Feedback Update: Slayer Challenges

April 28th, 2010

After a two week break we're back with a massive feedback update for you all! Before we come to the main event, the new slayer challenges, there are some more updates to get through. The new NPC on Karamja who notes your fish will now do so at a price, much like other NPCs who offer a similar service. He will take 20% of your fish away, or 10% if you're using a ring of charos. The cost of prayers from Dungeoneering has been reduced suitably like all the other rewards. Speaking of prayers, we've introduced all new high level prayers for Ranged and Melee to match the existing Magic prayer, some new tomes to go with the tome of frost and another, more skill-oriented magic staff. Finally for the little updates, the new voices' volumes can be adjusted like other sounds and several new options have been introduced for choosing your own voice during the tutorial. If you've already done the tutorial, you can go and change your voice at the Makeover Mage for 1000gp. This may seem pointless now but we're planning some big extensions to the voice system....

Now, onto those slayer challenges. If you manage to complete every single challenge, not only will you gain loads of experience and slayer points but now an even bigger challenge lies in wait. Those that have completed Smoking Kills may remember Catolax. Well, the most experienced slayers and bravest warriors, mages or rangers can now return to him for a range of really tough slayer tasks. We'll leave the details up to you to discover but be prepared for battle!

Dungeoneering Prayers
Four new high-level combat stat boosting prayers were released with this new update to match the pre-existing Augury magic prayer. These prayers will not stack with other versions of themselves. The new prayers are:

The prices of all these prayers, along with augury, is now 100k tokens. The price of the Rapid Renewal was decreased to 80k tokens. To unlock each prayer, players must buy a scroll from Daemonheim for the amount of tokens stated and then read it to be granted permanent access to the prayer. The level required to purchase these scrolls is the prayer level required to use the prayer and an equal level in Dungeoneering.

Dungeoneering Tomes
One of the rewards from dungeoneering was a tome of frost, which gave infinite water runes and was wielded in the shield slot. With this update, 3 more tomes were introduced - one for each of the other elements. The tome of winds gives infinite air runes, the tome of flame gives infinite fire runes and the tome of thunder gives infinite earth runes. Each of the tomes has the same bonuses when wielded. In a hidden update, all four tomes were updated to require 50 Magic and Dungeoneering rather than the previous 48. The prices are listed below:


 * Tome of Frost: 43,000
 * Tome of Thunder: 46,000
 * Tome of Flame: 53,000
 * Tome of Winds: 59,000

Astral Staff
The law and nature staves were introduced with Dungeoneering for f2p and are very useful for non-combat magic (mostly teleporting and alchemy). With this update, a third skill-based staff was introduced for members only - an astral staff. The astral staff can store up to 1000 astral runes and, when wielded, has a 10% chance of not using an astral rune. The staff costs 15,000 dungeoneering tokens and requires 30 Attack, 45 Magic and 45 Dungeoneering to wield - although it has no real use until Lunar Diplomacy has been completed (which requires 65 Magic anyway). This staff has exactly the same combat bonuses as the law and nature staves.

Catolax
Catolax is the undead slayer master from the Smoking Kills quest. Upon completing all slayer challenges, he can give a variety of high levelled slayer tasks. The only requirement for receiving a slayer task from Catolax is to have completed all the challenges from other slayer masters - which requires 85 Slayer and 110 Combat. He is located in the Desert Slayer Dungeon, so players must wear masked earmuffs to talk to him, as well as an amulet of ghostspeak. Catolax only assigns the highest levelled slayer monsters, as well as revenants, other players and boss monsters. As with all other slayer masters, he will assign harder tasks the higher your combat and slayer levels. A list of all non-special, non-boss assignments by Catolax is given in the table below:

Catolax also assigns boss monsters on a regular basis. These don't count as special assignments and can't be refused, unless changed at Turael/Spria or with slayer reward points. Catolax only assigns one of each boss monster (unless they come in groups, such as the Barrows brothers). Slayer experience from the task and repeatable events like Bork is stackable. A list of all boss monsters that can be assigned is shown in the table below:

As with all other slayer masters, Catolax has a unique assignment. However, being so high-levelled, Catolax has two special assignment. The first, and arguably more mundane assignment, is to kill a certain quest boss. Catolax will occasionally ask you to kill the boss monster of an active quest or a quest that you haven't started but have all the levels necessary for completion. This task can be refused in favour of a more normal one but will reward players with further or full completion of a quest (and all subsequent rewards), extra slayer experience and more slayer reward points than a usual task. The only quest bosses that can't be assigned are those lower than level 80 combat or those that require a skill level the player hasn't yet obtained.

