Slayer training

Slayer is worthwhile to train especially if you are interested in training your combat skills. Due to various bonuses afforded to players while training Slayer (such as the bonus given by the Slayer helmet (i)), it offers some of the best rates of melee combat experience in the game. It also is very efficient to train Slayer in overall terms across your account because players will get significant amounts of experience in other skills on the road to level 99 Slayer or 200 million experience, resulting in less time wasted gaining extra combat experience which is not necessary since it could have been obtained through Slayer. Generally when slaying for best experience rates you will have a Slayer helmet (i) and make extensive use of the dwarf multicannon.

Usually, you get tasks from the highest-level Slayer master that your Slayer level allows because the monsters they assign generally give more experience than lower-level Slayer masters. However, in some cases, Nieve can give better Slayer tasks for experience and at a more frequent rate, but Duradel is sometimes better.

Use the points to unlock the essential things, like the Slayer helmet, Slayer ring and autokill ability and to gain the opportunity to block or skip the bad tasks (bad tasks being those which give slowest xp/h discussed later in the guide AND/OR tasks which the player chooses to block at their own will). Whatever players choose to spend their points on, they are strongly advised to keep enough points in reserve to cancel several tasks in a row, in case of multiple undesirable assignments being given.

Access to Slayer masters
Requirements or quests for accessing different Slayer masters and areas include:

Access to new tasks
While some monsters can be found during a quest or in other locations, you still need to complete the respective quest in order to unlock them for slayer assignments.

Quests

 * Horror from the Deep - Dagannoths
 * Lunar Diplomacy - Suqahs
 * Priest in Peril - Morytania's monsters and the Slayer Tower
 * Barbarian Training - Mithril dragons and Waterfiends
 * Cabin Fever - Jungle horrors and cave horrors
 * Ernest the Chicken - Killerwatts
 * Mourning's End Part II - Dark beasts
 * Rum Deal - Fever Spiders
 * Death to the Dorgeshuun - Molanisks
 * Olaf's Quest - Brine rats
 * Desert Treasure - Dust devils
 * Monkey Madness II - Demonic gorillas (simply an alternative monster for black demons)
 * Bone Voyage - Fossil Island Wyverns

Unlock
With unlocking, you do not need a quest to access them. Instead, you pay with slayer points to get these monsters for your slayer assignment. Be aware that these task unlocks generally apply to high level Slayer Masters.

If you decide to stop doing assignments which are toggleable, consider if you will do the task again. If you will not do those tasks anymore, toggle the task off. This will essentially act as a "block", allowing you to block other undesired monsters if needed.

Blocking
Players can block specific tasks if they do not like the task for specific reasons. In order to block tasks, players must have 50 quest points, along with 100 slayer points and be assigned the task that they wish to block. There are 5 slots, so in order to use all of them, the player must have 250 quest points. Full completion of the Lumbridge & Draynor Diary will add a sixth block slot.

For toggled tasks like lizardmen, the player should simply cancel the toggle and the task itself, so that they cannot obtain the task anymore, which essentially acts as a block.

With 500 slayer points, a block can be applied to Fossil Island Wyverns. While significantly more expensive than any task block in-game, the player has the ability to freely toggle on and off this block as they desire.

Killing perks
The only recommended killing perk to obtain is Gargoyle Smasher. High levelled Slayer masters will assign Gargoyles quite frequently, and players will save a large amount of time by automatically smashing Gargoyles whenever they reach 9 hitpoints or lower, and automatically smashes Dawn and Dusk when they reach 0 hitpoints. 'Shroom Sprayer can also be unlocked, but only if the player completes mutated zygomyte tasks.

Task extension
Some tasks can be extended for Slayer points, which will greatly increase the number that you can be assigned if they give you that creature for a task. Only extend tasks that you generally do; it is a waste of points if you extend a task that you skip frequently or do not like.

