Skeletal Wyvern/Strategies

Skeletal Wyverns are dangerous foes. The below lists show generally accepted strategies to make defeating Skeletal Wyverns easier.

Note that a Slayer level of 72 is required in order to deal damage to Skeletal Wyverns (not withstanding the effects of a poisoned weapon). Otherwise, eating a wild pie at 67 Slayer will do, though kills will be extremely long.

Quick travel tip is to use the fairy ring (code ) to Mudskipper Point. Run north from the fairy ring to the dungeon entrance. Alternatively, the player can use the minigame teleport to the Port Sarim Rat Pits upon completion of Ratcatchers and run south in order to save an inventory space.

Remember: Slayer helm or Slayer helm (i) should be used under a task as they increase your accuracy.

Slayer Master tip
"Skeletal wyverns are extremely dangerous, and they are hard to hit with arrows as they slip right through. To stand a good chance of surviving, you'll need some elemental shielding from their icy breath."

Stats recommended
Higher stats are recommended because of their extremely high Defence. Even with a decent crush weapon, they have the Defence similar to that of the King Black Dragon. It would be best to have at least:
 * Attack
 * Strength
 * Defence
 * Ranged
 * Magic

Armour
There is much dispute as to what is the most effective setup when killing Skeletal Wyverns. A number of options are listed below. For each case, there are numerous players that consider it the best strategy.

Melee: High Prayer bonus
This setup comprises: The player uses the Protect from Missiles prayer to reduce damage, sacrificing some Melee Defence in favour of a high Prayer bonus. Alternatively, Protect from Melee may be used instead if the player is wearing Proselyte or Initiate armour. The player may also choose to use Piety or weaker accuracy-boosting prayers to speed up kills, but at greater cost. At least one Prayer potion will be needed using this setup, and more if using boosting prayers. Verac's equipment has significantly higher Melee Defence than Proselyte armour with slightly less Prayer bonus and is a good choice if you are looking for a compromise between Defence bonuses and Prayer bonuses.
 * Proselyte sallet > Helm of neitiznot or Verac's helm
 * Proselyte hauberk > Initiate hauberk
 * Proselyte cuisse/tasset > Initiate cuisse > Verac's plateskirt
 * Fire cape > Skillcape (trimmed) > Ardougne cloak 2/3/4 > Vestment cloak
 * Amulet of fury > Stole > Amulet of glory
 * Dragonfire shield/Ancient wyvern shield > Mind shield > Elemental shield
 * Barrows gloves > Regen bracelet > Dragon gloves > Rune gloves
 * Guardian boots > Bandos boots > Primordial boots > Dragon boots
 * God blessing

Melee: High Defence bonus
This setup comprises:
 * Serpentine helm > Helm of neitiznot or Verac's helm
 * Bandos chestplate and Bandos tassets > Torag's platebody and Torag's platelegs
 * Fire cape > Skillcape (trimmed) or Max cape > Vestment cloak
 * Amulet of fury > Amulet of torture > Amulet of glory > Amulet of power > Vestment stole
 * Dragonfire shield/Ancient wyvern shield > Mind shield > Elemental shield
 * Barrows gloves > Dragon gloves > Rune gloves > Regen bracelet
 * Primordial boots > Dragon boots > Guardian boots > Bandos boots
 * Ring of suffering > Berserker ring (i) > Warrior ring

In this alternative, players simply tank the wyverns by maximising their Ranged and Melee defences and disregarding protection prayers. However, due to high ranged defences of Bandos equipment, using Protect from Melee can be used to reduce the amount of incoming hits. High level food like sharks or monkfish is recommended. The player's Prayer points can instead be used on Piety, and bringing at least two Prayer potions is strongly advised, as well as being easily paid for by the wyvern bones collected. Another effective option is to wear Guthan's armour, using a one-handed weapon but bringing the spear along. When you need extra healing, or are trying to conserve food, go outside the entrance and attack the ice giants and warriors to heal yourself. This slows down kills per hour, but it greatly increases the number of wyverns you can kill in one trip.