Catolax's second special assignment is far more unique - he will ask you to challenge a certain slayer master in RuneScape to a duel. Any slayer master apart from Catolax (who is dead) and Sumona (who is really the goddess Amascut), including the replacement masters from after While Guthix Sleeps (who are exactly the same in combat as their predecessors). The higher your level, the more likely you are to get a higher-levelled slayer master to fight. If you die while fighting a slayer master, you won't loose any items and will simply appear next to where the master is located. To win, all you need to do is reduce the health of the slayer master to less than 10%. It is impossible to kill them. The fight takes place in a special arena that players and masters are teleported to at the start of the duel. The arena is multi-combat so summoning familiars can be used and any items can be taken in. Players receive slayer experience and slayer reward points for this challenge but no more than a usual task. This is because defeating each master unlocks a new piece of equipment or combat technique to help with slaying, and combat in general. All the masters are much harder to defeat than their combat level suggests.

Turael/Spria
Turael (or Spria if you have completed While Guthix Sleeps) is the lowest levelled slayer master and so is the easiest to defeat. Despite being the 'easiest' opponent, Turael/Spria is still level 197 and can hit relatively hard for his/her level. Wielding a steel halberd, they attack quite slowly but still hit high damage - up to a maximum of 260 quite regularly. They also have a small underslung crossbow hidden, which they only start using when down to about half health. This its rapidly and accurately with a max hit of 150. The crossbow is capable of a special attack that hits twice in one attack. However, Turael/Spria has low defence and relatively low lifepoints so with good food and equipment, the fight shouldn't be too difficult.

Turael/Spria's reward for winning their fight is access to their underslung crossbow. The crossbow can be purchased for 3000 slayer reward points and can fire up to and including rune bolts. It can be wielded at 65 Ranged, along with the 100 Combat and 85 Slayer requirement for getting the task in the first place. The crossbow is invisible to everyone unless being fired, making it especially useful in PvP for surprise attacks. The crossbow attacks just as quickly as a normal longbow but can be wielded one-handed. The special attack allows two bolts to be fired at once with increased accuracy and potential max hit but uses up 100% of the special attack bar. The bonuses of the crossbow are shown below:

Mazchna
Mazchna (or Achtryn during While Guthix Sleeps) is the second easiest slayer master. Unlike Turael, who's combat level is consistent with their level in While Guthix Sleeps, Mazchna is stronger in this mode - being level 218. Mazchna wields a strange dagger during his duel (probably a weapon from his demonic homeland) that is incredibly fast and quite accurate but has a relatively low max hit of 180. Mazchna also attacks with Ancient Magicks - Smoke Burst, Shadow Burst and Blood Burst. The spells max hit is equivalent to the max hit when cast by players so damage isn't the main problem - the biggest problem with these attacks is their special abilities. As always, the smoke attacks will poison, the shadow attacks will lower your attack level and blood attacks will heal Mazchna. Mazchna also uses a seemingly unlimited deflection prayers from the Ancient Curses spellbook. He will change prayers with your attack style but with a small delay where you can hit damage. He will also use protect from summoning but will turn it on and off at random.

Mazchna's reward is not an item but a new prayer-related ability. He will teach anyone who has completed Temple at Senntisten and has 3500 slayer reward points to spare how to manage their prayers more effectively so that they drain your prayer points more slowly. The drain rate is decreased by approximately 25%, which provide as great boost when using prayer. Also, Mazchna will teach you how to use your holy wrench from Rum Deal more efficiently so that prayer potions restore even more prayer points per sip.

Vannaka
Vannaka is the third weakest slayer master that can be fought. As with Mazchna, his combat level is higher than previously stated - up to 252 from 146. Vannaka is one of a few NPCs that can wield a two-handed sword and a shield at the same time. Vannaka is the only slayer master to use a single attack style but has varying melee attack but his hits are so hard they will hit through prayer at times. Mostly, he will use his steel two-hander with surprising speed and great strength - but not very accurately. His max hit is around 230. Occasionally, Vannaka will deliver a massive crushing special attack guaranteed to at least half your current lifepoints. This attack is not at all dented by protection prayers and might even drain some of your own prayer points, summoning points or special attack energy at times it is that powerful. Sometimes, Vannaka will quickly whip out a poisoned dagger that will always poison and can very rarely be deflected by shields or even by prayer. The attack itself only has a max hit of 110 but the poison damage starts at 95 and slowly decreases.