Superior slayer monsters
With the Bigger and Badder perk unlocked (requiring 150 Slayer points), several monsters have a 1/200 chance of attracting a superior variant of the monster. Superior monsters are stronger than their normal counterparts, typically having a higher max hit and new mechanics, but give a lot of Slayer experience upon death. In addition, superior slayer monsters have a low drop chance to drop an Eternal gem, or an Imbued Heart both of which sell for a reasonable price, making this perk extremely valuable.

Activating this perk is optional, but recommended since you can toggle it off without penalty if you do not want to fight superior monsters.

Combat levels
Sometimes, slayer masters can assign you a task where you may be asked to kill monsters that you may have extreme difficulty fighting. Such examples include green dragons from Vannaka, which can be a very tough task for low levelled players. While baby green dragons are an option, there are a few requirements to access them. The player can speak with slayer masters regarding their combat level, and they will let you know if you have any handicaps on.

By default, slayer masters will assign tasks based on your combat level, essentially blocking tasks that are too "strong" for you until you reach the recommended level. You may speak to them to let them assign tasks regardless of your combat level. This can be changed at any time by speaking to them again.

Equipment
On melee tasks, the primary decision players will make is whether to use an abyssal whip (or a saradomin sword if the player wishes to train Strength) or a zamorakian hasta. The abyssal whip is nearly always superior to the Zamorakian hasta, with the exception of certain tasks such as dragons which are weak to stab attacks.

Furthermore, most melee tasks should be performed in what is usually referred to as "max strength" gear, consisting of the melee armour which yields the greatest strength bonuses, such as Bandos armour and primordial boots. There are some notable exceptions, however, such as waterfiends which should be killed in Karil's armour.

Some tasks will require the use of prayer. Typically, this tends to apply for monsters like spiritual mages and dark beasts. While you can use prayers for all tasks, if you have a saradomin godsword or Guthan's set, you should be good on food and save a decent amount of money. When using prayer equipment, you will be typically fighting against monsters using one combat style, so prayer boosting gear like proselyte or Initiate is recommended to give yourself a higher prayer bonus, reducing the amount of prayer you drain per second.

The Slayer helmet or (i) is better than a black mask. With the helmet, you have face and nose protection, so you don't have to bring face masks or nosepegs which can impede experience rates per hour. The imbued variant should be a high priority if not obtained yet, since the bonuses will now apply to both ranged and magic.

A dragon defender is nearly always superior to the Dragonfire shield because of its large accuracy bonuses. The dragonfire shield does have its advantages, and should only be used for dragon and wyvern tasks.

If you are a lower level player, just equip whatever the best armour and weapons are that you have the appropriate level and/or money for. This table is of no use to you. The table below gives a guide as to what equipment should be used when slaying:

Prayer (Melee only) = This set up consists of having a high prayer bonus. Using Proselyte armour is highly recommended as is provides the highest prayer bonus in its respective equipment slots. A Verac's plateskirt combined with the Proselyte hauberk is a good combination of both prayer and defence bonuses.

Weapons may depend on what task player's get. When fighting dragons, a stab weapon, such as the Zamorakian hasta or Leaf-bladed sword, otherwise an Abyssal whip is generally the best weapon to use. A Saradomin sword can be used for those who wish to solely train strength, as the abyssal whip lacks this ability.

Rings also depend on the player's choice. Generally, the Berserker ring is the best ring to use on slayer tasks, as most monster's defence aren't very high, thus accuracy isn't an issue and the strength bonus it provides can speed up tasks. However, the warrior, tyrannical or treasonous ring can be used to increase player's accuracy in slash, crush or stab respectively, if accuracy is an issue.

A Holy wrench can be brought to slayer tasks as this can help save prayer potions overtime. Requires completion of Rum Deal quest.

