Update:Dev Blog: Grotesque Guardians



The Slayer Tower is the quintessential killing grounds for PvM, but after 15 years it still has not been fully explored.



What resides atop the tower?

Slayer bosses have always proved popular with our PvM community, but because of their high Slayer level requirements many of our mid-levels PVM’ers have been left wanting.

Gargoyles are one of the most popular Slayer assignments to receive. They're a true milestone in the skill, and are a lucrative task to complete.

By introducing a new slayer boss available at level 75, not only do we bring a bit more excitement to a Gargoyle task, but we can provide our community with the sustainable, mid-level Slayer boss that you have requested in the past.

The Grotesque Guardians

Sculpted from Granite and mobilized with inscribed, black tourmaline hearts, the Guardians atop Vigorra’s Fortress were a testament to the talents of humankind.

''An effigy of grace and rebirth, the Guardian of Dawn kept watch to the east. A monument to service and fortitude, the Guardian of Dusk defended the west.''

As the tower fell to ruin, rising decay engulfed the fortress’s foundations, eating its way up, through stone and timber until finally, it enveloped and embittered the Guardians’ black hearts.

Legends say these Grotesque Guardians sit lifelessly, crumbling and disfigured from this corrosion, whereas Chronicles dating back to the Zamorakian occupation of the tower describe thunderous footsteps trembling the roof on stormy nights.

For hundreds of years, the truth has remained elusive until recently, when speculation begun to arise about lost entrance to the Slayer Tower’s roof.

When a player has been assigned a gargoyle slayer task, a rare, brittle key will drop from gargoyles on death. Brittle keys cannot be traded.

A Brittle Key will permanently unlock the Slayer Tower roof when it is used on the roof door, located on the tower’s 2nd floor.

Once unlocked, and only when on a Gargoyle assignment, you will be able to face the Grotesque Guardians in place of regular gargoyles.

Granite Dust

Granite dust can be applied to cannonballs in order to increase their max hit from 30 to 35. Granite dust is stackable and tradeable, and so are granite-coated cannonballs.



Creating granite-coated cannonballs is done by using granite dust on cannonballs. Combining the two has no requirements, and can be done with any quantity. It is not possible to reverse this.

Every kill against the Grotesque Guardians will result in a granite dust drop. The quantity dropped may vary, but each kill will provide a base amount.

Black Tourmaline Shards

Black Tourmaline Shards are rare drops from the Grotesque Guardians. They can be attached to Bandos boots to create Grotesque boots.

Requiring 75 Defence to equip, Grotesque boots provide a strong defensive boost in combat, and offer a noteworthy counterpart to the offensive stats of primordial boots.



We'll be polling the Gargoyle boss later on this week. The following questions will be included in the poll:


 * Question: Should the Grotesque Guardians, as described in the Grotesque Guardians developer blog, be added to Old School RuneScape?
 * Question: If the Grotesque Guardians are added, should granite dust be offered as a drop? Granite dust is useable on cannonballs to increase their max hit from 30 to 35. Image
 * Question: If the Grotesque Guardians are added, should Black Tourmaline Shards be offered as a drop? This shard could be attached to bandos boots to create a new best-in-slot pair of defensive boots, requiring level 75 Defence to equip. Image
 * Question: Should marble gargoyles have their models updated as part of this update?

If the Grotesque Guardians were to pass, we would be aiming for release late August.

As always, we are keen to hear your thoughts on the content of this post and are happy to make changes based on your feedback!

Mods Ghost, Kieren, Roq, and Wolf will be available to take your questions and your suggestions this on this Thursday 20th’s Grotesque Guardians design stream. The stream starts at 12pm UTC and will continue in the background of the developer Q&A.

Discuss this update on our forums.

Mods Archie, Ash, Ed, Ghost, Jed, John C, Kieren, Mat K, Maz, Ronan, Roq, Ry, Stone, Sween, TomH, Weath, West & Wolf The Old School Team