Vannaka doesn't unlock an ability or item when defeated but a new location. For 4000 slayer reward points with 250 Quest Points, Vannaka will teleport you to a secure section of Tutorial Island he has been monitoring. This version of Vannaka can do nothing but teleport you back to the mainland. Only a small area is available but the main focal point is the access to the dungeon that used to contain giant rats and now contains several species of dragon. The dungeon is divided into two rooms: one for regular and one for metal dragons. The regular dragons room contains all the baby chromatic dragons (blue to black) near the entrance, regular chromatic dragons in the center and brutal green dragons around the edges. The metal dragon room contains all the metal dragons (bronze to mithril). The sheer number and type of dragons here makes it one of the best places for dragon slayer tasks and training in general. This is not a multi-combat dungeon.

Chaeldar
Chaeldar is the third strongest attackable slayer master. She is level 276 and uses both melee and magic attacks. Her primary attack is with the battleaxe she is seen wielding normally. It is highly accurate and fast but isn't particularly strong - with a max hit of 150. Chaledar also uses what appears to be a surge spell, but is coloured blue like the rest of Zanaris. This spell can hit up to 300 and drains a random combat stat by 10%. She can also starts to use the Heal Me and Vengeance spells from the lunar spellbook when below half health. Chaeldar is one of the only NPCs and the only slayer master to use summoning familiars in battle. She summons Zygomites that are much stronger than the mutated ones around the Cosmic Altar in Zanaris. They are level 198 and use the same magical melee and ranged attacks normal zygomites do only with increased max hits of 130 and 190 respectively. Once a spirit zygomite is slain, it will be sometime before another one is summoned.

Chaeldar doesn't offer a single reward but rather a pack of smaller upgrades - entitled 'Chaeldar's Super Magic Fun Kit' - which requires completion of Dream Mentor and Wolf Whistle It costs 4500 slayer points and unlocks several new magical and summoning-based activities. Chaeldar will teach you a new Lunar Spell - Heal Me. Similar to Heal Other and Heal Group, this spell takes up to 75% of surrounding monsters and players (who accept the offer) lifepoints and transfers it to the player - boosting lifepoints up to 150% of their maximum. Heal Me requires 98 Magic, 6 blood runes, 9 law runes and 5 astral runes. Chaeldar will also unlock the Spellbook Swap spell in all other spellbooks as well as Lunar. However, the spell requirements change depending on the spellbook. Lunar spellbook swap costs 1 law, 2 cosmic and 3 astral. The normal spellbook swap costs 1 law, 2 cosmic and 3 soul runes and the ancient magicks spellbook swap costs 1 law, 2 cosmic and 3 blood runes.

Chaeldar will also teach players how to summon spirit zygomites. These require 87 Summoning to create and summon. A single pouch requires a pouch 145 spirit shards, a crimson charm and bittercap mushroom. This familiar will fight for you with exactly the same combat level, attacks and lifepoints as the ones that fought for Chaeldar. However, while Chaeldar's familiars never disappear unless killed, these familiars only last for around 60 minutes. The special move of a spirit zygomite is called Fungi Blast. This is a powerful, accurate magic attack with a max hit of 250 that has a 50% chance of poisoning the enemy (starting at 87 damage) or diseasing them (also staring at 87). This is one of the most expensive special moves, costing 40 points. Spirit zygomites also have other abilities. They provide unlimited teleports to the zygomites near the comsic altar (very useful for runecrafting) and act as an unlimited refiller for fungicide.

Duradel/Lapalok
Duradel (or Lapalok after While Guthix Sleeps) is the second strongest attackable slayer master. Both are level 349. His main attack is a stronger version of the rune claws he wears daily - dragon claws. His attacks have all the strength and weaknesses as a player with dragon claws - including the ability to use the special attack. His max hit is 520 (two lots of 260) - with the potential to hit 790 on the special! His special attack energy restores at an alarmingly fast rate. Duradel/Lapalok will also use throwing knives when he reaches below half health - quickly throwing one or two before returning to dragon claws. His max hit with this attack is 360. Duradel/Lapalok seems to be wearing a mixture of several types of Barrows armour during your fight and yet still maintains the functions of all of them. He has the ability of Dharok the Wretched to hit harder when at lower health, Torag the Corrupted's ability of lowering your run energy, he can heal based on the damage you deal like Guthan the Infested and can ignore armour and prayers at times like Verac the Defiled.

