Barrows brothers, each with their own special strengths and weaknesses. A seventh, Akrisae the Doomed, is unlocked after completing Ritual of the Mahjarrat, and a sister, Linza the Disgraced, is unlocked after completing Kindred Spirits.

Obtaining all unique drops will unlock the Graverobber [Name] title.

Getting there[]

Barrows map

A map of the Barrows (click to view a larger version)

  • Drakan's medallion - This is the fastest means of travel to the Barrows, having a teleport directly to their graves; no charges are consumed if the medallion is used from inside Morytania, such as from Canifis lodestone. Alos, can be used if it has 0 charges, but it only works inside the "free-teleport" zones.
  • Max Guild PvM portal - This option is just as fast as Drakan's medallion; however, it requires level 99 in every skill.
  • Games necklace - After gaining enough points from Temple Trekking, a games necklace can be used to teleport directly to Burgh de Rott, which is only a short walk from the Barrows.
  • From Canifis - The slowest method is walking through the swamps from Canifis; however, there are several shortcuts for this route:
  • The fairy ring in Mort Myre Swamp can be accessed by code BKR. It's only a short distance from the ring to the swamp boat.
    • A Swamp Boat in the middle of the swamp can be taken for free to land on the bridge to the Barrows.
    • In Search of the Myreque unlocks access to the area under the bar in Canifis, which provides a faster route to the swamp boat.

History[]

Main article: Morytania Campaign
Barrows entrance

The entrance to the Barrows

The Barrows brothers were ancient warriors of Saradomin who established a reputation of near invincibility while fighting in the God Wars. They launched a massive attack to liberate Morytania from the clutches of Lord Lowerniel Vergidiyad Drakan and his vampyres, after he had established complete control over the continent as of the Fall of Hallowvale. As the brothers departed, a mysterious stranger, the Zarosian Mahjarrat Sliske, granted them superhuman power to battle Drakan's forces. It succeeded, for the brothers, who were in the front line, seemed invincible. They had not anticipated, however, that Sliske had ulterior motives for helping them.

As the brothers and their accompanying army progressed further into enemy territory in Morytania, Sliske followed them until the brothers became weakened. The brothers were grievously wounded in battle near the Great Vyrewall, and thus the army set up camp just west of Meiyerditch. Soon, the brothers died of their infected wounds simultaneously in the army's camp. The army spent several days and nights holding off the attacking vampyres to construct burial mounds, the Barrows, to honour the fallen brothers. The army quickly retreated from Morytania, realizing they could never succeed without their former leaders' prowess.

Barrows maze

Dare you traverse the maze?

As the army began its return, Sliske cast a magical spell on the crypts, corrupting the bodies of the brothers, turning them into his newest wights, and binding them to guard a very powerful artefact. Sliske's ally Azzanadra had requested for this icon to be guarded before the latter's imprisonment in Jaldraocht Pyramid, so that it could later be used to re-establish contact with the banished Zaros. Sliske, instead of directly taking the Barrows Brothers, decided it would be fun to have them almost succeed in their goal before claiming them, a typical characteristic of the Mahjarrat.

In 169 of the Fifth Age, Azzanadra was released, and, with the help of an adventurer who manages to steal the Barrows Icon from the brothers, re-established communication with Zaros in time for the Mahjarrat Ritual of Rejuvenation. Shortly after said ritual, which the adventurer attends with several Temple Knight allies, Sliske attempted to claim them in a similar way. However, the Saradominist priest Akrisae Kolluym intercepted the spell, sacrificing himself and turning him into Akrisae the Doomed - the seventh wight. Sliske was disappointed that he did not claim the player, but was content enough with a new wight.

In approximately Year 4 of the Sixth Age, Sliske lured the World Guardian into one of his twisted games, using Meg, Linza, Major Mary Rancour, and Brother Samwell as bait. He instructed the World Guardian to guide the Barrows Brothers through a series of torturous tests, designed to force them to admit to and atone for various misdeeds in their lives. In a fit of temper over the World Guardian snooping around in his private journals, Sliske reveals that the whole game was a setup, and that Linza had come to him for protection from the Dragonkin, from whom she'd stolen the secrets of smithing dragon metal, along with some dragon ore. He breaks his bargain with her, and turns her into his eighth wight, Linza the Disgraced.

