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For the elite version, see Dark beast (elite).
Invasion plans
This article has a strategy guide.
All information on mechanics, setups, and strategy are on the subpage.
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Dark beast icon
Dark beast standard

Dark beasts are large, dog-like monsters requiring level 90 Slayer to harm. They attack with both magic and melee, though they use magic far more frequently than melee. The Iorwerth Clan encountered dark beasts in the Mourner Tunnels during the Elven Civil War, and they often killed the slaves that the Iorwerth Clan were using to find the Temple of Light.

A Mask of Gloom (and its upgraded variant) can be used to have slayer masters give you the option of taking a dark beast task once a day, provided that you are wearing it. The dark beast assignment token also has similar mechanics, but only works on Morvran.

Dark beasts are well known for their slightly uncommon blue charm drop, the dark bow, and dark arrowheads. They are one of two creatures able to drop death talismans, the other being dragon implings. They are also good droppers of the rare drop table, and are one of the slayer monsters to drop the crystal triskelion pieces.

While dark beasts can only be accessed by members, their lower-level revenant counterparts are on both member and free to play worlds. If assigned as a Slayer task, revenant dark beasts may take their place, although this is not recommended due to their higher damage output, slow respawn, and the risk of player killers.

Using good ranged equipment, soul split, a bonecrusher and demon horn necklace, a player can stay as long as they want as their defence is quite low for their level.

Locations

If the player is killing dark beasts for a Slayer assignment then they can gain 20% additional Slayer experience by equipping a demonic skull. They can gain another 20% extra experience per kill if they accept a special slayer contract from Erskine while assigned dark beasts as a Slayer task. These experience bonuses stack, meaning the player may gain 40% extra Slayer experience. Completing a special slayer contract rewards the player with a choice of coins or combat experience.

Strategy and tactics

Main article: Dark beast/Strategies
Well last time I fought Dark beasts I used a crossbow with bolts and took them down effectively.

Dark beasts are large, dog-like predators with massively muscled bodies that protect them from crushing weapons. I've managed to trap a few in the dungeon I'm guarding.

 
— Kuradal
Well last time I fought Dark beasts I used a crossbow with bolts and took them down effectively.

Dark beasts are large, dog-like predators with massively muscled bodies that protect them from crushing weapons. We found some while mining the Mourner tunnels, in search of the Temple of Light.

 
— Morvran

Drops

100% drop

Item Quantity Rarity GE price
Big bonesBig bones1Always203

Charms

No charmGold charmGreen charmCrimson charmBlue charm
65%9%4%8%14%
Represents a 90% confidence range based on a sample of 145,030 kills.
1 charm is dropped at a time.
Add data to the log (requires JavaScript).

Main drop

Item Quantity Rarity GE price
Rune full helmRune full helm1Uncommon20,892
Rune chainbodyRune chainbody1Uncommon29,002
Dark bowDark bow1Rare[1]77,444
Fellstalk seedFellstalk seed3Common2,175
Grimy toadflaxGrimy toadflax(noted)Uncommon22,500
Grimy lantadymeGrimy lantadyme(noted)Uncommon7,551
Grimy dwarf weedGrimy dwarf weed(noted)Uncommon8,476
Belladonna seedBelladonna seed1Uncommon1,007
Cactus seedCactus seed1Uncommon1,016
Toadflax seedToadflax seed1Uncommon9,872
Irit seedIrit seed1Uncommon1,018
Avantoe seedAvantoe seed1Uncommon375
Kwuarm seedKwuarm seed1Uncommon12,857
Snapdragon seedSnapdragon seed1Uncommon293
Lantadyme seedLantadyme seed1Rare726
Dwarf weed seedDwarf weed seed1Rare822
Torstol seedTorstol seed1Very rare540
Poison ivy seedPoison ivy seed1Unknown302
Coins 10000Coins6,000–18,000Common6,000–18,000
Death talismanDeath talisman1Common932
SharkShark2Uncommon3,866
Dark arrowheadsDark arrowheads5–15Uncommon1,415–4,245
Death runeDeath rune10Uncommon2,320
Adamantite oreAdamantite ore(noted)Uncommon1,362
Sirenic scaleSirenic scale1Rare698,722
Rare drop tableRare drop table1RareNot sold