Duardel/Lapalok offers an enhancement to claws and a new type of claws for 5000 slayer points. Duradel/Lapalok will unlock the ability for all claws to be poisoned with any type of weapon poison - making them extra deadly. Lapalok will also sell a new item via his chat for anyone with 70 Attack who has completed While Guthix Sleeps (meaning only Lapalok sells the item and not Duradel). For 2500 slayer reward points and a pair of dragon claws, players are give a new type of untradeable claws - named 'Ancient Claws'. These require 70 Attack to wield and are automatically poisoned - starting at 52 damage. They also have a chance of causing exactly the same amount of disease damage. They are similar in appearance to Barrows equipment (despite having no connection) so are often called 'barrows claws' by players. Unlike Barrows, the claws do not degrade over time. The special attack hits the enemy three times with increased accuracy and strength - draining 60% of the special bar. If lost, the claws can be retrieved from Lapalok for an extra pair of dragon claws but the slayer rewards points don't need to be re-paid. The bonuses (including a small prayer boost) are given below:

Kuradal
Kuradal is the strongest slayer master of all. In battle, she is level 392 and uses all three forms of combat. Kuradal's most common attack is with her sword, which has the same speed and appearance as scimitar but with the same accuracy and strength as a longsword. With this, she can hit up to 440. This sword's special, which comes frequently thanks to her father's training, hits straight through prayer and drains some prayer points. Throughout the battle, Kuradal will use a surge spell that appears to be a fusion of all the four elements. This hits its max of 360 regularly so be wary. Halfway through the battle, Kuradal will start to used ranged occasionally - much like Duradel/Lapalok's throwing knives - only she uses throwing hammers that can hit up to 405. These hammers will also stun the player for a few seconds - preventing them to move or attack - while Kuradal continues to mage or melee them. However, you can eat and drink while stunned.

For 3000 slayer reward points each, having defeated all other slayer masters, Kuradal will unlock two new bonuses. One requires 90 Slayer while the other requires only 15 Magic. The Slayer rewards comprise of upgrades to some slayer equipment. The ring of slaying is one item affected. The amount of charges is increased from 8 to an infinite amount that will never run out, creating a ring of slaying (e). It now has extra teleports to Taverley Dungeon, Lumbridge Swamp Dungeon, Edgeville Dungeon, Brimhaven Dungeon and the God Wars Dungeon. The ring also now allows players to go through all normal conversation with a slayer master, including getting a new task, trading and even challenging them to a duel remotely. Also, the ring of slaying gives a 15% defensive boost against all creatures on your current slayer task. The ferocious ring from Kuradal's Dungeon was also upgraded. It too now has infinite charges and is no longer destroyed by it's ring of life function, though it is now a ferocious ring (e). The ring now also provides a 25% defensive boost against all creature's in Kuradal's Dungeon. Kuradal with now also teach you how to attack all slayer creatures with any type of weapon without requiring any specialist equipment and decreases the amount of damage taken by dragonfire without a shield or potion and slayer monster's special attacks if you don't have the correct equipment - but doesn't completely remove it.

Kuradal will also teach players lots of new tricks in combat at the cost of 5000 slayer reward points, so long as they have 70 Defence and at least three of the following: 70 Attack, Strength, Magic, Ranged, Prayer or Summoning. She will teach you how to conserve special attack and special move energy so they drain less points per special attack/move. She will also show you how to make potions and food last for longer by making them all, except prayer, heal or boost by 5% more. This effect also decreases the negative bonuses from some items, such as saradomin brews by 5%. He will also show you how to make armour that degrades, like Barrows or PvP armour, degrade slower so it's more effective for longer. Finally, the training enables your lifepoints, drained skills and run energy to increase up to 15% more quickly than usual - an effect that stacks with prayers and musicians.

Kuradal's magic reward unlocks a new set of spells based on her magic attacks. A table of levels and runes required as well as damage is given below (the max damage is without boosts):