Ranged (safespotted): Armadyl/Dragonhide armour
This setup comprises:
 * Blessed coif > Archer helm > Helm of neitiznot
 * Armadyl armour > Blessed dragonhide armour > Black d'hide armour > Karil's armour
 * Ava's Accumulator > Ava's attractor
 * Necklace of anguish > Amulet of fury > Amulet of glory > Amulet of power > Stole
 * Mind shield > Elemental shield > Dragonfire shield > Ancient wyvern shield
 * Barrows gloves > Regen bracelet > Dragon gloves > Rune gloves
 * Pegasian boots > Ranger boots > Blessed boots > Snakeskin boots
 * Archer's ring

By far, the best choice for players ranging Skeletal Wyverns is the Armadyl chestplate and Armadyl chainskirt, although Blessed dragonhide armour or Black d'hide armour will suffice. Blessed d'hide armour gives a Prayer bonus and has the same offensive and defensive stats as Black d'hide armour. The player may then choose to add prayer bonus using a Stole, etc. or to add accuracy and Defence using an Amulet of fury, etc. A higher Prayer bonus will save money on Prayer potions, while a higher Ranged bonus allows for faster kills. Using the Protect from Missiles prayer is strongly advised.

Using Ranged, the player can expect roughly 25,000 experience per hour and 500,000 gold per hour.

Magic: Void Knight equipment
This setup comprises: It is not recommended to use Magic at Skeletal Wyverns until you can afford most of the gear setup above. Although Ranged and Melee are much more efficient methods of killing Skeletal Wyverns, using Magic can be a decent method of training the Magic skill. Using Fire Wave with this setup can yield up to 60,000 experience per hour and 150,000 gold per hour profit.
 * Void Knight equipment
 * Occult necklace
 * God capes
 * Ancient wyvern shield > Mind shield
 * Seers ring (i) > Seers ring
 * Eternal boots > Infinity boots

Ranged/Magic advanced armour (safespotted): Shield swap
An advanced tactic for safespotting Skeletal Wyverns includes swapping your Mind shield for a shield that gives Ranged bonus: or Magic bonus:  WARNING:  It is highly recommended to only attempt this after you are very comfortable safespotting Skeletal Wyverns and after you lose aggression by being in the same vicinity for 10 minutes.
 * Twisted buckler > Odium ward > Book of law > Unholy book
 * Arcane spirit shield > Malediction ward > Mage's book > Book of darkness > Tome of fire

Weapons
There is also dispute as to the most effective attack style when fighting Skeletal Wyverns. Wyverns have a high resistance to stab and Ranged, a moderate resistance to slash and to crush.

Melee: Slash

 * Abyssal whip > Toxic staff of the dead/Staff of the dead > Dragon scimitar

The Abyssal whip offers one of the highest slash bonuses for a one-handed weapon, aside from the Abyssal tentacle. The Abyssal tentacle is not recommended to kill Skeletal Wyverns because they have high defence stats, which increases the likelihood of a player not hitting and wasting charges on the Abyssal tentacle. The toxic staff of the dead is recommended if you would not like to train attack and/or defence on the Abyssal whip. A regular staff of the dead can be replaced if you already have a serpentine helm equipped to apply venom to the wyverns. A dragon scimitar provides the lowest slash and strength bonuses out of all of the weapons but can be used if the other weapons are not available.

Melee: Crush

 * Zamorakian hasta > Dragon mace > Tzhaar-ket-em > Dragon battleaxe > Ancient staff

The Dragon mace has the slight advantage of a +5 Prayer bonus and a good special attack, but in general, this setup is unlikely to be effective in regards to speed or damage. It may be the best option for players with lower than level 70 Attack, who cannot wield the Abyssal whip. Even with 70 or higher Attack, these weapons may still be a better choice due to the wyverns' weakness to crush. It is highly advised to use a Zamorakian hasta as it provides the best crush attack bonus for a one-handed weapon, as well as having the speed of an abyssal whip. The Ancient staff is also the fastest of the recommended crush weapons, but also the weakest, and it also gives a slight penalty to Prayer. The Obsidian mace may be enhanced by wearing a Berserker necklace, but this also sacrifices some accuracy. Dragon warhammer has bis crush + strength bonus.

Ranged: Dragon/Rune/Armadyl crossbow

 * Dragon hunter crossbow > Armadyl crossbow > Rune crossbow

Wyverns can be killed with Ranged from a distance, causing the player to only have to worry about their ranged attacks. When using Protect from Missiles, no damage will be taken if you stand far enough away. The range of the wyverns' icy breath attack is 6, while the range of their ranged attack is 7. As long as you are at least seven spaces away ranging, you will never be hit. The great drawback here is that the wyverns are highly resistant to ranged attacks, and killing this way will take significantly longer than when using Melee methods. Level 80 Ranged is highly recommended, and the use of Ranging potion and/or prayers such as Eagle Eye will help in increasing the speed of the kills. It is also important to note a ranging safespot can be utilised by trapping it on one side of the entrance cave, and ranging it from there. This method can only be used if they are unaggressive.