Tertiary drops

Item Quantity Rarity GE price
Ferocious ring (5)Ferocious ring (5)1Rare[2]Not sold
Curved boneCurved bone1RareNot sold
Long boneLong bone1RareNot sold
Spirit sapphireSpirit sapphire1RareNot sold
Spirit emeraldSpirit emerald1RareNot sold
Spirit rubySpirit ruby1RareNot sold
Crystal triskelion fragment 1Crystal triskelion fragment 1[3]1Very rareNot sold
Crystal triskelion fragment 2Crystal triskelion fragment 2[3]1Very rareNot sold
Crystal triskelion fragment 3Crystal triskelion fragment 3[3]1Very rareNot sold
Court summonsCourt summons1Very rareNot sold
Starved ancient effigyStarved ancient effigy1Very rareNot sold
  1. ^ Estimated at 1/486 using gathered Adventurer's Log data as of 18 September 2012.
  2. ^ Only in Kuradal's dungeon
  3. ^ a b c Triskelion fragments are dropped in order.

Rare drop table

This monster has access to the rare drop table.
Luck-enhancing items such as a ring of wealth or luck of the dwarves are not required to access the table.
Show/hide rare drop table
Item Quantity Rarity GE price
Coins 250Coins250–500Common250–500
Uncut sapphireUncut sapphire1Common809
Uncut emeraldUncut emerald1Common2,555
Uncut rubyUncut ruby1Common1,842
Uncut diamondUncut diamond1Common4,843
Uncut diamondUncut diamond45–55 (noted)Rare217,935–266,365
Loop half of a keyLoop half of a key1Common11,053
Tooth half of a keyTooth half of a key1Common11,538
Uncut dragonstoneUncut dragonstone1Uncommon12,077
Uncut dragonstoneUncut dragonstone45–55 (noted)Rare543,465–664,235
Dragon longswordDragon longsword1Common56,212
Dragon spearDragon spear1Rare35,861
BattlestaffBattlestaff180–220 (noted)Rare542,160–662,640
Rune javelinRune javelin5Rare905
Rune platebodyRune platebody1Uncommon37,480
Rune platebodyRune platebody15–25 (noted)Rare562,200–937,000
Shield left halfShield left half1Rare64,399
Dragon helmDragon helm1Uncommon58,601
Rune arrowheadsRune arrowheads113–137Common14,916–18,084
Onyx boltsOnyx bolts135–165Very rare1,003,725–1,226,775
Chaos talismanChaos talisman1Rare1,923
Nature talismanNature talisman1Rare1,473
Water talismanWater talisman65–82 (noted)Rare164,320–207,296
Earth talismanEarth talisman65–82 (noted)Rare12,025–15,170
Fire talismanFire talisman25–35 (noted)Rare5,225–7,315
Raw lobsterRaw lobster135–165 (noted)Common47,655–58,245
Raw sharkRaw shark225–275 (noted)Uncommon321,075–392,425
Big bonesBig bones68–82 (noted)Uncommon13,804–16,646
Dragon bonesDragon bones180–220 (noted)Rare384,480–469,920
CoalCoal200–1,100 (noted)Uncommon22,400–123,200
Gold oreGold ore90–110 (noted)Common52,830–64,570
Adamantite oreAdamantite ore180–220 (noted)Uncommon40,860–49,940
Adamant barAdamant bar14–16 (noted)Common24,654–28,176
Adamant barAdamant bar135–165 (noted)Rare237,735–290,565
Runite oreRunite ore90–110 (noted)Rare127,710–156,090
Rune barRune bar(noted)Common8,955
Rune barRune bar45–55 (noted)Rare134,325–164,175
Grimy torstolGrimy torstol90–110 (noted)Uncommon485,010–592,790
Grimy snapdragonGrimy snapdragon90–110 (noted)Uncommon161,010–196,790
Super restore (4)Super restore (4)45–55 (noted)Uncommon125,910–153,890
Prayer potion (4)Prayer potion (4)45–55 (noted)Uncommon130,950–160,050
Lantadyme seedLantadyme seed14–16Uncommon10,164–11,616
Dwarf weed seedDwarf weed seed14–16Uncommon11,508–13,152
Magic seedMagic seed4Uncommon209,856
Palm tree seedPalm tree seed10Rare396,000
FlaxFlax450–550 (noted)Common43,200–52,800
Molten glassMolten glass45–55 (noted)Common27,585–33,715
Soft claySoft clay450–550 (noted)Uncommon188,550–230,450
Yew logsYew logs68–82 (noted)Uncommon11,356–13,694
Yew logsYew logs675–825 (noted)Rare112,725–137,775
Teak plankTeak plank45–55 (noted)Uncommon16,740–20,460
Mahogany plankMahogany plank270–330 (noted)Rare356,670–435,930
Blurberry SpecialBlurberry Special1Uncommon12,008
Vecna skullVecna skull1Very rare*124,871
Hazelmere's signet ringHazelmere's signet ring1Very rare*1,432,268,388
Brawling gloves (Melee)Brawling gloves (Melee)1Very rareNot sold
Brawling gloves (Magic)Brawling gloves (Magic)1Very rareNot sold
Brawling gloves (Ranged)Brawling gloves (Ranged)1Very rareNot sold
Brawling gloves (Agility)Brawling gloves (Agility)1Very rareNot sold
Brawling gloves (Cooking)Brawling gloves (Cooking)1Very rareNot sold
Brawling gloves (FM)Brawling gloves (FM)1Very rareNot sold
Brawling gloves (Fishing)Brawling gloves (Fishing)1Very rareNot sold
Brawling gloves (Hunter)Brawling gloves (Hunter)1Very rareNot sold
Brawling gloves (Mining)Brawling gloves (Mining)1Very rareNot sold
Brawling gloves (Prayer)Brawling gloves (Prayer)1Very rareNot sold
Brawling gloves (Smithing)Brawling gloves (Smithing)1Very rareNot sold
Brawling gloves (Thieving)Brawling gloves (Thieving)1Very rareNot sold
Brawling gloves (WC)Brawling gloves (WC)1Very rareNot sold
Crystal triskelion fragment 1Crystal triskelion fragment 11Very rareNot sold
Crystal triskelion fragment 2Crystal triskelion fragment 21Very rareNot sold
Crystal triskelion fragment 3Crystal triskelion fragment 31Very rareNot sold

