Desert strykewyrm

Desert strykewyrm

Release	8 February 2010 (Update)
Members	Yes
Examine
Burrowed: I'm pretty sure there's something under there. Above ground: I dread to think of how many of these are in the sand.
Combat info
Level	LP	XP	XP
103	10,000	805	265.6
Equipment XP (2H/MH & Armour/OH)
48 / 32 / 16
Aggressive		Poisonous
Slayer
Level	XP	Category
77	376.5	Desert strykewyrms
Assigned by
Offensive
Max hit
296	296	296	1899
Style		Speed
		4 ticks (2.4s)
Combat levels
74 74 74 Accuracy 1650 1650 1650
Defensive
Armour		Weakness
1526	74
Affinities
90	65	55	45
Immunities

Defined properties:

All Life points: 10,000 Life points: 10,000 All Slayer experience: 376.5 Slayer experience: 376.5 All Combat experience: 805 Combat experience: 805 All Release date: 8 February 2010 Release date: 8 February 2010 All Combat level: 103 Combat level: 103 All Is members only: true Is members only: true All NPC ID: 9465 NPC ID: 9465

[FAQ] • [doc]

Desert strykewyrms are Slayer monsters located east of Al Kharid, through the east gate. They may only be killed if a player is assigned to kill them by a Slayer master (level 77 Slayer required). You cannot use temporary boosts, as you need to be assigned these from your master.

Although they are located in the Kharidian Desert, only the southern periphery of the area they reside in is affected by desert heat. As such, waterskins are only needed on a narrow stretch. Luckily the monsters drop waterskins (4) quite often and there are Kharidian cactii to refill them without needing to go back to to Al Kharid to find some water source.

A wyrm initially appears as a mound on the ground; the mound may be still or be moving about. Before battle can be initiated with the wyrm, a player must investigate the mound by clicking on it. This causes the player's character to perform the Stomp emote, after which the wyrm bursts out of the ground.

Desert strykewyrms are an excellent source of various noted items, and the occasional focus sight, which is needed to create a full slayer helmet. If the player is not currently assigned a desert strykewyrm task, investigating the mound still causes the player's character to perform the stomp emote, but the wyrm does not burst forth. Instead, the character will then perform the Think emote.

Players should use a Mask of the Yellow Wyrm (or its helm variant Helm of the Parched Wyrm) when killing these, especially on a slayer assignment, to take advantage of its benefits.

Killing a strykewyrm is one of the elite Desert achievements. The player must be equipped with an ancient staff and full slayer helmet. A single strykewyrm can be killed without a slayer assignment if the assigned equipment is used.

Attacks

The desert strykewyrm's standard attacks are Melee and Ranged. The wyrm will usually use melee and only occasionally use ranged when the player is not within melee range. This attack however, rarely hits and even if it hits, it usually does not hit over 100.

The desert strykewyrm also has a special attack which consists of it burrowing under the ground, moving toward the player fighting it, and then bursting out of the ground which can deal 500-2000 damage. Running over the strykewyrm right as it bursts out of the ground will hit the player twice with its special attack, possibly adding up to 4000 damage.

The special attack may be avoided by running 2-3 squares away from where the player was standing when the wyrm starts to burrow. Timing is important; hesitating a moment when the wyrm burrows could cause the wyrm's special attack to hit. Many players run directly away from the wyrm when it burrows, but depending on your reaction time, this might not be a good idea, so running to the sides is a good idea for those with laggy computers or if they are too slow to react to the attack.

Sometimes the desert strykewyrm will be stunned when it emerges from the ground. It will not be able to use its special attack until this wears off.

Tips

When running away from the special attack, it is best to click on the ground itself instead of the minimap, as the player can react to the tactical situation in the area. A player should not click on another mound when trying to get away, as the player will run up to (not onto) the mound and stop, which might leave the player too close to the surfacing wyrm.

Desert strykewyrms have a high amount of health for their level, but have low defence, making it quite easy with powerful weapons to cause a large amount of damage. The wyrm's special attack can be disabled by standing near any kind of obstacle. There are cacti and bushes around their area, but they are relatively spread out and few in number.

This special attack occurs on average once every 15-20 attacks. Depending upon how fast the player can kill a desert strykewyrm, the special attack may or may not occur with each wyrm battle, but one special attack per 2 or 3 wyrms is very likely.  

For players who have difficulty moving out of the way in time, it is advised to range strykewyrms from a distance. Range them at the maximum distance of your crossbow/shortbow/shieldbow so that you will have more time to spot and avoid their special attack. Desert strykewyrms are more resistant to ranged than they are to melee, but the ranged attack they use at a distance will also deal very low damage to a player wearing ranged armour.

It is also possible for players to avoid the desert strykewyrm's special attack by using the Escape ability. This requires a good reaction time, as the player will be sent back a few squares, thus wasting good combat time.