The Dwarf multicannon can also be assembled and used to speed up kills, but once again, the wyverns are resistant to it, and the bones may no longer cover the cost of the ammo used.

Magic: Staff of the dead/Smoke battlestaff
With either weapon, you will want to be casting Fire Wave for best gp/damage efficiency. An uncharged Staff of the dead will give you a 1/8 chance of saving the runes for every cast, whereas a Smoke battlestaff will save you all air and fire runes. Since both weapons save you approximately the same amount of money in runes, Staff of the dead is considered to be the better choice since it gives significantly better Magic bonus.
 * Staff of the dead > Smoke battlestaff

Potions
All Melee strategies work best when combined with a Super set or Super combat potion; rangers should also bring a Ranging potion along with a Super defence (unless safespotting).

Melee

 * 1-2 Super attack & Super strengths or 1-2 Super combat potions
 * 3-4 Prayer potions
 * A Special attack weapon such as a Dragon dagger (p++) or Dragon mace
 * Dramen staff (optional)
 * An emergency teleport or Ring of dueling to reset stats (optional)
 * 15+ lobsters or better

Ranged (safespotting)

 * 5 Ranging potions
 * 2-4 Prayer potions
 * Dramen staff (optional)
 * An emergency teleport (optional)
 * Some lobsters or better (usually 4-6 pieces)
 * Fire runes/Nature runes (optional, for High Alchemy)
 * Herb sack (optional)

Magic (safespotting)

 * 2-4 Prayer potions
 * Rune pouch (optional)
 * Dramen staff (optional)
 * An emergency teleport (optional)
 * Some lobsters or better (usually 4-6 pieces)

Evaluation
There is no perfect method to kill Skeletal Wyverns. Players may have to sacrifice speed for cost and vice versa. All these methods have their own advantages and disadvantages, and it is really up to the player to decide which method best suits them. If you are looking to kill the wyverns quickly and take their bones and drops, Melee is the preferred method. If you are planning to stay for an extended period of time, using Ranged or Magic is recommended in order to use a safe spot to take no damage. Having high Prayer levels are certainly extremely beneficial in either case.

Tips

 * While ranging, it is possible to use a safespot; however, this can only be done once the wyverns become tolerant. The popular safespot is the entrance cave—you can trap it on one side and range it from there. There are additional safespots at the pillar to the south.
 * While ranging, it is also recommended to use Void Knight equipment after 92 Ranged as at this level is more effective than Dragonhide armour. Armadyl armour is still considered the best overall choice.
 * If you are standing by the cave entrance, you can go through it while frozen, and simply wait safely for the effect to wear off.
 * A friend could help bring additional supplies if needed while you're safe-spotting, but the friend will have to deal with aggressiveness.
 * Skeletal Wyverns are not vulnerable to the effects of the Salve amulet or the spell Crumble Undead. Although they are made of bones, they are not classified as undead creatures but rather as animated bones.
 * The Antifire potion has no effect on the wyvern's ice breath attack, neither do Ice gloves.
 * A Bolt pouch may be useful, as the player can collect the dropped bolts in one inventory slot.
 * "Walk" the wyvern, by constantly walking through it, to get it closer to the door ensuring a close emergency exit.
 * Try to find a good spot where you will only be attacked by one wyvern at a time. This prevents a second ice breath or ranged attack after you kill the one you are fighting aganist.
 * If ranging wyverns and protecting against Ranged, try to get as far away from the wyvern as possible. As the wyvern's ice breath has a shorter range than its ranged attack, it will only use its ranged attack, which will be completely nullified by the protection prayer, therefore negating the need to eat food. However, bring a few pieces of food in case the wyvern near you begins to attack you after another wyvern has been killed, as the damage stacks.
 * Once they become non-aggressive, there is a safe spot for rangers where they can't attack you at all. That's because their ranged attack has a shorter range than your crossbow on long-range mode, and if you trap them you won't get attacked. This is also possible on rapid-style but becomes more difficult.
 * Cannons are allowed, however only in the lower part of the cave, the upper slayer exclusive part is a no cannon zone. Cannons will make your kills faster for the cost of less profit.
 * The best time to eat during fighting with Skeletal Wyverns is when frozen since you cannot hit while frozen, so you won't waste any hits.