Universal drops

Universal drops are dropped by nearly every monster outside of Daemonheim.
These drops are dropped alongside main drops.
Item Quantity Rarity GE price
Key tokenKey token1RareNot sold
Mimic kill tokenMimic kill token1Very rare5,575

Trivia

  • Dark beasts were involved in the God Wars, as evidenced by the revenant dark beasts located in the Forinthry Dungeon.
  • Dark beasts used to drop normal bones, despite being a large monster. This was changed on 11 April 2012 to big bones. This also gave them a chance to drop long bones and curved bones.
  • On 13 October 2014, dark beasts were one of many monsters to receive a reworked drop table.
  • Before 5 June 2017, Protect/Deflect magic reduced their damage by 95%; this was changed to 50%. Their max hit was also increased to 1,080, though this was unintentional. This was reverted on 12 June 2017.
  • Dark beasts resemble an ancient rhinoceros species named Elasmotherium. Both have large, stocky bodies, and very large horns on the face.
  • As of 1 February 2018, the highest kill count for this monster was 1,239,731 kills[1].
    • This had increased to 1,415,899 by 6 May 2018.[2] At this time, these were the most killed monsters of those tracked.

References

  1. ^ Mod Shauny. Top 10 killers per Boss. 2 Feb 2018. "Here are the top 10 kills for each Slayer creature 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 Slayer Killers - 6th May 2018. 6 May 2018. "Here are the top 10 kills for each Slayer creature 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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