Sliske, in his arrogance, failed to anticipate that the player's meddling greatly interrupted his control over the Barrows wights. With the exception of Akrisae, he deployed the original six to kill the player, but because of their actions, the brothers turned against Sliske. Sliske sent out Nomad, Gregorovic and Linza to kill the player, but they were all defeated by the player after a long fight. When Sliske "died", the brothers (and Linza) were freed of Sliske's control. Linza informed the player that they would be waiting in the crypts, eager to battle the player again to improve their skills.

A crumbling tome, obtained by searching the hut near the mounds or by talking to the Strange Old Man found digging the crypts, provides a detailed account of how the brothers came to be buried.

Graphical overhaul[]

After the release of the new website and interfaces on 22 November 2011, a screenshot was shown on the media page of a graphical update for the Barrows mini game. The January 2012 Behind the Scenes article confirmed that an update was coming to the minigame, which was introduced on the 4 January update.

The graphical update changed the looks of the area, added mist to the crypt, changed the Barrows brothers from purple ghosts to corporeal foes, and, for a week following the release, gave a 1 in 10 chance of doubling rewards. This extra reward chance ended on 11 January.

Objective[]

The objective of the Barrows mini game is to defeat the eight Barrows brothers: Ahrim the Blighted, Dharok the Wretched, Guthan the Infested, Karil the Tainted, Torag the Corrupted, Verac the Defiled. Akrisae the Doomed is only available after Ritual of the Mahjarrat, and Linza the Disgraced is only available after Kindred Spirits.

The Barrows brothers and sister are very strong, each with very high defence. Each brother and sister also has a different special ability, which is the same as the set effect of the corresponding armour set. Because of this, special consideration should be given to the methods with and order in which the brothers are eliminated.

After killing a Barrows brother, experience will not be awarded if exiting the tomb too quickly. However, the kill will count towards the "Brothers slain".

A similar effect may occur when killing a brother in the tunnels. If a player enters another room quickly after killing a brother (before receiving the exp drop), the brother may respawn in the next room. This will prevent the brother from being added to the "Brothers slain" counter and they must be killed again.

Strategy[]

Main article: Barrows/Strategies

Rewards[]

Barrows chest

The chest that has your rewards in it

If the brother whose tomb was used to enter the tunnel is not killed yet, he will appear when the chest is looted.

The standard monsters in the tunnels may be killed to increase the chances of receiving rare, non-Barrows items; e.g. dragon helms. The total number of combat levels of the standard monsters killed affect the reward up to 1,000 combat levels.[1]

Letting be the number of brothers killed (excluding Linza the Disgraced), the number of reward rolls for the chest can be expressed with .[1] If Barrows items are rolled successfully, they are chosen only out of the killed wights' items. It is possible to obtain multiple pieces of Barrows equipment from a single chest.

First, if Linza the Disgraced was killed, there is a 1 in 192 chance to obtain one of her items. If this fails due to failing the roll or not killing her, another piece of Barrows equipment is rolled with the chance . All of the eligible Barrows items have equal odds of being rewarded. If the Barrows equipment roll is also failed, Barrows totems are rewarded with chance. If this fails, the corruption sigil is rolled with chance if one is eligible for one. Finally, if all of the above fails, a piece of loot from the standard reward table is rolled. In addition, wearing a ring of wealth or higher luck modification has a chance to add one extra reward to the chest.[1]

Killing all six of the original brothers is required to increase the beast tab kill count and thus also required to reap a soul when on a Soul Reaper assignment.

Linza the Disgraced's equipment[]

This loot table is rolled first if Linza the Disgraced was killed. The chance of getting a roll to Linza's unique table is 1 in 192. If the roll is successful, there is a equal chance of getting any of the item, making it 1 in 960 for a specific item, and no further rewards are awarded.

Item Quantity Rarity GE price
Linza's helmLinza's helm1Very rare (1/960)2,194,829
Linza's cuirassLinza's cuirass1Very rare (1/960)3,636,985
Linza's greavesLinza's greaves1Very rare (1/960)3,690,545
Linza's hammerLinza's hammer1Very rare (1/960)4,211,278
Linza's shieldLinza's shield1Very rare (1/960)2,287,962

Other Barrows equipment[]

This table is only rolled if the above table fails due to either failing the roll or not having killed Linza the Disgraced.[1] Only the items of the brothers that were killed are available to be rewarded.