Recommended skills:
 * 70+
 * 70+
 * 70+
 * 70 (Piety)

Equipment:
 * Head: Slayer helm (i) > Black mask
 * Ammo: Any God blessing
 * Body: Proselyte hauberk
 * Legs: Verac's plateskirt > Proselyte cuisse/tasset
 * Boots: Primordial boots > Dragon boots > Rune boots > Climbing boots
 * Gloves: Barrows gloves > Dragon gloves > Rune gloves > Combat bracelet
 * Amulet: Amulet of fury > Amulet of glory
 * Cape: Infernal cape > Fire cape > Ardougne cloak 2, 3 or 4 > Skillcape (trimmed) > Obsidian cape > Cape of legends
 * Ring: Berserker ring (i) / Warrior ring (i) / Tyrannical ring (i) / Treasonous ring (i)
 * Weapon: Abyssal whip > Abyssal dagger > Zamorakian hasta > Saradomin sword > Dragon scimitar > Leaf-bladed sword
 * Shield: Dragon defender > Rune defender > Dragonfire shield > Obsidian shield

Melee = This set up consists of having a high strength/defence bonus. Using Barrows equipment is generally the most common armour pieces to use when using slayer. Bandos armour is best to use if aiming for a high strength bonus, albeit rather expensive. A Guthan's set can be brought to most tasks where healing may be needed, or a Saradomin godsword may suffice on some tasks.

As this set up does not have high prayer bonus, players can pray flick should they wish to.

Weapons may depend on what task player's get. When fighting dragons, a stab weapon, such as the Zamorakian hasta or Leaf-bladed sword, otherwise an Abyssal whip is generally the best weapon to use. A Saradomin sword or Abyssal dagger can be used for those who wish to solely train strength, as the abyssal whip lacks this ability.

Rings also depend on the player's choice. Generally, the Berserker ring is the best ring to use on slayer tasks, as most monster's defence aren't very high, thus accuracy isn't an issue and the strength bonus it provides can speed up tasks. However, the warrior, tyrannical or treasonous ring can be used to increase player's accuracy in slash, crush or stab respectively, if accuracy is an issue.

Recommended skills:
 * 70+
 * 70+
 * 70+
 * 70 (Piety)

Equipment:
 * Head: Slayer helm (i) > Black mask
 * Ammo: Any God blessing
 * Body: Bandos chestplate (strength) / Any Barrows platebody > Fighter torso (strength)
 * Legs: Verac's plateskirt (defence/prayer) / Bandos tassets (strength) > Other Barrows platelegs
 * Boots: Primordial boots > Dragon boots > Rune boots > Climbing boots
 * Gloves: Barrows gloves > Dragon gloves > Rune gloves > Combat bracelet
 * Amulet: Amulet of torture > Amulet of fury > Amulet of glory
 * Cape: Infernal cape > Fire cape > Ardougne cloak 2, 3 or 4 > Skillcape (trimmed) > Obsidian cape > Cape of legends
 * Ring: Berserker ring (i) / Warrior ring (i) / Tyrannical ring (i) / Treasonous ring (i)
 * Weapon: Abyssal whip > Abyssal dagger > Zamorakian hasta > Saradomin sword > Dragon scimitar > Leaf-bladed sword
 * Shield: Dragon defender > Rune defender > Dragonfire shield > Obsidian shield

Magic = In general, using magic is not a common combat style to use. However, it is very useful for certain tasks, such as on Metal dragons, or tasks where Ancient Magicks can be used to barrage or burst multiple monsters at once. The Slayer helmet MUST be imbued in order to gain accuracy and damage benefits on an assigned slayer monster.

Players may wish to use an Arcane spirit shield for the best magic attack bonus on the shield slot, although it is very expensive. Players should use an Occult necklace when using magic as it provides 10% magic damage (the only necklace to do so). Ancestral robes are the best magic robes to use, although Ahrim's robes are a much more affordable alternative with slightly lower stats.