While on slayer task, Tuska's Wrath is a recommended ability. Activating Tuska's Wrath manually when the desert strykewrym is at or near to full health will give maximum advantage and potential instakill.

Drops

Charms

No charm
80–81%	4%	2%	12%	0.9–1.1%
Represents a 90% confidence range based on a sample of 44,333 kills. 1 charm is dropped at a time. Add data to the log (requires JavaScript).

Main drop

	Item	Quantity	Rarity	GE price
	Death rune	15	Uncommon	3,480
	Water rune	2–100	Uncommon	50–2,500
	Law rune	15	Uncommon	8,550
	Air talisman	1	Uncommon	498
	Earth talisman	1	Uncommon	185
	Fire talisman	1	Uncommon	209
	Body talisman	1	Rare	407
	Mind talisman	1	Rare	203
	Water talisman	1	Very rare	2,528
	Mithril battleaxe	1–2	Uncommon	3,550–7,100
	Rune hatchet	1	Uncommon	9,120
	Focus sight	1	Rare	15,687
	Cadantine seed	1	Common	1,438
	Avantoe seed	1	Uncommon	375
	Kwuarm seed	1	Uncommon	12,857
	Toadflax seed	1	Uncommon	9,872
	Irit seed	1	Uncommon	1,018
	Watermelon seed	1	Uncommon	3,590
	Ranarr seed	1	Uncommon	976
	Poison ivy seed	1	Uncommon	302
	Belladonna seed	1	Uncommon	1,007
	Cactus seed	1	Uncommon	1,016
	Lantadyme seed	1	Uncommon	726
	Dwarf weed seed	1	Rare	822
	Maple seed	1	Very rare	8,519
	Magic seed	1	Very rare	52,464
	Grimy guam	1–4 (noted)	Common	709–2,836
	Grimy marrentill	1–4 (noted)	Uncommon	2,307–9,228
	Grimy lantadyme	1–4 (noted)	Uncommon	7,551–30,204
	Grimy avantoe	1–4 (noted)	Uncommon	1,043–4,172
	Grimy cadantine	1–4 (noted)	Uncommon	4,322–17,288
	Grimy dwarf weed	1–4 (noted)	Uncommon	8,476–33,904
	Grimy harralander	1–4 (noted)	Uncommon	741–2,964
	Grimy toadflax	1–4 (noted)	Uncommon	11,250–45,000
	Grimy irit	1–4 (noted)	Uncommon	5,008–20,032
	Grimy kwuarm	1–4 (noted)	Uncommon	11,782–47,128
	Grimy ranarr	1–4 (noted)	Uncommon	1,860–7,440
	Grimy tarromin	1–4 (noted)	Uncommon	105–420
	Coins	200–440; 1,201–4,500	Common	200–4,500
	Waterskin (4)	2	Common	950
	Super defence (2)	1	Common	4,780
	Potato cactus	3; 5–18 (noted)	Common	15,747–94,482
	Yew logs	10 (noted)	Common	1,670
	Pure essence	120 (noted)	Common	3,600
	Swordfish	2	Uncommon	314
	Adamant bar	3 (noted)	Uncommon	5,283
	Goat horn dust	3 (noted)	Common	8,700
	Uncut sapphire	1	Common	809
	Uncut emerald	1	Uncommon	2,555
	Uncut diamond	1	Very rare	4,843
	Uncut ruby	1	Rare	1,842
	Rare drop table	1	Rare	Not sold

Tertiary drops

	Item	Quantity	Rarity	GE price
	Court summons	1	Rare	Not sold
	Spirit sapphire	1	Rare	Not sold
	Spirit emerald	1	Rare	Not sold
	Spirit ruby	1	Rare	Not sold
	Starved ancient effigy	1	Very rare	Not sold
	Sealed clue scroll (hard)	1	Rare	Not sold
	Sealed clue scroll (elite)	1	Very rare	Not sold