Item Quantity Rarity GE price
Ahrim's hoodAhrim's hood1Rare[1][2]779,566
Ahrim's robe topAhrim's robe top1Rare[1][2]2,534,956
Ahrim's robe skirtAhrim's robe skirt1Rare[1][2]1,401,853
Ahrim's staffAhrim's staff1Rare[1][2]4,984,576
Ahrim's wandAhrim's wand1Rare[1][2]941,047
Ahrim's book of magicAhrim's book of magic1Rare[1][2]1,311,616
Dharok's helmDharok's helm1Rare[1][2]427,343
Dharok's platebodyDharok's platebody1Rare[1][2]1,816,430
Dharok's platelegsDharok's platelegs1Rare[1][2]900,061
Dharok's greataxeDharok's greataxe1Rare[1][2]533,975
Torag's helmTorag's helm1Rare[1][2]379,723
Torag's platebodyTorag's platebody1Rare[1][2]1,596,186
Torag's platelegsTorag's platelegs1Rare[1][2]826,450
Torag's hammerTorag's hammer1Rare[1][2]402,105
Verac's helmVerac's helm1Rare[1][2]372,869
Verac's brassardVerac's brassard1Rare[1][2]1,548,077
Verac's plateskirtVerac's plateskirt1Rare[1][2]808,201
Verac's flailVerac's flail1Rare[1][2]395,825
Guthan's helmGuthan's helm1Rare[1][2]386,305
Guthan's platebodyGuthan's platebody1Rare[1][2]1,740,040
Guthan's chainskirtGuthan's chainskirt1Rare[1][2]1,036,649
Guthan's warspearGuthan's warspear1Rare[1][2]1,971,958
Karil's coifKaril's coif1Rare[1][2]471,880
Karil's topKaril's top1Rare[1][2]2,557,831
Karil's skirtKaril's skirt1Rare[1][2]1,499,085
Karil's crossbowKaril's crossbow1Rare[1][2]3,954,941
Karil's pistol crossbowKaril's pistol crossbow1Rare[1][2]638,454
Karil's off-hand pistol crossbowKaril's off-hand pistol crossbow1Rare[1][2]975,482
Akrisae's hoodAkrisae's hood1Rare[1][2]396,525
Akrisae's robe topAkrisae's robe top1Rare[1][2]1,096,334
Akrisae's robe skirtAkrisae's robe skirt1Rare[1][2]649,040
Akrisae's war maceAkrisae's war mace1Rare[1][2]387,083

Standard items[]

This table is only rolled if the above rolls failed. If both Barrows totem and corruption sigil rolls fail, the drop is affected by the killed standard monsters in the crypt: A random number between 0 and is rolled where is the total level of monsters killed.[1]

Item Quantity Rarity GE price
Coins 1000Coins1–4,000Common[1][3]1–4,000
Corruption sigilCorruption sigil1–3Rare[1][4][5]Not sold
Loop half of a keyLoop half of a key1Rare[1][6]11,053
Tooth half of a keyTooth half of a key1Rare[1][7]11,538
Bolt rackBolt rack35–280Common[1][8]4,620–36,960
Barrows totemBarrows totem1–14Uncommon[1][9]1,628–22,792
Dragon helmDragon helm1Rare[1][10]58,601
Blood runeBlood rune35–630Common[1][11]23,730–427,140
Chaos runeChaos rune115–1,890Common[1][12]17,480–287,280
Death runeDeath rune70–1,190Common[1][13]16,240–276,080
Mind runeMind rune250–4,900Common[1][14]4,750–93,100

Lucky drops[]

This drop table is accessed by having a luck modification from ring of wealth or above, and is rolled as an extra reward in respect to the above. There is a 1/10 chance to not obtain a reward even if the table is rolled.[1]

Item Quantity Rarity GE price
SharkShark4Common (1/10)[1]7,732
Prayer potion (2)Prayer potion (2)1Common (3/10)[1][15]1,395
Restore potion (2)Restore potion (2)1Common (3/10)[1][16]220
Super defence (2)Super defence (2)1Common (3/10)[1][17]4,780
Death runeDeath rune15Common (1/10)[1]3,480
Mind runeMind rune60Common (1/10)[1]1,140

Other items[]

This drop table is seemingly not affected by the above drop tables.