Recommended skills:
 * 75+
 * 70+
 * 45+ (Mystic Might)

Equipment:
 * Head: Slayer helmet (i) > Black mask (i)
 * Ammo: Any God blessing
 * Body: Ancestral robe top > Ahrim's robe top > Infinity top > Mystic robe top
 * Legs: Ancestral robe bottom > Ahrim's robe skirt > Infinity bottoms > Mystic robe bottom
 * Boots: Eternal boots > Infinity boots > Mystic boots
 * Gloves: Tormented bracelet > Barrows gloves > Infinity gloves > Mystic gloves
 * Amulet: Occult necklace > Amulet of fury > Amulet of glory
 * Ring: Seers' ring (i)
 * Cape: God capes > Ardougne cloak 2, 3 or 4 > Fire cape > Skillcape (trimmed) > Obsidian cape > Cape of legends
 * Weapon (single-combat): Trident of the swamp > Trident of the seas > Toxic staff of the dead > Staff of the dead > Iban's upgraded staff > Smoke battlestaff
 * Weapon (Ancient Magicks): Kodai wand > Master wand > Ancient staff
 * Shield: Arcane spirit shield > Malediction ward > Mages' book > Book of darkness > Unholy book

Ranged = Like magic, Ranged is not a common combat style to use. However, with the release of the Toxic blowpipe, ranging can be faster than using Melee on certain tasks, although it is recommended to use melee on most tasks to better balance the XP income as ranged is already trained on most tasks through the Dwarf multicannon. Toxic blowpipe is additionally more expensive. The Slayer helmet MUST be imbued in order to gain accuracy and damage benefits on an assigned slayer monster.

If a player does not possess a Toxic blowpipe, it might not be recommended to range slayer tasks as it is generally the slowest combat style to use.

Recommended skills:
 * 75+
 * 70+
 * 70+
 * 44+ (Eagle Eye)

Equipment:
 * Head: Slayer helmet (i) > Black mask (i) > Armadyl helmet > 3rd age range coif > Robin hood hat
 * Ammo: Any God blessing
 * Body: Armadyl chestplate > Karil's leathertop / Blessed body > Black d'hide body
 * Legs: Armadyl chainskirt > Karil's leatherskirt / Black d'hide chaps / Blessed chaps
 * Boots: Pegasian boots > Ranger boots > Blessed boots > Snakeskin boots
 * Gloves: Barrows gloves > Black d'hide vambs / Blessed vambraces
 * Amulet: Necklace of anguish > Amulet of fury > Amulet of glory
 * Ring: Archers' ring (i)
 * Cape: Ava's assembler > Ava's accumulator > Ava's attractor
 * Ammo:
 * Crossbow: Broad bolts > Emerald bolts (e) > Mithril bolts
 * Toxic blowpipe: Adamant darts > Mithril darts > Steel darts
 * Weapon: Toxic blowpipe > Armadyl crossbow > Dragon crossbow > Rune crossbow
 * Shield (if using crossbow): Twisted buckler > Odium ward > Book of law > Unholy book

Void = The benefit of void armour is in combination of the set effect and the Salve amulet(ei), and primarily seen at higher levels. It doesn't give direct offensive bonuses and can't be used against some tasks, but the sets grant a percentage modifier on accuracy and damage. It is cheaper and as an untradeable, it can be less risky if dropped on death, but can't be sold. If dropped on death, it will be damaged, and will need to be repaired by Perdu for 150k-170k (elite) coins.

It is less defensive than melee armour but gives better accuracy. For ranged, it is less accurate and defensive than best-in-class ranged gear but gives more damage. For magic, elite void will give a 2.5% increase to damage, but less accuracy and defensive bonuses than Ahrim's robes.

Equipment:
 * Head: Void melee helm or Void ranger helm or Void mage helm
 * Ammo: Appropriate Ammunition slot table for ranged, otherwise a God blessing
 * Body: Elite void top > Void knight top
 * Legs: Elite void robe > Void knight robe
 * Boots: Best available in combat style(s)
 * Gloves: Void knight gloves
 * Ring: Best available in combat style(s)
 * Cape: Best available in combat style(s)
 * Amulet: Best available in combat style(s)
 * Weapon and shield of choice in combat style

Prayer
Protection prayers can be used as an alternative to food or Guthan's equipment on dangerous tasks where banking might take a long time or the Guthan's helmet cannot be worn. Damage-heavy tasks like Aberrant spectres, Infernal Mages, or even stronger variants of normal slayer creatures in the Catacombs of Kourend can be made trivial by protection prayers.

