Ancient Cavern

The Ancient Cavern is an area reached from the whirlpool near Otto Godblessed's house. It was released 3 July 2007 and contains the highest level dragon, the Mithril dragon, one of two ways to get a Dragon full helm. The other way is also in the cavern. You must light a Pyre ship with Chewed bones on it, and the spirit of the departed Barbarian might give you a helm, if you are really lucky.

Introduction
The Ancient Cavern is one of the most dangerous dungeons in all of RuneScape, all players that enter the area should be well prepared to face dragons and high level monsters that can attack in more than one way.

To access the dungeon you will need to have got to funeral pyre burning instructions with Otto Godblessed in his Barbarian Training camp. You access the dungeon by jumping into the whirlpool off the jetty, at the edge of the lake on top of Baxtorian Falls. You will appear in a short safe passageway and will be able to see the Mithril Dragon far off in the distance. Steps to the next level are to the east.

On the lower level the biggest danger is the Brutal Green Dragons, whilst on the upper floor the only threat is the Mithril Dragons. On the lower level there are also wandering undead barbarians and Waterfiends. When you first enter the lower level, you might be met with a fire blast from a green dragon. Equip an anti-dragon shield and/or drink anti-fire potions before entering and run to a safespot.

There is a safe area south of the entrance of the lower level in the middle of the room; it is a large rock with a short passageway on the southeast corner. After about 10–12 minutes you will obtain tolerance and the monsters will no longer be aggressive. If a dragon has attacked and is waiting for you at the entrance of the safespot, then log off and log back on after about 10–15 seconds.

Remember, the caves are very dangerous so it is recommended to pack good combat gear, an anti-dragonfire shield, anti fire-breath potions, super sets, teleport runes and high-healing food. A ring of life may or may not help because of the high hits the monsters may deliver.

If you need to escape the dungeon and have no teleport, the only way out is by canoeing on aged logs (Examine: A log jammed by the current, perhaps rideable.) down an underground river out of the caves that takes you downstream. A Home Teleport (Lumbridge/Edgeville/Lunar) can also be used if you are not being attacked or are in a safespot.

A total of 12 Mithril ore rocks can be found on the upper level. None are safe to mine, as mithril dragons roam throughout the upper level. One Skeleton warlord is also present on this level, in the south-east area.

Location and travel
The whirlpool entrance to the Ancient Cavern is south of the Barbarian Outpost near Baxtorian Falls. Players can get there by walking west from Seers' Village, north from East Ardougne, or east from the Tree Gnome Stronghold. (From the stronghold, players with level 37 Agility can take the shortcut northeast of the Grand Tree; otherwise, the more round-about route through the stronghold's southern gate is necessary.)

Some teleports can be used to get near the whirlpool:


 * A Games necklace can teleport to the Barbarian Outpost. This is quickest way to get to the whirlpool, as it is just south of the Outpost.
 * A Combat bracelet can teleport to the Ranging Guild, which is east of Baxtorian Falls.
 * Barbarian teleport from the Lunar Spellbook. Teleporting between barbarian outpost and Lunar Island provides quick banking during slayer tasks.
 * A Plain of Mud Sphere can teleport one near the Fishing Guild, which is south-east of Baxtorian Falls.
 * A Skills necklace can teleport to the Fishing Guild, which is south-east of Baxtorian Falls.
 * Players with level 37 Agility can use the Gnome gliders or Spirit trees to travel to the Tree Gnome Stronghold and then use the shortcut north of the Grand Tree to get to the Baxtorian Falls lake.

Rummage skeletons
Lower levelled players visiting the cave should be focusing more on the barbarians and avoiding the dragons by rummaging barbarian skeletons on the ground. There is a skeleton just south of the safe spot described earlier. Chewed bones can also be obtained easily only from the Mithril dragons.

Rummaging the skeleton may cause 0-14 damage.

Messages and rewards when rummaging skeletons: "You rummage in the sharp, slimy pile of bones in search of something useful...
 * ...you find something and stow it in your pack."
 * ...you find something, but it drops to the floor." (if inventory is full)
 * bones or
 * Mangled bones and maybe an ancient page for the My notes book.
 * ...the bones object." The following barbarian skeleton may appear and attack. Protect from melee does not help.
 * Skeleton Heavy lvl 132 - He seems less heavy now. Drops: bones, 3 noted silver bars. or, less often,
 * Skeleton Hero lvl 149- An opponent from the grave. He seems unimpressed by your bone rummaging. Drops: bones, 323 coins, yew logs
 * ...but there's nothing remotely valuable."
 * nothing.

Skeletons respawn after about 2 minutes and any attacking skeleton will disappear at same time.

Dragon full helmet
The Dragon full helmet can only be earned from the Ancient Caverns (unless you buy it from another player). There are two methods of obtaining the dragon full helm: being dropped by Mithril Dragons (level-304), or receiving it as a reward when you burn chewed bones with pyre ships.

The Dragon full helmet is the second strongest helmet in the game besides barrows (the best non-degradable being third-age full helm ), but it doesn't have the downfall of needing to be repaired.

Monsters
The cavern hosts several different high level monsters that all wander the lower level. However, they are not that difficult, sticking to one style of combat that can easily be defended against with Prayer. Waterfiends (level-115) can use all three combat styles, making them more of a challenge.

All three have fairly high hitpoints and attack but they aren't the main interest of the dungeon! That would be the dragons, and they will be explained in detail below. Just remember whilst being in the cave that if you are running from the dragons, the other creatures can be dangerous while you are weaker - especially Waterfiends that are just near the logs by the river.

Quests and Miniquests

 * Barbarian Training is required to get in.