Item Quantity Rarity GE price
Barrows iconBarrows icon1Always[18]Not sold
Sealed clue scroll (elite)Sealed clue scroll (elite)1Rare[19][20]Not sold
Amulet of the forsakenAmulet of the forsaken1Very rare7,526,215
Crystal triskelion fragment 1Crystal triskelion fragment 11–2Very rareNot sold
Crystal triskelion fragment 2Crystal triskelion fragment 21Very rareNot sold
Crystal triskelion fragment 3Crystal triskelion fragment 31Very rareNot sold
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc Mod Timbo. "Revealing Drop Rates." 27 October 2017. Developers' Blogs.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af The chance to obtain any item from the table is , so the drop rate for this item specifically is at most 1/1,568 by only killing the respective brother.
  3. ^ If the random number lies between 0 and 379, inclusive.
  4. ^ Must wield or have a Dragon defender or better in your inventory.
  5. ^ Only rolled if Barrows totem roll was unsuccessful. 1/(50(7-N)) drop rate.
  6. ^ If the random number lies between 1,005 and 1,010, inclusive. Either this or the tooth half is given.
  7. ^ If the random number lies between 1,005 and 1,010, inclusive. Either this or the loop half is given.
  8. ^ If the random number lies between 880 and 1,004, inclusive.
  9. ^ 1/(20-N) drop rate.
  10. ^ If the random number lies above 1,011, inclusive.
  11. ^ If the random number lies between 755 and 879, inclusive.
  12. ^ If the random number lies between 505 and 629, inclusive.
  13. ^ If the random number lies between 630 and 754, inclusive.
  14. ^ If the random number lies between 380 and 504, inclusive.
  15. ^ 1/10 chance to obtain only these, 1/10 to drop with a restore potion (2), and 1/10 to drop with super defence (2).
  16. ^ 1/10 chance to obtain only these, 1/10 to drop with a prayer potion (2), and 1/10 to drop with super defence (2).
  17. ^ 1/10 chance to obtain only these, 1/10 to drop with a prayer potion (2), and 1/10 to drop with restore potion (2).
  18. ^ Only during The Temple at Senntisten quest; 100% chance if 6 are killed.
  19. ^ 1/(120 + 8*(number of brothers not killed, including Akrisae even if not unlocked)) (source 50:45 in this developer Q&A)
  20. ^ There is a 1% chance of this being a sealed clue scroll (master) instead

Feats[]

  • Brothers in Arms (RuneScore 20) - Defeat each of the Barrows Brothers, dealing the killing blow with their own weapon.
  • Barrowed Time (RuneScore 0) - Obtained a collection of unique drops from the Barrows Brothers.
  • Something Barrowed (RuneScore 5) - Defeat the six Barrows Brothers and loot their chest several times depending on the tier.

Rise of the Six[]

Barrows: Rise of the Six is a hard mode variant of Barrows, with players fighting the newly empowered Barrows Brothers. In return for a harder fight (up to four players may battle them), players will find themselves greatly rewarded upon defeating them.

Music unlocked[]

The following music tracks are unlocked here:

Trivia[]

  • During the graphical update in January 2012, it was possible to get a draconic visage from the barrows chest, which only lasted a week.
  • Barrows is another word for a tumulus, which is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave, called a crypt in the minigame, or graves, which is probably where the name of the minigame comes from. Tumulus is Latin for "mound" or "small hill".
  • From 00:00 UTC 12 November 2011 to 23:59 UTC 14 November 2011, there was an event where players could gain double loot from several dungeons, including the Barrows minigame. This was part of Jagex's bot-busting celebration.
  • It is possible for a brother to spawn again when you kill the first one, then rush quickly to a door nearby. Killing the brother that popped up again however, will cause it to count as a creature instead.
  • If you attempt to enter with a familiar, you will be forced out with a message saying "You cannot enter this area with a familiar. You must leave this area and dismiss your familiar if you wish to enter."
    • If you use Surge or Escape to get into the mounds with a familiar, a message will say "You cannot enter this area with a familiar. You must leave this area and dismiss your familiar if you wish to enter. Your familiar is forced to leave as it cannot remain here." The familiar will be automatically dismissed, dropping everything it is carrying.
  • Follower pets (e.g boss pets) cannot be summoned inside the Barrows area. However, they can be brought inside if summoned outside first.
  • As of 1 February 2018, the highest kill count for this boss was 12,595 kills[1].
    • This had not increased by 6 May 2018.[2].
  • It is possible to receive two of the same pieces of armour from one chest. It is currently unknown if this is a glitch.

References[]

  1. ^ Mod Shauny. Top 10 killers per Boss. 2 Feb 2018. "Here are the top 10 kills for each Boss in RuneScape, be aware that we've not listed display names for privacy purposes however if you wish to brag about one number being yours then we won't stop you!"*
  2. ^ Mod Shauny. Top 10 killers per Boss. 6 May 2018. "Here are the top 10 kills for each Boss in RuneScape, be aware that we've not listed display names for privacy purposes however if you wish to brag about one number being yours then we won't stop you!"*
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