Offensive prayers, on the other hand, will speed up tasks drastically, even though they might be expensive. If you choose to maintain offensive prayers, bring prayer potions. Piety should be used if it is a melee task. If it is a mage task, use Mystic Might/Augury for its accuracy boost and Eagle Eye/Rigour when ranging tasks.

Regardless of the method of prayer used, prayer flicking is a click-intensive but an extremely efficient way of saving vital prayer points. With proper timing, prayer flicking can more than triple the life span of your prayer points.

If using potions, having a holy wrench is not required, but recommended. It boosts the amount of prayer gained from prayer potions thus reducing the number of prayer potions used. Over time, these savings make the one lost space actually extend the overall lifespan of your inventory of potions.

Finally, a player with an altar and extensive teleportation available in either their home or with equipment can take advantage of teleporting to their house and using the altar to refresh prayer before returning to the task area quickly. This is especially effective in the Catacombs of Kourend and even areas of the Slayer Tower provided the player can utilize the agility shortcuts.

Dwarf multicannon
With the exception of dust devils, every task in which a dwarf multicannon can be used, should be used if the player can afford it and seeks fast experience rates. Cannoning all possible tasks is recommended depending on how much wealth you have leftover and if you are seeking to rush tasks quickly and get fast experience rates. Such examples include typically long tasks like hellhounds, suqahs and black demons; they provide good experience rates, but take a while to kill without a cannon.

Around 750-1,500 cannonballs are used on an average task given by Duradel in a non-multiway combat area, whilst tasks taken place in a multiway combat area can exceed over 1,500.

It is best to find out the best spot to stand to allow double cannon shots against one monster. This allows faster kills, leading to an increase in experience per hour.

Although the costs of cannonballs can be expensive for some players, it can be paid off by doing hard or elite clue scrolls along with drops obtained from killing monsters such as various rune items and unique drops.

Slayer locations
While some slayer monsters are found in one or multiple habitats, there are dungeons throughout RuneScape where many monsters a slayer master can assign can be found.

The following transportation methods help slayers get to their tasks faster.
 * Fairy ring teleport system - grants quick access to many high-level Slayer tasks. You can use the Fairy Rings after starting Fairytale II with a Lunar/Dramen staff. Not needed if you have completed all the Lumbridge & Draynor Village sets.
 * Lunar Magic - used for NPC Contact, allowing you to talk to any Slayer master without traveling to them. However, the rewards interface cannot be accessed this way, so travel to any Slayer master may be necessary to cancel. Also used for Spellbook Swap to access non-tablet teleports like Trollheim Teleport and Ghorrock Teleport in the Ancient Magicks book. You must complete Lunar Diplomacy to use Lunar Magic. You must complete Desert Treasure for Ancient Magicks.
 * Slayer ring - can be used to teleport to several slayer locations (obtained from a slayer master for slayer points). Slayer rings should be made in batches and treated as disposable to allow more loot to be banked. Players who wish to skip or block a task should use the slayer ring to teleport to the Stronghold Slayer Cave, which is right next to Nieve.
 * Karamja gloves 3 - Reward for Karamja Tasks 3. (It allows you to teleport to Shilo Village for quickly getting a new task from Duradel). Karamja gloves 4 allows the player to transport directly to Duradel.
 * Xeric's talisman - can be used to teleport around Zeah to enter the Catacombs of Kourend or to fight Lizardmen.