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	250–500	Common	250–500
	Uncut sapphire	1	Common	809
	Uncut emerald	1	Common	2,555
	Uncut ruby	1	Common	1,842
	Uncut diamond	1	Common	4,843
	Uncut diamond	45–55 (noted)	Rare	217,935–266,365
	Loop half of a key	1	Common	11,053
	Tooth half of a key	1	Common	11,538
	Uncut dragonstone	1	Uncommon	12,077
	Uncut dragonstone	45–55 (noted)	Rare	543,465–664,235
	Dragon longsword	1	Common	56,212
	Dragon spear	1	Rare	35,861
	Battlestaff	180–220 (noted)	Rare	542,160–662,640
	Rune javelin	5	Rare	905
	Rune platebody	1	Uncommon	37,480
	Rune platebody	15–25 (noted)	Rare	562,200–937,000
	Shield left half	1	Rare	64,399
	Dragon helm	1	Uncommon	58,601
	Rune arrowheads	113–137	Common	14,916–18,084
	Onyx bolts	135–165	Very rare	1,003,725–1,226,775
	Chaos talisman	1	Rare	1,923
	Nature talisman	1	Rare	1,473
	Water talisman	65–82 (noted)	Rare	164,320–207,296
	Earth talisman	65–82 (noted)	Rare	12,025–15,170
	Fire talisman	25–35 (noted)	Rare	5,225–7,315
	Raw lobster	135–165 (noted)	Common	47,655–58,245
	Raw shark	225–275 (noted)	Uncommon	321,075–392,425
	Big bones	68–82 (noted)	Uncommon	13,804–16,646
	Dragon bones	180–220 (noted)	Rare	384,480–469,920
	Coal	200–1,100 (noted)	Uncommon	22,400–123,200
	Gold ore	90–110 (noted)	Common	52,830–64,570
	Adamantite ore	180–220 (noted)	Uncommon	40,860–49,940
	Adamant bar	14–16 (noted)	Common	24,654–28,176
	Adamant bar	135–165 (noted)	Rare	237,735–290,565
	Runite ore	90–110 (noted)	Rare	127,710–156,090
	Rune bar	3 (noted)	Common	8,955
	Rune bar	45–55 (noted)	Rare	134,325–164,175
	Grimy torstol	90–110 (noted)	Uncommon	485,010–592,790
	Grimy snapdragon	90–110 (noted)	Uncommon	161,010–196,790
	Super restore (4)	45–55 (noted)	Uncommon	125,910–153,890
	Prayer potion (4)	45–55 (noted)	Uncommon	130,950–160,050
	Lantadyme seed	14–16	Uncommon	10,164–11,616
	Dwarf weed seed	14–16	Uncommon	11,508–13,152
	Magic seed	4	Uncommon	209,856
	Palm tree seed	10	Rare	396,000
	Flax	450–550 (noted)	Common	43,200–52,800
	Molten glass	45–55 (noted)	Common	27,585–33,715
	Soft clay	450–550 (noted)	Uncommon	188,550–230,450
	Yew logs	68–82 (noted)	Uncommon	11,356–13,694
	Yew logs	675–825 (noted)	Rare	112,725–137,775
	Teak plank	45–55 (noted)	Uncommon	16,740–20,460
	Mahogany plank	270–330 (noted)	Rare	356,670–435,930
	Blurberry Special	1	Uncommon	12,008
	Vecna skull	1	Very rare*	124,871
	Hazelmere's signet ring	1	Very rare*	1,432,268,388
	Brawling gloves (Melee)	1	Very rare	Not sold
	Brawling gloves (Magic)	1	Very rare	Not sold
	Brawling gloves (Ranged)	1	Very rare	Not sold
	Brawling gloves (Agility)	1	Very rare	Not sold
	Brawling gloves (Cooking)	1	Very rare	Not sold
	Brawling gloves (FM)	1	Very rare	Not sold
	Brawling gloves (Fishing)	1	Very rare	Not sold
	Brawling gloves (Hunter)	1	Very rare	Not sold
	Brawling gloves (Mining)	1	Very rare	Not sold
	Brawling gloves (Prayer)	1	Very rare	Not sold
	Brawling gloves (Smithing)	1	Very rare	Not sold
	Brawling gloves (Thieving)	1	Very rare	Not sold
	Brawling gloves (WC)	1	Very rare	Not sold
	Crystal triskelion fragment 1	1	Very rare	Not sold
	Crystal triskelion fragment 2	1	Very rare	Not sold
	Crystal triskelion fragment 3	1	Very rare	Not 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 token	1	Rare	Not sold
	Mimic kill token	1	Very rare	5,575

Trivia

• Using the stomp emote to attract the strykewyrm is possibly a reference to the sandworms (Shai'Hulud) from Frank Herbert's Dune novel series, which share some common characteristics.
• The release of strykewyrms was hinted at by the Twitter hint, "Three strykes and they're out!" Additionally, the encrypted message from the Chaos Elemental in Chaos Elemental Letter 14 contained the phrase 'from beneath you, it devours' - this possibly relates simultaneously to the burrowing nature of the strykewyrms and also that they were slayer-related content. 'From beneath you, it devours' is a recurring phrase in season 7 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
• Desert strykewyrms, along with the rest of the strykewyrms, were the first monsters in RuneScape that made use of particle effects.
• If a player runs behind an obstacle just as a strykewyrm burrows into the ground, the strykewyrm will disappear. Although it will seem to respawn normally, it will leave no drops. This will not count towards a kill, and it has not been fixed yet.
• As of 1 February 2018, the highest kill count for this monster was 29,724 kills.
  • This had increased to 30,593 by 6 May 2018.

• There was a bug where the desert styrkewyrm's ranged attack would always miss, regardless of the player's armour rating. This was patched on 16 April 2018.