Cancelling and blocking tasks
Tasks that the player does not wish to ever do can be permanently blocked at the cost of 100 reward points. Up to five assigned monsters (or groups in some cases, such as kalphites) can be blocked. To block a monster or a group of monsters from being assigned, 50 quest points are required for the first slot, and another 50 quest points are added for the remaining slots (totaling to 250 quest points for five slots). 100 slayer reward points are also needed to block a task. A sixth slot is available only with the completion of the elite Lumbridge & Draynor Diary.

Tasks should only be blocked if they are rather common or commonly assigned to the player but are not good tasks in terms of experience or profit. Rare tasks (tasks with low weighting) should not be blocked, but rather skipped as it is usually unlikely that the player will receive that task often. Before banning a selected monster, consider if you will return to them again for slayer (such as Black demons, then completing Monkey Madness II and accessing Demonic gorillas, which are far more profitable and count towards them), their location, and time it takes to complete an assignment.

Blocking assignments should only be done for Nieve and Duradel, as the lower Slayer masters will not assign most of the monsters that they will have.

Tasks may also be cancelled, if the player does not wish to do it at that time. Cancelling a task costs 30 reward points each time, making it potentially expensive to try and get a specific assignment. Players are recommended to use the cancel option as often as it can be used while maintaining a stable level of Slayer reward points. This will ensure that the player spends as much time as possible doing tasks which offer fast Slayer experience.

Duradel assigns 39 different Slayer tasks. Essentially, each player should develop their own personal task list using a method like this:
 * 1) Sort the tasks from fastest to slowest Slayer experience.
 * 2) Decide how many tasks must be completed (instead of being cancelled) in order to keep Slayer reward points at a stable level in the long run (neither gaining nor losing a significant amount of points). This will probably be around 15 tasks, give or take a few depending on how lucky the player is with assignments.
 * 3) Draw a cut-off line after the nth fastest task (i.e., the 15th fastest task). All tasks below this line will be either blocked or cancelled.
 * 4) Of the tasks below the cut-off line, permanently block the six which are most commonly assigned. Even if a certain task may be worse than another, it is better to block the one that is more common since you plan to cancel them both anyway.
 * 5) Cancel the remaining tasks below the cut-off line whenever they are assigned. Complete only the tasks above the cut-off line.

The cut-off line can be adjusted depending on whether the player finds that they are gaining or losing too many points. Some task that are commonly cancelled are typically due to the fact that they are either tedious or do not provide good experience rates. These include ankous and zygomites; relatively fast tasks but they don't provide a lot of experience per hour.

Player-owned houses
Player-owned houses are a big asset for Slayer training, though it does take considerable input to get the required Construction levels.

At level 50, portal chambers can be built. The portals can then be constructed and set to teleport to various destinations around RuneScape, covering many of the teleports that the spellbooks have. You need to have the respective Magic level and other requirements completed to attune a portal to a specific location.

At level 90 Construction, the Ornate rejuvenation pool can be built, regenerating the player's special attack energy, run energy, prayer points, reduced stats and health when interacted with. This saves a lot of supplies if you use the house a lot.

At level 95 Construction, you can build the Spirit tree & fairy ring. This provides the perks of both the spirit tree and fairy ring at once, which when combined with the ornate rejuvenation pool will save lots of supplies and essentially allows you to reach anywhere in RuneScape without having to use other items.

Task summary
This is a list of monsters assigned by Duradel, along with the pros and cons of completing the task. This table aims to empower players in choosing their tasks based on the prosand cons of each task reflecting on drops, transport and access, combat area etc. Alternatively, an analysis of tasks from an xp/h standpoint is below

Quest experience

 * 1,000 - Natural History Quiz (miniquest)
 * 1,000 - Recipe for Disaster (Freeing the Mountain Dwarf part)
 * 1,000 - Animal Magnetism
 * 2,000 - The General's Shadow (miniquest)
 * 5,000 - Royal Trouble
 * 5,000 - Wanted!
 * 5,000 - The Lair of Tarn Razorlor (miniquest)
 * 25,000 - Monkey Madness II